31st May 2020 - Whovians, and Whatevers

Thought for the day:"Never discuss love with a tennis player – it means nothing to them"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS
Office of National Statistics

Sunday - 31st May 2020 ...
I have a German Song called "Der Weltuntergang"
It translates as the end of the World and is a favourite for one of my German Colleagues from Mythodea...
He reminded me of it this morning
It translates as:

On 31st May is the End of the World 
We will not live much longer !!
But in which year ? That is not clear!
So we may be here for a long time yet !!..

I'll drink to that !!

So - a few random thoughts for the end of the world day ..
This is not new - but still makes me chuckle - the powers of special effects!

Enjoyed this as a little light relief..

And Who knew there was so much about Doctor Who that I did not know!
Recently I did a Zoom quiz with friends about Doctor Who and surprised myself with how much I actually knew without watching any of the recent series.. but !

I saw this - the complete time line of the Doctor - and stupid me =- I thought the first Doctor was William Hartnell - how could I be so stupid? Apparently there is an entire story line before this - and I begin to understand the principle of the Whovians !!! There is a universe of Nerds out there - but that is okay...

I shall leave this here for posterity - I may dip into it occasionally!!
(Google algorithms - or coincidence - Guardian writes today about the "Lost Episode" where Hartnell first regenerates - apparently destroyed by the BBC to make room for more video tapes...

253 episodes of Doctor Who were broadcast in the '60s, but initially only 156 survived in the BBC archives. Shockingly, that gives Doctor Who a better survival rate than many other contemporary programs. Since the late '70s, the BBC has conducted an intensive effort to recover lost footage, discovering missing episodes through tapes sold to international broadcasters, or occasionally on a home videotape. Thanks to fan efforts, the BBC has successfully acquired a complete audio archive of even the lost Doctor Who episodes. Some have been released by Big Finish as audio-dramas, while the BBC has animated others. This is easiest with episodes set in the present or the future, given that the historical episodes tend to be too detailed for the animators to re-create.

The clip from Hartnell's regeneration has been used many times, incorporated into other stories as a flashback. Even today, fans scour the globe and run campaigns promising lavish rewards to anyone who finds "The Tenth Planet" episode 4. But by this point, a copy is unlikely to ever be found.

And since we are into random thoughts today ...

I understand that some fast food companies are opening up ...
saw this and chuckled..

So, I am not going to mention that we are still losing people too fast, that the Government is re-opening whole sections tomorrow - 1st June (and I have an appointment with the dump!), though the carefully reported staged plan required that we were at level 3 (still on 4), reducing cases, (estimates are that 8,000 a day are catching though where this comes from no-one seems to know), and Track and Trace is fully working ( It goes live tomorrow so get ready for many mistakes)... nor that people decided to jump off the cliffs at Dumbledor - meaning that two helicopters had to land on the beach crowding everyone together (not that they weren't crowded already).. I will not mention that tomorrow allows two family groups to meet socially distanced here in Wales? so no change there really... UK can start with meetings of 10..
Nor that USA is rioting in almost every state, with National Guard deployed in greater numbers than ever before. Trump claims he is going to shut down Twitter - and Twitter fact checks him to say that he cannot do so ...

Not going to mention that Trump has withdrawn from the WHO, is taking special relationship away from Hong Kong to spite China (but hurting Hong Kong more), that Brexit talks are still going... badly! Over a million people have written to MP's for Cummings to be sacked, that the Press still do not seem to have a tactic other than attack anyone, and the Government think it will all go away if they open the schools and shops... Nor that worldwide cases have surpasses 6 million, deaths 370,000 and Trump has cancelled the G7 (First sensible thing I have heard)..No I won't mention any of those things because it is Sunday and Sunny and I am sitting in Wales wondering what Purple Bricks are doing to get my house sold.. 

Meanwhile - I found out that I can post video to Instagram through something called IGTV - Instagram TV I suppose... and allows full videos - so have done nos one and two - the rest to follow

So back to the Studio..  and we are up No 39 - The Other side of Norsca...
Originally "Outward Bound" by Tom Paxton..  Filked a little for Curious Pastimes ... And a Viking touch...

Watched some German friends on Twitch last night - a live streaming system and was flattered by the reception I got when I booked on from Quis et Deus an Austrian Bard who streams regularly and has promised to show me how to do it .. Was very flattering.... Will look at it - but still think I need a better on line broadcast system - maybe the new house...

