“An X-ray diffraction and fluorescence instrument the robot uses to study the composition of rock on the Red Planet’s surface has found an application in an unlikely field: art conservation.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
Chavela Vargas, 93. Legendary Ranchera Singer
“She was born Isabel Vargas Lizano in Costa Rica, but audiences knew her as Chavela, a hard-partying, rabble-rousing, fiery singer who adopted Mexico as her homeland and began singing on the streets in her early teens.”
T.V. Networks Apparently Have No Clue How To Appeal To Latino Audiences (Hint: Stereotypes Aren’t The Way To Do It)
“The discrepancy between English and Spanish language shows is most acute among shows that are scripted in English. The issue, many viewers and critics argue, is that there still hasn’t been the Hispanic equivalent of The Cosby Show, meaning a show that deals with Latino culture in a way that doesn’t offend viewers with crude stereotypes.”
You Can Tell The Difference Between Ironic And Sincere? Thank Your Theory of Mind Brain Center
“We naturally attribute beliefs and intentions and emotions to people we interact with. That is, we develop a ‘theory’–though not necessarily a theory we’re consciously aware of–about what’s going on in their minds. (An inability to do this is thought to play a role in autism.) And this ‘theory’ in turn shapes our interpretation of things people say. The ‘ToM network’ is a brain region–or, really, a network of different brain regions–that seems to play an important role in the construction of these theories.”
Daisy Foote, On Her Dad Horton And The Family Business Of Playwriting
“While I was so proud and thrilled for him, I could also indulge in some grand moments of self-pity. Why did I choose this, of all professions, to go into when Horton Foote was my father? It never lasted very long; it couldn’t, as he was always the one I would call, and he’d remind me that over the years he’d wasted too much time comparing himself to other playwrights. Then he’d tell me: ‘Just keep writing. Keep writing.'”
Mali’s Great Cultural Treasures Are Being ‘Crushed’ By A Coup And Civil War
At the National Musuem of Mali in Bamako, “there’s no one around, not a visitor in sight. And that, says the museum’s chief researcher, Fatou Toure Sako, is demoralizing. She says television images showing Islamists destroying some of Mali’s most important historical sites breaks her heart and brings tears to her eyes. They include revered, centuries-old Sufi saints’ mausoleums in Timbuktu and the great door of the Sidya Yahya mosque.”
Defenders Of Jeffrey Deitch Speak Up – And So Does The Man Himself
“‘What we’re doing here now, it’s on the most serious level,’ says Deitch, nattily attired in a pale yellow suit and his signature round-frame glasses. ‘It’s as good as any museum in the country.'”
Tony-Winning Producer Joan Stein, 59
“Joan Stein, a producer of Tony best-play winner Side Man, the recent Broadway musical Catch Me If You Can and Los Angeles productions of Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile among other plays, as well as a variety of TV efforts, died Friday in Los Angeles.”
Science Is Actually Way Fun, If You Just Use Some Great Music And Animation
“Science especially suffers from an unfun reputation: an emotionless discipline practiced by exacting, white-coated brainiacs. Given that recasting the serious with the silly is a classic comedy formula, combined with the number of science teachers eager for ways to reach intimidated students and the general dearth of high-level thinking on YouTube, there’s an underserved audience of science-minded viewers.”
Martin E. Segal, 96, Cultural Benefactor To New York (And The Country)
“While Mr. Segal was generous with his money, he was perhaps most admired for the donations he managed to extract from others. He used to say he had no trouble giving people the ‘opportunity’ to contribute to the causes he cared most about, whether it be Lincoln Center’s redevelopment project, which updated the campus; Public Radio International (formerly American Public Radio), of which he was a founding member; or the Library of America, a nonprofit publisher dedicated to publishing, and keeping in print, editions of America’s most significant writing.”