The organizers of the World Pole Sports Championships “want to reform pole dancing into a sport respectable enough to go to the Olympics. So they’ve written a rule book that gives code names to compulsory moves, specifies scoring methodology and bans pole-dancing staples such as removable articles of clothing. And they’d like people to call their event ‘pole sports’ now.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Turkey’s Ancient Language Of Tweets, Trills And Whistles
“Many people aren’t connected to the Internet in this remote hilltop village. But tweeting is a very big deal. Residents here have for centuries communicated with one another using a series of elaborately trilled whistles known as ‘bird language’.”
Bolshoi Dancer Retracts Confession In Acid Attack; Attacker Backs Him Up
Pavel Dmitrichenko, “accused of organising and paying for the acid attack that blinded the Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Sergei Filin, has denied orchestrating the assault, in an apparent retraction of a confession made earlier this year.” Yuri Zarutsky, who admits throwing the acid, “denied that either Dmitrichenko or Lipatov had anything to do with the crime, accusing detectives of fabricating the case against them.”
Turkey’s High Court Overturns Acquittals of Publisher On Obscenity Charges
“Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals unanimously overturned previous ruling of acquittals of the publisher and translator of a French book” – Guillaume Apollinaire’s The Exploits of Young Don Juan – stating some of book’s context failed to fall under freedom of speech due to its perversion.”
Could Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway Become As Popular As New York’s High Line?
“[A new] city-commissioned plan, ‘More Park, Less Way,’ focuses on turning four parcels of underutilized open space into lively neighborhood parks with amenities such as yoga, volleyball, chess boards, food kiosks and cultural programming. The aim is to make the parkway as enticing a destination for city residents – especially the 70,000 who live within a 10-minute walk – as it is for tourists.”
Chinese Director Sets Shakespeare To Heavy Metal
“This is The Tragedy of Coriolanus by Lin Zhaohua, routinely described as China’s most controversial theatre director. First performed in 2007, it is big in every sense: there’s a cast of more than 100, and the action takes place on a near-empty stage against a vast, blood-red brick wall.”
Actress Karen Black, 74
“With compelling, close-set eyes that gave her a distinctive appearance, Black built a film resume that included prostitutes, murderers, waitresses, transsexuals and thieves. She imbued the portrayals of her often vulnerable, working-class characters with pathos and occasional humor.”
Conductors Pierre Boulez And James Conlon Sidelined Due To Injury
“With two more conductors sidelined, here and in Europe, just weeks after Andris Nelsons and Christoph Eschenbach bowed out of Tanglewood performances, the classical music world is compiling an injury list that rivals Major League Baseball.”
Jack Clement, 82. “Genius” Country Music Producer
“His earliest successes came in the 1950s at Sun Records, where he ran the soundboard for the recording of early rock ‘n’ roll classics by Jerry Lee Lewis and others. He also engineered the so-called Million Dollar Quartet session featuring Mr. Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Three decades later Mr. Clement returned to the Sun studio to help produce U2’s hit album Rattle and Hum.”
How Romantic Jealousy Changes Us
One new study indicates that jealousy makes us want to become more like the individuals we perceive to be our rivals.