Dr. David Price of Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City shares information in a March 22 Zoom call with his family and friends on empowering and protecting them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with any information coming out during this crisis, consume at your own risk and know that the situation and advice may change as knowledge of the virus and conditions on the group change.

I found this nearly one hour video to be extremely informative, level-headed, and moving.

The bottom line of the video is what we've been hearing since the beginning: Keep your hands clean, don't touch what other people touch (out of an abundance of caution), and don't touch your face.

He suggests wearing a mask if you go out, any mask, not to prevent exposure, but to remind you to keep your hands off your face! Read the rest

Our pal Doc Pop writes:

I've been working with artists on Fiverr to convert health advice messages into extreme metal band logos. I'm sharing the results on this Twitter thread.

I'm releasing some of my favorites on Threadless as shirts and sweaters. All the proceeds from the sales are being donated to workers at Mission bars and restaurants (via gofundme, online tip jars, or sending it directly to workers through venmo).

Read the rest

More shut-in fun as legendary lensman, Mick Rock, goes through a collection of some of his most famous photographs and tells stories about them.

This incredible Bowie image, taken at Haddon Hall: “It was the light. It was unbelievable.”

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“It was the light. It was unbelievable.”

A post shared by Mick Rock (@therealmickrock) on Mar 26, 2020 at 10:00am PDT

Mötley Crüe: Dirty little buggers. So much fucking cocaine.

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Mick Rock at Home EP 1 : Motley Crue "Bubble Bath” - 1986 . Dirty little buggars. Where they needed to be! In a f💥ckin’ Mick Rock bubble bath. Hallelujah! #mickrockathome @motleycrue @thevinceneil @nikkisixxpixx @mr.mickmars @tommylee #thedirt #mickrockfilm #shot

A post shared by Mick Rock (@therealmickrock) on Mar 24, 2020 at 10:02am PDT

Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody cover): It's very hard to get away from this particular picture.

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If you missed my @morrisonhotelgallery live stream chat last week, here you go! I'll be posting never before seen photos and stories plus rare footage on my Instagram TV in the coming weeks, so be sure to check it out. xM

A post shared by Mick Rock (@therealmickrock) on Mar 22, 2020 at 12:12pm PDT

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Sunbathers at Galheta Beach in Brazil were treated to sandstorm created by helicopter police tasked with enforcing public distancing rules.

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John J. King is a playwright and all-around awesome and clever dude; we were playwriting fellows together at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, and I also contributed some music to his Hamlet/James Bond mashup From Denmark With Love.

Now John has decided to share his work-from-home tips, in the form of a fun, dance-y music video (clothing optional). Enjoy! Read the rest

With schools closed during this COVID-19 situation, and with no real end in sight, some high school students are planning to take their prom celebrations online.

TIME:

And while schools in Los Angeles are only shut down for two weeks so far, students at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) are looking to technology for social distancing-friendly ways to celebrate the end of the school year with their friends.

LACES seniors Zack Monterosso and Colin Wire and junior Wakie Haque tell TIME that they’re currently planning to host a virtual party on the video conferencing service Zoom, dubbed a “Zoom rager,” as a test run for virtual prom...

...in Struthers, Ohio, Jessica Ludovici, a senior at Struthers High School, tells TIME that she’s planning to host prom in her living room while FaceTiming her friends.

“We’re all going to do a huge group FaceTime. I’ll put on music and we’ll go in the expensive dresses and tuxes that we already bought to get ready for prom,” she says. “I tweeted and was just like, ‘This is what’s going to happen. It’s going to be in my living room, you guys can send me a song for the playlist and that will be your ticket. You can invite whoever, I don’t really care because we’re all just going to be on a group FaceTime.'”

photo by hundrednorth/Flickr Read the rest

To help entertain all of us while we hunker down in our domestic anti-viral combat bunkers, Rolling Stone is asking musicians to share performances from their bunkers. They kick off the series with the galactic treasure himself, Brian Wilson.

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While there were certainly more people out than I expected to see … there weren't that many. Which somehow made it even weirder than the Boston Marathon Bombing Lockdown, when at least the shared sense of fear was more palpable. Read the rest

I saw this tweet yesterday and though it might be a joke, but it's not. Conan O'Brien really is going to host his show remotely starting Monday, March 30. Guests will Skype in to be interviewed and the audience will be stuck-at-home, self-isolating types, like me (and maybe you?). The new episodes will air on TBS, as usual.

The quality of my work will not go down because technically that’s not possible,” said O’Brien.

“Our first priority is the health and well-being of everyone in the Team Coco family, and our second priority is to try and find a way that we can do our jobs safely, from home, and contribute some entertainment for our fans out there who may be hungry for silly distraction,” said Jeff Ross, Executive Producer.

Speaking of a "silly distraction":

screengrab via Conan/Twitter Read the rest

Genius.

