Commonly known as ‘pickup’ or ‘game’, the seduction industry first took shape in the United States in the early 2000s. What began as a few online forums and meetup groups soon gave rise to commercial products and services. Some of those with a personal interest in seduction began to style themselves as professionals, offering practical training and personal development for heterosexual men who wanted greater choice and control in their intimate lives. – Aeon
Tag: 01.04.19
The Mindfulness Industrial Complex Comes To The Museum
“At its best, the mindful museum might awaken in us a dim memory of a more collective way of being. As Cage wrote, not every contemplative act needs to improve creation—but together we can do better with the creation we’ve inherited. The new temple, though, asks only that we publicly perform our wellness, that we be productive even in our moments of rest.” – The Baffler
The Joys Of Old English (The Secret Is The Kennings)
New Republic cultural critic Josephine Livingstone: “Kennings are essentially portmanteaus, Old English words made of two nouns that have been mashed together to create a new one. … For example, hron means ‘whale.’ Rad means ‘a road,’ or ‘a path.’ Put them together … and you get hronrad, or ‘whale-road,’ which means ‘the sea.’ The ocean is not an empty space, hronrad says — it belongs to the whale.” — The New York Times
It’s Official: Met Museum Had Record 7.36M Visitors In 2018
The 5% increase over last year seems to indicate that the museum’s adoption of a mandatory $25 admission charge for out-of-state visitors didn’t discourage attendance. Even revenue from New York state residents, who may pay whatever they wish, is up by around 15%. — Crain’s New York Business
“Jazz Is Dying” As Metaphor For The Larger Culture
Matthew McKnight examines Jazz At Lincoln Center: “While the obituary writers may have been right—something’s dying—they have been preoccupied with the wrong thing. By looking for signs of vitality in measures of jazz’s popularity, it becomes easier to ignore what the music, according to Marsalis’s definition, is: a refinement of empathic listening, a model for improvisation, and an embodiment of meaningful time perception. If this is right, then the supposition that jazz is dead carries meaning beyond itself. What if we are witnessing the death, or suffocation, of a society that values careful listening, serendipity and, like a jazz ensemble, the dedication to finding common ground?” – The Point
An Increasingly Algorithmic Culture Threatens Our Relationship With Creativity
We’ve gone from having individual experiences and relationships with the objects around us to slaves of algorithmic calculation and formulas in which the actual things themselves are only considered pieces of larger systems. This is a huge challenge to creativity. – The Point
Is There Any Point To Conspiracy Fiction When Conspiracy Theories Have Become Political Weapons?
“[Today,] conspiracy theories are customized to achieve desired political outcomes and then injected into the news stream via social media. … No, with swiftboating, birtherism, voter fraud, anti-vaxxing, Pizzagate, crisis actors, false flags, and alternative facts, the conspiracy theory has clearly been weaponized in the most cynical and partisan way. So where does this leave conspiracy fiction? Well, sort of in the lurch.” — Vulture
A Parliament Of Owls; A Bloat Of Hippos. Where Do These Nouns Of Assemblage Come From?
“While terms like herd, swarm, and pack seem more or less reasonable, others are downright ridiculous — and that’s probably because they were never meant to be taken seriously.” — Quartz
‘Trust-Based Philanthropy’: The Long, Fruitful Relationship Between The Alvin Ailey Company And Prudential
“What makes this partnership special is not just its longevity, but the nature of support that has allowed Ailey to grow into a stable, globally recognized organization. Unlike many grantmaking organizations, in this case at least, Prudential has not only made significant, sometimes unrestricted financial commitments, they have leveraged their own relationships and knowledge for Ailey’s benefit.” — Nonprofit Quarterly
Cornelia Street Café, A Hub Of Greenwich Village’s Artistic Ferment, Shuts Down
For almost 42 years, the café’s basement performance space had offered a stage and support for jazz, theatre, and other offbeat and experimental artists, from the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra to Suzanne Vega to Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues. But the rent is now literally 77 times what it was in 1977, and proprietor Robin Hirsch says he just can’t afford that much. — The New York Times