Aspinwall, a quaint sidewalk community tucked along the Allegheny River, was tightly knit before the coronavirus hit the Pittsburgh region. Its the type of community where people gather at the coffee shop or local pub, organize block parties, hold street concerts and love a good parade. In other words, a very Pittsburgh kind of place. But with coronavirus keeping people at home, Aspinwall neighbors were missing each other.

I feel its really important to see your neighbors after such a tough week, says resident Carrie Benson. Through an Aspinwall Facebook group, she invited every resident to step outside onto their porches, stoops or balconies on Saturday to share a happy hour toast.

Its the easiest party Ive ever planned, she laughs.

Sisters Martha Lightfoot and author Sarah Tuthill toast to Aspinwall.

With wide sidewalks and ample porches, residents here are naturally social. Aspinwall is built for this type of community response to social distancing, Benson points out. All her posts, texts and word of mouth invitations worked at exactly 5 p.m., despite the chill in the air, hundreds of residents emerged from their homes, drink in hand, eager to see their neighbors.

We couldnt wait to get out here, admits resident Kristin Dowd from her apartments porch, where she and her husband, Jimmy, were greeting passers-by. People are waving, horns beeping and were all having a nice conversation. Even the fire trucks are out, Dowd says of a custom typically reserved for Aspinwalls famous Memorial Day Parade. But the best part was being able to toast to our friend across the street who, as a pharmacist, has been working tirelessly since the pandemic hit, she added.

A few blocks away, 6-year-old Niko Barii provided the highlight, treating neighbors to a live concert from his front stoop. Billed (using sidewalk chalk, of course) as Lil Elvis, his show included an original tune about the coronavirus (check out his performance in the video below).

The Kearney family joins in the porch toast.

I suggested he sing, says his mom, Megan. But I didnt expect him to prepare with a microphone and a program. A few neighbors put their chairs on their lawns and Nico said, my audience is coming.

Just keep swimming.

Just a week into the national emergency, Aspinwall residents have come up with other ways to encourage human connection that can be enjoyed from a distance.

On Saint Patricks Day, people were asked to hang pictures of shamrocks in their windows so neighborhood kids could hunt for them during their daily walk. Kids of any age were also inspired to chalk the walk, filling stoops and driveways with colorful pictures and poignant words of encouragement.

Benson and her husband Jonathan Weingarden are grateful for the community in which they plan to raise their first baby, due next month. My ultimate hope is that we keep looking for opportunities to help each other. We are all anxious for our loved ones, our families, the elderly people in our lives, she says. I take some solace in looking over at my neighbors, knowing that we are all in this together. Cheers to that.

Know of an inspiring and creative idea for get-togethers or things to do while were under quarantine? Email NEXTpittsburgh. We would love to hear from you.

See original here:
On Saturday night, hundreds of folks in Aspinwall held a porch toast - NEXTpittsburgh

Although more than a century and a quarter has passed since publication of Arthur Conan Doyles first story, Sherlock Holmes continues to inspire novels, movies, TV, and the stage. I will review some of the actors who played Holmes in this concluding essay in my Holmes duology; and assess how true each was to Conan Doyles artistic vision.

Where possible, Ill contrast each actors portrayal with the Holmes described by Dr. Watson, which I have paraphrased as, His very person was such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. He was rather over six feet, and so lean that he seemed considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and his thin, hawk-like nose and prominent chin gave his whole expression an air of alertness, decision, and determination.

Note that I occasionally will refer to the canon in this essay, which consists of the 56 short stories and four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and published in the Strand Magazine.

This is no easy task. In 2012, one of the worlds most reliable sources, i.e., The Guiness Book of World Records, awarded the title for most portrayed literary human character in film & television to Sherlock Holmes, who had already been presented on screen, at that time, more than 250 times. He has been played. in some manner, by nearly 100 actors, including Michael Caine, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Robert Downey Jr., Ian McKellen, Jonny Miller, Peter OToole, Christopher Plummer, and Basil Rathbone.

However, I will focus only on the MSM, that is, the Main-Sherlock-Media, and exclude the Sherlocks in parodies like Without a Clue, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother, and The Great Mouse Detective.

Sherlockian Literature After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Award-winning American playwright, Ken Ludwig, set The Games Afoot at a cast party in 1936 Gillette Castle. Published in 2012, the play was presented at the Ivoryton Playhouse in 2017. Jim Bennet, of Mystic, has written three historical mysteries regarding William Gillette under the pen name James Walker; in these, Gillette uses his stage persona as Sherlock Holmes to investigate murders and other crimes.

In addition, a growing group of authors is writing short stories and novels in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle. Many of these pastiches are quite accurate in their portrayals and have begun to form a subcategory of popular literature.

Sherlock in the Cinema and on TV

Rather than attempt an exhaustive review of every actor who has portrayed Sherlock in any television or movie production, I will begin this review in the late 1930s with Basil Rathbones interpretation, and continue chronologically to the present.

I feel that any review of Sherlock must also consider the associated Dr. Watson. However, I will not review the concomitant LeStrade or Moriarty characters in this essay.

I dont pretend to have the expertise of Old Lyme resident David Handlers character Mitch Berger of Dorset in judging these actors, but I can certainly distinguish good acting from bad; and sloppy dialog from a well-constructed plot. Moreover, in the spirit of some current American politicians, theres absolutely no science in these assessments, although Ill start with the null hypothesis that Basil Rathbone is Sherlock, and attempt to disprove that premise.

Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.

In 1939, Basil Rathbone played Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles with Nigel Bruce as Watson. They continued through 1946 and completed 14 Sherlock Holmes movies. Almost concurrent with movie production, they also starred in a serialized radio drama, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, that aired in the United States from late 1939 through mid-1947.

With the exception of Hound, these films were only loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyles canon, but were updated to reflect the issues of the day. Im not claiming that all 14 were great cinema; but they certainly were respectable wartime productions.

So, by mid-century, the Rathbone/Bruce team was recognized and accepted in both America and Great Britain as Holmes and Watson. Ill reference only two movies to support my claim.

In Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, Holmes, disguised as an elderly book seller, smuggles a Swiss scientist and his advanced bomb sight into England just as the Gestapo prepared to arrest him and seize control of his laboratory. Many of the Holmes wartime movies ended with a soliloquy by Basil Rathbone. This one always brings a few tears to my eyes.

At the end of Secret Weapon, Holmes and Watson, with a contingent of the British war cabinet, are observing a squadron of Lancaster bombers equipped with the bombsight as they leave for Nazi Germany.Watson: Things are looking up, Holmes. This little Islands still on the map.Holmes: Yes. This fortress built by nature for herself; This blessed plot, this Earth, this Rome, this England.This latter line is, of course, from Act II of Richard II by William Shakespeare.

In Sherlock Holmes in Washington, Holmes breaks up a Nazi spy ring operating from a high-end D.C. antiques shop, and recovers the secret microfilmed documents that they had stolen from a murdered British intelligence agent.

As Holmes and Watson prepare to leave the District, driving towards Capitol Hill, the conversation goes like this:Holmes: Look up there ahead the Capitol, the very heart of this democracy.Watson: Democracy; the only hope for the future?Holmes: Its not given to us to peer into the mysteries of the future, but in the days to come the British and American people will, for their own safety and for the good of all, walk together in majesty, in justice, and in peace.In citing Churchills then recent address to Congress, Sherlock reminds us of how great that legislative body once was.

While Basil Rathbone was Sherlock, both physically and intellectually, Nigel Bruce regularly presented Watson as a befuddled English gentleman and a somewhat slower associate of Holmes. His interpretation of Watson is inconsistent with the more intelligent Watson of Arthur Conan Doyles canon.

Ronald HowardIn 1954, British actor Ronald Howard began a two-season run of 39 episodes on the American television series Sherlock Holmes. He played a relatively light-hearted and campy Sherlock along-side H. Marion Crawfords Dr. Watson; who played a sharp, and sometimes aggressive Watson, unlike Nigel Bruce above. Of the 39 episodes, only The Red-Headed League was based on Arthur Conan Doyles original body of work. The series included such titles as: The Case of the Texas Cowgirl, and The Case of The Shoeless Engineer. However, there were occasional allusions to the Doyle canon.

Douglas WilmerIn 1965, the BBC began its presentation of Sherlock Holmes with British classical actor Douglas Wilmer as the lead, and Nigel Stock as Watson. This sometimes noirish series continued until 1968, with 13 episodes wholly- based on the original stories. Wilmer plays a shrewd, but arrogant Holmes; and sports all the expected trappings: deerstalker cap, pipe, prominent nose, and obsessive nature. Nigel Stock is another affable, but intellectually inferior Watson.

Jeremy BrettIn the Granada Television series that aired in the UK from 1984 to 1994, Jeremy Brett played a more emotional and physically graceful Sherlock than the predecessor Sherlocks described above. His manner was more swaggering with occasional outbursts of passion used to re-focus Watson or LeStrade

His sometimes overly-precise and dramatic presentation quality demonstrate his background in musical theater. He played Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady. Heres a clue for you: I have often walked down this street before; but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before. All at once am I several stories high, knowing Im on the street where you live

There were two Watsons over this decade-long series, namely David Burke and Edward Hardwicke. Both played the character as a highly intelligent and intuitive associate of Holmes, and true to Doyles canon. Many consider Jeremy Bretts characterization of Holmes as the defining Sherlock performance. To get a feel for his style, watch this video clip to see Holmes leap the couch at 221B in The Red Headed League.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch during filming of Sherlock in Chinatown, London. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.

Sherlock is a contemporized version of Arthur Conan Doyles consulting detective now operating in 21st century London. Cumberbatch is Holmes, and Martin Freeman is Watson. Thirteen 90-minute episodes were produced in this BBC/PBS series between 2010 and 2017. The Cumberbatch Holmes is more arrogant and self-centered than the predecessors described above, and less-willing to contend with Inspector LeStrades plodding manner.

The deerstalker cap is absent, although other traditional detective attire (long coat and scarf) frequently appear. I believe that, although updated with contemporary technology, and despite the unruly hair, Cumberbatchs portrayal of the character is first rate. His Holmes still has exceptional intellect, is excitable, and delights in solving puzzles no one else could solve.

Dr. Watson is a younger veteran of the Royal Army Medical Corps in the Afghan War than those reviewed above and is certainly played as a more independent self-starter. He blogs about their adventures rather than writing by hand for publication in the print media.

However, Watsons blog provides the pair some unwanted celebrity and the press begins reporting on the cases and Sherlocks sometimes eccentric personal life. Their cases, like those in the canon, come from both ordinary people and the British government.

