“Absolutely, she planned for it. She redid her will earlier in the spring when her blood counts were going the wrong way, typed an exit letter on her computer, spelling out what she wanted after she died: a party in the apartment with Champagne and cucumber sandwiches from William Poll; a memorial held days after. ‘Get it over with’ was the gist of her instructions. She even supplied the speaker list.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
German Booksellers, Deutsche Telekom Join To Offer Competitor To Kindle
“On Friday, three of Germany’s biggest booksellers, along with its biggest media company and its biggest telecom company, debuted an e-book distribution platform and an e-reader intended to compete with Amazon, Apple, and other e-reader hardware and content providers.”
The Living Theater Is Not Dead, Contrary To Rumor
With the legendary experimental company leaving the theater it had called home since 2007, and with company co-founder Judith Malina leaving her apartment atop the space for an assisted-living facility for actors, reports began circulating that the Living Theater was closing. On the contrary, says executive producer Brad Burgess. (And Malina is working on two new plays.)
Still Abiding After 15 Years: The Laid-Back World Of Big Lebowski Worship
“Over the last 15 years, the Coen brothers’ oddball noir-Western-surrealist comedy about one man’s complicated quest to get his rug replaced after a mistaken hitman pees on it hasn’t just become a cult classic – it’s become something closer to an actual cult. Not only has it launched at least one known, priest-ordaining faith; it’s also become a field of study for religion and mythology scholars, too.”
The Messy Love Life Of Anton Chekhov
“The more you learn about Chekhov, as you read biographies, memoirs, the letters – the more clear it becomes that he led a love-life of astonishing activity and complexity. Chekhov, it turns out, had a great many affairs, some enduring several years, and most of the women involved with him for any length of time wanted to marry him.”
Geneticists Estimate Publication Date Of Iliad
“Scientists who decode the genetic history of humans by tracking how genes mutate have applied the same technique to one of the Western world’s most ancient and celebrated texts to uncover the date it was first written.”
Sundance Plans A Mini-Festival In L.A.
“The Sundance Film Festival will showcase some of its more experimental features in a new mini-festival in West Hollywood this summer. Called Next Weekend, the Aug. 8-11 event will include screenings, panel discussions and parties.”
Three Suspects Confess To Bolshoi Acid Attack
“A dancer at the Bolshoi Ballet and two other men have confessed to carrying out an acid attack in January on the company’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, a crime that gripped Moscow and left one of Russia’s most revered institutions in turmoil, the police announced on Wednesday.”
‘Only Connect The Prose And The Passion’: A Manifesto For Administrators, Artists And Funders
Marian Godfrey, a longtime official with the Pew Charitable Trusts, calls for organizations to (re-)consider how their activities – and even their stated missions – really relate to and with the people they’re meant to serve (and to remember that the people they’re serving aren’t the artists themselves).
Chen Kaige Says China’s Smog Is Choking His Filmmaking
“‘Cornered by the terrible weather, I have nowhere to go … I am unable to focus on my artistic creation,’ said Chen Kaige, who won the Palme d’Or for his 1993 film Farewell My Concubine.”