Something nice for all of us, watching Elton John and other musical stars in the comfort of our homes.
Many of us are going a bit stir crazy from being confined to our homes in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
While a number of singers are performing songs on social media for our enjoyment, Elton John and several other big headliners are taking things a step further with the “iHeart Living Room Concert for America.”
The hour-long benefit will air on Sunday, March 29, at 9 p.m. ET on Fox. It will be broadcast on iHeartMedia radio stations as well.
The concert pays tribute to front line health care workers and first responders amid the coronavirus pandemic and is seeking donations for Feeding America and First Responders Children’s Foundation.
In addition to Sir Elton, performers include Alicia Keys, the Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mariah Carey and Tim McGraw.
The artists will appear from their own homes and will be filmed with their personal cell phones, camera and audio equipment.
While Americans are generally prone to panic during national emergencies (Please, don’t steal the Charmin from your supermarket’s rest room), we also know how to pull together and support each other during tough times. We pushed through the horror of 9/11, and built ourselves back up again.
So, let’s pull through this pandemic together with support, care, and compassion.
A scene from the high school musical Matilda can be viewed on Twitter at #SunshineSongs started by Laura Benanti.
The large cast of Shrek The Musical performs This is Our Story on Twitter at #SunshineSongs.
In 2016, my daughter Katie and I had the pleasure to see Laura Benanti on Broadway in the sparkling musical She Loves Me.
Today, many people are singing another tune, “We Love Laura.”
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, with most of our country shutting down, Laura Benanti is a bright star.
Realizing that many high school musicals have been canceled in order to contain the virus, Benanti took to Twitter and asked kids to post rehearsal videos of their performances, using the hashtag #SunshineSongs. The tweet went viral and lots of young kids are now getting more exposure and publicity than they could have dreamed of.
It’s really fun watching the passion kids are putting into musicals such as Anything Goes, Newsies, Spring Awakening, Les Miserables and an all-female cast production of Fiddler on the Roof. Check it out.
I’ve come across some inspiring things people are doing during this time.
A person on Facebook reported that their son’s Bar Mitvah celebration was canceled. But they decided not to cancel their caterer and instead had the party’s food delivered to people in need.
Some grocery stores have announced an early morning opening hour so senior citizens, who are at high risk, can shop in less crowded conditions.
With Italy being under a strict national quarantine, an Italian opera singer has delighted his neighbors by singing arias from his balconies. Neighborhoods are also engaging in joint sing-a-longs from balconies and windows from their apartments, giving them something to do and lifting each other’s spirits.
Renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés shut down his restaurants in the Washington, D.C. area and is opening a community kitchen to offer lunches to those in need.
There have been a number of GoFundMe pages created to help coronavirus victims in need of financial assistance.
Some business and funds have said they will help workers who are struggling financially while the businesses shut down.
Kudos to these individuals for acting selflessly during this extraordinary time.
Have you heard of any other inspirational acts? Let me know in the comment section.
The Bear on The Masked Singer turned out to be a big surprise.
While we are all suffering to some degree from the coronavirus pandemic, some very seriously, we need to find ways to relieve our stress.
Since we are advised to stay home, it’s good to find things we can do without going out into the world. We can connect with people via the internet. We can break out Sweatin’ to the Oldies and exercise. We can bake some chocolate chip cookies. My co-worker Mindy crochets scores of adorable little hats for babies in the hospital.
We can also just sit back and watch some TV. There are plenty of movies on cable and Netflix to discover. But I have one guilty TV pleasure that helps me escape harsh reality — The Masked Singer.
I didn’t want to like this show initially and didn’t tune in at all during the first season. But I caught the last half of season 2 and when I heard The Fox singing, I instantly guessed it was Wayne Brady in that furry costume.
Having watched countless episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? over the years, Wayne’s voice is indelibly etched in my mind. Sure enough, The Fox was Wayne Brady and he was crowned the season’s champ. Well done!
Part of the fun of The Masked Singer is guessing who is under the costume. My track record isn’t very good (I don’t google for clues, I prefer to be surprised). But I did get Wayne Brady, Chaka Khan and Dionne Warwick just from hearing their voices.
