‘Every vampire story has its day or, I guess, its night. But there’s a longer history here, too. In the 18th century, when Barnabas Collins and Lestat became vampires, the shape and length of life were different. So was death. When Abraham Lincoln was born, the average age of the United States population was 16, and life expectancy was under 40. Two centuries later, the average American can expect to live to nearly 80. Living longer hasn’t made dying any easier; arguably, it’s made it harder.”
Month: June 2012
Everything Old Is New Again – Including A Career As A Blacksmith
“Blacksmithing is an ancient trade that, like other crafts, saw a downturn during the Industrial Revolution, when machines took over jobs that humans once did. Now, blacksmithing is having a small revival as smiths build new ways of connecting with customers.”
Previews Can Change Everything – Including Financial Success – For Off-Broadway Plays
“The stakes are so high for these productions that some major Off Broadway companies schedule more previews than the so-called regular performances that follow opening night. And the theater companies, which are nonprofit organizations, do so at a financial cost: Many seats at previews are discounted, and production costs are often higher during previews because the creative team and crew are on hand — and drawing salaries — to incorporate script or technical changes before critics come.”
Does Amazon’s Kindle Have Any Weaknesses At All? (Maybe)
“At the moment, no e-reader on the market matches the Kindle, but its store is uninspiring, and its algorithm-led attempts to chum up to users are terrible. Anyone who can produce a good e-reader and back it up with an engaging community for book lovers could take on both Amazon and the pirates, if publishers are bold about ditching DRM technology.”
Bigger Isn’t Necessarily Better (But It Might Be Inevitable) In The Art World
Jerry Saltz: “Biennials have become sprawling and ubiquitous. Ditto art fairs. Galleries are vaster than they’ve ever been. But who is all this bigness good for? Is it any good at all?”
The (Horrified) Reactions To The Orbit Just Keep On Coming
“Envisioned as a symbol of London looming over the site of this summer’s Olympic Games, the Orbit, which visitors will enter, ascend and explore, is designed as an attraction to rival the London Eye and Big Ben for decades to come. And, at least for now, the sculpture is also serving as a prime target for British Olympic crankiness.”
The Wall Street Journal Gets Into Video – And Can’t Keep Up With Demand
“Despite the newspaper’s big jump into video — more than four hours of live video per day, some 1,500 videos per month, accessible across 18 digital platforms like iPads, iPhones, desktops, YouTube, Apple TV, etc. — there’s still a hunger for more.”
Dancing For The Queen Required A Little Education From The Dancers
“The monarchy flew [11 Native American dancers] over for two weeks in May, but the dream trip turned a bit nightmarish when they checked out the program that billed their act as ‘Cowboys and Injuns.’ They would perform after a specialty rodeo act, with cowgirls doing roping stunts, and dance to canned, cliché Indian music plucked from old Western movies.”
The T.V. Business, Like Print Newspapers, Isn’t Long For This World
“We still consume some TV content, but we consume it when and where we want it, and we consume it deliberately: In other words, we don’t settle down in front of the TV and watch ‘what’s on.’ And, again with the exception of live sports, we’ve gotten so used to watching shows and series without ads that ads now seem extraordinarily intrusive and annoying. Our kids see TV ads so rarely that they’re actually curious about and confused by them: ‘What is that? A commercial?’ For now, our type of household may still be in the minority, but we won’t be for long.”
Leverage Means Everything In Ballet – And Life
Andile Ndlovu, of the Washington Ballet: “I am really fortunate to have bigger hands to help stabilize my partner. I always think about what the correct leverage is going to be. Developing the wisdom to apply the right leverage in the right place at the right time is what training and even life is about.”