Just two years after her debut novel was published, Roanhorse has been racking up awards and praise in the science fiction/fantasy field, even drawing comparisons to George R.R. Martin and N.K. Jemisin. But she draws on Diné (Navajo) myth and legends as source material, and she herself is Diné only by marriage (her people were from the New Mexico pueblos); while some Diné are thrilled by her work and her success, others have attacked her furiously for appropriation. – Vulture
Author: Matthew Westphal
California Lays Out Rules For When Disneyland Can Reopen (It’ll Be A While)
“All theme parks — which includes Disneyland in Anaheim and Universal Studios Hollywood — may resume operations in Tier 4, Yellow, which is much further down the road. At that point, the guest limit is 25% across the board and indoor dining establishments can only operate at 25% capacity. The announcement drew a swift, negative reaction from executives at Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, Legoland and others.” – Deadline
New Director Of Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts Throws Some Shade At His Predecessor (And At France)
Stéphane Aquin, a native Montrealer who is currently chief curator at the Hirshhorn in D.C., takes over his hometown’s flagship museum next month after the ouster of Nathalie Bondil, a prominent Frenchwoman who had raised the MMFA’s profile and reputation overseas. “One thing I’m keen [on] is to establish our relevance in North America,” said Aquin. “We are not a suburb of Paris.” – The Art Newspaper
Keith Jarrett Reveals He’s Had Two Strokes And May Never Perform Again
“I was paralyzed. My left side is still partially paralyzed. I’m able to try to walk with a cane, but it took a long time for that, took a year or more. … I don’t know what my future is supposed to be. I don’t feel right now like I’m a pianist. That’s all I can say about that.” – The New York Times
Minnesota Orchestra And Engineers Study Aerosols From Wind Instruments, And There’s Hopeful News
“The risk of the instruments projecting virus-carrying aerosols horizontally into the crowd wasn’t as bad as feared. … Among the 10 instruments they analyzed, [Univ. of Minnesota] researchers found that the trumpet, oboe and bass trombone generated the most aerosols, while the tuba was less hazardous than someone talking or breathing.” – Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Sexting Lawsuit Against Ex-New York City Ballet Dancer Gets Even More Lurid
Chase Finlay, the former City Ballet principal who resigned just as news broke that he had shared nude photos of ex-girlfriend Alexandra Waterbury with male colleagues, has now filed an official response to her lawsuit against him. (Waterbury’s suits against the company and the male colleagues were thrown out by a judge last month.) In his filing, Finlay accuses Waterbury of everything from careerism to attempted extortion to assault and battery. – New York Post
Weird Oily Substance Smeared On Artefacts In Berlin Museums; Weird Conspiracy Theories Reportedly Involved
“Objects including Egyptian sarcophagi, stone sculptures and 19th-century paintings held at the Pergamon Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Neues Museum sustained visible damage during the attack on 3 October. … German media have linked the museum island attack to conspiracy theories pushed through social media channels. … One such theory claims that the Pergamon Museum is the centre of the ‘global satanism scene’.” – The Guardian
Australia Announced A $250M Arts Rescue Package In June, and 80% Of It Still Hasn’t Been Allocated
At a Senate hearing on Wednesday in Canberra, officials at first weren’t able to say at all how much of the aid had been distributed to struggling arts organizations. Later, they said that just under $50 million had been allocated, all of it to film and television; meanwhile, those who work in live performance and visual art grow ever more desperate. – The Guardian
Despite COVID, Japan Has Record-Breaking Weekend At Movie Box Office
“The movie, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, based on a smash-hit Japanese comic book, … outperformed all expectations, more than doubling the country’s record for the largest opening weekend, with over 3.4 million people shelling out nearly $44 million on tickets. In what may be a first for Japan, the movie had the biggest opening in the world last weekend — more than all other countries combined — despite having debuted only domestically.” – The New York Times
Publisher Tom Maschler, Founder Of Booker Prize, Dead At 87
At the helm of the UK publishing house Jonathan Cape, “he discovered or helped advance the careers of such acclaimed authors as [Kurt] Vonnegut, [Gabriel] García Márquez, John Fowles, Thomas Pynchon, Ian McEwan, Edna O’Brien, Clive James, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Salman Rushdie and Bruce Chatwin.” In fact, 15 of his authors (so far) have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. – The Washington Post