“It has been home to tsars and one of the finest art collections on Earth. Now with a new wing slowly opening to the public, the Hermitage in St Petersburg is inching its way into contemporary art, a controversial world in a country regularly accused of censorship.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Astrotheology: Do Gods Need To Be Supernatural?
“As science advances, what we call “God” may be in need of serious revision. Especially if we do away with the supernatural when we think of deities.”
Alexei Ratmansky: ‘Philosophy Is Not For Dancing’
“The origins of dance are simple emotions, like joy or sorrow. Maybe some ceremonial dances, like rituals, could be included in these two basic emotions that force humans to move, to dance. When ballet-makers try to attach very complicated matters, it does not really work.”
Riccardo Muti Is Chicago’s $2 Million Man
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director “earned about $2.2 million in salary, performance fees, and recording and broadcast fees in 2011.” Says orchestra president Deborah Rutter, “The musicians continue to be head over heels in love with their music director and we have seen that pride extend throughout the city.”
Abraham Lincoln’s Sense Of Humor
“We don’t make the distinction between ‘wit’ and ‘humor’ anymore, but in the nineteenth century people did. Wit was sarcastic and antipathetic while humor was congenial and empathetic. It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between ‘laughing with’ and ‘laughing at.’ Lincoln was much more about ‘laughing with’ than ‘laughing at.’ And when ‘laughing at,’ it was often himself he was mocking.”
Business Leaders Must Read Poetry, Says Harvard Business Review
“For one, poetry teaches us to wrestle with and simplify complexity. Harman Industries founder Sidney Harman once told The New York Times, ‘I used to tell my senior staff to get me poets as managers. Poets are our original systems thinkers. They look at our most complex environments and they reduce the complexity to something they begin to understand.'”
Hilary Mantel On Beheading
“Beheading, believe it or not, was a privilege reserved usually for the aristocracy, for gentlemen and gentlewomen. Now, I don’t want you to get the idea that these were weekly events in Henry’s England; it’s because beheadings were rare that they made such a terrible impact on the imagination of the close circle around Henry.”
Gérard Depardieu Arrested For Scooting While Intoxicated
“The burly actor was picked up off after he fell off his scooter in northwest Paris, the Sipa news agency reported. He failed a sobriety test and was taken to a police station, according to Sipa.”
Lincoln Center Plans Radical Revamp Of Avery Fisher Hall
“Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic are planning a radical re-envisioning of Avery Fisher Hall that will require the orchestra to relocate for two seasons and aims to redefine what it means to be a concert hall … Rather than proceed with a previous redesign plan, which has been stalled for years, officials said they would solicit new architectural proposals to overhaul the building.”
Moving To Philadelphia Didn’t Ruin The Barnes Foundation, It Saved It
Former Harvard president (and current Barnes trustee) Neil Rudenstine “argues that by moving to Philadelphia, the Barnes Foundation simply rescued itself from inevitable financial ruin” – and that Albert Barnes himself bears no small responsibility for that predicament.