Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
There are days when solitude, for someone my age, is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall.
— Colette, born in 1873
“Everything is ‘just a story.’ Tragedy, comedy, end of the world, whatever, it’s just a story. What matters is making sure it’s heard.” ― Mira Grant, Feed “Success is normally found in pile of mistakes” Tim Fargo
M: When my parents built their house in Virginia, in Shenandoah Shores, we spent or summers down there working as a group. It was cheap labor. We all worked together to help build that house, from the little kids getting water or stones. [. . .]
Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part
businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as
the material they handle. They also play an underappreciated yet
essential role in preserving history. THE BOOKSELLERS takes viewers
inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of
obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.
From the trailer:
The people that I see reading actual books in the subway are mostly
in their twenties, it’s one of the few encouraging things you will ever
see int he subway.
Being in a bad mood can improve your memory. Aspirin helps not just for headache, but for heartbreak. (Hmm.) Indulging nostalgia in a cold room can actually warm you up. ‘List your blessings.’ (Thus avoiding the corny phrase ‘count your blessings’.) Being a ‘good-enough’ parent or teacher is all you need. Just don’t bebad. – The Spectator
"How does the once unthinkable become not only thinkable but self-evident?" asks Lorraine Daston. "How does the unthinkable become something we cannot think away anymore?" Self Evident
The scientists set out to quantify the creativity of 19 of the most prominent composers of recent centuries, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. An analysis of their chord sequences found that none matched the originality of Rachmaninov. – The Times
“[A recent] study identifies numerous reasons: Singing in groups has been linked to better mental and physical health, a sense of belonging and feeling connected to others, better social skills, increased civic engagement and volunteering, developing leadership skills and much more.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
At a festival that thrives on the spirit of niche filmmaking, the prevalence of stories and programming about ripped-from-the-headlines causes made for an energizing change of pace. Given the annual event’s reputation as a dependable bellwether for the year in independent cinema, such films could signify a potential wave of policy-driven, urgent stories to come. – The Atlantic
Bach’s Prelude to Cello Suite No. 1, Deconstructed
A specialist in operatic villains, he only began performing in his 30s and developed a major-house career in his 40s. Even so, he had a six-decade career, switching as he aged from major to character and comprimario roles, and he was on stage for his 95th birthday. – The New York Times
“If there are benefits to humans using data to assimilate this kind of information and attempting to make it actionable, the results have yet to impact the production-to-hit ratio of major studios in any meaningful way. That said, I expect that to change very soon as AI models trained to maximize engagement start to show up in video production departments.” – Shelley Palmer
Multi Grammy-winning teenBillie Eilish is on the cover of Vogue this
month, as part of a very long profile that included, among other
things, an adult man writer’s rumination on her body type. Also in the
profile—some thoughts Eilish has on music that is not hers, including
rap. Billie! No!
English-language popular songs have become more negative. The use of words related to negative emotions has increased by more than one third. Let’s take the example of the Billboarddataset. If we assume an average of 300 words per song, every year there are 30,000 words in the lyrics of the top-100 hits. In 1965, around 450 of these words were associated with negative emotions, whereas in 2015 their number was above 700. – Aeon
25 greatest classical pianists of all time? A good list, except for Rachmaninov at #1, and I am pleased to have heard virtually all of the moderns in concert. I would add Leif Andsnes and take off Lang Lang and Clara Haskil. And come on people — Pollini has to be top ten (he is not on the list at all), in spite of his recent age-related decline. And Grosvenor is a fine pianist, but I wouldn’t quite put him in this exalted territory, replace with Rudolf or even Peter Serkin? And if you are looking for peaks, Michelangeli surely belongs as well. Solomon?
NAKED BRUNCH: Rapidly aging Gray Lady lets her Woodstock-era freak flag fly high, gushes on “The Joy of Cooking Naked.”
Presumably, the idea will over with Times readers about as well as “The Naked Wine Show” does with Amazon Prime Video subscribers.
(Classical allusion in headline.)