Jonny Miller

Elementary first aired in 2012, and ran for seven seasons and over 150 episodes. There is little connection to Arthur Conan Doyles body of work beyond some character names and occasional allusions to the original stories.

Elementary is really a police procedural with Jonny Miller as Sherlock Holmes, and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. Sherlock is a recovering drug addict and former consultant to Scotland Yard, who has re-located to a Brooklyn brownstone in present-day New York City for addiction treatment.

Watson is a former surgeon who has left practice, and is hired by Sherlocks father to assist in his rehabilitation as his sober companion. Watsons relationship with Holmes evolves from sober companion, to investigative apprentice, and into a professional crime-solving partnership with Sherlock and the NYPD.

This Holmes is, of course, indifferent to proper procedure as he works with the NYPD. one critic describes the series as, pretty good television; the stories are unpredictable, and often draw on contemporary issues like hacking, cyber-espionage, and corruption in international finance. I dont recall whether the latter was Deutsche Bank. There is a definite psychological component underlying the series and the plots often include the characters struggles to deal with their many demons.

Robert Downey Jr.

Downey is not, by any stretch of the imagination, Sherlock Holmes. Others disagree, as a third movie is apparently in progress, beyond Sherlock Holmes (2009), and A Game of Shadows (2011). His interpretation is more vulgar and more cynical than those reviewed above. There is significant violence in the plots, perhaps because the movies are targeting a less-sophisticated and/or a teenaged audience. The first two movies are totally lacking in subtlety and I think of them as the violent video games that you want your children to avoid.

Some Final Thoughts

I always pass my penultimate draft by my wife, Christina. Her comments were that, the essay is well-punctuated, but maybe a little obsessive. I agree that I punctuate well.

I have watched each of theafore-mentioned movies or TV shows at least once; either on DVD, or for the more recent ones, on television or in the theater. To explain, nine years ago next Halloween, I had just finished a two-year period during which I had almost unlimited time for reading and the media. I wasnt incarcerated or unemployed; and, although I am a Navy veteran, I was not a member of a ballistic missile submarine team rotated ashore.

I have also concluded that Senator Blumenthal does bear some resemblance to the Holmes described by Dr. Watson in the first paragraph of this essay; and certainly, his activities as Connecticut Attorney General also required some of the fundamental skills of a consulting detective. Our junior senator could, conceivably, be Watson. This is not a political column, so I wont name any of the more obvious candidates for Moriarty.

The next essay changes focus from human icons to Connecticuts iconic Long Island Sound and the rising water levels that I have observed from my porch over the past several years.

Tom Gotowka

About the author:Tom Gotowkas entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK.

A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes qualify him to write this column.

Read more here:
A View from My Porch: Almost 100 Actors Have Played Sherlock Holmes, Who Were They (Well, Some of Them) and How Did They Do? - lymeline.com

INDIANAPOLIS Despite everything that's happening in the world right now, there are still good ones happening.

Last year, people who live in the Fountain Square area held a porch party, encouraging people to get outside and meet their neighbors.

Well, the evening is the first "Social Isolation Porch Party," and they want you to order take-out from a restaurant, get out on your porch and say "hi" to your neighbors while staying on your porch a safe distance away.

On Thursday night, the "Madness at The Vogue" fundraiser for the ALS Association of Indiana was supposed to take place. Of course, it did not.

The theater was going to issue refunds. But organizers say that most people told them to keep their ticket or table fees.

In the end, more than $40,000 was still raised for the ALS Association even without the fundraiser.

Link:
Good News Friday: Fountain Square social isolation party and The Vogue raises money for ALS - WRTV Indianapolis

Inspired by a community in Italy, the idea has taken hold in Twin Cities neighborhoods

MINNEAPOLIS Neighbors craving signs of hope are finding it in song, on their front steps, balconies and the porches of their homes.

For four nights straight, Michele Hoch has stood in front of her South Minneapolis home singing John Lennons Imagine.

For the first time, she was joined by her upstairs neighbor, Karen Smith, singing from her balcony.

Stuck at home, Karen laughs. Introverts unite.

Inspired by a community in Italy during its battle with coronavirus, the 7 p.m. nightly sing-along has gained traction on social media and spread to neighborhood across the Twin Cities.

They may be the only person on their block, but it just makes you feel connected to your community, Hoch says.

KARE 11s coverage of the coronavirus is rooted in Facts, not Fear. Visit kare11.com/coronavirus for comprehensive coverage, find outwhat you need to know about the Midwest specifically, learn more about thesymptoms, and keep tabs on thecases around the world here. Have a question? Text it to us at 763-797-7215. And get the latest coronavirus updates sent right to your inbox every morning. Subscribe to the KARE 11 Sunrise newsletter here. Help local families in need: http://www.kare11.com/give11.

The state of Minnesota has set up a hotline for general questions about coronavirus at 651-201-3920 or 1-800-657-3903, available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

More information on the coronavirus:

Continue reading here:
Minnesotans stand on balconies and porches to sing - KARE11.com

An epidemiologist answers the biggest questions she's getting about coronavirus. Wochit

Editor's note:The Star is making this story free to readers due to public health concerns related to coronavirus. Please consider a digital subscription to The Star so we can continue doing this important work.

John Gahan stepped out of his Ventura home Tuesday night, his mandolin in his hand, and sat down on the porch.

It was 8 p.m. and he started to play.

He had gotten the idea earlier while talking over the phone withhis brother-in-law in Barcelona. In home isolation because of the new coronavirus, people in the city 6,000 miles away started takinginstruments out on their balconies and played each night at 8.

