Please refer to our article titled "Pandemic disrupts several local arts events" for what’s open, what’s on, and what’s not in arts and entertainment in the coming days. All remaining events and the status of venues are obviously subject to quick change, and we will try to update any news as it occurs on our website.
Stream on
One of the few stocks to be on the rise in this time of crashing prices is, no surprise, Netflix. It and other entertainment streaming services can expect a big boost in subscriptions in coming weeks. As West Sechelt’s Christine Wood pointed out, “If you want to still have movie night with friends without risking COVID-19 spread, Chrome has an extension called Netflix Party that allows you to simultaneously stream Netflix with friends. It has a chat window and play/pauses for everyone in the group so you stay synced.”
Locally, some artists are taking to online venues where social distancing is no problem. If you’re on Facebook, check out Sunshine Coast BC Unify the Music where an increasing number of performers, like singer-songwriter Ken Dunn, are holding impromptu “watch parties” and mini-concerts and singalongs. You might also want to start to explore the world of podcasts. A professionally informative way to begin is with Coast Reporter’s Sean Eckford, who produces one weekly, accessible from our website. Roberts Creek writer and performer Caitlin Hicks has also recently started one. Google Some Kinda Woman: Stories of Us.
Big Snit
Worth a look is the hilariously on-topic, end-of-the-world National Film Board animation Ed Lands brought to the Coast’s attention on Facebook this week. Less than ten minutes long, it’s called The Big Snit, by the brilliant Richard Condie. Though it’s from 1985, and ultimately talks about a different threat to us all, it does speak to our home-bound times. You can access if from NFB’s website, but here’s a shortcut: bit.ly/2vsi4f5
Virtual tour
And, from Matthew Lovegrove of the otherwise-closed Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives: “During this closure, we would like to highlight a variety of online Museum resources, including our virtual Museum tour, online photograph collection, and digitized newspaper database. These resources are available free of charge to all members of the public. We are also proud to offer a series of place-based historical videos on our YouTube channel.”
Publisher kudos
Congratulations to Halfmoon Bay-based Caitlin Press and Harbour Publishing of Madeira Park, which have published books that are finalists for the 2020 B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes.
Caitlin Press published How She Read, by Chantal Gibson, and On/Me, by Francine Cunningham. Both books are short-listed for the inaugural Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. The new award is named for Little Sisters Bookstore co-founder and Vancouver LGBTQ+ activist Jim Deva. How She Read is also on the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize shortlist, awarded to a B.C.- or Yukon-based author for the best work of poetry.
Harbour Publishing published Voices from the Skeena: An Illustrated Oral History, by Robert Budd and Roy Henry Vickers. That book is up for the Bill Duthie Bookseller’s Choice Award. The winners will be announced Sept. 19.
Submissions
If there’s an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, please let us know by 11 a.m. Tuesday at [email protected]. Space is limited and, regrettably, we can’t list everything. Also check Coast Reporter’s Coast Community Calendar for more music and events.
