A look at “the existence of this informal language of road signals – either creative adaptations of the simple communicative tools available on an automobile (lights, turn/brake signals, horn) or, often, some gesture by the driver himself (a wave, ‘the finger,’ etc.). How do these things emerge, how are they transmitted, and how are they understood?”
Tag: 02.09.10
Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, Open For One Month, Closes For Repairs
“The 124th-floor viewing platform, the only part of the 828-metre structure previously open to the public, has closed. And the date of its reopening is unknown.” The building’s developer is blaming unexpectedly heavy visitor traffic and “technical issues with the power supply”; the tower had problems with its elevators last week.
Young Vic’s Executive Director Quits After Three Months
“In a move that makes [Gregory] Nash’s tenure at the Young Vic one of the shortest ever for a senior manager at a major UK theatre, last month he and artistic director David Lan agreed ‘mutually and amicably’ that Nash would leave the venue after serving only around half of his probationary period.”
Bay Area Dancer Returns To Stage Three Months After Mugging, Beating
In late October, Eddie Stegge of Walnut Creek’s Diablo Ballet was attacked and clubbed by two teenagers who left him with skull fractures and brain injury. Stegge, who “has had to relearn how to walk, move his right arm and see things on his right side,” will perform with the company later this month.
The Political Education Of Yosi Sergant
“He’d gone from working as a publicist and living in [L.A.’s] Echo Park, to working in the White House, to working as director of communications for the National Endowment of the Arts, to being unemployed” – drummed out of D.C. over an edited quote from a conference call that led to accusations that he was propagandizing for Obama with government money.
Grants From Rothschild Foundation, Mysteriously Delayed, Begin To Arrive
“The Judith Rothschild Foundation has paid at least some of the grant money that it had neglected to award to 17 arts groups last year, according to one recipient.”
More Literary Classics That Would Make Good Video Games
“Dante’s Inferno proves it: Classic literature is a videogame gold mine.” Wired‘s Game|Life blog suggests “10 more books that would make totally kick-ass games.” Some make perfect sense (Gulliver’s Travels, Moby-Dick); others, maybe not so much (The Metamorphosis, Siddhartha).
Bernard-Henri Levy Caught Quoting Fake Philosopher
In public appearances and in his latest book, France’s most famous public intellectual has been quoting from the work of Jean-Baptiste Botul, putative author of The Sex Life of Immanuel Kant. M. Botul (founder of the Botulisme school of thought) is, in fact, the creation of a satirist who writes for Le Canard enchaîné. (Lévy has been a remarkably good sport about the embarrassment.)
UK’s Indie Bookstores Shuttering At Rate Of Two Per Week
“With independents blaming increased competition from the internet, supermarkets, a declining British high street and the credit crunch for their troubles, figures from the Booksellers Association show that 102 independent stores closed in 2009, leaving just 1,289 left in the UK – a decline of 27% since 1999.”
Dave Eggers: The Real McSweeney Has Died
“McSweeney’s was told by Timothy’s family that he passed away after a ‘long struggle with illness’ on 24 January, aged 67. ‘As a young man, Timothy was an artist of tremendous talent. The canvasses he leaves behind are … filled with a palpable desire – to be heard, to connect, to be understood better by others and himself.'”