Cheers ! Stay Safe out there !!

30th May 2020 - Concerts, Serenades and Social Distancing

Thought for the day :"My toaster is not water-proof – I was shocked!"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS
Office of National Statistics

Saturday and the heatwave continues - probably too hot to go to the warehouse today.

Had a request yesterday from an old friend and colleague - Devilstick Peat, juggler and entertainer extrordinaire... He had a young friend called Sasha, aged 17, who had been in a coma and was now recovering in hospital but was bed-bound and unable to move much and he wondered if I could put a couple of songs together for her...   so I did!

It is unlisted as it was designed for Sasha personally, but I thought I would link to it here as a sort of additional Shut-down Serenade....

 Concert for Sasha

Meanwhile, UK is thinking about opening up a bit and many are worried. We shall keep an eye on the figures.... Up to 6 can meet up (socially distancing of course) in England...

However, USA is rioting after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman kneeling on him for almost 9 minutes as he begged to be allowed to stand as he could not breath.

Interesting yesterday as a black reported for CNN was arrested with his team while filming, as a white colleague o the next street was allowed to continue filming. Interesting footage as they left the camera on the floor still filming. Had memories of Max Headroom and "Edison Carter - Live and Direct" 

And in the middle of the pandemic - the crowds just keep coming..

It also appears that the memorial day celebrations - especially the famous picture of the Ozarc Pool Parties... have now found that one person has tested positive for Covid 19 and has been tracked to several bars over the weekend.

The owner of a bar, Gary Prewitt, defended his decision to host the party and issued a statement on Facebook saying on Tuesday standing up for the event, called "zero ducks given"...

Prewitt emphasized that social distancing is not a legal requirement, and said: "no laws were broken."

In other news, Trump is incensed by Twitter deciding to fact check him and drafted an executive Order which, having watched a fairly in depth analysis does not seem to actually say anything other than Twitter ought to watch out and so should other media platforms...Twitter responded by stating that a tweet about "when the Looting starts the shooting starts" was against community policies over inciting violence but that it would leave it there but with a warning.

Oh - and Trump withdraws from the World Health Organisation - that will help everyone.

Biden takes a lead in empathy by going on camera to say that the treatment of BAM people is wrong, and shows that he contacted the family of Floyd - prompting Trump to say that he had contacted the family as well - though no contrition or humility from the President - only determination to stop the THUGS rioting... (though that was a twitter).

Obama says that this should not be happening in 2020...

And so we get to today's Shut-Down Serenade - we get to 38... The Mild Ogre...

Cheers !!

29th May 2020 - Top Trumps, Houses, Hot Tubs and Street Art

Thought for the day :"Can’t believe that 8 weeks of uncut hair weighs over a stone – but the scales can’t lie…"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS
Office of National Statistics

A lot to go through today....

In smallholding news we have accepted an offer for £405K, buyer to take the house as seen.

Ont he same day the original sales person for Purple Bricks tells us of another possible buyer with no financial restrictions, who may want to pay more - we shall see what happens.

In the meantime we have to let the lawyers do their thing again...

And so as we start to think about how we can adapt the new property - this popped up on my feed...

How to make a hot bath ...

And Susie has been busy again - with her Scrubs - The "Kermit" scrubs we call them and some fancy ones for Glangwili Children's Ward.....

Meanwhile they are talking about removing some of the restrictions in wales by Monday ...   still social distancing but able to meet people...  Not sure that this has not actually been happening - looking at the people who stop at the front gate to chat ..  Oh well ..

In other news ...  I was talking about street art around Llanelli with "Jenks" .

Saw this from elsewhere - did not check the location but the quality was excellent...

How to take a tank and change it...

I liked this....

And so, across the pond the weather is hotting up. And so is the fight between the President and the Social Media Companies. Once again, Twitter has flagged Trump's posts as being "overly violent" with regard to his reaction to the death of a Black man in Mineapolis, in police custody.... Some reports say that it was removed - the version I saw said that it was flagged but deemed to be "important to be accessible" or some such words... I read this as "Do not believe this but it comes form the President of the US so we don't want to take it down completely" Trump is threatening Executive Orders......

But I saw these and had to store for Posterity...

Someone has been having fun....

Social Distancing done right...

  

Shut-Down Serenades - up to 37... Here All Week - Vollsanger's Song

And so finally - Cheers !

