“Every dog owner knows a pooch can learn the house rules – and when she breaks one, her subsequent groveling is usually ingratiating enough to ensure quick forgiveness.” And with each other, dogs, wolves and other canids “follow a strict code of conduct when they play, which teaches pups the rules of social engagement that allow their societies to succeed.”
Tag: 03.18.10
Joffrey Ballet To Star In Reality TV Series
“Chicago’s internationally renowned Joffrey Ballet will be the focus of an unscripted TV series, tentatively titled ‘First Position.’ … ‘It will be similar in feel to something like Project Runway, and focus on our trainees, who are between 17 and 22 years of age’,” says the company’s executive director.
‘Carlo Gesualdo: Composer Or Crazed Psychopath?’ (What Do You Mean, ‘Or’?)
“He’s the Italian composer-prince who murdered his wife and her lover, was into wild bouts of self-flagellation, and who at the end of the 16th century wrote some of the most chromatic vocal music ever conceived in self-pitying lamentation for his human condition. That’s the myth, at least …”
The Mighty Google Aims To Bring The Web To The Box
Google, teaming up with Intel and Sony, “envision[s] technology that will make it as easy for TV users to navigate Web applications, like the Twitter social network and the Picasa photo site, as it is to change the channel.”
A Violin In The Hospital For A CT Scan
“Trying to find out what gave the world’s greatest violin [sic]” – it’s the 1741 “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesù – “its unique voice, two modern violin-makers took the instrument to Northwestern Memorial Hospital this week for a thorough examination under a CT scanner.”
A Violinist In The Hospital For Brain Surgery (And He Plays During The Operation)
“Roger Frisch of Plymouth, Minn., lay on the operating table with his hands clutching his violin to his chin. While surgeons operated on Frisch’s brain, Frisch began to play the chords he’s known for more than 30 years.”
It’s Unanimous: Texting At The Movies Is Unacceptable
“Among the hundreds of comments we received, there was one area where readers were in absolute agreement: Never, ever text at the movies. Even text addicts agreed–the light from your cell phone is obnoxiously distracting to everyone else in a large, dark theater, and you deserve a pile of popcorn in your lap when you turn it on.”
H.M. Koutoukas, Off Off B’way Pioneer, Dies At 72
“In works like ‘Medea in the Laundromat’ and ‘Awful People Are Coming Over So We Must Be Pretending to Be Hard at Work and Hope They Will Go Away,’ he presented cartoonishly stylized characters, equipped them with arch dialogue and set them loose in outlandish situations.” He also acted in many Ridiculous Theatrical Company productions.
How Much Does Lang Lang’s Haiti Benefit Concert Actually Benefit Haiti?
“The biggest chunks of the proceeds from a Carnegie Hall concert to benefit the earthquake-ravaged country will actually go to stagehands and newspaper advertisements. Even if the event’s nearly $200,000 worth of tickets sell out, less than $8,000 from the sales will go to the cause.”
LA MoCA’s New Director Will Continue To Sell Art
When New York art dealer Jeffrey Deitch accepted the job running the museum, he agreed to close his business so as to avoid conflicts of interest. Now he says he’ll just add his dealership’s inventory to his own personal art collection and sell it from there.