It’s the end of the world as we know it…
This is sort of a continuation from the last Midweek Cafe & Lounge as well as the Froggy Bottom Lounge I put together over the weekend, and finally, last week’s Midweek Cafe and Lounge:
My usual vibe is to keep these light, and have some music and whatnot. Back when Neon Vincent was still a regular, we had some really cool beverage recipes. Probably wouldn’t hurt about now, given that the past week.
As with the previous cafe/lounge, I want to give you all something a bit more informative in hopes that it at least adds to some straight talk and keeps things in perspective as we come to grips with what is potentially a serious pandemic: Coronavirus COVID-19. First, I want you all to bookmark this map hosted by Johns Hopkins. It appears to be about the most up-to-date map of the number of cases per country, and also keeps record of deaths and recoveries. I also recommended last time this link from the Axios website – Coronavirus: The Big Picture. Axios is useful for its brief capsule summaries for those of us who may be on the go. The Axios global map is okay, but seems to be a little behind the other map. Finally, if you go to the Guardian, you will find daily live blogs of the progress of COVID-19 that provide a global perspective (including what is happening in the US). There is also a COVID-19 Tracker specific to the US that is quite accurate and will give you data about how close you are to the nearest confirmed case or cases.
At the end of the day, I think it is crucial that we have straight talk about what’s going on, rather than the sort of faux happy talk that 45 wants to spin or the bizarre conspiracy theories spread by folks on social media or even by otherwise supposedly responsible politicians (looking at you, Tom Cotton). Straight talk may not be necessarily pleasant, but it will keep you informed and hopefully alive and healthy.
I’ll try to post a video or two if I can actually get myself into the mood to do so. Obviously that’s been a bit difficult. If anyone wants to talk, here’s a space. It’s yours.
In the meantime, cheers.
“It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” debuted on iTunes Top 100, 33 years after it was released. . Can’t make this stuff up.
John Oliver’s most recent episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_066dEkycr4&t=45s
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Just one thing I have been keeping an eye on: the rate of increase in new cases has been steadily between 40 and 50 percent each day for at least the last week or so. We’re over 11,000 confirmed cases as of now. Would not be surprised if we were closer to 50,000 or so late next week. That may be a conservative estimate. I really haven’t calculated anything. In the meantime, everything seems to be slowly shutting down. I am rushing through my tax prep so that I am able to meet with my tax preparer as opposed to dropping stuff off and hoping for the best. Bank lobbies are shutting down. Everything will be atm or drive through.
Like a lot of states, mine has now required restaurants and bars to shut down their indoor operations. Everything is pickup or delivery. One bit of good news: we can order closed bottle beer or wine with meals (which is good for restaurants w/liquor licenses).
First new foto flog in a long while is going to be up and running in a little over an hour.
Here’s a good article from Wired:
https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/
Senate GOP Response to Pandemic, Recession Is Seriously Inadequate
https://www.cbpp.org/blog/senate-gop-response-to-pandemic-recession-is-seriously-inadequate
I’ll just leave this right here:
https://twitter.com/Rx_Ed/status/1241391332280672256
Hey, if there are any night owls, I hope you are doing okay. Any early birds who will see this post before sunrise? I hope you are okay. You matter to me. Hang in there, and stay as safe as you can.
Some perspective on how COVID-19 got out of Wuhan and spread throughout China and then the world.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/22/world/coronavirus-spread.html
Contrast Gov. Cuomo’s style in managing the outbreak with Trump’s.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/22/politics/andrew-cuomo-press-conferences/index.html
Did you have the coronavirus w/o knowing it? Probably not, but let’s be real: the virus has been spreading undetected for weeks now.
https://elemental.medium.com/did-you-have-coronavirus-without-knowing-it-d33bbce9e9e5
Out of curiosity: My stylist made it crystal clear to me a couple weeks ago that my case of male pattern baldness was pretty noticeable Looks like I won’t see a stylist again for a while. I have clipper available along with razors. My gut says shave it all off and be thankful for the time that I had where I could go around with my current style.. Other than wear hats and remember to keep a supply of the proper SPF sunscreen, any advice? Let’s just say that within the next couple months I am accepting reality and shaving what is left off, for good.