Items

• 
  2020-12-10

  ‘Songbird’ Review: ‘The Purge’ Meets the Pandemic in Hollywood’s Awful First Attempt at a COVID Movie

  This is a review of the movie "Songbird". I watched it when it came out, closer to the start of the Covid pandemic and my partner reminded me of it recently. This review does a much better job at summarizing the issues of the film. It was so bad, not even from a movie and writing standpoint, but it just felt incredibly way to soon to create and release something that feels almost mocking of the pandemic. Big thumbs down.
• 
  03/31/2020

  Beach Body

  A comic strip about Covid-19
• 
  2020-03-28

  Saturdays are for "toilet paper jokes"

  A comic strip about Covid-19
• 
  2022-02-06

  Tik Tok usage

  This website shows how much Tik Toks Ratings went up during the pandemic while people were confined to their homes. Tik Tok started many trends over the last couple years and became a national platform around the world to post things like art, music, memes, craft, beauty, inspiration, cooking, education, and entertainment. This was known around the world as a creative outlet for millions of people during a sad period in time.
• 
  2021-12-10

  Lauren Leonard and Ryan BreucknerOral History, 2021/12/10

  A discussion with a peer about what we have learned about the COVID-19 pandemic through learning about other pandemics.
• 
  2020-11-25

  Taylor Swift's Pandemic Ballad

  Taylor Swift was a defining artist in the 2010s. As her following grew, she ventured further into pop and spectacle, but with the sudden onset of Covid and its subsequent lockdowns, Swift changed her music style to a minimalist folk aesthetic. The song "exile" featuring Bon Iver captured the melancholic and rundown emotions of the general public by the end of 2020 and was a cathartic experience. "Exile" and its accompanying album "Folklore" were widely praised and "Folklore" went on to become the best-selling album of 2020. The music video for "exile" shows how music production changed during the pandemic. In the video, Swift and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon are seen sitting in separate home studios, as they never met in person to record the song due to travel restrictions. All the musicians featured are socially distanced and Vernon is wearing a face covering. There are also no special effects, a small budget, and a simple editing style, which stands in contrast to Swift's pre-pandemic music videos. HIST30060
• 
  2020-04-29

  These are the 43 best COVID-19 memes for the week of March 27

  We published our favorite 63 COVID-19 memes not too long ago and the response was overwhelming. Turns out during these serious, scary and uncertain times, one thing is for sure: We could all use a good laugh. And one more thing that’s for sure: the memes just keep on coming. We bring you this week’s best COVID-19 sayings and memes.
• 2020-02-05

  Dancing through the Pandemic

  I have never experienced a pandemic like COVID-19, most of us have not. When we were told to stay home, quarantine and social distance life just became static. I moved into somewhat of a virtual reality, taking online classes and working from home. However, being home everyday without any socializing or going to the gym became really depressing and I had a hard time focusing on my work. One day my sister and I were sitting on the couch, over with pandemic life and she says "let's have a dance party". We blasted music throughout our apartment for hours and just danced all the pressure and stress out. We did this at least 3 times a week for months during the most difficult times of the pandemic. It became something we looked forward to. It was the best decision we have ever made. Not only could we destress but we had the time of our lives and it brought us closer as a family.
• 
  2021-07

