The Koonzt/Camus Thread (for writerly solidarity during a time of plague)

[Robert M Derry]

I'm just watching the original Jaws (for the first time) I'm finding weird parallels with the current COVID-19 situation...

 

[KateESal]

I'm just watching the original Jaws (for the first time) I'm finding weird parallels with the current COVID-19 situation..

You're absolutely right. The resistance to closing the beach and decimating the tourist trade vs people's safety...definitely a parallel to various countries' responses to the covid-19 crisis.

There are various films and books which explore the dichotomy between the desire to protect economic interests and the need to safeguard human lives. Dante's Peak is another one that comes to mind.

 

[E G Logan]

If they find out that the bar in Austria did cover up staff virus illness early this month, just for the sake of not losing business, heads should roll. Metaphorically speaking, but it sounds to me like a prison offence.

I read it spread from there to half a dozen countries. People may have died as a result...

 

[Steve C]

You're absolutely right. The resistance to closing the beach and decimating the tourist trade vs people's safety...definitely a parallel to various countries' responses to the covid-19 crisis.

There are various films and books which explore the dichotomy between the desire to protect economic interests and the need to safeguard human lives. Dante's Peak is another one that comes to mind.

This shows up in Thailands attitude to death, particularly on the roads. About 50 people/day die in accidents and they are the ones who die at the scene and don't include those who die later in hospital. (During the New Year celebrations the death toll is over 100/day) Despite this, there is very little done to reduce them. In a place called The Nan U-turn of Death roughly one person/day dies. I heard the police tried to close it but the protests were deafening and so they reopened it and people carry on dying.
This may be an extreme version of the 'it won't happen to me' belief which guides a lot of us. It may be simply that Thais are happy with a higher risk-reward ratio in their lives.

The Nan "U-Turn of Death". A fatality almost every day.

Thailand’s U-Turns, a favorite traffic mechanism of Thai road planners, are a cause of constant delays, dangerous turns and frequent fatalities. Daily News reports on a U-turn in Nan, northern Thailand, where there is a fatality almost every day. Nan is east of Chiang Mai on the Laos border...

thethaiger.com

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Just have to momentarily vent. I will laugh at this in a few hours (I hope). So, we're living in a shed in lockdown, and it's been raining for four days. That's bad enough, going into winter, as we are in this hemisphere. This morning, I decided to go for groceries. I got into my car and it wouldn't start (flat battery), so I got into my husband's car. It started, but a warning came on telling me it had low engine coolant. The coolant was topped up less than a month ago, so it means we have a serious leak. All mechanics are shut, because of lockdown...*sigh*

 

[Hannah F]

Just have to momentarily vent. I will laugh at this in a few hours (I hope). So, we're living in a shed in lockdown, and it's been raining for four days. That's bad enough, going into winter, as we are in this hemisphere. This morning, I decided to go for groceries. I got into my car and it wouldn't start (flat battery), so I got into my husband's car. It started, but a warning came on telling me it had low engine coolant. The coolant was topped up less than a month ago, so it means we have a serious leak. All mechanics are shut, because of lockdown...*sigh*

On the plus side, that's 3 bad things and bad things come in threes. You are due some luck

 

[Andy D]

I'm just watching the original Jaws (for the first time) I'm finding weird parallels with the current COVID-19 situation...

Dude, forget Covid for a moment, you just watched Jaws for the first time!!!! Is it still just amazingly brilliant?

(You don’t have to mention the rubber shark. They all said that even in the 70s)

 

[KateESal]

I thought that rubber shark was damn scary...

 

[RK Wallis]

Yes, it was @KateESal - that shark gave me nightmares for a decade! I saw the actual rubber shark at Universal Studios when 5 years old. While our tram was in the water (this is how vivid my memory is 40 odd years later, lol), the shark loomed toward the tram opening its jaws. My father (who I sat next to) didn't think to cover my eyes. I didn't watch Jaws until I was over 20 thanks to that!

 

[Hannah F]

I "watched" JAWS in the cinema with friends or, rather, I kept spilling sweeties onto the floor and having to pick them up so my friends wouldn't realise I was scared shitless by a rubber shark. They never remarked so I either actually fooled them or they just added it to the list of things that made me a little strange. I started watching it a good few years later but still found it too scary.

