“The limestone coffin [is] estimated at 1,800 years old and discovered last week during work on a new neighbourhood in coastal city Ashkelon … The contractors who encountered the find opted to extract it themselves with a tractor, damaging it before hiding it beneath a stack of metal sheets and boards.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Ancient Native American Rock Art Defaced With Graffiti – By Geology Students
Fortunately (if that’s the word), the taggers included their names and the university they attend. (includes video)
When White Poets Pretend To Be Asian
Hua Hsu on the Yi-Fen Chou/Best American Poetry affair (which he calls “Orientalist profiteering”): “It makes a mockery of whatever ‘life story of a Chinese American poet’ the name Chou might have stood in for. It ridicules the ambient self-doubt that trails most people from the margins who enter into spaces where they were never encouraged to belong. As though it were all just a game, meant to be gamed.”
All Scientists Should Be ‘Militant Atheists’
Lawrence M. Krauss: “Astronomers have no problem ridiculing the claims of astrologists, even though a significant fraction of the public believes these claims. Doctors have no problem condemning the actions of anti-vaccine activists who endanger children. And yet, for reasons of decorum, many scientists worry that ridiculing certain religious claims alienates the public from science. When they do so, they are being condescending at best and hypocritical at worst.”
Playing A Violin, From The Violin’s Perspective
“Pavel Frumin hit the streets of Kiev, Ukraine, with a GoPro at either end of his violin. The cameras reveal his fingers racing up and down the instrument’s fingerboard as if in some crazy finger tap dance.” (video)
Billie Holiday To Sing At The Apollo This Fall – As A Hologram
“The Apollo has partnered with Hologram USA to bring extended, permanent hologram technology to the theater. Ms. Holiday, who performed at the Apollo in the flesh nearly 30 times, will be the first, and is scheduled to debut around Thanksgiving.”
Don’t Make Fun Of Luddites – They Have A Point
“We shouldn’t automatically dismiss [the Luddite impulse] as one that scapegoats technology for society’s ills or pines for a simpler past free of irritating gadgets. Rather, today’s Luddites are scared that technology will reveal that humans are no different from technology – that it will eliminate what it means to be human. And frankly, I don’t blame them.”
Hollywood’s Elephant Theatre Co. Closes Up Shop, At Least For Now
“The award-winning company, which has built a reputation for championing new American plays, is the latest casualty on Hollywood’s Theatre Row, which has seen an exodus of companies in recent years due to rising rents and other real-estate woes.”
Mitsuko Uchida, Sylvie Guillem, Dominique Perrault, Tadanori Yokoo, Wolfgang Laib Win Japan’s $124,000 Praemium Imperiale
“Established in 1989, the Praemium Imperiale recognizes achievements in five cultural categories: architecture, painting, sculpture, music and theater/film.”
Bard College Starts Up New World Symphony-Style Postgrad Orchestra
The ensemble, called The Orchestra Now, provides free tuition, health benefits, and a $24,000 annual stipend. This year TON will be performing at Bard, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and plans to give free concerts in New York City’s outer boroughs and East Village.