  Waiting in Limbo

  Going into the weekend of the fourth of July; my roommates and I were notified of our exposure to covid-19. It came as a shock to us as for the most part we had been good at keeping away from situations that would expose us. After some deducing of how we were exposed we came to find out that one of our roommate’s girlfriend was our source. We decided to go and get tested in order to make sure we could participate in whatever fourth of July events we had scheduled. With the four of us packed into a car, we drove down to the nearest testing center. After waiting for what seemed like hours, we were able to get tests. What seemed like it would be a miserable experience of having something shoved up our noses turned out to be alright. A few days later we received calls informing us of our results. My test came back positive along with three of my roommates. However, hours later I was informed that my test was actually inconclusive and I should come get retested. So the next day I got up and drove myself over to the testing center. After waiting for an hour I was informed that I actually could not get tested for another 10 days due to my recent test. With this knowledge I had the pleasure of waiting out the week in quarantine, unsure of my exposure. The days went by long and slow stuck in a white room for 23 of the 24 hours in a day. My only real entertainment for the days being my PlayStation and my computer, and my only food being the simple groceries delivered to my house via amazon. Mostly peanut butter and jelly. After my 7 days were up I would drive to the nearest testing location to get tested. Except, that location was out of tests. I would spend the next 2 hours going to each location finding out the same thing, they were out of tests. The next 5 days would be spent doing much the same. Eventually, I would find a location and receive my test. After 2 more days I would find out my results: Negative. Having already spent more than my required quarantine time I would not know if I truly was positive in the early days. However, I don’t regret the time spent in self-quarantine in order to potentially protect others.
• 
  2021-07-23

  Time

  For me, the pandemic brought a new found attention to the passing of time. My hope for a post-pandemic life is one where we continue to find time for the things we most appreciate and enjoy - like a walk on the beach at low tide.
• 
  2020-09

  Covit-19 and the outdoors

  What do you do when you cannot do what you normally do? In Arizona the guidelines of the Governor have been pretty light except for a couple of weeks on April 2020, otherwise he was very proud to say that Arizona would follow the CDC guidelines “the Arizona way”. Meaning? We recommend the mask but is up the business to decide the extent of the enforcement; six feet distance, the same; stay home if you feel you have symptoms, of course. I have to say that the business, for the most part, have taken a more responsible posture than the authorities. Even today April 2021, when the Governor remove any obligation to wear mask, I continue to see most of the business, and population at large, that continue to wear the mask in public. So, with these light restrictions what do you do when you cannot do what you normally do? The answer for many Arizonians, and visitors, has been outdoor activities! Hiking, biking or simply going to the park. My story is of last September 2021. I too decided to resume my mountain biking activity in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and I sent my bike to a shop for routine maintenance and replace of my old tires. What I find out is that the shop could not find any tire of my kind through their suppliers in fact, they told me, it is getting difficult even to buy a new bike, the bike market just exploded . . . I was not alone. They suggest for me to go to Amazon and look for tires and I was lucky to find my tires from a pool of only 7 in all US!!! Silver line: thank to Covint-19 the US population is finally exercising, I’ll take it
• 
  2021-04-22

  Passing the Time

  Staying inside all day has given me the want to greatly improve my entertainment center. This includes getting a nicer TV that was on sale and dusting off old video game consoles from long ago.
• 
  2021-04-03

  #JOTPYFuture from Frost

  #JOTYPfuture Hoping for some Marvel movies with friends :)
• 
  2021-02-22

  #JOTPYLesson from Marissa Rhodes

  I learned how to enjoy my kids' company. Before COVID and the resultant lockdown, I used to have anxiety about spending long periods of time at home with my kids. I felt like I needed to entertain them the entire time and like I was never doing a good enough job. COVID meant I had to face the fear really quickly. I learned what I loved about spending quality time with them and most importantly, that it's OK to encourage my kids to entertain themselves. #JOTPYLesson Joan Winnie Peggy Christman Mary Biggie-Beyer Jac Que Kelly Tee
• 
  2021-04-13

  Good, bad and ugly: Covid-19’s impact on the Valley’s tourism sector detailed in study

  Over the last year, Arizona has seen the cancellation of major events due to COVID-19. These cancellations have had a major impact on business and tax revenue. The entertainment, hospitality, and food business have been hit the hardest.
• 
  2021-03-29

  From California to Pennsylvania over 2020-2021 New Years

  This is a 40-minute video that documents, in an entertaining manner, a couple and their cat going on a road trip across the United States during the pandemic (New Years 2020-2021). They began their journey from their house in Los Angeles, California towards their destination of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a matter of 6 days (3000 miles). They shared their experience going state to state, along with the precautions they took while doing so. As the title of the video suggests, “We Moved Across The Country,” they did end up moving to North Carolina. So this video covers what road travel was like as well as moving during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-03-08

