“The midcentury ideal — of literature as an aesthetically and philosophically complex activity, and of criticism as its engaged and admiring decoding — is gone. In its place stands the idea that our capacity to shape our protean selves is the capacity most worth exercising, the thing to be defended at all costs, and the good that a literary inclination best serves. Democratizing the canon did not have to mean abdicating authority over it, but this was how it played out.”
Tag: 04.13.18
Security Staff At London’s Royal Opera House Threaten Strike
“Summer performances at the Royal Opera House face disruption if security staff vote to go on strike over allegations of bullying and poor pay. Union Unite represents the vast majority of the 30-strong security workforce at the ROH, who will start voting on whether to take strike action on April 16, with the ballot closing on May 4.”
Trove Of Inscriptions In Sub-Saharan Africa’s Oldest Written Language Discovered
“Archaeologists in Sudan have uncovered a large cache of rare stone inscriptions at the Sedeinga necropolis along the Nile River. The collection of funerary texts are inscribed in Meroitic, one of Africa’s earliest written languages.”
Stop Fussing About The Berkshire Museum’s Sale Of Paintings As If The Place Were A Sacred Temple To Art
Christopher Marcisz makes the case that people don’t go to the Berkshire Museum for art (the area has better art museums already) and barely remember the paintings they see there. People – schoolkids and families, mostly – go for the natural history and science exhibits, and money from the paintings sold will give those exhibits a facelift they desperately need.
Pillars At Taj Mahal Destroyed In Violent Storm
Two decorative turrets were blown off the old gates to the site during a storm with heavy rains and winds up to 80 miles per hour. No damage to the white marble mausoleum was found.
The Historic Los Angeles Times Building Will No Longer Hold The Los Angeles Times
Why? Well, the previous owners sold the building to a development corporation – which asked for a $1 million per month increase in rent after the lease expires June 30. So, according to new owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, “the Los Angeles Times this summer will move from its historic Art Deco headquarters in downtown Los Angeles to a campus currently under construction in El Segundo.”
Watts Tower Arts Center Director Is Suspended, And No One Will Say Why
Rosie Lee Hooks has been director of Los Angeles’ Watts Tower Arts Center since 2010, and she has grown programs, attendance, and attention by leaps and bounds. Now, supporters say, there’s an art program at the heart of her three-week suspension. They claim it’s “related to the mural that local artist Jacori Perry had started to paint depicting jazz musician and Watts hero Charles Mingus on the side of the campus’ Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center building.”
As Britain Freaks Out About Invading Americanisms, Some U.S. Hipsters Are Importing Britishisms
Yes, there’s even a name for this phenomenon. “In recent years, so-called Anglocreep, the subtle adoption of British phrases into everyday American speech, has become a tic (or some might say an annoyance) among star-spangled strivers, particularly coastal creative types — otherwise known as the ‘chattering class,’ to invoke another Britishism.”
So Doing Math Doesn’t Make You Smarter?
Various studies point to the conclusion that subjecting the mind to formal discipline — as when studying geometry or Latin — does not, in general, engender a broad transfer of learning. There is no sweeping increase of a general capacity for tasks like writing a speech or balancing a checkbook. But surely a narrower claim is true: that mathematics, so systematically built as it is on inference, must develop logical thinking. Right?
Is Comics Master Stan Lee Being Held Prisoner?
Few creators have left as profound a mark on popular culture. According to The-Numbers, a box office data site, films featuring Mr. Lee’s superheroes have grossed more than $24 billion worldwide. “Stan is right up there with Walt Disney as one of the great creators of not just one character, but a whole galaxy of characters that have become part of our lives. Right now, I think he’s probably bigger than Disney.” Yet at the summit of Mr. Lee’s career, storm clouds have gathered.