Yes, it’s partly due to Brexit, and partly due to the pandemic, but the port at Felixstowe backed up so far that some companies won’t even try to import. “People are contacting us saying they’ve paid for books on pre-order as gifts, and we ultimately can’t guarantee delivery.” – BBC
Blog
How The Houston Symphony Returned To The Stage For Live Performances
To be honest, part of the reason this could even be tried was that the governor of Texas didn’t institute a wide lockdown. That said, the symphony, which resumed weekly live concerts in July, consulted researchers from Rice to figure out where “microparticles” from musicians go within the symphony hall, and to institute better ventilation and filtration systems. (But the concerts have a livestreaming option for audience members who are not persuaded.) – Houston Chronicle
Some Of The Many Books That Helped Us Cope In 2020
Mysteries, children’s books, nonfiction, romance, books about race and racism, and so much more – along with an awful lot of screentime and chill, it’s how we coped with this, OK, yes, unprecendented year. – Washington Post
How Bollywood Is Adapting To The Coronavirus
Bollywood is up and running again, kind of. Some adaptations: Very restricted international travel, smaller numbers of people allowed for dance scenes, and sprinkler systems that douse costumes in disinfectant. Still, the infection numbers continue to mount. One director: “All I could think was, it’s like you’re a sportsman and the rules of the game have changed.” – Los Angeles Times
The Met Is Offering Opera Workers Pandemic Paychecks – In Exchange For Big, Lasting Cuts
The offer for a paycheck would be very tempting – but it comes with 30 percent pay cuts post-pandemic, ones that wouldn’t be recovered even if the opera company recovers. “The unions that work with the Met are against making such significant concessions that could affect workers long after the most severe impacts of the pandemic subside, and have accused management of taking advantage of the outbreak in order to get them to agree to cost-cutting measures.” – The New York Times
In-Person Theatre During Covid-19: Quarantine, Ventilate, And Be Ready To Quit
A recent New Jersey show demonstrates that, if the perfect factors come together, Equity theatre can happen – though it will be more rare in the winter, certainly. “The whole time we were working on it, I would wake up feeling like Icarus and wondering if my wings were going to melt. But it was worth all the hurdles.” – American Theatre
In Their Country’s Second Lockdown, London’s Royal Ballet Dancers Are Still Performing
The director of the Royal Ballet, discussing the live-streamed performances: “It’s so important for them to do what they’re trained to do, to be in the studios together, to be rehearsing, and to be performing. It’s their job; it’s their life.” – CNN
In Boston, Museum Of Fine Art Workers Vote, In An Absolute Landslide, For A Union
And what union will the more than 200 museum employees be joining? “The vote, which passed by a margin of 133 to 14, means employees across some 30 departments are eligible to join United Auto Workers Local 2110 at a time of deep economic uncertainty.” – The Boston Globe
Jan Morris, Legendary Travel Writer And Memoirist, 94
Morris established her reputation with dispatches from Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary’s climb of Mount Everest – she went 3/4 of the way up herself – and continued as a journalist interviewing everyone from Che Guevara to Guy Burgess. In a book review, “Anatole Broyard extolled Ms. Morris’s travel books as ‘oddly reassuring, showing us that there are more ways of experiencing cultures than most of us supposed.'” – The New York Times
Banks Have Continued To Collect Art As Museums Retreat
As pandemic-related shutdowns have entered their ninth month, and as public collections around the world dramatically scale back programming—if not the collections themselves—banks and other large corporations have continued to collect, lend, and exhibit art. By comparison, 1 in 3 American museums never reopened after shutting down in March, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the American Alliance of Museums. – Bloomberg