“The Jersey City Museum, the anchor for a once-vibrant city arts district and owner of what may be the best contemporary art collection in the state, is so strapped for cash that it can’t keep the lights on.”
Tag: 01.24.11
How Animals Are Dealing With Man-Made Noise
Humpback whales and Japanese quail repeat their calls numerous times. Right whales raised the pitch of their songs so as not to compete with shipping noise. Hummingbirds, marmosets and manatees, among many others, simply try to shout above the din, just like we do.
The Great Japanese Director Who Will Never Win an Oscar
“For the past 20 years, the Academy Awards for ‘best foreign language film’ have become the baby food shelf of global cinema: It’s where you find movies that are bland, safe, and unambitious. Which is why it’s downright shocking that this year’s shortlist features Confessions by Japan’s Tetsuya Nakashima, the darkest and most intense director working today.”
Why Some Fans Get So Angry When a Media Franchise Gets Rebooted
“[A] false sense of ownership over art is the driving factor. How dare my Bond get rebooted for these jokers who don’t know that in You Only Live Twice, Bond had surgery to create an epicanthic fold in order to make him look Japanese? … How dare my Bond get rebooted for people who just want another generic action flick that removes most of what makes 007 what it is?”
Kevin Smith Says He’s Quitting Directing to Be Indie Film Distributor
At a Sundance post-screening talk, Smith “announced plans to leverage his own cult-fanbase to break out of the studio distribution system and put [his latest] film out there for audiences on his own.” He also said that his next film would be his last; he will “focus on his fledgling distribution company, helping other indie filmmakers get their films to an audience without going through Hollywood.”
The Science Behind That First Kiss
“Women, who according to studies place more emphasis and importance on a kiss, use the mouth-to-mouth moment as a way to judge the taste of the tongue, lips and saliva to see if she is with an adequate mate. Sense of smell doesn’t just provide a window into hygiene habits; it also gives women access to the unseen DNA of their chosen mate.”
Why Cutting US Arts Support Is Job-Killing And Shortsighted
“Does all that revenue come directly from federal arts spending? No. Would slashing that spending significantly damage the revenue? Yes. The impact is direct and indirect.
Not only can we afford it, we need it — for the jobs and the return on the investment that federal arts and culture funding provide.”
Odd Phenomenon: Hollywood Movies That Bomb In US Are Blockbusters Elsewhere
“How is it possible that an American-made product can be rejected by its home-grown consumers, yet embraced by moviegoers elsewhere? Everyone has a theory about what’s going on, but it turns out that…”
New World Symphony Building – Concert Hall As Village
“Arguably, in fact, the heart of Gehry’s design is not the auditorium but rather the rehearsal and recording rooms that make up the southern half of the New World Center. Taken together, these spaces suggest a whitewashed seaside village beneath the larger building’s protective roof.”
Researchers: Chopin Probably Had Epilepsy
“The Polish pianist died in 1849 at the age of 39 as a result of a lung disease which has recently been attributed to cystic fibrosis. But the Spanish doctors say he probably also suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy.”