Twenty years ago, the Colombian city was a center of the worldwide cocaine trade, notorious for gun violence; even ten years ago the place was considered unsafe. Now it’s considered a hotbed of innovation.
Tag: 03.21.14
San Francisco Opera, Facing Problems Similar to San Diego’s, Will ‘Bet the Ranch’
General director David Gockley: “Audience surveys made the point: People want to be wowed every time – with singers, conductors, productions, and we have to deliver or die. … So we have bet the ranch that the increased numbers of productions, the diversity of repertory, five new productions (including the massive epic of Les Troyens, which will stretch us to our limits) should recapture subscribers, fill the houses, and produce [additional] contributions.
The Decline and Fall of the Conservative Book Publishing Juggernaut
“Ten years ago, the genre was a major source of intellectual energy on the right, and the site of a publishing boom, with conservative imprints popping up at industry giants like Random House and Penguin. But after a decade of disruption, uneven sales, and fierce competition, many leading figures in the conservative literati fear the market has devolved into an echo of cable news, where an overcrowded field of preachers feverishly contends for the attention of the same choir.”
Following Outcry, ABC Family Cancels ‘Alice in Arabia’ Pilot
“Four days after giving a pilot greenlight to drama Alice in Arabia, ABC Family is pulling the plug on the project about an American teenage girl kidnapped by her extended royal Saudi Arabian family and forced to live with them.”
Was ‘Alice in Arabia’ Really That Egregious? Oh, Yes
BuzzFeed, which got a copy of the script, fills us in.
I Was a Player in the Global Internet Orchestra
“The concert I signed up for would showcase 100 people from around the world collaborating live in an electronic, computer-driven concert – like a massive group game of Guitar Hero … ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘What could go wrong?’ … If panic had a language, it would probably be very much like what transpired [in rehearsal] that day.”
‘Interpretation Is Fluid’: Q-and-A With Choreographer Tere O’Connor
“I am looking to meditate on the expansive nature of consciousness through dance, where language, dream states, memory, and willful artifice combine to create a unique form. I am interested in dance outside of its ‘narrative’ potential. … My work embodies a convergence of many ideas, not a paring down to one theme.”
Orchestras Jump Into Streaming In A Big Way
“No one is quite sure how the trend will end up, and whether it will succeed at making money or building audiences. But many music organizations say they believe such web streams will prove helpful, saying that they must find audiences where they are, in an era when sales of CDs and digital downloads are declining, and streaming services like Spotify and Pandora are growing rapidly.”
How Humor Rewires The Brain – And Why It Works So Well
“We benefit from taxing our brains with the mental exercise of humor, much as we benefit from the physical exercise of a long run or a tough tennis match. Comedy extends our mental stamina and improves our mental flexibility.”
Why Would Someone Leave Academia For Journalism?
“I thought that I could wedge/force/hipcheck my way into a position that would reconcile the type of work that I wanted to do with the teaching that I love. But as a friend of mine said [about] her time on the market, ‘academia is drunk’ — not belligerent or irresponsible so much single-sightedly focused on things that may or may not ultimately matter.”