Friday Ephemera
Bit nippy out. || Banana-related breakthrough of note. || She does this better than you do. || His knife is sharper than yours. || Passionate exchanges. || Script Doctor recaps Picard with suitable ruthlessness: “Too bad the writers don’t think beyond the surface of their own ideas.” || Intriguing odour detected. || Disappointing soap. (h/t, Perry) || Upscale toasting. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || Restaurant scenes. || Nommy nommy nom. || The thrill of sorting nails. || Achievement unlocked. || 85,000 British Pathé newsreels, 1910-2008. || A brief history of the URL. || Ice resurfacing simulator. || I did not know this. || Hands up if you own one. || Folded paper. || And finally, a slaughterhouse-related mishap.
The writers must have worked very hard to screw it up.
I think part of the problem is there are too many ingredients, few of which feel like they belong together. If it were a meal it would be bananas and sausages and eggs and fish, with a pickled onion and a sprinkling of instant coffee granules.
This thread is weird: dissections of Picard and dead raccoons (well, I suppose that could be taken metaphorically) and Americans committing unholy abominations with one of the most delicious comestibles on the planet.
This thread is weird
You’re getting this now?
This thread is weird.
Why should it be any different than any other thread?
Why should it be any different than any other thread?
I still think this is one of our stranger, and certainly longer, threads, running as it did for eleven days – the one regarding the James Damore / ‘Google Memo’ saga. It begins much as you’d expect, with lots of examples of the eye-widening dishonesty of the mainstream media; but by page three or so it starts taking, um, fanciful tangents. Including speculation as to what happens each time we add another 100 comments. If memory serves, at one point we detonate a nuclear device.
Amenity of note.
Via Damian.
detonate a nuclear device
[ears perk up]
I KNEW we were the kool kids.
As elsewhere, the first Covid19 panic (cleaning out the grocery stores of toilet paper and non-perishable goods) has set in where I live. Cancellations and closures for a least three weeks have been announced for most services that involve groups of people. As close as we are to St. Patrick’s Day, the long standing parade and celebration has been canceled where I live. So an enterprising group had their own parade. One vehicle with about 20 people traiing adorned in various costumes of green. They went down my street (a small residential drive with 11 houses on it) with music playing and crazy truck horn blasting.
God bless them!
The local museums are all closed indefinitely.
The local museums are all closed indefinitely.
Similar in Chicago and Milwaukee. The British Museum, on the other hand, remains open. Keep calm and carry on?
@ Bloke in a Shed, I have 2 grand nephews with idiot parents, especially the Canadian techy, woke father. Over the last year the kids have got The Dangerous Book for Boys, The Double Dangerous Book for Boys, Things to do with Sticks and of course several slingshot Flying Screaming Monkeys. This gives the kids and I great pleasure.
The local museums are all closed indefinitely.
Because they were too crowded? I would have thought museums were one of the few public spaces where it would be very easy to keep your distance from others.
And if it is because of the staff, just open up without having to pay. They’re losing the money anyway.
4:30 pm PDT — some great skiing resorts are shutting down the lifts.
I haven’t skied at Mammoth in years (knees) but great memories and I’m always checking the snow conditions. Sad. I feel for all the small town businesses that depend on the season.
When I was a youngster…
Oh, we’re both old enough that the local diner was still split 50/50 between smoking and non-smoking after we’d both graduated high school. And to have ridden on the school bus while Mrs. Rome was at the wheel, cigarette dangling between her lips. And, want to guess which one of us smoked when we were teenagers, and which one did not?
Her freak out was all for show, and we both knew it.
My mother grew up on Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh.
Heh. Our mother is from Yinzer territory as well, albeit on the Ohio side. Grandpap, of course, worked at “the mill”, and our father’s first paying job was shoveling coke.
Over the last year the kids have got The Dangerous Book for Boys, The Double Dangerous Book for Boys, Things to do with Sticks and of course several slingshot Flying Screaming Monkeys.
Gifts given while they (boy/girl twins) were still in infancy have included Have Spacesuit, Will Travel and the entire Day of The Tripods series. Another couple I am friends with received Galahad: Enough of His Life to Explain His Reputation upon the birth of their first son.
They’re closing churches here. Churches. Some until at least April. AIUI, it’s the churches themselves that are closing. So voluntary. Though not sure which is worse. I suppose voluntary is better, but I’ve changed my mind on that three times already since this afternoon.
Meanwhile, I just got back from cruising Bike Week here in coastal central Florida (kinda accidentally, in the truck) from Ormand Beach up to Crescent Beach, and if there’s anything to this reason to quarantine the whole country right now, some bikers are gonna be needing a whole lot of toilet paper or WTF it is that cures this thing. The biker bars and such that were open, that being every one we passed, were elbow to elbow, standing room only.
