Human Touch

"The lazy way they turned your head into a rest stop for the dead and did it all in gold and blue and gray/ The efforts to allay your dread," go the opening lines of TV on the Radio's new album, over joyful bah-bah-bah's and perky hand claps. Several bouncy, fearsome minutes later the singer announces: "I know too much. It's over now. " Oh, but it's not. "Halfway Home," the lead track on TVOTR's fantastic third album, "Dear Science," out today, may be the welcome mat at the door to the apocalypse, but like Prince and R.E.M.

When Japan Airlines declared bankruptcy in 2010, the government called on renowned businessman Kazuo Inamori to turn around the beleaguered carrier. Inamori, 81, founder of the high-tech manufacturing firm Kyocera Corp. and the telecommunications company that became KDDI Corp., has a compassionate management philosophy: "What is the right thing to do as a human being?" Now chairman emeritus of Japan Airlines, Inamori spoke through an interpreter to Globe reporter Katie Johnston as the carrier geared up to launch the first nonstop flight between Boston and Tokyo Sunday.

When Japan Airlines declared bankruptcy in 2010, the government called on renowned businessman Kazuo Inamori to turn around the beleaguered carrier. Inamori, 81, founder of the high-tech manufacturing firm Kyocera Corp. and the telecommunications company that became KDDI Corp., has a compassionate management philosophy: "What is the right thing to do as a human being?" Now chairman emeritus of Japan Airlines, Inamori spoke through an interpreter to Globe reporter Katie Johnston as the carrier geared up to launch the first nonstop flight between Boston and Tokyo Sunday.

Growing up in New York City, Jake Bohm has never uttered a word and recoils from any human touch, even by his dad. The young hero of Fox's new drama, "Touch," he's an 11-year-old sage who finds patterns in numbers linking individuals all over the world. He foresees how one life can be touched by others in unlikely ways to their mutual benefit. Series star Kiefer Sutherland plays his father, who, desperate to connect with Jake (David Mazouz), serves as his mouthpiece and connection to the outside world.

I JUST happened to be reading the new Massachusetts teacher evaluation regulations. Only half paying attention, my eyes lurched to a halt as I read, “an observation may occur in person or through video.’’ Have we lost our collective minds? A camera pointed at a teacher can showcase his or her enthusiasm for her subject. A camera can record an organized presentation. A camera can reveal a teacher’s knowledge of the subject matter. A real human being, on the other hand, can do all of the above - and much more.

NEW YORK — Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent Harold Dow, who helped shape the documentary program “48 Hours’’ and covered the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has died. He was 62. Mr. Dow died Saturday in New Jersey, network spokeswoman Louise Bashi said. He lived in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Further details were unavailable yesterday. Mr. Dow had been a correspondent for “48 Hours’’ since 1990. His nearly 40 years with the network also included reporting for “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather’’ and “CBS News...

Growing up in New York City, Jake Bohm has never uttered a word and recoils from any human touch, even by his dad. The young hero of Fox's new drama, "Touch," he's an 11-year-old sage who finds patterns in numbers linking individuals all over the world. He foresees how one life can be touched by others in unlikely ways to their mutual benefit. Series star Kiefer Sutherland plays his father, who, desperate to connect with Jake (David Mazouz), serves as his mouthpiece and connection to the outside world.

On Kem’s first record in five years, he will, no doubt, seduce all female listeners as he promises to kiss his lover’s toes on the sensuous “Human Touch.’’ But this 12-song set runs much deeper than what most male R&B artists offer up as late night, lights-down fare. In fact, that song is more about the point where sensuality and spirituality converge. On first listen, the disc seems unassuming because of its subtlety, but slowly it reveals its layers. The tracks about love, devotion, and transcendence are refreshingly honest and (mercifully)

WELLFLEET — Smart, funny, and sneakily touching, ‘‘The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow’’ was a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer Prize, along with plays by Christopher Durang and Adam Rapp. The Pulitzer board created a minor scandal when it snubbed all three, refusing to award a drama prize. But young playwright Rolin Jones should feel proud of his spot in that pantheon of rejection — and even prouder of his play. It’s getting a terrific production at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, under the savvy, snappy direction of Brendan Hughes (Jones’s classmate at the Yale School...

In the Tenth House By Laura DietzCrown, 416 pp, $24.95 Zoology By Ben DolnickVintage, 304 pp, $12.95 The Hindi-Bindi Club By Monica PradhanBantam, 448 pp, $12 May brings three interesting first novels. A reader can't ask for more. Laura Dietz's marvelous "In the Tenth House" invites readers into some of the odder corners of the Victorian era with a gothic plot involving spiritualism, psychiatry, fraud, greed, obsession, repressed sexuality and madness.

