“The Royal Ballet Director Kevin O’Hare discusses growing the business of ballet by taking the live show and simulcasting it to a global audience inside cinemas around the world.”
Junot Díaz and Toni Morrison Sitting Around And Talking
Recorded live at the New York Public Library last week.
There’s No Such Thing As An Oscar “Snub”
“There’s no real shortage of pieces about people and films and shows that should have been nominated but weren’t, and those that should have won awards but didn’t. This is something that gets talked about every year. And it needs to stop.” Daniel Carlson explains why.
Forget A Christmas Carol, This Is Dickens’s Best Christmas Story
“Christmas literature for how the other half lives” – Colin Fleming argues for “The Signal-Man”.
British Library Puts A Million Images On Flickr For Public Use
“In an inspired gesture to encourage digital crowdsourcing, the British Library has uploaded one million scans from 17th- to 19th-century books to Flickr for public domain use.”
Day Jobs Suck The Life Out Of Creative Workers. Why?
“Unlike machines, humans operate on a cyclical basis, which means our energy and motivation fluctuate in peaks and troughs. Cognitive workers tend to be more focused in the late morning, getting another energy boost in the late afternoon when lung efficiency peaks.”
Is It Time To Let College Essays Go? (Asks A Writing Professor)
“Nobody hates writing papers as much as college instructors hate grading papers (and no, having a robot do it is not the answer).”
The TSA’s Gallery Of Misfit Everything
“Far from the eyes of holiday travelers, there is an art gallery with an ever-changing, carefully curated selection of remarkable pieces that say a great deal about the United States, security, consumerism and our general frame of mind.”
Should Composition Students Have To Jury?
“By the time everyone else is cramming for final exams and performance juries, composers should have already completed an appropriate amount of music and either have it performed and recorded or at least have created a decent aural mock-up to present to others.”
How To Make Money On Broadway
Go into Manhattan real estate, of course.
By The Power Of Google, Spam Poems Will End
“It was the Penguin 2.1, released in October, that sent spammers to the bitter edge; now they can’t repent fast enough for their spammy sins.”
Bond, James Bond, Impotent Drunk
“Doctors analysing the Ian Fleming novels show James Bond polishes off the equivalent of one and a half bottles of wine every day. They say he is not the man to trust to deactivate a nuclear bomb.”
Photo Ops With Yo-Yo Ma And Reneé Fleming Do Not Equal A Good School Arts Policy
“The mayor hasn’t doubled down on the arts, he’s cut them. He fired at least 175 art or music teachers in his last round of teacher cuts. That’s different than his previous round of cuts, where he closed 50 schools.”
At Last, A New Leader For El Museo Del Barrio
The museum “has endured a tumultuous year that began with eight layoffs from its 41-person staff, two-month staff furloughs and a cutback in its days of operation, to four from six.”
Is TV Ready For Game Of Thrones … In Space?
“Now is the perfect time for a real sci-fi show, with the kind of breadth and depth HBO has shown television can achieve.”
Print Is Dead – But Long Live Print
“Well-crafted print publications have sprung up in recent years for that audience, designed to be collected – and displayed on coffee tables – as much as read.”
The Nashville Symphony Gets A Big Gift From An Unexpected Source
Taylor Swift (she’s a country/pop crossover star, in case you haven’t heard of her) gives the financially struggling orchestra a gift – for her birthday.
Locked-Out Minnesota Orchestra Musicians Announce Season Of Their Own
“The Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra revealed details of 10 concerts they will produce and play between January and May.” Erstwhile music director Osmo Vänskä will conduct four of them, and a couple of very well-known soloists will perform for greatly reduced fees.
Colin Wilson, 82, Author Of ‘The Outsider’
“The author of well over 100 volumes of fiction and nonfiction, Mr. Wilson became a sensation at 24, when The Outsider was published and instantly touched a deep nerve in postwar Britain.”