Yes, his angry Hitler from 2004’s Downfall was memed millions of times, but many of us remember him best as the angel Damiel from Wim Wenders’ 1987 masterpiece about divided Berlin, Wings of Desire. The actor “made his film debut as a hotel employee in The Man in the Black Derby (1961), a Swiss comedy, and was still busily making films in his late 70s.” In 2018 alone, he starred in five movies. – The New York Times
Tag: 02.16.18
London’s Southbank Centre Pulls Ads From Daily Mail After ‘Homophobic’ Column About Famous Gay Couple’s Baby
Great Britain’s largest performing arts center is one of several organizations who have said they will no longer advertise in the UK tabloid following a column by conservative pundit Richard Littlejohn about the child that Olympic diver Tom Daley and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black are having with a surrogate mother.
Can The Artificial Intelligence Field Learn From Non-Western Philosophies?
“‘I think there is a domination of Western philosophy, so to speak, in AI ethics,” said [technology ethicist] Dr. Pak-Hang Wong … ‘By that I mean, when we look at AI ethics, most likely they are appealing to values … in the Western philosophical traditions, such as value of freedom, autonomy and so on.’ Wong is among a group of researchers trying to widen that scope, by looking at how non-Western value systems – including Confucianism, Buddhism and Ubuntu – can influence how autonomous and intelligent designs are developed and how they operate.” (audio)
Smithsonian’s Haupt Garden Is Not Worth The Trouble It Requires, And The Plan To Rip It Out Is Right
The Smithsonian’s $2 billion project to revamp the outdoor space near the Castle has been meeting some serious resistance, not least because it calls for the replacement of the formal, Victorian-style Enid A. Haupt Garden. Adrian Higgins argues that the garden is high-maintenance and expensive, especially given that (except for the annuals) its appearance is so static: “It’s time to … move on to a landscape that is more dynamic, less needy and better connects the past to a more ecologically mindful future.”
Are Music Lessons Killing My Kid’s Love Of Music?
“Might I be killing off my son’s love of music as I force him to slowly murder Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik on the piano?”
The Founding Father Of Art History (And Italian Renaissance Gossip)
“Giorgio Vasari has been variously called the father of art history, the inventor of artistic biography, and the author of ‘the Bible of the Italian Renaissance’ – a little book called The Lives of the Artists. It’s a touchstone for scholars looking to get a peek at life in Michelangelo’s day, and quite fun, too, depending on whose wildly embellished life you’re reading. Ingrid Rowland joins us on the [Smarty Pants] podcast to tell the story of the man behind the men of the Renaissance that we know so well – and, of course, to gossip a bit about Florentine egos, and even a few naughty monkeys.”
Turning Cute Kids Into Social Media Stars Is ‘Bad News For Our Relationships With Real Children’
Indeed, the entire “marketplace of cuteness”, argues Rebecca Onion, is problematic at best: “the marketplace of cuteness has less interest in age-appropriate gibberish. Instead, it demands that kids fit into an adult’s idea of what’s funny, even as they obviously, being children, are not in on the joke.”
Watching Mark Morris Dancers Teach Class For Parkinson’s Patients
“Dance for PD is a program developed by [Mark Morris Dance Group] that gives people with Parkinson’s an opportunity to experience the joy of dance while creatively addressing symptoms of the degenerative neurological disorder that affects one in 100 people over the age 60.” Reporter Jane Fries sits in on a class taught by MMDG members David Leventhal and Lesley Garrison.
City Of Sarajevo Withdraws Honor From Orhan Pamuk, Allegedly Out Of Fear Of Turkish Gov’t
“A municipal council committee, tasked with deciding on the award, this week revoked its earlier decision to honour the famous author, who is also an outspoken critic of the current political climate in Turkey. The committee has so far given no explanation for revoking the decision which had previously passed unanimously by the seven councillors.” The head of the ruling party in the Bosnian capital is close, personally and politically, to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The Pervasive Influence Of Philip Glass
Glass’ music is everywhere — in concert halls, in opera houses, on film and television soundtracks. He has created both a singular sound world and a repertoire of compositional strategies that have almost single-handedly transformed the face of contemporary music. His work has become a reference point for much of what audiences have experienced for decades.