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| Syd |
 Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:11 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I'm starting to think the Best Picture Award this year might go to CODA. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 1:31 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| How did you know? I got a lot of the winners wrong and never saw movies that won: never saw CODA, Dune, King Richard. What’s going ion?[/list] |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:48 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Befade wrote: How did you know? I got a lot of the winners wrong and never saw movies that won: never saw CODA, Dune, King Richard. What’s going ion?[/list]
I haven't seen CODA either. It was the screenplay award I think, and "The Power of the Dog" losing everything. It did win Best Director for Campion, which I did get right, but I thought it had the best shot at Picture. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:39 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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| PotD was the only one I saw, among those garnering major awards. Didn't watch the ceremony. I assume there were the usual alopecia-based jokes and subsequent face-slappings. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 11:27 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Last edited by bartist on Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:38 am; edited 2 times in total
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Gromit: lockdown in Shanghai. Are you ok? |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 3:14 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Yeah. East Shanghai across the river has had more cases, and their 4 day lockdown has been extended. We're on Day 2 of our 4 day lockdown. During that time, they test everyone 2 times with the high-level nucleic acid test. The test was superfast and I got my negative result the next day (today). They also hand out rapid antigen home test kits -- though I don't see the point.
I'm kind of lucky in that I live in a fairly isolated old house -- chopped into small apartments during the Mao Era. The rest of my block is mostly commercial shops and a hospital. And we have a sizable 40 foot by 40' garden and we're permitted to use that. So my neighbors have been playing badminton and doing yoga and such. Most people here are retired and don't go anywhere anyway. It really varies based on location and building management. Some folks aren't allowed out of their apartments for the 4 days.
Even my testing center was relaxed. I noticed a large empty cat food bowl and greenish water in another bowl at the end of the small alley behind my garden. So after the test, I went back home, washed out the water bowl and filled the bowls with dry food and water. No one paid any attention or asked me what I was doing -- though technically I wasn't supposed ot be wandering around doing errands. I'm sure things will tighten up anywhere near where a positive case turns up. Which could lead to an extended lockdown and probably stricter rules.
In West Shanghai, we had 4 days to prepare and stock up. So I loaded up on veggies, bread, water and got a last day delivery of cat food. So I'd say I was about 95% prepared. I even had work I could do at home.
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The main worry is what happens if you test positive. Home quarantine if you are lucky. But the goal is to send you to an isolation center until you test negative twice over a 3 day span. And the quarantine centers range from the Grand Hyatt to prefab cubicles in a gym or convention center. And having pets at home provides more uncertainty and stress.
Testing 26M people two times each during an 8 day period is a huge project. And even if successful, there's still the issue of others from outside SH coming here, plus the trickle of international arrivals. SH is like NYC, much visited. So it's not just eliminating the virus from SH, but it needs to be scrubbed from all of China. And not everywhere has the resources or capability SH has.
Still we had 2 years of near normal, where the risk of the virus was extremely minimal. And if it requires a 1-2 week lockdown to get back to that, that's fine.
And with 80% vaccinated, there are few symptomatic cases. While I think China just had its first 4 CV deaths in the past almost 2 years. Which is amazing. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 3:16 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Last edited by gromit on Sat Apr 02, 2022 10:58 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 3:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| wOW❗️ It sounds like Shanghai can really step up. And it sounds like you have a perfect place to live. Are the people who test positive getting really sick? In hospitals? Omicron is supposed to be like a head cold. I haven’t gotten it but I have friends who have. I’m going for a second booster on Monday. I have plans to finally go to Turkey in October. Hope things are clear by then. Stay safe. Thanks for the update. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 12:21 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Last night 10:PM we were told to go the neighborhood community center. I was thinking this couldn't be good. Probably another round of testing. But turned out they gave everyone free gov't food. 2 dozen eggs, 3 cabbages, potatoes, onions, frozen shrimp. I don't eat eggs or shrimp. And cabbage makes me hungry afterwards. But a nice gesture. Chinese are big egg eaters.
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Istanbul is world-class city. Ican give you some suggestions. The best thing we did was stay at 3 different hotels in various sections of Istanbul. The Sultanahmet area has plenty of reasonable priced small hostels with rooftop terraces, with a few fancier hotels sprinkled in. It's a fun historic area, near the sea with lots of bars and restaurants, but also local neighborhood folks and street cats. We ate at a restaurant across the street and after dinner they asked if we wanted to see part of the Sultan's palace discovered in the back of their restaurant. And there were a few large cavelike rooms with brick walls and a plaque testifying this was indeed a protected archaeological site. Kind of crazy that your random Istanbul restaurant contains the back end of the sultan's palace.
We stayed at another hotel right on the northeast corner of the Hippodrome, so a great location, made better by it being Ramadan and all families gathering in the main square right outside for the evening meal. Rooms were pretty small but you're dead in the heart of the city, a real short walk to all the main tourist sites. And then we splurged and stayed at the Galata Tower Hotel, which got us to explore another area of Istanbul. A little more upscale there. Even if you don't stay there, it's worth having a drink on their terrace after checking out the views from the Tower.
A lot of the main historic attractions in Istanbul are right next to each other. Hagia Sophia, with the Basilica Cistern just outside, the Blue Mosque across the street, the Sultan's Palace around the bend. The Spice Market, Golden Horn and Galata Tower clustered together not far away. I wasn't sure if the cistern was going to be a boring tourist trap, but it turned out to be a don't miss wonder (it's in one of the Bond films and is rather stunning).
