A few rare individuals in every period integrate, express and add to the values of their time and place in a unique way and become symbols of that time. More than any other national figure of the 1950s, Elvis Presley represented American youthfulness and became a generation’s symbol. – Quadrant
Tag: 02.23.19
Last Critic Standing – Anyone Left In Boston?
“Now that I’ve expanded beyond the business of writing about people with tattoos and tinnitus in a daily paper, I look around and see there’s almost nothing left of that business. Dwindling print and emerging web magazines cover the music scene comprehensively. Thanks to Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Boston’s own Vanyaland, we’ll always know what Springsteen and Amanda Palmer are up to–and we’ll get smart, forceful opinions on their albums and performances. But music coverage at papers might be dead long before print journalism. Okay, not “long before”: Print seems to be on borrowed time.” – Fast Company
This Museum Handles One Of The World’s Touchiest Subjects
“How do you memorialize a holocaust that even now, seven decades after it took place, may still not be entirely safe to talk about?” India’s Partition Museum, which opened in 2017 in Amritsar, in Punjab state and hard by the border with Pakistan, uses documents, photographs, and eyewitness testimony — carefully — to do the very tricky job. – The New York Times
Charles Dickens Attempted To Banish His Wife To An Asylum When He Was Having An Affair With A Young Actress
Yuck. New letters show his cruelty – and though Dickens tightly controlled his image during his life and burned more than 20 years of correspondence (including that with his wife), the new letters have caused some consternation in the literary world. “Reading the material was quite difficult to be honest. … Dickens is a literary great who I have studied and admired for many years but some of the letters made very uncomfortable.” – The New York Times
Here’s A Documentary About The Actual Green Book
Ahem. You know, there really was one, and it really was key for Black people traveling in the South (and elsewhere) for decades. Something you might watch as counter-programming tonight? Hmmm. – The Atlantic
Fisher Poets Gather On The Western Edge Of The United States
One of the fisherpoet legends is Moe Bowstern who, yes, named herself. Apparently writing poetry comes with being on a fishing ship, she says. “Well, I mean, have you ever been fishing? … It’s unbelievably boring. And so you just have to think of something else to do.” –NPR
Stanley Donen, Director Of ‘Singing In The Rain’ And Other Musicals, Has Died At 94
Donen “brought a certain charm and elegance to the silver screen in the late 1940s through the 1950s, at a time when Hollywood was soaked in glamour and the big studio movies were polished to a sheen.” Some of his other movies: Royal Wedding, with Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling; On the Town, Damn Yankees, and so, so many more. – The New York Times
Spirit Award Best Screenplay Winner Says Director Of ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ Was Cheated Of An Oscar Nomination
As she (and co-writer Jeff Whitty) won an Indie Sprit Award, “Can You Ever Forgive Me? screenwriter Nicole Holofcener offered a blunt assessment of the lack of Academy Awards recognition for director Marielle Heller, and women directors everywhere.” – Variety
Grab Your Pencils, Friends, For The Cassette Tape Has Returned
That’s right, it’s back. Why? And who the heck is feeling nostalgia for the days when you had to clean the tape heads, carefully wind any escaped tape back with the judicious use of a pencil (or two, to hold it flat), and make extremely precise mixtapes? – The Observer (UK)
Whither The Academy, Watchers May Wonder
Perhaps there’s a crisis in leadership, or perhaps there’s a crisis in the gap between leadership and members, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sure is providing some head-shaking moments for those who follow the business. “As the academy looks ahead to further challenges, including the opening of a long-delayed, highly anticipated $388-million museum scheduled for late this year, the group’s leadership — which will undergo a transition later this year with elections to replace [John] Bailey as well as some board members — is likely to continue to draw scrutiny.” – Los Angeles Times