“Hundreds of forgotten classics by authors including Edith Sitwell, Monica Dickens, VS Pritchett and HRF Keating are being brought back to life through a new digital imprint launched today by Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury.”
Tag: 09.18.11
Roddy Doyle Listens In On Dublin’s Chatter
“Dublin is not a place. Dublin is a sound. Dublin is the sound of people talking. Dublin city is the sound of people who love talking, people who love words, who love taking words and playing with them, twisting and bending them, making short ones longer and the long ones shorter, people who love inventing words and giving fresh meaning to old ones.”
Frank Oz Still Lies When Taxi Drivers Ask Him What He Does
“I have no idea how I got involved with all these things – Sesame Street, Saturday Night Live, Star Wars, The Muppet Show … I never had any intention of being a professional puppeteer. I’d become interested in it because it was a hobby of my parents.”
Beethoven Against Bombs: The National Youth Orchestra Of Iraq
The ensemble, “created on the lines of Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim’s Arab-Jewish West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and comprising Kurds, Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis and Christians, … [is trying to] help to unite a divided country living in the shadow of violence and terror.”
Would Nurturing Western Classical Music Be Good For India?
Columnist Anil Dharker: “[If] any art form struggles to survive in our country, it is western classical music. … Sometimes you wonder if western classical music has survived all these years only because Parsis live so long. … But there is an even more basic reason why soaking in western classical music might do us good, and this has to do with the very structure of their music and ours.”
Before The Emmys Were Gay
Former winner Norman Sunshine: “Looking forward to tonight’s Primetime Emmy awards, hosted by the openly gay actress Jane Lynch, I can’t help but think how far we’ve come since my own encounter with the awards show in 1976” – when he had to hide his longtime relationship with a studio executive.
No Place Is Safe: Spencer Tunick Does Mass Nude Photo Shoot At Dead Sea
“One thousand two hundred male and female volunteers woke up early Saturday morning to participate in a mass nude photograph by artist Spencer Tunick at the Dead Sea. The volunteers included men and women ranging from 20 years old to somewhere in their sixties.”
Surprise Audience Favorite At Toronto Film Festival
“A small film about rural Lebanese women creatively fighting male violence is the surprise top audience award winner at the close of the 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival.”
Netflix To Split In Two
“In the wake of a rapid decline in Netflix’s stock price last week, [Netflix CEO Reed] Hastings is taking a bold step by separating the DVD and video streaming services. The DVD-by-mail service will now be called Qwikster, and the streaming service will maintain the Netflix brand. That’s right: the new business (streaming) will keep the existing name.”
Garth Drabinsky Parties Right Up To The End (And Jail)
“To his friends, Mr. Drabinsky’s bravado in the face of prison is precisely the kind of persevering spirit that has made him so popular in cultural circles.”