“No one, save perhaps the producers of This American Life, has better mastered the radio narrative formula, which requires a steady drumbeat of change. It seems simple enough until you consider the poem-like compression the form requires, and which sometimes allows a writer as skillful as Sedaris to condense something novel-size into 15 or 20 minutes’ worth of words meant to be spoken.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Wandering, Dwindling Chinese Opera Troupes Of Bangkok
“Sleep like dogs, eat like pigs, dress like angels. This, in their own words, is the life of an itinerant Chinese opera singer. They are the Gypsies of Bangkok, hauling their stages, their costumes, their musical instruments, their hammocks and their cooking gear through the back streets of the city from one Chinese temple to the next … for a shrinking following of increasingly elderly ethnic Chinese Thais.”
So, According To Those New Letters, What Was The Young J.D. Salinger Like?
“Salinger himself comes off as the caustic, brilliant, insecure friend you are constantly justifying to your other friends. Yeah, he can be a jerk sometimes, but he doesn’t mean it. His brain is wired differently from the average person’s, try talking to him one-on-one.”
The Strange Case Of The Design For Israel’s New National Library
Rafi Segal’s design was chosen by an enthusiastic jury over competitors that included several international starchitects. Then a Jerusalem municipal attorney threatened to block the entire building process because he disagreed with Segal’s opinions about West Bank settlements. Suddenly, accusations of plagiarism arose and the jury was re-writing the rules and reopening the design competition.
Survival Of The Shyest: Timidity Has Its Benefits
“In the natural world fortune doesn’t always favour the bold. … Does shyness have survival value for us too? Some researchers think so and are starting to find that people who are shy, sensitive and even anxious have some surprising advantages over more go-getting types.”
US Army Enlists Batman For Public Service Spots In Afghanistan
“In fictional Gotham City, Batman protects citizens from crime. Here, at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, another Dark Knight is on a different kind of crusade: making sure soldiers carry their rifles and don’t get run over at night.”
Judy Davis, Still Prickly After All These Years
“Rich, powerful actors have minders to protect them. I’ve never had that. It’s just me walking into that zone. I’ve got children, I’ve got to make a living. And I have at times found myself in situations I’d have preferred not to be in.”
Is The Prado’s Colossus By Goya After All?
“It is one of the most famous paintings in the Prado – but since the end of 2008, The Colossus has been attributed to a follower of Goya, not the master himself. Now, a study from a professor at the University of Zaragoza argues that the work may be by Goya after all.”
Ballet Gains A (Tentative) Toe-Hold In The Arab World
Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the wealthy and culturally ambitious but straitlaced emirates on the Persian Gulf coast, have been bringing in the likes of the Royal Danish Ballet and the Mariinsky Ballet – despite the fact that tutus push some cultural boundaries there.
Santa Fe Opera Names Harry Bicket Chief Conductor
“Harry Bicket, the British early music specialist, is to be the next chief conductor of Santa Fe Opera, starting in October. He succeeds conductor Frederic Chaslin, who resigned last August after just two seasons on the job, saying he wanted to focus on composing and his duties as music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.”