“Who threatened to throw himself off a balcony? Who was chatted up by Saul Bellow? From the very first award in 1969 up to last year’s prize, a judge from each year of the Booker gave us the inside story on how they reached their decision. Click on the dates and dots along the top …”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Are Artists To Blame For Gentrification? Probably Not
“The current narrative – in newsrooms, in think tanks, in studios and galleries – has art at the bleeding edge of urban transformation. But this narrative is wrong – or at least it keeps getting told in the wrong way.”
Is It Really Best Practice To Review New Dance On Opening Night?
Judith Mackrell: “In the dance world … not only do most productions have to consider themselves officially ready for the (full) paying public on opening night, but also ready for review.” This despite the fact that, sometimes, the work under review has barely made it onstage.
New Theory May Explain Where Old Memories Go
The explanation by researchers from Johns Hopkins University “rests on the premise that memories are transformed each time we revisit them. … Every reactivation re-encodes the memory, and depending on what cortical neurons are engaged, can strengthen, weaken or update particular memory features.”
Why We Need Sleep: “It’s Like A Dishwasher”
“During sleep, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases dramatically, washing away harmful waste proteins that build up between brain cells during waking hours, a study of mice found.”
Cinema Chain Tries Luring Moviegoers With Deluxe Recliners
“AMC Theaters, with more than 300 theaters nationwide, is wagering its future, and many millions of dollars, on ripping out the old, uncompetitive seats and replacing them with what it calls ‘plush power recliners’.” Your correspondent tries them out in a ten-hour, four-movie marathon.
Rocky Horror Picture Show Becomes Therapeutic Vehicle
Midnight showings of the cult classic in several cities feature, along with the usual audience participation, “shadow casts” – people of varying shapes and sizes who act out the script in costume on a stage in front of the screen. A number of shadow cast members are finding that the performances help them overcome body shame, especially around fat.
The Year Of Horror-Themed Advertising
“For Halloween 2013, the predominant attitude in pitches for candy, costumes, toys and other merchandise is more trick than treat – somewhat surprising, given the lingering qualms about the economy and the effects of the government shutdown. For instance, Booking.com … plans to introduce on Friday a spooky campaign centered on ‘haunted’ hotels.”
What Exactly Is James Franco Doing? (What Isn’t He Doing?)
“What could he do that would seem out of place? What could he do that you really wouldn’t expect? … He could show up in oil paintings, on a sitcom, as a Jeopardy! contestant, as the announced star of So Fast & Extra Furious 8, or in hard-core pornography, and nobody would really think it was anything other than a further example of Well, That’s James Franco For You.”
How It Felt To Be Hirschfelded
Michael Feinstein, Alan Cumming, Carol Channing and Tommy Tune talk about having their caricatures drawn by the late, great Al Hirschfeld.