“The Women’s Museum of the United Arab Emirates is the creation of Rafia Obaid Ghubash, an academic, psychiatrist and former president of the Arabian Gulf University, who campaigns for women’s education. Her aim is to educate visitors – locals, expats and tourists – that Emirati women have enjoyed more power and influence than is recognised.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Researchers Find New Pleasure Center In The Brain
“The research uncovered that the existing pleasure centers of the brain, which have been established science for decades, actually create desires, not pleasures. Researchers are looking into how the stimulation of the newly discovered hotspots of pleasure can be used to treat mental illness and addiction.”
Peter Jackson’s Hobbit To Be A Trilogy
“Two Hobbit movies are officially becoming three as Peter Jackson and his many Hollywood backers have finalized plans to produce a third movie based on the classic fantasy book and release it in the summer of 2014.”
Tony Martin, 98, Hollywood Musical Star
“With his powerful voice and beguiling style, Martin was enormously popular from the late 1930s through the 1950s as a singer who helped make standards out of such tunes as ‘Stranger in Paradise,’ ‘La Vie en Rose,’ ‘Fools Rush In,’ ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’ and many others.”
Pasadena Playhouse Cancels Studio Production Over Play’s Title
“Gina Young, the author of the play, said that the company told her they had problems with the title of the piece” – Tales of a Fourth-Grade Lesbo. “Performances that would have taken place at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre – the company’s approximately 90-seat space – have been called off.”
Janet Cardiff, George Bures Miller And the Power of Sound
A look at the couple who are perhaps today’s most prominent sound artists, with visits to their most recent work (described as “18 shoebox-size speakers and 4 subwoofers arranged discreetly in the underbrush [of a forest], with tree stumps to sit on”) and their most famous (Forty-Part Motet, based on Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium).
Marilyn Horne: Stravinsky And Me
As a young soprano (then) in Los Angeles in 1954, Horne sang in the premiere of Stravinsky’s new version of Four Russian Peasant Songs – and she was coached by the composer himself. She became a close family friend. (And she can do a fabulous Stravinsky imitation).
Where Pianos Go To Die
“The value of used pianos, especially uprights, has plummeted in recent years. So instead of selling them to a neighbor, donating them to a church or just passing them along to a relative, owners are far more likely to discard them, technicians, movers and dealers say. Piano movers are making regular runs to the dump, becoming adept at dismantling instruments, selling parts to artists, even burning them for firewood.”
Scientists Confirm Yet Another Obvious Fact About Pet Ownership
“A new study suggests having your pet nearby – or even thinking about him or her – can boost confidence and reduce stress, along with its physical symptoms.” (Previous studies had established that already.) “But there’s a caveat: This dynamic only applies to owners who feel a loving connection to their feline or canine companion. If you think of Fluffy as a flea-infested nuisance, no benefits.”
Are Facial Expressions Universal? Maybe Not
“Darwin came to the conclusion that emotional facial expressions were universal: people all over the world made the same ones, and could easily and automatically recognise them in others. … But today the debate is alive and well again: while some researchers are claiming we are close to a full understanding of emotional expressions, others argue that we are nowhere near.”