Her name is Yoshimi. She was a showgirl… The Flaming Lips are working on a Broadway-musical version of their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. They’re reportedly collaborating with Aaron “West Wing” Sorkin, who’ll write the screenplay.
Being Stanley Kubrick: In the upcoming movie Colour Me Kubrick, John Malkovichi plays Alan Conway, the man who in the 1990s masqueraded as Stanley Kubrick to get freebies from London theater and fashion types. Of Conway, he says, “I don’t think he had any clear idea or even an interest in Kubrick’s character–although he had lots of insight into the people who wanted to meet Kubrick, or work with Kubrick, or mooch off Kubrick, or bask in his glow.”
Balanced Light: Kiki Smith contributed an artwork to the New York Times Op-Art column on Monday to commemorate the vernal equinox.
Take McJob and shove it: McDonald’s, arguing that their jobs aren’t sweaty, low-paying paths to nowhere, has implored the Oxford English Dictionary to remove the word “McJob” from its pages. The word and definition — “An unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector.” — have been in the OED since 2001, 15 years after it reportedly appeared in the Washington Post. The company kicks off a campaign to delete “McJob” in May. My question: Does the etymology refer to the quality of McDonald’s employment — or the perception that some of its food, like certain jobs, is less than life-sustaining?
Eatock rocks (back on his chair): To open his Insights lecture at the Walker a few weeks ago, designer Daniel Eatock balanced for what seemed like an eternity on the back legs of a specifically procured Robin Day Polyprop chair to the strains of vintage Nirvana, before launching into a witty talk than included a pecha kucha–style presentation of his clever ideas and further thoughts on graphic, environmental, and product design. Watch it at the Walker Channel. (Insights concludes Tuesday night with BUTT magazine founder Jop van Bennekom.)