What day is it today?

Looking out my front door on Saturday morning.

What a difference a month makes. Indeed, as someone recently wrote, “Time looks different than it did a month ago.” No more commutes, allowing an extra hour of sleep on weekday mornings, no more Saturday morning grocery shopping – Thursday mornings at my local Trader Joe’s seem less crowded and hectic – and no baseball or any live sports of any kind to distract the rhythm of hurried lives. Instead, watching sports means watching classic replays of NCAA Final Fours or World Series.

By the way, what day is it today? I woke up this morning swearing it was Wednesday. It wasn’t, it was just Tuesday in Mount Rainier, Md.

Now, social distancing is likely to recognized as the buzz phrase of the year – and it’s only the beginning of April. Suddenly, my Google calendar is full of cancelled entries – from my Friday docents tours at the Library of Congress to hosting our Seattle friends last week to our own weekend mid-month theater trip we looked forward to in New York City. Lots of plans and hopes dashed – cancelled – because of the global coronavirus pandemic that’s spreading across the country like nothing I’ve ever experienced. No sense in buying concert, theater or baseball tickets or planning any travel until we know when our lives return to normal and it’s safe to do things that until last month we took for granted. By the way, what will the new normal be like anyway?

The past month has been filled with strange and scary times. Our narcissistic president has shown his incompetence, greed and his lack of empathy. He and his inept administration are in way over their heads. Decorum is not one of this president’s strong suits. Speaking of suits, would it pain this president to button his suit coat when he’s in front of the cameras, which lately seems to be every day since he can’t hold one of his “campaign rallies”?

Now, no matter how busy – or panicked – we might become, day by day, worrying about our health, our finances, our future, we look for diversions. Anything to avoid thinking about the coronavirus crisis and how POTUS wants to get us all killed. Fortunately, there are ways to break the monotony and find daily solace in our discretionary time while we stay at home “flattening the curve” in quarantine. For me, these simple pleasures include:

• Watching live or on demand Steve Nieve’s daily improvisation. Steve who? Steve Nieve. For those in the music know, The British-born Nieve, 62, is a longtime keyboard maestro who for more than 40 years has anchored Elvis Costello’s Attractions and Imposters bands. He’s an accomplished classical and jazz pianist, and each evening, he turns the naturally-lit living room of his and wife Muriel’s simple-but-colorful French home into a music salon for about half-an-hour on his Facebook page, Steve Nieve Page. Nieve plays, Muriel operates the smartphone camera (and sometimes shows images of their colorful backyard while she hums and sings along in her delightful French accent). They are joined by young singer Ajuq. Chances are good you’ll hear Nieve break out into some Costello faves like “Alison,” “Shipbuilding,” “The Long Honeymoon,” and “Useless Beauty.” These sessions will definitely make you smile.

• Watching live or on demand NPR Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon’s nightly “Open Book” family get-together that he broadcasts via his Twitter page @nprscottsimon. Each evening, from his home in Washington, D.C., Simon talks about and reads from books and also FaceTimes with special guests. The art of conversation about literature and music lives on.

• Also on Twitter, former longtime ESPN SportsCenter anchor Keith Olbermann joins us from his New York City residence, sitting alone in his comfortable reading chair – sometimes joined by one of his dogs – and reads to us in his wonderful and distinctive voice. His nightly “Thurbercast” is both delightful and enjoyable. Like the others, you can catch the “Thurbercast” live or on demand on Olbermann’s Twitter page @KeithOlbermann.

• Finally, NPR Music has an abundance of Tiny Desk Concerts which you can link to through their website. Thanks to the pandemic, it’s be re-branded for now as Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts. One of the newest ones features Death Cab For Cutie’s frontman Ben Gibbard singing a newly-penned tune, “Life in Quarantine,” as well as “Me & Magdalena,” a tune Ben wrote for The Monkees’ Good Times album, and finally  “She’s Got a Problem,” an homage to songwriter and musician Adam Schlesinger of the band Fountains of Wayne, who passed away on April 1 from complications due to COVID-19.

There’s no right or wrong way to spent your hours and days and nights and weekends and weeks. Many different cultural organizations from coast-to-coast such as the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center and San Francisco’s de Young Museum of Fine Arts are offering music and conversations and virtual exhibition tours.

