“In one test, a man asked a passerby for directions. Then [researcher Tom] Stafford arranged for a full-size wooden door to be lugged between them. During that brief instant, the man seeking directions was replaced – by a very different looking, much shorter person.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
For Slavoj Zizek, The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Ideology
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology “is a singular trip through some iconic American film moments, in which Zizek is inserted into the action – sitting on an ice floe next to Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the final scene of Titanic, … prancing across the same hilltop Julie Andrews did in The Sound of Music – all the while explaining his theories about what ideological ideas each movie contains.”
Minnesota Orchestra, SPCO Both Go Public With Cost-Cutting Demands
“After months of quiet labor talks, the brass at the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra took their disputes with musicians public Wednesday, announcing big financial shortfalls they say require major cost cutting.”
A Eurythmics Musical? Dave Stewart Is Thinking About It
“We’re not talking about a reunion right now, but never say never. Annie and I wrote so many songs together, and they keep popping up in different places, and I have this idea of putting them all together in a theatrical piece in the not too distant future.”
Unknown Photo Of Emily Dickinson Surfaces
“A photograph believed to be an extremely rare image of Emily Dickinson has surfaced in her home town of Amherst, Massachusetts, showing a young woman in old-fashioned clothes, a tiny smile on her lips and a hand extended solicitously towards her friend.”
Villella Speaks, Briefly And Carefully, About His Early Departure From Miami
“I want to get on with my life. I have more to contribute and I want to start contributing.” On possibly bringing a lawsuit: “I don’t want to jeopardize the company in any way. … I don’t want to do anything that would be detrimental to my dancers – my former dancers.”
Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum’s Renovation Is Finally Finished
“[For] the last decade, the Rijksmuseum has been operating in third gear – its treasures crammed into one wing while its main building has undergone a renovation process that has dragged on for far longer than was intended. … Amsterdam’s grandest cultural institution has finally revealed the date for its full reopening – although it will not be for another seven months.”
Egypt’s Tumult, Reflected In Street Art And Music
“Egypt’s post-revolution art scene is documenting the country’s emotional roller coaster of a transition through music and graffiti art. Since the uprising against Hosni Mubarak, small indie bands have popped up to sing or rap about the political situation in Egypt. The graffiti that lines Cairo’s streets is also evolving with the transition.”
The Promised Land, The Evil Empire: How Other Nations’ Movies Portray America
World cinema has more than just a love-hate relationship with the world’s 800-pound gorilla of entertainment (and politics and business). There’s terror of emasculation and sexual domination; there’s a vision of a literally unreachable ideal; there’s disappointment with reality in the US. And there’s Condoleezza Rice belly-dancing.
The Strange Story Of The Man Behind ‘Strange Fruit’
“One of Billie Holiday’s most iconic songs is ‘Strange Fruit,’ a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Many people know that the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of a lynching. But they might not realize that he’s also tied to another watershed moment in America’s history.”