28th May 2020 - Booking a Dump and Innovation on hospital beds

Thought for the day :"My stomach is flat – but the L is silent"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS
Office of National Statistics

Got up early enough to book a place in Trostre Dump... My Mum would be proud.. She used to enjoy being taken to the Dump... For reference as I have nowhere to put it and apparently you need it and there is no option to print it out ..

HWRCSB211441565. So it is here when I need it ...

Ahh - the email did come through so there is a form to print out .... Roll on 3.30pm June 1st.


Meanwhile - in other news...
A bit of thought went into this - Cardboard beds that double as a coffin!

A cardboard hospital bed that doubles as a coffin may seem morbid, but as Latin America emerges as the latest coronavirus hotspot, doctors have suggested it may be an innovation whose time has come.

With Covid-19 cases surging across the region, a team of Colombian designers came up with the idea as a grimly pragmatic solution for anticipated shortages of hospital beds and funerary caskets.

“We were shut down for a couple of months like everyone else, until we had this idea,” said Rodolfo Gómez, the founder of ABC Displays, which normally creates cardboard advertising props. “But when we saw what was happening in Ecuador, where bodies were piling up on the streets, we knew we had to prepare somehow.”

Colombia’s southern neighbour was the setting for one of the region’s first major outbreaks in April, when residents in the city of Guayaquil were forced to dump the bodies of their dead in the streets. In that instance, local authorities ended up distributing cardboard coffins to alleviate a shortage of funeral supplies.

Now, caseloads are quickly rising across the region: Brazil is second only to the United States in confirmed cases and deaths, and on Friday World Health Organization officials warned: “In a sense, South America has become a new epicenter for the disease.”

Confirmed cases are climbing at about 1,000 a day, with more than 20,000 people infected and more than 700 killed, suggesting that strict quarantine measures have done little to flatten the curve.

Colombia has about 8,000 intensive care beds for a population of nearly 50 million, and health professionals have already reported shortages in personal protective equipment.

Gómez says the company can produce up to 3,000 beds per month, and that each one, costing about $95, can support up to 150kg (about 330lb).

“People might say that we are making death beds, but we are trying to help during a crisis,” he added.

The company says it is fielding interest from potential clients in the US, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile, and has promised to donate 10 beds to a hospital in Leticia, a hard-hit city in Colombia’s Amazon.

Some observers were unsure what to think of the macabre invention, suggesting that it may be a step too far.

“Is it ingenious or terrifying?” asked one Twitter user. “I still haven’t decided.”

But although the idea is unorthodox, doctors have not dismissed it out of hand.


“Honestly, if cases spiral out of control and there’s a desperate need for beds, and cheaply, then this could prove a pretty ingenious solution,” said Magda Tovar, a doctor in Bogotá, the capital.

In other news - there is more guidance about how to act in the shut -down - or rather there isn't... but you can always try the agony aunts..

I saw this and on the day that Trump has tweeted that he will shut down twitter and other social media platforms... it is a good thing that they are not still making portraits of presidents... (Background - Trump tweets that mail voting is full of fraud - Twitter applies a Fact Check symbol to take you to sites that show this is not true) 

And so it was time to change some profiles on the media pages ...

and then there is the Shut-Down Serenades.... we are up to 36 ... Garrison Nights..

Cheers !

27th May 2020 - Artwork around Llanelli

Thought for the day:"My drum fell off a shelf and knocked me unconscious ! I'm ok.. The doctor thinks I've got percussion..."

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS
Office of National Statistics

Let's start with something intellectual
Little known words...

Then we can go on to ..
(reference is that Dominic Cummins went to Barnard Castle for an unknown reason...

Meanwhile - though this is a rolling 7 day list - it is still sobering thought..

And so, for other news we return to Llanelli and the street artist  Stephen Jenkins or "Jenks"  and some of the great artwork around Llanelli at the moment

Well done Jenks !

In other news - Well done IKEA..

and you have to love our Royal Family ...  well at least the Queen

And so Number 35 - I finally got around to doing the Crossover Hallelujah...

"I heard there was a secret chord that Data played and it pleased the Borg."

But you don't really care for androids, do ya."

"It goes like this, the Borg, the Sith, the crossover movie and the budget shift 

and a baffled fandom crying Hallelujah"!

Playing with some graphics as well..

Cheers !