I wish we went further north of Galata into the fashionable Beyoglu section of the city including the Taksim Square area, the political heart of the city, and also a good restaurant and cultural zone. And staying in Beyoglu would allow you to explore that area and Galata. We only drove by the Dolmabahçe Palace on the waterfront, a sparkling white 19thC gem built by the Ottomans to show off their wealth and global status, during the glory days of subjugating all the nearby peoples. The palace looked great, but folks on these here interwebs say the staff is unfriendly and militant about no photography. Also a ticket is nearly $30. For that, they should shine my shoes, give me a boutonnière and take pictures for me. Maybe make me sultan for the day ...
Istanbul has to be the worst driving city in existence, and it might be fun to take a taxi just to experience the craziness. Lots of little twisty streets that are always one way the wrong way. Following the Sultanahmet signs was like entering a citywide laybrinth. And if you decide to go to the Asian side just to have gone to the Asian side, best to have a restaurant/bar or other destination in mind. As we wound up just driving across the gigantic bridge. Driving aimlessly for 10 minutes and then scurrying back across the bridge.
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We drove from Istanbul to Cannakale (not pronounced however you are pronouncing it). Chuh-neck-uh-lee. Down towards Izmir and then looped back taking a ferry across the Sea of Marmara., past Ocalan's island prison.
Just last week they opened a new bridge across the Dardenelles, the world's longest suspension bridge, somewhere near Cannakale. Only the 4 Turkish bridge linking the Euro and Asian sides, with the other 3 in Istanbul. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:23 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Reportedly, only about 10% of cases in SH have any symptoms.
They take samples and then test 20 together in a batch. Any abnormality in the results and then they'll test the people in that group individually. It's a smart quick method China implemented during the Wuhan outbreak right at the beginning of all this.
They also are giving us rapid antigen home test kits for the testing off-days. One friend nearby tested positive at home, she reported this to the authorities, who came and nailed her front door shut until they can sort her out. She has 2 cats, a dog and a husband. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:24 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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I'd be interested to hear how Turkey is these days. I was there back in 2009, when the economy was booming, Erdogan was popular, and civil society was still functioning. People were very upbeat and friendly. Always good to visit a country during their boom years.
These days, inflation is soaring and the lira has plunged. Which also means that US$ goes far these days. Not much opposition or criticism of the gov't is tolerated. The religious groups which support Erdogan are pushing their agenda. Erdogan actually revived a war against the Kurds, because their representation in Parliament was blocking his constitutional changes which would allow him to be a Putin style dictator for life. Then banned all the Kurdish parties and rammed through his plan.
Then Turkey got involved in the Libyan, Syrian and Ethiopian civil wars. Their main export these days is the Bakyatar military drone, which just happens to be the name of Erdogan's son-in-law, who is some Turkish amalgam of Jared Kushner and Elon Musk. Erdogan is trying to revive the Ottoman Empire or at least pursue Turkey as a major regional power, much like Putin has been doing.
Otherwise make sure you hit a Turkish bakery and load up. Turks are quite serious about their pastry. While raki is their national drink, basically ouzo. Really Turks reminded me of Greeks, which would make both sides cringe. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:31 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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gromit wrote: Reportedly, only about 10% of cases in SH have any symptoms.
They take samples and then test 20 together in a batch. Any abnormality in the results and then they'll test the people in that group individually. It's a smart quick method China implemented during the Wuhan outbreak right at the beginning of all this.
They also are giving us rapid antigen home test kits for the testing off-days. One friend nearby tested positive at home, she reported this to the authorities, who came and nailed her front door shut until they can sort her out. She has 2 cats, a dog and a husband.
Never have I been happier to live in my native country than when I read "nailed her front door shut..." (also begs the question, do they have a back door?) Even if this were not a gross imposition of totalitarian control, it would still be an overreaction. This is not bubonic plague.
In any case this seems to reinforce the prime directive of living under tyranny: do not report shit to the authorities.
I would wager that more people die of despair in China, by several orders of magnitude, than will ever die from covid variants.
Given how we are seeing totalitarianism play out in Europe right now, I would hesitate to call anything Shanghai is doing as "Shanghai can really step up." For sure, authoritarian regimes are just marvelous in their ability to step up. Mussolini made the trains run on time. Duterte brought lawn order! |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 8:39 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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"This is not bubonic plague."
A million dead Americans fail to appreciate the distinction.
Sure, Omicron is less dangerous than Delta, but if it spreads there will be significant numbers of associated deaths. The health care system would likely be stressed/overwhelmed. Preventable illnesses. Long term Covid health impairments, Etc.
I'm pretty good with the test, quarantine, isolate, eliminate CV approach. Then again I just experienced almost 2 full years of minimal risk, in which things were close to normal with bars, restaurants, gyms fully available. So almost no risk, almost no CV, almost zero CV illnesses. Daily behavior was barely altered here from May 2020 to March 2022. Daily worry was minimal. A world better than what the US went through for the last 2 years, even if your grandma didn't die. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 9:02 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Otherwise, some of it is cultural. I like to say that the Chinese invented bureaucracy and like to remind you at every chance. A lot of horror stories and abuses you hear coming out of China are rectified once folks complain. A few calls and complaints and my friend had the plank across her door removed within a day. Elsewhere they've just put a simple paper seal across a door, one district tried attaching a door alarm, other neighborhoods have just trusted people not to go out. Lotta variation, but the directive from above is anyone positive must not go out and interact with anyone until they have had two negative test results with a 72 hour period. To me, home quarantine is much better than being taken to a central quarantine center.
Otherwise take a look around you. In the name of freedom (and uber-capitalism) you have more guns than people, frequent mass shootings, mentally ill living on the streets, a high crime and violent crime rate despite incredible (and incredibly racist) mass incarceration, militarized and violent police, etc. Inequality so absurd that a few people are running their own space programs. No to mention that a government that utterly failed to protect citizens from CV. Regarding CV, over the last 2 years, I'd give China an A- and the US a D+. |
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