Certainly not – though some of us (not all, but some) might be excused for thinking so.
Author: Matthew Westphal
We’ll Always Have Camp – And We’ll Always Need It
“In the end, it is camp’s rare combination of respite and reflection that should keep it relevant, for there will always be paradigms to outplay and systems to baffle. … The truth may be that camp cannot die because it is just a tool; and tools, no matter how long they’ve been sitting on a shelf, are not dead. They’re merely waiting for someone to pick them up.”
Pimp My Walk: The Fabulous Canes Of 19th-Century Flaneurs
“Now, here’s an interesting walking cane. It was made in Holland sometime in the 19th century. It has an ebony shaft and is 35 inches long. The top features an ivory finial depicting a four-inch-high man with muttonchops. The man is squatting, and …” (Er, we’ll leave it there for now.)
Bolshoi Ballet’s Sergei Filin Still Can’t See After Acid Attack
“The Bolshoi ballet artistic director who suffered eye and skin damage in a horrifying acid attack in January still cannot see with either eye, his lawyer said Thursday, suggesting that his state of health is worse than predicted by doctors.”
What 15,000 Years Of Cooking Fish Tells Us About Humanity
It tells us that prehistoric, pre-agriculture humans were more sophisticated thinkers, and better craftsmen, than we had imagined.
Turkish Literature Is More Than Just Orhan Pamuk (And It’s High Time The Rest Of Us Knew It)
“Turkey’s top literary star at the [London Book] Fair is not, as you might expect, the Nobel Prize-winner of Orhan Pamuk – who is notably absent – but Elif Shafak. Shafak … is, along with Pamuk, perhaps the only other Turkish author to truly command a broad English-speaking readership. Yet, considering Turkey’s highly professional publishing industry and it’s [sic] geographic position at one of the flash points of world affairs, it’s time for this to change.”
Turning A Sondheim Chamber Musical Into An Extravaganza (Well, That‘s Bucking A Trend)
“What happens when you take a Stephen Sondheim chamber piece – Sunday in the Park With George – and produce it operatically, quadrupling the size of the orchestra?” That’s what they’ve done at Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet.
Robin Williams Remembers Jonathan Winters
“My father’s laughter introduced me to the comedy of Jonathan Winters. My dad was a sweet man, but not an easy laugh. We were watching Jack Paar on The Tonight Show on our black-and-white television, and on came Jonathan in a pith helmet…”
Psy’s Latest Video Banned By South Korean Network (You Won’t Believe Why)
“South Korea’s KBS, a state-funded broadcaster, said Thursday it was banning the video because it shows Psy kicking a traffic cone with a ‘no parking’ sign on it. The TV network says it has a policy prohibiting the showing of videos that abuse public property.”
BBC Proms 2013 To Feature Wagner Cycle, First Female Conductor Of Last Night
Marin Alsop will take the podium for the Last Night of the Proms on Sept. 7, with guest stars Joyce DiDonato and Nigel Kennedy. The Proms’ Wagner bicentenary programming include a a concert Ring cycle conducted by Daniel Barenboim as well as concert performances of Tristan and Isolde, Tannhäuser and Parsifal.