They did it in honor of all those working at hospitals and clinics to save lives, his brother-in-law told him and his wife.

"I thought I could do that from here," Gahan said.

The new virus hit Ventura later than Barcelona. As the number of cases rose locally, public health officials first urged social distancingand later ordered Californians to shelter at home.

Families, classmates, friends, bands, even neighbors were physically divided as lines grew and the shelves emptied at grocery stores. Schools were closed. Gyms, bars anddine-in restaurants followed suit.

Gatherings bigger than 250 people were canceled,then those with more than 50and finally more than 10.

Before Gahan started to play that first night,he crafted an email to his fellow members of a band called Pint of Irish.

"8:00 Tonight And Every Night I Can (For At Least A While)," he wrote in the subject line.

He toldhis bandmates what his brother-in-law had told him.

"Anyway, in honor of health care workers everywhere dealing with this, I'm going to do it tonight and every night that I can for a while," he wrote. "I'llgo out on my porch and bang out a couple tunes.If anybody is interested, join me from your porch. I'll be listening."

More: Coronavirus: How you can help in Ventura County during the COVID-19 outbreak

The spot set up for a wedding at Lisa and Jeff Daniel's Santa Paula home.(Photo: Contributed photo/The Daniels)

On the same night in Santa Paula, Susie Yee stood with her husband, Dan, and watched their youngest get married.

A small group of family members sat inchairs or stood in the grass, a majestic oak tree nearby.

It wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Laurie Yee and Landin Osbornegot engaged lastJune andhadaMarch 21 wedding scheduledata private residence and barn in Oxnard.

They had planned for nine months and felt lucky to find the spot just a mile from Laurie's childhood home. About 125 peoplewere coming, including family flying in from homes scattered around the country.

Deposits were made and then the new coronavirus swept through the U.S.

Family members who had planned to stick around after the wedding for a reunion of sortshad to cancel. The wedding also had to be called off.

"There were a lot of tears and disappointment," Susie Yee said.

But while the wedding day they planned was off,neither bride or groom wanted to wait to get married. However this crisis was going to play out, they said they wanted to go through it together.

Lisa Daniel read her friend Yee's Facebook message about the canceled wedding and reached out.

I thought, Well, they still want to get married and I have this big beautiful oak tree with green grass under it,' " she said.

More: Food Share, local pantries worry about volunteers, donations as coronavirus takes a toll

Susie and Dan Yee at the Santa Paula home where their youngest child got married last week. The bride and groom had to cancel the large wedding they had been planning for months because of the coronavirus.(Photo: Contributed photo/The Yees)

There wasnt room at the Daniels' Santa Paula home to host a big wedding. But a big wedding couldn't happen anymore.

"We trimmed everything way back," Susie Yee said. "But once we knew this was the place, it was like the clouds lifted."

The Daniels invited them to their home.A friend of her daughterdonated flowers from her farm. Another friend of the family gave them a reduced price for photos.

Even though everyone is going through tough times, Yee said, so many people put everything aside to make the night happen. And, it would happenrain or shine.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday,the raintapered off and the sun came out. Lisa and her husband, Jeff, dried off their patio chairs and set them up by the big oak, keeping them spaced apart.

I had a wooden table here in my house that I had actually hauled to San Francisco when my daughter got married for an outdoor wedding, she said. I just pulled that thing back out there, and we used it for another wedding.

In the end, most of thedetails didnt really matter.

There was a pastor.The bride had a dress, and the groom had a suit. He played a song he had written on his guitar while she walked down the aisle. Someone took video for everyone who wasn't able to be there.

"I swear it was like the best way to have a wedding," Yee said.

An old photo shows Pint of Irish practicing before coronavirus required social distancing.(Photo: Contributed photo/Mike McChesney)

At 8 on Wednesday night, Gerry McGuirecoaxed notes of a couple Irish songs from hisconcertina.

He couldn't hear the other members of Pint of Irish but knew they were out there.

The night after Gahan's email, ahalf-dozen or so played at their homes separated by miles or cities in some cases. By Thursday, the number had doubled, and on Friday night, a neighbor of the Gahans even joined in, playing a bongo drum.

Any weirdness about playing alone in the dark on his Venturapatio faded quickly, McGuire said."It's a good feeling to be doing something."

In his 80s, hehad taken the call to stay at home seriously.

"My wife had a doctor's appointment today. It was the first time we left the house since this happened," he said one day last week.

They have some family in the area and two neighbors already hadoffered to bring foodif or when they need it. One neighbor had posted some mailfor them.

"We're doing fine," McGuire said.

As he played "Merry Blacksmith" that night, his wife cheering him on from inside, he didn't know if his neighbors listened in.

"Nobody threw anything. I know that," McGuiresaid laughing."I didn't see anyone, but I imagine they were in awe."

More: Cafe Society: Ventura County restaurants address dining in the time of coronavirus

John Gahan, in the blue shirt, plays with Pint of Irish band members pre-coronavirus social distancing.(Photo: Contributed photo/John Gahan)

The band members choose the songs every day before 8. Mostly, they aim for up-tempo, happy tunes with some lilting melodies mixed in.

Group leader Mike McChesney, who plays the tin whistle from his Thousand Oaks porch, tried to find a video-conferencing program that they could use.

It hasn't been entirely successful, but it hasn't really mattered.

