“[Can] science answer a question like, ‘What is the purpose of a mountain?’ According to [Richard] Dawkins, this is a silly question that doesn’t deserve an answer. But not everyone finds questions about the purpose of mountains so silly.”
Tag: 10.29.12
Now That’s Luxury Casting: Ian McKellen And Derek Jacobi To Play Gay Sitcom Couple
“A new sitcom has been commissioned by ITV” – the folks who bring us Downton Abbey – “which is set to feature Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Ian McKellen as an elderly gay couple. The series, which is titled Vicious Old Queens, will feature both actors as an elderly gay couple living in London’s Covent Garden.”
San Francisco Symphony Explores Expanding Davies Hall
“The likeliest scenario would involve building on the site of the parking lot at the corner of Franklin and Grove streets.”
Russian Pianist Wins $100,000 Prize
Twenty-three-year-old Pavel “Kolesnikov, who played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 with the Calgary Philharmonic for his final recital, receives $100,000 in cash and will now also take part in an artistic and career development program valued at $500,000.”
Is The NEA In Danger?
“While some people simply cannot imagine the elimination of the Endowment as a possibility, and like Ostriches hiding their heads in the sand, refuse to even accept the possibility, some see Armageddon on the horizon.”
At Least One Orchestra Has Labor Peace: The Cleveland
“Monday morning, the institution announced a new, three-year deal with the musicians had been ratified, bringing the negotiation process to a notably swift and uncontentious conclusion.”
Another L.A. Theater Faces Financial Emergency
“The Colony Theatre in Burbank is facing the possibility of imminent closure if the company isn’t able to resolve a budgetary shortfall … [The] 37-year-old company has run out of money and needs to raise $49,000 in the next two weeks and $500,000 by the end of the calendar year in order to remain open.”
British Museum Maintenance Staff Go On Three-Hour Strike
“Cleaners and maintenance workers at London’s British Museum went on strike Monday against plans to outsource their work.”
Pina Bausch’s Great Gift
Joan Acocella: “Bausch had certain gifts that were all her own – above all, the ability to create scenes that told serious psychological truths, but in an oblique, semi-abstract, wholly physical way, which made them powerful and discomforting. Surrealist, I guess we should call them.”
Gay ‘Cures’ May Not Work, But Should They Be Banned?
“Therapies that claim to make gay people straight are hateful and dangerous, but banning them won’t win over their supporters.”