“The digital age has transformed the physical act of reading and will alter journalistic literary criticism as well. … The full effect of these changes will have on book reviews isn’t clear, but they’re already shifting in ways that would both please and alarm Orwell.”
Month: May 2012
The Online Commenter Who Got Hired As A Columnist
“Yoni Appelbaum, a Ph.D. candidate in history from Brandeis University, was procrastinating on his dissertation. Instead of writing, he would spend his time commenting on a blog under the pseudonym, ‘Cynic’. Eventually, it got him a job writing for that website – The Atlantic.”
Once And Sons Of The Prophet Lead Off-Broadway’s Lortel Awards
“Recent Off Broadway productions of the musical “Once and the play Sons Of The Prophet won top honors on Sunday night at the presentation of the 27th annual Lucille Lortel Awards, which recognize excellence at medium-size and small New York theaters.”
Punk Lives! New Investors Plan To Reopen CBGB
“For the last six years the name CBGB has been little more than a logo on T-shirts for young people in the East Village. Now a group of investors has bought the assets of that famous punk-rock club, which closed in 2006, and plans to establish an ambitious music festival this summer, with an eye toward reopening the club at a new downtown location.”
Happiness Is Overrated, Says Augusten Burroughs
“Happiness is a treadmill of a goal for people who are not happy by nature. Being an unhappy person does not mean you must be sad or dark. You can be interested, instead of happy. You can be fascinated instead of happy.”
Why Parrots Parrot People
“A lost parakeet in Japan was returned safely to its owner last week after it told police its home address. Why do captive birds mimic human speech, and how do they decide what to say?”
Pilobolus Joins The RadioLab Tour
For the 2012 version – titled “In the Dark” – of the popular public radio program’s road show, RadioLab co-hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich engaged the dance collective to create a visual/movement counterpoint to the science stories at the core of the program.
Australia’s Busiest Museum Faces Cuts
“Museum Victoria will cut its 550-strong workforce by 47, hold fewer touring exhibitions and run other shows for longer to reduce costs to meet a projected funding shortfall next financial year.”
Duke Ellington And The Problem With Musicologists
“That his band was Ellington’s instrument has become a cliché, but it is a misleading one. An instrument is a passive object that takes its energy from its operator. That’s not how Ellington worked. He was a tremendous talent-spotter, and part of what kept that talent close by was his willingness to let it have its voice, and more, to highlight and showcase it, and most importantly, to involve it in the creative process.”
“Avengers” Scores Biggest Opening Weekend Box Office Of All Time (How?)
“Distributor Disney’s estimate of $200.3 million (even taking into account potential slight revisions when official figures hit Monday) shatters the previous opening-weekend record of $169.2 million, held by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ last summer.”