“In an era of cultural fragmentation, a worryingly large number of people wouldn’t know a parody if they saw one, or, worse, if told that it was there would fail to see the need for its existence.”
Tag: 12.29.10
The Year’s Best Jazz Recordings
As voted on by 120 jazz critics…
Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center Reopens After Floods
“The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, silenced for months by May’s flood, finally will reopen its doors for a concert on New Year’s Eve. The sold-out performance by the Nashville Symphony … will be the Schermerhorn’s first since rains ravaged Music City.”
Javier Bardem on Acting in a Second Language
“Words have an emotional resonance in you, huge emotional echoes, when you’re speaking in your own language. You don’t think about what you’re saying; the words come out of a need to express yourself. When you’re speaking in a foreign language, there’s like an office in your brain, where people are throwing the words at you. ‘Give me that word – I need a verb! I need an adjective!'”
Why Michael Chabon Is Publishing Part of His Failed Novel – With Annotations
“When I began annotating it, several years ago, I planned to go all the way through the thing, with the intention of figuring out, once and for all, what had gone wrong with it. I hoped that the experience might be useful not only for me but for millions of other failure enthusiasts and fans of ruination all around the world.”
The Next Big Literary Mashup: Gregor Samsa Becomes a Kitten
“What if Gregor Samsa woke up to find he was not a cockroach – not ‘horrible vermin,’ as Franz Kafka wrote in The Metamorphosis, but a super-cute kitten? He will, in The Meowmorphosis, coming in May 2011 from Quirk Books.”
What It Is to Be a Bald Theater Critic
David Rooney: “[A] smooth pate is rarely a major social asset on a white guy. Except perhaps in a Broadway theater. In recent seasons I have been showered with unexpected attention during more than one show because of the gleaming beacon of my fur-free head.”
Judge: Louisville Orchestra May Not Stiff Musicians
“A federal bankruptcy court denied the Louisville Orchestra’s request to escape its contract with musicians on Wednesday, complicating the financially beleaguered organization’s bid to reorganize through Chapter 11.”
A Ballet About Domestic Violence
The New Brunswick-based company Atlantic Ballet Theatre is creating a dance, titled Ghosts of Violence, that (according to the company) “brings to life stories inspired by women who have died at the hands of a partner.” The plan is to perform the work for women’s groups across Canada.
Celebrating the Joys of Boredom
“At a London conference of boredom enthusiasts called Boring 2010, audience members listened to speeches on paint names and bus routes. Judging from the droopy faces in the audience, the gathering was a hit.”