“After seven seasons leading the Symphony Orchestra Augusta, Maestro Shizuo Z Kuwahara is leaving to pursue other opportunities. … Kuwahara’s departure is effective immediately, said Carra Purvis, the symphony’s development director.”
Toward ‘A Unified Theory Of Agnostic Spiritual Life’
“Agnosticism is often thought of, incorrectly, as a state of theological indecision. Rather, it is the conviction that it is epistemologically impossible to determine whether or not there is a deity. Agnosticism is an ideology of unknowability … ‘a recognition that we need room for mystery, for the imagination, for things sensed but not proven, intuited but not defined.'”
Are These Really The 100 Best American Movies Of The 21st Century So Far?
“If you can’t find masterpieces amid the blockbuster flotsam, you simply aren’t looking hard enough. Film-making today, whether massively expensive or made with tiny budgets, shot on celluloid or video, is thriving artistically as much as it ever has. But today you’ll find greater diversity in the kinds of films being made, if not in the people who are making them.”
Even Optical Illusions Are A Nature-Vs-Nurture Issue
It’s all about whether you grew up in a “carpentered environment.”
Defending A Performance That Needs No Defense: Tina Fey As Sarah Palin (Take That, Malcolm Gladwell!)
While questioning the effectiveness of political satire on his Revisionist History podcast, Gladwell called Fey’s portrayal “toothless.” Well, that’s not how we remember it, and it’s not what political science researchers have been finding.
Church Altarpiece Designed By Thomas Hardy (Yes, The Novelist) Discovered With Flashlight
“Thomas Hardy is best known for his grand tragedies, but the chance discovery with an iPhone torch of an altarpiece believed to have been designed by the writer for a Windsor church reads like the start of a crime caper.”
So Brexit Won’t Affect British Arts Projects With European Funding, Eh?
“Organisations that were told before the referendum that a Brexit vote would have no impact on their funding applications are now experiencing delays.”
Trump, The Hedge Fund Guy, And The Steinway Piano Connection
“As of today, it seems that Trump is doing everything he possibly can in order not to get elected, so perhaps I’m overreacting. But I do think my fellow pianists should at least be aware of this jarring dissonance at the top end of Steinway’s (pay) scale.”
Go Ahead And Take Petrodollars, UK Museums, Says Official Association
“In response to claims by Art Not Oil that BP influenced museum programming, the committee said it is ‘common practice’ for a museum to maintain a dialogue with a sponsor about the planning and content of an exhibition.”
The Casting Controversy Over ‘In The Heights’ Hits Arizona
“There is an artist of color who is not Latino being cast in a part of someone who is Latino, which I feel can be just as dangerous because to me, as a Latino, that’s saying ‘brown is brown.’ There’s white, and then there’s ‘the ethnics.'”
The Met’s Chandeliers – The ‘Sputniks’ – Rise Again
“The Met’s chandeliers play a silent role before performances: As the house lights dim, a dozen of them slowly ascend 65 feet to the auditorium’s golden ceiling. But after a faulty clutch put one out of commission, they all spent last season in place near the ceiling.”
A Moscow Gallery Has Some Work From The Crimea, And Ukraine Is Far From Happy
“The dispute over the artist’s works has further darkened relations between Russia and Ukraine, paralleling a sharp rise in tensions over Russia’s military buildup on the peninsula.”
Bandcamp Is The Awesome Alternative To iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL And So Much More
“I often buy music on Bandcamp, because I know I’m putting a sandwich in someone’s mouth. But a lot more often, I just listen. All of the time I’ve spent there has felt beautifully unmediated, and mostly dedicated to one kind of music.”
Here’s How To Answer People Who Say They ‘Hate’ Contemporary Classical Music
“Subjectivity isn’t actually a matter of taste. It’s a matter of expectation.”
Who Takes Athletes From The Olympics To Lucrative Sponsorship Deals?
Talent agencies, of course: “Agents help connect Olympians with Madison Avenue and corporate America, lining up deals for endorsements, speaking tours and television commentary jobs, among other opportunities. And some stars of the Rio Olympics, which end Sunday, could reap millions of dollars.”
Why Are People So Obsessed With The Ageist, Body-Shaming Statues Of Trump?
“Let’s push aside the notion of it as art straight off. It’s more in the company of the evolving gutter press of 18th-century England. … No Balls has little affinity with great political art, past or present.”
When A Movie Poster Goes Very, Very Wrong In Hong Kong
“As political slip-ups go, accidentally wading into the issue of Hong Kong independence is about as bad as it gets.”