The Kauffmann Foundation added a little challenge to its last quarterly survey of economics bloggers: capture the current state of the economy in a haiku. The Economist offers us the results.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Performance Artist Gives Birth In Gallery (This Is Not A Parody)
“Marni Kotak, an artist whose plans to give birth in a New York gallery as an act of performance art provoked criticism and concern, delivered a healthy baby boy Tuesday … before an audience in a home birthing center she constructed at the Microscope Gallery.”
Found Poetry: Occupy Wall Street Meets Craigslist
“The following poems about the romantic repercussions of the demonstrations were ‘found’ this month in the Missed Connections section of newyork.craigslist.com. They are printed verbatim, with only line and stanza breaks added; the titles are the subject headings.”
Chinese Government Ends ‘Excessive Entertainment’ On TV
“China will limit the number of entertainment programmes allowed to air on television, from match-making game shows to dance broadcasts, and push to replace them with morality-building programming, Chinese media reported on Tuesday.”
Liviu Ciulei, Pioneering Theatre Director, Dead At 88
One of a wave of emigré Eastern European artists who revolutionized modern theater in the West in the 1970s and ’80s, Ciulei spent five years as a galvanizing, controversial director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
Three Living Links To Merce Cunningham Reminisce
Donald Byrd: “He would always ask you to do impossible things. And you felt compelled to try to do it. … People would figure out how to do it, or some facsimile of it. And it was still extraordinary, even if it wasn’t what it originally was supposed to be.” Memories from Byrd, Patricia Lent, and Cunningham’s nephew Michael.
Upcoming Wuthering Heights Film To Star Mixed-Race Heathcliff
“Heathcliff was described in the original book as a ‘dark-skinned gypsy’ and ‘a little lascar’ – a 19th-century term for Indian sailors. Among the many screen adaptations of Wuthering Heights … a dark-skinned actor has never been given the role” – until now.
Montreal’s New Orchestra Hall Has Acoustic Kinks To Work Out
L’Adresse symphonique may be a great improvement over the notorious Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, but critics from Montreal, Toronto and even Paris have begun complaining that Artec’s acoustical design for the hall is, at best, not settled yet.
Joseph Heller Enjoyed WWII More Than Yossarian Did
“Fans of Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22 may be surprised to learn that the American author actually enjoyed his military service during the second world war – at least according to a letter about to be auctioned in the US.”
Sylvia Plath, Illustrator
“At the age of 20 she chose to pursue a career in literature despite her passion and talent for art, yet continued to draw illustrations to accompany her writing for her own pleasure.”