Jackson died in deep debt, but his estate is worried about the new HBO film that gives voice to two men who have long accused him (and who had also, at other times, given statements defending him) of molesting them when they were boys. And the estate isn’t taking the threat lightly. – The New York Times
Blog
Two Centuries Of Incorrect Labeling Made Us Think Gilbert Stuart Painted A Portrait Of George Washington’s Enslaved Chef
So the painting isn’t a Stuart, and it’s definitely not a portrait of a chef (and certainly not Hercules), say experts. What the heck? Errors of interpretation. “‘No American cook in the colonies dressed like that,’ said Evans, noting that the now-familiar chef’s toque did not appear until the 1820s. ‘It’s a fantasized image of what people want, because people want to have an image of Hercules. And people see the things they want to see.'” – Philadelphia Inquirer
What Will Happen To London’s Famous Whitechapel Church Bell Foundry?
Counterproposals – a boutique hotel with some space for small bell-making and artist and sculptor studios; or keeping the foundry as it is, with invitations to sculptors who work on a massive scale to work there as well – are flying, and the history of the entire area is up in the air. – The Observer (UK)
Google’s Like ‘Oh, Let’s Just Go Ahead And Be Evil’
In other words, no, they’re not going to remove an app that lets Saudi men track and monitor and control their wives and domestic workers. It doesn’t violate Google’s terms of service, they say. (Apple hasn’t yet decided whether its similar app violates its TOS.) – Business Insider
A Cameroonian Artist Who Was Told ‘Painting Is For Lazy People’ Now Has The Last Laugh
Ajarb Bernard Ategwa, like many artists (and non-artists, to be fair), got in trouble as a child for doodling in his schoolbooks. Now his huge, color-filled paintings of Douala (Cameroon’s largest city) sell for thousands of pounds apiece. He says, “Not everything is just about education, education, education. If you have a child and they love drawing, please allow them to do their drawing.” – BBC
Bombing the Culture
Has any artistic movement since been as all-encompassing as the counterculture of the 1960s? – Jan Herman
Actor Katherine Helmond, Beloved Matriarch Of Sitcoms, Has Died At 89
Helmond was the star of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Time Bandits before becoming the affable matriarch of Soap, Who’s the Boss? and Coach – not to mention the voice of Lizzie in Disney’s Cars franchise. – Los Angeles Times
The Conveyor Belts (And Minds) That Bring Books To The New York Public Library
When you have infinite possibilities but not infinite storage, you have to figure out which books to take on, and which to weed. This is the story of the New York Public Library and its acquisitions team of 16 highly trainde readers, who, “from inside a squat, brick building in Long Island City, Queens, are ‘fighting for good books,’ said Michael Santangelo, the deputy director of collection management.” – The New York Times
A Grim, Weird On-Set Accident Puts A New TV Series In Jeopardy
The series L.A.’s Finest (a Bad Boys spinoff) was shooting its first season finale. An executive producer/showrunner and his co-showrunner were watching the outdoor scene on monitors when a stunt car hit a cargo crate – which then rammed into the video tent village, leaving one showrunner with extensive injuries that required amputation. – Los Angeles Times
The Precarity And Rootlessness Of Adjunct Life Means Being A Professor With No Books
Ouch. “This one had the vague promise of turning into a tenure-track job. It’s a promise that hiring committees often make for naive reasons, knowing that they can’t keep it. I was aware of this and yet I fell for it every time. Gullibility is key to the tenure-track rat race. But stepping into the office without books in hand, I realized that this was the last leg of the trip. I felt it in the pit of my stomach where my undiagnosable, restlessly churning cramps lived. There was no point in telling myself that I was just traveling light.” – LitHub