“For millennia, Indigenous Australian communities have been passing down histories, knowledge, language and customs, largely through oral storytelling. But in a world of digital addiction, where even the most remote parts of the country are being infiltrated by smartphones, telling stories via screens is the new necessary: a way to both preserve tradition and reach out to the young.” – The Guardian
Blog
The Armenian Refugee Who Changed Jerusalem With His Ceramics
Armenian pottery has become synonymous with Jerusalem, so it’s a shock to learn that the city’s ceramic tradition, beyond major monuments such as the Dome of the Rock, is just 100 years old and that it was inspired by a single Turkish-Armenian master craftsman. – Times Of Israel
Song Lyrics Website Says It Caught Google Stealing Material ‘Redhanded’, Sues For $50 Million
“Lyrics site Genius on Tuesday sued Google and LyricFind for $50 million, alleging they have been misappropriating its transcriptions for years. … [Genius] used a digital watermark to see if other sites were copying its product — and it spelled ‘redhanded’ in Morse code.” – The Hollywood Reporter
The Seattle Man Who’s Memorizing Joyce’s Unreadable Finnegan
At 25, he picked up Finnegans Wake and tried to read it. He did not get far. He was stopped by a 100-letter word in the middle of the first page. How do you read a 100-letter word, he wondered? “But I’m in music school at the time, practicing the piano every day, and I realize the only way to read a 100-letter word is to practice it like I practice the piano. – The Stranger
Arthur Miller Did An Adaptation Of ‘Pride And Prejudice’ (Who Knew?)
“In the Theatre Guild Archive of the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas survives a script, marked ‘as broadcast,’ of Miller’s adaptation of Jane Austen for radio. Miller’s radio play, with Joan Fontaine as Elizabeth Bennet, aired on Thanksgiving eve, 18 November 1945.” – Los Angeles Review of Books
Where Are The World’s Best Non-Native English Speakers?
According to a new report from an international education company that tested 2.3 million volunteers in 100 countries, the level of English as a second language is highest in Northern Europe, Singapore, and South Africa and lowest in the Arab world and parts of Asia. – The Economist
Stephen Garrett, First Director Of Getty Museum In Los Angeles, Dead At 96
“Garrett helped transform J. Paul Getty’s pet project museum, which the billionaire originally operated out of his own home, into what is now arguably the wealthiest art museum in the world.” – artnet
Following New York’s Lead (Gingerly), Philadelphia Gives Library Card Holders Free Access To Cultural Institutions
Like NYC’s Culture Pass, the new Experience Pass will let Free Library of Philadelphia cardholders reserve one free entry per year at some of the city’s cultural institutions. But the famous ones aren’t taking part (yet): the best-known of the 11 participating institutions are the Museum of the American Revolution and the Magic Gardens on South Street — along with the Mayor’s Box at the Wells Fargo Center, which means users could see 76ers and Flyers games. – Philadelphia Magazine
Remember That Big Golden Sculpture Hanging In The Lobby Of The New York Philharmonic’s Hall? It’s Gone, And Lincoln Center Says It Won’t Be Back
The abstract artwork, titled Orpheus and Apollo and created by sculptor Richard Lippold specially for Philharmonic Avery Fisher David Geffen Hall when it opened in 1962, was taken down for “maintenance and conservation” in 2014, something that all too few people had noticed. Now Lincoln Center and the Philharmonic have indicated that, when the venue’s reconstruction is completed in 2024, the hanging sculpture won’t be reinstalled “because of current safety standards that impact the wiring.” – Gothamist
‘What I’ve Learned From 10,000 Nights At The Theatre’: Guardian Critic Michael Billington’s Farewell Essay
“British theatre is incredibly resilient, yet radically different from when I took up my post at the Guardian in 1971. Even the job of being a critic has altered in all sorts of ways. … But if the process – and the people who get to write the reviews – has changed, the role of the critic remains much the same.” – The Guardian