  Article: Late Stage Pandemic is Messing with Your Brain

  I read this, & it struck a chord with me. Several elements in it range true. I thought it was important to save.
• 2021-02-18

  The Coming Wave of Entertainment

  entertainment was a huge part of this pandemic
• 
  2021-02-17

  My At-Home Gym

  During this drawn-out pandemic, I have had the misfortune of living alone in my apartment, essentially stranded. This was not helped by the fact that I have recently been left without a car. I have no family that lives close by and I have relied a lot on my friends' willingness to carpool with me if I need to get anywhere. I generally must walk to and from the grocery store and have many things shipped to me. Additionally, my commute to work is always on foot. These minor inconveniences are not as unbearable, however, as my inability to travel to the gym. The gym had become a daily routine for me pre-pandemic. On occasion, I would drive to the gym twice in one day to stay occupied. My lack of transportation was, thus, a major hit to my daily routine. About a week had gone by without exercise before I hatched an idea. I purchased a simple, $20, 25 lb weight to be shipped to my apartment. This weight would become the nucleus of my workout routine for the next year. With This 25 lb weight, I can mimic virtually any exercise that exists at the gym. Instead of 20 lb shoulder raises, I do 25 lb shoulder raises for a shorter set. Instead of 35 lb dumbell curls, I do 25 lb curls for a longer set. If an exercise would usually be done on a bench or mat, I could simply set down a few pillows and achieve the same effect. The transition was a bit awkward but easier than I expected. My pandemic-grade, simple, at-home weight room may appear underwhelming. It is, indeed, cheaper and of lower quality than gym equipment. However, my make-shift gym has kept me busy throughout the entirety of this pandemic. I am now back to my daily "gym" routine, sweating just as much in my apartment as I would be at a gym.
• 
  2021-01-20

  Bernie Sanders During the Pandemic

  During the pandemic all events where canceled, I found myself staying home everyday and isolating myself from all friends and work since I have family members that have underlying medical conditions and have weak immune systems. During the pandemic many people have stayed home and entertained themselves with memes. One very popular meme that recently spread through the internet is with Bernie Sanders at the inauguration ceremony. I created a picture/meme by cropping Bernie Sanders in a bed, similar to how I have been during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-01-20

  Road to Challenger

  During the last few months, I kept playing this game, trying to rank myself up to challenger.
• 
  2021-01-13

  My Pandemic Pastimes

  It is important to understand how our society has dealt with this pandemic, and my entry covers what I enjoyed during the pandemic. Things that got me through and kept me sane!
• 
  2021-01-10

  Local Bar Offers Food Delivery With a Side of Live Music

  Two downtown bars in Windsor, Ontario, are offering live music alongside food delivery. Customers can choose from multiple "Gravy Train" packages which offer food and performance from a local musician.
• 
  2020-04-03

  It's Time to Consider a New Hobby

  This article shares how one Canadian passed the time under lockdown with a variety of hobbies other than baking bread. The author includes several activities which don't require much material such as knitting, calligraphy, colouring, and puzzles.
• 
  2020-05-11

  Will interests in puzzles, crafts continue post-COVID?

  The maritimes remained isolated largely from the rest of Canada during lockdown, and Nova Scotians pre-occupied their time with not only gardening, but crafts and puzzles, much like the rest of Canada. This article enquires into the sudden obsession with puzzles and wonders if this trend will remain popular post-COVID-19 or become a one-time event?
• 
  2020-12-19

  College students having fun when the school were under lockdown

  Colleges in China are under lockdown, no students can leave the campus unless with special circumstances or personal business. The Ha'erbin Province had its first snow in the winter, students were very excited that they can have snow fight had it brought some entertainment as they got limited entertainment on campus. Over 200 students and teachers came out and played together.
• 
  2020-11-17

