The Rinzai Zen master Ikkyū Sojun (1394-1481) was a poet, musician, artist, and rebel. He led a life of whoring and drinking. His poems — “often erotic, argumentative, contradictory, judgmental, self-doubting, and occasionally shaded with guilt” — are still as startling as the day they were written. – Jan Herman
Recent Listening: Chucho Valdés
Chucho Valdés, Jazz Batá 2 (Mack Avenue)
Valdés’s Jazz Batá was considered a departure into the avant-garde when he made it in 1972. Nearly half a century later, the follow-up finds him as adventurous as ever, heading a quartet that concentrates on mastery of the batá tradition of West Africa. – Doug Ramsey
Brain Scans Of Actors Find Different Neural Functioning When They’re In Character
“Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, [Canadian researchers] report how 15 method actors, mainly theatre students, were trained to take on a Shakespeare role – either Romeo or Juliet – in a theatre workshop, and were asked various questions, to which they responded in character. They were then invited into the laboratory, where their brains were scanned in a series of experiments.” – The Guardian
Backstage Workers Are Being ‘Pushed To The Breaking Point’, Say UK Unions
“BECTU and Equity and professional associations for stage managers and lighting and sound practitioners have argued that ‘excessively long working hours’ are leading to ‘burnout and serious mental health issues’.” How long are these hours? Up to “15 to 18 hours per day, six days per week.” – The Stage
Pakistan Has Banned Indian Movies. That May Hurt Pakistan More Than India.
The embargo was instated by Pakistan’s Association of Film Exhibitors following last month’s flare-up of armed conflict in and around Kashmir. It may seem a patriotic gesture, but there’s a real question whether Pakistan’s roughly 120 remaining cinemas can survive without Indian films to show. – BBC