Coronavirus: Things To Do
Pink Floyd Launch Digital Playlist Featuring Rare or Unreleased Music
During the early part of quarantine, Pink Floyd treated fans to a digital concert series with weekly broadcasts of classic concerts. Now, they’ve launched a “brand new daily evolving playlist” featuring rare or unreleased music previously not available online. The “Syd, Roger, Richard, Nick and David – An Evolving Pink Floyd Playlist” officially launches today with “Us & Them (Live at The Empire Pool, Wembley, London 1974)”, from their 2011 Immersion box set of The Dark Side of The Moon. Each day will bring the addition of one new track to the playlist, ranging from alternate versions of classic songs to deep cuts spanning the entirety of Pink Floyd’s existence. Friday, in particular, will feature material previously made available on Pink Floyd’s Immersion box sets, such as the case w...
Cannabis Could Help Treat COVID-19, New Study Finds
Has Mike Tyson’s ritual of smoking $40,000 worth of weed every month been strengthening his immune system against the coronavirus pandemic? Probably not… but maybe! According to a new study by researchers at the University of Lethbridge, using cannabis could help treat COVID-19 by blocking coronavirus cells from entering the human body. This non-peer-reviewed, pre-clinincal study, titled “In Search of Preventative Strategies: Novel Anti-Inflammatory High-CBD Cannabis Sativa Extracts Modulate ACE2 Expression in COVID-19 Gateway Tissues”, was published in the peer journal Preprints in May. Lethbridge researchers began looking into a correlation between the two for a partnership between their university, pharmaceutical research company Pathway RX, and cannabinoid-based oral health compan...
Yankee Stadium Parking Lot to Host Drive-In Concerts and Movies This Summer
With the pandemic limiting social interactions, the concept of the drive-in is making a comeback. New York state recently reopened its drive-in movie theaters, but New York City will be taking things to the next level come summer. As Time Out New York reports, the Yankee Stadium parking lot will be turned into a weekend carnival experience dubbed Uptown Drive-In. Beginning in July, the iconic baseball stadium will host drive-in movies and concerts featuring local musicians every night Friday through Sunday, with a “brunch series” occurring on Saturday and Sunday. What’s more, the festivities will include carside dinner service, interactive games, and giveaways. The stage will be elevated to be seen from attendees’ cars, with sound streamed from the PA system directly to car radios. Th...
Donald Glover and Community Cast Reunite for Virtual Table Read: Watch
Some flies are too awesome for the wall, even while quarantined. That’s why the entire cast of Community, including Donald Glover, is reuniting for a virtual table read and Q&A today at 5:00 p.m. ET via the Community YouTube channel. The event will raise money for COVID-19 charities — and, unintentionally, add more fuel to the fire of those movie rumors. In addition to Glover, who left the series in Season 5, the event will include Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong, and series creator Dan Harmon. After concluding the reading, the cast will stroll down memory lane by answering questions from viewers. Fans can submit their questions on social media by using #AskCommunity and tagging @CommunityTV. Obviously that list excludes Ch...
Over 700 Independent Musicians Sign Open Letter Asking Congress for COVID-19 Relief
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, over 700 musicians have signed an open letter asking the US Congress to increase relief measures for artists. A wide range of acts have signed the petition so far, including Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Deafheaven, Julia Holter, Charly Bliss, and Jeff Rosenstock. The newly formed Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) penned the letter as a way to ask their government representatives — especially Speaker Pelosi, Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and leaders of the Congressional Arts Caucus — to consider more helpful COVID-19 relief measures for artists. To make contacting representatives easier, the union has created a special phone number to connect callers to the aforementioned offices, the prompts of which ar...
Star Wars Fan Turns Roomba Into Working R2-D2 and Reveals His Jedi Secrets: Watch
Move aside DJ Roomba, there’s a new housekeeper in town. A total Jedi Knight of a Star Wars fan has reworked Roomba technology to build himself his own R2-D2 machine (which he’s calling R9-D9) — and, yes, it’s the droid we’re looking for. It sweeps. It mops. It even talks. What’s more, it can be yours. The man in question — filmmaker Matthew Scott Hunter — created a complete video breakdown on how he designed the thing using household items and materials. Editors’ Picks Essentially, he took his R2-D2 garbage can, inserted a fan motor for head movements, and added a Bluetooth speaker so it could talk. He even designed the thing to be remotely controlled, which should come in handy when it gets pesky as droids do. Okay, so it’s not exactly a Lego set, and may prove rather difficult for...
