Streaming music, Bear Hunting and a ‘cookout’
In the second edition of our retooled list of things to do in times of covid-19, we offer a lot more streaming, inventive games, art contests, an exercise option and a video about washing your hands.
You gotta hand it to this Arkansas couple who have lost their regular racing season Friday and Saturday night gigs at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs. Not ones to be silenced, Cliff Prowse and Susan Erwin Prowse, with a piano, fiddle and guitar, will stream their Pink Piano Show on Facebook Live from 6 to 9 p.m. every Monday through Saturday from their Little Rock Studio. Log on to facebook.com/cliffandsusan each day at 6 p.m. and enjoy the show.
“We are all facing tough times, and we want to bring much-needed entertainment and release by connecting with people all over the world during this difficult time,” said Erwin Prowse in a news release. “With our show online and we are kid-friendly and love interacting and taking requests. We bring a good mix of music to all ages for a fun, high-energy, interactive show.”
The duo boasts a repertoire of more than 1,000 songs including country, blues, rock, pop and oldies, according to the release. Viewers can request songs by texting (501) 456-4114.
The duo is made up of music scene veterans who regularly tour the U.S. and the world and are co-founders of Little Rock’s Big Red Dog Productions. They also started the Yadaloo Music & Arts Festival in September. The second one is coming Sept. 19 in North Little Rock.
BEAR NECESSITIES
All over the country, bears are invading cul-de-sacs, gated communities, subdivisions and anywhere there are young people. The bears, the cute stuffed kind most people call teddy bears, are appearing in windows across the country as part of a new pastime called Bear Hunting.
There’s not much to it but this: Dig out a teddy bear and place it in a window where it will be visible from the street or sidewalk. Then, children in the know can walk around or be driven by their parents to try and spot as many bears as possible. Take a picture or just keep score. Make it a daily routine when cabin fever sets in. Just remember to stay at least 6 feet away from fellow hunters you might encounter in the wild.
DAILY PIANO
Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Fred Hersch is playing a mini-concert at noon every day on FaceBook Live; connect on his Facebook page. There also are excerpts from several concerts available for viewing.
Also, the feature documentary The Ballad of Fred Hersch is now
streaming for free courtesy of filmmakers Carrie Lozano and Charlotte Lagarde. Here’s the link: https://vimeo.com/145825359
THAT’S ALL FOLK
This social distancing thing could go on a lot longer than we ever imagined, so there will be plenty of time to check out a website with folk songs from all over the world.
Just click over to folkcloud. com and feast your eyes on a map of the world. Click on a country and a page comes up with information about its music, its different forms and then lists songs from each one. Click on play.
For example, clicking on Mexico brings up the information page explaining the different types of folk music — mariachi, ranchera and corrido are just three of the styles from Mexico — and once you’ve learned all about them, scroll down to play songs in that style or any other.
It’s a pretty amazing collection and you can spend hours listening and learning.
MORE FREE MUSIC
Music instrument maker Gibson has come up with a way to help artists who use their products to make a living in these days of silent concert halls and music venues. The company is calling it Gibson Homemade.
“The goal of #HomeMade Music is to immediately support our musicians and their current projects while they are at home. Artist performances, intimate interviews and conversations from all over the world can be watched and shared from anywhere … via all Gibson and Epiphone digital platforms on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Gibson TV on YouTube,” says Beth Heidt, global head of entertainment relations at Gibson.
You can watch exclusive, full-length performances of original content from Gibson and Epiphone artists, all on Gibson’s YouTube page. Through the initiative, Gibson hopes to spotlight MusicCares, a Recording Academy fund set up to help musicians who have lost income due to the coronavirus.
■ The Live Music From Home series at pastemagazine.com continues this week, and the magazine has made 10 more classic live performances available to view. Watch a Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert recorded at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, N.J. on Sept. 20, 1989; Bonnie Raitt playing Oakland (Calif.) Coliseum Stadium on Dec. 31, 1989; Jason Isbell at the Paste CMJ Showcase at the Living Room in New York from Oct. 20, 2011; and Prince performing in New Jersey on Jan. 30, 1982.
Also available are shows by Julia Jacklin, Allman Brothers Band, Peter Frampton, Chicago and Grateful Dead.
ARTS AND CRAFTS
■ Feeling cranky from this extended “coronacation”? Stay busy creating art with projects like this one from Little Rock’s Museum of Discovery and Baldwin & Shell Construction Co.
The museum and the company are co-hosting a cardboard construction contest in which Arkansans can enter creations in two categories — family constructed or adult-constructed — and be entered to win a Museum of Discovery membership package and a private tour of a Baldwin & Shell construction site for even more inspiration.
“Tinkering and building with cardboard encourages creativity, problem-solving, team building and discovery through trial and error. With families and individuals self-isolating and receiving athome deliveries, they probably have copious amounts of time and cardboard. Hopefully, this contest will put both to good use,” Mikahla Denney, manager of the museum’s Tinkering Studio, says in a news release.
So make something creative from cardboard and send it to the contest using one of these methods. Post on the Museum of Discovery’s Facebook page or direct message the museum. Tag the museum and Baldwin & Shell on Instagram using @arkmod and @baldwinandshellcon, along with #arkmodconstructs. Tag the museum on Twitter using @arkmod and #arkmodconstructs. Email to kthornton@museumofdiscovery.org.
■ Our library buildings may be closed to the public, but the Central Arkansas Library System is going gangbusters on the internet. For example, starting at 1 p.m. today, the system’s weekly classes will be offered online. The first offering is today’s Personal Archiving class, which runs through April 16.
Other online offerings to join include a trivia game, a Q&A with a genealogist, April Fool’s Day writing contest, Dead People’s Mail Storytime and a letter-writing project for kids.
Join the fun here: facebook.com/events/2761577020743140/.
GRILL AND CHILL
Little Rock’s PK Grills has come up with a novel way to have a cookout and invite everyone you’d like to come.
According to a company news release, PK Grills and Fire & Smoke Society will fire up the grill and engage others in Denver; Austin, Texas; and Little Rock by touting Saturday as National Stay In & Cookout Day.
Write a post on social media that includes the hashtag #stayincookout. Find out more or follow along at facebook.com/pkgrills/.
WASH THOSE HANDS
Just for fun, watch how a father and entertainer named Peter Hollens is doing his part to get more people to wash that virus right off of their hands.
Gather the kids around and follow this link to laugh: arkansasonline.com/326washhands/.