“The orthodox view of human handedness is that it is connected to the bilateral specialisation of the brain that has concentrated language-processing functions on the left side of that organ. Because, long ago in the evolutionary past, an ancestor of humans (and all other vertebrate animals) underwent a contortion that twisted its head around 180° relative to its body, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa. In humans, the left brain (and thus the right body) is usually dominant.” But why are some people still left-handed? The reason may have to do with fighting ability…
Blog
Chinese Intellectuals Under Fire Again
Public intellectual debate has been on the rise in China in the past few years as the economy opened up. But the new openness may be closing up quickly. “A scathing commentary on the list, published last month by a Shanghai newspaper and republished by the party’s main mouthpiece, People’s Daily, said that promoting the idea of “public intellectuals” was really aimed at “driving a wedge between intellectuals and the party.” The window for free debate that opened a crack over the past couple of years, as China’s leadership shifted to the “fourth generation” of leaders, is closing again.”
Melbourne’s New Theatre Complex
Melbourne is getting a new theatre complex, and the architecture is firmly contemporary. “The $91 million project combines two buildings – one providing a new home for the Melbourne Theatre Company and the other housing the city’s first purpose-built recital hall for acoustic music. They will be built on a car park opposite the ABC headquarters.”
Podcast – Have It Your Way
Niche radio. Anywhere. Any time. That’s podcasting. “On terrestrial or satellite radio, one can tune into a dozen formats or maybe even five dozen formats. But with podcasting, everybody is a format of one. Podcasting is just making it easier for this new set of niche listeners and this new set of producers to find each other.”
The Pavarotti Legacy?
“How good was Pavarotti? Will he be remembered a century from now, as we remember such indisputably great tenors of the past as Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, or Lauritz Melchior? Possibly, but not necessarily. To be sure, he was in his prime a remarkable singer, without doubt the foremost lyric tenor of his day, and well beyond his fiftieth year his luminous, pointed tone and crisp diction retained much of their quality. On the other hand, Pavarotti was never a distinctive interpreter, and his acting was at best barely competent. Instead, he cultivated an expansive, outgoing manner that charmed his listeners at the expense of the dramatic credibility of the operas in which he appeared.”
The Musicians’ Life: Poverty
“We don’t often hear about the poverty of musicians. There is a pop culture myth, particularly prevalent among the young, that music makes you rich, fame equals fortune, and that anyone who dwells in the magic realm of television, or has their visage in the pages of a magazine, must be reaping abundant financial reward. But only one in 10 records makes a profit, and even fewer of those make enough money to support the livelihoods of those involved.”
Protests Rise Against Homophobic Jamaican Dancehall Stars
Jamaican dancehall music stars are flamboyantly homophobic in their music. “People have known about and protested against dancehall artists’ homophobic lyrics since the early 1990s, when Buju Banton had a Jamaican hit with Boom Bye-Bye, a song advocating shooting and burning homosexuals. In the past six months, however, the protest against homophobic dancehall has gained momentum. No one seems entirely sure why the campaign of letter-writing and event picketing, headed by UK pressure group OutRage!, has suddenly started yielding results, but you can only gawp at its new-found effectiveness.”
Did Tate Refuse Saatchi Gift? (The Plot Thickens)
Did Tate Modern turn down an offer by Charles Saatchi to donate his collection? Saatchi says yes, Tate no. Now Saatchi says he’s not in the mood. “I lost my chance for a tastefully engraved plaque and a 21-gun salute. And now the mood has passed, and I’m happy not to have to visit Tate Modern, or its storage depot, to look at my art.”
Making The World Safe For Prudes And 4-Year-Olds
Throughout the recent melee over the FCC “decency” crackdown, those in authority have insisted that they are only acting in accordance with the wishes of the public. So who’s behind the mysterious groundswell of anger directed at those awful people who put nipple slips and nasty words on our televisions and radios? Meet the Parents Television Council…
Arts Prize Gets A New Chief
The Cleveland Arts Prize, which recognizes local artists who have attained national attention for their work, has named Terri Pontremoli as its new executive director. Pontremoli had previously managed a jazz festival in the city, and had raised $6 million for local jazz groups.