While You’re In: Go to a drive-in, check out holy cats — or ‘Sit There & Do Nothing’
Drive-ins are in
Drive-in theaters peaked in popularity in the late 1950s, and their numbers have been declining ever since. But in these days of physical distancing, they’re back in a big way. The venerable Skyline Drive-In, at 182 SE Brewer Road in Shelton, is hosting a “Lord of the Rings” marathon this weekend, screening one of the very lengthy films each night Friday through Sunday. Tickets are $30 per car for all three nights. Then on July 25, the Skyline will join drive-ins across the country in streaming a live concert by country star Blake Shelton and his girlfriend Gwen Stefani. (Trace Adkins is on the bill, too.) Tickets starting at $114.99 per car went on sale at noon Tuesday. If you miss it, there’ll be more drive-in concerts in August. And this month, Olympia has its own pop-up drive-in at Isthmus Park, 529 Fourth Ave. W., Olympia, where String and Shadow Puppet Theater is staging “The Paper Moon.” The all-ages puppet show — with a soundtrack available on FM radio or streaming on wifi — happens at dark Fridays and Saturdays and at 7 p.m. Sundays through July 26. The show is free, with donations encouraged.
Canterbury tails
While England’s Canterbury Cathedral was closed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, the cathedral’s cats became video stars. The morning prayers led by the Very Reverend Dr. Robert Willis, dean of Canterbury, became popular with a whole new audience in late May, when the mischievous Leo slinked under Willis’ robes. On July 6, Tiger came into the picture to drink some milk. The Olympian suspects the treat was left out for the express purpose of luring a four-legged guest star, since the first video was such a hit. The cathedral is once again open for services and visitors, but the online prayers continue. Also available on the cathedral’s website is Willis’ reading of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” — with another appearance by Tiger, who’s taking a bath as he listens to the tale.
Mellow out
Whether you’re a big fan of mindfulness and meditation or the type who scoffs at such notions, the podcast “Sit There & Do Nothing” might have something for you. Launched in February by comedian and designer Meg Lewis, “Sit There” both plays with and pokes fun at meditation, affirmations and “other weirdly soothing experiences,” as she puts it. Some of the shorter episodes consist of Lewis reading — in a soporific voice— such improbable content as reviews of an Atlanta middle school (“A teacher ate my lunch”) and increasingly strange-but-true text from a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap. At the end of each episode, an electronic voice sings “Good job doing nothing.” Though Lewis launched it in February, “Sit There” is pandemic perfect, and since this unlikely time began, she’s made an episode on washing your hands and a guided meditation that transports you to an alternate universe in which it’s safe to hug people.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore doesn’t normally put her devotion to presence and embodiment into her news writing, but today she invites you to sit there and notice the contact between your sitting bones and the chair. She discusses local arts, entertainment and more with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.