"Even though you're there kind of isolated in your front yard," he said, "you feel like you're part of a group."

That was kind of the point.

It is important to take what ishappening seriously, Gahan said. "But I also feel like life doesn't have to be dismal in such circumstances."

People can find ways to connect, check in on each other, save a weddingand maybe cheer on some health workers with a tune or two.

"It sounds like it really helps to unite people even if there is a physical distance," Gahan had typed in his message to the band.

Then, he had clicked send, grabbed a cushion and stepped outside to play.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.

Read or Share this story: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2020/03/21/coronavirus-band-members-still-play-miles-apart/2877760001/

See the original post:
Coronavirus canceled a wedding and band practice. But these friends didn't give up - VC Star

Knoxville, Beaverdale host bear hunts, but it's not what you think

Updated: 8:00 PM CDT Mar 21, 2020

Knoxville and Beaverdale neighborhoods are taking a page out of the book "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."Homes are putting stuffed animals in windows and on porches so families can go on bear hunts, whether in their cars or on walks. While some people didn't have bears to show, the Cookie Monster made an appearance, and so did some unicorns. To find where bears are in your community, click here.

Knoxville and Beaverdale neighborhoods are taking a page out of the book "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."

Homes are putting stuffed animals in windows and on porches so families can go on bear hunts, whether in their cars or on walks.

While some people didn't have bears to show, the Cookie Monster made an appearance, and so did some unicorns.

To find where bears are in your community, click here.

Follow this link:
Knoxville, Beaverdale host bear hunts, but it's not what you think - KCCI Des Moines

As we adjust to life amid the COVID-19 pandemic, well likely turn to the artsa favorite poem, a beloved album, a treasured paintingover and over in search of comfort and relief. Art, in all its forms, is a vital part not just of our personal lives but of our community. Social distancing measures and the resulting venue closures have turned the local creative world upside down, both for individual artists and the organizations that support them. Heres what some of those folks are saying about the state of the arts in Charlottesville, and what might come next.

St. Patricks Day was supposed to be Matthew ODonnells busiest day of the entire year. A multi-instrumentalist who specializes in Irish music, he was booked for 15 hours of serenading audiences, from senior center residents to late-night beer-swigging revelers.

But this year, his St. Paddys calendar was wide open. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads throughout the United States, Virginia governor Ralph Northam has banned all nonessential gatherings of more than 10 people. In response, local venues that support the artsconcert halls, theaters, galleries, bookshops, libraries, restaurant-bars, you name ithave shuttered their doors for an undetermined amount of time.

This leaves ODonnell and many other artists in Charlottesville without physical places to share their worknot just for arts sake, but for a living. Its also worth noting that many local artists participate in the service industry and gig economythey tend bar, wait tables, work retail, drive ride-shares, and more. And most of those jobs are gone, or paused until, well, who knows when.

ODonnell makes his entire living from performances, and he looks forward to the month of Marchin large part because of St. Patricks Daywhen he can bring in twice what he makes in an average month, to make up for the lean ones (namely January and February).

I began to get concerned in late February, as the senior communities closed their doors to visitors, says ODonnell, and that concern grew as gigs canceled one by one during the first couple weeks of March. I thought the worst-case scenario would be that everything would shut down, but I honestly didnt think the worst-case scenario would come.

At first, it was a professional worry of realizing that all of my business is gone, says ODonnell, who hopes he can make some money by playing donation-based virtual concerts. But the worry, the sadness, has turned personal: These people are my friends, he says of his audiences, particularly those folks at the senior centers. When he sings with them, he says he feels something profound. And [now] I cant go see my friends. I do want to be looking forward to the next thingbut all I know is that the next thing I do is going to be very different from what Ive been doing.

Graphic novelist Laura Lee Gulledge knows that, too. Im friends with change and constant reinvention, she says. As a full-time artist Gulledge relies not just on book sales and illustration commissions but art teaching residencies. She says she often feels like shell get by on the skin of my teeth, but [I] make it work. Artists are always having to come up with new business models, she says. Its implode or evolve.

Her new book, The Dark Matter of Mona Starr, is scheduled to be released on April 7, and she planned to launch it at last weeks Virginia Festival of the Book. But the festival was canceled due to the threat of COVID-19, as was the rest of her North American book tour.

In a way, the book is more relevant than Gulledge could have predicted, or ever wanted to imagine. The protagonist, Mona, is a sensitive and creative teen learning to live with anxiety and depression. In the back of the book, Gulledge includes a guide for creating a self-care plan for particularly dark and stressful times, and she shares her own.

Its like my masterpiece, she says of The Dark Matter of Mona Starr. I was finally mentally prepared to own it and step into it, and start conversations about mental health and not feel like a fraud.

Rather than consider the whole thing a wash, Gulledge will do a virtual book tour via Facebook Live, where shell be talking about topics such as drawing through depression and cultivating healthy artistic practices.

The Front Porch roots music school is also pivoting to an online lessons model, to keep instructors paid and to keep students in practice. Songwriter Devon Sproule (who had to cancel her upcoming U.K. tour) usually teaches somewhere around 80 students a week between group classes and private lessons, and, so far, a handful of them have made the leap to live virtual lessons. Keeping the routine and personal connection of a lesson could be particularly important right now, says Sproule. She had to teach one young pupil how to tune a ukulele, a task Sproule had taken on in their in-person lessons. I had no idea this kid could tune their own ukulele, and I dont think they did either, says Sproule. I think it was empowering.

