“A paradox of human life is that the evolutionary forces that have made us cooperative and empathetic are the same ones that have made us prickly and explosive… the paired emotions of gratitude and vengeance helped us become the ultrasocial, ultrasuccessful species that we are. Gratitude allows us to expand our social network and recruit new allies; vengeance makes sure our new friends don’t take advantage of us.”
Tag: 10.17.08
The Power of Being Yoko Ono
“I’ve always been an outsider and I have the power of an outsider. And I bring that in. I’m always very, very different from the environment… The power that I have is from being me all the time instead of changing.”
A New Kind Of Paper That Can Do… Everything?
“Buckypaper is 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass.”
Is The World Aging Along With Classical Audiences?
The debate over the supposed aging of the core audience for orchestral performances is raging again, and composer Matthew Guerreri has an interesting take. Acknowledging that audiences seem to have aged over the past several decades, he points out that both overall life expectancy and the age at which people settle into adulthood have gone up at almost the same rate. “The problem–if it even is a problem–would seem to be more a function of demographic evolution than a lack of cultural wherewithal on the part of classical music specifically.”
Broadway Reflecting Dark National Mood
“As the financial markets melt down and anger at Wall Street excesses rise, Broadway stages seem to mirror the mood. This fall, a collection of prescient and searing dramas examines the sins of men (and women) behaving badly and takes a closer look at their self-serving, scheming, damaged souls.”
Billy Breakdown
The Broadway production of “Billy Eliot” has been marred this month by a series of technical glitches that one critic says were closer to disasters. “At a performance last weekend, the set broke down five times. The fifth time, the audience started booing… The gremlins struck again Tuesday, when a hydraulic valve broke, forcing the cancellation of the performance.”
Pittsburgh In The Black Again
The Pittsburgh Symphony has balanced its budget for the second year in a row, although it fell short of living up to a covenant which would allow it to “unlock” $17m of additional funds donated by a supporter. Annual fundraising was up $900,000 over the previous year, an $80m capital campaign is underway, and subscriptions rose as well.
Broadway’s Latest Game Of Chicken
What happens when two prominent and highly anticipated Broadway shows schedule their openings for the same night? One moves the date, of course: dueling openings aren’t good for anyone. But apparently, no one’s told this to the producers of the new musical “9 to 5” and the revival of “Waiting For Godot,” which are currently on an opening night collision course.
Harvard Museum To Receive $245m In Art, Cash
“As museums grapple with the potential effects of the economic crisis, the Harvard Art Museum has received a windfall from Emily Rauh Pulitzer, a former curator who earned a graduate degree at Harvard, that includes artworks worth nearly $200 million and a cash gift of $45 million.”
Study: Babies Clued In To Emotion In Music
“Babies as young as five months old can distinguish between upbeat and gloomy music, providing more evidence that the brain’s ability to detect emotion develops early, researchers report… Scientists already knew that babies can distinguish between elements of music like pitch and tempo, Flom said, but until now, no one had studied if they could also notice the difference between types of emotion.”