 

[Andy D]

Yes, it was @KateESal - that shark gave me nightmares for a decade! I saw the actual rubber shark at Universal Studios when 5 years old. While our tram was in the water (this is how vivid my memory is 40 odd years later, lol), the shark loomed toward the tram opening its jaws. My father (who I sat next to) didn't think to cover my eyes. I didn't watch Jaws until I was over 20 thanks to that!

My folks went to Universal when I was young and brought back silent cine film (!) of the shark attacking the tram. I remember watching and my jaw hitting the floor! They still do it but it’s a ride now and you’re on a boat (shudder’s at the memory)

 

[E G Logan]

Aah! My little (10-y-o) next door neighbour has discovered the joy of playing football on their roof terrace.

It would be bad enough if their terrace -- they have a flat roof -- had a wall round it, but it doesn't: it's got iron railings. And the noise when he whacks the ball into the railings is surprisingly loud. It reverberates right down the narrow, ancient street.

As our houses are sort-of terraced, in a characteristically Italian way -- I not only hear it, upstairs I can actually feel it through our shared wall.

And because he's actually quite good at football, in the school team, so far he hasn't booted it over the railings and into the street...

 

[KateESal]

Well, we've got into something of a routine here, as we approach the end of Lockdown, Week 3.

The novelty of e-school has worn off, but seems to be chugging along okay. It involves more work than normal school, though. Or at least, it seems to. It may be that we will evolve time-saving techniques which will stop it eating up quite so much of our day...because we're accepting that this is the way things will be until after April, at least. And probably beyond that.

But, it certainly gives structure to our week and makes all of us - kids and adults - grateful when Friday evening comes along.

 

[Ancora Imparo]

Yes, @KateESal – looks as if it's going to last a while longer. The highlight of our day today was taking our rubbish up to the communal bin and then going into our neighbour's separate land (he's given us permission) to pick a few oranges straight from the trees. I'd no idea orange blossom had such a wonderful scent. Little pleasures.

 

[KateESal]

There's a lot to be said for appreciating the beauty of nature, especially when she's less hindered by human interference.

 

[CageSage]

orange blossom

Neroli, the most intoxicating scent in nature, the scent behind some of the heavier perfumes in the world.

until after April, at least.

Our PM is coming up with the words, 'for at least six months' on a regular basis. What does he know that he's not saying?

 

[Hannah F]

Neroli, the most intoxicating scent in nature, the scent behind some of the heavier perfumes in the world.

Neroli helps relieve mental strain, restlessness when tired, bereavement, shock, stress. It is a good scent to savour.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Interested in perfume? Take a look at Independent online guide to perfume — Basenotes.net

 

[Robert M Derry]

Dude, forget Covid for a moment, you just watched Jaws for the first time!!!! Is it still just amazingly brilliant?

(You don’t have to mention the rubber shark. They all said that even in the 70s)

TBF it was much better than I thought it was going to be; the premise is terrible, but it shows what an exceptional director Spielberg is that he can draw such tension out of something so ridiculous.

 

[CageSage]

perfume

Ah, in a life that seems so long ago, when I produced rose otto (attar of rose) and had visits from all the best noses in the world of perfumery ...

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Rose Attar would make a great name for a character.

 

[Andy D]

TBF it was much better than I thought it was going to be; the premise is terrible, but it shows what an exceptional director Spielberg is that he can draw such tension out of something so ridiculous.

Pretty much Spielberg’s first film and they found it almost impossible to film at sea and the shark kept breaking down etc, they were basically re-writing the script between takes. There’s a a brilliant account of it in the book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. But his use of suspense, absolutely. And some of the writing too - I’m thinking of especially the drinking scene. Immense film

 

[KateESal]

I love the way this thread is holding parallel discussions on the finer points of the film, Jaws on the one hand and perfumery on the other.

 

[E G Logan]

From The Daily Mail. Uplifting in its way, but perhaps not as intended

"Planning a spring clean in lockdown? Here, in the second part of our (Daily Mail) inspired (?) series, Instagram sensation MRS HINCH shows you how to make your sitting room sparkle

• Sophie Hinchliffe, 30, from Essex, shared advice for cleaning your living room
• Best known as Mrs Hinch, she boasts over 3.2 million followers on Instagram
• Among her top tips is colour coding cloths to avoid cross-contamination

She’s the former Essex hairdresser whose infectious enthusiasm for cleaning and down-to-earth personality have made her an Instagram — and publishing — star.
Mrs Hinch, real name Sophie Hinchliffe, started posting about her cleaning routines on social media after discovering that setting to with mop and bucket or cloths and disinfectant helped calm her anxiety.
But people loved her tips — as well as her habit of giving nicknames to her tools and products — so much that she now has 3.2 million Instagram followers, called ‘Hinchers’, and has sold almost a million books.
Married to Jamie Hinchliffe, and now mum to baby Ronnie, Sophie, 30, is also doting owner of cocker spaniel Henry." (And you'd probably get more sense out of Henry, IMHO.)

