“Most of the time, we’re still better at subconsciously editing our own recollections than any new technology is. But with researchers working on techniques that can chisel, reconstruct and purge life’s memories, it becomes crucial to ask: do we need our real memories? What makes us believe that memory is so sacrosanct? And do memories really make us who we are?”
Tag: 08.01.16
A New Tactile Language Helps Create Comic Books For The Blind
“‘Comic books have a language,’ says comic artist Ilan Manouach. ‘They have specific devices’ to convey certain actions or emotions, like ‘a lightbulb, [or] a drop of sweat,’ that get lost when a visual story is translated into a fully language-based one. But Manouach believes he’s found a way to overcome that particular hurdle.”
Press [W] To Waterboard: A Video Game That Lets You Torture Iraqi Prisoners
“What if there were a way to make sense of state-sanctioned torture in a more visceral way than by reading a news article or watching a documentary? Two years ago, that’s exactly what a team of Pittsburgh-based video-game designers set out to create: an experience that would bring people uncomfortably close to the abuses that took place in one particularly infamous prison camp.”
It’s Not Just Meryl Anymore: A Crop Of Older Actresses Have Become Box-Office Draws
“Streep, at 67, is no longer an outlier defying all conventional wisdom about the box-office viability of an actress north of 50; she’s part of a trend.”
A Farewell From ‘The Man Responsible For The Spelling Mistakes In The Guardian’
David Marsh: “The brief given me was, broadly, to stop people calling the paper ‘the Grauniad’. Or, since this professional suicide mission was always unlikely to succeed, at least give them less reason to do so.”
I Spoke Out On YouTube About The Time I Was Sexually Harassed In An Orchestra Rehearsal – Here’s What Happened Next
Double bassist Lauren Pierce talks with Douglas Rosenthal about the internal conflicts she went through after the incident, her decision to go public, and the reactions from supporters and trolls alike.
Toronto’s Biggest Theatre Company Its Putting On Its Own Festival In New York
Soulpepper is staging the month-long event – titled ‘Soulpepper on 42nd Street: Canada Crosses the Border,’ – next summer in honor of the company’s 20th anniversary and Canada’s 150th.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.01.16
Attention Deficit Disorder: Our Walled-Garden Problem
As the digital world pummels us with more information and choice, many of us react by walling off the things we simply won’t pay attention to. It’s a survival strategy. … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-08-01
Evanescent Permanent Collections: Warhol Museum’s & Fisk University’s Stealth Deaccessions
Recent revelations of secret disposals of artworks held in public trust by a museum (the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh) and a university (Fisk in Nashville) suggest that the AAMD and the AAM need to offer periodic refresher courses on professional ethics regarding deaccessions. …read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-08-01
Die Kunst der Gadgets
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my Ten Wind Gadgets, a set of trios for every possible combination of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon, all based on a single motif. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the question of why I would embark on such a project, … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-08-01
Just because: NBC Opera’s 1952 production of Billy Budd
A very rare kinescope of the NBC Opera telecast of scenes from Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, originally telecast on October 19, 1952. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-08-01
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Study: TV Watching Increases Risk Of Heart Attacks
“After adjusting for other factors, they found that compared with watching TV less than two and a half hours a day, watching for two and a half to five hours increased the risk for a fatal clot by 70 percent, and watching more than five hours increased the risk by 250 percent. For each extra two hours of watching, the risk of death rose 40 percent. The effect was independent of physical exercise.”
Reclaiming Public Life After A Dictatorship, Using Snacks And Architecture
“The kiosks offer affordable and traditional drinks and snacks, conversation and community – and also employment in a country struggling with the staggering levels of unemployment and recession gripping much of western Europe.”