“For reasons that evaded Japanese film critics at the time, the 1990s TV show about a murder in a small American town was a huge hit in Japan, even after it was cancelled in 1991. … To build on that success – and make some extra cash – co-creator Lynch and some of the core cast reprised their roles in four commercials for Coca-Cola’s Japanese canned coffee brand Georgia Coffee in 1993. … The ads were set in Twin Peaks and told the story of a Japanese man who was searching for his missing wife, with the help of Agent Cooper.” (includes video of all four ads)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Do We Now Have A Successor To The Great Alan Sokal/Social Text Hoax? (Not Entirely)
Late last week, two (male) academics revealed that they had written a bogus gender-studies paper titled “The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct” and gotten it published in a social sciences journal. An Alan Sokal caper for the 21st century? Not necessarily. Digg explains what’s going on here.
The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’ – An Exegesis
“The song has so much happening that when I casually listen I feel the accumulated effect, but attempting to really figure out what’s going on, I fear may take the fun out of it.” Nevertheless, Nicholas Dawidoff has a go at it, because it is, as he writes, “my idea of a perfect song. It is the epitome of The Beatles’ master building, of fitting stone upon stone, each section troweled together with such ingenuity and care that upon completion the whole thing feels seamless, a structure not built at all, but a whole that simply was.”
Ringling Bros. Circus Wasn’t Just A Show, It Was A Major Logistical Feat
As one crew member says, “It’s the largest theater performance in human history on the longest passenger train in human history.” Camila Domonoske reports.
New York Gets Its First Museum Devoted To Contemporary Islamic Art
The Institute of Arab and Islamic Art opened earlier this month in Soho; “[it] has a gallery space and bookstore, and it aspires to organize quarterly exhibitions, travelling shows, artist residencies, and publications.” Vivek Gupta has a first look.
NEH Chairman Resigns
“William D. Adams, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be stepping down effective Tuesday, the endowment announced, ending a three-year tenure. Mr. Adams cited ‘personal reasons,’ as well as the Trump administration’s decision to appoint a new liaison to the endowment.”
A Google Artificial Intelligence Team Is Coming Up With Weird And Wonderful New Musical Instrument Combinations
“Jesse Engel is playing an instrument that’s somewhere between a clavichord and a Hammond organ – 18th-century classical crossed with 20th-century rhythm and blues. Then he drags a marker across his laptop screen. Suddenly, the instrument is somewhere else between a clavichord and a Hammond. ..Then he drags the marker back and forth as quickly as he can, careening though all the sounds between these two very different instruments.” Cade Metz checks out this new – what is it, exactly? – called NSynth.
The Harpsichordist Who Survived Auschwitz, Bubonic Plague, And Communism
By the time World War II ended and Zuzana Růžičková had recovered her health, her hands were in such terrible shape that her teacher cried when she saw them. She went on to have a successful concert career, including frequent visits to the West, and became the first person ever to record Bach’s complete works for harpsichord. Now she’s 90 and no longer performing, but still active – and if you’re playing for her in a lesson and she gets bored, she’ll pick up a novel.
Mass MoCA Is Using Its Big, New Expansion For Big, New, Long-Term Projects
“Building 6, is a three-story, 130,000 sq. ft. structure now outfitted with long-term shows and installations by five artists. They include a 15-year installation by Jenny Holzer, whose art will be projected on the building and surrounding landscape, and a 25-year James Turrell retrospective with nine of the artist’s light works.”
Ratmansky To Reconstruct Petipa’s Original Version Of ‘Harlequinade’
“One of the 21st century’s greatest choreographers is taking another drink from the fount of classical ballet: Alexei Ratmansky plans to create a new Harlequinade next year for American Ballet Theater, a reconstruction of Marius Petipa’s ballet Les Millions d’Arlequin.”