 

[Robinne Weiss]

From The Daily Mail. Uplifting in its way, but perhaps not as intended

"Planning a spring clean in lockdown? Here, in the second part of our (Daily Mail) inspired (?) series, Instagram sensation MRS HINCH shows you how to make your sitting room sparkle

• Sophie Hinchliffe, 30, from Essex, shared advice for cleaning your living room
• Best known as Mrs Hinch, she boasts over 3.2 million followers on Instagram
• Among her top tips is colour coding cloths to avoid cross-contamination

She’s the former Essex hairdresser whose infectious enthusiasm for cleaning and down-to-earth personality have made her an Instagram — and publishing — star.
Mrs Hinch, real name Sophie Hinchliffe, started posting about her cleaning routines on social media after discovering that setting to with mop and bucket or cloths and disinfectant helped calm her anxiety.
But people loved her tips — as well as her habit of giving nicknames to her tools and products — so much that she now has 3.2 million Instagram followers, called ‘Hinchers’, and has sold almost a million books.
Married to Jamie Hinchliffe, and now mum to baby Ronnie, Sophie, 30, is also doting owner of cocker spaniel Henry." (And you'd probably get more sense out of Henry, IMHO.)

Here, they're asking folks to please not do a big clean out. Recycling facilities are pretty well swamped with stuff--all of which has to be hand sorted, and they're trying to function with as few staff as possible. A lot of recycling is going straight to the tip, and of course places like Salvation Army are just seeing stuff pile up. I suppose that sort of clean out is more Marie Kondo than Mrs Hinch, but I've taken it to mean I can slack off on the cleaning

 

[Webbwalker]

Here, they're asking folks to please not do a big clean out. Recycling facilities are pretty well swamped with stuff--all of which has to be hand sorted, and they're trying to function with as few staff as possible. A lot of recycling is going straight to the tip, and of course places like Salvation Army are just seeing stuff pile up. I suppose that sort of clean out is more Marie Kondo than Mrs Hinch, but I've taken it to mean I can slack off on the cleaning

Also, the virus can live on cardboard, paper, cloth and dust particles raised in handling cloth etc.

- From John Hopkins Hospital:
NEVER shake used or unused clothing, sheets or cloth. While it is glued to a porous surface, it is very inert and disintegrates only:
- between 3 hours (fabric and porous), - 4 hours (copper and wood) - 24 hours (cardboard), - 42 hours (metal) and - 72 hours (plastic).
If you shake fabric or use a feather duster, virus molecules float in the air for up to 3 hours, and can lodge in your nose.

- This is probably not the best time to be handling recycled goods.

 

[E G Logan]

Here, they're asking folks to please not do a big clean out.

I promise not to mention this woman again, but I admit I am totally baffled and horrified by the news that her 'Little Book of Lists' -- some of us have discussed that at length. I mean, lists -- has knocked the latest Hilary Mantel, the much-awaited third part of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, off the top of the best-selling UK ebook list.

Is there any justice in the world?

 

[KateESal]

Ah, lists. People do seem to love them. They confer the illusion of order on a chaotic world, I suspect.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Ah, lists. People do seem to love them. They confer the illusion of order on a chaotic world, I suspect.

I'm afraid I'm a compulsive list-maker ... I have lists within lists within lists sometimes. It allows me to break down overwhelming work into achievable chunks. Having run my own businesses for over 15 years, it's also the way I pat myself on the back for accomplishing things--when you've got no coworkers or boss to tell you you've done a good job, you need to find ways to do it yourself, or you feel like a failure all the time (at least I do).

 

[Hannah F]

Honest to goodness! I and my dog had to slither down an embankment to maintain social distance because 3 somewhat rotund women walked side by side along the wide path. I squeezed myself and dog against a tree expecting them to move to the other side and walk in file for just a few feet, but no. I may be less than half the size of any one of them but I'm not invisible. As I don't want to catch this plague, there was only one escape and down the embankment we went. Was it a lack of common sense? A lack of respect?