Books: Empire of the Sun author J.G. Ballard dies at 78 [via The Times] Dance/Opera: The brainy dancers behind the cover [New York Times Magazine] Design: French architect Jacques Rival’s giant inflatable mouse [via Guardian ] Film: Slumdog Millionaire kid up for sale at 300K [via The Daily Beast] Music: A brief history of the spoken-word pop hit. [via Slate] Television: FOX apologizes for canceling Arrested Development [via THR] Theatre: Colin Hanks is as boring as we are! [via NYT] Visual Arts: Shepard Fairey plays Coachella [via The Desert Sun] Web: Larry King and Ashton Kutcher talk Twitter, and reinforce the fact that King is a crusty old dinosaur [via .TV]