“Ask yourself this: is anyone, even the grittiest of Scandinavians, ever going to write a thriller about this week’s murders in Norway? Of course not. It would be like a murder mystery set in Auschwitz. Thrillers operate according to a set of rules, if not always to a formula. The reason that we love them is that they are not, fundamentally, going to surprise us.”
Tag: 07.31.11
Dancing Helps People With Problem-Solving, Even Neurological Function
Peter Lovatt, head of the Dance Psychology Lab at the University of Hertfordshire, talks about findings that dance can improve divergent thinking (in trying to solve complex problems) and can improve the condition of Parkinson’s disease patients. (He also found that girls studying classical ballet have lower self-esteem.)
The “Democratization Of Ticketing”
“Things that were once available only to the biggest customers are made available to the masses. In the case of ticketing it was Madison Square Garden or the New York Yankees, but today any event large or small can have just as robust an offering for selling and managing tickets.”
How Does A City Know When An Historic Building Is Worth Saving?
“Beverly Hills needs to put a process in place for determining when it makes sense to step in and keep a homeowner from demolishing a valuable piece of architectural history. And it needs to do so quickly, before another of its stock of important houses finds itself in the demolition cross hairs.”
PBS Chief: Should We Change Our Support Structure?
“We’ve had the same structure for 40 years. It’s worth asking, ‘Is this the best way to present programming?’ “
PBS Chief: Reality TV Helps PBS
“Channels that were supposed to replace PBS by offering history, drama and arts programming have increasingly turned to reality television, and the trend is only accelerating. If the rest of the media continues on its current trajectory, PBS and our stations will be the only enterprise whose sole purpose is to provide content of consequence both nationally and locally to all Americans.”
Hollywood Tries To Wean Itself Off DVDs
“Windfalls from DVD sales powered explosive Hollywood growth during the 2000s, but the industry has realized — as difficult as it might be — that it must turn its back on the dying format if it aims to compete in a digital world.”
Portrait Of A Ballet Star
“It’s time to reclaim the word ballerina. It’s thrown carelessly at any young woman who has pulled on a pair of pointe shoes; even at toddlers with their first tiny tutus. It leaves nothing to describe, instantly, a woman at the height of her powers.”
Britain’s National Anthem Is Too Short. Really?
“With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner, the racing driver Lewis Hamilton has put his finger on a problem the giant athletic boondoggle’s organisers have so far overlooked: our national anthem is too short.”
Orange County’s Performing Arts Center Has One Of Its Best Year’s Ever
Orange County’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts “presented 359 performances in its four venues from July 1, 2010 to June 30, with total paid admissions of 470,853. That compares to 273 performances in 2009-10 and paid attendance totaling 414,418 – increases of 31.5 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively.”