“Museum officials in Johnson County, Kan., propose spending $34 million to create the National Museum of Suburbia, a faux suburb where visitors could wander through a model ranch-style home, wonder at an exhibit of lawn furniture and topple pins on a re-created bowling lane.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Kate Prince, English-Village-Lass-Turned-Hip-Hop-Choreographer
“I get a lot of people saying: ‘You’re a white girl from the country, how are you working in hip-hop?’ At first I thought that was fair enough, but now I’m like: ‘It’s been 10 years, let’s move on’.”
Bret Easton Ellis Is Still Bitching About Not Getting To Write Fifty Shades Screenplay
The American Psycho author spent the summer openly campaigning to be screenwriter for the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey, eve offering casting suggestions. When the producers announced the choice of television writer Kelly Marcel, Ellis threw a little Twitter tantrum.
Margaret Atwood’s Ten Rules For Writers
“7. You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch. Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but Âessentially you’re on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.”
Why Dorian Gray Is The Right Poster Boy For The Age Of Abercrombie & Fitch
Director Neil Bartlett: “I know exactly what [a hunky model on an A&F billboard] is peddling. It’s the idea that sexual shamelessness – by which I mean not Saturday-night recklessness, but a genuine freedom from shame – is something that you can buy. … [The] diabolical, corrupting contract between beauty and shame is exactly what Wilde is anatomising in Dorian Gray.”
Orange Prize For Female Writers Saved By Private Donors
“High-profile private donors have stepped in to save the UK’s only prize for female writers after a scramble for a sponsor failed to come up with a long-term backer to replace Orange for 2013.”
Nguyen Chi Thien, 73, ‘The Solzhenitsyn Of Vietnam’
He acquired the moniker “for the sheaves of poems he wrote opposing the Communist government there – and for the prolonged imprisonment, including torture and solitary confinement, that his efforts earned him.”
Afghan Hit Film A Lifeline For Country’s Industry
“Buzkashi Boys is the story of two young boys in Kabul who dream of playing buzkashi, the Afghan national sport in which horseback riders compete for possession of a headless goat. … [The movie] has provided a rare opportunity for a narrative, fictional film shot in Afghanistan to reach an international audience and has invigorated the tiny Afghan film industry.”
L.A. Philharmonic Ends Cinema Simulcast Series
“Deborah Borda, president of the orchestra, said in a statement that the L.A. Phil Live series ‘was not able to garner the sponsorship required to move forward,’ despite corporate support from Rolex, the luxury watchmaker that was the official sponsor of the cinema series.”
Not Creativity, Recreativity (Is There Really Nothing New Under The Sun?)
“[An] emerging movement of critics, theorists, writers, and artists argue that techniques of appropriation and quotation are inherent to the creative process. Not only are the concepts of originality and innovation obsolete, they’ve always been myths. … ”