Stanley Fish: “The basic opposition, the one without which the First Amendment could not get off the ground, is the opposition between speech and action. … It comes with, and indeed marks out, the territory, and the main task of professionals in the field is to determine just where the line between speech and action should be drawn. … [And] there is no principled way to draw that line.”
Tag: 02.08.10
Botox May Freeze Emotions Along With Facial Muscles
“According to an amusing little study, by paralyzing the frown muscles that ordinarily are engaged when we feel angry, Botox short-circuits the emotion itself. It’s a version of the classic finding in psychology that facial expressions can produce the very emotion they usually reflect.”
Cuban Ballet: A Paradise Of Sorts, Trapped In Limbo
The school of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba “is now world-famous, gathering its students from the island’s rural poor and urban delinquent,” and its training “is also world-class.” But while ballet is “a national entertainment” in Cuba, the country’s “political, economic and cultural limbo” means its astounding dancers have very few choices.
MTV Officially Isn’t ‘Music Television’ Anymore
With a redesigned logo unveiled Monday, “[t]he network — known more for its scripted reality show programming these days than the music videos and industry it revolutionized — dropped the ‘Music Television’ tagline from the Frank Olinsky-designed original.”
Performance Art Piece: Marrying A Stranger, For Real
Orlando performance artist Brian Feldman “has a pretty strong motivation for marrying a woman he doesn’t know. … He’s trying to point out the craziness of a state system that will allow near-strangers to marry, as long as they’re of opposite sexes, but will not allow marriages for committed partners of the same sex.”
Opera Chief Gets Lordship
“Royal Opera House chief executive Tony Hall has been awarded a peerage in the House of Lords. His precise title has not yet been confirmed, but Hall, who is also chair of the Cultural Olympiad board, has been appointed as a non-party political peer.”
Kirov In Conflict With Canada’s National Ballet
“This feels like a Mack truck falling out of the sky and hitting us,” says Kevin Garland, executive director of the National Ballet of Canada. “It’s great to have the Kirov coming to Toronto, but the timing couldn’t be worse for us, and we didn’t hear anything about it in time for us to plan accordingly.”
How Eli Broad Has Changed LA Culture
“Mr. Broad dominates the arts here with a force that has no parallel in any major city. Los Angeles would literally not look the same had Mr. Broad not chosen it as his home 40 years ago, and his business-focused method of managing his giving has earned him a reputation as both a genius and a despot.”
Plays Top Musicals In Olivier Award Nominations
“After years when big musicals ruled London’s West End, new plays and revivals of classics dominate the nominations announced today for this year’s Olivier theatre awards. The Royal Court took the lion’s share, with 15 nominations.”
Rethinking The Venerable University Of California
“Should UC increase its use of online classes? Could bachelor’s degrees be earned in three years? Should campuses eliminate small departments that are duplicated elsewhere? Enroll more out-of-state students to raise revenue? Boost research ties with private industry?”