“The lines and curves of Yanagi’s designs were as distinctly Japanese as they were universal, winning him fans – and a place in homes not only in Japan but around the world – for his teapots, ceramic cups and even the lowly whisk.”
Tag: 12.27.11
Woody Allen On His Career As Jazz Clarinetist
“It’s not a particular talent that I have, but a great love – I’m strictly like a weekend golfer or something. I don’t kid myself – people come and see me because they’ve seen my movies. I am surrounded by good musicians and I do my best, but it’s strictly enthusiasm.”
What Exactly Does A Conductor Do? A Critic Finds Out
“In Italian, the word maestro also means teacher. As we power toward the final cadence and I exchange glance after glance with the young musicians, it occurs to me that they are bombarding me with unspoken questions and it’s my job to convey answers. That’s what a conductor does: mold an interpretation by filtering the thousands of decisions packed into every minute of symphonic music.”
Rise Of The Celebrity Speaking Tour
“Celebrity speaking tours have a long history, but arts venues say they are having a new run of popularity. While everything depends on an individual’s wit, charisma or story, such tours are modest affairs, requiring not much more than a person and a microphone. One hesitates to call them cheap entertainments, but that’s essentially what they are.”
Painter Helen Frankenthaler, 83
“Refining a technique, developed by Jackson Pollock, of pouring pigment directly onto canvas laid on the floor, Ms. Frankenthaler, heavily influencing the colorists Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, developed a method of painting best known as Color Field — although Clement Greenberg, the critic most identified with it, called it Post-Painterly Abstraction.”
E-Books Grab Big Share Of Publishing Market In 2011
“E-books have grown to around 20 percent of the market and the percentage should keep rising in 2012 as millions of ever-cheaper devices are purchased. But the e-revolution remains in its early stages and books can still sell big through paper alone.”
Sequels Everywhere (Familiarity Breeds Content)
Hollywood released a record 28 film sequels this year. Is there any mystery why?
Andrew Geller, 87, Architect Of Modernist Prefab Housing
“[He] embodied postwar ingenuity and optimism in a series of inexpensive beach houses in whimsical shapes … [and] helped bring modernism to the masses with prefabricated cottages sold at Macy’s.”
San Diegoans Save The Job Of Their City’s Organist
With the city government desperately short of money, the job of the city organist – who plays free public concerts on Balboa Park’s enormous instrument – was about to be eliminated. Then, just as in a movie, citizens rose up to save a local institution.
Where Economic Development Meets Reality TV
“Governments around the world are scrambling to find innovative policies to create jobs in the teeth of a global downturn. In ex-Soviet Georgia, the government appears to have found a policy that’s all its own: reality TV.”