"The reopening means the end of mandatory mask requirements for vaccinated patrons of California movie theaters, gyms, restaurants, stores and family entertainment centers. However, businesses may choose to retain mask requirements or opt to implement a vaccine verification system, but those verification systems have not yet been developed. 'It's the honor system,' Newsom admitted. 'We're not requiring...
While venues try to maintain pre-pandemic ticket prices and the availability of shows by offering multiple gigs on the same day, their economic viability is massively diminished by the drop in capacity. - The Conversation
"England was due to move to stage four of the government's roadmap out of lockdown on 21 June, when venues and events would be allowed to operate without capacity limits and the cap on guests at weddings would be lifted." But, as the country is seeing a new surge of COVID cases, many of the virus's Delta variant, reopening...
"The return of cruise ships, which caught many by surprise after the Italian government announced in March that they would be banned from the historic centre, has reawakened old divisions in Venice. … The argument has pitted the economy against the environment in a city where the pandemic has served as a sharp reminder for residents of just how...
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire? Is this the title I’m asked to carry? I cannot think of anything I want less than to be a member of that empire. - The Guardian
Ronald Brownstein, a senior editor at the Atlantic and political analyst for CNN, offers 1974 as a pivotal year in which Los Angeles took center stage as a cultural broker and “transformed movies, music, television, and politics.” - Los Angeles Times
The story of Selena Quintanilla is quintessentially American - so why did Netflix order it as a Latin American original with a tiny budget that meant filming in Mexico and paying writers (and other staff members) much, much less than they would have gotten in the U.S.? "Their love for Selena, the writers said, drove them to take the job...
The sitcom's actors took to social media to say more about the series' abrupt end - and the series itself. Their posts "threw into sharp relief the ongoing reluctance of producers and executives from Hollywood to Toronto to trust and empower Asian actors, writers and directors to tell their own stories — and as Yoon and Liu both pointed...
"The Edinburgh festivals have been offered millions of pounds in emergency funding in the face of widespread fears they may never fully recover from the severe impacts of the COVID pandemic. The Fringe, international and book festivals, which help make up the world’s largest annual arts season, have been forced to very significantly curtail this August’s events, the second...
The Dear Respected Leader has "called it a 'vicious cancer' corrupting young North Koreans' 'attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors.' His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea 'crumble like a damp wall.' After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has...
Provincial governments and public-health authorities have, understandably, been focused on science getting us out of this – but, less understandably, they’ve neglected allowing (never mind encouraging) artists to explore the possibilities of how outside-the-box creativity could make this pandemic (or future ones) less isolating and more livable. - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
This stunning state of affairs stands in bold contrast to the initial PPP and the more recent restaurant relief funds, which were on their way to businesses within days. - Variety
The capital of the United Arab Emirates, whose government wants to diversify its economy away from oil and catch up with Dubai as the UAE's major draw for foreign visitors, is adding $6 billion over five years to its budget for the cultural sector. While some of the funding will support media, music, and cultural heritage, much of it...
