“So: to recap. Writers can’t write anything because they keep looking at the internet, which, as it does with everyone, is making them stupid. If they do write something, no-one wants to read it. If someone does want to read it, they can’t, because the internet has permanently disabled the part of their brain that enables them to concentrate on any text longer than a tweet.”
Tag: 01.10.13
Creator Of Rio’s Famous Mosaic Staircase Found Dead
“The ceramic street artist who created one of Rio de Janeiro’s most distinctive landmarks was found dead on Thursday on the spectacular mosaic staircase in Lapa that he decorated with brightly coloured tiles and mirrors over more than two decades.”
Join The I-Hate-Musicals Club!
David Sexton: “The very idea of having people acting and then singing at the same time, and quite possibly dancing too, repels us. We don’t get it. These things don’t make any sense together. … And our objection is essential, not accidental. No, we wouldn’t be converted if only we saw the right musical.”
UK Printed Book Sales Decline (Though Decline Rate Slows)
“Total sales of printed books fell to £1.51bn in 2012, down from £1.59bn in 2011, according to analysis of the year by book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan, with total value sales reaching their lowest since 2003.”
London’s Royal Opera House Plans New Direction
“Despite the fact that its chief executive is about to depart to head up the BBC , the Royal Opera House has announced a bold new direction.”
Pinball Culture Hangs On
“Pinball is a genuine subculture. Lawn tennis or duckpin bowling might be more obscure, but not much. Once a popular attraction at arcades and bars across the United States, pinball went into a death spiral in the early 1980s, done in by video games, and it has struggled ever since.”
Simon Rattle To Leave Berlin Philharmonic – After Another Five Years
“Sir Simon Rattle has announced he is to leave the Berlin Philharmonic when his contract as chief conductor expires in five years’ time. … It is the beginning of the end of a relationship that has earned Rattle almost pop-star status in the German capital.”
Time Out Sells Whatsonstage.com To Theatermania
“Theatre news and ticketing website Whatsonstage.com has been bought by the New York-based Theatremania.com, ending its ownership by Time Out Group after less than a year. Whatsonstage and Theatremania operate in a similar manner, with both running news, reviews and ticketing websites as well as organising exclusive theatre trips for their members.”
Britain’s Royal Opera Announces Ambitious Programme Of New Works
“The Royal Opera House today unveiled a programme of radical new operas, including an adaptation of The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks’s cult novel about a psychopathic teenager. The move could transform the image of the venue, which has previously left rival English National Opera to court controversy over avant-garde work.”
Germans Just Love Mark Twain
More than 130 years after Samuel Clemens spent some time living in Heidelberg, he “is often the first person to come to mind when Germans think of Americans.”