“For almost a century, the lighthouse, near the Cantabrian town of Ajo, was a mute, monochrome sentry beaming its light out over the Atlantic. Now … the 16-metre tower is a collision of colours, geometric shapes and animals, which is intended to boost visitor numbers to one of the lesser known spots on the [northern] coast of Spain.” – The Guardian
Blog
The “Festival Of Brexit” – Will It Really Bring The Country Together?
Ever since Theresa May announced a huge national event celebrating our departure from the EU, set for 2022 and with a budget of £120m, it’s acquired that nickname, suggestive of drizzle, stale pies and being forced to listen to Rule Britannia (with the words) on loop. Even the organisers are keen to stress that the current working title is actually Festival UK. – The Guardian
As Ever More Viewing Happens Online, Will The French Drift Away From Dubbed Films And TV?
“As streaming platforms take over more and more of the screen time in France, some fear the curtain will fall over the French dubbing industry as more people get used to watching subtitled versions of films rather than the VF (version française).” In fact, the voice-over/dubbing industry is growing, with demand for its services high. Here’s why. – The Local (France)
The Puzzling Connection of Translating Our Thoughts Into Words
The gulf between our solitary thoughts and the words that would convey them to others constantly confronts us all. The thoughts we struggle to articulate might be as momentous as a transformative moral epiphany or as ordinary as an insight into a movie or the hurtful behaviour of a friend. – Aeon
Goodreads Is A Hopeless, Malfunctioning Mess. Is There Another Option?
The site was a great idea when it was launched in 2007; by 2013, when Amazon bought it, there were 15 million users. But the new owners seem to have done little with it: users frequently can’t find titles they want or get messages sent to other members; the site design “is like a teenager’s 2005 Myspace page”; Amazon either can’t or hasn’t bothered to create an algorithm that doesn’t spit out countless irrelevant recommendations. “But new competitors continue to enter the book-tech fray, and one in particular is beginning to make waves.” – New Statesman
Study: Listening To Mozart As A Treatment For Epilepsy
They found that listening to Mozart, especially on a daily basis, led to a significant reduction in epileptic seizures, and also to a reduced frequency of abnormal brain activities in epileptic patients (called interictal epileptiform discharges, which are commonly seen in epileptic patients). These effects occurred after a single listening session and were maintained after a prolonged period of treatment. – Eureka
Making Romance Languages Gender-Neutral Is A Tricky Business, But Some Folks Are Trying
English has some nouns and adjectives that apply strictly to one gender, but the languages descended from Latin are full of them, especially when referring to occupations. Here’s how some queer activists and linguists are trying to address that issue in Spanish (notably in Argentina), Portuguese, French, Italian, Catalan, and (trickiest of all) Romanian. – Global Voices
Terence Conran, Whose Stores Brought Contemporary Design To The General Public, Dead At 88
“Before Martha Stewart and Marie Kondo were giving advice on household design, before Julia Child was teaching the art of French cooking on television, there was Terence Conran. … He took his ideas around the world and once owned an empire of 90 stores with annual revenue of more than $2 billion. Calling himself a ‘hard-working hedonist,’ he opened more than 50 restaurants, wrote more than 40 books, ran a design studio and later an architecture and urban planning firm. All of it was built on the simple idea that good design leads to better living.” – The Washington Post
Time To Stop Apologizing For Online Performances And Start Turning Them Into A New Genre
Peter Dobrin: “We should think of this as a research-and-development phase long overdue. Online performances won’t sink or swim based on how well they replicate live ones. … More important … is the question of whether a new breed of production designers and directors can give viewer-listeners something different from live performance.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
How Do London’s Theatre Workers Feel About Reopening Before The Virus Is Contained?
Relieved. Worried. Excited. Frustrated. In short, ambivalent. “Performers are constantly living on the edge, even without COVID so now there’s even more pressure than ever to get back to work.” – The Guardian