“Perhaps not coincidentally, the rise of figurine-carving modern human cultures in Europe coincided with the decline of Neanderthals. Some anthropologists suspect that humans of the era experienced a leap in mental abilities, fueled by random genetic mutation or the neurological nourishment of language and culture.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Hulu’s Success May Be Causing It Problems
In January, Hulu decided, under network pressure, to stop carrying all but the five most recent episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, an oddball Danny DeVito series “that languished on FX until Hulu users made it one of the site’s most popular programs. … User reaction to the move was swift and predictable. ‘Well, off to the torrent sites,’ one wrote on Hulu’s Sunny forum.”
Founder Of Venezuela’s Sistema And Peter Gabriel Share Polar Music Prize
“British rock legend Peter Gabriel and Venezuelan conductor and composer José Antonio Abreu on Tuesday won the 2009 Polar Music Prize for their contributions to music, organisers in Sweden said. The winners will receive one million kronor (122,000 dollars, 92,000 euros) each.”
KenCen’s Michael Kaiser Wins Peabody
“Michael Kaiser – president of the Kennedy Center, international arts management/rescue guru and compelling advocate for preserving artistic quality even in the face of financial meltdown – is the 2009 recipient of the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America. … He joins a starry roster of recipients, that since 1980, has included the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Quincy Jones and Eubie Blake.”
The Nocebo Effect (Placebo In Reverse)
“Take Sam Shoeman, who was diagnosed with end-stage liver cancer in the 1970s and given just months to live. Shoeman duly died in the allotted time frame – yet the autopsy revealed that his doctors had got it wrong. The tumour was tiny and had not spread. ‘He didn’t die from cancer, but from believing he was dying of cancer,'” said a researcher.
Airport Bookstore Novels And What They Tell Us
Ron Rosenbaum: “I love airport best-sellers because I see them as our Nostradamuses, the literary canaries in the dark coal mines of our paranoia. They sniff out and serve up fictionalized but ‘realistic’ prophecies of coming doom of one sort or another.” Lately these novels have been turning to what Rosenbaum calls “nuke porn.”
Renzo Piano’s Addition To Art Institute Of Chicago: ‘The Effect Is Magical’
Nicolai Ouroussoff: “He is not out to start a revolution. His designs are about tranquillity, not conflict. The serenity of his best buildings can almost make you believe that we live in a civilized world. The new $294 million Modern Wing … is the closest Mr. Piano has come in at least a decade to achieving this near-classical ideal.”
– And His Bridge To Millennium Park Is ‘Fun With A Capital F’
Blair Kamin: “Chicago, get ready for your latest joy ride. A new pedestrian bridge, which links Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing, is a walk through the treetops, a sidewalk soaring through the sky. Climb the Nichols Bridgeway, as this sloping, 620-foot-long span is called, and you’re hovering over Monroe Street, as though you are in a helicopter.”
Meanwhile, Admission To The Art Institute Is Reduced
“Following public pressure from the City Council, the Chicago Park District late this afternoon agreed to cut entry fees to the Art Institute of Chicago that were scheduled to take effect May 23. Instead of paying $18, adult art admirers will have to pay $16 – a $2 decrease, according to a park district spokeswoman.”
All Of Graham’s Flaws And Virtues, In A Single Work
Alastair Macaulay: “The full-evening Clytemnestra was first presented 50 years ago. It’s been claimed as the ultimate Graham dance drama, as an overambitious and pretentious mess, as the climax of the choregrapher’s 1940s-50s era of dramatizing Greek myths in psychological terms, as a turgid collection of stylistic clichés … I find all these responses valid; and I’m glad I was there.”