Grandpap, of course, worked at “the mill”
You of course mean the “still mill”, like dem Pittsburgh Stillers dat play dahnner at Heinz Fild, acrass the riva from dahntahn. Ah, but yinz from Ahiya. Nowheres near dat mistake uppair on Lake Erie Ize hope.
Nowheres near dat mistake uppair on Lake Erie Ize hope.
East Liverpool, halfway between Pitts and Youngstown.
If there’s one thing people from Youngstown have going for them, it’s that they can make fun of Cleveland, the city named, and misspelled, after its absentee founding father.
Haven’t seen that design before, but there are surfboard holders on the Metrolink trains here in Southern California, too.
WTP:
“Voluntary” should probably be in sneer quotes.
A week ago I got stuck behind an idiot in the self-checkout “express” line who had about eight multi-roll packages of toilet paper (different brands, so not one item x8 even though I don’t know you can do the x8 in self-checkout) plus enough other stuff to go over the 14-item limit for traditional express lanes.
On the bright side, the liquor store seemed normally stocked. Picked up a case worth of wine plus an extra liter bottle for 10L total so I’m set for dinner every night for a good two months.
Coronapanic update: At the local Walmart yesterday, they had restocked toilet paper. I saw one socially responsible couple emerging from the store each carrying one 8 pack of TP. That would probably last the guy at least two weeks. The woman, maybe two days. Inside, as expected, the cleaning products, bleach, cold remedies, antibacterial soap, and frozen food were gone. Inexplicably, there was no iodized salt. They had plain salt, sea salt, lite salt, and Kosher salt.
The local University closed with the exception for now of the University Museum and Rowan Oak (Wm. Faulkner’s home). The guide at Rowan Oak said they had a great surge of visitors looking for something to do before an Administrator realizes that something, somewhere is still operating.
Inexplicably, there was no iodized salt. They had plain salt, sea salt, lite salt, and Kosher salt.
Sometimes in situations like this it’s not the supply of product itself but its place in the hierarchy, temporary or not, in the numerous logistics branches between producers and consumers. Room on the truck was probably all taken up by toilet paper.
Got back from Publix this morning. We used to go at 7 AM on Saturday or Sunday but hadn’t done that in a while. This morning there were a good number of people already there at 7:15. They’ve been closing an hour earlier in the evening so they can restock, etc. Some fruits and vegetables were completely gone (yes, we have no bananas), milk was mostly gone, only the expensive eggs were available and just a couple cartons of those. Asked the checkout guy who was really some sort of manager if supply was a problem and he indicated it was mostly a turnover issue. They can’t get stuff in To keep up with how fast it goes out the door. As we were leaving we saw a supply truck just pulling away from the back. I usually stop by a second time on Sunday afternoon to get fish for dinner so I ll get some perspective on AM/PM supply status later on.
Got back from Publix this morning.
At ours, equally inexplicably, the pasta was wiped out, along with nigh anything made by Pillsbury™ that comes in a cardboard or plastic tube, and fresh chicken.
Spaghetti and chicken gravy and biscuits for the duration, I guess.
Farnsworth, are you the same Muldoon as Muldoon who comments on Ace of Spades?
No, that one is a pretender to the throne of the Muldoon Dynasty.
The Multiplying Muldoons would be a pretty good band name. Or possibly a fringe act on the working men’s club circuit.
…the working men’s club circuit.
Working men’s clubs – the things one learns about here about strange UK ways. Speaking of which, last week we had an exposition on the f-word, previously a discussion of the many ways “chuff/ed” could be used, but what about:
“Penny was pissed when she found out Paul wasn’t taking the piss when he said he was so pissed he pissed himself when it would have been a piece of piss* just to go to the loo.”
A stranger would think there was some sort of Roman orgy going on.
*(or piss easy)
So curious, is this herd immunity approach being seriously considered over there? I see various opinions from Guardian and other sources but none that I would trust. My gut feeling, given that you can (supposedly) transmit this thing for two weeks before you realize you have it, is that the cat is already out of the bag and all this shutdown of everything will only make matters worse.
Working men’s clubs – the things one learns about here about strange UK ways.
I shouldn’t imagine many of them still exist. I used to live quite close to one that was run by a school friend’s parents. As a wee seedling, I spent many hours overhearing acts of questionable comedic or musical quality while enjoying a complimentary bottle of coke and bag of crisps.
“My gut feeling, given that you can (supposedly) transmit this thing for two weeks before you realize you have it, is that the cat is already out of the bag and all this shutdown of everything will only make matters worse.”
No, at the least these social distancing measures will flatten the curve so the medical system will be better able to handle it.
[ Returns from nostalgic reverie and checking online to see how many of his school friends still have hair. ]
Dad skills.
Via Holborn.
Also this.
