Good 20th & 21st Century Music Inspired by Philosophy?
“What music made in the 20th/21st centuries directly inspired by philosophy is actually any good?” (more…)
Summer solstice 2020 heralds changing of Earth’s seasons this weekend Space.com
The cat’s whiskers: new way of counting lions could boost conservation effortsGuardian
The Cave Kingpin Buying Up America’s Underground Outside
At inews.co.uk Catherine Taylor reports on Fitzcarraldo Editions: how an industry upstart published two Nobel laureates in its first five years.
While some of the titles mentioned here are published by other publishers in the US, quite a few Fitzcarraldo Editions-titles are under review at the complete review; they're reliably good.
They've announced the shortlist for this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award, a leading Australian novel award.
The Gerald Murnane -- A Season on Earth -- that was longlisted did not make the cut.
The winner will be announced 16 July.
$28.00
SOLD OUT
2018 Hilltops Shiraz
This Shiraz is made from grapes selected from five vineyards in the Hilltops district around Young on the South Western Slopes of New South Wales.
In 2018, lower yields and a warm late Summer produced the level of fruit intensity that you see in the greatest years. Punchy dark berry aromas with flashes of red floral tones. Round, ripe and generous in the mouth.
Another classic Hilltops Shiraz.
Drink now or cellar with confidence for ten years or more
Australia’s Largest State Set Aside $50 Million
For COVID Arts Relief. None Of It Has Been Given Out
New South Wales was slow to establish a fund to aid struggling arts organizations, not even announcing a plan until May 24, about 10 weeks after shutdowns began. Even as Australia begins the early phases of reopening, none of the money has been awarded, and information even on how to apply or who qualifies is scarce. – The Guardian
A Fisherman May Have Just Found A 700-Year-Old Statue Lying In A Riverbed
“The mossy and somewhat eroded form of a granite statue of the Virgin Mary and child that could date from the 14th century … was discovered 11 days ago in the Sar River on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela by an angler looking for trout.” – The Guardian
Sometimes ‘Dad-Gummit’ Just Won’t Do: Researchers Say That Profanity Can Increase Pain Tolerance
British researchers found that subjects could bear a painful stimulus for 33% longer by repeating the f-word than by repeating a regular or a made-up word. Why? They think (for now) that it’s because of either the sympathetic or the parasympathetic nervous system. – Public Radio International
A Conservative Reckoning In Book Publishing?
Publishing such authors was once uncontroversial. The conservative publishing industrial complex has been a mainstay ever since Allen Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind topped the bestseller lists. Free speech has always been a slippery concept in book publishing. At times it is presented as a badge of honor—we stand by Salman Rushdie!—but mostly, it is an excuse to publish something that is profitable but otherwise valueless. Beleaguered publishers have understandably cast themselves as slaves to the marketplace: They publish whatever it is people want to buy. – The New Republic
Rebuilding An Indigenous Dance Culture Post-Soviet
This is part of the traditional dance of the Mari, the region’s indigenous nation. Its sudden intrusion into an otherwise classical production is no coincidence. It is part of an experiment that seeks to tackle the some of the most crucial challenges facing the post-Soviet provincial stage: how to use Soviet traditions to create art for a new Russia, while still standing on par with global artistic developments. – Calvert Journal
The “Bernie Madoff Of The Art World” Had Settled Into Vacation Life
Bemused locals were left to digest the fact that the pleasant newcomer to their island paradise, who had been helping out at the local animal shelter, was in fact a fugitive art dealer who stands accused of, among other things, selling millions of dollars worth of overlapping shares in valuable pieces of art, in one of the greatest art scams this century. – The Daily Beast
Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe*
By Suzanne Marchand, this a tale of commerce, creativity, mercantilism, nation-building, globalization, industrial organization, and much more. And this book actually delivers on all of those fronts. Short excerpt:
In accordance with mercantile practices, porcelain makers first sought to pay their bills by increasing sales abroad. The two markets most hotly pursued at midcentury were the Ottomans and the Russians, both big consumers of hot beverages but lacking functional tableware factories.
Yes it’s that kind of book. And this:
This focus on porcelain and material goods generally is not an approach familiar to most historians of Germany, who, for understandable reasons, typically feel obliged to treat more serious, often political, subjects.
Recommended, you can pre-order it here.