“Omarosa Manigault Newman, a three-time contestant on NBC’s The Apprentice, volunteered to enter a surreal house in which minor celebrities, acting out under constant media surveillance, conspire to eject their rivals one by one.
Then she went on Celebrity Big Brother. That it took the second experience (a CBS reality show) to get Ms. Newman to open up about the first (her tenure in Donald J. Trump’s White House) may not be the model of civic discourse that the founders envisioned. But it’s the one Americans voted for, and maybe the one we deserve.” (includes video)
Blog
How I Forgot How To Read (Books)
It’s embarrassing. Especially for someone like me. I’m supposed to be an author – words are kind of my job. Without reading, I’m not sure who I am. So, it’s been unnerving to realize: I have forgotten how to read – really read – and I’ve been refusing to talk about it out of pride.
A Brief History Of The Panel Show (Which Is Alive And Well In Britain, Even If Americans Have Given It Up)
It was a perfect genre for the early days of television, and was quite successful, as you can see on YouTube in old episodes of What’s My Line and To Tell the Truth. “[It] was a purely American invention, yet somehow it’s become deeply associated with modern British TV. Here’s why.”
Think The CD Is Disappearing? Think Again
“Compared to two decades ago, when CDs were at peak popularity, of course 2017’s sales statistics look anemic. But the compact disc is still the most popular format for people purchasing records. The second-most-popular format, with 66.2 million units sold? Another one pundits love to say is dying, digital albums. And it’s certainly not correct to say that all consumers are eschewing CDs.”
A History Of The Late, Unlamented CD Longbox (Remember Those?)
These aren’t the “jewel box” CD cases, mind you – they’re the long, mostly empty plastic containers that jewel boxes were stuffed inside for record store shelves, and they were supposed to be removed at the cash register. “From a distance, it seems like putting a CD or a cassette inside a massive [plastic] box, of which more than half of it was effectively useless, would be a really questionable choice. But the record industry had a couple of good reasons for doing so.”
Why Actors In Immersive Shows Like ‘Sleep No More’ Need Extra Protection From Assault
“Only recently has a line been added to the show asking audience members to ‘keep a respectful distance’ from the performers. Wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a culture where this nannyish reminder was unnecessary? It would. We don’t.” Alexis Soloski lays out the case.
It Was ‘Art In Action’: Artist Behind Removal Of That Painting Of Naked Nymphs Explains What Went Down
Sonia Boyce: “The recent, temporary removal from Manchester Art Gallery of John William Waterhouse’s 1896 painting Hylas and the Nymphs, which depicts Hercules’s handsome male lover being lured to his death in a pond by seven long-haired, topless nymphs (pubescent girls), was an attempt to involve a much wider group of people than usual in the curatorial process.” And it did.
New York City Ballet Isn’t Dropping Peter Martins’s Ballets (But It Is Making Small Changes)
As Michael Cooper reports, City Ballet has “no intention of editing him out of the company’s history, the way Kevin Spacey was cut out of the film All the Money in the World after he was accused of misconduct. The Martins ballets remain important to the ticket sales and continuing the company’s fortunes.” Even so, there are occasional moments in his choreography that now look, well, problematic …
Judge Awards Graffiti Artists Of New York’s 5Pointz $6.75M For Mural Destroyed By Developer
Calling developer Gerald Wolkoff’s painting over of the famous graffiti murals – with no warning for the artists – “an act of pure pique and revenge for the nerve of the plaintiffs to sue” (what’s more, Wolkoff was an arrogant brat in the courtroom), Judge Frederic Block awarded each artist the maximum legal amount, $150,000, for each destroyed work.
Actress Jan Maxwell, Five-Time Tony Nominee, Dead At 61
“Ms. Maxwell was a longtime favorite of critics. Ben Brantley of The New York Times, for one, praised her again and again. In 2005, when she played the world-weary Baroness of Vulgaria in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (the role led to her first Tony nomination and a Drama Desk award), he called her ‘the real heroine for anyone who demands wit and sophistication from a Broadway production.'”