Author: Matthew Westphal

Performers Angry As One Of Australia’s Fringe Festivals Adds Non-Disparagement ‘Gag Order’ To Contracts

“Perth’s Fringe World, which opens on 15 January, attracted criticism and protests earlier this year over its longstanding sponsorship by fossil fuel giant Woodside. In a bid to head off disruption of next month’s event, the organisers – not-for-profit company Artrage – have included in the festival’s main contract the stipulation that ‘the presenter and the venue operator must use its best endeavours to not do any act or omit to do any act that would prejudice any of Fringe World’s sponsorship arrangements’. … [Performers] said the clause effectively amounted to a gag order, curtailing comment on anything from climate change to local politics.” – The Guardian

‘Burroughs and the Dharma,’ the Real Story

James Grauerholz: “William was not a Buddhist: he never sought or found a “Teacher,” he never took Refuge, and he never undertook any Bodhisattva vows. He did not consider himself a Buddhist, nor — for that matter — did he ever declare himself a follower of any one faith or practice. But he did have an awareness of the essentials of Buddhism, and in his own way, he was affected by bodhidharma.” – Jan Herman

The Problem With Hatchet Job Restaurant Reviews

Ted Gioia: “Why write this way? Why compare tomato soup to totalitarian dictators? It’s fun. And it’s easy. There are no real stakes for describing bad food. For these pugilist reviewers, the worst outcome is a bored reader, and thus the sheer unimportance of the subject sanctions a degree of exuberant cruelty unmatched in any other branch of criticism.” – The New Republic

Ian Jenkins, Archaeologist And Curator Who Oversaw The Elgin Marbles, Dead At 67

“[He] always insisted that the sculptures should, like poetry or music, be thought of as superb pieces of human artistic endeavour, and regretted the role they had come to play in what today is termed contested history. He devoted many hours of research to them, reconstructing their original arrangement. This was harder than might be thought, as only about half survive, and he was quietly pleased … that some of his ideas had been incorporated into the displays at the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.” – The Guardian

Virginia Governor Allocates $11 Million To Revamp Richmond’s Monument Avenue

“Virginia Governor Ralph Northam wants to redesign Monument Avenue, a promenade in the capital city of Richmond lined with shrines to Confederate generals” — four of which were removed as a result of Black Lives Matter demonstrations this past summer, while the fifth, of Robert E. Lee, has been covered with protest art — “and he’s tasked the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with the job.” – Artnet