The Charlottesville Players Guild, the citys only black theater troupe, has postponed its run of August Wilsons Radio Golf, originally scheduled to premiere at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center April 16. The paid cast and crew were in the middle of rehearsals, and while they hope to be able to open the show on April 30, things are still very uncertain, says CPG artistic director Leslie Scott-Jones. When you hear medical professionals say this might go through July or longer, its like, Whatll we do?

The JSAAHC has also had to cancel two benefit concerts for Eko Ise, a music conservatory program for local black children, that the center hoped to launch later this year. Now, theyll be months behind in that fundraising effort, says Scott-Jones.

The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, which provides not only a physical gallery space for visual and performance art, but funding for public art and after-school programs, has canceled all in-person events (though it is finding creative ways for people to participate from a distance, such as its virtual Quarantine Haiku video series). The Bridge has also postponed its annual Revel fundraiser, originally scheduled for May 2. Revel brings in between 20 and 30 percent of the organizations operating budget for the year, says director Alan Goffinski,

Gulledge makes an excellent case for continued support of the arts as we face uncertainty: This is the sort of moment where people will look to the creative thinkers to generate hope, and to generate positivity and be beacons of light in this moment of darkness. This is part of our purpose.

The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative and New City Arts announced Friday, March 20, that it has established the Charlottesville Emergency Relief Fund for Artists. We will have more information on that soon.

The Front Porch and WTJU 91.1 FM are also teaming up to broadcast live concertsFriday and Wednesday evenings. Follow us at @cville_culture on Twitter for regular updates about virtual arts eventsthat will take place over the coming weeks.

Continued here:
State of the art: How COVID-19 is affecting Charlottesvilles arts community - C-VILLE Weekly

The partial but increasingly growing, self-imposed isolation has begun.

I am writing these words on Sunday, and it will be a couple of days before they are out in print and online. Who knows what will happen between now and then, what with how fast this coronavirus is moving and affecting society?

Like many of us, I am voraciously consuming news about the COVID-19 pandemic. No need to panic, but definitely time to respond, to take steps and to not be stupid as in overreacting and moving into the old Cold War bunker out in the backyard or ignore everything and go about life as usual with a false sense of invincibility.

And even though it appears most people who get this darn thing will come through it OK, I do think a bit of alarm is understandable and maybe even helpful. But please, keep perspective.

I went to Costco on Saturday. I needed a few things and had been waiting until my list was long enough to merit a trip there (toilet paper was not on the list). I had tried the day before, but there were cars parked everywhere, including in spots Im sure were not actual parking places, and I saw maybe just a dozen shopping carts available outside the store. Yikes. I came back Saturday morning about 20 minutes before the store opened, so I could park within sight of the store.

By the time I shopped and fled, the place was jammed. The butcher told me the day before they sold out all the products they made from scratch (meatloaf and mashed potatoes, chicken enchiladas, mac n cheese, etc.), and were working feverishly to catch up and restock. The checker told me they had just experienced their highest volume sales days two days in a row.

I kept looking at the overloaded carts that went by me. Every one had in it at least one giant size or multiple packages of the following: toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, liquid hand soap and the like. I saw one of the big flat carts that had stacked on it about half a pallet of ramen meals.

Theres preparedness and then theres whatever this was.

When I was growing up in Florida, there was a regular drill when a hurricane was approaching. It was fairly simple, and it made sense. And it was adapted based on specific circumstance. For example, we had a neighbor with a swimming pool who was often out of town. If he wasnt there when a storm approached, wed go over to remove and stash the cushions from his outdoor furniture and throw the furniture into the pool. In a hurricane, everything becomes a potentially lethal projectile.

Since then the state has created an incredible preparedness and response network, including staging areas of material, which can be relocated quickly depending on where the storm will hit. Its a model for the nation.

Anticipate, prepare and do what makes sense.

Our son was supposed to fly into Spokane this week. My husband wisely nixed the trip. Sam agreed. He texted: Although Im not in a high-risk group, should I catch something on the plane and visit my, ahem, elderly parents, well

And hes right. Bruce and are I are in our 70s, which is the hardest-hit population, with the highest death rate. And while we dont have the kinds of respiratory or immuno-suppressed ailments that appear to be exacerbating factors, by virtue of our age and the fact that we do have some health things were dealing with, we reside in COVID-19s target demographic.

The good news, if its even appropriate to think in those terms yet, is that this pandemic seems largely to be skipping the children. A silver lining to be sure.

I remember when I first began writing about historic landmarks, Id spend time tromping through cemeteries in Spokane and in rural areas of the region. I saw so many grave markers with the date of 1918 on them and often a simple Baby Jones or Infant girl Smith. Those, of course, were the result of the infamous Spanish flu pandemic that infected fully one-third of the worlds population at the time and killed 20-50 million people (675,000 of whom were Americans), mostly between the ages 20 to 40.

And for those of us with the target on our backs now, we love the little ones in our lives, but they could quite likely carry the disease to us when we grab them up in the hugs that we love to give them. A lot of things need to change, at least until were on the downside of the coronavirus bell curve we are climbing. And yet, we dont want to scare the children.

Washing hands, social distancing, limiting large-group exposure, staying home more, covering a cough with the crook of our elbows, not shaking hands and not touching our faces easy(ish) to do. Not hugging a grandchild is a whole lot tougher.

