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Song-writer Dave Frishberg, 88

His songwriting wit was for grown-ups, yet he reached his widest audience with sharpshooting ditties for kids as a regular musical contributor to ABC-TV’s long-running Saturday morning animated show “Schoolhouse Rock!” - The New York Times

New Buyers Are Painting San Francisco’s Colorful Old Houses “Gentrification Gray”

"To their proponents, they're understated and contemporary, with paint jobs that will take a beating without ever looking dirty. To their detractors, they're unimaginative, historically inaccurate aberrations, the kind of thing an affluent biotech CEO who wears a gray Patagonia fleece vest every day might appreciate." - The Guardian

French Dictionary Adds Gender-Neutral Pronoun; Education Minister Is Horrified

Because younger people are starting to use it, lexicographers at Le Petit Robert added the pronoun iel (a portmanteau of il and elle). The education minister huffed on Twitter, "Inclusive writing is not the future of the French language," and one MP complained to the Académie Française. - AP

Are All-Female- Or All-BIPOC-Composer Programs The Best Way To Diversify Classical Music?

For example, the group Resonance Works Pittsburgh, which has committed to make half of all works it plays by women and at least one-third by composers of color, just did an all-female-composer program. But might that limit audience interest the same way all-Beethoven concerts can? - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A First Printing Of The US Constitution Is Now The Most Expensive Document Or Book Ever Sold At Auction

The price was $43.2 million, and the anonymous winner outbid an impromptu group of cryptocurrency players who raised money via blockchain over a few days and said they planned to put the document on public display. - Artnet

“I Knew That My Actions Were Wrong And Illegal”: Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud

He had previously pled not guilty to several charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft; in an apparent plea deal, he confessed to one count of wire fraud, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison and must pay $86 million in restitution. - ARTnews

Qatar Says It Will Make Itself A “Vast Outdoor Art Museum” For World Cup 2022

The public art project will ultimately involve 100 installations (70 are now in place), by both local artists and Western big names such as Richard Serra and Louise Bourgeois, at stadiums, rail stations, schools and shopping areas in Doha and other cities. - Artnet

Australia’s Conservative Government Refuses To Insure Arts Against COVID Closures

"(Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition) government has rejected a call by the Greens and Labor to provide Australia's live performance sector with an insurance guarantee to guard against future cancellations and border closures due to COVID." - The Guardian

Talk To The Hand – How Our Hands Help Us Communicate

I hadn’t perceived how hard it is to read the responses of one’s audience when the most expressive part of the face is hidden. - Hedgehog Review

Will The Supreme Court Finally Declare Copyright Piracy Theft? (Wait… What?)

For quite some time, there’s been an esoteric debate running in intellectual property circles as to whether copyright infringement is best characterized as thievery. - The Hollywood Reporter

Why Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla Is Stepping Down In Birmingham

If this period of enforced home life made her reassess her priorities – she lives in Salzburg with her husband and their two children – she was not alone. - iNews

A Sharp Rise In Demands To Ban Books In Libraries

“We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges. I’ve worked for ALA for 20 years, and I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.” - Time

Why Did We Organize Time Into Seven-Day Weeks?

The development that really established the seven-day week as insurmountable, David Henkin contends, came in the middle of the twentieth century: the television schedule. - The New Yorker

Why Does Sad Music Make Us Feel Better?

It can act as a social surrogate. Sad music can be experienced as an imaginary friend who provides support and empathy after loss. - The Conversation

The Scheme That Saved Classical Music In Melbourne Is Expanding To The Rest Of Australia

Melbourne Digital Concert Hall streamed 430 performances, with over $1.6 million going to musicians during one of the longest, strictest lockdowns in the world. In 2022, as the Australian Digital Concert Hall, it will transmit 200 programs by performers from Perth to Brisbane to Hobart. - The Age (Melbourne)

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