Stories

Board books: They’re really hard. Imagine a baby. “The baby has a note taped to them. The note says, 'I can’t read. I can’t talk. I don’t care about stories or plots, classically speaking, or characters as they’re usually defined. What do you have for me?’” - The New York Times

According to Fortune, Justin Sun “pressured the crypto trade publication CoinDesk to retract a December 2 article by Callan Quinn that was critical of Sun’s press conference,” where he ate the banana for which he’d paid millions. - ArtNews

Big caveat, of course: “Technology enhances the concert experience, but we must ensure it doesn’t overshadow the music itself.” - Daily Cal

“Many musicians and other creative spirits feel as if they have little significance or impact in our society. The prevailing metrics of success—money, power, whatever—relegate their work to the fringes and sub-fringes.” But let’s take a look at how the arts truly matter. - The Honest Broker

They’re intense places, and as we all know to our chagrin, they’re often "where your long-held plans can go awry.” - NPR

“There has been a surge in applications for office-to-residential conversions since the lifting of an office space limit last March. However, architects say they can be daunting and costly with challenges around deep floorplates and a lack of natural light.” - The Guardian (UK)

Will it be banned? “That’s the pressing question keeping creators and small business owners in anxious limbo as they await a decision that could upend their livelihoods.” - Seattle Times (AP)

Turns out the improvisational process he goes through with his actors is similar for the set designers. "I discover the story as the characters are developed. It is a case of dipping in and out and learning as much as I can,” says designer Suzie Davies. - The Observer (UK)

Studios plan to use artists to create characters or looks - and then “fine-tune” them, owning them forever, using AI. As you might imagine, this “would seem to signal potential for talent exploitation and diminished future opportunities for artists and animators.” - Variety

"There is no room for revisionism concerning the regime’s cruelty, but the Casa del Fascio and other buildings by Terragni and his circle show how complicated it can be to pass judgments on the intentions and messages of the architects who served it.” - The New York Times

"Journalism is not a business that responds well to the usual American capitalist imperative to treat your customers as victims to be tricked and sucked dry. The overall health of the free press is therefore a handy barometer” to tell how things stand (they don’t look good). - How Things Work

Early on, Shōgun and Emilia Pérez were doing well - and Conclave won for screenplay. - Los Angeles Times

Now we’re onto “digital smells,” or at least proposed one. But: “Why can we not yet send Stinkygrams? Why is the Cloud not scented? Why does 4D cinema suck so bad? As yet, nobody knows.” - Salon

Kidman, currently in the Oscars mix for Babygirl, says, “I’ve learned how to have a pretty stable, sensible life, which I know sounds boring, but my artistic life is anything but that.” - The Observer (UK)

This book has sold approximately a hundred zillion copies (conservative estimate), but let’s just say there might not be enough fact-checking going on. - Mother Jones