“Sometime [in 1996] … Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos called a meeting in Seattle. He had a simple but potentially massive proposition. Amazon, then a 2-year-old company that sold only new books, wanted to expand into the used-books market – and Bezos wanted Powell’s to be its sole supplier. … There was a catch.”
The German TV Talk Show That Traumatizes American Celebrities
“Not only does the 33-year-old Wetten, dass …? seem to confirm a lot of the world’s less generous stereotypes of Germans – e.g. humorless, weird, with terrible taste in formalwear – its concept is also awkwardly difficult to explain. … The concept: Invite a mixture of German and Hollywood celebrities onto a live stage, interview them, and then make them wager whether a number of ordinary Germans can complete a series of stunts.” And those stunts can be positively bizarre.
Why You Didn’t Get Called To Audition: A Director Explains
“With the best will in the world you cannot see everyone who applies or is submitted by their agent. Even on a fringe profit share production there are over 1,000 CVs to consider. … So how do you pick just 75 candidates?” Phil Wilmott explains how he does it – and he doesn’t like it any better than actors do.
Poland Celebrates Post-Communist Prosperity With A Spate Of New Concert Halls
New venues in Krakow, Szczecin, Wroclaw and Katowice “are seen as symbolic of the triumph over the Communist past and of the adoption of modern European values. … After the halls are built, the question inevitably arises over how – even whether – they can be filled.”
Protesters Unfurl Three-Story Banner in Guggenheim Museum
“The banner, reading ‘Stop Labor Abuse / Countdown to Guggenheim Abu Dhabi,’ was brought into the museum hidden inside a baby stroller.” It was the first of a series of actions “carried out by the Gulf Ultra Luxury Front (G.U.L.F.) activist group.”
What Can You Really Do With An Arts Degree?
A lot, actually, even if the art part doesn’t end up earning you money. “The best programs develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, along with intellectual curiosity, creativity, and an amazing work ethic.”
Why You Should Never Quit Reading A Novel Midway Through
Juliet Lapidos makes the case for why it’s good for you – maybe even important – to finish that book.
Chili Kamikazes: Doomed Orchestra Eats Ghost Peppers While Playing; Video Goes Viral
“In a ‘Jackass goes classical” video, the musicians [of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra] pause after the famously histrionic opening bars of Jacob Gade’s Tango Jalousie to pop the outrageously fiery peppers into their mouths. … Quite why they agreed to the painful challenge is unclear although the fact the orchestra is being disbanded this month after 75 years may have been a factor.”
More Pressure On Arts Council England To Spread Funding Beyond London
“The [House of] Commons culture, media and sport select committee highlights a truth which has long been generally acknowledged: the capital gets a disproportionately high share of cash, whether lottery or grant-in-aid, from Arts Council England.”
More Arts Funding For The Provinces? Why, That’s Just “Glib London-Bashing” (Sh** Boris Johnson Says)
Quoth the Lord Mayor: “London is one of the great world cities for culture, attracting visitors in the millions which helps generate billions the economy of the whole country. Sacrificing this particular golden goose for a bit of glib London-bashing will do little to improve cultural provision in the regions and would be an act of sabotage for one of our country’s greatest assets.”
The Exciting World Of Brain Science? (The Public Doesn’t Care)
“Maybe the research investment and brain-obsessed media headlines are largely irrelevant to the general public. I looked into this question recently and was surprised by what I found.”
Here’s An Idea: Streaming Music Services Won’t Succeed Without Collaborating With Songwriters
“Streaming is undoubtedly the wave of the future, and when streaming companies value songwriters, the sky’s the limit. It’s time they start collaborating with the music creators they depend on, otherwise they may never, ever, ever get back together.”
Don’t Say It.. No…No…- The “Netflix Of Books” Has Arrived
“Little more than a year after launching its all-you-can-read ebook service, the San Francisco startup Scribd has announced that the service now offers more than 30,000 audiobooks, including titles from big-name publishing houses HarperCollins and Scholastic as well as audiobook-specialist Blackstone. For $8.99 a month, you can not only read as many books as you can find on the service, but also listen to as many audiobooks as you can find.”
