Concert speakers are a lie [Gizmodo]
My first reaction when I saw the photo above was to believe that it could be fake, but several searches for more information led to the same answer: It’s from a summer performance of a band called Immortal and it’s real. The band had used a fake wall of amps for some reason—probably to appear more “hardcore” or whatever it is metal bands aspire to be—and got caught.
The next thought was that perhaps it could it be just a rare one-time act of concert stage trickery. But unfortunately a series of emails and instant messages to musicians, stage hands, equipment providers, and club managers revealed the sad truth: It’s not too uncommon for bands to set up fake stacks of speakers or amps—hell, empty amp cabinets are frequently sold for that precise purpose…
The Scottish Opera is sinking [Guardian]
The news from Scottish Opera ain’t good. The story of the imperilled future of ScotOp’s orchestra has been brewing for the past few months north of the border, and Michael Tumelty at the Herald – the drama’s most assiduous reporter – made the shocking discovery that Scottish Opera’s music director, Francesco Corti, was not involved in the discussions over the future of his musicians. What it boils down to is this: having got rid of their full-time chorus six years ago, the powers that be at Scottish Opera wanted to rid themselves of the expense of a full-time orchestra too. And why not? As Alex Reedijk, Scottish Opera’s general director, puts it, the orchestra is “under-utilised” anyway, playing few gigs a year, so changing the orchestra’s constitution is an easy way to make a saving for the company in these dark times of financial penury.
Large Haldon Collider spies hints of a baby universe [New Scientist]
The big bang machine may already be living up to its nickname. Researchers on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, have seen hints of what may be the hot, dense state of matter thought to have filled the universe in its first nanoseconds.
Leonard Cohen’s Seven Immutable Laws of Business [McSweeney's Internet Tendency]
There’s nothing you can do behind your desk that can’t be more effectively accomplished with a beautiful, long-haired, chain-smoking woman lying naked next to you in bed.
Poet DA Powell interviews the directors of the Allen Ginsberg biopic Howl [Poetry Foundation]
Because it was such a monumental work. This is a poem that, when it was introduced, actually changed the culture. It was a golden moment for Allen, and that was the moment we wanted to concentrate on. What happened in the courtroom became a great vehicle for talking about the world at that time.
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