Stories

he source of discovery is the last 70 years of music. It's all brand new, right now. So you're competing with every song that has ever come out." -BBC

At this tumultuous moment, I think we each have to decide for ourselves which pieces of art to keep, and which to throw out. Perhaps fandom -- defined as the attachment to the artist as creator -- should no longer be the point. - CNN

For violinist Jennifer Koh, the answer crystallized early in 2020: Hire composers, and get on Instagram. - NPR

DC and Marvel got you bored? Hunt down Captain Invincible, Griff the Invisible, or, even better, the TV series Cleverman, told from an Indigenous Australian perspective. - The Guardian (UK)

Madeline Miller's 2011 book The Song of Achilles has, she says, helped readers come out to their parents; has inspired people to earn Ph.D.s in Classics; and even led to some intense tattoos. - The Guardian (UK)

What kind of vetting do they have over there at Sony, anyway? - Washington Post

In theory, four fall film festivals are about to take place, with masked, vaccinated, and tested participants. "Yes, the last Oscars were just four months ago. But there’s no shortage of intriguing awards season hopefuls premiering at these festivals." - Los Angeles Times

Newlove wrote hundreds of articles, essays, and stories; novels; and several books of advice for writers as well. Once sober, he called his former muse "Drunkspeare." - The New York Times

There's a revival in the town of St. Austell, thanks to the history of clay. - The Guardian (UK)

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)