“Vivid, one of the most prominent pornography studios, makes 60 films a year. Three years ago, almost all of them were feature-length films with story lines. Today, more than half are a series of sex scenes, loosely connected by some thread – ‘vignettes’ in the industry vernacular – that can be presented separately online.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Cats Coming Back To West End (No, It’s Not What You Think)
“Equity is to launch a campaign to reintroduce theatre cats into London’s historic theatres, as part of the union’s ongoing bid to improve actors’ working conditions in the West End.” The union’s proposal “notes that cats not only represent ‘an environmentally sound alternative to poison and traps, but [are] also good for morale’.”
A New Company Worth Watching For Its Name Alone
That name would be My Turkey Sandwich. The part-time Salt Lake City company launched last year with a program (titled “Between the Bread”) featuring only the two co-founders as dancers; this year, there will be 14 onstage for “Open-Faced – With a Side of M.A.Y.O.” (That stands for “Movement Activists Yielding Oeuvre.”)
Contractor Bails On Zaha Hadid’s Millennium Park Pavilion
“A new contractor has been hired to finish the construction of the complex Zaha Hadid-designed pavilion in Millennium Park, and the opening of the already-delayed pavilion has been pushed back another two weeks to Aug. 1. … [The temporary structure] was scheduled to open to the public June 19 and to have a 4½-month run.”
Are Humans Hard-Wired For War? Maybe Not.
A number of researchers believe that organized war is a product of socialization rather than inborn aggressive tendencies. They cite as evidence the lack of fossil records indicating warfare before the rise of settled agriculture; the existence, even today, of societies which rarely or never engage in organized combat; and the fact that the death rate from war and homicide in Europe is now one-tenth of what it was in the Middle Ages.
Alice Tully Hall Will Get Its Organ Back In 2010
“The instrument, a personal gift of Ms. Tully, was removed for the hall’s renovation and was originally to have been restored along with it. But delays left Tully Hall organless when it reopened in February, with no timetable or money designated for the instrument’s return.”
New Leadership At Pittsburgh’s Dance Alloy
“Pittsburgh’s Dance Alloy Theater has appointed Greer Reed-Jones as artistic director and Susan Sparks as director, replacing executive artistic director Beth Corning, who left effective July 3.”
Dublin’s Abbey Theatre To Present Folk-Rock Yeats
“Yeats is coming back to the Abbey, but not as we might expect him. The [Celtic rock band the] Waterboys will perform a series of five concerts at the national theatre around St Patrick’s Day, with frontman Mike Scott, Irish fiddler Steve Wickham and guest musicians performing An Appointment with Mr Yeats, combining the poetry of Yeats with the passion of the Waterboys’ music.”
Grammar: It’s Not Just A Human Phenomenon
“Primates can intuitively recognise some rules of grammar, according to a study of cotton-topped tamarin monkeys (Saguinus oedipus). The findings do not mean primates can communicate using language, but they do suggest that some of the skills required to use language may be linked to very basic memory functions.”
Space Web: The Net Breaks The Bonds Of Earth
“The interplanetary internet now has its first permanent node in space, aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The new software will make sending data from space less like using the telephone, and more like using the web … [and] could one day allow data to flow between Earth, spacecraft, and astronauts automatically, creating what is being dubbed the ‘interplanetary internet’.”