And, of course, what better time than now to binge-watch something you’ve been wanting to binge-watch? There’s lots to find perusing through streaming channels like Netflix and Acorn TV. I’m currently enjoying Ugly Delicious, New York chef David Chang’s original series for Netflix, in which he combines travel, cooking and history – three things I’m very fond of. Each episode highlights a single dish or concept, and he explores how it is made in different regions and how it evolves. Pretty cool, eh?

In the meantime, “Let people know you love them and wash your hands everybody. We’ll see you on the other side,” says Gibbard at the conclusion of his NPR Music Tiny Desk (Home) Concert.

 It kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

An independent platform and a voice of reason

Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?
All the news and more tonight on ... The Olbermann Show?

Keith Olbermann is gearing up for a return to prime-time television.  Two days after a Green Bay Super Bowl victory marred by Christina Aguilera's National Anthem fiasco, the announcement today about Olbermann joining Current TV is welcome and refreshing news.

"Nothing is more vital to a free America than a free media, and nothing is more vital to my concept of a free media than news that is produced independently of corporate interference," said Olbermann, who will host a prime-time news and commentary show for Current TV, similar to his former MSNBC Countdown program, starting in the spring.

You may recall that Olbermann left MSNBC very abruptly last month following his suspension in 2010 by MSNBC for making campaign contributions to Democratic candidates. Olbermann's departure, announced at the end of his Jan. 21 broadcast, came just days before Comcast took over control of NBC Universal. Ironically, Comcast owns a 10 percent stake in Current TV. According to published reports, Current TV said it will allow Olbermann to make political donations.

Keith Olbermann /
From Countdown to Current TV

Current TV, a privately-held and independently-owned media company co-founded by former vice president Al Gore, currently averages about 23,000 viewers during evening prime time, not exactly appointment TV numbers. This pales in comparison to the 1 million views who tuned in nightly to watch Olbermann host Countdown during the past eight years on MSNBC. Current TV is available in about 60 million homes, mostly on a cable digital tier or satellite basis, while MSNBC transmits to about 95 million homes and is usually part of a basic cable package and also airs on satellite.

OK, I'll admit it, Current TV is a forgotten channel in my household and I had to pull up our DirecTV program guide to find its location (Current TV airs on Ch. 358 on DirecTV). However, with the acerbic Olbermann coming on board in the near future, I just might have to rethink my weeknight viewing habits, which already include The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

The liberal-minded ownership of Current TV is banking on Olbermann as an investment in its future.  According to the New York Times, Olbermann will also have an equity stake in Current TV as well as a management role as its chief news officer. He will be tasked with helping develop new programs and be an editorial mentor to the channel's journalists.

In a published statement, Gore said: "We are delighted to provide Keith with an independent platform and freedom that Current can and uniquely offers."

Personally, I've been a big fan of Olbermann's for a long time going back to his days as an anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter. He taught sports fans across the country a whole new vernacular for the game. We share similar interests, including a love of baseball, history and media, and we're of a similar age (early 50s).  He writes a blog, Baseball Nerd for MLB.com. His "Special Comments" segments during his tenure on Countdown were always passionate, literate, at times biting, but always thought-provoking.

Keith Olbermann /
A born talker blessed with a
voice that was made for TV

During the build-up to the 2008 presidential election and in the months that followed, Countdown became "must-see TV" in our household, not only for its civic and political news value ~ and its ability to hold all points of view, especially those blathered by Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, accountable ~ but also for its voice, peppered with cultural, historical and sports references, which allowed Olbermann's literary wit (he enjoyed quoting Thurber) and wisdom to flourish.  The man is a born talker and is blessed with a voice that was made for television.  By the end of each show, I felt like not only had I gained valuable lessons and insights about our democracy, but also was treated to a dose of topical and witty humor along the way.

If Olbermann is able to mimic Countdown in his new yet-to-be-named gig ~ and chances are good that he will be allowed to by Gore & Co. ~ Current TV is banking that viewers will follow. And, if Olbermann gets to be a little louder along the way without worrying about corporate meddling, all the better.