In season 3’s first group of contestants, the White Tiger has no singing chops whatsoever. But he’s big and tall and has lots of fun energy. An audience favorite, he is moving on to the next round. This time, I paid attention to the clues, and it clicked. He’s got to be “Gronk,” Rob Gronkowski, former New England Patriots tight end. We shall see.
It’s especially fun on The Masked Singer when the judges are outwitted (Ken Jeong is a hoot). The judges, like me, did not not expect to see Drew Carey or Tony Hawk pop up under their costumes.
This week’s reveal was one of the oddest and most fun.
The first singer voted off in the third group was an innocuous looking pink and blue bear who rapped Baby Got Back. I had no clue who it was, but her choice to perform rap hinted she wasn’t a professional singer.
One of the judges was “oh so wrong,” but in an “oh so right” kind of way. The judge guessed Bear was Tina Fey.
But lo and behold, it was Sarah Palin! Yep, the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate. Tina Fey, of course, has impersonated Palin a number of times on Saturday Night Live.
Did someone say surreal? For sur.
This was about the craziest thing I’ve seen on television — from the performance to the reveal.
If I wanted to quibble, and of course I do, I would ask The Masked Singer producers to be more fair to the older female singers. Chaka Khan and Dionne Warwick have great voices, but they were given lousy songs to sing, which, imho, is why they were booted off soon in the game. Give them material worthy of their talents.
Also, if the Fox network is going to load in the Republicans, put some Democrats in there too. I would love to see Michelle Obama or Hillary or Bill Clinton hoot it up.
When all is said and done, for one hour on Wednesday nights, The Masked Singer relieves the heartache I’ve got from canceling my upcoming trip to Paris. And that, is a good thing.
Yes, Gronk, the whole world knows you are The White Tiger, and loves you for it. (Composite photo)
An announcement was made today that the coronavirus, COVID-19, has made its first appearance in Connecticut.
Limited information is available, except the victim is a man between 40 to 50 years old and resides in Wilton, the town that I cover for my newspaper The Wilton Bulletin.
It is suspected the man caught the virus on a recent trip to California.
Being that this is the weekend, staffers from Hearst who cover weekend news are reporting on it.
Though this is my day off, how can I rest? On my own nickel, I am also working on some angles for this story.
The coronavirus is not only infecting people, it is pervading everyone’s thoughts morning, noon, and night.
Watching this unfold day by day, it is amazing how quickly and throughly this virus spreads. A 50-year-old man from New Rochelle, N.Y. catches it, then it’s reported that his family all has it, along with a neighbor who drove the man to the hospital, and the neighbor’s family as well. It seems to go on and on and ultra fast.
One of the reported problems is victims start spreading the virus before they even know you even have it. It’s that tricky and that pervasive.
As of the time of this post, there have 475 cases of coronavirus reported in the U.S., resulting in 19 deaths.
Originating in China, the virus has made its way to 108 countries and territories.
There seems to be some good news, if you can call it that. The number of new cases in China appears to be dropping off. There have been just 52 cases reported there recently. Contrast that to Italy, where 1,492 cases have been recently reported.
The Italian government has implemented drastic measures in an attempt to halt the spread. More than 16 million people in Lombardy and northern Italy have been placed under quarantine.
So are we panicking yet here in Connecticut? Not yet, except for the run on hand sanitizer and toilet paper at COSTCO. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, this is what people here do, even when there is just a threat of a storm. They stock up.
Next steps will likely be taken soon. Schools may close for a time, events may be canceled, people with trips planned may have to cancel them. (I have an upcoming trip scheduled for Paris. Will I go?)
Make no doubt, the next few weeks (possibly months) will be very uncomfortable for all of us until this virus settles down.
But we are in this together and we need to work together.
Follow best hygiene practices. If you or a family member is sick, stay home, don’t go out. Call your doctor if you think you have the flu.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
In the workplace, clean the spigots on the office water bottle cooler. They are a nasty transmitter of germs and one of the dirtiest things in the office. Have someone clean and disinfect the spigots and the inside parts of the spigots as well ASAP.
Disinfect door knobs in the officer and other common areas that people are constantly touching.
