Chiff and Fipple Forums

benhall.1 wrote:Technical note: This image, or anything from that website, can't be viewed in Europe (including the UK).

Oh, dear. Sorry about that. It's a photo of 3 Thai classical dancers performing in their typical beautiful regalia, but with the addition of clear plastic face shields. Culturally very strange to behold. IIRC this particular performance was a recent one, and before royalty.

Is there some way I could have known beforehand that you wouldn't have been able to view it? I hate it when that happens.

It's a photo of 3 Thai classical dancers performing in their typical beautiful regalia, but with the addition of clear plastic face shields

Those pictures circulated fairly widely in the newspapers about a month ago. Stuff like this:




I was out on Saturday and was amazed by the number of tourists and their lack distancing (or mask wearing etc). It felt uncomfortable. We were just getting out a bit, went walking on Friday and eventually ended up in, or at least near enough to, Doolin,


(obligatory standard postcard view of Doonagore castle)

only to find the Moher coastal path still closed (I had forgotten but in any case didn't expect the lower end, where you can pass other walkers more safely and at distance, to be closed as well). Having that cut short we had lunch outside a nearby restaurant, which was nice, even if it was barely 16 C out and a bit windy. Clare had no Covid cases for a month, which gave rise to a sense of security, but that ended yesterday with one new infection.

I hadn't realised that because Ireland is not in the Schengen area, European travel restrictions don't apply. Although a 14 day quarantine on arrival should be observed. Right now there's a big surge in public opinion against tourists, especially from the UK and the US, arriving in droves. And tourist season seems to have all of a sudden exploded, almost as if there's nothing out of the ordinary going on. Direct flights arriving full into Dublin from Dallas, that's asking for trouble isn't it?

Things seemed to be going OK recently but I don't think we're done with this yet.

Yep, Mr.Gumby, that Thai dance. Not the same picture, but the same occasion.

Mr.Gumby wrote:Direct flights arriving full into Dublin from Dallas, that's asking for trouble isn't it?

I should think so.

Back to wildlife: Can't remember the last time I saw a raccoon in MPLS, but it's been decades, and in large part due to the city's successful efforts in making MPLS raccoon-unfriendly. Last night, though, as I was about to get into my car I saw a group of three - a mother and two nearly-grown kits - just as they'd crossed the street only a few yards away and were about to enter onto my building's back yard. "Raccoons!?" I mock-scolded in a growly but mellow voice; "Are you even supposed to be here?" Unsure of this encounter, they milled about for a bit around a basswood tree, but being the smart critters they are, they quickly assessed that I posed no harm or imposition. They promptly resumed their quest as if I weren't even there, with Mom in the lead and the kits following, single-file; they scurried this way through our yard by taking the walkway that ran right past the back door (they know a convenience when they have one), and on they went, still single-file, into the next yard and out of sight. That's about the closest physical proximity I've had to raccoons. Ever.

If someone had opened the back door at the right moment, the explosion of panic on both sides would have been amusing to see.

Our nearest neighbours, from the badger sett behind the house, have been visiting more regularly recently. We're always on their regular round, I rarely see them but they leave various traces This time of year they are probably foraging for berries and windfall apples.

But I came here to jump back to another subject further up thread.

I came across the, perhaps slightly laboured but fairly apt phrase 'toxic maskulinity'.

Perhaps the standout example of comically toxic maskulinity came from some guy running for Congress in Florida, who the other day posted a picture of Donald Trump in his mask with the caption: “I don’t wear face masks, but POTUS is the only man who can pull it off and still look intensely masculine.” A tragedy in 106 characters, there.

I'll just go so far as to say that men who are concerned for their masculinity probably have good reason to be.

'Nuff said.

I'll trade you 14c and drizzle for 34c and humid!

I'll trade you 14c and drizzle for 34c and humid!

You can have it, gladly.

I deleted my earlier post (just in case anyone is wondering). Better to not let the cabin fever take control of the posts.

The image in the OP has faded to nothing. It's a long time ago. Remind me. Did this start off with toilet rolls?

david_h wrote:The image in the OP has faded to nothing. It's a long time ago. Remind me. Did this start off with toilet rolls?

It did. It was your classic Gollum-adoringly-holding-his-Preciousss-aloft meme, but instead of the One Ring, it's a roll of TP.

I thought Smaug was a nice bit of continuation on the theme, but afterward I checked the OP too, and found that it was gone anyway. Sigh.

And do you know, I've done a search and can't find the exact same image in the OP out there anymore. Curiouser and curiouser.

david_h wrote:The image in the OP has faded to nothing. It's a long time ago. Remind me. Did this start off with toilet rolls?

The lovely thing about a pub, the conversation tends to meander... more so in the poststructural...

Nanohedron wrote:It was your classic Gollum-adoringly-holding-his-Preciousss-aloft meme, but instead of the One Ring, it's a roll of TP.

Have reread the first few posts. Five months on I have finally had a chance to chat about those times over a (socially distanced, outdoor) beer and some tunes. Others were of the view that if HM Govt. tells us to stay at home, shop once a week and not come out for 14 days if someone gets ill, then it makes perfect sense to throw another pack or two of essentials into the basket. Then the media whip it up into a panic.

david_h wrote:Others were of the view that if HM Govt. tells us to stay at home, shop once a week and not come out for 14 days if someone gets ill, then it makes perfect sense to throw another pack or two of essentials into the basket. Then the media whip it up into a panic.

Tail wagging the dog, you mean? I'm not so sure, at least not without qualification. People were already panic-buying before the coverage gave it closer focus, but of course the coverage could only add to the panic. As soon as the shutdown was in force where I live, panic buyers had already cleared the shelves before you could say OMG. I think bunker mentality is alive and well with or without the media, regardless of the pandemic, and should be given its fair due. I suspect it was more a matter of people copying each other before the media took up the slack. We get these nice "We're all in this together" public messages these days, but scratch a LOT of people and in the end you find this "me against the world, even at any cost" stance. It's understandable, I suppose, but as a social response I find it disappointing. Must be a terribly lonely headspace to be in, too.



Who knows; maybe he's got 20 kids. Maybe the woman if front of him does, too. Maybe this excess is media-fueled, but all I can say is that this kind of buying was already word on the street from the outset.

Nanohedron wrote:Who knows; maybe he's got 20 kids. Maybe the woman if front of him does, too.

Maybe they trade on ebay.

I wish I had made a note of the date now, I didn't realize how things would start to blur. Fairly early during this I went into one local pharmacy and asked for a 250ml hand-gel. Shake of head, I was a day too late. Went to the other pharmacy: all gone that morning but, try the convenience store next door. I was an hour too late. A week later the first pharmacy has some small ones - "you won't like them, they have a powerful scent, but that's all the wholesaler could get."

Note to self - 'panic slightly sooner'.