“Traditionally, Inuit women would throat-sing to entertain themselves and their children when the men were off hunting. Like many other centuries-old Inuit games and traditions such as drum-dancing and ice-hopping, it was discouraged and sometimes banned in the Central and Eastern Arctic when missionaries arrived in the early 1900s. … However, many young Inuit in communities around the Arctic are proudly reclaiming these fledgling arts as a way to connect with their past and with nature.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Other Times, Beloved Of L.A. Literati, Shutters
“Among all the possible reasons people have for shuttering bookstores these days, slipping into a diabetic coma does not come up terribly often. Andrew Dowdy, owner of Other Times Books, was about as invulnerable as anyone could be in this storm-tossed trade: Here was a guy who could make his rent, who didn’t worry about Amazon, who offered something that Barnes & Noble never could. Still, when he was awakened by his landlord after four days and nights passed out on his apartment floor, he realized … that it was time to hang it up.”
The New York Times Crosswords: The Video Game
“The video game that’s been dominating my life lately doesn’t have drive-by shootings, alien invasions or any more animation than the typical business card. There are no human voices, and the soundtrack resembles 1980s elevator music. If a single explosion appeared during the game, it was the result of the clue: ’17 Across: mushroom cloud, for one.'”
At The Forefront, Art Dealers In Their 20s And Early 30s
Boston’s “surge in young dealers echoes a national trend, supported by a white-hot market for contemporary art in which prices are soaring, youth often equals cachet, and international art fairs and the Internet are turning what has largely been a storefront business into a global one. … This isn’t the first time young dealers have opened commercial galleries, but this time the market appears to be supporting them — and the kind of emerging artists many of them present.”
Victory For A Bookstore Is A Victory For L.A.
“Los Angeles has a way of plowing under its landmarks. … And so it is with genuine delight that we receive word that a Los Angeles landmark will survive. Dutton’s Brentwood Books is a cultural institution of the first rank, host to the happenstance discoveries that define great bookstores — the chance lighting upon a bit of fiction across from the latest biography, the illuminating browse through a book of photographs, the helpful wisdom of a literary clerk.”
Where Are Hollywood’s Civil Rights Dramas?
“Of all the social, cultural and political touchstones of the baby boom generation … the civil rights movement has yet to be the subject of a pivotal, defining feature film,” Ann Hornaday writes. “Here is a chapter of American life whose legacy and ramifications — from Don Imus’s idea of humor to the decisions of the current Supreme Court — are still deeply, if painfully, felt. … It’s a chapter that — considering the ever-increasing number of bankable African American stars — seems not just worthy of Hollywood’s attention but positively ideal for a major movie event.”
Calling For Action Through The Museum Experience
Ralph Appelbaum of museum design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates talks about creating a 15,000-square-foot center in Seattle that will explain the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the public. “The way to get people emotionally engaged in information is to build a series of encounters that give them the tools to go to the next level — very much like the Holocaust Museum. … Much of the experience is making the case for action.”
Remy The Rat, Defender Of Artistic Excellence
“‘Ratatouille’ puts itself forward as an egalitarian fable, with a recurring motto, ‘anyone can cook,’ that’s embodied in Remy and the pack of rats that help him pull together a climactic feast. But it’s in one sense a defense of discrimination: of a discriminating palate. … When Remy is told that ‘food is fuel’ and instructed to ‘shut up and eat your garbage,’ these are statements not merely of ignorance but of apostasy.”
John Szarkowski’s Aesthetic Of Noticing
“It’s worth remembering how much Wisconsin there was in the voice of John Szarkowski, who died on Saturday at age 81. His reputation would almost make you doubt what you were hearing. He was, after all, the curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art for 29 years, beginning in 1962. … I’m struck now by the essential modesty of that other place — the common-sensical view Szarkowski took of his curatorial work and his work as a photographer.”
Online, DC Opens The Door To Comic Artists
“DC Comics, the venerable publisher of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, will introduce today an online imprint that amounts to a virtual slush pile, accepting submissions from the public and paying for the best comics that come in. The imprint, called Zudacomics.com, will permit aspiring cartoonists to register at its Web site and submit an eight-panel sample of their work. Starting in October and each month thereafter, editors at DC Comics will select 10 entries, post them for public view and invite people to vote for their favorite.”