Best Bets for the Break: A quick guide to online entertainment and virtual experiences

This is a continuing series of online activities to undertake on your computer or tablet during your quarantine quandary.

Fall Racing Season begins

This fall’s Bing Crosby Season runs Saturday, Oct. 31-Sunday, Nov. 29 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Due to COVID-19 the meet will be held without spectators.

Watch Del Mar Live on TVG each race day. The first race on Oct. 31 is at 12:30 p.m.

Racing will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday to open the session, then Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the following three weeks. It will finish with a four-day week kicked off by the Thursday, Nov. 26 Thanksgiving holiday.

First post will be 12:30 p.m. daily with the exception of Thanksgiving Day when there will be an early 11 a.m. post. For information on viewing options, schedules and more, visit www.dmtc.com

Halloween & beyond

• San Diego Ghosts has taken its ghost tour of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter online via GhostFlix, an on-demand streaming platform for haunted experiences across the country. Viewers can have questions answered by local guides or experience livestreamed and past ghost tours. $13 and up. sdghosts.com/ghostfli

Lectures & learning

• Warwick’s bookstore presents author Amanda Nachman at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, online. Nachman will discuss her new book, “#Qualified: You Are More Impressive Than You Realize.” Free. warwicks.com/event/nachman-2020

• Adventures by the Book presents “Book Bingo (Historical Fiction)” at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, online. The event will feature a game of Bingo and authors Laura Kamoie, Robin Oliveira, Jessica Keener, Judith Teitelman, Marisel Vera and Rita Dragonette discussing their favorite books. Game cards will be provided at registration. Free. bit.ly/novbingo

• La Jolla LearningWorks presents “Understanding the Assessment Process for Students Who are Struggling” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5. San Diego psychologist Donica Dohrenwend will discuss what kind of assessments are needed for different child difficulties, along with the benefits of a psychoeducational evaluation. Free. bit.ly/learningworksnov

Family & children

• Liberty Station’s Outside the Lens presents a digital photography class online from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 31. The class, designed for teenagers and adults, will provide tips and editing basics. $39. outsidethelens.org/workshops

• The La Jolla/Riford Library holds an Adventure & Mystery Book Club at 4 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Facebook. Branch manager Bill Mallory currently is reading “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard. bit.ly/rifordadventuremystery

Art & culture

• San Diego Repertory Theater, along with the Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse, present “We Are Listening,” a live online salon about Black artists’ experiences in the industry, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. This week’s guest is Gamal Chasten, organizer of the Breath Project Festival. Free. bit.ly/wearelisteningnew; past episodes at bit.ly/wearelisteningpast

• The San Diego Italian Film Festival screens “Mio Fratello Rincorre i Dinosauri (My Brother Chases Dinosaurs)” Oct. 29-31, with a live Q&A with the director at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. $16. bit.ly/sdiffmiofratello

• Belly Up nightclub launches its first livestream virtual concert series on Friday, Oct. 30. The series will feature 10 shows from the Belly Up stage, including Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Los Lobos and The White Buffalo, along with Queen Nation and an Oingo Boingo-inspired Halloween bash with Dead Man’s Party. It runs through Dec. 19. $12 to $20 for individual shows; $99 for a season pass. bellyuplive.com/virtual-tour

• San Diego Master Chorale continues its fall season at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. The “American Originals” performance features works of Stephen Paulus and other American composers, along with a discussion. $20 ($100 for a fall series All-Access Pass). sdmasterchorale.org

The 2020 San Diego Youth Symphony Concerto Competition Finals are online Sunday, Nov. 1. Pictured is 2019 pre-professional winner Susan Lee.

(Courtesy)

• San Diego Youth Symphony presents its annual Concerto Competition Finals at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, via Zoom. Finalists Nathan Haghgoo, piccolo (Canyon Crest Academy); Janice Hu, violin (Canyon Crest Academy); Emma Li, flute (The Bishop’s School); Lea Parseghian, violin (High Tech High School); Erica Wang, flute (Torrey Pines High School) and Andy Yang, cello (Westview High School) will perform live from home. Free. sdys.org/events

• The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library continues its “Eastern Influences in Western Art” lecture series online at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, with “Dimensions of Abstract Art,” led by art historian Cornelia Feye. $12 per lecture for members; $15 for non-members. ljathenaeum.org/art-history-lectures

• UC San Diego’s Kamil Gallery presents “Shameful Intimacy” online. Artist Xiangyu Dong’s project focuses on the private moments in a relationship in the cultural context of East Asian society. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu/kamilgallery

• San Diego performance ensemble Project [Blank] offers its short film “Hanjo” online. The film won Catapult Opera’s Innovation Prize and features shadow puppetry in an adaptation of Toshio Hosokawa’s 2004 opera. Free. catapultopera.org/acfilms/hanjo-nussman

Virtual galas & events

• Miracle Babies will hold its 11th annual “Phantom Gala” virtually Saturday, Oct. 31. The event, which helps support families who have newborns in intensive care, features a selection of toast packs starting at $250. miraclebabies.org/calendar-event/phantomgala

The Susan G. Komen San Diego Race for the Cure, pictured in 2019, will be virtual Sunday, Nov. 1.

(Courtesy)

• The Susan G. Komen San Diego Race for the Cure goes virtual Sunday, Nov. 1. The event will kick off at 8:30 a.m. on Komen San Diego social media channels, with people encouraged to participate in the breast cancer fundraising walk wherever it is safest for them and to upload photos and other information. Free. komensandiego.org/walk

What have you found for entertainment and other activity from a (social) distance? Email your leads to efrausto@lajollalight.com. ◆