“I am a professional translator, having translated some 125 books from the French. One might therefore expect me to bristle at Google’s claim that its new translation engine is almost as good as a human translator, scoring 5.0 on a scale of 0 to 6, whereas humans average 5.1. But I’m also a PhD in mathematics who has developed software that ‘reads’ European newspapers in four languages and categorises the results by topic. So, rather than be defensive about the possibility of being replaced by a machine translator, I am aware of the remarkable feats of which machines are capable, and full of admiration for the technical complexity and virtuosity of Google’s work. My admiration does not blind me to the shortcomings of machine translation, however.”
Tag: 11.21.16
‘Fantastic Riches And Where To Find Them’ – How To Keep J.K. Rowling’s Astoundingly Successful Enterprise Growing
“A film franchise is like a shark: it must keep moving forward or die. Now that the goldmine of Harry Potter has been largely exhausted after eight phenomenally successful films, the baton has been picked up …”
How NPR’s “Tiny Desk” Concerts Attracted A Cult Following (And Millions Of Followers)
Over eight years, more than 550 musical acts have played at this “Tiny Desk.” The show has attracted a cult following on the internet, partly thanks to its musical curation — a peculiar mix of indie rock, hip-hop, world music, and jazz — but more so because of its authenticity.
Yeah, The Theater *Is* A Safe Space, In More Than One Way (But Should It Be?)
Jesse Green considers how theater has been a refuge from generations of high school bullies, the one public setting where he feels safe holding his husband’s hand, and, these days, a place where right-thinking liberals can stay secure in their bubble. However, Green reminds us, Peter Brook did not title his seminal book The Safe Space …
Star Guitarist Cancels All Scheduled Concerts Due To ‘Movement Disorder’
Miloš Karadaglić is giving up performing for at least a season to deal with the recurrence of what he describes as a “complex and uncompromising movement disorder.”
New Immersive ‘Nutcracker’ Cancelled After One Performance
Former Royal Ballet member Will Tuckett conceived, organized anc choreographed a new version of the Christmas chestnut that would have the audience at tables as guests at the Act I Christmas party and wandering through the space (a converted industrial print shop) to take in the set pieces of Act II. Then the cash ran out.
Lost Stravinsky Work, Now Found, Gets Modern-Day Premiere
The Funeral Song, written in memory of Rinsky-Korsakov in 1908 and believed lost in the Russian Revolution, turned up last year in a back room at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will premiere the piece early next month in a concert carried on medici.tv and Mezzo.
The Religious Movie Boom You Probably Haven’t Heard About
You’ll remember Mel Gibson‘s The Passion of the Christ, and you probably know about the recent biblical epics Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings and this year’s Jesus bopics, The Young Messiah, Risen and Last Days in the Desert. There’s a similar trend in Middle Eastern cinema covering the early days of Islam.
The Founding Novelist Of Israeli Literature (Even Israelis Have Trouble Reading Him)
S. Y. Agnon, the only Israeli writer to win a Nobel, has never broken through to an international audience. Yet even present-day Israelis, who can read his Hebrew perfectly well, no longer have all the common knowledge required to comprehend Agnon’s work – and the ones that do likely avoid it on principle.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.21.16
Monday Recommendation: Bill Frisell’s Music From Movies & TV
Bill Frisell, When You Wish Upon A Star (Okeh) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-11-21
The Rise and Fall (?) of a Superhero (or Not)
Faye Driscoll presents Thank You for Coming; Play at BAM Fisher. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-11-21
Hod O’Brien, 1936-2016
Friends of Hod O’Brien report that the pianist died yesterday at 80 following a long battle against cancer. He continued an active playing life even as he underwent treatment for the disease. Born in Chicago, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-11-21
Why I’m Waiting for Asher’s Algren
Having said in The Revenge of the Mediocre that both Bettina Drew and Mary Wisniewski fail to capture Nelson Algren’s personality in their biographies of him, I realize I didn’t mention something equally … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-11-21