“I found that politicians are both intrigued by it and terrified by it. So much of politics has to do with using sexuality to manipulate their constituencies who are frightened or hostile to that aspect of human behavior … At Washington parties, you get a few drinks into these Republican right wingers, and they tried to get their hands all over you.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
England Finds Out About Drag Kings
“With a repertoire that includes a Hairy Bikers chef, a boxing champion and Lemmy from Motörhead, Lucy Evans is a woman of many faces. The former trainee nurse goes by the stage name Pixie Truffle and is spearheading a thriving scene of colourful male impersonators in Manchester, fast emerging as the UK’s drag king capital.”
How To Taste Tweets (Data Visualization Is So 2011)
“The Tasty Tweets software” – designed by three students from Copenhagen – “scans Twitter 100 tweets at a time, searching for mentions of specific fruit names … The proportions of each are used to trigger valves in vessels containing the corresponding fruit juices. The resulting Twitter smoothie collects in a glass below as a gustatory representation of the initial data.”
Chicken Soup For The Soul Publisher To Sell Actual Chicken Soup
“In 2013, publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul will sell a new line of Chicken Soup for the Soul Foods around the country. This growing collection of comfort foods will begin with seven soups, including an ‘iconic Chicken Noodle’.”
Atlanta Symphony Musicians Now Have No Contract
“Without much of a fanfare, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its musicians failed to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement, leaving them without contracts as the deadline quietly passed Saturday night.”
Van Cliburn Diagnosed With Advanced Bone Cancer
The 78-year-old pianist is reportedly being treated at home rather than in a hospital.
A New Beckett Festival Takes Root In Northern Ireland
“Unlike the many one-off Beckett celebrations that have intermittently taken place around the world,” the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival, held in the town where the playwright went to secondary school, “reaches well beyond Beckett’s theater pieces. It is the first multiarts appreciation of Beckett, … and the first to aspire to be an annual event.”
Robert Wilson Returns (Briefly) To Acting
In a Q&A, the stage director/lighting designer talks about appearing onstage for the first time in a decade, in Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape at the new Enniskillen Beckett festival.
Saudi Arabia Opens Its First Contemporary Art Gallery
“There is a tremendous amount of energy around the arts in Saudi, but relatively few institutions and Alaan Artspace is Riyadh’s first curated contemporary art platform.”
Ballet San Jose Bounces Back From Crises
“After a year of turmoil, Ballet San Jose has announced a 2012-13 season that includes a world premiere, six company premieres and a production of The Nutcracker with new choreography. In addition, the company – which danced to recorded music during its past season – will return to live music with new music director and conductor George Daugherty.”