LA Pols Approve Roadmap For New $600 Million LA County Museum Of Art
“If there are no serious bumps in the road ahead, the plan would yield a streamlined, curving 410,000-square-foot new museum building designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor that would open in 2023, spanning Wilshire Boulevard with an enclosed bridge that doubles as gallery space.”
Here’s What Happens When You Block Google From Showing Snippets Of Your Content
Germany’s largest news publisher, Axel Springer (Bild), wanted Google to pay licensing fees for showing the typical brief excerpts from its articles in search results. So, for two weeks, it barred the search engine from doing so. And how badly did that backfire?
Shakespeare’s Globe To Offer Streaming-Video-On-Demand
More than 50 of the theatre’s productions will be available, including the summer seasons from 2009 onward and the complete 2012 Globe to Globe festival of Shakespeare stagings from all over the world.
Former Psychiatrist Wins France’s Top Literary Prize
Lydie Salvayre won the Prix Goncourt for Pas pleurer (“Don’t Cry”), “in which she interweaves the voices of her mother and a French writer during the Spanish Civil War. … The winner of the prize receives the nominal sum of 10 euros ($12) but can expect to see sales of around 400,000.”
Drama Schools “Can’t Teach You How To Act” Says Derek Jacobi
“I think you’re an actor before you go in – they teach you all the other things that you need you to lose or acquire. But they can’t teach you how to act. … The attitude nowadays seems to be to get famous quickly, to get ‘celebrity’ quickly, to get known quickly … without actually learning your job.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.05.14
Partners
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2014-11-05
Falling for “Spring”: Getty Buys $65.125-Million Manet at Christie’s
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2014-11-05
Don’t Miss This Exhibition! (Installation Pictures Included)
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2014-11-05
“National Gallery” — The Film
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2014-11-05
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The Great Auteur Of Film Trailers
“[Mark Woollen is the] 43-year-old shaggy-haired hipster introvert who makes indelible spots for Hollywood’s highbrow one percent. Terrence Malick, David Fincher, Werner Herzog, Lars von Trier, the Coen brothers, Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson … One studio executive calls his body of work ‘the Criterion Collection of trailers’.”
The Folio Prize Is Now More Than Just An Award
“The Folio Society announced in 2013 that it would be launching a new literary prize, and one that would be open to all books written in English, whether or not the writers originated from England or the Commonwealth.” After just a year, the Society has added an annual high-profile lecture and a multi-day fiction festival.
“It Is Not My Job” To Drum Up Cash For Ulster Orchestra, Says Northern Ireland Arts Minister
Carál Ni Chuilín is sympathetic to the “scary” (her word) financial position the orchestra is in. But, in response to a question from a legislator about seeking local funding outside Belfast, she said, “It is not my job to go round all the local councils on behalf of the orchestra to drum up support, pardon the pun; it is the orchestra’s job.”
When It Comes To Making Choices, Ignorance Really Can Be Bliss
Recent research into the phenomenon called choice overload indicates that “not knowing a lot – and being aware of your own ignorance – can make decisions easier and, as a result, lead to greater happiness.”
Atlanta Symphony Negotiations Are On Again
“As they approach a negotiating session with a federal mediator on Wednesday, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra management and players are closer to a deal than they have been during a two-month musician lockout or in eight months of talks that preceded it.”
New York City Ballet’s Web Documentary Is Back (And All Too Brief)
Margaret Lyons: “I generally prefer longer-form, more in-depth pieces. But city.ballet captured me completely, and the series’ second season, which premiered yesterday, is much of the same: a fascinating, moving, sometimes transcendent behind-the-scenes look at the New York City Ballet. I just wish there were more of it. The longest episodes of the new 12-episode season are still only clocking in around eight minutes.”