“For a speculative-fiction visionary who writes about bioengineered catastrophe, commodified humanity and environmental devastation, Margaret Atwood is one seriously sunny personality.”
Tag: 10.20.09
Hypocrisy: There Are Circuits In The Brain For It
“Since actions cannot be undone, the only option when they conflict with beliefs – which produces the phenomenon called cognitive dissonance – is to alter the beliefs. When people experience cognitive dissonance, it turns out, brain activity causes us to back and fill, mentally.” Neuroscientists have found the centers of that brain activity.
Attention, Auditioners: Go First Or Last
“For actors at auditions, musicians at competitions or anyone else whose work is sequentially judged against that of others, a nagging question often arises: Would I rather be the first person to be evaluated, or the last? New research suggests both have their advantages, and either is far preferable than being stuck in the middle.”
China Begins Campaign To Recover Art Looted In Opium Wars
“China is to send a team of artefact hunters to … scour museums, libraries and private collections in Britain, the US, France, Japan and elsewhere to photograph and catalogue what was taken from the Yuan Ming Yuan, popularly known as the Old Summer Palace, after British and French armies sacked it in 1860.”
A First In Britain: A Black Otello
“[N]o black tenor has ever sung the role of Otello in a professional British production of Verdi’s opera – until now. Trinidad-born, Guildhall-trained Ronald Samm is to take the role in December for Birmingham Opera Company….”
Gail Harrity Named Philadelphia Museum President
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s chief operating officer since 1997, “Harrity served as interim chief executive for more than a year, since the death of Anne d’Harnoncourt, while the museum’s board of trustees searched for a new director.”
AP Says Fairey Is Lying In Confessing Hope ‘Mistake’
“In an amendment to its countersuit filed today in a New York court, the AP claimed that ‘it is simply not credible that [Shepard] Fairey somehow forgot in January 2009 which source image he used to create’ the work in question.”
A Catholic’s Plea: Bring Back The Relics!
If Pope Benedict can reinstate the Latin Mass, then why not? “In September and October, the relics of a 19th-century nun, St. Therese of Lisieux, went on a 28-stop tour around Great Britain. If the thousands of devotees who came to witness these lovely bones are any indication, the faithful are hungering for a less sterile form of religion.”
Move Over, Kindle: Barnes & Noble Unveils The Nook
Early reviews are positive for the new e-reader, which will allow users to lend e-books to each other and to browse in B&N stores via wi-fi.
How To Resist That Incredibly Delicious Piece Of Chocolate
“[A] German psychologist, along with colleagues from the Netherlands and the United States, has discovered a creative way of decreasing the temptation to indulge. Simply gaze at the delectable confection and think to yourself: Wouldn’t this make an excellent doorstop?”