Sessions and Covid as of late summer 2021

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PB+J
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Sessions and Covid as of late summer 2021

Post by PB+J »

I'm fully vaccinated and my region has high levels of vaccination. But a friend, a decade younger than me, caught covid despite being fully vaxxed, and so did his wife. No hospitalization, but he said it was rough.

I'm teaching in person again, 50 students multiple times a week. Students are required to be vaxxed and masked while in class.

I've found a couple comfortable sessions near me and have been enjoying going, but I keep thinking it's probably a bad idea. Close quarters, inside, and I'm playing flute--bad for others, and not just in terms of the quality of my playing. There's one starting in a few hours and I'm on the fence about it. Official guidance is ambiguous--my employer, a state university, is requiring masks in all indoor spaces. But pubs are open as before Covid. So I think I'll be opting out, reluctantly. That or starting to learn the fiddle, which I can play with a mask

It's shame--for a while there it looked like we were in the clear. I'm supposed to go to Derry in October, for work, but I have my doubts it will happen.
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Mr.Gumby
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Re: Sessions and Covid as of late summer 2021

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Indidence in the North is higher than the republic although they have opened up further. There's a bit of a spillover into Donegal where the indidence of cases is five times the average of the rest of the country. It's wall to wall Delta variant here so easy transmission as well as rising case numbers. Vaccination uptake in the Republic is very high and they're pushing along to get as many over twelves covered as soon as possible, aiming for 90-95% by end of September. Uptake in the North is low among young people. Mask wearing is almost universal here too. Efficacy of vaccines is 80% at best that and waning over time but there's protection against the worst effects of the disease for most people. So you take your chances(or not). The last of the restrictions are due to be lifted over the comng month. It's a mixed bag.

Music is still not on for now but I don't think I'd go to play music inside a pub just yet. A lot pubs haven't opened up indoor spaces yet anyway. I was in Galway today to get some bits of the Arts Festival, lovely weather and very busy, people eating out and drinking out all over the place. A good day.

I ran into a fellow piper yesterday, had a chat, as you do. Ofcourse the subject of finding an outlet to play came up. He said he had taken to playing at the mass, 'people are grateful and enthusiastic, the priests love it'. He recommended it highly. Not really my thing though. But that's what it's at now: people desperate to play out or just doing other things.
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PB+J
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Re: Sessions and Covid as of late summer 2021

Post by PB+J »

It will be warm here well into october, and we have a large screened porch which would be very safe. I'm wondering if we could just have people over and if people would come. Session leaders usually get paid. And I certainly can't lead a session.

Bought a used mandolin today and have picked out a few tunes. At least you can play a mandolin with a mask on.

Was looking forward to Derry as I'd hoped to get over to Donegal (Madavagh, Lattermacward) and take a few pictures of the ancestral bog for my father, who's 85 and very invested in family history. And I need to see it for the book I'm working on. Suspect it will be another year of "maybe next year."
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Mr.Gumby
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Re: Sessions and Covid as of late summer 2021

Post by Mr.Gumby »

It will be warm here well into october, and we have a large screened porch which would be very safe. I'm wondering if we could just have people over and if people would come. Session leaders usually get paid. And I certainly can't lead a session.
Session are many different things to different people. You will have to wonder what you want, a gathering of friends or likeminded people having a few tunes seems the most natural way to go, especially for a home environment.

I am always mystified by the internet's fixation on 'session leaders' and am not quite sure what is meant. In a commercial environment publicans will put in place a few hired hands to ensure things flow without too much interrruption but I can't envisage that sort of thing in a kitchen or home environment. Environments I play in either function as an informal gathering of friends or in more formal situations have an implicit and understood system of seniority, a natural hierachy, but no 'leaders'. But what do I know :P
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Re: Sessions and Covid as of late summer 2021

Post by bigsciota »

A few places seem to be stretching the idea of "outdoors" a bit and having sessions there. I walked by O'Donoghue's in Dublin today and there was music on; their outdoor space is surrounded by walls and mostly covered overhead, but that counts enough to pass inspection. Considered going in and even seeing if I could join, but as PB+J noted a wind instrument is the worst offender of all and I didn't feel quite comfortable doing it.
Mr.Gumby wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:01 am Environments I play in either function as an informal gathering of friends or in more formal situations have an implicit and understood system of seniority, a natural hierachy, but no 'leaders'. But what do I know :P
It's funny, I'd personally term the people at the top of that natural hierarchy the "leaders," even if it's not explicit. At least that's what I've generally understood the concept to mean, either that or the hired hands that are paid to show up every week by the pub (if they exist). Regardless, I've found "leaders" of any definition much more useful in the "come one come all" types of sessions with highly variable skill levels than in the sorts of small gatherings of friends that I tend to prefer. I'm guessing that part of the "obsession" here and on the yellow board is that the former is much more common in many parts of the world outside popular centres of trad than the latter, so leaders may be more common outside the hallowed halls of Miltown Malbay. It's certainly easier to have one person who's willing to tell the spoons and didgeridoo players to cop on than try to make it a group effort!
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