"Blackbird’s new checkless exit gives me the creeps. It's just the latest in a series of changes that have gradually and steadily stripped the human touch and human voice out of restaurants. Each of these changes was small, but together they’ve made going out to eat much less personal." - The New York Times
After Neill’s blood cancer went into remission - and his book about his experiences was published - the Jurassic Park, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and The Piano actor started working harder than ever. - The Guardian (UK)
"With South African stars shining on the international stage, opera has boomed since racial barriers were scrapped in 1994, drawing in talent from the country's great choral traditions to carve out an important place in (the) cultural landscape. Much of the change has been driven by the 25-year-old Cape Town Opera." - AFP (Yahoo!)
She was one of the Bolshoi's biggest stars and in demand as a guest all over the world. Yet the president of Georgia himself called and asked her to come home to Tbilisi and revive the national ballet company, then in a desperate state after years of post-independence civil war and shortages. - Bachtrack
"Appiah, a professor of philosophy and law at New York University, is author of more than a dozen books and is known for scholarly contributions to philosophy relating to ethics, language, nationality and race." He is also familiar for his advice column "The Ethicist" in The New York Times Magazine. - The New York Times
The entertainment division's bonanza was from improvements in direct-to-consumer streaming and the box-office hit Inside Out 2. … The streaming business specifically (which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+) had third-quarter revenue of $6.4 billion and net income of $47 million, compared to last year's third-quarter losses of over half a billion. - The Hollywood Reporter
"'We no longer see any prospect of success,' the group (Last Generation Austria) said in a statement. The group regularly made headlines over the past two years blocking streets and pouring black liquid over a screen protecting Gustav Klimt's masterpiece Death And Life in Vienna's Leopold Museum." - AFP (Barron's)
"Robinson, who has been artistic director at the opera company in Missouri since 2008, will join Seattle Opera on Sept. 4. … He succeeds Christina Scheppelmann, who (is) leaving after the end of the 2023-24 season to become general and artistic director of Brussels’s La Monnaie/De Munt." - The Seattle Times
Mariko Silver, currently head of the Henry Luce Foundation, formerly president of Bennington College, and for several years an Obama administration official, will take up her new post in September. - AP
For instance, the Alliance of Black Orchestral Percussionists “provides students with equipment like mallets and cymbals, allowing proteges to master more quickly the dizzying array of instruments for which an orchestral percussionist is responsible.” - San Francisco Classical Voice
Ziff Davis will be “the third corporate parent for the pioneering tech news and reviews site in four years” - with its value dropping at each sale. - Variety
A British art center, “initially due to be located at the gallery’s current campus in Vernon Square in central London, will later be moved a couple of miles south next to the Thames in purpose-designed premises at Somerset House.” - ARTnews
The CEO “said the company must reduce payroll by 20% or layoffs will commence later this month, adding that employees have until Aug. 16 to take the buyout packages, which max out at 12 weeks of pay.” That includes about 100 journalists, some who recently won Pulitzers. - Creative Loafing
