“For the last 25 years, in novel after novel, Houellebecq has advanced a similar critique of contemporary sexual mores. And while Houellebecq has always been a polarizing figure — admired for his provocations, disdained for his crudeness — he has turned out to be a writer of unusual prescience. … Houellebecq, whose work is saturated with brutality, resentment and sentimentality, understood what it meant to be an incel long before the term became common.”
Avid Portland Patrons Tell Theatres: If You Don’t Pay Workers Minimum Wage We’re Not Buying Tickets
“Are you putting on a show with your friends, or are you hiring. If you have a company and have one or two people on staff, you cannot not pay other people. What we’re really saying is: Professional theater companies have to honor the law, or else we can’t honor them.”
Why “Follow Your Passion” Is Bad Advice
The term “Follow your passion” has increased ninefold in English books since 1990. “Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” is another college-counseling standby of unknown provenance. But according to psychologist Carol Dweck and others, that advice is steering people wrong.
Using Dance As A Tool In Mental Health
Mental health is an issue that can be difficult to approach and discuss. Dance can break down this barrier as it allows us to express ourselves without using words: how we move our bodies can say so much. Dance allows us to explore complex ideas, feelings and emotions, and find creative ways to express that in movement.
Will Artificial Intelligence Be Our New Therapists?
Some people might be more comfortable disclosing their innermost feelings to an AI. A study conducted by the Institute for Creative Technologies in Los Angeles in 2014 suggests that people display their sadness more intensely, and are less scared about self-disclosure, when they believe they’re interacting with a virtual person, instead of a real one. As when we write a diary, screens can serve as a kind of shield from outside judgment.
The Great Cup-Holder Debate: Philadelphia’s Academy Of Music Makes The Call
The Kimmel had considered installing cup holders as part of the new-seating project, a feature which, presumably, would have encouraged beverage consumption — not to mention boosted concession sales figures — at Broadway shows. But after much discussion, that aspect of the new seat design was nixed. Cup holders would have cost more money, a Kimmel spokeswoman said, and since Opera Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Ballet were not interested in having cup holders (they don’t allow drinks in performances), the orchestra and Kimmel decided to apply that money to other aspects of the project.
Are The Best Ideas Beautiful? How Science Has Tried To Make The Case
I think it’s time we take a lesson from the history of science. Beauty does not have a good track record as a guide for theory-development. Many beautiful hypotheses were just wrong, like Johannes Kepler’s idea that planetary orbits are stacked in regular polyhedrons known as ‘Platonic solids’, or that atoms are knots in an invisible aether, or that the Universe is in a ‘steady state’ rather than undergoing expansion. And other theories that were once considered ugly have stood the test of time.
The Empathy Project: When Medical Workers Write Plays And Make Theatre
“By studying theatre you’re being asked to exercise getting into someone else’s psychology. There is something about writing other characters that is a fundamental act of empathy and emotional, psychological imagination.”
“From The Top” Fires Longtime Host Christopher O’Riley
The show’s producers had told O’Riley that they wanted to give him a bonus recognizing his work with the From the Top, he said, but he responded, “I am From the Top. For the intents and purposes of the perception of the audience, meaning stations and the kids who have been on the show, it’s not the organization,” he told Current. “It’s me.”
UK Unions Draft Code To Get Tough On Musician Harrassment
The code, a joint initiative between the Musicians’ Union and the Incorporated Society of Musicians, aims to address “deeply concerning” reports that have been received by the organisations, ranging from sexism to sexual assault.
Is Hollywood Really Making Progress Hiring Minorities And Women? Sandra Oh Says –
“I’m not going to say that the tide has changed, no. But … I think people who have been in power, who have mostly been white men, and people who are white, they listen now. They not only listen and are open, they make the effort for change. I do feel that has changed. I can feel it now because of the way I can push: ‘Hey, what about this? Hey, what about that?’ Trust me, I’m relentless.
The Piccassos That Used To Live At The Los Angeles Times
The artist was Pablo Picasso. The five lithographs were abstract depictions of famous literary figures, including Shakespeare, done in vibrant brushstrokes. They were among the last vestiges of a 110-piece art collection assembled in the late 1960s and early ’70s by the newspaper’s parent company, Times Mirror Co.
FCC Says It Will Change Rules On TV Programming For Kids
The Federal Communications Commission has begun the process of loosening requirements for children’s TV programming, arguing that the old rules aren’t needed in the era of kids-focused apps and streaming services.
‘New Yorker’ Writer Who’s Become Pro Poker Player Says Poker Is Far Harder Work
Maria Konnikova: “It’s really physically and emotionally and mentally exhausting. I’m just sitting at a poker table inside a casino. I don’t actually see any of the places I visit a lot of the time. It can get really lonely. … People want to get into it because they think it’s easy money are absolutely insane. It’s some of the most difficult money in the world.”
Truthbrary.Org: Sacha Baron Cohen Creates Parody Wingnut Website To Accompany His New Series
“Why Truthbrary? Well, as the website, which seems to have been set up last year explains, it’s a rejection of ‘THE MAINSTREME MEDIA + THE LIEbrary OF FALSE INFORMATION THEY TRY TO PUSH INTO THE PUBLICS MIND’S.'” The television project to which Truthbrary is a companion, Who Is America?, features Baron Cohen posing as an arch-conservative “citizen journalist” and includes interviews with, among others, Sarah Palin, Roy Moore, and Dick Cheney, all unsuspecting.
