Since the latest wildfires, interest in natural buildings has spiked, particularly after a widely-shared photo showed a backyard SuperAdobe that emerged from the Eaton fire intact. Well-designed adobes resist earthquakes as well as fires, and they’re quicker and less expensive to build than conventional modern homes. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“(Hadi Matar,) the New Jersey man on trial (for) the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, declined to testify in his defense Thursday as his lawyers rested their case without calling any witnesses. … Earlier Thursday, prosecutors called a forensics expert as their final witness, wrapping up seven days of testimony.” - AP
“The Broccoli family’s feud with Amazon MGM Studios over the (property) appears to have reached a resolution. Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother Michael Wilson, who have long controlled the 007 franchise, (have) reached an agreement to hand over creative control to a joint venture with the studio.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)
The Center gets only 16% of its budget from Federal money, and that's for maintenance, repairs and operation of the building, which the government owns. The now-fired CEO and board chairman were very successful fundraisers, and the chairman a major donor. Will anyone be making up for that? - The New York Times
Mariño, a sopranist, once begged his mother to take him to the doctor to fix his voice. Now, he says before a residency in Australia, "I like to describe my voice as a light lyric soprano, with a bit of coloratura.” - The Guardian (UK)
Everyone, deep down, has “a desire for recognition to be seen as human by other humans. This is a driving, animating desire. Attention is like right next to it, and so it tastes enough like it to keep you going for it without ever delivering the thing you want.” - Slate
"The company announced on Friday that it would leave its offices in the West Village of Manhattan and relocate to a 30,000-square-foot space in Times Square, more than doubling its footprint.” - The New York Times
“Tilted Axis has carved out a unique literary niche, and has caught the attention of critics and prize juries, landing major awards and winning acclaim for writers who were unknown in the Anglophone world.” - The New York Times
"Los Angeles Unified officials repeatedly violated Proposition 28 — a state law requiring the hiring of arts teachers — misusing millions in state funds and denying promised arts instruction to students across the school system, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed Monday." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“With their meandering plots, pop-philosophical asides and frequent jabs at social convention and organized religion, Mr. Robbins’s books were the perfect accompaniment to acid trips, Grateful Dead shows and weekend yoga retreats, long before those things became middle-class and mainstream.” - The New York Times
“For two decades, a crew from Lackawanna County in Pennsylvania traveled to a dozen small museums across the country, where its ringleader smashed through security systems to strip them of art and precious memorabilia.” - The New York Times
He drops gems anyway. About his wife, who competed for the Cliburn: "Acting just sort of chose me, and I got going. But she’s an artist. I never looked at myself that way. I learned a lot about it, the discipline, the appreciation, from her.” - The New York Times
The so-called “ink knights” were deeply into the spy game. “What’s stronger than the sword? Apparently a humble aspect, a high tolerance for cocktail party talk, and a library card.” - LitHub
Trump plans to announce the dismissal of multiple members of the Kennedy Center board as soon as today, a group likely to include recent appointees of former President Joe Biden. - The Atlantic
"The 82-year-old musician has been in failing health for some years, and in January 2023 resigned from his position as the general music director of the Berlin State Opera. Although increasingly frail, he has continued to make occasional appearances as a conductor." - The Guardian
Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency mogul who earned international notoriety when he purchased Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian (the banana duct-taped to a wall) and ate it, claims that an art adviser forged his signature and fraudulently sold to Geffen Giacometti's Le Nez. Geffen's attorney calls the suit "bizarre and baseless." - The New York Times
As Capella Romana was planning concerts in Portland and Seattle, their NEA grant funding was suddenly frozen. Donations have poured in, but the concert, “by bringing together Black and European musical and culture traditions, … may very well raise a warning flag in the new administration." - Oregon ArtsWatch
The “French musical about a Mexican drug trafficker who transitions and leaves behind a life of violence has generated a wave of controversy,” but stars Selena Gomez and Édgar Ramírez say it’s not a political film. - El País
“Time and again, fires have fast-tracked urban change. London after the Great Fire of 1666 rewrote its safety laws, widened streets and erected new public buildings, like the domed St. Paul’s Cathedral. Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871 ... invented the modern American metropolis.” - The New York Times
