“You know that irresistible urge, that impulse you have to want to buy a book and start reading it at that very moment? Ebooks satisfy that hunger. Sitting at home, with a few clicks, I can now have delivered to me within thirty seconds any book that I want.”
Month: November 2014
Behind The Scenes At The Drone Orchestra
“The autonomous system that was supposed to operate the drones conked out and human pilots needed to step in. Humans were also responsible for constantly swapping out the battery packs from the drones, which drained in about 5-to-10 minutes because of the weight they were carrying.”
Berlin Is Building A New City Palace, But The Money’s Running Out
“The new Prussian palace could end up being nothing more than an unattractive concrete box besmirching the banks of the Spree — and just as unsightly as the asbestos-ridden building controversially torn down to make room for it.”
Rave Reviews Mean A Lot Of Disappointed Audiences
“The price of the tickets, the commitment to giving up an entire afternoon and evening, and the glowing reviews had all piled on the anticipation to such an extent that this was going to have to be a really astonishing piece of theatre for it to really deliver.”
Board Games Have Conquered Café Culture – Why?
“Adults and kids the world over have all come to the conclusion that what they really want to do on a weekend is open up a cardboard box and decide who gets to be the blue piece.”
Writing – And Reading – A Novel Is Like Crossing The Berlin Wall
Haruki Murakami: “In the face of the dark, violent and cynical reality in which we live, this might seem at times like a powerless and fleeting hope. But the power that each individual has to imagine is found precisely in this: in the quiet yet sustained effort to keep on singing, to keep on telling stories, without losing heart.”
How Mikhail Baryshnikov Reinvented Himself As An Actor And A Photographer
“‘This one is my little nod to Picasso,’ he says, showing me a picture of a flamenco dancer in Madrid.”
Does The Incredible Shrinking Orchestra Put A Tradition At Risk?
“Musicians warn that an overreliance on freelancers endangers the things that make orchestras great: the cohesion that comes from playing together over many years, the performing traditions that are developed and passed down, even the ability to divine in a flash what a familiar conductor is seeking with a cocked eyebrow or a flick of the wrist.”
More Than A Century In, Have We Figured Out What Makes A Film Successful?
“There’s a stark difference between ‘flop’ and ‘second-highest-earning live-action original release of the year,’ and it comes from the worldwide gross.”
Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Big Flop Is (Of Course) Being Revived For Off-Broadway
“‘Allegro’ was directed and choreographed by the acclaimed Agnes de Mille. It arrived on Broadway with a cast of close to 100 and the biggest advance ticket sales in Broadway history at the time.”