Entertaining and entertainments
Entertainments are opening up so time to think about how to manage your personal space with friends and how to spend your time. This week a review of key advice, a quiz and some entertainment pointers.
The track and trace system has become more like trick or treat – and which will come round first this year is anyone’s guess. So where does that leave us? With no effective system in place, there is a greater danger of a second wave though other countries in general have not seen it as yet and numbers are falling week on week. On a personal level, as more and more people do a ‘Cummings’ interpretation of the official advice, it is becoming increasingly important to communicate with visitors your last two week history of contact so they can assess their own risks. Otherwise you may put them on the spot or simply put them at a level of risk they would not wish to undertake (and which is different from your own attitude to risk). Meanwhile handwashing and social distancing (plus self isolation of symptomatic individuals and their households) remain cornerstones of containing the infection.
And for choosing what to do and where remember it is the viral load (time spent multiplied by dose being inhaled) that is important – so enjoy outside activities where the risks are minimal and use masks in busy indoor areas.
The quiz – so if you think you are well informed about the current regulations now you can find out:
1. Can you play tennis doubles outside with people from four different households?
2. Can you buy a second home?
3. Can you visit from England a second home in Pembrokeshire?
4. Can you sleep in a second home in England?
5. If you visit a relative living alone, can you sleep over?
6. If you are visiting a house with only a back garden, can you go through the house to get to the garden?
7. Are public toilets open?
8. Are playgrounds open?
9. The Premier League has restarted. How many substitutes can a team now use each match (it was three previously)?
10. If you are a fruit picker coming from the EU, must you be in self isolation for two weeks after arrival?
11. Can you currently book a holiday abroad? Will travel insurance cover you?
12. After the USA and Brazil, which country now has had the highest number of recorded deaths?
13. Which continent is now the epicentre of the pandemic?
14. New Zealand had eliminated covid-19 until two infected women arrived there from abroad earlier this month. From which country did they come?
Entertainment
Highbrow: (thanks to one of our readers)
‘We have recently appreciated some virtual art tours and performances from Covent Garden and it may be that some of your readers might enjoy these too. "Cocktails with a Curator" comes from the Frick (frick.org) and is most enjoyable, particularly the Polish rider. There is also "Travels with a Curator" which is almost as good. There is a series of Youtube videos from the V&A in which the Curator talks about the current Kimono Exhibition (accessible by googling kimono@v&a). The Royal Opera House website allows access to a number of their previously recorded live performances and these are also free of charge.’ There are also streams from many centres including the Old Vic, the Met in New York, various orchestras, the Southbank centre etc…
Midbrow: The Last Dance - about Michael Jordan the basketball player – Netflix series.
State of Happiness – light drama set in Norway – channel 4.
OJ Simpson – Made in America
Leicester city in the premier league
Lowbrow: The rest of the premier league
Books: I have just finished reading Hilary Mantel’s third book ‘The Light and the Mirror’ on Henry the Eighth and Thomas Cromwell - having watched some time ago the excellent TV series Wolf Hall. It’s gripping reading but over 800 pages with a cast of thousands so needs commitment. Highly recommended nevertheless.
Films – a review of the top ‘comfort movies’ for the pandemic came up with Titanic, The Devil Wears Prada, Waiting to Exhale, It’s complicated, Duck Soup, Notting Hill, The Princess Bride, Galaxy Quest, Paddington 2, The Pursuit of Happyness. Some surprising choices - ??Titanic no. 1 comfort movie
Quiz Q 15. Which football team do I support?
With love
Derek