“Tom Wolfe, who died on May 14, had a lesser-known but not-so-secret passion: He loved to draw caricatures and cartoons with the same incisive, sarcastic wit that came through in his written social commentary.”
Month: July 2018
The Art Of Improbability
In many ways, the really improbable event of recent decades was the manner in which so much of the world experienced stability and predictability. What was the probability that we could, collectively, have created such an unprecedented quantity of wealth, health, and prosperity?
Writing Clearly Is Harder Than It Looks: Francine Prose
“The simplest definition may be best: To write clearly means that another person can understand what we mean. Someone (not us) can figure out what we are trying to say. Of course, an intelligent seven-year-old could point out the problems with this.”
Rogue’s Gallery: Art Restorations That Went Terribly Wrong
The carving’s cartoonish appearance has provoked the outrage and concern of experts who fear the defacement may be irreversible. Commenting on the bungled operation, social media users have drawn unflattering comparisons with Pee Wee Herman’s simpering pout. Others have detected a resemblance to Sheriff Woody, the lanky cowboy doll in Toy Story, as St George is left to wander clumsily into eternity and beyond.
Inside The Jimmy Awards: A Week With America’s Most Gifted High School Theatre Nerds
“For a certain group of musical theater fans, Christmas comes in June. This Christmas has everything yours does. It has beloved songs. It has lights. It has pageantry. It bestows gifts. It involves pilgrimages across great distances. It is the Jimmy Awards, and it is the most wonderful time of the year. ‘What are the Jimmy Awards?’ you ask, like an innocent child. Short answer? They are the high-school Tonys.”
Language Attrition: How People Can Forget Their Mother Tongues
“Most long-term migrants know what it’s like to be a slightly rusty native speaker. The process seems obvious: the longer you are away, the more your language suffers. But it’s not quite so straightforward. In fact, the science of why, when and how we lose our own language is complex and often counter-intuitive. It turns out that how long you’ve been away doesn’t always matter. Socialising with other native speakers abroad can worsen your own native skills. And emotional factors like trauma can be the biggest factor of all.”
Brooklyn’s Big, Busy Pirate Radio Scene
“Transmitted from the roofs of churches and apartment buildings, unlicensed radio stations offer listeners spiritual sustenance, immigration information, and news from home.”
Companies Who Use Ticket Bots Now Face Unlimited Fines In UK
“Industry groups hailed the new law, which comes amid a wider effort to crack down on secondary ticketing, where touts use websites such as StubHub and Viagogo to resell seats at in-demand events for vast mark-ups. But a leading security and ticketing expert warned that the most prolific touts would still be able to get their hands on tickets using tried-and-tested methods.”
Australian RV Mogul Aims To Be Global Musical-Theatre Titan
“Manufacturing campers made Gerry Ryan a very wealthy man, one of the richest people in Australia. … Now he is placing a bold bet on musical theater. Global Creatures, the Sydney-based company he founded and chairs, is producing its first four musicals. On three continents. At the same time.”
‘Alexa, Give Money To My NPR Station’
With the spread of virtual-assistant and smart-speaker technologies – one out of every five U.S. homes with wi-fi has Alexa or an equivalent – both the national NPR network and Seattle public radio station KUOW are experimenting with ways to let listeners donate with a simple voice command.