“John Major is renowned as the man who ran away from the circus to become an accountant, and that quip is partly true. His father, Thomas Ball, was an accomplished singer, sketch actor, acrobat and baton twirler … [and with] his first wife Kitty he formed a double act called Drum & Major.”
Tag: 09.29.12
Architecture’s Next Big Thing: Curving Glass
Lisa Rochon: “Billowing clouds of glass are the next holy grail in architecture. Keep your eyes lifted and alert: The race is on to achieve visually ephemeral buildings that look as if they might cleanse your mind while they float away.”
Russian Theater Cancels Jesus Christ Superstar Over Blasphemy Charge
“Saint Petersburg’s Rock Opera company was to perform the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical – a 1970s classic that has been regularly performed in Russia – at the Philharmonic in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on October 18. However prosecutors launched a probe after a group of local residents complained that the musical presented a distorted image of Jesus Christ.”
Günter Grass Gets Himself In The Headlines Again By Attacking Israel
“After drawing fire for criticizing Israel’s stance on Iran in a controversial poem earlier this year, prominent German writer Günter Grass confronts Israeli policy in a new poem, in which he lauds Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician imprisoned by Israel for years for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear program to the British media.
Honey Boo Boo’s A Hit (The Critic-Proof TV Series?)
“This week, TLC ordered more episodes of the series, as well as three holiday specials to be shown around Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s a move that will surely draw more ire from critics, and just as likely be welcomed by viewers, who have found that they cannot look away.”
Yes, We Are (Sort Of) Now Living In Minority Report
“If this technology takes off, we’ll all need to agree on a new language of gestures.”
Frank Lloyd Wright’s European Print-Collecting Spree
“Wright, the champion of a democratic American architecture, had the sensitivity to embrace what he saw as a fresh aesthetic rooted in turn-of-the-century Europe. His artists were at the end of their époque. Wright assimilated into a broader aesthetic sensibility what they represented, and moved on.”
New Artificial Limbs Are As Much Art (Metal Filigree, For Instance) As Science
There’s the guy who wanted his prosthetic to match his Harley, the woman with a lacy shin, the soccer player with a built-in shin guard – and 3D printing makes it all possible.
Howard Roark, And Beyond: The 10 Best Fictional Architects
If Paul Newman can’t make an architect into a hero, who can?
Howard Roark, And Beyond: The 10 Best Fictional Architects
If Paul Newman can’t make an architect into a hero, who can?