In a study published in a German scientific journal, anatomist and musician Andreas Otte deduced that Bach—a gifted organist and harpsichordist—had an exceptional reach at the keyboard. – National Geographic
Tag: 07.25.19
Orlando’s Philharmonic, Opera And Ballet Companies Say They Can’t Afford The Rent On The Venue Being Built For Them
“Although the downtown Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has long touted itself as the future home of the Orlando Philharmonic, Orlando Ballet and Opera Orlando, arts leaders say their nonprofit groups are being priced out of … the center’s new Steinmetz Hall, which was designed with those groups in mind.” – Orlando Sentinel
Pew Study: YouTube Videos With Kids Get More Views
Any video that starred a child who appeared to be under the age of 13 “received nearly three times as many views on average as other types of videos.” – The Verge
Oakland’s Beloved Green Monster, Once Faded, Is Now Better (And Greener) Than Ever
The Mid-Century Monster, a children’s play structure created in 1952 by artist Robert Winston for the shores of the city’s Lake Merritt, had by 2015 become “a washed-up husk. Its chartreuse color had faded to a drab white. Several of its knobbly concrete limbs had begun to crack. … But this year, after a long restoration project, the monster has finally been let out of its cage.” – Atlas Obscura
How Erdogan Purged Turkey’s Intellectuals
“An authoritarian state can do many things to get rid of these democratic types — put them in jail, put them on trial — but ultimately the government must attack the institutions that produce and sustain them. Newspapers can be easy to buy. NGOs are easy to shut down. Universities are much harder to dismantle. But this is what, through the great purge, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies sought to do.” – New York Times Magazine
HBO Officially Declines To Remake Ending Of “Game Of Thrones”
HBO programming president Casey Bloys explained that the network never had any intention of caving to the fan petition requesting that HBO hire new writers to do season 8 over — despite the fact that it has been signed by nearly 1.7 million people. – Time
Woman Breaks World Record For Singing Lowest Note
Helen Leahey, the aptly named ‘Bass Queen’, sang from a D5 to a D2 note at an incredibly deep 72.5 hertz(es) in her attempt at the Music School Wagner in Koblenz, Germany. – Guinness World Records
Sasquatch Books’ Gary Luke Retires After 25 Years: The Secret To Regional Publishing
“I think that it was possible to thrive as a regional publisher in the Northwest because we have a very healthy bookstore ecosystem. In other parts of the country, you don’t have that. Like in Los Angeles for example, they don’t have stores like Powells, and Elliott Bay, and Village Books, and Third Place. They’re, I think, predominantly served by chain bookstores like Barnes and Noble. So that’s a big piece of the ecosystem that has to be in place in order for regional publishing to survive.” – Seattle Review of Books
Curtis Institute Asks Its Community Not To Talk About Story Of Sexual Abuse
“Out of respect for all those involved, we request that you refrain from discussing this matter publicly, online, or on social media,” Curtis spokeswoman Patricia K. Johnson wrote in an email to the Curtis community shortly after the story was published. – Philadelphia Inquirer
Facebook, Google, And Twitter Need Constant Moderation, But There’s A Human Cost
The thing is, all of our social media are really “a remarkable dragnet for capturing nearly half of the $600 billion or so of the annual global advertising budget.” Sometimes that doesn’t lead to great conditions for the moderation, or for the moderators. – Los Angeles Review of Books