“I understand why the top students in America study physics, chemistry, calculus and classic literature. … But why do we make B students sit through these same classes? … Wouldn’t it make more sense to teach B students something useful, like entrepreneurship?” Scott Adams explains how he learned it (at a bar).
Tag: 04.09.11
Kansas’s Only Professional Modern Dance Company Disbands
“The Lawrence Arts Center recently announced the 940 Dance Company, formerly known as the Prairie Wind Dancers, would be disbanding because maintaining the dance company was no longer financially feasible.”
The ‘Phoenix Company’: How Ballet BC Came to Be
25 years ago, as Vancouver was preparing to welcome the world to Expo 86, the city found itself without a ballet company: Pacific Ballet Theatre, “considered little better than an amateur group,” had recently collapsed. But two indomitable impresarios acted quickly and managed to create Canada’s fourth professional ballet troupe in less than six months.
Why Should We Read Poetry? David Orr: Maybe We Shouldn’t
“I don’t know that people ought to bother. I think that poetry is one of those choices you make in life that’s … it’s not really susceptible to reasoning or arguments.”
Detroit Symphony Musicians Approve Contract With 23 Percent Pay Cut
“The contract avoids the major redefinition of musicians’ jobs the union has resisted but institutes an innovative optional-work plan for community outreach initiatives including orchestral concerts, teaching and chamber music. Musicians who choose to participate can earn additional pay of about $6,900 per season.”
How Do You Replace The Museum Director Who Defined The Place?
“During the 28-year tenure of Peter C. Marzio, who died unexpectedly of cancer in December, the museum’s yearly attendance increased to roughly two million from 300,000; its operating budget climbed to $52 million from $5 million, and its endowment reached $1 billion.”
Theatre Bows To Pressure And Cancels Performances By Convicted Murderer
“The Montreal theatre company where he was to perform in 2012 announced Friday that Mr. Cantat, who was paroled in 2007 after serving four years for the fatal beating of his girlfriend in 2003, has withdrawn from all Canadian performances of an adaptation of Sophocles’s plays about women.”
Working The Word Of Mouth In A Socially Networked Age
“Word of mouth, a phrase that first crops up in Twelfth Night, is the holy grail of book publishing. Some of them will go to any lengths to stimulate the phenomenon. With the advent of social networking, word of mouth begins to enter the realm of science, at least in theory.”
Making Art Out Of (Despite?) Tourette’s Syndrome
Pianist Nick Van Bloss defies his condition in the most dramatic way. Yet “defy” is the wrong word: the 38,400 tics he endures daily may once have pushed him out of concert life, but he’s now discovered how to harness them, to a point where their rhythms have become – at least in part – the key to his singular