And then theres the issue of trying to work at home. I do that already. But my husband goes to peoples homes and businesses to do his work. If you are a server in a restaurant, for example, you cant work from home. Kids are out of school. How do you manage child care and still work?

I dont need to itemize all the hurdles and problems were in the midst of, or are coming. Or to jump into the discussion of how and why were not farther along in dealing with this. Conversation for another time.

Were here now, so for now, lets just proceed with an abundance of caution, do what the virologists and health care professionals tell us.

But lets begin the process of thinking long term, getting set up, preparing for next time, too. Like with hurricanes, its not if, but rather when one will hit. Lets get smart about these viruses. They may well be the hurricanes of the future.

Voices correspondent Stefanie Pettit can be reached by email at upwindsailor@comcast.net.

Follow this link:
Front Porch: Follow health experts advice, and lets also think long term - The Spokesman-Review

Todays kids just dont have the same experiences.

My siblings and I grew up in a small town in western Pennsylvania. My sister Jean and I owned the town. We would leave the house in the morning heading we didn't know where until we got there. Sometimes we played in the woods down the street from our house and sometimes we just played in the street. We didn't have a lot of fancy toys but we did have roller skates, the kind you used a key to clamp them on your shoes.

We had two paved streets in our little town with some connecting secondary streets between them that were also paved. They had names but we just called them the upper new street and the lower new street. This was our own personal skating rink and ball court and bicycle path.

There were very few cars during the day, so in spite of our mother's warnings we roller skated them and bicycled them and played ball on them with little interruption.

Our town was located on a hill between larger hills running down to a river. I would start at the top of the upper new street on my scooter, give a push and literally fly down that street to the bottom and turn and continue down to the lower new street without slowing down.

Our mother gave us the same warnings every morning when we left the house. Be careful of cars, stay off people's lawns, don't get too far away that you can't hear me call you in for lunch. I can hear her now, Jeanie, Ninie, lunch time.

We liked to play in the woods and make pretend houses by pulling up brush and making a roof over our heads. We played Bunker Hill on a vacant lot with a perfect hill on it. The big boys had made a little fort of sorts on top of the hill, so when they weren't around we took over, with pretend guns blazing.

My friend Derose and I liked to play house. We would borrow our mothers old dresses and shoes and hats and dress up, put our dollies in our buggies and walk around the yard, pretending to be movie stars. I was Joan Blondel and Dee was Claudette Colbert.

When it rained and didn't thunder and lightening Jean and I loved to put on our bathing suits and play outside in it. The street in front of our house was an unpaved hill. The borough always put ashes on it in the winter time to keep cars from slipping so when we fell in the street we would mark the spot with a small bit of that black ash embedded in our knees.

Daddy was really good at making toys better than the bought ones. We had mason jar ring guns, sling shots and stilts and barrel stave skies. When the front porch swing broke in two, Daddy took the good parts and made Jean and I a swing just big enough for the two of us and hung it from the rafters in the basement for rainy days.

Our house was built on the side of a hill on a lot that Grandpa had deeded to Daddy. The lower side of the house was two stories up with a small kitchen porch with a railing. Our old mamma cat liked to sleep on the railing in the sun. The railing was only about two to three inches wide, so mamma cat occasionally went to sleep and fell off the railing onto the sidewalk below. She would simply dust herself off and climb back up and go back to sleep.

She had kittens almost every spring. We could tell when she had them because she would be so skinny. She always had her kittens away from home so we would go searching for them and bring them home. She sometimes put them in the dog's house and she and our old hound took turns looking after them. It was funny to see that old hound dog washing those tiny kittens.

If you don't remember the WPA back in the 1930s, we were very familiar with them. The alley behind our house had a ditch in it that was usually full of water. The government in its infinite wisdom decided that it should cover the ditch and build the gully up with large quarry stones and build a road on it.

The WPA took it on as a project, so we had workmen in our back yard for several seasons. The men were friendly family men who liked to watch us play in the dirt and on the cherry trees in our yard. They would sometimes ask us for fruit since we had not only cherry trees but peach and plum trees full of fruit.

If I told you all the fun things we did as children this column would become book length. We had a freedom today's children will never know because the world has become such a scary place. The whole wide world was not available to us as it is to today's children on the Internet, but we learned different lessons, lessons of cooperation and hard work.

Yes, we worked hard helping Mom with her spring and fall house cleaning, scrubbing the coal dust grime off the walls and windows and porches of our house. We helped Daddy pluck chickens for Sunday dinner, hung clothes on lines in the yard and pinned lace curtains to the stretchers for Mom's spring and fall cleaning and pulled weeds out of Mom's vegetable garden.

I could fill the whole newspaper with stories about 10-mile bicycle trips to a swimming hole and to neighboring towns to visit relatives. Obese children were very rare then. We can't go back but we can try to preserve some of the good of those years by giving today's children some room to play freely.

Nina Gilfert is a columnist for the Daily Commercial. Email her at ngporch@gmail.com.

Continue reading here:
From the Porch Steps: Back in the Day - Daily Commercial

Redlands | $1.199 MillionA four-bedroom Victorian house built in 1900, with one full and two half bathrooms, on a 0.9-acre lot

In the early 1880s, this lot was the home of the First Congregational Church of Redlands, a city in San Bernardino County about 65 miles east of Los Angeles. In 1899, the church building was sold to Harry Gregory, a local businessman who stripped it down to the foundation and rebuilt it as the house that stands today. Wood and finishes from the church were salvaged and used in the construction of the home, one of a number of Victorian-era houses in Redlands.

