Dear Reader
Once a month for the past 8 years or so, I’ve gone to a Creative Mornings breakfast talk. I haven’t made every single one, but I have a pretty good track record of attendance. They’ve been invaluable to me, as a freelance journalist in the city. I’ve found great support in the community spirit of these gatherings — where people come together at a venue in New York, have coffee and usually a croissant, sometimes more, and listen to a talk from someone who has some useful insights to share on this life we are living. Creative Mornings has chapters all over the world. Today the NYC one, started by CM founder Tina Roth Eisenberg, will be hosted for the first time virtually, on Zoom and YouTube. It’ll aptly feature author Priya Parker talking about The Art of Gathering.
For the foreseeable future, this is how we’re going to have gather. Creative Mornings draws hundreds of people together — especially if someone like Esther Perel is speaking — but until we have a vaccine or prophylactic of sorts, they won’t be able to take place physically. It’s the same thing with film festivals and marathons — 2 of my favourite things. Many marathons that were meant to take place around now have been moved to a few months down the line. But race organisers should just cancel them all now, and not keep waiting for something to change. Take that energy created by the false hope that marathons as we know them are going ahead and look into other ways to maintain the commitments to those who rely on them — to the charities that need their fundraising and to the runners that need the goal to work towards.
There has been much talk of how to ease out of this, when and what that would look like, but it’s still, just as NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the start, a marathon and not a sprint. Hosting a marathon in 2020 certainly feels like being stuck on the idea of a sprint — a mad dash to the finish. Maybe we go full-on virtual, who knows, but there’s room to be both creative and responsible about it all.
Off my soapbox, now — here’s a selected edition of some of the entertainment options for this weekend:
1. Today, Post Malone plays a tribute to Nirvana to benefit The United Nations Foundation's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the WHO. It kicks off at 3pm PST/6pm EST on the rapper's YouTube channel. Meanwhile, fellow Seattleites Pearl Jam is releasing a visual experience to accompany their latest album, Gigaton.
2. The Brooklyn Academy of Music is hosting BAM In Conversation: Word. Sound. Power 2019, today at 1:30pm PST/ 4:30pm EST. Curator Mikal Amin Lee, director Baba Israel and DJ Reborn will share stories and play select clips from last year’s hip-hop and spoken word performance.
3.Jack Johnson will be hosting his own at-home music festival,Kokua Festival 2020 – Live From Home, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day earlier this week, and in support of the Kokua Hawai'i Foundation. Ben Harper, Ziggy Marley and others will join in on the two-hour livestream from Johnson’s home in Oahu, at 3pm PST/6pm EST.
4. Throwing in a bit of fitness…Outlander actor Sam Heughan, who is excited about ‘Scotland, whisky and fitness’ and often brings all three together, is hosting a live yoga session on Saturday at 10am PST/1pm EST on his Instagram. Okay, so maybe the whisky won’t be part of it, but it’s still a good combo.
5. A line-up so good I feel like clapping just at hearing the names alone has been assembled for a special virtual concert in celebration of Stephen Sondheim's 90th Birthday, Take Me To The World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, this Sunday, April 26 at 5[m PST / 8pm EST on YouTube.
Thank you for reading — have a good weekend. And…
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia
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