AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- “The Odyssey” and Hi-Tech Regression in Hollywood
Siegfried and the dragon, from Fritz Lang”s “Die Niebelungen”[The following piece is reprinted from Boston’s ArtsFuse online magazine.]
- Lincoln’s Watchmaker Left a Note Inside
Good Morning,
In April 1861 a watchmaker cleaning Lincoln’s pocket watch the day Fort Sumter fell engraved inside the case: “Thank God we have a government.” Nobody saw it until the Smithsonian opened the watch in 2009 (NPR). Aardman, the Bristol animation studio behind Wallace and Gromit, 50 this year and still winning BAFTAs with stop-motion, says AI won’t reach the storytelling; its academy teaches students to keep the imperfections of a hand-made blink (BBC).
The Kennedy Center’s African Lounge held a Ghanaian carving of grief at Kennedy’s death, kente cloth and Yoruba doors. The room is now empty, the curator wasn’t told where the works went, and the center calls them “fully safeguarded” while declining to show them (The New York Times).
Venue owners got Macklemore pulled from Ed Sheeran’s tour; within a week Sheeran and Robert Kraft had pledged millions to Gaza relief and the rapper had his first headlines since the 2010s. Netanyahu is threatening to strip the citizenship of the two Israeli directors of NAZA, a documentary on civilian deaths in Gaza, which took a record 25-minute ovation at Venice and reaches the New York Film Festival September 26 (Los Angeles Times).
Deborah Sandler Kemper, general director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, is leaving after 15 seasons; she kept the company alive after Covid with a $2.5 million state appropriation she won by lobbying Missouri’s governor herself, unannounced, in a year of headlines about arts cuts (Kansas City Stack).
All of our stories below.
- You’ll Have To Take The A Train Even Farther Than 181st For This New Theatre
What if actors and backstage workers who live in Inwood could walk home from work? That’s part of the appeal of the new, Lin-Manuel Miranda-supported, permanent buildling for the People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante on 206th Street. – The New York Times
- Turns Out The Lucas Museum Provides A Great Backdrop For Jedi-Themed Protests
At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Miss Marple Goes To The Alps
Why not? Her creator sure did – and, originally, Death on the Nile was supposed to be a Marple mystery, so Miss Marple can travel. – The Guardian (UK)
ISSUES
- The Secret Inscriptions Inside President Lincoln’s Watch
The watchmaker inscribed words about Fort Sumter being attacked, and then wrote, “Thank God we have a government.” – NPR
- A New California Law Means That The Cranachs At The Norton Simon Museum Are Once Again Lawsuit Material
“The paintings were among many looted from Goudstikker by the Nazi Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering in 1940 and later recovered by Allied forces who returned them to Dutch officials.” – The New York Times
- Interesting: Fashion Week Suggests A Cohesive Theme For Our Times
Rarely does such a cohesive, poignant theme emerge from any given New York Fashion Week. But this September, a surprising number of designers showed work that seemed to yearn for a breath of fresh air, for the obliviating embrace of the wilderness and the natural world. – Washington Post
- “The Sistine Chapel Of The New Deal” Might Be Saved Thanks To A Republican Congressman
“The sponsor of the bill to save it is Representative Scott Perry, Republican of Pennsylvania and former chairman of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, whose mission statement expressing support for ‘limited government’ is the very antithesis of the social welfare programs celebrated in the Cohen building’s artworks.” – The New Republic
- Madrid Gets A New Stellar Museum
The real game-changer is a landmark donation of over 180 works worth more than €16 million ($18.5 million) from the Thyssen-Bornemisza family, plus a loan of 180 more, worth €10 million ($11.5 million). – Artnet
MEDIA
- A Full Report From Inside The U.S. Administration’s Commitment To Breaking The Kennedy Center
So much art was planned to be decommissioned. For instance: “The removal plan targeted 15 artworks in the African Lounge. … The lounge’s textiles, artwork and a carved wood sculpture from Ghana representing Africans’ grief over Kennedy’s death were removed without public explanation.” – The New York Times
- Another White House Attack On The First Amendment Sees CNN, MS NOW, And Politico Banned
CNN is not OK with press passes being revoked: “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.” – CNN
- Machines Writing Their Own Code Might Be The Third Great Phase Of Human History
“Life on Earth has evolved in two phases: first, biological, then cultural. But we may now be on the verge of the next critical juncture in the history of life.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Unless You Manage To Opt Out, Your TV Is Definitely Spying On You
At the least, the very least, create a burner account for the email you use to log into the device, and prefereably all of the streaming services as well. – The Verge
- A Deeply Skeptical Austria Gets A New ‘Sound Of Music’ Museum
“For decades, many residents [of Salzburg] didn’t even know about the blockbuster musical that put their city on the map for global audiences. Those who did often dismissed it as kitsch.” – The New York Times
MUSIC
- Miss Marple Goes To The Alps
Why not? Her creator sure did – and, originally, Death on the Nile was supposed to be a Marple mystery, so Miss Marple can travel. – The Guardian (UK)
- PEN America Appoints New Leader After Internal Battles Of This Past Summer
“(The literature-and-human-rights advocacy group) has named Phil Klay as its new president. … Klay’s appointment comes after novelist Dinaw Mengestu resigned from his post as president in July following the organization’s report on cultural boycotts and the ‘rising isolation and exclusion’ of Israeli and Jewish writers.” – Publishers Weekly
- Singapore Is Paying Its People To Read Books
“Under the scheme, readers accrue points that can be redeemed for a few cents. People will have to log 50 daily reading sessions (of 15 minutes or more) on a government website to earn S$1 (80 cents US). … One reading session is allowed daily.” – The Guardian
- Barnes & Noble Buys Another Distressed Indie Bookseller
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has two locations in metro Cincinnati, is the third independent retail business that B&N has acquired in three years. The chain bought Denver’s Tattered Cover in 2024 and the Bay Area’s Books Inc. last year; both companies had filed for bankruptcy. – Publishers Weekly
- Bookstores Warn Of Threats To Publishers Of Left-Wing Literature
The criminalization of left-wing literature and those who publish or distribute it, the booksellers said, should also concern mainstream bookstores, which should be able to carry “a broad range of viewpoints without fear of government scrutiny or interference. – Publishers Weekly
PEOPLE
- “The Odyssey” and Hi-Tech Regression in HollywoodSiegfried and the dragon, from Fritz Lang”s “Die Niebelungen”
[The following piece is reprinted from Boston’s ArtsFuse online magazine.]
- Lincoln’s Watchmaker Left a Note Inside
Good Morning,
In April 1861 a watchmaker cleaning Lincoln’s pocket watch the day Fort Sumter fell engraved inside the case: “Thank God we have a government.” Nobody saw it until the Smithsonian opened the watch in 2009 (NPR). Aardman, the Bristol animation studio behind Wallace and Gromit, 50 this year and still winning BAFTAs with stop-motion, says AI won’t reach the storytelling; its academy teaches students to keep the imperfections of a hand-made blink (BBC).
The Kennedy Center’s African Lounge held a Ghanaian carving of grief at Kennedy’s death, kente cloth and Yoruba doors. The room is now empty, the curator wasn’t told where the works went, and the center calls them “fully safeguarded” while declining to show them (The New York Times).
Venue owners got Macklemore pulled from Ed Sheeran’s tour; within a week Sheeran and Robert Kraft had pledged millions to Gaza relief and the rapper had his first headlines since the 2010s. Netanyahu is threatening to strip the citizenship of the two Israeli directors of NAZA, a documentary on civilian deaths in Gaza, which took a record 25-minute ovation at Venice and reaches the New York Film Festival September 26 (Los Angeles Times).
Deborah Sandler Kemper, general director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, is leaving after 15 seasons; she kept the company alive after Covid with a $2.5 million state appropriation she won by lobbying Missouri’s governor herself, unannounced, in a year of headlines about arts cuts (Kansas City Stack).
All of our stories below.
