“Throughout human history, innovation -including the technological progress we cherish -has been fuelled and sustained by imitation. Copying is the mighty force that has allowed the human race to move from stone knives to remote-guided drones, from digging sticks to crops that manufacture their own pesticides. … We’re natural-born rip-off artists. To be human is to copy.”
Famous Authors Reread Their Old Books
“In an original essay, Philip Roth considers the experience of rereading his classic novel Portnoy’s Complaint, first published 45 years ago, in 1969. Six other authors, including Lydia Davis, Marilynne Robinson and George Saunders, also reflect on their own earlier works.”
When The Author Of “Catch-22” Wrote A Musical Comedy
“Howe & Hummel has never been performed. It hasn’t even been published. In the 50 years since [Joseph] Heller completed it, it’s never had so much as a public reading. Only two copies of the typescript survive. … In subsequent years, Heller would rewrite reality as artfully as Howe and Hummel, and erase Howe & Hummel from his life. His autobiography spares not a word for the project he devoted so many months to.”
What It Was Like To Work With Jian Ghomeshi (It Wasn’t Pretty)
“One day, Ghomeshi would be jovial and generous; the next, cold and dismissive. His chronic lateness kept staff on edge; he kept people waiting for hours. Everyone bridled – at least privately – at his mood swings and his penchant for playing staff against one another. The predominantly female staff found themselves reduced to tears by his tirades. The trauma and unhappiness within the unit was known within CBC … and yet, CBC management never intervened.”
The Woman Who Matches $10 Million Masterpieces To The People Who Can Pay For Them
“Her profile rocketed after she helped her contemporary-art clients place bids or win half of Christie’s top 10 priciest works in May. Nearly 6 feet tall, she was easy to spot standing between colleagues in the saleroom’s phone banks, wielding three cellphones at a time and lobbing bids at a regular clip. By sale’s end, she helped her Chinese clients win as much as $236 million of art.”
The Reason ‘Raising Arizona’ Star Holly Hunter Is Working On A Zillion Different Kind Of Projects
“Zack asked me. He came to me with an offer, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be fun.’ It’s fun to mix it up.”
Humans Learn By Imitation – Or Else We Die
“It’s time to retire the notion of genius and all the baggage that comes with it: the exaltation of big brains, the story of progress as a grand parade of exceptional thinkers, the myth that innovation happens with a lightning bolt of insight. We can stop worshipping at the altar of disruption.”
Orlando’s New Performing Arts Center Has Some Ideas About How To Make Money
“Dr. Phillips Center officials hope that guests will arrive early and stay after the show to enjoy a drink in one of the many bars. How many bars? 13 — compared with just four in the Bob Carr Theater, Orlando’s previous performing-arts center.”
Why We Create Better In The Middle Of The Night (Yes, Really)
“Blissfully zonked out by prolactin, our night brains allow ideas to emerge and intertwine as they might in a dream.”
Wait, Is ‘Jane Eyre’ A Genre Novel? (And If So, What The Heck *Is* Genre?)
“Why not just let books be books? The thing is that genre doesn’t have to be vexing. It can be illuminating. It can be useful for writers and readers to think in terms of groups and traditions. And a good genre system — a system that really fits reality — can help us see the traditions in which we’re already, unconsciously, immersed.”
Figuring Out Rome’s Graffiti, One Century At A Time
“These graffiti are indices, minute traces testifying that our relationship with masterpieces, between the 15th and 19th centuries, was very different from what it is today.”
Patricia McBride At 72
“For her part, McBride, a mother of two, now a grandmother of three, says she’s enjoyed the transition from dancer to teacher, though in some ways finds it even more nerve-racking than being on the world’s grand stages as a dancer.”
Monserrat Caballe Makes Deal To Avoid Jail
“The opera singer has reached a deal with the Spanish tax authorities over more than €500,000 that prosecutors claim she withheld in income tax on her 2010 return.”
Your Belief In Free Will Depends On Whether You Need To Pee
“Something as small as needing to use the bathroom seems to be enough to remind us how much of our waking hours are devoted to attending to the physical needs of these bone-and-muscle sacks we’re dragging around.”
So Maybe Streaming Isn’t Viable As A Business Model For Musicians
“Once hailed as the saviour of an industry pummelled by piracy, streaming is now widely criticized by artists who complain about the minuscule amounts paid for each stream by Spotify, which operates both a free tier with ads and a subscription service.”
A Compelling Reality Series On NY City Ballet
“Other reality-type ballet shows have strained to squeeze some drama out of the workaholic grind of a dancer’s life (I’m thinking of the short-lived “Breaking Pointe,” the Ballet West soap opera). But “citi.ballet.” doesn’t make its dancers look like needy geeks, freaks or goofballs; rather, they’re hard-working, self-possessed people with interesting stories to tell.”
Another Public Radio Station Cuts Classical Music To Add News/Talk
“Atlanta’s public radio battle is about to get interesting as WABE 90.1 FM, which for years has relied on a heavy rotation of daytime classical music, plans to expand its news programming in part to compete with Georgia Public Broadcasting.”
Aereo Lays Off More Than Half Its Staff, But It’s Not Shutting Down
“Aereo, which put its [re-streaming of broadcast TV] service on hold after it lost a Supreme Court ruling in June, is laying off a majority of its staff, including employees in New York and Boston, although the company says that it is continuing to ‘chart our path forward’.”
A Song About Gay Love And Pot-Smoking Just Won Country Music’s Song Of The Year (Yes, Really)
“‘Oh my goodness! Do y’all know what this means for country music?!’ That’s what the charming Kacey Musgraves said when she won the prize for Song of the Year for her controversial hit ‘Follow Your Arrow’ at last night’s Country Music Awards. And she’s right.”
Why A Semi-Reclusive Billionaire Gave LACMA Half A Billion Dollars’ Worth Of Art
Jerry Perenchio, former chairman of the Spanish-language U.S. television network Univisión, is bequeathing at least 47 paintings – by the likes of Monet, Magritte, Manet, and Picasso – valued at roughly $500 million. But there’s a sizable string attached.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.06.14
Price discrimination and timing
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth Published 2014-11-06
Two “Transformative” Gifts That Actually Are
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2014-11-06
Rumbler Bumble: Christie’s $15.5-Million Léger “Sells” (but doesn’t)
JBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2014-11-06
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Christopher Barron To Leave As Head Of Birmingham Royal Ballet
“We have created a record number of new ballets, grown Birmingham Royal Ballet’s access to UK and overseas audiences and deepened the company’s relationship with the communities of Birmingham and other cities it visits. Significantly, we have ridden the economic storm.”
Hollywood Filmmakers Fall In Love With Drones
“Under the new rules, drones can be used only on sets that are closed to the public and cannot be operated at night. Operators must have private pilot certificates, keep the drones within their line of sight and below an altitude of 400 feet.”
Prominent Russian Actor Critical Of Putin Found Dead
“The actor was a part of Putin opposition group United Civil Front, took part in many street demonstrations and often penned blog posts with a passionate message toward Putin and his supporters.”
The New Hollywood Assistants (Millennials Breaking The Mold)
“The image earned by decades of tradition — that of the well-groomed, highly educated automaton living to serve an abusive boss’ every whim in exchange for an invitation into the industry club — has given way to a new breed of assistant: gentler, more self-involved and not necessarily motivated by such time-honored enticements as money, fast cars and power.”