A former marine biology teacher who studied animation, Hillenburg began his TV career at Nickelodeon, where he created and ran the wildly popular TV series that has run for 20 years and spawned two feature films, a Broadway musical, video games, and a myriad of merchandise.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Australia Is Becoming A Serious Arts Tourism Destination
In 2017, according to a new study released by the Australia Council, “nearly half of the eight million visitors to Australia engaged with the arts during their stay (43 percent), which proved more popular than wineries (13 percent), casinos (12 percent) or organised sporting events (six percent). … The report also shows that arts tourists have grown by 47 percent between 2013 and 2017, a higher growth rate than for international tourist numbers overall (37 percent).”
India Just Finished The World’s Tallest Statue. Now It’s Building Two That Are Even Taller
With a 597-foot bronze of independence leader Sardar Patel completed in Gujarat, work is underway on a 696-foot sculpture of the 17th-century Maratha conqueror Shivaji just off the beach in Mumbai. And plans have just been announced for a 725-foot statue of the Hindu god Rama in the city of Ayodhya, considered to be Rama’s earthly birthplace, in Uttar Pradesh state. And yes, Hindu nationalism is tied up with all three projects.
LGBT Arabic Movie Is Getting Underground Screenings All Over The Mideast
The Wedding, about a closeted Muslim man about to marry a woman, is the first feature film from gay Egyptian-American filmmaker Sam Abbas’s production company, ArabQ. The movie, which debuts in New York next month, would almost certainly not get past censors in the Arab world, but it is being seen there in small, invitation-only showings.
After 18 Years, Hong Kong Sinfonietta Music Director To Step Down
“Yip Wing-sie, the first Hong Kong woman conductor to lead a professional orchestra, is to step down as music director of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in 2020. … Made up mostly of local musicians, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta is known for its creative and diverse programming, performing major works from the classical repertoire as well as commissioning new pieces.”
Duolingo And Babbel May Not Teach You Much Of A Foreign Language, But They’ll Addict You
Says Duolingo’s CEO with frankness, “We prefer to be more on the addictive side than the fast-learning side. … In the U.S., about half of our users aren’t even really motivated to learn a language; they just want to pass the time on something besides Candy Crush.”
Vision Transfusion? Berkshire Museum Stops Hemorrhaging Art
Closing the barn door after its finest steeds have vanished, the Berkshire Museum today announced that “there will be no further sales” from its collection beyond the 22 works already sold.
Recent Listening: Harry Vetro’s Northern Ranger
A generation of Canadian musicians is coming to prominence in their youth and making substantial impressions. One is drummer Harry Vetro.
Arnold Schoenberg survived Nazi Germany, Vienna and Hollywood. But Boston?
Opera thrives on iconic figures, whether from mythology or history. But maybe composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) hasn’t been gone long enough – or was never outwardly heroic enough – to fill Tod Machover’s new opera Schoenberg in Hollywood.
What’s ‘Receptive Multilingualism’? It’s Something Found All Over The World
Americans are most likely to encounter it among the (guilty-feeling) children of immigrants or near the borders with Mexico or Quebec — it’s when someone can understand a language but not speak it. It occurs in many polyglot cities as well as along linguistic borders; it can also be observed on islands with multiple native ethnic groups. On one island, off the north coast of Australia, whose 500 people speak a total of nine languages, receptive multilingualism is basically mandatory, grounded in deep social conventions.