- You’ll Have To Take The A Train Even Farther Than 181st For This New Theatre
What if actors and backstage workers who live in Inwood could walk home from work? That’s part of the appeal of the new, Lin-Manuel Miranda-supported, permanent buildling for the People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante on 206th Street. – The New York Times
- Turns Out The Lucas Museum Provides A Great Backdrop For Jedi-Themed Protests
At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Miss Marple Goes To The Alps
Why not? Her creator sure did – and, originally, Death on the Nile was supposed to be a Marple mystery, so Miss Marple can travel. – The Guardian (UK)
PEOPLE
- “The Odyssey” and Hi-Tech Regression in HollywoodSiegfried and the dragon, from Fritz Lang”s “Die Niebelungen”
[The following piece is reprinted from Boston’s ArtsFuse online magazine.]
- Lincoln’s Watchmaker Left a Note Inside
Good Morning,
In April 1861 a watchmaker cleaning Lincoln’s pocket watch the day Fort Sumter fell engraved inside the case: “Thank God we have a government.” Nobody saw it until the Smithsonian opened the watch in 2009 (NPR). Aardman, the Bristol animation studio behind Wallace and Gromit, 50 this year and still winning BAFTAs with stop-motion, says AI won’t reach the storytelling; its academy teaches students to keep the imperfections of a hand-made blink (BBC).
The Kennedy Center’s African Lounge held a Ghanaian carving of grief at Kennedy’s death, kente cloth and Yoruba doors. The room is now empty, the curator wasn’t told where the works went, and the center calls them “fully safeguarded” while declining to show them (The New York Times).
Venue owners got Macklemore pulled from Ed Sheeran’s tour; within a week Sheeran and Robert Kraft had pledged millions to Gaza relief and the rapper had his first headlines since the 2010s. Netanyahu is threatening to strip the citizenship of the two Israeli directors of NAZA, a documentary on civilian deaths in Gaza, which took a record 25-minute ovation at Venice and reaches the New York Film Festival September 26 (Los Angeles Times).
Deborah Sandler Kemper, general director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, is leaving after 15 seasons; she kept the company alive after Covid with a $2.5 million state appropriation she won by lobbying Missouri’s governor herself, unannounced, in a year of headlines about arts cuts (Kansas City Stack).
All of our stories below.
- You’ll Have To Take The A Train Even Farther Than 181st For This New Theatre
What if actors and backstage workers who live in Inwood could walk home from work? That’s part of the appeal of the new, Lin-Manuel Miranda-supported, permanent buildling for the People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante on 206th Street. – The New York Times
- Turns Out The Lucas Museum Provides A Great Backdrop For Jedi-Themed Protests
At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Miss Marple Goes To The Alps
Why not? Her creator sure did – and, originally, Death on the Nile was supposed to be a Marple mystery, so Miss Marple can travel. – The Guardian (UK)
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Turns Out The Lucas Museum Provides A Great Backdrop For Jedi-Themed Protests
At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Why Do So Many Of Us Love A Good Small Murder Town?
Sure, they started with Miss Marple and the written word, but “the Small Murder Town really came into its own with the advent of film—and not just any film. Small Murder Towns thrive on the small screen; this is a trope that was made for television.” – Reactor
- Are Efforts To Silence Filmmakers And Musicians Only, Actually, Marketing Their Work?
For instance: “Macklemore, who hasn’t had a major hit since the 2010s, is relevant again. He has the support of artists, fans and thousands more outraged by his dismissal.” Then there’s NAZA. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
- As Studies Suggest Cognitive Decline With AI Use, Universities Are In A Bind
As A.I. leaders warn about the dangers of their own technology, the dissonance between optimism of university leaders and the fears of many students and professors may increase. Professors and students are often in a bind about what they should do: Use more A.I. to stay relevant, or dial back to preserve learning and thinking? – The New York Times
- Rebellion Against Flock Camera Surveillance Has Become a Rallying Cry
In at least 36 states, opponents of the technology have taken matters into their own hands, destroying or impairing ALPRs rather than wait for local governments to step in. – The Conversation