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Musicians Are Extremely Tired Of Obsessive Fan Behavior

Chappell Roan is the latest to call out her so-called fans. She recently posted, “It's weird how people think that you know a person just 'cause you see them online or you listen to the art they make. ... I'm allowed to say no to creepy behaviour.” - CBC

The Bad, Even Truly Terrible, Sculptures Of The Rich Might Be Pointing Toward Our AI Future

The sculpture of Priscilla Chan, wife to Mark Zuckerberg, is so obviously self-referential and AI-influenced that it’s hard to discuss critically. But “is this what most sculpture, or indeed most art, will look like in the future? Given the endless possibilities of AI, is this where we’re all headed?” - Washington Post

Hettie Jones, Supporter And Publisher Of The Beats, Has Died

Jones  was “a poet and author who with her husband, LeRoi Jones, ... made her household a hub for Beat writers and other artists — but who was often described as a footnote in the rise of her famous spouse as ‘the white wife’ he disavowed.” - The New York Times

How Did Chicago’s Improv Comedian Masters Deal With The DNC?

Well, Second City doesn’t really do a ton of political comedy, per se. However, if someone shouted out Tim Walz: “We know he likes white-guy tacos. … Truly - yes. Present him as very cool uncle. So, yeah, I'd probably go straight to Minnesota.” - NPR

How To Go On With The Show When Your Closest Collaborator Dies

“Adam thought that solo shows should answer the question: What is our place in the world? I looked after the jokes, and he looked after that.” Then the show went to Broadway - and Adam Brace suddenly died. - The New York Times

Disney Is Fined A Trifling Amount For The Death Of A Worker On A Marvel Set

Surely $36,000 will make Disney more careful. The fine came “in connection with the death of Juan ‘Spike' Osorio, a lighting technician who fell through a faulty catwalk on the Studio City set of a Marvel TV series.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

Washington Post Kills Its Galleries Column

In an email sent to several DC-area art exhibition spaces on Monday, August 19, column author and critic Mark Jenkins announced the series would shut down after the last iteration runs in this Sunday’s print edition. - Hyperallergic

Lessons For Theatre From This Year’s Edinburgh Festivals

While the international plays are overtly political, encompassing disability rights, antiracism and ecology, the homegrown works explored the more personal terrain of addiction, recovery and self-care. - The New York Times

What Republican, Democratic Pop Music Choices At Conventions Says About Them

These days, you get this sort of unabashedly instructional approach to pop music only from Republicans, whose musical choices at July’s Republican National Convention felt, across the board, unburdened by any metaphorical obligations. - Washington Post

Did Google Get Off Easy In California’s New Media Law?

Critics say it’s a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google’s financial commitment. - Fast Company

A Librarian Targeted By Hate After She Defended Access To Books

She was labeled a “sicko, pig, trash,” she writes in the memoir. "The sense of betrayal was overwhelming." One message was particularly alarming: “Continue with your LGBT agenda on our children cause we gunna put in the dirt very soon ... You can’t hide." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Conducting An Orchestra Made Up Entirely Of Traditional Chinese Instruments

The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra may look, from a distance, like a European orchestra, but its musicians play erhu, gaohu, huqin (all bowed strings), sheng, guan, di (woodwinds), conchs, ox-horns and percussion. The HKCO runs a competition for young conductors, who must know both Chinese and European classical genres cold. - Classical Music (UK)

Why “Weird” Works As A Critique

In the 20th century, the word lost its hint of the macabre as its meaning became something quieter. “Weird” now means peculiar — perhaps passingly so, but against what one would expect. - The New York Times

Did Brian Eno Really Use Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” As The Urinal It Was Originally Manufactured To Be?

He's certainly happy to claim that he did, having told the tale several times with plenty of backstory and detail. And he has quite an answer when asked if he did any damage to the piece. That said, there seems to be no independent evidence that Eno actually went through with it. - Artnet

Takeaways On The TV Industry From This Year’s Edinburgh TV Conference

 The problem is, at the moment, networks aren’t taking risks, as the tough economic conditions of recent years have led to glut of tried-and-tested program decisions. - Deadline

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