  Bandcamp Offers Artists A New Paid Livestream Platform

  Bandcamp, the popular indie music streaming platform, has offered musicians a new revenue stream to replace in-person live shows. Fans can buy a ticket to access the show and purchase merchandise at the "virtual merch table". As the music industry has been turned upside down due to the end of touring and live shows, this offers another way to supplement the income of artists.
• 
  2020-06-13

  Summer fun- Santa Barbara Drive-in Theater Re-opens for Social Distancing

  It was our first time doing something as a family outside the house after the pandemic reached the U.S. Since my daughter is a cancer survivor, we have to be extra careful.
• 2020-06-05

  Singing A Little Louder

  For as long as I can remember, there has always been music playing in my house, whether it be as my two sisters and I wake up each morning or up until the moment we fall asleep. Over the years, we have memorized thousands of songs and have connected with thousands of artists as we listen to anything we could find in the depths of our parent’s music collection. Our parents soon realized that they could teach us anything by means of a good song. As we would press play on the little radio that used to sit in our room, each CD would expose us to a different place, time, or mindset, while also subtly infusing messages of acceptance, equality, culture, kindness, and more. My sisters and I memorized songs in different languages, while also learning about the history and experiences that shape good music. Music became our life’s foundation and soon, in addition to listening to music for hours on end, my sisters and I started singing at various places in the small town of Smithfield, VA, where we grew up together. Hungry for more, we each picked up an instrument and learned to play guitar from listening over and over to our favorite albums and the occasional YouTube tutorial. We started to dissect the harmonies that we would hear in our favorite songs and ultimately formed our own sound that we loved sharing with the people we met within our little southern town. After learning hundreds of songs to play together, we soon realized that we wanted to start writing songs of our own. We were excited to create something that was inspired by our own experiences together, whether it be derived from feelings of happiness, sadness, heartbreak, anger, or excitement. Since we had listened to and interpreted music since we were born, the importance of songwriting is was not lost to my sisters and me. We understood the power it holds, as it frees the minds of thousands who desperately want their perspective to be represented and encourages storytelling that is inspired by real love or real loss. We were intrigued by the strong beliefs, wild imaginations, and raw emotions that ensure the timelessness of great songs. Being provided a space and a medium to write down unbridled and heartfelt ideas in addition to working with artists who inspire a safe and collaborative environment has allowed the intricacies of songwriting to come naturally to my sisters and me. Sharing my songs to audiences of all ages and sizes is absolutely exhilarating and I view my passion for meaningful lyrics as the greatest gift that has been given to me. My sisters and I began traveling to and from Nashville, meeting and collaborating with songwriters and artist to create meaningful lyrics and beautiful melodies. As our music began to directly represent what we were feeling as individuals, over the years my sisters and I started to use our original songs to communicate with each other and those around us. On March 13, for the first time in our lives, the music in our house stopped. It was replaced by the sounds of live updates from the news. As we watched the death toll rise and the heartbreaking stories of people who lost their loved ones to the virus, we were silenced by the impact of the disease. We realized that people were unable to interact with each other and that the effects of virus was attempting to strip humanity of things it needed to survive. As for my sisters and I, our entire lineup of summer performances was canceled, as well as the final trip to Nashville we had planned before I left for college. My sisters and I finally had to come to terms with the reality that we may not be able to sing out together again, as I would leave Virginia to move to Boston at the end of the summer. We struggled with the fact that we wouldn’t have the time to say goodbye to the thing that had connected us the most throughout our entire childhood and as we came to terms with our new reality, turned to music to help us get through this challenging time. With the rest of my senior year canceled, I had the time to sit and think about a lot what music has given me throughout my life. I discovered that even though I loved the songs and albums I listened to over the years, it was the time spent with my sisters that meant most to me. I thought about all of the different experiences we have shared over the years and how hard it is going to be when I would venture off on my own soon. My sisters were truly the thing in my life that I loved the most, so how was I going to be able to live 700 miles away in the middle of a global pandemic? My sisters faced the same uneasiness and uncertainty, and as usual, music served as our escape. We realized that while our situation may have been difficult to navigate, we are so incredibly lucky and grateful for the experiences we have shared and the opportunities we have been given. In the end we understood how fortunate it was that we were healthy and committed ourselves to always staying grateful even in times as unprecedented as this. We discovered that all we ever really needed was each other, and that there is more power in the relationships that you build with the people that you love than any virus or other obstacle that may come our way. I think that throughout this pandemic, the world is coming to terms with the same lesson: that human connection is one of the most impactful aspects of our lives. I hope that in the aftermath of a world redefined by a global pandemic, we all hug each other a little tighter and sing a little louder. Attached is my sister and I singing on Zoom for the first time.
• 
  2020-08-04

