“Does ‘hard-wired’ mean that our human nature is impervious to change in the specific behavior under scrutiny? Or does it mean that we are genetically ‘set’ to behave in ways that served us well in the past, and that can only be superseded rarely and with enormous effort?”
Month: February 2012
‘Mao’s Last Dancer’ To Head Queensland Ballet
Li Cunxin ” was born in poverty in China, became a world ballet star, segued into stockbroking, wrote a best-selling memoir, took on a sideline in motivational speaking and, as of yesterday, is artistic director-elect of Queensland Ballet.”
Met Opera Adopts Dynamic Ticket Pricing
“Following Broadway’s record-breaking success with flexible ticket pricing, the Metropolitan Opera will adopt a new pricing system next season, boosting the cost of the most sought-after seats and lowering the cheapest ticket price to $20 from $25.”
Face It, Female Playwrights Really Do Face Sexism: Guardian Critic
Lyn Gardner: “We keep being told that women are about to storm our stages and there are certainly many more than there were 20 years ago, but the female playwright with an original main-stage play in performance is still the exception rather than the rule.”
Police Drop Investigation Of British Empire And Commonwealth Museum
“An investigation into the unauthorised disposal of objects from the Bristol-based British Empire and Commonwealth Museum has been dropped by Avon and Somerset police.”
Battle Won In Fort Worth Over Including Gun In Public Sculpture
“The statue Vaquero de Fort Worth is finally coming to the north side, and it will be packing heat. Work on the long-awaited 10-foot bronze sculpture … stopped abruptly last year when it was learned that its two Dallas sculptors added a bullet belt and holstered pistol to the design. Now the statue will be installed exactly as the artists intended with a Remington .44-caliber revolver intact.”
What Linsanity Says About Race In America
“If he were still alive, Sigmund Freud might have been a Jeremy Lin fan.” The media frenzy over the Asian-American basketball star “has pointed out some residual glitches in the American psyche, in particular how the nation struggles to accept genuine racial diversity.”
When Jonny Greenwood Met Krzysztof Penderecki
Says the leader of Radiohead, “I was trying hard not to be intimidated or overly starstruck … I kind of wish he had been more foreboding, but he’s just very friendly.” Says the venerable avant-garde composer, “I didn’t expect to meet somebody from pop music who was really quite a normal person. He dresses very normal, he has dignity and very good manners.”
The Real Downton Abbey And Its Real Lady Cora
Highclere Castle, the family pile stately home where the TV series is filmed, was the abode of Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon, the filthy-rich bastard child goddaughter of industrialist Alfred de Rothschild.
How’s This For Site-Specific Art? New York Water Tanks
“For 12 weeks during the spring and summer of 2013, the Water Tank Project will host works by artists including Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner, Tony Oursler, Marilyn Minter and Carrie Mae Weems, as well as rapper Jay-Z.”