Dear Reader
I didn’t know how much I needed Mavis Staples singing Purple Rain, accompanied by members of Prince's Revolution band, until last night. Staples, one of the late, great Prince’s favourite artists, took part in the Grammys Salute to Prince, honouring his music and his life — four years since he passed away. The tribute was filmed before the world as we know it changed. But it got me thinking about how some things we mark and commemorate as no different than BC, Before Corona. Other things, though, take on added meaning. Like today’s Earth Day. It’s becoming clearer that the fights against the coronavirus and the climate crisis go together. Earth Day, the 50th commemoration of the event, is — like so many other things — going digital for the first time.
Earth Day Live is hosting an ongoing 3-day live stream from 9 am to 9 pm today, tomorrow and Friday across streaming platforms, featuring messages, performances and calls to action from the likes of Al Gore and Zac Efron.
Other online entertainment options (picked especially for you, by me) are:
1. The opening night film at last year’s TriBeCa Film Festival was The Apollo, the documentary about the legendary Harlem venue, the Apollo Theater, and you can watch it tonight on the HBO app, for free, and join in a Twitter watch party, from 8pm EST.
2. The big New Jersey Pandemic Fundraiser Jersey 4 Jersey is happening today. Providing musical performance from their homes will be Tony Bennett, Jon Bon Jovi, Halsey, Charlie Puth, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa and SZA. From 4pm PST / 7pm EST.
3. This is for UK readers (or those who know how to bypass internet addresses) — earlier this week it was announced David Attenborough will be teaching kids (and eager adults too, right?) as part of the BBC’s Bitesized education programme. This definitely falls under entertainment, even if it is educational in aim! (Lucky young Cbeebies viewers also get Tom Hardy reading them bedtime stories from next week too!)
4. This one is not entertainment per se, but it is if you’re a runner and then it’s very entertaining. The Olympic Channel has been playing repeats of world marathon major races throughout this week. It started on Monday with Boston, and continues until Sunday, when the London Marathon was meant to be held (the one I was meant to do, *sob*). Find the schedule here.
And just a heads up, coming next week, SXSW is launching its 2020 streaming slate on Amazon Prime. I’ll have more details next week, but this is a great way to take part in the film side of the fest, even if you’ve never been to Austin before.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this, please do share and subscribe. And if there are any online happenings you think I should include, please drop me a line!
I’ll ‘leaf’ you with this heart!
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia