“There is, of course, no science of creative greatness. Yet nobody thinks Rattigan is greater than Shakespeare, or Eric Coates (composer of the Desert Island Discs theme music) greater than Beethoven.”
Tag: 03.29.14
The Age of the Weaponized Hashtag (#CancelColbert)
“Twitter may be the most powerful amplifier for individual voices that history has ever seen. Messages that resonate accrue retweets and co-signatories, a shout builds into a roar, and a roar into a revolution. … And as a mechanism for generating a groundswell of opinion, it’s as dangerous as it is potent.”
San Francisco Conservatory’s Big Plans To Expand
“David Stull, who came to San Francisco last summer, after serving as dean of Oberlin Conservatory, spelled out a grand plan for the future at the black-tie event, attended by some of the city’s prominent philanthropists. The school, which grew exponentially with the 2006 move from the Sunset to its current Civic Center location, is now looking to further major physical and operational expansion.”
What’s The Key To Patience In The Age Of Distraction?
Much of our talk of patience today disguises itself with words like “attention,” “mindfulness,” and “time management.” Patience is required to pay attention to the article before us, to be mindful of the person in front of us, and to manage our time in such a way that we accomplish all the tasks required of us.
Most Young People Now Prefer Media To Books. Is This A Problem?
“More than 60 per cent of 18-to-30-year-olds now prefer watching television or DVDs to reading, according to a survey for the charity Booktrust. A similar proportion of young people think the internet and computers will replace books in the next 20 years.”
Philip Roth Really Loves His Retirement From Writing
“Everybody has a hard job. All real work is hard. My work happened also to be undoable. Morning after morning for 50 years, I faced the next page defenceless and unprepared. Writing for me was a feat of self-preservation. If I did not do it, I would die”
When The Delaware Art Museum Decided Survival Trumped Its Core Mission
“When the bank called the museum’s bluff last year, demanding full repayment, leaders scrambled to restructure the debt, partner with another arts institution, transform the museum’s operating model and persuade donors with deep pockets to rescue the institution. All attempts failed.”
A Show At First Hailed For Diversity Now Gets Called Out For Its Lack
“Some say Kaling is being unfairly singled out and held to a higher standard because of her ethnic background. Shows with predominantly white casts, such as CBS’ ‘The Big Bang Theory’ or HBO’s ‘Veep,’ are rarely asked about including multi-ethnic characters.”
The Book Barge Was Sinking. Would Amazon Step In To Help?
“An experiment like this, I thought, could also be a useful corrective to the easy acceptance that value for money has just one currency. Consumers have come to expect discounts. In fact, most feel positively cheated if a price tag hasn’t been visibly slashed. By offering goods without any money at all exchanging hands, The Book Barge could become an attractive proposition to buyers.”
How Old Hollywood Made New Beverly Hills
The city’s only a hundred years old – and the land it’s on was a ranch where coyote and bobcats used to roam. But everything changed when two investors decided to look for oil.