“But what is a language? And is this really the sort of thing you can count? Let’s compare this to a different question: How many objects are there? Simple question. So there must be a simple answer. Right? No. And for a simple reason: The answer depends on why you are asking.”
Tag: 04.01.11
Director David Pountney To Head Welsh National Opera
“Pountney, who has directed many productions for the company, will take up his new post in September. He is currently intendant of Austria’s Bregenz Festival and will continue in the role until his current contract ends in 2013. … In the past, Pountney has worked as director of productions for both Scottish Opera and English National Opera.”
Fears That Qatar’s Oral Traditions Are Fading With Modernization
“Many fear the country’s rich folklore and storytelling tradition is disappearing forever. Over the past six months, a group of students and professors has begun to record and transcribe folklore and oral histories told by Qatari elders. Eventually, they will be compiled into the country’s first-ever combined English and Arabic folklore anthology.”
Britain’s Education Minister: Today’s Students Aren’t Reading The Classics
“Fewer than one in 100 teenagers who sat the most popular English literature exam last year based their answers on novels published prior to 1900, says the Education Secretary.”
Telenovelas Give American English-Language TV Networks A Run
“If Univision has years of viewer loyalty and ratings on its side, Telemundo is also gaining traction. Telemundo, with its far more modest profile, is going after an acculturated Latino audience and reframing the possibilities of a field whose viewership continues to grow.”
The Suburb, The Starchitect, The Controversy
Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento incorporated in 2000, held an international design competition to create a master plan for a $159 million civic center complex on 78 acres. Starchitect Zaha Hadid was chosen. But the design has proven controversial and the politics even worse.
Seattle’s Intiman Theatre Raises Enough Money To Avoid Closing
“Intiman Theatre has nearly met its urgent March 31 fundraising goal of $500,000. The Seattle Center company has also retained the services of veteran Seattle arts administrator and consultant Susan Trapnell, and announced that its interim manager, Melaine Bennett, is leaving the theater.”
Expensive Is Good. Cheap Is Good. But The Middle?
“What I will not buy is any one-time conduit of information (book, magazine, newspaper) that is somewhere in the middle. Too expensive to easily throw away, but too cheaply made to want to keep in my collection. Everything else, everything between the very low-end and very high-end product, will be delivered digitally.”
The Larry Gagosian Empire
“As the contemporary art market rebounds from the recession, Mr. Gagosian’s art empire is exploding. In the last few years, he has opened new galleries in London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens and Hong Kong, expanding his global art network to 11 galleries world-wide–the largest blue-chip franchise ever attempted in the industry.”
New Bio Of Gandhi Banned In Parts Of India
“Gandhi is still so revered in India that a book about him that few Indians have read and that hasn’t even been published in this country has been banned in one state and may yet be banned nationwide. … The crux of the controversy seems to be the intersection of two subjects on which Indians have strong views: sexuality and Gandhi.”