It is, argues Will Oremus, a threat to Twitter.
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Report: Today’s Books Have WAAAY More Profanity Than Those From Earlier Decades
“Books published in 2005-08 (were) 28 times more likely to include swear words than books published in the early 1950s,” the researchers report in the journal Sage Open.
The Chopin Paradox
“The Polish composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin was no doubt regarded as a one-of-a-kind virtuoso. Which is peculiar, in a way, since he also stole freely and transparently from other artists. [Sara Fishko traces] the various influences that went into Chopin’s signature style.” (audio)
Phillip Kennicott: Unique Louis Kahn Concert Hall barge Belongs In DC
“The boat belongs in Washington, a city both blessed and socially determined by its rivers. The nation’s capital was founded at the confluence of the Potomac and the Anacostia, near the ports of Georgetown and Alexandria, and is home to the country’s oldest naval base. At times, the city has embraced its river setting, most significantly in 1901 when the McMillan Plan created the Mall, new parks along the waterfront and Memorial Bridge, which created a symbolic (though often illusory) post-Civil War rapprochement between the North and the South by joining the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington Cemetery.”
Why English Is So Rich In (Or Afflicted With) Puns
Big vocabulary, flexible syntax, lots of homophones – perhaps only Chinese is better suited for wordplay. Indeed, in the U.S. an entire circuit of punning tournaments has arisen. Says one frequent competitor, “I sometimes get embarrassed by how seriously I take this.”
If You’re All About Creative Placemaking, Best Consider The Place – And Now It Seems To Be Rural
As for this year’s finalists for ArtPlace grants, 34 percent hailed from rural areas. ArtPlace says it’s noticed an “increase in regional projects; many working collaboratively across adjacent rural communities.” It also said that proposed projects reflected a “sustained interest in water projects that, this year, focused on its use and preservation,” and requests for improving or introducing broadband access to rural communities to “increase economic opportunity.”
What Happened To The Moral Outrage That Was Such A Mainstay Of Standup Comedy?
Well, perhaps most of it wasn’t funny enough, argues James Kettle – and when we see it these days, as with John Oliver, it tends to be cooler and more wry and less, well, outraged than in the ’80s.
Met Museum Website Has A Digital Hit
“The Met’s website has seen a 64 percent increase in image downloads since Open Access was implemented, as well as a 17 percent bump in traffic to the online collection. Users who download photographs are now spending five times as long on the site.”
German Now Officially Has 5,000 New Words, Many Of Them English (Which Irks Some Germans)
Among the new items in the authoritative Duden dictionary: Selfie, postfaktisch (post-truth), Emoji, Cyberkrieg (cyber-war), and tindern (to do online dating).
When Hardened Warriors Stitched Quilts
“Soldiers and sailors have been stitching masterpieces of the sewing crafts for hundreds of years. It was a longstanding tradition that during lulls in fighting, while prisoners of war or over extended hospital visits, they would hand-stitch quilts, wool work seascapes and embroider their own uniforms.” And some of the pieces they made are quite elaborate.