“The new techniques work a treat, typically increasing memory span by around 15 per cent over a training course of five weeks. In practice that could mean expanding your working memory from seven to eight items. What this means for intelligence, though, is hotly contested.”
Tag: 04.10.11
The Accidental Choreographer: Barak Marshall
Even though he is the son of a major figure in Israeli dance (Margalit Oved of Inbal Dance Theatre), Marshall had expected to follow a nice-Jewish-boy career path as an attorney. He had no serious dance training. Then his beloved aunt died suddenly, and he found himself in a Tel Aviv dance studio, stomping out his grief …
Painter-Sculptor John McCracken, 76
“[His] fusion of painting with geometric sculpture in the mid-1960s came to embody an aesthetic distinctive to postwar Los Angeles … McCracken in fact made singular painted sculptures that value a clarity of perception infused with spiritual connotations.”
Are You One Of Those Who Are Mad The OED Went OMG?
“These folks have not been paying attention. The OED has never been a “defender of the King’s (or Queen’s, or anyone’s) English.” Since its launch in the 1880s, its aim has been to record the histories and meanings of English words, whether slangy or elegant, dialectal or archaic, refined or rude.”
Recession? What Recession? Colorado Goes On An Arts Building Boom
“New performing arts centers both large and small, both publicly and privately funded, are sprouting up around the state. In Denver, a couple of upstarts are building a colony of artists in three trendy RiNo locations north of downtown. New theaters are in the works in Grand Lake and Creede. Major renovations are underway at the Mizel Center and Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center.”
TV Networks Eye Hispanic Audience
“Network executives are scrambling after the Latino TV market in response to recently released census numbers. Pardon them for drooling. The U.S. Latino population, which soared 43 percent during the past decade to more than 50 million, is considered a gold mine.”
Nearly 1000 Artifacts Missing From Egyptian Sites After Uprising
“Thieves stole around 1,000 relics from museums and archeological sites across Egypt since protests against the government broke out in January, Egypt’s minister for antiquities Zahi Hawass said Sunday in a newspaper interview.”
Disney Works To Reboot Muppets
“Once international superstars, Jim Henson’s Muppets have not had a major box-office hit in 32 years. That was “The Muppet Movie,” which took in $65 million for the Associated Film Distribution company in 1979, or about $197 million in today’s currency.”
Deafness As A Culture
“The half million hereditary deaf in this country, they say, should be understood as an ethnic group, with many of the same qualities that define more commonly recognized ethnicities: A common language, shared ancestry, common stories and artistic traditions, and a community that perpetuates cultural norms through the generations.”
Remembering Sidney Lumet
“It was the messy business of simply being human that the filmmaker found so compelling. Whatever the forces that pushed him in that direction, we are forever richer that he was drawn to moral ambiguity, and the high price exacted by integrity and corruption alike.”