A dentist at NYU devises an experiment, and discovers that students who chew gum while they study, score higher grades in a test than those who don’t chew. “The gum chewers scored, on average, a B-minus on the written component while the abstainers managed only a C-plus.”
Tag: 02.03.04
WTC – Compromised To Death
The design process for the World Trade Center is a big mess of compromises and hodgepodge ideas that really won’t satisfy anyone. “The design as it now stands bears scant resemblance either to Daniel Libeskind’s compelling sketches or to David Childs’s original concept. It is an unnatural hybrid made up of the work of two architects, each of whom believed he had the right to design the building himself.”
Promoting Smoking Through The Arts
In Seattle, the company that makes Lucky Strike cigarettes has become a patron of the arts. The company spreads money around, promoting Luckys in subtle ways – such as hiring attractive young people to sit in bars passing out tickets to alternative arts events (and talking up smokes). “Instead of battering the brain of the target audience, Lucky slides neatly into consciousness, trailing clouds of glory gathered from discreet arts funding. Credit spreads by word of mouth, making the product — which was launched as a brand in 1871 — appear modest and friendly.”
Saving Angkor Wat
A huge campaign to save Cambodia’s Angkor Wat is being hailed as a model for other preservation. “Involving some 40 major monuments and hundreds of smaller sites spread over 160 square miles, the restoration work in the region may take another 25 years or more. Yet an initiative — led by France and Japan and coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — has demonstrated a rare commitment to preserving a miracle of human ingenuity in a country too poor to do so itself.”
What Is It About Architects?
“In general, architects are not appealing characters in movies or other fiction. That’s because in reality they seem to be darn difficult people. I searched recently for architect jokes and found, well, none. Apparently the phrase “architect humour” is an oxymoron. Yet they dominate the news sometimes and dominate our city landscapes.”
Judge Sentences Man To Opera
A judge in Miami Beach sentenced a man to listen to opera for 2 1/2 hours after convicting him of breaking the city’s strict anti-noise ordinance by playing rap music loudly in his car. Said the judge: “You impose your music on me and I’m going to impose my music on you.”
Bush Proposes Smithsonian Budget Increase
Along with proposing to increase the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts, George Bush proposes increasing the Smithsonian’s budget by five percent. “The administration proposed giving the museum complex $628 million for fiscal year 2005, an increase of $32 million from the current year.”
Malevich Heirs Sue Amsterdam
“Heirs of Kasimir Malevich, the Russian avant-garde artist, are suing the city of Amsterdam in an attempt to recover 14 artworks that they say are rightfully theirs.”
Broadway Gypsy To Close
Running only since last May on Broadway, the musical Gypsy is closing, losing much of its investment. “The production, starring Bernadette Peters as the legendary stage mother Momma Rose, will have lost a little less than half of its $8 million capitalization.”
Study: Singing Is Healthy For You
A new study by researchers at the University of Frankfurt reports that singing is good for you – that it boosts your immune system.