Shakespeare &Sainte

 Last month, we noted that Stan the Tyrannosaurus Rex was befittingly right up there with the most expensive works of art at preview for a Christie's sale of 20th century art. That he predated his fellow items on the catalogue be about 67 million years was irrelevant as the fact that he was a work of genius (albeit not human) was undeniable. However, now that the dinosaur skeleton has fetched almost four times its estimated price of $6-8 million at a gullet-choking $31,847,500 at the sale this week, it is evident the auction house had put Stan in the wrong list. He should have been there with those chunks of carbon and other fossilised remains that are cut, polished, set and sold, otherwise known as gemstones. More so as the T Rex roared in an auction that otherwise saw eight unsold and four works withdrawn out of a total of 59, fetching the second highest price of the sale. Stan has clearly established fossils as a valuable new genre of installation art. As the Royal Opera House i...

 The manifest proclivity of some individuals- not necessary part of the intelligentsia— for prolix explication as a favoured form of expression, notwithstanding the availability and advisability of more intelligible and conventionaly pertinent substitutes, precipitates exasperation only in some circles. Instead, in many cases, a cultivated predilection for logorrhoea elicits such veneration that practitioners increase their volume of periphrasis. Those lexicomanes will, no doubt, prefer to disregard the recent study that links the preference for long words and jagron with feelings of insecurity rather than intellectual prowess. That researchers have found an inverse correlation between the scholarly quality of 64,000 academic dissertations and their use of incomprehensible words and phrases certainly points to the use of jargon to compensate for lack of substance.  Since most quotidian interlocutions are commonplace conversations that do not entail a synchronous evaluation of ...

 It is small step for science, but a giant leap for avo-ficionados. Now that scientists have recently successfully applied the technology used to preserve human eggs and sperm to the supposedly more modest avocado-although its name does have anatomical allusions- there is indeed reason to celebrate. For, while it is preponderant in whole or mashed, form in places frequented by the terminally trendy, the future of the world's most Instagrammed fruit once disparagingly called an alligator pear ( and more recently used to refer to Billie Eilish fans given her predilection) had been far from secure. Pests, fungus and climate change had led to fears of Shortages and even an extinction event. After this feat, however, guacamole addicts can rest assured that unctuous green butter- alternative will never run out.  The fertility clinic cryo- technology has been used to good effect on more prosaic victuals such as potatoes and bananas for a while now, but the thought of a future– possib...

  Donald Trump as a Nobel Prize Peace Prize nominee? Well, why ever not? You'd be reaching for your PPEs if he was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize, so.... If you thought the most ardent Trump bhakts were in the US, think again. Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a Norwegian parliamentarian leader cited, adding that he hoped the Nobel Committee considers what Trump has 'achieved' internationally' and that it does not ' stumble in established prejudice against the US president'. Trump can be construed in countries outside the US– baring Mexico, Iran and China, perhaps— as ' lion at home, lamb abroad,' an old description once given to the Indian cricket team. So, a peace award established by a rich Swedish man who made his fortunates by inventing dynamite isn't the worst thing you can can present Trump with. Plus, if former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger could have won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 after playing a pivotal role in the US decision ...

 Literally on the face of it, a Rs70,000 plus ($961) anti- Covid plastic face shield, makes no common sense. But it's not the sense of common-ness that Louis Vuitton (LV) will be taping when, from October30, it starts selling this haute PPE couture with gold studs, monogrammed strap and bearing the French luxury brand's 'LV' mark. Ridiculous? Sure. Savvy? Oh yes. For, at the core of such na consumer model lies creating desire and meeting it.  The importance of manufacturing desire(outside politics) eludes Indians, many of whom are otherwise healthy, wealthy consumers of Dream Factories. The Department for Promotion of industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is now discussing making desi toys, focusing on 'freedom fighter' dolls. An anti- Barbie BJP MP even stated' Shivaji and Laxmibai figurines will certainly be better than bikini-clad dolls'. Barring government departments buying stocks of Bhagat Singh, etc. Paying patroits are unlikely to spend buying more...

 From flights to nowhere to space station odysseys, jugaad has gone international Steve Jobs famously said, 'The Journey is the reward, but for whome it is not clear in the case of all the airlines who are now selling tickets for 'flight to nowhere', taking the cue from the successful Taiwanese one in early August. The passengers get around international travel restrictions. A rewarding venture all round; carbon footprints are so yesterday anyway. Indeed, it may not be farfetched to contemplate that these popular round trips could become a permanent travel category from now on for those who love journeys but not destinations. Obviously , the very Indian philosophy of jugaad has become the order of the day. So, it is not surprising that even high-flying institutions like NASA are thinking of ways to generate additional revenue. After all, even $90 billion or biting research stations must pay their way.  With Estes Lauder forking out $128,000 for a product to be photographed ...

 One museum's fossil can be an art collector's installation  In December 2019, a real banana duct-taped to a wall, billed as a work called comedian, by the Italian satirical artist Maurizio Cattelan fetched $120,000 at a prestigious art show in Miami. Not long after, another identical work by the same artist was also sold for the same amount.Both buyers were French and they were connoisseurs, not consumers, presumably. Not only did the perishable nature of the art not affect its saleability— a 'performance artist' peeled the banana off the wall and ate it — the work was declared the 'unicorn of the art world'. If that banana symbolised the evenescence of an artistic idea, its timelessness will surely be underlined by the sale of a67 million-year-old composition of bones that is the highlight of Christie's Evening sale of 20the century Art in October in New York.  The 'work' has been named Tyrannosaurus Rex(by paleontologists) and Stan (by its finders...