GovernorSilver

And so the latest Wisconsin experiment begins https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/14/856075037/wisconsin-bars-reopen-after-court-strikes-down-safer-at-home-bans?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0d2qSzDzwrn5KmZU1e9BQD9pJpDH4Y07XsoojFj-KBXEnz_6wFlJeGBWQ

I thought J. Michael Straczynski stated several times that he had planned all along for five seasons of Babylon 5, with the show ending after the 5th season. It's been a while though, since the days I obsessed over the show and discussion w/ fellow fans. Too bad the sequel Crusade was never really finished. The final attempt to continue the B5 universe "Legend of the Rangers" was a ratings flop. Thanks to this thread though I'm going to check out Sense8 on Netflix as because it's one of his latest projects.

First time I saw Shohreh Aghdashloo was when she played Agent Madani's mom in The Punisher. I was immediately impressed by her presence. Yes, great interaction between her and Tarabay.

In your area? I'm surprised. My friend in Knoxville TN says the restaurants in his town are open - some pickup-only, some w/ social distancing rules. A good number in my area remain open, but have switched to pickup-only

After all the talk and drama about "reopen now"/"don't reopen now" I've been pondering what "reopening" actually means. I asked this question on our neighborhood discussion forum and nobody answered - I guess people got so lost in the drama that nobody actually thought much about the reopening itself. I can't think of anything about what "reopening" is other than letting non-essential workers go back to their workplaces, and schools, churches and restaurants letting people back in. Rock concert venues would be tricky because people love to crowd together for rock shows. Music venues that cater to an - sorry, no other way to put it - older clientele tend to have dinner tables - you have to sit at a table to attend a show. Those have a bit more viability as they can space the tables further apart for the 6-foot rule, assuming the tables aren't bolted down.

For those tire of binging on Netflix or whatever, Perfect Circuit is running a livestream with Youtube chat right now. [video:youtube]

Another Babylon 5 fan here. That show though is all about long story arcs, with some action here and there. Firefly is another all-time great imo. A Joss Whedon production, thus faster paced, not so big on the high-concept stuff. Basically a Western in outer space. The Expanse also great - a mix of big picture vision and violence. Defiance is similar to Firefly in feel, as it takes place centuries into the future, after aliens have arrived and world-altering events... mostly in a frontier town built on top of what was once St. Louis, MO. The town has its version of a sheriff, a saloon, etc. and the Gateway Arch is often featured. All of the above have excellent casts. The Expanse and Defiance are on Amazon.

This might have been a better choice to highlight this synth - at least it showcases the Korg as a synth instead of B3 emulator. [video:youtube]

In the podcast I posted, the ER doctor and his colleagues bring up a theory that COVID-19 might be attacking the circulatory system rather than the lungs. Post from a community ER physician expressing his frustration - in a non political way - about myth of COVID-19 being "just another flu", with somewhat graphic descriptions of what he's seen in his line of work: https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86339?fbclid=IwAR3bRFB-3RrbW9jAyy-NKhJatjB35n5eQTnP7qkLQiWaaZj2tN1DN8yAb9Y Yup! While I take precautions for myself, the reason I try to adhere to the 6-foot rule and all that is to protect other people from me. Some people in my area don't seem to get it, but most do.

I hope somebody posts summertime photos of that restaurant. Historically, the Netherlands doesn't get that hot but i'm guessing they'll put up cafe-style umbrellas or something.

One restaurant's idea for social distancing. I'm trying to imagine an outdoor concert venue like Merriwether Pavilion being set up like this: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/world/dutch-restaurant-reopen-greenhouse-trnd/index.html

The non-essential business closure is still set to expire sometime this month in my state, not 18 months from now. So I guess as far as man on the street is concerned we will "reopen" this month. Anyway, a coalition of music venues formed to fight for their share of federal funding. https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/independent-venues-danger-closing-covid-niva-995044/?fbclid=IwAR2N4HmySR4sQ8iVeP_dP-9G-z_-8KyPH9-O2erjAgNXkR-OzrjD_JFnFuw

That's also probably why it's taking so much longer to get into less-populated areas...but once it finds a meat packing plant or assembly line, look out. I forgot to also note that in LA - and Southern California in general - people tend to favor car transportation over public transit, so they're not as exposed to to other humans when they commute. NYC has its legendary subway system which packs a lot of people into a confined space during commute hours, although they did finally cut service down from 24hrs a day to allow more time for nightly cleaning/disinfecting. Even just commuting on foot in NYC exposed you to a lot of other people. Quite different commute experience than commuting in wheeled quarantine chambers (cars).

