Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Aida lives up to the hype. (Courtesy: The Met)

* NCAA allows the home basketball team to choose which type of ball will be used, creating a slightly unusual homecourt advantage factor. (Courtesy: The New York Times)

* Some universities and colleges, and states in a passive way, consider cutting science, engineering, and healthcare programs a wise move when faced with budgetary issues. (Courtesy: The New York Times)

* Rollovers as Business Start-Ups (ROBS) seem like a great way to to shelter money. (Courtesy: Brainstorming with ZS)

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Ulyana Sergeenko is a Russian designer with an incredible collection. The dresses, particularly the short ones, are fantastic. The shoe pairings are abysmal, though. (Courtesy: Russian Vogue, via Not Couture)

* The existence of halal cosmetics, and their attractiveness for vegetarians/vegans. (Courtesy: can’t remember, but The New Inquiry)

* Charlie Chaplin’s birth is shrouded in mystery and government absurdity. (Courtesy: New York Times)

* The term “bistro” may have developed from the Russian occupation of Paris in the early 19th century, when Russian soldiers would shout “быстро!” (quickly!). There is an alternative etymology, though, that involves coffee. (Courtesy: New Inquiry)

* “Roman writers subscribed to the idea of imitatio: they viewed their role as emulating and reworking earlier masterpieces. It wasn’t until the Romantic era, which introduced the notion of the author as solitary genius, that originality came to be viewed as the paramount literary virtue.” (Courtesy: New Yorker)