The history of pop music “fixates on origins and breakthroughs, magic years of transformation, cusp points when undergrounds go overground. It gives far less attention to those stretches of time between the upheavals – years of drift and diaspora, periods without an easily discernible ‘vibe,’ zeits devoid of geist.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Design Of Montreal Symphony’s New Hall Revealed
“While the interior of the hall will be isolated visually and acoustically, the lobby areas, especially when illuminated at night, will be visible from the outside. … The spartan interior, topped by moveable acoustic clouds and punctuated on the sides by curved bevels, is paneled in beech. … The as-yet-unnamed concert hall bears an obvious resemblance to the Four Seasons Centre, the Toronto home of the Canadian Opera Company” and designed by the same architects.
Credo In Nullum Deum: Belief In Unbelief
“[S]ecular rationalists have held one tenet in common: religion belongs to the infancy of the species; the more modern a society becomes, the less room there is for religious belief and practice. … At bottom, the assertion that religion is destined to die out is [itself] a confession of faith.”
From A Khmer Temple To A Top-Tier Ballet Company
“While visiting Cambodia in 2000, American arts patron Anne H. Bass witnessed a rising star. Then 15 years old, Sokvannara ‘Sy’ Sar performed a dance at Cambodia’s famous Preah Kahn temple and caught Bass’ eye. Nine years later, Sar is a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company, and Bass has documented his journey every step of the way.”
Destroying The Ancient Silk Road City In Order To Save It
“Over the next few years, city officials say, they will demolish at least 85 percent” of the historic center of Kashgar, now in China’s far west. “In its place will rise a new Old City, a mix of midrise apartments, plazas, alleys widened into avenues and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture ‘to preserve the Uighur culture,’ [said] Kashgar’s vice mayor.”
Lars Von Trier Explains His Bad Self
“There is no denying that von Trier is a provocateur. He describes the device as ‘a tool’. Saying he’s the best director, making challenging films, creating a furore has been his way of getting what are essentially small-budget films from Denmark noticed.” Of his alleged misogyny, he says, “I think I’ve always been the female characters in all my films, you know, the men tend to just be stupid.”
Morality May Be Hard-Wired In Mammals
A Colorado ecologist “has compiled evidence from around the world that shows how different species of animals appear to have an innate sense of fairness, display empathy and help other animals that are in distress.”
And Morality Is Hard-Wired Differently In Liberals And Conservatives
Nicholas Kristof: “The upshot [of recent psychological research] is that liberals and conservatives don’t just think differently, they also feel differently. This may even be a result, in part, of divergent neural responses. … It appears that we start with moral intuitions that our brains then find evidence to support.”
Christie’s To Auction Pieces Of Art Nouveau Chicago Stock Exchange
“Chunks of the [1894 building] can fetch over half a million dollars each. On Tuesday Christie’s will auction seven fragments of the exchange’s elevators and staircases, which have leafy ironwork; canvas murals stenciled with vine stalks; and hexagonal skylight panes.”
Mexican National Ballet Co-Founder Josefina Lavalle Dies At 85
She “produced more than 40 choreographic pieces, founded the Mexican National Ballet in 1948 together with Guillermina Bravo … [and] was the director of the National Fine Arts Institute’s Mexican Dance Academy and the National Fund for the Development of Mexican Popular Dance.”