“On Nov. 13, 1894, in Chicago, the inventor Frederick Weeks Wilcox patented a version of what he called a ‘paper pail,’ which was a single piece of paper, creased into segments and folded into a (more or less) leakproof container secured with a dainty wire handle on top. The supportive folds on the outside, fastened with that same wire, created a flat interior surface over which food could slide smoothly onto a plate.”
Tag: 01.15.12
What Killed Opera Boston? Personal Clashes And Dysfunction
The company had been relying very heavily on three donors – one of whom abruptly decided that he wanted nothing more to do with Opera Boston’s general director, who had been working there for nine months, and withdrew his money.
Staffers Rebel Against New Boss At Israel’s Classical Radio Network
“Editors at Israel Radio’s Voice of Music have accused the Israel Broadcasting Authority of killing off the classical music station by appointing a person to head the station who has no musical background.”
So, Who Won – And Whom Did Ricky Gervais Pillory – At The Golden Globes?
This year’s Golden Globes featured a highly tame host, a mix of famous and unknown winners – and a lot of swearing from Meryl Streep.
Risking Radiation And Assassination In The Pursuit Of Art
Artists and twin sisters Jane and Louise Wilson do what it takes for their art. “Last year, when they were refused permission to film within the Dubai hotel where the Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was assassinated in January 2010, it occurred to them they could solve the problem more directly. A member of their crew simply booked a night in the room.”
Long-forgotten Treasures, With No Place Called Home
“Spanning centuries and continents, the instruments worth at least $25 million by their chief caretaker’s estimate are packed and stacked in an out-of-the-way storage room with water-stained ceilings. It’s hardly the environment envisioned for them when Detroit businessman Frederick Stearns gave the University of Michigan the base of the collection a century ago with instructions that the instruments be exhibited — not invisible.”
Save Some Bandwidth, Brain, And You Too May Work Harder And Better
“Perhaps we humans, and a great many other organisms, too, are deploying a fundamental, thrifty, prediction-based strategy that husbands neural resources and (as a direct result) delivers perceiving, understanding and imagining in a single package.”
Native Tribes And Anthropologists, At Odds Over A New Ruling On Bones
“Tribes have hailed the rule, saying it will help close a long and painful chapter that saw native peoples’ bones stolen by grave robbers, boxed up in dusty storerooms and disrespected by researchers.”
For Movies, 2011 Was About As Bad As It Gets
Ticket sales and attendance were way, way down. And that may not change. “It’s not cyclical. This is a technological shift on a generational scale, and the long-term technology is distribution on the web — and that’s not ten years, that’s forever.”
Building An Artist’s Utopia In Brooklyn, One Huge Warehouse At A Time
Dustin Yellin, a 36-year-old sculptor, just bought a 24,000-square foot warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with plans to create a large arts center. “He sees Red Hook as a kind of anti-Chelsea, its relatively cheap rents and remoteness from Manhattan making it a prime setting for a grass-roots cultural operation.”