“The Burmese poet Maung Saungkha does not have a tattoo of Myanmar’s President on his penis. At least, that is what he has told everyone who has asked him recently. He may soon have to prove it in court.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Hindu Right Attacks Classical Indian Lit Project At Harvard
“A group of Sanskrit scholars in India are calling for an American professor working on a groundbreaking project on Indian classics at Harvard University to be removed because of his ‘deep antipathy’ to Indian ideals and culture, according to a Change.org petition filed Saturday.”
‘The Dress’, One Year Later: Scientists Know More About Why People See Different Colors In It – And Now There’s ‘The Jacket’
Some factors evidently make no difference (genetics), while certain factors you’d think were entirely irrelevant do seem to correlate. And researchers have finally found another image for which people’s color perceptions vary wildly; you can take an online test and help with the research.
When Aztecs Made Catholic Icons Out Of Feathers
“Following their takeover, the Spanish encouraged amantecas, or feather artists, to continue their work … Crafted carefully with glue from orchid bulbs, feather art remained very much connected to precolonial history, even as the indigenous art was forcibly altered into a new fusion between the Old World and the New.”
Britain’s Class System Affects Even Actors’ Pay
“New research has claimed there is a ‘class ceiling’ in British performing arts which deters working-class actors and means they are paid less than their middle-class contemporaries.”
More Debate Over Casting Zoe Saldana As Nina Simone
“A debate over whether Zoe Saldana is the right actress to star in a biopic of Nina Simone, the black singer, pianist and civil rights activist, has been reignited after a poster and trailer of the movie were unveiled online this week and a message from a Twitter account belonging to representatives of Ms. Simone’s estate attacked the actress.”
The First-Ever Worldwide Dance Critic Started Out As A Eurhythmics Instructor
But by the time she was 30, in 1907, she had launched a career that would take her to Bali and Java, India and Ceylon, and North Africa, writing about the dance she found for London publications from Ballet to The Daily Telegraph.
Scientists May Just Have Found Banksy (Whose Lawyers Are Not Happy)
Using a technique called “geographic profiling” which was pioneered by criminologists, “researchers [studied] a list of Banksy artwork locations in London and Bristol, [and] they said that the resulting ‘geoprofile’ was a good match for an obvious candidate.”
Amazon Customers In Review War Over The Book Of Mormon (The Real One)
“‘WARNING: May cause drowsiness and occasional eye-rolling. Go watch the musical instead,’ said one reviewer. A five-star fan, however, said that ‘it was translated by the Gift and Power of God, and is the record of a people who are a branch of the tribe of Israel who had Prophets in their day who preached about Christ. Read it and pray about its contents.'”
French Police Seize Old Master Painting From Prince Of Liechtenstein
“A Paris judge seized on Tuesday a painting attributed to the artist Lucas Cranach the Elder from an exhibition in Aix-en-Provence after doubts were raised about its authenticity. Part of the Prince of Liechtenstein’s collection, the work is to be examined by experts.”