“The exaggerated, primary flavors of junk food might seem to dominate the senses and aesthetic faculties, but like any other food, junk is still embedded in a complex web of cultural connotations, social relationships, and other meanings. The winter holidays are particularly emblematic of that. Why would we bake so many cookies if not to wish sweetness upon our friends and family?”
Month: January 2013
Join The I-Hate-Musicals Club!
David Sexton: “The very idea of having people acting and then singing at the same time, and quite possibly dancing too, repels us. We don’t get it. These things don’t make any sense together. … And our objection is essential, not accidental. No, we wouldn’t be converted if only we saw the right musical.”
Aw C’mon! It’s Just Too Easy To Hate Musicals
Lyn Gardner: “It’s probably true that a bad musical … is harder to endure than a bad play, but that’s only because there’s so much more to get right (and which can go wrong). Bad musicals are uniquely memorable, which is why it’s easy to compile a musical hall of shame. But these things are complicated. Plays more often get a chance to be re-staged and reassessed.”
Remembering Inuit Artist Kenojuak Ashevak
“She was one of the first of the Inuit artists, born and reared on the land, to enter into the experiment in art making at Cape Dorset, and one of the most talented.”
Video Game Industry Tries To Fend Off Violence Charges
“The $60 billion industry is facing intense political pressure from an unlikely alliance of critics who say that violent imagery in video games has contributed to a culture of violence.”
Condé Nast Makes A Move On Authors’ Movie Rights
“Condé Nast, whose magazines are battling a punishing business environment, wants to capture more of the film and television profits, which previously went to writers who owned the rights to these works.”
Girl Power – Women Dominate At Golden Globes
“Female wunderkinds of every age seemed to dominate the night.”
Why Is Art So Obsessed With Money?
“The collapse of Damien Hirst’s career is not a sign of the end of money in art, of course. Money and art will always be intertwined. But Hirst’s breakup with Gagosian does signify the end of a kind of obsession that saw nothing other than money.”
Just How Much Faster Does Information Travel Since The 1800’s?
“Let’s say a fresh, well-trained postal horse could run at 20 MPH, which means that’s how fast one page of information (say, a one-kilobyte letter) could travel. A one kilobyte email travels at, oh, the speed of light, basically, so that’s close to 670 million MPH.”
San Antonio To Open “Bookless” Public Library
“If you want to get an idea what it looks like, go into an Apple store.”