“We’ve already established that John Cleese will do anything for money when it comes to shooting ads. … For example: the new Israeli commercial below, in which he plays a Western general who, at the behest of Israel, accidentally orders a military strike on a foe, presumably Iran.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Is There A Gene For Internet Addiction? (Maybe Not)
“German scientists find ‘internet-addiction gene’,’ said a headline on a German news site last week. Another site reported that scientists have ‘nailed down the gene responsible for internet addiction.’ Is it true? No, but its falseness is interesting for what it says both about the nature of our addictions and about how scientific researchers sometimes help journalists sensationalize research.”
In Praise Of Berenice Abbott’s Science Photographs
“By making manifest the invisible forces that act upon the material world, they do for physics what the mandala does for Hindu theogony, or Kabbalistic diagrams of the sefirot try to do for the Ineffable.”
The New Combined-Genies-And-Geminis Will Be …
“The new Canadian prizes for film, television and digital media will be known as the Canadian Screen Awards, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced today. … The academy announced earlier this year that the Genie Awards for Canadian English-language film and the Geminis for Canadian TV would be combined.”
‘Iridescent Dragonfly Wing’: The Louvre’s New Islamic Art Building
“The Louvre’s astonishing new wing for the department of Islamic art undulates like molten gold, so liquid-smooth in contrast to the surrounding neoclassical architecture framing it that at a glance from afar it almost looks like a digitalized, fake rendering of what visitors can hope to see in the distant future.”
Australian Arts Groups: A National Cultural Policy Is All Well And Good – Can We Please Talk About Funding?
“As the government attempts to pull back $2 billion in grants, the Australian Major Performing Arts Group” – an umbrella for the country’s top theatre, dance, opera and classical music organizations – “will seek assurance that the delayed National Cultural Policy at least will maintain funding in real terms.”
Co-Founder Of File-Sharing Site Pirate Bay Arrested In Cambodia
“A founder of the Pirate Bay filesharing website has been arrested in Cambodia at the request of Swedish police. Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, 27, was detained in Phnom Penh by officers executing an international warrant issued against him in April after he did not turn up to serve a one-year jail sentence for copyright violations.”
Will Einstein On The Beach Make Sense In 2012?
“Questions abound: Will a classic from the past, especially one full of timebound pop-culture references, look dated today? Will its eccentricities of pacing and form seem more or less convincing than they once were? And for those of us who loved the work in its previous incarnations, to what extent will these recast Brooklyn performances test the strength of our nostalgia?”
Lyricist Hal David, 91
“David and his longtime partner composer Burt Bacharach etched an indelible footprint on the American songbook when they penned dozens of top 40 hits. The two crafted a slew of memorable singles in the 1960s and early 1970s for a range of artists including Dionne Warwick, the Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, Gene Pitney and Tom Jones.”
Burt Bacharach Remembers Hal David
“Our early songs were rather ordinary. Musically, I gave Hal material that I thought was very commercial – nothing like what we would later write. We wrote some bad songs, songs you have never heard and never will. Songs like ‘Peggy’s in the Pantry’ and ‘Underneath the Overpass’.”