“Knowledge is passed down directly from generation to generation in the animal kingdom as parents teach their children the things they will need to survive. But a new study has found that, even when the chain is broken, nature sometimes finds a way.”
Tag: 05.03.09
Havana’s Architectural Treasures Are Literally Crumbling Into Dust
“Chunks of this city’s rich and eclectic architectural history tumble to the ground every few days, piece by piece, forever lost in the rubble. Neo-Baroque and Art Deco treasures deteriorate at an alarming rate. Every three days, there are two partial or total building collapses in Central Havana alone, according to architectural experts.”
N.C. Company Turns Economic Downturn Into Community Fundraiser
“The recession has hit [Asheville’s] Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. But this dance company is hitting back. For the upcoming performance of ‘The Recession Blues’ June 25-27, the dance group is offering a buy-one-get-one free voucher to anyone who gives $45 or more to several nonprofit organizations until May 29.”
Nerd-Boy Nirvana: Fictional Characters, Virtual Smackdowns
“Who would win in a fight: Gandalf or Darth Vader? What about Neo vs. Harry Potter? ‘Heroes’ star Milo Ventimiglia is set to appear in and co-produce ‘Ultradome,’ a new scripted Web series where passionate fanboys settle hypothetical disputes in a special effects showdown.”
Dame Judi Pens A Letter To A Critic
“Having played Elizabeth I and Victoria, she has come to be regarded almost as the embodiment of the Queen’s English. But when the Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic, Charles Spencer, crossed Dame Judi Dench with a critical review, he discovered her skills in language more fit for the groundlings.”
Online, A Big, New (Old) Musical World Awaits
“The means to discover music we don’t even know exists has been threatening to die for a while – an ancillary fatality as the CD store threatens to go the way of the auk. But now, massive musical archives – some of them previously inaccessible – have parked themselves online, which is particularly good news for classical-music types….”
New Play Indicator: Bleak Times Ahead?
“If you subscribe to the notion of play scripts as instant zeitgeist meters, then the plays presented at this year’s Pacific Playwrights Festival suggest that we’re in for a period of dark reflection over the political era that just ended.”
Arts Students Fret About Job Prospects In Recession
“Like many undergrads seeking specialized humanities degrees, student artists wonder what viable place they can occupy in a tightening economy, which now is luring young people into more stable careers in government, the sciences, health care or consulting.”
The Ups And Downs Of The Art Recession
“With less hope of easy sales, artists could refocus on making difficult, complex, less-marketable art. If you can’t sell, you can’t sell out. We might see fewer attractive paintings with a veneer of substance (Peter Doig might fade from view) and more works that directly address the substance of life (the films of Tacita Dean could take up the slack).”
The New Woman Poet Laureate
“Carol Ann Duffy, a 55-year-old Glaswegian lesbian, has thus become the first female laureate, attracting national attention and disturbing the peace of what a succession of commentators described as ‘the male-dominated world of poetry’.”