And as for workplace restrooms? They need to be throughly cleaned and disinfected throughout. If you have any doubts about their cleanliness, use a paper towel to open doors and faucets. And of course, if you can work at home, it may be the best place to ride this out.
Onward and upward. Let’s keep this nasty thing at bay.
Want to spend $179.99 for a couple bottles of Purell hand sanitizer? A few days ago you could have on Amazon. But since then, the online company has removed hundreds of price gouging listings. Surely more will pop up, it’s inevitable.
Americans, the culture that we are, will pay whatever we can, to get what we think we need, even if we actually don’t.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) threat is bringing out our worst side as a nation and culture. In the past few days, people have lined up outside COSTCO to stockpile toilet paper. Facemasks and hand sanitizer are long since sold out. You snooze you lose.
Overreaction is nothing new in America.
I live in New England which operates on the French Toast Emergency System. When the weather forecaster announces a pending snowstorm there is a mad dash to the grocery story to stockpile eggs, milk and bread, the three French Toast essentials.
Do most of us NEED these three things to survive the storm? To be honest…. No. But it is our custom and routine and will be repeated again and again.
And right now, thanks to all the folks who panicked and bought out the nation’s supply of facemasks and respirators, people who truly need them will suffer.
Patients with compromised immune systems rely on medical facemasks to save their lives. Medical and dental offices need them to properly do their work.
My niece Aubrey has Cystic Fibrosis and she uses facemasks to prevent infection. My sister Paula works in a dental office and they can’t order any facemasks now, supply has run out.
In the meantime, clueless people have scooped up every type of facemask they could find, including industrial ones that are only useful for dust on construction sites.
The irony of those hoarded medical facemasks/respirators is they will be virtually useless to the people who bought them. The facemasks need to be properly fitted, following a number of safety and sanitary directions. Otherwise, improper use could actually make you sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning that HEALTHY PEOPLE should not use them.
Are we listening?
Let’s face it, Americans tend to behave badly when facing a crisis. So now is the time to step back, if possible, and prepare reasonably in the event a pandemic is called and the virus becomes more widespread.
The best prevention is washing your hands. This will not change, ever. Just use regular soap and water. You can easily prepare for this, right?
Get a flu shot. Will it prevent Coronavirus? No. But it could prevent you getting sick from the “regular flu.” That way, if you catch the flu, doctors can be on the look out for Coronavirus and get you the right treatment.
If you or a family member is sick, stay home, don’t go out. Call your doctor if you think you have the flu.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
As for that Purell hand sanitizer, which is not currently available in most stores, I was able to snag the last bottle at my local Stop & Shop. The endcap shelf which held tons of them had long since sold out, but I spied a lone bottle on a top shelf and bought it.
I put the bottle of Purell in the mail (which I might have been able to get $100 for if I was a gouger) and sent it to Christine’s Critters, a worthwhile non-profit organization that rescues and rehabilitates raptors. Christine runs education programs for children with her crew of “ambassadors” which includes owls, falcons, hawks, wild turkeys and bald eagles. These ambassadors suffered injuries which prevent them from ever being released back into the wild.
Christine nursed these noble birds back to health and has given them a permanent home. In order to show the ambassadors to students, she uses a lot of Purell sanitizer for everyone handling or dealing with the birds.
But, Christine can’t get any Purell right now, so I sent her my lone bottle. Admittedly, it won’t go far, but imagine, if everyone reading this blog sent her just one bottle of Purell, it would make a big difference.
If you don’t have any Purell, but want to help this terrific cause, Christine’s Critters also has a wishlist on Amazon filled with other useful things that will make the world a better place for her birds.
I’m hopeful people will reach out and help Christine’s Critters.
As bad as we are when it comes to panicking in a time of crisis, when push comes to shove, Americans can also be exceedingly generous and more than willing to lend a hand to someone in their time of need. That’s also the America I know.
Click HERE for more information about Christine’s Critters and how to get involved. There is a wish list on Amazon, with modestly priced and much needed supplies. Christine can also accept paypal donations.
Donations and checks can also be sent directly to:
Christine’s Critters, Inc.
PO Box 1157
Weston, CT 06883
Expect the Unexpected 