Compass A&E

The term “uncanny valley” refers to a concept that’s simple enough: We like artificial beings to look like us — until they look too much like us; then we reject them, with revulsion.

The valley refers to the point in the graph when things go beyond being recognizably “robot” and become almost human, but not quite.

Anyone who has email probably knows that there is a universe of online arts and entertainment out there at this time.

This is a time when families are spending more time together since, perhaps, the dark ages, before the cellular telephone was invented. Perhaps it’s the perfect moment to return to a traditional way for parents and their children of all ages to spend time in the evening: Sitting together and reading poetry out loud.

This year won’t be the first time my family conducts a Passover Seder via video: Last year my niece Daphne spent her junior year in high school in China, so at 7 a.m. local time on the first day of Passover she joined our family Seder via FaceTime.

If your television preferences lean toward the uncanny but you have already exhausted director Jordan Peele’s rebooted “Twilight Zone” episodes, you may want to check out that show’s source material. 

If you’re already sick of singing “Happy Birthday” twice while you wash your hands, there’s a new and better way.

At a website called www.washyourlyrics.com, you choose a song that matches your mood. Type in the name of the song and the singer or composer/songwriter.

Sir Philip Pullman, a master of the fantasy genre, has come into his own this year with the trifecta of a new novel, the debut of an HBO series based on his earlier trilogy, and a knighthood in Britain’s New Years Honours.

James Barron said the response to his “Evite” invitation to a show at his Kent, Conn., gallery featuring work by Italian artists has been unprecedented.

“I cannot remember getting such a big response to an Evite as this,” he said, adding that, “Italy touches so many. It’s really a moving experience.”