Web curations (25 Feb)

Online writing that made me think:

#music

Can Asians save classical music? Michael Ahn Paarlberg paints sterotypes and generalisations all over the place: “Classical music is as Asian as tempura and Spam. Even if it eventually dies in the West, it will have an Asian afterlife, much in the way washed-up American rock bands can still pack stadiums in Manila.” I disagree with his premise that only a specific ethnicity will save symphony orchestras and classical recitals — it’s rarely that simplistic.

Heavy metal worship music – Helen Thorne reflects on what we could learn when considering a church in London where the music is solely heavy metal (complete with animal skull adorning the wall).

 

#society

The tyranny of ‘news’ – I know I find myself unhelpfully drawn each morning to recall the today’s news, rather than today (and every day)’s Good News. A helpful word from Tim Thornborough.

An LGBT activist comes out as a friend of Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A – Shane Windmeyer: “How could I dare think to have a relationship with a man and a company that have advocated against who I am; who would take apart my family in the name of “traditional marriage”; whose voice and views represented exactly the opposite of those of the students for whom I advocate every day?” I enjoyed reading about how Dan, a commited Christian, used this opportunity to model humility, respect and love for his neighbour.

#fun

This moulding tool made 120 million Lego bricks – According to Zane Thorne, “retired brick molds are embedded into the foundations of public buildings to prevent them from falling into the hands of competitors as LEGOS are produced to an extremely high specification, with only a few microns of tolerance.”

#quoted

https://twitter.com/JeffersonBethke/status/241596823586865152