Matthew Westphal – Page 1983 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Met Opera Settles Contracts With Last Remaining Unions

“The Metropolitan Opera announced Thursday night that it had reached labor settlements with the last of its unions, including those representing its costume and wardrobe departments, hair and makeup artists, scenic artists and designers, camera operators and others.”

How The Elevator Changed Everything

Elisha Graves Otis’s invention didn’t just make whole new styles of architecture possible, writes Jonathan Glancey, it deeply affected our entire culture.

Asking For Advice Doesn’t Make You Look Dumb – Rather The Contrary

“Down deep, most people are most afraid of this one thing: sounding dumb. New research shows that people shy away from asking for help for fear of appearing less competent, but that this is an unfounded fear: Asking for advice actually makes you seem more capable.”

Pulp Thrillers In Egypt And The State Of The Egyptian Nation

“The golden age of illicit crime fiction translation – from the 1890s through the 1960s – corresponds to the construction of the Egyptian nation, from colonial rule and monarchy to President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization project. … And now, as authorities attempt to restore law and order, the crime genre is making a comeback.”

Iraqi National Museum Partly Reopens For First Time Since 2003 Looting

“The newly renovated halls feature more than 500 artifacts that mainly date back to the Hellenistic period (312-139 B.C.), some of which were retrieved and renovated after the looting of the museum following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.”

The Classical Music World Is Rife With Drink And Drugs! (Says Yet Another Tattletale)

“Addiction problems are widespread among classical musicians, for many reasons,” she says. “There is the lifestyle, the odd hours, working weekends, post-concert socialising. Many players use alcohol and beta-blockers to control their performance anxiety and then, after the ‘high’ of a performance, musicians can struggle to ‘come down’ and therefore drink to relax.”

The Character That Embodies The Entire History Of “The Simpsons”

The story of barkeep Moe Szyslak – “his oddball beginnings, his pugnacious heart, his rages and joys and astonishing depths – is, in many ways, the story of how The Simpsons went from being a catchphrase-laden pop-culture supernova to one of the most influential cultural works of the late 20th century.”

I Had Never Seen “The Simpsons”, The Show That Gave My Generation Its Soul

“The Simpsons debuted in 1989, which means millennials have been watching it since elementary school. … The word [‘meh’] is so important to my millennial lexicon that a search of my Gchat history displays ‘1-20 of many,’ yet by age 30 I had never seen a moment of the show that popularized it.” So Megan Greenwell started binge-watching, and got an education …

Where Will Amazon Start Using Delivery Drones (Since It Can’t In The U.S.)?

In India – specifically in Mumbai and Bangalore, where the e-retailer has large warehouses. Service could start as early as this autumn.

Author: Matthew Westphal