“Deputies voted to allow a one-off deduction of up to €50 (£45) to households subscribing for the first time, and for at least 12 months, to a newspaper, magazine or online news service ‘providing news of a general or political character’.” – The Guardian
Tag: 07.01.20
“Hamilton” The Movie Is A Sensation
For the uninitiated, it remains the cultural event of a troubled season. Disney Plus has reputedly suspended all discounts and free trials ahead of Hamilton’s debut on the streaming service. Expect complete internet breakage. – Irish Times
Why Proof And Data Don’t Convince People
I work with civic data and teach about the power of data collection, so I want to believe that data (in the form of video footage depicting police brutality against Black people) can effect social change. But it is precisely because of my attachment to the power of data collection that I’m unconvinced video footage can solely, or even primarily, lead to meaningful change. – FiveThirtyEight
“Live” But Not Too Lively: Auction Torpor (not Fever) at Sotheby’s Evening Sales
Sotheby’s “LIVE GLOBAL AUCTION EVENT” was, per yesterday’s post-sale press release, “an unprecedented live-streamed event, with banks of telephone-bidding colleagues beamed in from around the world.” This complicated set-up worked well enough, but at the expense of “auction fever,” the contagion that can spread when bidding happens the old-fashioned way: concentrated in one salesroom packed with live attendees. – Lee Rosenbaum
Rudolfo Anaya, Founding Father Of Chicano Literature, Dead At 82
“Literary critics say [that Bless Me, Ultima,] Anaya’s World War II-era novel about a young Mexican-American boy’s relationship with an older curandera, or healer, influenced a generation of Latino writers because of its imagery and cultural references that were rare at the time of its 1972 publication.” – AP
Georg Ratzinger, Famed Choirmaster And Pope Benedict’s Elder Brother, Dead At 96
“Ordained on the same day as his brother, Ratzinger proved to be a talented musician and went on oversee the recording of numerous masterpieces and concert tours around the world by the Regensburger Domspatzen, a storied choir that traces its history back to the 10th century. But his reputation was tarnished as he apologized for using corporal punishment to discipline boys amid a wider investigation into sexual and physical abuse in the Church.” – Yahoo! (AP)
At Last, A Major Opera House Has Returned To Full-Scale Production
In Barcelona, they performed for plants. But at Madrid’s Teatro Real, it’s a real staging for a real (though smaller) audience. “The opening scenes of merriment have taken on a sombre tone, with the chorus clad in black and white and spaced exactly 2 metres apart. Minutes into the staging of La Traviata, the surgical masks come off, timed with the rising notes of an orchestra led by a conductor standing behind a plastic screen.” – The Guardian