“It is an ingenious telling of just how German emerged from the primordial Germanic soup, and how many other ways it could have been if, say, Luther had been born 100 miles farther north.”
Tag: 08.07.10
Carl Hiassen’s Aw-Shucks Career
“Hiaasen’s novels have brought him fame, of course, and over the years he’s come to claim musicians, writers and celebrities… as pals or acquaintances. Yet Hiaasen, with his tidy haircut, Bass Weejuns and neatly pressed checked shirt, remains very much the aw-shucks/awe-struck fan who’s still thrilled when someone just as famous — or more so — proclaims his or her fandom for him.”
Why PBS Doesn’t Matter (Or Does It?)
“For all its gravitas and importance to an aware, thoughtful audience, though, PBS is an obscurity in the U.S. TV racket. Each day during its presentations here, the evidence of its negligible status is stark – the room has a few dozen TV critics and reporters, instead of the usual two or three hundred.”
A Museum For Bad Art
“What we look for are pieces of work that are produced in an attempt to make some sort of artistic statement — but clearly something has gone wrong. There has to be something about it that makes you stop, and very often wonder why the artist continued down the path to produce what he or she did.”
Netflix – Success In The Seeds Of Creative Destruction
“Creative destruction has such a cataclysmic sound. But the term, coined by the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter to show how capitalism destroys companies as more innovative ones succeed, describes a process that is more like a slow-motion train wreck.”
A Debate About The Quality Of Los Angeles Theatre
“If innovative theater is going to change the way we think or pave the way for such, we need an environment that supports it and understands it. How are theaters supposed to go out and do work that they know will alienate 95% of the general population? What’s their incentive to be brave?”
Norman Rockwell’s Models Gather For A Reunion
“Rockwell left Arlington in 1953, and many of his child models grew up and followed suit. But on Saturday, dozens returned for a celebration of Rockwell, a reunion of grown models in the small town that set the stage for some of his most iconic works.”
Study: Brain Protects Itself When Thinking About Death
“Activity in brain regions that normally deal with negative emotions and self-awareness are dampened when we process ideas about death.”
The Underground City Beneath Paris
Beneath Paris lies a network of some 155 miles of tunnels known as “the catacombs”–an underground labyrinth that serves as the weekend playground for bands of urban explorers. “It’s like Paris in the 17th century. This is a chance to know its underground carbon copy.”
Elie Wiesel Threatens To Sue Playwright Over Play That Includes Him As Character
“Deb Margolin sent a copy of the script to Mr. Wiesel, who promptly replied that he found it ‘defamatory’ and ‘obscene’ and threatened to sue in order to prevent it from being performed at ‘any time in any venue’.”