Cari and Susan Moorhead, visiting from New Hampshire and Ireland respectively, headed to the North End for dinner last week, only to be disappointed by the restaurant they chose. When the sisters returned to the Boston Harbor Hotel, they asked concierge Nathan Goff where he would have sent them. Antico Forno, Goff said instantly, adding that the restaurant’s oven was flown in brick-by-brick from Italy and the tiramisu is made by the owner’s mother. “Had we checked with the concierge first,’’ Cari Moorhead said, “we wouldn’t have made that mistake.’’ In a world...

I JUST happened to be reading the new Massachusetts teacher evaluation regulations. Only half paying attention, my eyes lurched to a halt as I read, “an observation may occur in person or through video.’’ Have we lost our collective minds? A camera pointed at a teacher can showcase his or her enthusiasm for her subject. A camera can record an organized presentation. A camera can reveal a teacher’s knowledge of the subject matter. A real human being, on the other hand, can do all of the above - and much more.

NEW YORK — Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent Harold Dow, who helped shape the documentary program “48 Hours’’ and covered the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has died. He was 62. Mr. Dow died Saturday in New Jersey, network spokeswoman Louise Bashi said. He lived in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Further details were unavailable yesterday. Mr. Dow had been a correspondent for “48 Hours’’ since 1990. His nearly 40 years with the network also included reporting for “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather’’ and “CBS News...

On Kem’s first record in five years, he will, no doubt, seduce all female listeners as he promises to kiss his lover’s toes on the sensuous “Human Touch.’’ But this 12-song set runs much deeper than what most male R&B artists offer up as late night, lights-down fare. In fact, that song is more about the point where sensuality and spirituality converge. On first listen, the disc seems unassuming because of its subtlety, but slowly it reveals its layers. The tracks about love, devotion, and transcendence are refreshingly honest and (mercifully)

"The lazy way they turned your head into a rest stop for the dead and did it all in gold and blue and gray/ The efforts to allay your dread," go the opening lines of TV on the Radio's new album, over joyful bah-bah-bah's and perky hand claps. Several bouncy, fearsome minutes later the singer announces: "I know too much. It's over now. " Oh, but it's not. "Halfway Home," the lead track on TVOTR's fantastic third album, "Dear Science," out today, may be the welcome mat at the door to the apocalypse, but like Prince and R.E.M.

In the Tenth House By Laura DietzCrown, 416 pp, $24.95 Zoology By Ben DolnickVintage, 304 pp, $12.95 The Hindi-Bindi Club By Monica PradhanBantam, 448 pp, $12 May brings three interesting first novels. A reader can't ask for more. Laura Dietz's marvelous "In the Tenth House" invites readers into some of the odder corners of the Victorian era with a gothic plot involving spiritualism, psychiatry, fraud, greed, obsession, repressed sexuality and madness.

Cari and Susan Moorhead, visiting from New Hampshire and Ireland respectively, headed to the North End for dinner last week, only to be disappointed by the restaurant they chose. When the sisters returned to the Boston Harbor Hotel, they asked concierge Nathan Goff where he would have sent them. Antico Forno, Goff said instantly, adding that the restaurant’s oven was flown in brick-by-brick from Italy and the tiramisu is made by the owner’s mother. “Had we checked with the concierge first,’’ Cari Moorhead said, “we wouldn’t have made that mistake.’’ In a world...

AS A concierge at Mandarin Oriental, I was both honored and humbled to read Katie Johnston’s article highlighting the often overlooked concierge network (“Stewards at check in, with tips to check out; Concierges say they offer what online guides don’t: service with a human touch,’’ Business, July 6). In a city as culturally rich as Boston, it is imperative that concierges remain informed and experience all that our magnificent city has to offer. Each day, my colleagues and I work diligently to provide exceptional customer service and create...

WELLFLEET — Smart, funny, and sneakily touching, ‘‘The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow’’ was a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer Prize, along with plays by Christopher Durang and Adam Rapp. The Pulitzer board created a minor scandal when it snubbed all three, refusing to award a drama prize. But young playwright Rolin Jones should feel proud of his spot in that pantheon of rejection — and even prouder of his play. It’s getting a terrific production at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, under the savvy, snappy direction of Brendan Hughes (Jones’s classmate at the Yale School...