Word: instrumentalized
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Obeysekere fancies himself a Holmesian observer in his own right and an instrument of English justice, but he can't see the treacherousness--as a Ceylonese prosecuting a case involving white men--of the territory he's treading. De Kretser's prose is stunning and subtle in depicting his downfall, evoking the glittering excesses of colonial life--after a party "you could have strolled across the lagoon on the champagne corks"--and the tropical fecundity of Ceylon with equally irresistible power. Who could stop reading a chapter that begins, "Her father, a bony, vivid man with a taste for women...
Zhang Shuang, a cheerful twenty-something from Liaoning, China, isn't typical pop-star material. She doesn't sing or dance or suffer wardrobe malfunctions. Her principal talent, to which she has devoted her life, is playing the pipa, a lutelike Chinese instrument more at home in Peking opera than Top-40 countdowns. Growing up, Zhang was realistic about how far that specialty might take her. "I thought that if I was lucky," she says, "I could join a traditional ensemble and do some teaching on the side...
...deafening shrill that can be heard almost a mile away is the mating cry of the male cicada. His instrument is called a tymbal, which produces a popping sound in his hollow abdomen. Males from each of the three Brook X species have their own song. One sounds like pha-roah, another makes a sizzling noise, and the last--and rarest--makes a rhythmic call that sounds like a lawn sprinkler...
...recent tryout in a cramped storefront locale about two stops from the Bastille, Naso, wearing a black tie matching his shoes and slacks, sat with two RATP jurors, listening to a group of twentysomething French rappers and a musician playing koto, a traditional Japanese string instrument. Also auditioning were a duet of classical singers and a Roma singer and her accordion player. Around 1,000 musicians audition every six months, vying for one of the 350 licenses granted every year to play for tips in authorized spaces underground...
...careful to admit that like any young person away from home, he was a confused college student desperately seeking to discover his true calling. “I knew I played an instrument. I knew a little bit about the world, but there were so many blank spots… And for a long time, I was content to formally learn how to play the cello, but in my mind, I was always thinking, what about the world? How does one engage in the ways of the world with the rest of the world...