Only “a few dozen documents have survived: entries in administrative registers (bonboeken) relating to his family, the house and the mill… in which he was raised and notarial instruments. We have not a single letter, diary or notebook.” – New Statesman
Blog
Andrew Clements, Author Of ‘Frindle’ And Other Children’s Novels, Dead At 70
“Mr. Clements wrote more than 80 children’s books, including the text of picture books about a pampered Egyptian cat, an unbecoming fish, a Christmas in which Mrs. Claus stands in for Santa and a young girl who can’t stop using compound words such as nitwit, higgledy-piggledy and itty-bitty. That rib-tickling book was appropriately called Double Trouble in Walla Walla (1997).” – The Washington Post
Researchers: Humans Had Language Millions Of Years Ago
Authors argue that the anatomical ingredients for speech were present in our ancestors much earlier than 200,000 years ago. In fact, they propose that the necessary equipment—specifically, the throat shape and motor control that produce distinguishable vowels—has been around as long as 27 million years, when humans and Old World monkeys (baboons, mandrills, and the like) last shared a common ancestor. – The Atlantic
10,000 Hours Of Practice Won’t Make You An Expert Musician (Not By Itself, Anyway)
“Expert players vary a lot in the number of practice hours they put in, and on average amount of practice can only account for about 30% of variation in performance quality, meaning that 70% of the story about musical expertise remains untold. Here we turn to the real topic of interest: quality of practice. What makes good quality practice? … Emma Allingham, a music psychology researcher at the University of Hamburg, shares her insight.” – The Strad
Our Traditional Conceptions Of Time Have Been Wrong
What we do know is that Aristotle viewed the present as something continually changing and that by the year 160, the Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius was describing time as a river of passing events. And in the West, at least, many would still identify with these ideas. But physics tells a different story. – BBC
Did This Guy And His Video Game Really Destroy The Industry In The 1980s?
“Once the most highly coveted game developer — a hit-maker with the Midas touch — [Howard Scott Warshaw] had been immortalized as the man who created E.T., the ‘worst’ video game in history. But Warshaw’s story, like that of Atari, is a parable about corporate greed and the dangers of prioritizing quantity over quality.” – The Hustle
Don’t Mess With Opera Fans, Episode 396
Matthew Feargrieve was found guilty in London of punching Ulrich Engler at least once while attending a performance of Wagner at the Royal Opera House on 7 October last year. Feargrieve, 43, attacked Ulrich Engler, who had climbed into an empty seat next to him and moved Feargrieve’s partner’s coat at the Royal Opera House in central London. – The Guardian
BP To Arts World: Stop Judging Us By Our Past
“Speaking at a public forum in Westminster this week, [BP’s UK chief] Peter Mather said ‘the most important debate of our generation’ – climate change – was best served by BP continuing to sponsor major institutions like the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery and Royal Opera House, rather than ‘demonising’ the company for its contribution to carbon emissions. … ‘If I come back in five years and we’re just doing the same thing in oil and gas, then I think might have lost our licence to operate in this [arts sponsorship] space.'” – Arts Professional
Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch For 2020
“Breakout stars, paradigm shifters, game changers. Our annual list of the dancers, choreographers and companies that are on the verge of skyrocketing has a knack for illuminating where the dance world is headed. Here they are: the 25 up-and-coming artists we believe are ready to take our field by storm.” – Dance Magazine
A Better Solution Than ‘Latinx’: Teens In Argentina Lead Way Toward Gender-Neutral Spanish
“In classrooms and daily conversations, young people are changing the way they speak and write — replacing the masculine ‘o’ or the feminine ‘a’ with the gender-neutral ‘e’ in certain words — in order to change what they see as a deeply gendered culture.” – The Washington Post