Danny Boyle “travelled out with producer Christian Colson after hearing the children’s illegal slum homes had been bulldozed by the city authorities. Shortly after arriving, Boyle said he would be pushing through his plan to buy the two families flats in Mumbai.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Runnicles On His Departure From San Francisco Opera
“David [Gockley] has this extraordinary legacy behind him in Houston. But I think David and I have different ideas about where the San Francisco Opera should be going, and those differences became apparent early on. … [O]f course one should aspire to have the finest singers. But singers are to opera what grapes are to wine. It’s the environment – what the singer is surrounded by, enriched by, supported by – that makes the difference.”
Staring May Be Rude, But It’s Hard-Wired
“[W]hen you encounter a person whose nose, mouth or eyes are distorted in a way you have never encountered before, you instinctively lock on. Your gaze remains riveted, and your brain stays tuned for further information. … ‘All primates show this [staring] at something very different, something they have not evolved to see. They need to investigate further.'”
Dancer In A Box
“Take a 5ft-10in, 36-year-old Frenchman with a degree in maths and economics and a history of hurdling. Jam him in a room measuring barely 10ft x 8ft x 7ft, with only an eerily inquisitive Anglepoise-style lamp for company. Oh – and ensure that the resulting spectacle is 50 minutes of pure, intense, even beautiful enjoyment.”
The Kundera-Secret Police Scandal And Its Kundera-esque Paradox
“Whatever one concludes about [his] guilt [in allegedly betraying someone to the secret police in 1950], it is possible to imagine that the allegation was less dismaying to the writer than the form it took and the attention it drew. Having one’s past splashed across front pages and reduced to a sound bite seems like the nightmare fulfillment of the issues Kundera has been exploring in his nonfiction for the past twenty years.”
Seattle Art Museum’s New Director: San Diego’s Derrick Cartwright
“[He] is a scholar of North American art and architecture, 19th-century French art and the history of photography. … In San Diego, Cartwright is credited with building the Balboa Park museum’s international reputation, reaching out to a diverse community and enhancing the exhibitions and publications programs.”
Classical Radio Extends Its Reach In SoCal
“The L.A.-based public radio station [KUSC], which already simulcasts on outlets in Palm Springs, Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara, has purchased KESC-FM (99.7) in Morro Bay and can now be heard throughout the area surrounding San Luis Obispo.”
Prokofiev As Chronicler Of His Own Youth
“[His] diaries have nothing of the routine stamp; they are on occasion confessional but often resemble a series of sketches, like a novelist’s notes on people and events worth remembering. They were written when time allowed, sometimes a ‘chapter’ per month rather than daily or weekly entries. Prokofiev had ambitions as a writer … (Over the years, he penned a handful of rather good short stories.)”
A Personalized Magazine – In Actual Print
Farhad Manjoo: “The new magazine from Time Inc. seemed like a gimmicky, goofy effort to save a beleaguered industry: Time wanted to print a magazine just for me! … Turns out my skepticism was misguided. I’ve received two issues of Mine, and I love it.”
Modular Wall Sets And Do-It-Yourself Interior Architecture
“Consisting of pieces that function like supersize Legos, these sets make it easy to construct a room divider, home office, or sensory-deprivation pod on a lazy Sunday afternoon. And if your first attempt comes out looking more like a primitive shelter than the Guggenheim Bilbao, just redo it: All the pieces can be pulled apart and reconfigured endlessly.”