Starting from scraps
10 things worth sharing this week
Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
The art of starting from scraps.
Astronomy picture of the day. (Tim Kreider says this is the first site he looks at on the internet every morning, “before email, before the news.”)
Speaking of cosmic perspective, William Shatner says that going into space filled him with profound feelings of grief: “I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us.”
I made a zine about finding energy in the gap between our artistic visions and reality. (Read more tiny booklets on my zine page.)
How Brian Eno Created Ambient 1: Music for Airports.
The Supreme Court meets Andy Warhol, Prince, and a case that could threaten creativity. (For more background on the case, see this piece by Blake Gopnik that quotes lawyer Christopher Sprigman: “[Copyright law] is often very smart but it’s not very deep — and art is just the opposite. When the two things collide, you get problems.”)
Leonard Cohen on Austin City Limits in 1989, recorded on Halloween night in 1988. (He also recorded an ACL in 1993 and dedicated “Sisters of Mercy” to Governor Ann Richards, who was in the audience!)
Netflix: the third season of Derry Girls is now streaming in the US. (A friend sent me some bootlegged rips of the original broadcasts in the UK, but I had to wait to have subtitles 😂.)
RIP legendary DJ Art Laboe, who coined the phrase “oldies but goodies,” and in later years helped connect prisoners to their loved ones.
RIP actress Angela Lansbury. Here’s a delightful interview from the BBC Archive. If you’re looking for spooky season viewing, check out her first feature film, 1944’s Gaslight.
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xoxo,
Austin
PS. Keep going!
I grew up with two parents from Northern Ireland, about 40 miles from Derry. My wife and I loved the show although I had to pause often to translate some of the jokes. The finale was spectacular, a poignant reminder of just how important the Good Friday Agreement was to the lives of so many.
Regarding the Warhol copyright case- I question the canard that if artists can’t use other’s creative works and make derivative works that creativity will be stifled. Perhaps artists should create their own content.