What “a concept space” means, maybe only Paul Allen knows. But it looks like he’s cut off his dedicated arts and culture center before even launching it. I feel bad for the staffers. And dumb for hoping for better.
Tag: 11.24.15
‘Carol’, ‘Beasts Of No Nation’, ‘Spotlight’ Lead Independent Spirit Award Nominations
“Todd Haynes’ period drama Carol led the nominations for the 31st Independent Spirit awards, which were prematurely announced before the news conference to unveil them – then taken down – on Tuesday.”
‘He Lived In Daily Fear Of Humiliation’: Adam Gopnik On Frank Sinatra
“Sinatra’s character flaw isn’t hard to name. He lived in daily fear of humiliation, and in its (often imagined) presence his temper tipped over in an instant. This was followed, usually, by remorse, once he had sobered up and stopped seeing red. But, in the interim, real damage was done to real people.”
Using Murder Mystery And Role-Playing To Teach English Grammar
“Peake then has each student create a grid marking everyone’s name and guessing the motives of potential perpetrators. The students start to interrogate one another, flexing their past-tense prowess as they pick over alibis. Portuguese is banned from the classroom; if anyone veers into speaking in their native tongue, Peake employs the element of surprise, sneaking up on students to tell them their English sounds somewhat suspect.”
If Internet Addiction Is Real, Why Don’t We Regulate The Web The Way We Do Gambling?
“So should individuals be blamed for having poor self-control? To a point, yes. Personal responsibility matters. But it’s important to realise that many websites and other digital tools have been engineered specifically to elicit compulsive behaviour.”
The Seuss Effect: Why Nonsense Words Make People Laugh
While administering a language-based experiment, psychology researcher Chris Westbury “noticed that people always laughed when they saw the non-word ‘snunkoople.’ That got them wondering – was there something in particular about nonsense words that made them funny? If so, could it be measured? Turns out there is and it can.”
HBO’s Documentary ‘Bolshoi Babylon’ Says Sergei Filin Wasn’t Simply Blameless Victim Of Acid Attack
The film “avoids presenting Filin as a martyr. Instead it gives voice to dancers who describe him as biased and imperious, and highlights Filin’s tense rapport with the Bolshoi’s general director Vladimir Urin, appointed by the Kremlin in September 2013 to put the house in order.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.24.15
Making Lulu musical
How to tell if a Lulu performance is going to be musical: Listen carefully to the orchestra in the prologue, the scene with the animal trainer that begins the opera. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-11-24
Leaked Release: National Academy’s Feel-Good Statement on Carmine Branagan’s Departure
The chaotic, unprofessional rollout of the National Academy’s leadership transition (which I chronicled in the above-linked posts) continues with today’s anonymous leak to me of the very overdue, nearly finalized press release, … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-11-24
Other Matters: The Gingko Drops
In front of Rifftides world headquarters is a magnificent gingko tree. The previous owner of the house was a medical missionary in China. When he returned to the United States, he and his family brought the gingko as a sapling. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-11-24
Lookback: Thanksgiving service
From 2004: To be sure, the one thing a new friend can never do for you is say I knew you when, and I find it rather sad that there are so few people in my life who can speak those words. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-11-24
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Danish Composer Wins This Year’s $100,000 Grawemeyer Prize
The song cycle “let me tell you” by Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen has earned the 2016 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, according to the University of Louisville, which distributes the prize each year. The prize includes $100,000.
Why So Many New Christmas Movies On Cable TV?
Simple. “These holiday movies are proliferating because they’re cheap to produce, generate strong ratings and lots of advertising revenue for the television networks. Hallmark parent Crown Media Holdings credited its holiday programming for helping to spur an 11% increase in advertising revenue last year to $328 million.”