CELEBRATING THE SKYSCRAPERS’ GRANDFATHER AND KIN
I’VE NEVER BEEN TO “the grandfather of skyscrapers,” but I have visited its elder cousin. Here are tidbits about both. The Ditherington Flax Mill, 1797. Also known as the Shrewsbury … Continue reading
MALL MUSINGS
I’M TOLD THE CULTURE of giant shopping malls is ending. But this wouldn’t be evident by driving past South Coast Plaza here in Orange County, California. Even without holiday shopping, … Continue reading
CALDER’S CIRCUS—AND SO MUCH MORE
ALEXANDER CALDER CAME FROM a family of artists—his grandfather’s colossal William Penn stands atop Philadelphia’s City Hall; his father’s public installations grace this and other cities; his mother, having studied … Continue reading
THE VARIOUS INTRIGUES OF TOUCH OF EVIL PART 2
HAVING RECENTLY VIEWED Touch of Evil, we celebrated the innovative cinema of Orson Welles and colleagues in Part 1 yesterday. However, the final “Action!” and “Cut!” were far from the … Continue reading
THE VARIOUS INTRIGUES OF TOUCH OF EVIL PART 1
THERE’S PLENTY OF CLASSIC NOIR in Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil, 1958/1976/1998, both on the screen and in post-production. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits … Continue reading
HOPPER’S HORIZONTAL CITY
THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART has an exhibition described by Karen Rosenberg as “Edward Hopper’s Fantasy Island.” Here are tidbits gleaned from her article in The New York Times, … Continue reading
MUSLIM LORE—FROM GLUBB PASHA AND THE NEW YORK TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE PART 2
YESTERDAY, SIR JOHN BAGOT GLUBB described the high points of Islamic culture culminating in 732, only a hundred years after the death of Muhammud. Today in Part 2, we glean … Continue reading
MUSLIM LORE—FROM GLUBB PASHA AND THE NEW YORK TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE PART 1
HAVING ONCE MET Sir John Bagot Glubb, aka Glubb Pasha, I now and again enjoy perusing his authoritative and most readable account of the founder of Islam. The Los Angeles … Continue reading
TEAM TEACHING: DISSOLVING THE WALLS OF EDUCATION
AT FIRST GLANCE, IT LOOKS LIKE pandemonium. But Mesa, Arizona, is piloting a Team Teaching project, wherein the separation of classes across physical or grade distinctions are dissolved. Here are … Continue reading
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