“(T)he 271-year-old Bellevue Hospital is producing literature — and not just the medical kind. Among the first titles of the Bellevue Literary Press, released this spring, are a novel interweaving themes of sickness and recovery into a 1940s family drama, a collection of editorial cartoons by an accomplished physician-artist, and a nonfiction work that explores the mind-set and meaning of awkwardness. The press plans to release four more books, including another novel, in the fall.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Harlem’s New Vitality Threatens Historic Record Store
Bobby Robinson’s store, “Bobby’s Happy House, which he opened in 1946, is hardly about selling records, cassettes or CDs anymore. It has become a landmark of Harlem’s black heritage and a place that residents of the neighborhood can call home. … But because Mr. Robinson’s store is no longer lucrative, it may succumb to Harlem’s growing corporate landscape.”
Underpinning Those Magic Tricks: Cognitive Theory
This summer in Las Vegas, scientists at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness’ annual meeting learned from the pros: stage magicians. “Secretive as they are about specifics, the magicians were as eager as the scientists when it came to discussing the cognitive illusions that masquerade as magic: disguising one action as another, implying data that isn’t there, taking advantage of how the brain fills in gaps — making assumptions, as The Amazing Randi put it, and mistaking them for facts.”
States Fight, Lose Battles Vs. Violent Video Games
“As video games have surged in popularity in recent years, politicians around the country have tried to outlaw the sale of some violent games to children. So far all such efforts have failed.” New York is probably up next, with a law drafted to circumvent the biggest stumbling block. “Put simply, the United States Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution as allowing states broad leeway in regulating minors’ access to sexually explicit material. … Courts have not, however, said that states have a similar right to regulate media based on violence.”
In Tuscany, An Etruscan Tomb Is Unearthed By Locals
The recent unearthing of an Etruscan tomb in Tuscany relied on an unconventional work force: not professional archaeologists but local amateurs. “If it weren’t for amateur groups … much of Italy’s ancient heritage would be even more at risk to random plundering by tomb robbers, said Gabriella Barbieri, who is the state official in charge of protecting the area’s archaeological heritage and granted permission for the excavation. ‘The more citizens are concerned, they more they can help us,’ she said. ‘The state can’t be everywhere at once.'”
Seattle Symphony To Have Four Concertmasters
“Although no other U.S. orchestras employ more than one concertmaster, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra announced Thursday that it has hired four for its new season, starting Sept. 24. … ‘There’s no such thing as four (concertmasters) at one symphony in the U.S. or even two,’ said Gerard Schwarz, SSO music director. ‘In Europe, it’s the opposite.'”
Longtime Director Of Seattle’s Asian Museum To Retire
“Ron Chew, a self-taught curator who turned a rundown museum into a nationally acclaimed institution for Asian history and culture, will retire at the end of the year. With the Wing Luke Asian Museum scheduled to complete its $23 million capital campaign and relocate into a historic, three-story building in the Chinatown-International District by early next year, executive director Chew said he has achieved all his goals.”
Children’s Theatre Company Names Managing Director
“The Children’s Theatre Company, the nation’s largest theater for youth and families, announced Thursday that Gabriella Calicchio will be its next managing director. … Since 2001, Calicchio, 43, has been managing director of the 40-year-old Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, Calif.”
British Artists Find Their Muse In Kate Moss
“Kate Moss, who is nothing more than a commercial model, is turning into one of the great subjects of modern British art, what Lizzie Siddall was to the pre-Raphaelites. She has been depicted by Lucian Freud, Alex Katz, Gary Hume, Julian Opie, Stella Vine, Jürgen Teller and many others…. And now she has been put into the park at Chatsworth, three metres high and in painted bronze, in an extraordinary sculpture by Marc Quinn.”
Poe Fan Says He Created Mysterious Grave Visitor
“The legend was almost too good to be true. For decades, a mysterious figure dressed in black, his features cloaked by a wide-brimmed hat and scarf, crept into a churchyard to lay three roses and a bottle of cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. Now, a 92-year-old man who led the fight to preserve the historic site says the visitor was his creation.”