Television Is Golden

Links:
Lockdown TV: Netflix Dominates, News Surges and Bea Arthur Is Still Golden
Pharrell Williams - Compilation of Songs with Four-Count Start
If Beale Street Could Talk Trailer

Update:

Still in NYC, in Brooklyn, sheltering in place. We are still healthy, still not going anywhere unless absolutely necessary. I’m not going insane, but I’m not, not going insane. I like the working from home part, I don’t like not being able to go run an errand or easily, relaxingly be outside. Even when I take a walk I have such anxiety about... Where is my mask? Is it on right? Don’t touch your face, don’t touch anything. Be mindful about others not wearing masks, or disregarding the 6-foot rule. It’s so hard for me to relax and then I’m like, “Oh, f*%k this, I’m going back inside.”  But we are safe, we are surviving and I am making as best use of my time inside as I can, so I stay sane, and feel like I’m not getting behind for my goals for 2020. Let’s be honest, we thought this was gonna be 3 or 4 months, but this is going to be the rest of the year. Definitely the rest of Spring, into Summer.  I am probably going to be working from home for the rest of 2020. And that’s a different situation.

The idea of working out of my home office for a few months was fine. I prefer to work from home. I am very productive at home, doing my stuff— writing, podcasting, gaming, streaming, all the things I do for work, that fulfill me outside of my day job. And fine, my day job can come hang out in this office for a few months… But absolutely the f*%k not for the rest of the year. I don’t want this room to become my day job. Once I realized that was happening—first I panicked, then I got depressed. Now I am in the action stages, I’ve figured out a way to work in here without the day job stuff taking over the space. It has its own corner now. But knowing that the rest of the year is going to be some version of this. This no routine/new routine. I really want to make sure that I still accomplish some of the things I wanted to accomplish in 2020.

Main Show:

We are gonna talk about TV today. As you know, the world is watching a lot of TV.

The Coronavirus crisis has led to a worldwide spike in viewership in March. TV consumption was up 60% in the US for March with a spike in middle-of-the-day viewing and a decrease in primetime watching. And I read that India’s non-primetime viewing had an 81% increase. And this just proves what I have been feeling about TV consumption for all of my adult life. WHHHHHHY we gotta wait til 7, 8, 9 pm to watch the shows we love?! I think I may have mentioned this before, but I am not at my best in the evening. The evening is a time for me to be tired and generally unfocused and disappointed with life. I mean it— I am not in sync with my mind, body and soul in the evening. All the superpowers I feel starting around 5am, are gone by 6 pm. I used to watch Game of Thrones first thing in the morning on Mondays instead of Sunday night at 9 PM! Because THAT is when I was ready to truly experience the excitement, drama and bloodlust of Game of Thrones!

Anyway, all of this TV consumption, especially the daytime TV watching has been made possible by streaming services which allow you to watch your favorite shows whenever you want. First-time installs of the Netflix app on devices surged in Italy and Spain in Marc