The Complicated Power Of ‘Now’ (When Exactly Is ‘Now’?)

“Catch a glimpse of a relatively nearby star and you see it as it existed when, perhaps, Lincoln was president (if it’s 150 light-years away). … Stranger still, the sky we see at any moment defines not a single past but multiple overlapping pasts of different depths. The star’s image from 100 years ago and the [distant] galaxy image from 100 million years ago reach us at the same time.” And this principle holds true for much more than just the night sky.

Books As Apps

“Book-apps aren’t just being made by traditional book publishers: independent app developers are also piling into the space, albeit often working with out-of-copyright content like nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Meanwhile entertainment brands like Disney – who have been involved in the books business before through licensing deals – are now publishing their own book-apps directly.”

Bayreuth Finds New Director For Wagner Bicentennial Ring

‘Film director Wim Wenders had been an inspired choice to guide that production, but contract talks broke down, partially over Wenders’ desire to produce a 3-D movie of the operas at the same time.” The new choice is Frank Castorf, longtime director of Berlin’s Volksbühne theater and a man known for stagings that are radical even by modern German standards.