Personally, I have the greatest sympathy for whoever wins CBC Music’s “Canada’s Greatest Music Class” because it will not ring true. The winners could have been called “Canada’s Newest Pop Cover Stars” or something similar. That would have been wonderful, authentic and worth celebrating.
Tag: 11.01.15
China’s Cartoonists Are Disappearing As Regime Cracks Down On Dissent
Rebel Pepper (néWang Liming), who went into exile in Japan following the confiscation of his social media accounts and searches of his house, was one of an ever-rarer breed in the People’s Republic …
Does Fiction Based On Fact Have A Responsibility To The Truth?
Thomas Mallon: “If I had been unwilling to deviate from what Gore Vidal used to call the ‘agreed-upon facts,’ there wouldn’t have been much point to writing a novel instead of a history.” Ayana Mathis: “At the risk of stating the obvious, truth and fact are not the same things. Our belief in the truthfulness of facts is mutable.”
The War On Subtlety
Twenty-first-century tastemakers like to think of themselves as beyond highbrow vs. lowbrow—that monocle popped long ago—but our eye for subtlety persists.
Psy-chology 101: Academics Put Spotlight On Korean Pop Culture
“Academic minds around the world are tackling some tough new questions about South Korea: Why do Korean soap opera plotlines seem to defy the basic principles of microeconomic theory? What can we learn about the reinterpretation of locality in Korean rapper Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ music video?”
Germaine Greer: ‘Feminist Lioness’ Or ‘Loud Mouthed, Rude And Often Obnoxious’? (Yes.)
“For a long time, her audience has been prepared to forgive her inconsistencies because of the sense of adventure, courage and boldness she brings to the business of being a woman in public. Increasingly, as she has got older, it is what she does – putting herself out there – that is admirable, rather than what she says. It is hard not to have a sneaking admiration for someone who is prepared to expound her ideas with such verve. But some of the ideas themselves are quite disconcerting.”
Remember Last Week, When We Were All Making Fun Of The Idea of A ‘Hunger Games’ Theme Park?
Well, it’s real, and it’s not the only idea from the movie company that thought it up: “Lionsgate also hopes to bring its ‘Twilight’ series to theme parks.”
Who Will Win The Battle To Revive New York City Opera?
“In the coming days the judge overseeing the case is expected to set a timetable for next steps; the proposals could be modified before ultimately going out to creditors for a vote.”
Top AJBlog Posts From 11.01.15
Understanding The Auction Season That’s Upon Us
I spent several days in September–and even in late August–reporting an article that appeared as the cover of The New York Times‘s Fine Arts & Exhibitions section, which is officially in the Sunday, Nov. 1… … read more
I returned recently from a keynote-giving junket that took me to Toulouse, France and then to Springfield, Missouri. Some contrast, I know. (Although it should be noted that the food and the hospitality were excellent… … read more
In The Atlantic: “Academics, in general, don’t think about the public; they don’t think about the average person, and they don’t even think about their students when they write… Their intended audience is always their peers.… … read more
Once again, the Anonymous Was A Woman Foundation has chosen ten women artists for “no strings” grants of $25,000 each. Since I long ago began covering this–when the awards were first unveiled 20 years ago–I… … read more
Pharoah Sanders The National Endowment of the Arts has doubled down on celebrating jazz beyond “jazz” — music that has exploded historic parameters or preconceptions of “jazz” conventions — by naming as 2016 Jazz Masters the saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and… … read more
Any composer’s work can be appreciated both for its connections to historical antecedents and for the way it reflects a distinct artistic voice. Some music leans more heavily to the former, some to the latter.… … read more
Quentin Tarantino Stood Up For #BlackLivesMatter, And Police Officers Are Real Mad At Him
“A call for a police boycott of the Weinstein Company’s coming film ‘The Hateful Eight’ and other works by Quentin Tarantino has gained support from the National Association of Police Organizations and the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, expanding the backlash to remarks about police violence that Mr. Tarantino made at a rally in New York on Oct. 24.”