“The Egyptian capital’s Museum of Islamic Art – the world’s largest – was officially reopened by President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday after an eight-year restoration project. However the public will still have to wait another two weeks until the start of September to be able to view its 25 galleries containing 2,500 artifacts.”
Tag: 08.15.10
Everything We’ve Forgotten About Jack London
“This man was the most-read revolutionary Socialist in American history, agitating for violent overthrow of the government and the assassination of political leaders – and he is remembered now for writing a cute story about a dog. It’s as if the Black Panthers were remembered, a century from now, for adding a pink tint to their afros.”
India’s Next Book Craze? Tamil Pulp Fiction, Now in English
A new publishing house in Chennai is catching book buyers’ eyes with anthologies – under titles such as Mad Scientists! Hard-Boiled Detectives! Vengeful Goddesses! Murderous Robots! Scandalous Starlets! – of South India’s once-popular penny-dreadfuls.
An Islamic MTV
“Introduced in the spring of last year, 4Shbab, which means ‘for youth’ in Arabic, broadcasts music videos, variety shows … news and even a reality program called Your Voice Is Heard – which might as well be called ‘Who Wants to be an Islamic Pop Star?'”
What’s the Purpose of the Imagination?
“Why did humans evolve the capacity to imagine alternatives to reality? Was story-telling in prehistoric times like the peacock’s tail, of no direct practical use but a good way of attracting a mate? It kept Scheherazade alive through those one thousand and one nights – in the story. On further reflection, imagining turns out to be much more reality-directed than the stereotype implies … [and a] reality-directed faculty of imagination has clear survival value.”
The Dance Company That Loves Boise, And That Boise Loves Right Back
“Imagine an alternative universe where dancers are treated like celebrities: recognized in public, lavished with gifts, fawned over by fans. They even have cocktails named after them. Now get out your atlas and locate Boise, Idaho, where … Trey McIntyre Project is the toast of the town.”
Theater of the Musculature
“[Claire] Porter, who brings her anatomical solo Namely, Muscles to the New York International Fringe Festival this week, picks up where that old spiritual “Dry Bones” leaves off, cataloguing the soft tissues that enable dancers to fly, and assist the rest of us to rise with dignity from our chairs.”
Exhibiting North Korea’s Agit-Prop in a Museum
“‘WHY?’ is the question Peter Noever, the director of the Museum of Applied Arts [in Vienna], says he is constantly asked about a sprawling exhibition of propagandistic North Korean artworks now on view. … This is the first time that secretive totalitarian state has sent a large number of its artworks outside its sealed borders.”
Making Archie Cool Again (No, Really)
“At 68 years old, Archie is suddenly looking awfully spry. His new zest for life is the work of new management at Archie Comics. The team is aggressively trying to take the tried, true and previously lethargic Archie family of characters …and transform them into global brands in comics, film, apparel and more.”
The Secret Words Of Lexicographers
“Lexicographers are hoarders, and they still have 6×4in cards with words, written in ink with dip-pens, dating back to the days before Tolkien invented Middle Earth and was shovelling away at drifts of lexical items in the corrugated-iron shed that once sheltered the OED.”