While business is booming for online booksellers – Booktopia reported a 28% increase in sales in the 2020 financial year, driven substantially by Covid lockdowns – bricks and mortar stores have had an uneven year. – The Guardian
Tag: 11.07.20
How Choral Groups Are Finding Their Voices
“That sense of belonging you get while standing before a chorus of hundreds singing at the holidays isn’t just you feeling festive — it’s your body behaving like a body. If talking to a loved one over Zoom doesn’t feel quite the same as sharing a sofa or a coffee in person, it’s partly because — get ready for some science — you’re not feeling the same vibrations. It may be why I’m genuinely impressed but ultimately unmoved by the Zoom choruses that exploded in popularity this summer.” – Washington Post
Defending Short Stories, And Not Being The Only Black Writer In The Conversation
Danielle Evans says, “Stories work in compression and intensity, and their structure helps me get to the place where everything collapses or the threads come together. It can echo some of the intensity of how being alive feels.” – The New York Times
Learning Ballroom Dance Moves Over Zoom
Ballroom dancer Trisha Pérez Kennedy says that “normally, her partner’s touch helps communicate the next step in a dance combination. ‘We use the strength of our bodies to speak to each other,’ she says. ‘It can be as subtle as the pressure of his hand on my back to help me know what will happen next. When you’re dancing on your own, you don’t have that guidance keeping you in check. You have to own all of your technique.'” – Wall Street Journal
How The Appa From Kim’s Convenience Ended Up A Fighter Pilot For The Republic
Sometimes, in Hollywood, or Canadian media even, dreams do come true. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who plays the father on the excellent Canadian show Kim’s Convenience, has a life outside of theatre and screen. “Lee is an avid cosplayer, known for the intricate costumes and props he creates for characters from Star Wars and Ghostbusters films.” – CBC
The Shape Of Black (Art) History
“This is what makes Gates such a great and interesting artist: his deep awareness of the history of materials, from fired clay to roofing tar and brick, to paperback books and runs of newsstand magazines, to the malleability of language. His research into Black history and the context in which materials and commonplace products have been used transcends the aesthetic divide between high and low.” – Hyperallergic
The Great British Bake Off’s Famous Illustrator Has A Secret
He doesn’t even like cake. But that’s OK; he likes drawing – and now he has a team of four to help him with the fun illustrations that accompany the bakers’ plans. Emphasis on the plans. Since in-tent bakes don’t always work, the show now also sends the illustrator photos of practice bakes, which usually do work a little better. – BBC
Claire Messud On Observing The Heady Mixture Of Life, But Only Observing, As A Writer
Messud: “In some ways, to be a writer is to stand at the side, to be the observer, to be liminal. Wittgenstein said that all philosophy is neurosis. If you’re not neurotic then you don’t even have to write anything down, you’re just busy living.” – The Guardian (UK)
Back In Lockdown In Europe, What To Read?
For instance, take The Count of Monte Cristo. “At 1,200 pages, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas has the look of a book that might be boringly good for you. … I don’t think I’ve ever read anything with such adrenalin, awe and immersive enjoyment, aided by the zippy and vivid translation.” – Irish Times
The New GBBO Is All About Flowers
In a time of pandemics, wildfires, long election seasons, Brexit, and more, little can reassure a tired viewing audience, one that has seen every episode of The Great British Bake-Off (or The Great British Baking Show, in Netflix terms) and perhaps is jaded about the handshake. But then Britain comes through again with Full Bloom. – Los Angeles Times