lemonwade

Movies: There’s Oscar talk for Glenn Close’s performance in “The Wife” — can’t wait to see it. If you crave comedy then check out “Crazy Rich Asians.” TV/Streaming: Amazon Prime now has a three-part Agatha Christie adaptation called “Ordeal By Innocence.” The Vienna Phil’s annual summer concert airs Friday on PBS. Music: Steve Perry having a number one album is further proof that only baby boomers buy albums. Books: Jim Robbins’s “The Wonder of Birds” lives up to its title. Sports: Can Tiger Woods win a tournament? Or do we have to be satisfied that he’s merely back in the hunt? Finally: Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha Aretha. Aretha. Aretha. Aretha. Aretha. Aretha. Aretha. Aretha.

Of all the many wonderful tributes to Ms. Franklin the past 24 hours my favorite was written by my friend Hal Rubenstein: ‘What I wanted to talk to Aretha about was music. And though she was not well-spoken, was known for being justifiably guarded, and abruptly ended her formal education when she dropped out of high school in her sophomore year, when I asked her anything about soul, jazz, music composition or gospel, there wasn’t a professor at the Berkeley School of Music who wouldn’t have sat at her feet in awe.’

The Art Newspaper: ‘Donald Judd: Specific Furniture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA, until 4 November) brings to mind Ad Reinhardt’s quip that sculpture is what you bump into when stepping back from viewing wall-bound art. A couple of Judd’s flanged metal chairs, were they not pedestaled here, might deliver sharp reminders of Judd’s demand for design “rigour” to careless viewers of the drawings included in the show.’

How do you prepare to play one of the most famous (and famously enigmatic) performers in history? For Rami Malek, and his upcoming role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, you remember that underneath all the pomp and circumstance of Queen’s frontman was an individual coming to terms with himself. Details.

Jerry Wade (of LemonWade fame) sent me the following description of a new building in NYC: ‘Bloomberg Center is the flagship building on Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Campus in New York City. The Morphosis-designed building features a louver-perforated skin manufactured by Zahner. The double-skin facade fits into the building’s Net Zero energy plan to operate as a self-sufficient and energy-efficient building. The center is also targeting LEED Platinum Certification.’

Pitchfork says: ‘To hear Chan Marshall and Lana Del Rey sing together is to realize just how deeply the latter has drawn from the former. Throughout her career, Del Rey has channeled Cat Power’s vocal soulfulness; her willingness to hop between rock, electronic, pop, and more, and her playful disregard for how she’s expected, as a woman and a singer, to behave. Both Marshall and Del Rey are fiercely emotive songwriters who use similar Read more »