Universal’s Watch Party Series to Kickoff With Halloween Hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is back on her live-watch game. Today, Universal announced it will be taking over weekends with a series of Twitter watch parties, and Laurie Strode herself will kick things off this Saturday, May 16th with 2018’s Halloween. She won’t be alone when she returns to Haddonfield, Illinois. Director David Gordon Green will co-host alongside the Scream Queen and entertain special guests John Carpenter, Jason Blum, Judy Greer, James Jude Courtney, and Nick Castle. Sadly, Dr. Sartain will not be joining them. Editors’ Picks The rest of the month will see watch parties for Apollo 13, hosted by former NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, in addition to The Breakfast Club, hosted by everyone’s favorite site founded by Chris Hardwick: Nerdist. Radical. In order to join, simply follow the...
Hundreds of Hard-to-Find Peel Sessions Cataloged on YouTube
John Peel’s BBC 1 radio show was iconic at the time it aired. In hindsight, it’s only grown all the more legendary. The legendary broadcaster recorded over 4,000 sessions with over 2,000 artists, which is, objectively speaking, a lot. To help make sorting through the Peel Sessions archive easier, angel-in-disguise and blogger Dave Strickson has uploaded and alphabetized hundreds of available recordings from the show to stream online (via BrooklynVegan). Most of the original studio sessions from Peel’s radio show were released as Peel Session EPs by his label, Strange Fruit Records, but many of those are unavailable to stream online. Thankfully, listeners occasionally upload those almost-lost-to-time recordings to YouTube. That’s where Strickson comes in. To help make the process of di...
Peter Hook on 40 Years Without Ian Curtis, Working with Gorillaz, and Keeping the Party Going
“The best thing you can do in life is stick on that smile and get out there and enjoy as much as you possibly can,” Peter Hook says over our lunch on Skype. “Because as we’ve seen from the way that you’ve suffered in America — the way that we’ve suffered here in the UK — time can be very short. You don’t know what’s around the corner do you?” With the utmost tragic timing, an alert flashes on my iPhone screen, informing me of the death of Kraftwerk legend Florian Schneider, who I learn has passed away from his battle with cancer. Absolutely destroyed, I tell Hook, who reflects, “There you go Phillip. A prime example isn’t it? Life can be very short. Too short … and not filled with harmony…” Hook knows a thing or two about harmony, both off stage and on it. The veteran musician, who laid do...
Donald Glover and Community Cast to Reunite Online for Charity
Start wrapping up that binge watch of Community on Netflix. According to Variety, the entire cast — yes, that includes Donald Glover — are reuniting for a virtual table read and Q&A to raise money for COVID-19 charities. The event goes down on Monday, May 18th at 5 p.m. EDT via Sony Pictures TV’s Community YouTube page. Fans will be able to submit their questions on social media using #AskCommunity and tag @CommunityTV. In addition to Glover, who left the series in Season 5, the event will include Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong, and series creator Dan Harmon. Sorry, Pierce. Yes, Chevy Chase won’t need to be involved since they’ll be reading Season 5 episode “Cooperative Polygraphy”, which revolves around the funeral o...
Thousand Pieces of Gold Cast and Crew Reunite for COVID-EODROME on Twitch
COVID-EODROME, a new weekly movie review series for our newly minted Twitch channel, returns to review the latest Video On-Demand releases. Hosted by The Spool’s Editor-in-Chief Clint Worthington and RogerEbert.com’s Scout Tafoya, the show provides some much-needed film criticism for your quarantine. Starting at 2:30 p.m. EST / 11:30 a.m. PST, the series will spotlight three new releases: –First up is Martha Stephens’ new drama To the Stars, which stars Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Shea Whigham, Tony Hale, and more. It’s currently streaming on Hulu. –Next up is Coky Giedroyc’s comedic adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s How to Build a Girl, which stars Beanie Feldstein and premieres this weekend on VOD. –And finally, we have Driveways, the final film to star the late Brian Dennehy. It...
Real-Life Haunted House from The Conjuring to be Live-Streamed for Charity
Imagine spending your quarantine inside a haunted house. That’s currently a reality for the Heinzen family, who are living in the real-life house that inspired The Conjuring. Fortunately for them, evil spirits won’t be the only forces lurking their halls. Starting this Saturday, May 9th at 12:00 p.m. EST, Dark Zone Productions will open the doors to the Heinzen’s spooky house with an exclusive and fully immersive live stream. The week-long event will help raise funds for three COVID-19 related charities: World Cental Kitchen, Gary Sinise Foundation, and Global Giving. As a press release details, both skeptics and believers will have an interactive look inside the world renowned house. It will all be live, so if something happens, you’ll see it in real time. There will also be a number of s...
