“Voters in Ohio have begun receiving mysterious Amber Alert-style text messages urging them to dial a recorded announcement about Barack Obama, and to forward the spam to everyone they know.” (It’s about William Ayers – again.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Muslim Woman Questioned for Wearing Veil in Museum
“When a Muslim woman was stopped by a security guard in a Venetian museum because of her veil at the end of August, it sparked a national debate into dress restrictions that has still not been resolved.”
New CEO for London’s Southbank Centre
“Alan Bishop, chief executive of the government’s communications agency the Central Office of Information, is to take over from Michael Lynch as chief executive of the Southbank Centre next year.”
Scottish Ballet Sells Off Costumes
“As the company prepares to move across the Clyde to a purpose-built home at the Tramway arts complex next spring, many of these outfits – from stripey pyjamas worn in Peter Pan, to tutus designed by Jasper Conran – are being sold.”
Why Do People Collect Autographs?
“An autograph gives people who feel intimate with celebrities something tangible to possess, a personal touch. It’s a form of cultural tourism more than anything else… but there is also a magical side to it. The most relevant concept here is manna, sacredness in the form of a power that permeates people and also crucially the things they touch.”
Madrid’s Teatro Real Courting Daniel Harding
It seems that all Madrid is clamoring for the young British maestro to become the opera house’s music director following a London Symphony concert he conducted there this week. “You don’t know how grateful we are that you… would consider the possibility of taking the musical directorship,” wrote the critic of El País. “Our quiet lyrical waters urgently need a certain amount of agitation or, even, the kind of tsunami that you might bring.”
A Movie Star Who’s Actually Happy About Aging
Debra Winger: “I think there is a new world of roles open to me now because of my age and that makes me feel juicy about acting again.” And she’s still cantankerous: “I so can’t tell you how much I hate the whole notion that we have to talk about [winning an Oscar] as if it’s some goal… Look at what it’s turned into. What a nightmare. Shame on you for bringing that up.”
Booker Prize Juror Tells How It’s Done
“I try to heed another piece of advice: don’t cherrypick, just select at random, and make sure to write a brief, factual note immediately after finishing each book. ‘I felt,’ confides another former judge, ‘that “X is Y’s brother” would have been a more useful observation than “haunting prose”.'”
… And Another Juror Reveals the Booker Runner-Up
Jury chairman Michael Portillo says that the second-place author “is entitled to be disappointed” and that the novel was “the most beautiful book [on the shortlist], a glorious piece of writing with not a word misplaced.” (Sorry, folks – click on the link for the answer.)
LOLcats Get Their Own Gallery Show
“LOLcats, the crazy cat photos with goofball sayings that swept onto the web a few years ago, are rapidly becoming more than just an internet meme… Works by nearly 30 artists influenced by the pidgin-speaking-cat meme will be auctioned off Thursday during a sold-out art show in San Francisco – with proceeds going to benefit an adult-literacy program.”