The property is a 10-minute walk from the University of Redlands, a private liberal arts school with about 5,000 students. Downtown San Bernardino is 15 minutes away by car.

Size: 3,200 square feet

Price per square foot: $375

Indoors: A winding driveway leads from the street to the front entrance of this house, which is surrounded on three sides by a wraparound porch.

Just inside the front door is a vestibule with three large windows that look out onto the front porch. To the right is a formal living room, with a fireplace and another big window.

Beyond the entry is a hallway that leads to a larger family room, with its own fireplace and decorative wainscoting, and a door that connects to the kitchen. A formal dining room with access to the rear porch is connected to the kitchen and the family room. To the left of the kitchen is a sunny office nook with access to a half bathroom.

Hardwood flooring runs throughout the main level, and several of the doors have their original crystal knobs.

From the back of the house, stairs lead to the second level, which has four bedrooms. At the far end of the hallway is a master bedroom with an en suite bathroom that includes a French soaking tub. Two other bedrooms are big enough to hold a queen-size bed, while a third is cozier, with sloped ceilings.

Outdoor space: The propertys grounds are extensive. In front of the house is an wide lawn; the paved driveway continues along the left side of the home and offers as a place to park. The backyard has a patio that is partially paved in brick and partially in concrete. A patch of lawn separates the main patio area from a small fountain. The property is planted with a number of fruit trees, including avocado, persimmon, blood orange, tangerine, nectarine and Meyer lemon.

Taxes: $15,227 (estimated)

Contact: Perrie Mundy, Berkshire Hathaway, 909-809-8644; perriemundy.com

In the postwar San Fernando Valley, William Mellenthin, a designer and contractor, was known for building high-quality ranch houses accented with birdhouses and cupolas, diamond-paned windows and two-sided brick fireplaces, in a style referred to as storybook ranch. This home built by Mr. Mellenthin has retained those details, despite extensive upgrades. It is in a part of the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles known as Hidden Woods, developed by Mr. Mellenthin in the late 1940s; the area includes a number of dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs as a bonus for families with young children.

An entrance to the 101 freeway is a five-minute drive; downtown Los Angeles is about half an hour away. The house is 10 minutes away from the shopping and dining on Ventura Boulevard, and about 25 minutes from Beverly Hills and the Westside of Los Angeles.

Size: 1,978 square feet

Price per square foot: $606

Indoors: The owner did considerable work to modernize the property, including upgrading the HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems. Most of the windows except for Mr. Mellenthins signature diamond-paned ones have been replaced, and the interior and exterior were recently painted.

Beyond the small entry are two formal spaces: to the right, a living room with one side of the homes double-sided fireplace; to the left, a dining room that is open to the kitchen and family room.

In the kitchen, the owner installed new cabinets, quartz counters and a skylight. An island with additional space for dining divides the kitchen from the family room, where the other half of the double-sided fireplace is set in a wall of white-painted brick. Sliding-glass doors lead from this space into the backyard.

Beyond the family room is the renovated master suite, where the owner added a walk-in closet and reconfigured the en suite bathroom. The master bedroom has its own access to the backyard through sliding-glass doors, and the master bathroom has a large walk-in shower lined with slate tile.

A hallway along the right side of the house connects the living room to two guest rooms, one of which overlooks the street and is large enough for a king-size bed. These bedrooms share a bathroom with a combination bathtub and shower.

Outdoor space: A paved patio outside the family room is large enough for a barbecue; the grassy backyard beyond has several original trees. A detached garage holds two cars and could be converted into additional living space.

Taxes: $15,228 (estimated)

Contact: Claudia Flores, Keller Williams Beverly Hills, 424-334-9291; claudiafloresproperties.com

Bankers Hill, a San Diego neighborhood named for the professionals who called it home during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is a mix of Victorian houses many converted into hotel or commercial spaces and new construction like this townhouse.

The home is a five-minute walk from the west side of Balboa Park, the citys main green space and the site of cultural institutions like the San Diego Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum. San Diego International Airport is a 10-minute drive; the campuses of the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University are about 20 minutes away by car.

Size: 1,700 square feet

Price per square foot: $697

Indoors: From the street, a short flight of stairs leads to the main living floor, which is laid out in an open-plan style.

Just inside the front door is a seating area that faces floor-to-ceiling sliding-glass doors out to a small balcony. Gray-tiled floors extend to the dining area, which flows into an open kitchen. An island with quartz counters provides an additional work space in the kitchen and another seating area. Stainless steel Bosch appliances and custom-designed cabinets line the far wall.

To the right of the great room is a set of stairs up to the master-suite level. On one wall of the master bedroom, floor-to-ceiling glass doors slide open to a private balcony. The large master bathroom includes a double vanity, a glass-walled walk-in shower and a free-standing soaking tub.

A garage on the ground level offers direct entry to the home. A guest room and a full bathroom are also on this level.

Outdoor space: Both the main level and the master-suite level have balconies with room for seating. A 500-square-foot roof deck is carpeted in artificial grass and looks toward the downtown San Diego skyline. The attached garage holds two cars.

Taxes: $12,443 (estimated), plus a $203 monthly homeowner association fee

Contact: Janet Douglas, Windermere Homes & Estates, 619-540-5891; windermere.com

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

Continue reading here:
$1.2 Million Homes in California - The New York Times