Sounds gloriously picturesque: "There’s a tall lamp standing on the stone quayside at a lock in rural Co Carlow on a warm and clear evening. Beside it, a cream and green barge is moored, with a mixing desk on the bow and a few cables trailing on to the bank up towards the lamp." - Irish Times
The art park (project? bioregion?) in France is a bit unclear right now. Luma "is a wonderland of good intentions. They certainly don’t pave the road to hell, but they do offer versions of desirability that are at odds with each other." - The Observer (UK)
Charles McNulty, in Los Angeles, says yes, but: "Anticipating the stress of the new COVID-19 protocols, I forgot the old stresses, the lunatic driving at Hollywood and Vine, the $25 parking fee ('credit card only, please'). The woman sitting behind me returned after intermission with a bag of potato chips." - Los Angeles Times
Grant was the first in so many categories. First woman to write the book, lyrics, and music to a Broadway musical. One of the first Black actors with a long-running character on a soap opera. And when she couldn't win - see 1986's flop Phillis, about Phillis Wheatley - she bounced back. - The New York Times
Or was the graffiti artist after whom the NY Police Department sent a drone, a helicopter, and several cars actually the next potential Banksy or Basquiat? - Vice
Australian tenor Stuart Skelton on Wagner: "Singers are like athletes doing long-distance competitions. You get to the point where you’ve reached your physical limits. You hit the wall. Then it’s a mental game of trying to dig deep into your technical resources to keep going." - The Observer (UK)
You might call the headlines "brutally honest," if you were being kind. "Novel or Nightmare?" one asks. "Two Pathetic Books," one proclaims. - The New York Times
"Comics artist Ilan Manouach and AI engineer Ioannis Siglidis developed the Neural Yorker, an artificial intelligence (AI) engine that posts computer-generated cartoons on Twitter." The results can be hilarious - or deeply unsettling. - Hyperallergic
Asner won played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show; his career continued into the 2000s, including Up and Elf, and even the 2019 Dead to Me. He also worked hard for unions (including the Screen Actors Guild), animal rights, and farmworkers. - The New York Times
Rooney found immense success with her first two books - so much success that it became a challenge to writing. How did she get back to work? - The New York Times
Hilma Wolitzer - yes, the mother of Meg - has been publishing books for nearly 50 years. After losing her husband to COVID, she developed a new book. - Los Angeles Times
Anna Härmälä: "I knew I needed to tell a story about this, but also I needed to survive. So the story has been bubbling inside for six years, and now it’s coming out." - The Guardian (UK)
It's like a mini-sociology course, reading comedian memoirs. Take Tina Fey's Bossypants (which "has a truly jaw-dropping number of racist jokes") or books by Amy Poehler or Amy Schumer and compare them to memoirs by Mindy Kaling, Issa Rae, or Tiffany Haddish. - LitHub
And they don't want day and date releases, either. When movies get released on streaming, the speed of piracy is, well, it's immediate. If the U.S. gets the delta variant under control, will distributors return to theatrical windows? Perhaps. - Los Angeles Times