Also via Holborn:
David, I have found the ideal musical entertainment for this fine establishment:
No, at the least these social distancing measures will flatten the curve
I think there’s some room for argument here, depending on environments. Not that we have God-like knowledge to make the best possible decisions here, and again, perhaps you are right, but one consideration is the area under the curve. Be it flat or (multiple) spikey.
Regarding my PM trip to Publix, the bananas and potatoes that were AWOL this morning were available this afternoon. No eggs though. Some more milk. The gallon sizes whereas this morning there was only half gallons. Spoke to the kid behind the fish counter and he said they haven’t seen a hit on the fish supplies as yet. Bread was almost totally gone on the shelves, though the fresh baked varieties were available and the sammich shop was making sammiches. Some other stuff was bare but for the most part, aside from what I just said was missing, it seemed more like a normal afternoon trip to Publix.
David, I have found the ideal musical entertainment for this fine establishment
[ Slides grey, well-thumbed pastry along bar. ]
WTP: The area under the curve might be the same, but if the peak is lower the hospitals and drug suppliers will be less likely to be overloaded. As for supplies of food and toilet paper, I am confident we are not going to run out…unless every damn fool were to hoard until every room were filled to the ceiling.
Understand. My point is that we really don’t know enough to make the best decision. No one does and I feel for those who are in a position of responsibility because no matter if you were to make the best decision possible, as determined 5 years from now or whatever, you will be crucified for whatever decision you make that goes against the consensus, intelligent or otherwise. And certain decision makers will be damned regardless.
This report from the Diamond Princess ship I found interesting due to how long all those people have been quarantined and the ability to test them all.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.05.20031773v2.full.pdf
When you are desperate…
It just says “Toilet paper”, but “paper” is anglicized as “Bumaga”, wherein “aga” is probably the sound you make when used on one’s bum.
This report from the Diamond Princess…
It also speaks to the communicability when you have 3700 people locked in a big iron box ass to elbow and there are only 619 cases, half of whom are asymptomatic.
“My point is that we really don’t know enough to make the best decision.”
Agreed.
“and I feel for those who are in a position of responsibility because no matter if you were to make the best decision possible, as determined 5 years from now or whatever, you will be crucified for whatever decision you make that goes against the consensus, intelligent or otherwise.”
Agreed! And of course not making a decision is in effect making a decision. In any crisis it is impossible to know what the best decision is and the consequences of dithering are likely to be very bad. Best to simply makes the best decision one can and make it promptly.
“I think there’s some room for argument here…”
But instead of arguing, could we post funny things found on Twitter? “This is the funniest!” “No, this is the funniest!” “No, this…”
Apparently,
Further evidence that it’s possible to dig mental holes from which there’s no escape. And some will do it with glee, while applauding themselves.
“Nebal Maysaud is a queer Lebanese composer based in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. Since buying their first notation software in 2009, Nebal (pronounced [niˈbæ:l]) has grown to become an impactful, socially minded composer.
Their music is a convergence of faith and identity, using their artwork to advocate for the traditionally silenced…
Nebal Maysaud is a deeply spiritual thinker. Their fascination with the mysteries of the universe, combined with their dedication towards justice and equality, creates a sound profile that is unique and universal. Their works emphasize openness across religions and identities, revealing religion as a source of spirituality while also a source of suffering through abuse of power…”
“And some will do it with glee, while applauding themselves.”
Nebal may have learned that at the very expensive university he went to.
pst314 and Muldoon, or whomever, one thing in regard to the link I provided for the study of the Diamond Princess…tried to look this up and either getting lost in the weeds (or the vodka) or just simply not understanding…what is the difference in this statistical sense between a “case” and an “infection”, re CFR vs. IFR?
WTP: that took some tracking down, as Wikipedia only has a page for Case Fatality Rate.
But here is a link explaining the difference between CFR and IFR: “The infection fatality rate (IFR) gives the probability of dying for an infected person. The case fatality rate (CFR) gives the probability of dying for an infected person who is sick enough to report to a hospital or clinic. CFR is larger than IFR, because individuals who report to hospitals are typically more severely ill.”
Re: Classical Music
Short summary of article: Segregation now, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation forever.
I do hope this petite bourgeois racist will be consistent and give up all evil white invented instruments, electronics (synths, amplifiers) and recording devices while he confines himself to a more accurate musical presentation of his own history and culture.
pst314, thanks very much for that. Yeah, I was expecting a wiki on IFR once I saw one for CFR, but then down the rabbit hole I went and wife has been b*ing at me enough for the time I spend on this damn iPad lately…well more than lately, but…sigh…
Why is this thread different from all other threads?
“Why is this thread different from all other threads?”
Slaves we were unto the BBC and Guardian…we eat only gray pastries to remind us of the mediocrity of the news coverage, and hump fat to remind us of the smarmy unctuousness of the news purveyors.
?? Huh??