This is a “social distancing machine.” Read the rest

A few days ago, I wrote about the transformation of WWE Smackdown into a beautiful work of Beckett-esque absurdist theatre once the audience was removed for coronavirus safety. I didn't think it could get anymore gloriously weird.

Then Twitter user @SIDEEYEmusic took it to the next level by adding the Twin Peaks score.

i added twin peaks music to pro wrestling without an audience and it fits perfectly pic.twitter.com/OVauro8c7L

— SIDEEYE (@SIDEEYEmusic) March 18, 2020

Image: peaked/Vimeo and Shamsuddin Muhammad / Wikimedia Commons (CC 2.0)

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US Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has made entrance to all National Parks free for now. (Of course, some parks and facilities are closed so check before going.)

"This small step makes it a little easier for the American public to enjoy the outdoors in our incredible National Parks," Bernhardt said. "Our vast public lands that are overseen by the Department offer special outdoor experiences to recreate, embrace nature and implement some social distancing."

However, an organization of retirees from the National Park Service disagree. From CNN:

Chair Phil Francis of The Coalition to Protect America's Parks argues that "to suggest to the public that gathering at national park sites is acceptable ... is irresponsible to the visiting public and employees."

"National parks welcome visitors from around the world," Francis writes. "Many National Park Service employees interact with members of the public daily."

image: Chinle Formation, Arizona by Doug Dolde (public domain) Read the rest

Maker icon and Boing Boing friend, Mister Jalopy, is one of my all-time favorite outside-the-box thinkers. David Letterman used to be fond of saying: "He (or she) ain't hooked up right." He always meant it as a compliment -- someone who marched to their own drummer, someone unvarnished, someone who didn't succumb to habituated thinking. Mister Jalopy ain't hooked up right.

In this Instagram video, he announces that his store, Coco's Variety, LA's most idiosyncratic bike shop, will remain open where so many other stores are closing. They are going old-timey and setting up a counter in the entrance to the store. Customers will approach the counter, request what they want, and the staff will bring purchases to them. They will also still work on your bike (if you're willing to have it washed in disinfectant first).

It will be interesting to see what other retailers do creatively to remain open. This is an inspiring start.

 

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Coco’s is trying to keep the doors open to keep the wheels turning. Unprecedented times in which cycling becomes more important, not less so.

A post shared by Coco's Variety (@cocosvariety) on Mar 16, 2020 at 12:51pm PDT

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Get ready to sing. With thousands of other people. Alone at home. That's the idea behind the upcoming Choir! Choir! Choir! Facebook Live event, "Choir!ntine: EPIC Social Distan-Sing-Along!"

The experts have spoken and we’re seriously taking their advice that sticking close to home, and limiting exposure to other people will help reduce the spread of the corona virus. At the same time, it’s been sad to have to postpone gigs in Toronto and around the world. But just because we're now in a time of “social distancing”, doesn’t mean we can’t hang out, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do this Tuesday!

Presenting: "Choir!ntine" - An EPIC Social Distan-Sing-Along!

Starting at 8pm EST, DaBu will broadcast from their living room and everyone is invited to log on and sing with us. And just like our shows, we’ll hang out, share some laughs and hold our C!ommunity close. Whether you've ever come out to Choir! or not, you are invited to join us online.

Want to be part of it?

First, download the lyrics. You'll be belting out familiar songs like "Lean on Me," Bowie's "Space Oddity." and the Golden Girls' theme, "You've Got a Friend."

Second, head to the Choir! Choir! Choir! Facebook page on Tuesday, March 17 (8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific).

Third, SING YOUR LITTLE HEART OUT. (Again, home alone.)

This Tuesday from 8-9:30pm EST, you are invited to CHOIR!NTINE: AN EPIC SOCIAL DISTANCING SING-A-LONG

Where: https://t.co/m9cfdli0gr

Download lyrics here: https://t.co/yRMl7IzXdX

Then join our Livestream Tuesday at 8pm!

My favorite thing about joke D&D alignment charts is that I am always, always Chaotic Good. I just can't avoid my nature, and everybody knows it.

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some friendly dos/donts

A post shared by Aiden :) (@aidenarata) on Mar 15, 2020 at 8:53pm PDT

Lawful Good: washing your hands, social distancing, and forwarding your mom's pandemic advice emails to your friends

Neutral Good: taking loong moody walks by yourself at weird hours of the day

Chaotic Good: having a facetime tinder hookup and venmoing your service industry friends what you would have spent at the bar

Lawful Neutral: writing a series of poems/personal essays on what "distance" means to you

True Neutral: putting aside your manuscript to watch all 543 episodes of chopped

Chaotic Neutral: adopting a lizard

Lawful Evil: hoarding hand sanitizer and toilet paper

Neutral Evil: exacerbating panic and yelling at people on the internet

Chaotic Evil: having the privilege and resources to be able to self-isolate and choosing not to because this is America and you feel fine

via Aiden Arata on Instagram

Top  image via Wikimedia Commons / CC 4.0 Read the rest