So What *Is* This Sacha Baron Cohen Show That Duped Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney And Roy Moore?
Not much has yet been publicly revealed about Who Is America?, which premieres next week in Britain and the US, except that Cohen posed as a right-wing “citizen journalist” named Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr, PhD, who convinced Palin and Moore to be interviewed on camera and even got Dick Cheney to autograph a “waterboard kit.” In fact, since Palin found out she’d been duped and called Baron Cohen “evil, exploitative and sick,” Baron Cohen has issued a response, in character as Ruddick, which has been reproduced here.
Head Of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Program Talks About How The Arts Demonstrably Improve Cities
Mike Scutari interviews Kate D. Levin, who was also New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs commissioner for the 12 years Michael Bloomberg was mayor, about the “virtuous cycle that public art tends to trigger” and how government and non-governmental leaders in cities are coming to understand “the creative sector’s ability to address pressing civic issues.”
An Avant-Garde ‘West Side Story’ (?!?) Is Coming To Broadway
A pair of Belgian stage artists who are leaders of Europe’s institutional avant-garde, director Ivo van Hove and choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, will stage the first major American revival of the musical to make a complete departure from the model of Jerome Robbins’s original staging. (De Keersmaeker and her company have been regular visitors at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; van Hove has directed two Arthur Miller revivals on Broadway and won a Tony for one of them.)
Man Finds $1 Million Stolen Painting In Dad’s Garage
“Sometime in 1978 a huge piece by Robert Motherwell, the modernist painter, went missing from a Manhattan warehouse, one of dozens that were lost and thought stolen when Motherwell hired a moving company to help him switch his works from one storage site to another. On Thursday, four decades after it had disappeared, the 1967 work, ‘Untitled,’ now valued at $1 million, was returned to the foundation dedicated to preserving Motherwell’s legacy. It was found in a garage in upstate New York by the son of a man who used to work for the movers.”
Is Lang Lang Back? Well, Mostly (A Report From His Post-Injury Comeback At Tanglewood)
“Even at age 36, Lang Lang projects a boyish charisma that employs your protective instincts — all the more so if you saw him grow up before your eyes, emerging from his cramped Spruce Street apartment, speaking broken English, and yet becoming something as close to a rock star as any classical pianist can be.” David Patrick Stearns (who did see all that) reports on Lang Lang’s performance of a Mozart concerto with the Boston Symphony last week and checks in with Lang Lang’s primary teacher at Curtis, Gary Graffman.
Today’s AJBlog Highlights 07.12.18
- Music from the attic: The Revelers return with a mellifluous secret garden The Neo-Revelers: Joseph Gaines,Bryon Grohman,tenors; Craig Phillips, bass;Anthony Patterson, piano; Jesse Blumberg, baritone. Attic music speaks quietly – and with wide-open possibilities. A secret garden, perhaps? Stacks of printed music found in closets and … read more
- A Community’s Traits New Creative Community Fellow Jesse Keller Jason sends her thoughts on “What does community mean to you?” with a photo from a community she holds dear. … read more
- Go with the Bowie Flow? Fans Usurp the Brooklyn Museum’s American Art Galleries (with video) Ground Control to Major Anne (Pasternak): Why have you allowed the your museum’s American art galleries to be commandeered by throngs of David Bowie fans? Just a month ago, I had … read more
- Guest Columnist: Mr. Rogers, and America I’M hardly the only Gen Xer to grow up on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, a show that first aired about a year before I was born. Part of me thinks that my fondness for the … read more
- Communities Don’t Always Need to Be Human In this photo essay, Jane Wegscheider reflects on her non-human community and explores how her connection to her garden affects how she interacts with her human community. My community begins with the earth, … read more
Why Did This Suburb Rise Up To Oppose A Prestige Museum?
In late January, the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation was shocked when the planning commission in the Charleston suburb of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, unanimously denied its Safdie-concieved proposal because it would exceed by 75 feet the elevation limit on land zoned for no more than 50 feet. The decision was forwarded to town council for review with a recommendation to disallow. Suddenly this picturesque community, defined by shrimp boats and sprawling marshes, was steeped in controversy over the fate of a hugely significant edifice with limitless potential as a tourist attraction.
Netflix’s Ascendancy To The Top Of The Emmys Illustrates Changes In The TV Landscape
Netflix’s narrow edge over HBO in total noms (112 vs. 108) is rich with symbolism at a moment when the entertainment industry’s old guard is scrambling to reorient a big part of its business operations to reflect the Netflix effect — i.e. making a boatload of original programming available via commercial-free streaming in a 24/7 on-demand format. It’s an incredible feat, pulled off in what feels like a blink of an eye for many industry veterans.
Netflix Dominates This Year’s Emmy Nominations
Netflix had the most nominees by platform for the first time ever, beating HBO with a total of 112 nominations. That’s even as Game of Thrones, which was ineligible for last year’s awards, returned to dominate this year’s crop with 22 nominations, the most for a single show.
US Appeals Court Strikes Down California Law Giving Royalties On Resale Of Artists Work
On Friday, the court said that the state law conflicts with the federal copyright law’s first-sale doctrine that claims once a copyright owner sells work a first time, they lose control over future sales. “This quixotic action, which was based on an obviously unconstitutional statute, is finally nearing its end,” the auction house Sotheby’s said in an email statement. Christie’s said in a statement that it “is pleased with the court’s decision.”