“‘Every increase of one letter in the average length of words describing a dish is associated with an increase of 69 cents in the price of that dish.’ Compared with inexpensive restaurants, the expensive ones are ‘three times less likely to talk about the diner’s choice’ (your way, etc.) and ‘seven times more likely to talk about the chef’s choice’.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Danish Conceptual Art Project Pulled After Swedes Accuse It Of Racism
“The Copenhagen-based theatre company Global Stories’ project Through Different Eyes has been removed from the Malmö Festival after more than 200 Swedes signed a petition accusing the project of racism” – specifically, of being modern-day blackface.”
Russia to Bulgarians: Stop Repainting Soviet-Era Monuments to Look Like Comic Book Characters
In the latest of a series of art-bombings in Sofia, the figures in a post-World War II memorial to the Red Army were repainted to look like, among others, Superman, the Joker, Captain America, Ronald McDonald, and a black Santa Claus. The Russian government wants this to stop.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.25.14
Creative solutions to everyday problems
AJBlog: The Artful Manager | Published 2014-08-25
The Arts in a Civic World Upside Down
AJBlog: Jumper | Published 2014-08-24
Journalism’s Phony Golden Age
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-08-25
Birthplace of Another Sonata
AJBlog: PostClassic | Published 2014-08-26
[ssba_hide]
It’s Either Him Or Me: Gianandrea Noseda Says He’ll Quit Turin’s Opera Unless General Manager Is Replaced
As most Italian opera houses seem to careen from disaster to disaster, Turin’s Teatro Regio has seemed a rare bright spot, with quality and reputation both soaring even as state funding shrivels – and Noseda’s work as music director gets most of the credit. But now his long-simmering tensions with the house’s boss have boiled over.
Musicians Fight Back For Conductor Fired By Board, Warn Of Mass Departures
Several players in the Vallejo (Cal.) Symphony have publicly chastised the orchestra’s board for its unanimous vote not to renew the contract of David Ramadanoff, who has served as music director for 33 years. The concertmaster says that “maybe more than half” of the musicians will quit after Ramadanoff’s final concert.
Why India Loves To Ban Films
“Social scientist Shiv Visvanathan says frequent calls to ban films are part of a broader malaise in a country where ‘a lot of people have made their careers in sensitivities. There are fringe groups in India which mobilise people around issues of obscenity, dirty movies, dirty pictures.’ Political parties like the Congress are particularly touchy, he says, about films that ‘challenge their folklore’.”
Fearing Riots, Indian Gov’t Blocks Film About Indira Gandhi’s Assassination
Certification board chief Leela Samson: “We saw the film and decided it could not be released as it was, due to fears that it would lead to disruption of public order. … The film is double trouble. It glorifies Indira Gandhi’s assassins who took the law into their own hands and it glorifies the hanging of the two men.”
Thelma Holt Tells Tales
“In the previous 15 minutes, [the legendary London stage producer] has related one story about a fellow theatre producer (unprintable), two stories about a theatre owner (possibly libellous), a yarn about an encounter with the crown prince of Japan (probable diplomatic incident) and a saga that swerves from the crisis in Gaza to David Cameron’s taste in suits.”
Hemingway for Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton’s Flash Fiction Ads
“It could almost be a writing workshop prompt: tell a story, do it in six words, go for the wow effect – and that’s exactly what the Ritz-Carlton wants. Recently, the hotel company launched a campaign inviting social media friends and followers to provide six-word stories about their Ritz-Carlton experiences with the hashtag #RCMemories.”