“Thursday night, [Arild] Remmereit spoke out at a meeting for the first time since [his] firing. The meeting was organized by RPO supporters who are not happy with the decision of the board to cancel Remmereit’s contract. Music fans, former board members and even musicians came to the meeting to express their support and also to discuss their plan of action.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Why Animals Like To Play
“Recreation may look like it serves no obvious purpose, but when dogs and other animals are having fun they are learning some valuable lessons.”
The Meal As Manifesto
“Eating moss, kelp, weeds, raw shellfish, and dirt at Copenhagen’s Noma, the most provocative (and many say ‘the best’) restaurant in the world.”
China Has Become A Cinema Powerhouse
Now a would-be Hollywood blockbuster “has to be understood and enjoyed not just by audiences in Los Angeles and London, but in Lanzhou too. This year, China has become the world’s second largest movie market. And by the end of the decade it will be number one.”
Philadelphia, Classical Music’s Tryout Town
“Though Philadelphia is a significant destination for classical performers, there’s no getting around its proximity to New York City – or how much the two cities feed off each other culturally. Not only do artists give their programs an outing in Philadelphia’s neighborhood before braving Carnegie Hall audiences, they’re also happy to perform here because it doesn’t require a plane trip to get to New York.”
Sony Resurrects A Historic Jazz Label
“The major-label landscape hasn’t been hospitable to jazz in recent years, but there’s a bit of good news on the horizon: OKeh Records, the label that released historic early recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Duke Ellington, is being revived under the corporate umbrella of Sony Masterworks.”
Celebrities Get Naked With Sea Creatures
“A campaign to stop overfishing features photos of celebs in their birthday suits, cuddling up with marine creatures to draw attention to overfishing. It’s safe for work, unless your boss hates fish.”
You Think London’s Tabloids Are Bad Now? They’ve Been Bad For Centuries
“However disgraceful or unprincipled you may think the scribblers of today, rest assured that their 18th-century equivalents were at least as bad and probably worse. Furthermore, the laments and recourses of struggling writers have changed very little in the past three centuries.”
Visiting New York’s New Museum Of Math
MoMath is “the only place in the world that has an L.E.D. foot-touch ‘Math Square’ as a permanent exhibit. We were standing beside it, watching a young boy run in circles around it, while [founder Glen] Whitney dismissed the idea that studying algebra is any different from learning to drive.”
Houston Picasso Vandal Turns Himself In At US-Mexico Border
“A Houston man accused of vandalizing a Picasso painting … last year surrendered to authorities Tuesday at the U.S.-Mexico border, his attorney said. Uriel Landeros has been on the run since Picasso’s Woman in a Red Armchair was spray-painted June 13 at the Menil Collection.”