  TV Show Features Romantic Comedy Shot Entirely Remotely

  This is a first of its kind: a rom com shot entirely in quarantine. The two episode series was shot in the actors' homes. It follows a few couples during quarantine because of COVID-19.
• 
  2020-03

  What item summed up my COVID experience

  I decided to choose this item because in the lockdown stage of quarantine, besides working out there was not much else to do. I read an interesting book during that time as well but my TV is definitely what I got most of my entertainment from for a while.
• 
  2020-07-03

  Tipsy Tales

  We spent 2 and a half years building the [Philippines'] first immersive theater on Filipino Folklore. We ran for an amazing six months serving thousands of locals and tourists alike. We had a lot of dreams for the company. We wanted to export multi-sensory interactive theatrical experiences on Filipino culture to the world. We wanted to make people happy. The pandemic had shut down both live entertainment and the tourism industry. We could no longer afford to keep it running in the new normal. When we had to close our production, it was heart breaking. Everyone knows how hard it is [to] open a business, but few people talk about he kind of grief that comes with closing one. For a while, it felt like I had a lost a child. So young and full of potential that died before it's time. There was a pain to losing something you've worked so hard to grow from the ground up. But at the end of the day, we are grateful for the chance to have brought a dream to life, even just for a short while. Dreams are our greatest rebellion against these uncertain times. My greatest hope is that we never forget that in the darkness, we can be our own light.
• 
  2020-04-22

  Another Day, Another Puzzle - Day 40

  With calendars cleared as a result of shelter-in-place orders we have had more time to enjoy some of our family's favorite past-times. Cards and board games that were collecting dust have made their way out of cabinets. But what we've spent more time on than anything is puzzling. While each member of our family will puzzle here and there, our 5 year old son is a constant at the puzzle board. His attention and focus to puzzling is way beyond his years. Puzzling has given us the gifts of togetherness, joy, and consistency during these uncertain times. In this image, a glimpse of our family remote learning schedule and some school work are seen in the background. The presence of his "lovey" in hand is also a reminder to remember how young he is to be living during something as big as a pandemic.
• 
  2020-04-02

  Crochet Away

  While my friends lamented about how bored they were over text, I was trying to keep myself busy with new hobbies. I didn't want to sit still and stare at a screen all day, and soon enough I was filled with a passion to not become bored. I decided to go back to an old hobby of mine- crocheting. I had an untouched pile of yarn and some crochet needles sitting in my room, collecting dust. With the help of a few YouTube tutorials, I was back on track with the basics and started crocheting new things every day. The rhythm and repeated actions of crocheting were soothing and gave me time to reflect on life. As a result, I ran out of all my yarn and quickly went to buy some more online. Crocheting gave me a temporary purpose and was a good source of entertainment in my isolated life.
• 
  04/18/2020

