“The metaphor-stretcher might say Dada was The Velvet Underground of its time; in its short life, few experienced Dada – yet it changed everything.”
Tag: 06.20.15
Free At Last – The Magic Of Ornette Coleman
“Tomorrow is the question, Ornette declared. But his answers contained big chunks of yesterday. His most famous composition, “Lonely Woman,” is a dirge so mournful it seems to lament its own existence—in a succession of increasingly exuberant proclamations.”
Wikipedia Is Dying. Can It Be Saved?
“In 2005, during Wikipedia’s peak years, there were months when more than 60 editors were made administrator — a position with special privileges in editing the English-language edition. For the past year, it has sometimes struggled to promote even one per month. The pool of potential Wikipedia editors could dry up as the number of mobile users keeps growing; it’s simply too hard to manipulate complex code on a tiny screen.”
Chinese Want Their (Older) Art Back
“Chinese art has become a prized liquid asset for superrich collectors, who, instead of putting their treasures on display, often deposit them in carefully guarded, climate-controlled warehouses. But the media’s emphasis on the white-hot market for contemporary Chinese works overlooks a more interesting story: the effort by the Chinese government, state-run companies, private collectors and even, quite probably, some criminal networks to bring Chinese antiquities back home.”
Watching Your Brilliant Social Housing Get Threatened By The Very Offices That Commissioned It
“What really disgusts Macintosh is the complicity of Labour-run Lambeth in wrecking the legacy that they once created, ‘their eager cooperation with central government in the process of the privatisation of public assets,’ their ‘sham consultations with residents, which are really exercises in hard-sell and bullying,’ their ‘heartless eviction operations.'”
Is Death Actually Different From Life? [VIDEO]
“Some of our greatest thinkers have explored the question, and the more we learn, the harder it is to conclude there’s anything special or distinct about ‘life.'”
The New Orleans Jazz Musician Who Founded First African-American Owned Music Label
Harold Battiste “was instrumental in developing New Orleans music icon Mac Rebennack’s famous Dr. John persona, producing his celebrated first album, 1968’s ‘Gris Gris,’ a spooky, psychedelic-tinged stew of voodoo New Orleans R&B recorded in L.A. Battiste and Dr. John reportedly cut the album quickly using leftover studio time from a Sonny and Cher session.”
Amazon Decides To Pay Some Authors When Readers Turn Pages
“For the many authors who publish directly through Amazon, the new model could warp the priorities of writing: A system with per-page payouts is a system that rewards cliffhangers and mysteries across all genres. It rewards anything that keeps people hooked, even if that means putting less of an emphasis on nuance and complexity.”
Editing The Pittsburgh Symphony’s Live Shows For Archived Broadcasts
“‘It all starts with the microphones,’ Chambers says. ‘I don’t care what you’re doing downstream (for mixing and the actual recording), if the mics aren’t right, the recording won’t be. The rule is “take good mics, put them in the right spots and get out of the way.”‘”
Why The Richmond Ballet Went To China
“Not only have we formed an important relationship with the governor’s office, but we have fostered new relationships with businesses that have invested heavily in Virginia’s future, ensuring that the ballet’s place in the commonwealth’s cultural landscape will always be looked after.”