It’s Cold In Minnesota. Dogs (And Their Humans) Need A Place To Walk. Enter The Shopping Mall

“That first weekend there were probably 300 dogs. The area has a huge dog community, and it spread like wildfire.” With stores closed and escalators stopped, the two-story shopping center quickly teemed with dogs and their people, flowing along the perimeter of the mall like the classic image of early-morning mall walkers. What was intended to be a once-a-month winter event turned into a year-round weekly walking bonanza, save for the holiday season, when dog-walking was paused for a few weeks to accommodate extended shopping hours. – CityLab

Behind Steven Spielberg’s Campaign To Exclude Netflix

The studio complaints about Netflix break down into a few simple categories. The first is that they spent way more money on Oscars marketing this year than anybody else—reported numbers range as high as $50 million, although even the more conservative $25 million would be five times what Universal spent for Green Book. And second, there’s the whole “they don’t run their films in theaters unless we make them” thing. – AV Club

Meet Dr. Legato, The Bay Area’s Preeminent Sax Player

As one fan puts it, he’s the “ghost of Lester Young.” The irony is that he’s not that well known outside the jazz world. Nevertheless, he has hundreds of fans in social media, particularly on YouTube. He’s the saxman’s saxman, particularly for aficionados of Bebop. Moreover, he’s playing somewhere most nights; at the Seahorse in Sausalito; in the city, at Bird and Beckett in Glen Park, or the Deluxe in the Haight; or the Backroom in Berkeley, or the Sound Room in Oakland. 

What To Do With Mexico City’s Massive Public Murals That Sit On A Crumbling Complex Of Earthquake-Damaged Buildings?

The Centro SCOP’s murals were created with pride and hope in the 1950s, but two earthquakes, and the vagaries of politics, may consign them to rubble – or to be moved, as some recently have been, without much regard for preservation. “The buildings harbor a uniquely Mexican form of mural making, in which colored stones from different regions are embedded in concrete panels (sturdy materials that can withstand all manner of urban elements). In addition, the scale at which they were deployed at Centro SCOP is unprecedented.” – Los Angeles Times

A New, Ruff Player In ‘There’s A Museum For Everything’

Perk those ears up, sniff the wind, and trot on over to, yes, a new museum for humans’ best friend. When you enter New York’s Museum of the Dog, “right away, you’ll stand before a large screen that invites you to find out what breed of dog you, a human, are — like a BuzzFeed quiz in real life. The screen will take your picture, analyze it and show you the dog you most resemble.” (And no, it’s not a pop-up Instagram-bait museum, despite that entry.) – The Washington Post

Historian Li Xueqin, Who Helped China Embrace Antiquity, Has Died At 85

Li, who wrote more than 40 books and 1000 articles, had to walk the line, including attacking his mentor both personally and professionally during the Cultural Revolution. But inside China, “Li was better known as the country’s leading historian. He participated in some of the most important Chinese archaeological digs of the 20th century, like one at Mawangdui, which yielded texts that helped reshape scholarly understanding of ancient China.” – The New York Times

Saying ‘Ciao’ To The Met’s Too-Much-Is-Never-Enough ‘Aida’

Unbelievably, the run of Sonja Frisell’s grand, gaudy, beloved (and reviled for its length) Aida is coming to an end this week as the Met updates Aida to be sleeker and, yes, shorter. Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times is going to miss the old one: “I love the ridiculous too-much-ness of that moment, with extras circling back into the parade again and again in different costumes, trying to convince us that this really is a cast of thousands. I love the flickering torchlight emanating from the chamber where the priests judge Radamès. I love the starlit Nile Scene, and I love the smoky temple rituals.” – The New York Times