“Though there are signs of life in the independent-bookseller business — consider the success of McNally-Jackson — few secondhand-book stores are left in Manhattan. Only two survive in midtown, and the necrology is long. Skyline on West 18th Street, New York Bound Bookshop in Rockefeller Center, the Gotham Book Mart on West 47th — closed. Academy Books is now Academy Records & CDs. So, then: Why is there still a Strand Book Store?”
Month: November 2014
Study: Link Between Mental Sharpness And Cultural Activities In Seniors
“Internet use and engagement in various social activities, in particular cultural activities, appear to help older adults maintain the literary skills required to self-manage health.”
Sabah, Iconic Arab Singer, Dead At 87
The Lebanese diva, whose career as musician and actress spanned six decades (and at least nine marriages), “was famous across the Arab world for her powerful voice, musical talent and joyful brazenness … Ultimately, she participated in at least 25 plays, four radio musicals, 85 films and sang 3,000 songs.”
Legendary London Cabaret Shut Down After Bouncers’ Baseball Bat Attack
“Madame Jojo’s – home to some of London’s most diverse nightlife for more than half a century” – has had its license revoked by the local council of Westminster. Some activists say that it’s an attempt by the council to gentrify Soho; the council says it’s because of “an organised assault with injury” by the club’s staff.
Venezuela Presents A Hugo Chávez Ballet
“The state-sponsored work, Ballet of the Spider-Seller to Liberator, is to show at a Caracas theater on Saturday in homage to Chávez’s life from poor boy selling homemade spider-shaped sweets in his rural hometown to president for 14 years.”
Shakespeare First Folio Discovered In Small-Town French Library
“The book – one of only 230 believed to still exist – had lain undisturbed in the library at Saint-Omer in the north of France for 200 years.”
Artificial Intelligence, Really, Is Pseudo-Intelligence
“Commentator Alva Noë argues that we don’t need to be alarmed that our machines are rapidly outstripping natural-born human cognitive power: We’ve got a millions-of-years head start.”
Do Choreographers Need Editors?
Judith Mackrell: “In dance, however, there’s no real equivalent, no institutional version of an outside eye to spot a weak narrative, a slack structure or an idea that’s not quite working. … Nor is it even clear who that figure might be. … [Even so,] I think the art form is suffering needlessly from this lack of systematic editorial input.”
Spotify’s Revenue Is Soaring, But It’s Still Losing Millions
The streaming-music service’s revenue last year was more than $1 billion, up 74% from a year before, but it posted an $80 million net loss. (At least that was 30% smaller than the loss in 2012.)
The Theatre Installation That’s Horrifying All Europe
South African playwright Brett Bailey’s Exhibit B mimics the “human zoo” exhibits of colonial “natives” seen in Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After four years of touring without much controversy, this year Exhibit B has seen “loud debates and furious demonstrations in Europe about the boundaries between artistic freedom and exploitation, censorship and political incorrectness.”