  Kath Day-Knight's guide to isolation

  I found this really funny. It’s a very Australian Covid19 meme, using screengrabs from Kath & Kim, an iconic Australian TV show. Part mockumentary, part sitcom, the show’s eponymous characters are an outrageous mother-daughter duo who live in the fictional outer suburb of Fountain Gate. On reflection, the boredom, banality and mini-dramas of suburban life are actually a strangely perfect parallel to our lives in lockdown. Many of us feel like we are going slightly loopy. We may spend unusual amounts of time engaged in mindless activities around the house or garden. We used to squeeze thirty minutes of exercise or a trip to the supermarket into our busy schedules. Now we shape our weeks around these events. Once allowed to drink and smoke in the world’s bars and beer gardens, we are now, like Kath, forced to uncork the chardonnay night after night (or, let's face it, midday) in our own kitchens. Upon discovering this meme, I had been spending a lot of time drifting around the garden gazing at trees from different angles, watching birds and trying to speak to my chickens (Kath 4). My friend’s brother was sitting on an exercise ball in a work Zoom meeting, and a colleague asked him, “Are you sitting on an exercise ball?” He didn’t realise he had been bouncing up and down (Kath 1). Another friend has been on a reading craze in lockdown, devouring about one book per day-and-a-half (Kath 3). Which Kath are you today? #HUM402
• 
  03/29/2020

  Chalk Art

  This is some chalk art I created with my younger sister during the beginning of quarantine. Before we were stuck at home 24/7, I never would have thought to just go outside and color the driveway, or at least since I was 10 years old. Since the beginning of quarantine, I, and probably many others, have been seeking fun in lots of new ways. I personally have found myself turning to activities that I would typically do as a child. Although the pandemic has had quite the negative impact on the world, there is definitely some good that has come with it. I feel that many of us, including myself, have found ourselves outside in nature more than we had been before, as we are sort of forced to look for entertainment in different ways since we can’t be around many people at this time. When someone brings up the pandemic, it is usually something negative, so I thought this photo would represent one of the more positive aspects of quarantine. *Photograph of a drawing
• 
  2020-05-04

  New York Times Mini Crossword Puzzle May 4, 2020

  Since self-isolation began for my household, my husband and I have started doing crosswords from the NYT (New York Times) with friends via Zoom. We can share our screens and complete the puzzles together. It has been good way to exercise our brains and connect with others. I'd be curious to see if subscriptions for the NYT Crossword, which has its own separate subscription option, have increased in the last few weeks.
• 
  2020-04-26

  FB Live Concert with Roger Clyne

  Many of my favorite musicians kept us entertained by putting on FB live concerts. To repay the kindness we would tip them via Venmo or PayPal. This is one of the things that kept me sane and gave me a relief from the boredom and loneliness as I could comment to friends live during the show. It was really awesome!
• 
  2020-04-30

  live entertainment, stay-at-home edition

  Every time the garbage truck comes, my son, Carter, 5, rushes to watch the action from the living room window. He comments on the bin order, and asks questions about how the truck’s “arms” work and where the garbage is going. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and how during hockey intermissions, with no action on the ice, my dad would entertain me by having us each pick a zambonie and see whose would win the “race” to clean the ice first.
• 
  2020-03-17

  The City that Never Sleeps, Asleep?

  Las Vegas, known as the "City that never sleeps", which is the home to many famous performers/acts, hotels, restaurants, night life and more is seen to be completely empty due to many of the attractions being closed because of COVID-19. This just goes to show that, even the city that never sleeps cannot go on as it should with the pandemic occurring.
• 
  2020-04-19

  Social Distancing and 90 Day Fiance

  The quarentine has opened up the time for myself and my parents to binge watch the show 90 Day Fiance together. It has been a good way for us to get together, not get on each others nerves, and to take our minds off of the pandemic for a little bit. Recently the show has started a new small series where they have cast members vlog from home and discuss their experiences and how their lives have changed with the virus. It was interesting to so this kind of programming on cable. These days have been blurring together for a lot of us in my household, but having shows that post weekly helps orient myself to the day of week that it is.
• 
  2020-03-27

  Dan Murphey’s to the rescue

  Liquor store box, salvation for adults, box remade into a robot, salvation of entertainment
• 
  2020-04-04

  Modfied truck cruises through a street in Centelles, Catalonia, Spain playing music for the village's inhabitants.

  The truck's volume and moving of lights would be inacceptable out of quarantine, but serves as entretainment during quarantine.
• 
  2020-03-16

  Uplifting Songs, "Tomorrow"

  Father and daughter performance of song from the musical "Annie." Posted on Facebook as first in a series of "Uplifting Songs."