Another year is fast approaching. Go be that starving artist you’re afraid to be. Open up that journal and get poetic finally. Volunteer. Suck it up and travel. You were not born here to work and pay taxes. You were put here to be part of a vast organism to explore and create. Stop putting it off. The world has much more to offer than what’s on 15 televisions at TGI Fridays. Take pictures. Scare people. Shake up the scene. Be the change you want to see in the world.
I’m flattered, to say the least … As nobody quits the deep blog club. Once you’re in the club, you’re in it forever.
When Filmmakers Make Films In Languages They Don’t Speak Well
“It is a truth universally acknowledged in world cinema that a celebrated auteur, making their first film outside their native tongue, must be preparing a dud.” But is it actually true? Well, there are a few success stories such as Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth and Alpsin Greek, then The Lobster and Oscar-winner The Favourite in English), but only a few. – The Guardian
New Right Wing Director Of Warsaw’s Contemporary Art Center Cancels Shows, Cuts Funding
The Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art is now seen by many in Poland’s contemporary art community as a new front in the country’s culture wars, as the ruling Law and Justice party attempts to exert greater control over state-sponsored institutions and promote artists aligned with its patriotic, pro-family views. – The Art Newspaper
“At first going to hotels seemed exciting and glamorous, but now I find it depressing and lonely. Essentially they are all pretty much the same; there are better or worse. You do your thing and you come back to your hotel. And you get up the next day and it is like you’ve never been there at all. It was interesting to see if I could make something out of that seemingly dead time.” - Eimear McBride
I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a hotel novel, but don’t have enough experience with hotels to make the setting convincing. (I’ve always been more homebody than traveler.) I think the only hotel novel I’ve read is Jim Thompson’s Wild Town
Dave Hickey, at 80, is a broken-down lion of a man. What remains is a vision of art that extends to every realm of human endeavour
Markets’ Viral Random Walk May Get Far More Volatile John Authers, Bloomberg
Report: Arts Drive Tourism In Australia
Australians took 12.3 million daytrips and 13.4 million overnight trips within Australia that included arts activities in 2018 – an increase of 14 percent and 20 percent respectively since 2014 – with increases found across visiting museums and art galleries, attending performing arts, visiting art or craft workshops or studios, attending festivals, and experiencing First Nations arts and craft. The report also flagged an increasing interest in First Nations arts tourism. – Limelight
'Fear stronger than hope': Worst week for Wall Street since GFC
Panic in the stock market over the spreading coronavirus continued into a seventh day on Friday, with shares in the US tumbling following steep declines in Asia and Europe.
Every year, director Steven Soderbergh publishes a list of the movies, books, TV series, short films, and short stories he’s watched and read over the course of the year (one of the inspirations for my media diet posts). For many creators, the key to making good work is to read and watch widely with an emphasis on quality — it’s difficult make great work if your ingredients are poor — so Soderbergh’s 2019 list is a fascinating look at the director’s inputs for the next year’s creative endeavors.
Some observations:
- The pace here is incredible…2,3,4 movies in a day, several episodes of TV shows in a sitting.
- He didn’t watch Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker but did watch the Kenobi fan film.
- He binged Succession in three days. Finishing Fleabag took him more than a month.
- He watched Marriage Story and The Irishman on the same day.
- One day he did a mini Mike Judge film festival: Office Space and Idiocracy.
- I remember from past lists that he watches some movies over and over…that doesn’t seem to be the case this year.
How the Finance Curse hurts U.S. agriculture
A Silicon Valley CEO’s job posting for a “household manager/cook/nanny” has gone viral for listing requirements for vegan cooking and winter sports.
The listing, posted by a “single mom entrepreneur CEO” living in Menlo Park, is more than 1,000 words long and is seeking a nanny to take care of her 10-year-old twins. It was posted on Google’s job search site, The Calendar Group, but has since been taken down.
The mom is looking for someone who:
- Can cook for a family that “eats organic and is allergic to cow and goat dairy, chicken eggs, green beans and watermelon.” Also “can eat duck eggs” and “can read articles about eating beef and increases in breast cancer.”
- “Can do calisthenics with the kids (sit-ups, squats, push-ups) and generally play and roughhouse with the kids.”
- “Can ski at least at an intermediate level.”
- Is “physically active, strong, athletic, high energy, understands the basics of team sports.”
- “Can build alliances with other kids’ parents and nannies and arrange play dates and joint travel with other families.”
- Can “strategically think through vacation options based on the developmental levels of the kids and the need for the mom to relax.
- Has “experience driving in other countries.”
- Can “track and administer allowance, clothing budgets, household expenses, etc.”
- ”Has a “university degree or equivalent knowledge” and can assist in math homework by coming up with problems like “How long will it take us to drive to the snow if it’s 150 miles and we go 50 miles an hour?”