In today’s new city highrises, “modernism is back, powered not only by the shifting winds of architectural fashion but also by things that have precious little to do with high design, including the drop-dead views — and higher prices — that floor-to-ceiling glass makes possible. Yet this revival, it turns out, is far from triumphal.”
Tag: 02.11.07
Braille Makes A Comeback
“According to figures from the American Printing House for the Blind, the country’s oldest manufacturer of educational material for blind students, today fewer than one-quarter of the blind children in this country who could potentially learn Braille actually do so. (Not all blind children can learn Braille. Many children born blind are also born with cognitive disabilities that make mastering Braille impossible.) Braille’s decline was the byproduct of a revolution in education for the blind that, for a time, made Braille seem irrelevant.” Now, Braille is in a comeback…
Jazz And Me
“In my early teens, I had an unusual hobby. Whenever the urge grew strong enough to overcome my basic diffidence, and whenever I didn’t think it would show up too badly on my parent’s phone bill, I used to make long – distance calls to different jazz musicians I admired. From the safety of my home in Brookline, I’d tell them how much I liked their music and then ask such typically journalistic questions…”
And Now… (Yawwwn) The Grammys
“With recent ratings shrinking, the event advertised as ‘Music’s Biggest Night’ has become progressively smaller. The 49th annual Grammy Awards, airing live tonight, face myriad struggles: infinite audience fragmentation, competition from a glut of televised celebrity spectacles and the over-saturation of a pop culture whose disposability rivals Kleenex.”
Will Movie Blogs Influence Oscar?
Movie blogs “serve as a tip sheet for the movie industry – especially the marketing and publicity people – to decide which films to support for Oscar nominations. And one way to do that is by placing ads on the sites. Another is to grant sites access to stars for interviews, making them real players. If it sounds a little like the long, media-paved road to a presidential election, that’s what it has become.”
A Week Of Art Sales Records (Yikes!)
“There’s a theory, of course, that good art is the most expensive art, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that anyone really believes this any more. I watched a sappy-looking Renoir go under the hammer on Monday for £6.1 million, but it was hard to follow the bidding owing to the fact that it was almost drowned out by the snorts of derision from the people around me. And on Tuesday an unspectacular oil by Morisot went for four times the estimate, largely because, so the expert next to me believed, it featured a small fluffy cat.”
Actor Ian Richardson, 72
“His death came as a shock as he had not been ill and was due to begin filming his next role in TV show Midsomer Murders next week, his agent said… Before ‘The House of Cards’, Richardson was already renowned as one of the great Shakespearean actors of his day, bearing comparison with Sirs John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson, a generation earlier.”
The Amazing Barcelona
“Forty years ago, the foreigner’s knowledge of Barcelona was so embarrassingly slight that we weren’t even embarrassed by it. The 1,500 years of the city’s existence had produced only five names that came readily to mind.” But the Spanish city is a treasure, and Robert Hughes grapples with its extraordinary history.
Queen Of The Baftas
Helen Mirren wins Best Actress, “The Queen” wins Best Picture, and Forest Whitaker wins Best Actor at the British film awards. “On a cool, bright evening, the stars marched along one of the longest red carpets ever seen. For the first time the ceremony had an air of Hollywood gloss, having moved this year to the crimson plush of the Royal Opera House.”
Superstar Producer As Coach
Rick Rubin is a superstar record producer. He coaxes a project into being rather than merely signing it up. “Whatever the project or musical style, Rubin enters it with the same goal: Create an easy, reassuring atmosphere that encourages collaboration and experimentation. He thinks of himself as a coach, but you could just as easily call him a counselor or therapist.”