“His path crossed Buddhists and crusading warriors, the Bedouin and Venetian sailors, ambassadors, monks, sorcerers, and snake charmers. Along the way he wrote the Seyahatname (‘Book of Travels’), a magnificent ten-volume sprawl of fantasy, biography, and reportage that is utterly unique in the canon of travel literature, and which confirms Evliya [Çelebi] as one of the great storytellers of the seventeenth century.”
Tag: 08.05.16
Battle Cry In Birmingham: ‘Save Our Brutalism!’
“The Brutiful Birmingham Action Group (see what they did there?) is fighting an uphill struggle to preserve the city’s best examples of 1950s and ’60s concrete and glass minimalism.”
West End Staffers Sue Britain’s Largest Theatre Owner, Alleging They’ve Been Shortchanged On Pay
“Entertainment union BECTU is representing 38 front-of-house workers across all of [Ambassador Theatre Group’s] West End venues, claiming they have been paid less than the agreed Society of London Theatre rate.”
Why Do So Many Arts Organizations Fail At The Audience Experience?
“Even as we demand more flavor from our coffees and breads – they’ve got to be artisanal, you know – we seem willing to accept patron experiences that are increasingly diminished. Character is an important consideration when you’re buying a $1 doughnut. But it doesn’t seem to be as crucial when purchasing a $100 pass to a music festival.”
Why The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ Still Matters After 50 Years
Scott Timberg: “Even if you scorn Boomer myth-making, the 50th anniversary of Revolver – perhaps the Beatles’ best album – is a big deal. It not only sent the band in a new direction, it showed new possibilities in rock music.”
Uncovering The Secrets Of A Hidden Degas Portrait – With A Particle Accelerator
“For decades, a mysterious black stain has been spreading across the face of an anonymous woman in Australia. She is the subject of a painting by Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist painter, and since the 1920s, the oil paints in her portrait have gradually faded, revealing the hints of another, hidden portrait underneath.”
The Sweet Spot Between Being Too Content And Being Too Unhappy With Our Personalities
“Changes from within do matter—and these changes may indeed be undervalued in their role in determining happiness. In fact, they may even have strong economic consequences.”
No, We’re Not Actually ‘Wasting Time’ On The Internet
“Theorists say the internet is making us dumber, but something magical happened when my students wasted time together. They became more creative with each other. They say we’re less social; I think people on the web are being social all the time. They say we’re not reading; I think we’re reading all the time, just online.”
The Last Journalists Left Turn Out The Lights On Fleet Street
“I was standing by the window once a few years ago, and a tour bus had stopped outside. I heard the guide tell the passengers that Fleet Street no longer had any journalists working here. I stuck my head out and shouted: ‘We are still here’.”
Why Are British Audiences Eating Up An American Comedy About An Entitled, Self-Flagellating Asshole?
“I feel like out of every kind of performance I’m involved in, theater is still the best way to communicate a story to a group of people. I think there is so much value in putting myself through the very difficult experiences of the character eight times a week because I think it communicates — on a macro-level, the human condition, and on a micro-level, third-generation malaise, self-loathing, the fear of immigrants usurping positions of power from hegemonic cultures like mine.”