Radiolab has an episode featuring an ER doctor in NYC who was a former Radiolab intern. Fascinating perspective from a doctor on the front lines. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/dispatch-5-dont-stop-believin

A huge chunk of New York's population is concentrated in NYC, while CA's population is more spread out. Humans packed together into confined spaces is what viruses love and there's a lot more of that in NYC than in LA.

The situation is not a simple one of two exclusive situations - vaccine versus guaranteed immunity via everyone getting infected. Variations that will likely complicate this simple binary - 1. a cure, partial or 100% effective, might be developed. 2. a combination of vaccine(s) and natural infections that reaches herd immunity (70% per one scientific source I read.) 3. some level of permanent behavioral changes that slow down the spread of this particular disease (and all the other cough/sneeze/touch communicable diseases as a bonus!) while a combination of other factors (cures, vaccines, weather, immunity in general on the increase) tamp down the spread and the morbidity of the thing. In other words - it's not a simple this or that situation. And new factors will be coming into play - look for instead a sort of drawn-out war that will have flare-ups and lulls, new fronts and battles won, lost, and drawn, eventually the whole thing petering out through a variety of factors. nat Thank you for this thoughtful post. I do wish the best for everyone.

CDM's recommendation for musos: https://cdm.link/2020/05/apple-sweet-spot-which-macbook-for-music-making/?fbclid=IwAR0WGFoz578zUiJbQzw-b4cpOfN_SC6iiel_FrejJAqL_bMvPYh51wcaRdE Article mentioned poor quality keyboards on recent pre-2020 Macbook models.

I think we need to differentiate between social mores and science. If a particular group is getting hit particularly hard, it's probably a good idea to find out why. I'm not sure it has that much to do with race, per se. For example there is now research that implies that perhaps children also get very sick from Covid-19, but the symptoms and the way the virus attacks the body are different. Knowing that it can have different symptoms at different ages may cause a re-examination of the premise that Covid-19 is only a "boomer remover." FWIW I also live in a racially mixed neighborhood with no gated communities, but so far the "hot spot" maps show basically zero coronavirus cases in my part of the county. So anecdotally, I could draw the conclusion that means black people aren't inherently more likely to get hit by the virus, so there must be some other factor at play. The more we know about this thing, the better. I have no problem with any of this, sir. Facts are better than just saying "it's mostly fat people getting sick, and they belong to races X and Y". Perhaps the person who said that meant no harm but it's tricky to bring up race without appropriate attention to how what you say is going to look to others. Regarding herd immunity, I have nothing against hoping and wishing for it to happen. I wish it would happen too! I dream of the day I can go see a live show again, hang out in close quarters with friends at a bar, meet people for dinner at a restaurant! But as others have said, either we need a vaccine or reassurance that people who got sick from it will absolutely, 100% without a doubt, never get sick from it again. Sorry if somebody thinks that is harsh but I don't know how to sugarcoat it.

Yep, Joe gets it. I don't go around looking for news articles about racial disparities. I wish race wasn't brought up at all, but so be it. I live in a racially diverse neighborhood with lots of working class people, not in a exclusive gated community, so I hear about this stuff all the time without having to look for it.

I just heard back from my friend in Knoxville, Tennessee. He says some of the restaurants there have reopened with seating, but with social distancing rules. Others are take out only.

Current binge show is Bojack Horseman on Netflix. The show has been around for a while - 6 seasons last I checked - but the humor is still pretty much on point.

Yes, one of my neighbors brought up a disproportionate number of Hispanics (is that what you call brown people?) contracting COVID-19 in our area. They don't look any more fat than the white people in our area, so let's forget about that. What's different between them and whites is that more white folks have telework-friendly jobs while more Hispanics work essential jobs, laborer jobs... jobs that expose them being often well within 6 feet of other humans. There's no telling how many of them are provided with masks, disinfectant, etc. or if their jobs even allow them to take breaks to wash their hands before they have to touch their faces. Herd immunity at this point is a pipe dream until we either get proof that COVID-19 survivors have 0% chance of getting sick from it again (no proof of that) or we get a vaccine.

There's a guy on another forum who ordered a 13" 2020 Macbook Pro after asking the same question a few days ago. I'm sure he'll post progress reports after he gets his. There's a $300 difference between the Pro and Air for the 13" size. This guy got the Pro because he's an Omnisphere lover.

Oh boy, Swedish official is "surprised". Yeah, better not use Sweden as your model for hope. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-sweden-lockdown-chief-says-high-death-toll-was-surprise-2020-5

Boeing's workforce COVID-19 numbers will probably be lower than those the meatpacking plants that the POTUS wants reeopened, because they're going to cut their workforce. At least they appear to be putting more effort into protecting the workers that will remain than Smithfield. https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/05/02/boeing-goes-from-bad-to-worse-as-coronavirus-crush.aspx