Wow, 2020 is certainly something, isn’t it?
I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that most, if not all, of you reading this are quarantined inside our homes for better part of the day. I went out to the grocery store yesterday and there was nary a kernel of corn in the place.
We hope the books on sale have been helping you keep stocked with reading material, but if you need more ways to keep yourself occupied, this entire post is dedicated to just that.
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Demi Adejuyigbe is a comedian and writer for TV. I trust his movie recommendations implicitly. I also learned that Kanopy is free streaming service for many arthouse films and is available through most libraries if you have a card.
made a list of shut-in streaming recs for a friend (she requested no horror/action movies so, sorry) and am now passing on the savings to you!! dm me if you want a specific mood/genre rec or if you’re bored and feel the need to to get snippy about my bad taste in movies! pic.twitter.com/cIVt3rgoT8
— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) March 17, 2020
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The Monterey Bay Aquarium has their live cams up and running! My personal fave: the otters, of course.
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Sundance Now is encouraging anyone who is stuck at home and social distancing to start something new with a 30-day free trial for new subscribers (previously a 7-day trial). AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now is for the culture craving TV watchers looking for their next series to obsess over and offers a rich selection of original and exclusive series from engrossing true crime to heart-stopping dramas and fiercely intelligent thrillers from around the world.
Those interested can sign up at www.sundancenow.com. Special code: SUNDANCENOW30
Get started with the vast collection of series on Sundance Now, including the supernatural smash hit A Discovery of Witches starring Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer; glamorous thriller Riviera starring Julia Stiles; British thriller The Cry starring Jenna Coleman; British psychological drama Cheat; New Zealand detective drama The Gulf; Nordic noir Wisting; French crime dramas The Red Shadows and The Bureau, plus exclusively streamed Emmy winner State of the Union starring Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd, and AMC’s and BBC’s acclaimed miniseries The Little Drummer Girl starring Florence Pugh, Michael Shannon and Alexander Skarsgård; as well as riveting true crime series Killing for Love with Amanda Knox’s podcast and Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle.
Premiering this week: “Sweden’s answer to Downton Abbey” (Culture Trip) and one of the most successful Swedish dramas ever, THE RESTAURANT, Season 3 premieres on Thursday, March 19 with a new episode added every Thursday after.
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I had lots of fun conjuring 3D animals into my room. I do wish there were a more obvious list of animals somewhere, though I was able to do this with a hedgehog, wolf, and giant panda.
You can get a weird virtual animal into ur house via google if you just google the name of the animal and click this pic.twitter.com/tJGUcQ0V7g
— jen (@bookavid) March 16, 2020
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If you’re a person living with anxiety and the current state of things has only made it worse, we have something for you too!
https://t.co/x2ChT9pPva is one-stop-shop full of resources around how to care for your coronavirus-related anxiety and take a moment to breathe. (7/13)
— Marah Lidey (@marahml) March 13, 2020
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Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
I used to dream of what it would be like to sit on my couch, surrounded by my kindle, iPad, iPhone, and books and have nothing to do all day but read and have nowhere to go but the occasional trip to the grocery store. Be careful what you wish for…you just might get it.
Good news since we’re all going to the elibrary right now: https://publishingperspectives.com/2020/03/coronavirus-macmillan-penguin-random-house-ease-library-digital-book-programs/
Just funny: https://lithub.com/shakespeare-wrote-king-lear-during-a-plague-well-good-for-him-say-all-the-writers/
Virtual hedgehogs in your house are better than real hedgehogs in your house, although very cute they are flea ridden little beasts. I wish I had real hedgehogs in my garden though as they eat slugs, first carefully scraping off the slug slime! <3
Oh I think the New Decameron is a cool idea, as well as a source of free stories, though you can tip or subscribe if you are able https://www.patreon.com/m/4119564/posts
The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is currently closed, so some of the penguin caretakers have been taking the penguins on “field trips” to see the other animals and posting videos. It’s pretty cute.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-ent-shedd-penguins-field-trip-20200315-bpo4v5cwwnggzjp5ghccme3ray-story.html
You can sign up to see a different opera every day through the Metropolitan Opera’s website. And sign up using a voucher (before 31 March) to access the recordings in the Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall for free. See digital concert hall on the Philharmonic website.
And, if you haven’t done so, register to vote: https://vote.gov for voters in the USA and http://www.fvap.gov for US voters (military and civilian) overseas.
For any “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” fans Mo Williems is doing a lunch doodle every day and he may be the most soothing human in the world. It’s very Mr. Rogers-esque but also you get to draw!
@Rebecca: Some of my happiest memories are of reading the Pigeon books with my grandson when he was small, so I’m thrilled to find out that Mr Willems is as delightful as his books. Thanks for the link!
Live animal cams are the best therapy ever, imo.
OK, the otters are cool, but I’m going with the Monterey Bay penguin cam. Especially at feeding time. (I’ve literally been checking in on them for about 15 years.) But all the MB cams are great.
The wonderful Brooks Falls bear cam is only available in the summer, and I truly hope we’re done with being quarantined by then…but it’s still worth checking out.
#1 live cam, above all others, is kitten cam. And, specifically, the TinyKittens site on YouTube. You’re welcome.
I bought some Washi tape off wish and I got a hundred amount of tape. Turned out some of it is reject sellable tape; so I need to use a knife to gently cut ends into some of it. Nothing is water damaged. Just goop thick. So using an exacto knife to cut color tape onto stuff is oddly soothing.
Otherwise, I’m enjoying Markiplier Let’s play videos. His 2 Scary games line of videos is fun.
Oops. Three scary games. Those ones.
I’ve been watching Parks and Rec-for the umpteenth time, and it feels so good to laugh! Lesley Knope for the win!
Our school district is closed, as I think most of them are-I’m a substitute teacher so no work for me. I feel like this is the time I should really get on my declutter project-which is always a goal but I somehow never do. So far I am just thinking about it, I have a big TBR pile-and priorities! Maybe I should ease into it with decluttering zones of the house, because when I look at it as a whole? Back to my Kindle I go!
Thanks for all the great resources. Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) has free resources thru the end of May. Their site includes loads of links to other schools as well 🙂
Here’s a giant list of livestream cultural entertainment: Let Culture Calm You
This was put together by my company president, and many of our customers are on the list (we do software for arts & culture).
People request Kanopy every so often at my library, but our collection development department won’t buy it because the pricing model is HORRENDOUS. They charge per movie/film viewed, something like $3-5 a pop. It gets stupid expensive very quickly, especially in a big city like mine (~1.7 million people live in the county). So, in case your library doesn’t have it, that’s probably why.
Also, Animal Planet currently has 90-odd hours of puppies and kittens showing as of right now. It started last night and will run through the 22nd at 8 pm EST, I believe. If you want to watch regular tv but need a break, puppies and kittens will do nicely.