Cultures seemed to build up their color vocabularies in a predictable way. Languages with only two color categories chunked the spectrum into blacks and whites. Languages with three categories also had a word for red. Green or yellow came next. Then blue. Then brown. And so on. – Nautilus
Tag: 10.03.19
School Maintenance Worker Gets Laid Off, Writes A Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie
“At the time I wrote this, I had lost my job after 37 years with an engineering firm. They called me in on a Wednesday afternoon and said, ‘We got to let you get, a reduction in force.’ So here I was at 56, wondering what am I going to do with my life,” he said. He took a year off to write. – Chicago Tribune
African Women Authors Make Historical Fiction Their Own
“African historical fiction is far from a new genre – is there a more globally known work of African fiction, after all, than Chinua Achebe’s 1958 classic story of Nigeria at the moment of British colonization, Things Fall Apart? But in recent years, the genre has been reinvented by a new generation of African writers. And this time around, most of them are women.” – The Christian Science Monitor
Remembering Jessye Norman
Alex Ross: “The grand-diva façade concealed a restless, exploratory spirit. In later years, Norman became increasingly adventurous in her choice of repertory.” The New Yorker
A Worldwide War On Books
Wherever authoritarian regimes are growing in strength, from Brazil, to Hungary, to the Philippines, literature that expresses any kind of political opposition is under a unique, renewed threat. Books that challenge normative values, especially those with L.G.B.T. themes, have been hit especially hard. – The New York Times
The ‘Wow’ Kid Continues His Special Relationship With The Group That Inspired His Outburst Of Approval
The child whose “Wow!” captivated the classical music world “is something of a celebrity at Symphony Hall.” The Handel and Haydn Society invited the 9-year-old and his grandparents to a recent dress rehearsal where he mostly got a concert directly for him. But “before the dress rehearsal, Ronan wandered the halls and rode the elevator a few times (he is passionate about elevators). Then he spotted two musicians practicing trombone. ‘Yeah, music,’ he said.” – The Boston Globe
Even After Hordes Of ‘New Yorker’ Publications, Authors Might Need To Be Rescued For Future Readers
Is this the most discouraging development ever, or is it just a sign of how many writers are forgotten as the relentless pressure of the new takes hold? Nancy Hale holds the record for the most short stories to appear in The New Yorker in a year – 12 between July 1954 and July 1955 (TWELVE?!). “She also put out seven novels and was a 10-time recipient of the O. Henry Prize for short fiction. Her writing is progressive and tackles issues such as infidelity, abortion, domestic abuse, motherhood, mental illness and female sexuality. … And despite this, most readers of short stories haven’t even heard the name Nancy Hale.” – NPR
Julie Delpy Was Paid One Tenth Of What Ethan Hawke Was Paid For ‘Before Sunrise’
And for the big sequel, Before Sunset, Delpy got half of her co-star’s salary. For the third movie in the trilogy, Before Midnight? She refused to do it without equal pay. – Variety
Roger Taillibert, The Architect Of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, Has Died At 93
The French architect also designed the Olympic Pool and the vélodrome for the Olympics, a building that has become the Montréal Biodôme. The stadium was controversial at the time, and has stayed controversial – and costly – ever since. But the mayor who asked him to design these 1976 Olympics buildings had a different view. “‘Taillibert is the kind of architect who built the cathedrals of ancient times,’ said [Jean] Drapeau, calling Taillibert’s designs ‘poems in concrete.'” – CBC
Letters From A Young Jerome Robbins When He Was Trying To Make It As A Dancer (And Failing)
“I shall be firm straight and even cruel to be faithful. I SHALL DANCE. Yes . . . I shall dance. Say it over and over and over to infinatum [sic]. I shall dance I shall dance . . . I will live to dance, eat to dance, sleep to dance. My classes shall be my daily worship and workshop. Every moment shall be devoted to these purposes.” – LitHub