Silver Linings: A Handful Of Nice Things That Prove It's Not All Doom & Gloom
Sometimes happiness comes from the most unexpected places.
It's important to take a look at the bright side every now and then; spare a second and remember that it's not all death and isolation and economic confusion. There’s been a significant drop in C02 levels. Venice has fish. Traffic’s down, that’s nice.
Small victories maybe, but when things look lower than Coles' TP stock we say take the wins where you can. And they are around, just take a look at some of these unexpected silver linings that have come out of this pandemic.
The sporting world is getting weird with it
Formula 1 just got a little more interesting for anyone that spent their birthday tenth birthday hooning 'round a pixelated track at Timezone. With irl events shut down a bunch of drivers from different NASCAR series are duking it out on the "iRacing simulation platform" - collisions, trash talk, photo finishes and all.
Sorry, @JeffGordonWeb. @ClintBowyer makes a live crew-chief swap and puts @LarryMac28 on the box. 😂#ProInvitationalSeries pic.twitter.com/zOgQgzFaQk
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 29, 2020
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Elsewhere, WWE’s hammy storylines playing out to empty arenas have already made for some gloriously weird viewing. Now there’s talk they might add canned audience reactions and please, please let that happen. A haunted stadium howling for blood while giant men in leotards pile drive each other would put all other spectacles to shame.
Another option that’s apparently being discussed is live-streaming fans reactions from their homes, which tells us that WWE learnt nothing from Chatroulette.
WWE sent out a survey to today asking fans if they would be interested in fan reactions during shows. The image below is one of the videos shown in the survey. Would you watch wrestling like this? pic.twitter.com/1v7YWOhhvk
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) March 28, 2020
Pornhub's solution is free porn
After making their premium accounts free in Italy, Pornhub, apparently the patron saints of horniness, have now opened their highest quality smut to the rest of the world. They’re going to flatten the curve by tenting your trousers, dirty dogs. Just promise to self-isolate and you're good to go.
Storytime with Sam & Dolly
Sam Neil’s Instagram is probably the most wholesome place on the internet. Whether he’s having a soothing cuddle with Charlie the duck or serenading very hairy pig, Angelica, every post will leave you with the warm and fuzzies.
Neil’s in quarantine at the moment, like a lot people, and he’s stuck here in Australia instead of on his NZ farm with all his beloved critters. Rather than getting down about it, he’s sharing dorky ukulele covers of Radiohead and readings of his favourite stories from Hairy Maclary and Dr Zeus. It’s like Play School for stressed-out adults and a lovely reminder to stay inside but stay connected.
Dolly Parton also knows that "now is the time to share a story and to share some love". She's starting a Goodnight With Dolly series through her book gifting program Dolly Parton's Imagination Library this week where she'll read different children's books each episode. Who better to read the world to sleep after another rough 9 to 5 than the queen of country herself?
Couch concerts
Live music has taken a brutal hit during this whole thing but the community has been incredibly resilient and adaptable so far. For one thing, there have been some awesome online sets and festivals since the caps on public gatherings started rolling in, from bands like Death Cab For Cutie to massive grassroots events like ISOL-AID. Who'd have thought a month ago just how vital a platform something like Instagram Stories would be for people to meet, celebrate and maintain a little normality?
The kindness of strangers
Two separate households on our street have done a letterbox drop just to say if we need help with anything should give them a ring. It was a nice reminder that for every fistfight in a checkout line and idiot on a crowded beach there's someone designing open-source facemasks for first responders or offering to do supply runs for total strangers.
For more information about how COVID-19 is impacting the music industry, follow the link here.
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