Coronavirus

[studentforever]

I vaguely remember a radio sketch sending up literary criticism. The snippet I recall was a scientist saying that he had perfected time travel for individuals and the arts person saying she would love to meet Shakespeare. He said that such people didn't travel well, he'd tried it with Shakespeare but had to send him back to his own time. 'That's a shame' replied the other, 'Why?' 'You failed the poor fellow!!', retorted the scientist. Whereupon she recalled the strange man who sat at the back of the class on Shakespeare's plays and submitted one of the worst essays she had read.

[Morgan]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-waymarking- ... 733912.JPG
Photo of gargoyle over door to all my math and differential equation classes. Any wonder math was not my best class. Didn't they use to use these things to scare away all sorts of evil? There is something primal in such art.

[Randi]

and

[AvastMH]

Same as Randi - twice.

Any time a child says to me 'Why Shakespeare?' I do struggle to explain that it's worth learning the language. It must feel like a foreign language especially in today's text-speak etc

[Randi]

Poetry totally escapes me, but I like his plays on words. Also, I find the history of English interesting.

I had a coworker whose sister studied Shakespeare. He told me that Shakespeare wrote simultaneously for two audiences: the commoners and the elite.

[AvastMH]

I think that this is true Randi. Some bits are quite double-entendre as well.

[studentforever]

I find words fascinating and I believe that Shakespeare added more words to the English language than any other author. Mind you, in those days spelling was erratic and I believe he actually wrote his own name with different spellings at different times. It was only with the printing press that spelling became more standardised and then came printed dictionaries....

[Hanibal94]

My first shot was a success! It was very well organized and clear - never had to wait long, or had any problems with documents/strange questions.
They gave me Moderna.

So far, I feel fine. Just a sore arm, but that was expected.
Afterwards, me and Mom (she drove me there, as I do not have a driver's license) went to the local Tierpark (basically a tiny zoo) and looked at some of the animals, including Japanese macaques.

It sure feels great to have this - looking forward to the second dose already!

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Regarding Shakespeare: I have heard of him being a poor speller before, but didn't realize it was due to spelling not being standardized at the time. Must be fun for people who read old documents for a living.
And he supposedly invented phrases as well as words, such as "vanish into thin air" or "flesh and blood".

[Michael]

I'm glad it was a success.

I read somewhere, a long time ago, that English spelling is inconsistent partly because there were four main centres for printing when printing presses first appeared. I don't remember the locations: perhaps Oxford, London, Manchester ??? and ???. Anyway, there were regional differences in the way that words were spelled, and gradually the most common regional spelling became adopted by the other regions. Sort of like how B117 was common in Kent and gradually spread around the world.

France had l'Académie française and they defined the way words would be spelled, so the spelling of French words is more consistent.

[Randi]

[AvastMH]

My friends are staying in Suffolk which has a town called Happisburgh, pronounced Hazeburuh. What ever the printing press chap was drinking that day I'll have some too please

[studentforever]

Near where I grew up was a place written Cholmondley pronounced Chumley and there is a castle in Scotland written Culzean pronounced Cullain or a settlement near Glasgow written Milngavie pronounced Mulgigh (Mulgay, Mulgie or Mulgy don't really work, since most English words don't end with the right sound now apart from the igh ending in words such as high etc). There are lots of others all over the country and the locals use it to spot the visitors or incomers.

Of course there is always the Featherstonhaugh family who pronounce their surname FANSHAW (don't ask).

[AvastMH]

Of course there is always the Featherstonhaugh family who pronounce their surname FANSHAW (don't ask).

[arboggs]

Got my second dose of Moderna yesterday! Doing mostly fine today although I'm kinda tired and have general body aches (and the sore arm, of course). I may end up taking a nap later. I was going to do some weeding in the garden today but I think I'll put it off until the weekend.

The line to get in was much shorter today and I'm hoping it means that after the initial rush people have been able to book their appointments more spread out so we're not all trying to go in at once. I'm in the U.S. and the process was incredibly fast for shot #2 because I had the vaccine card to check in with.

[Michael]

I'm glad it went so well. We're waiting for dose number two. Maybe in a month or two.

[Randi]

I had a message in my mailbox from the owner of this building (an old house converted into five apartments).
It said "There has been a mild case of covid reported by a tenant."
Fortunately my apartment is entered directly from outside.

[Michael]

Wow! Lucky you for having a separate entrance!

[AvastMH]

Very happy to hear that you've had jab number 2, April! Hope you are feeling a bit better today. Sounds like it's working though

Randi - so glad to hear that you've got your own entrance.

On the whole is it relatively easy to work out how many people have had at least one jab in your local area if you live in the US? I suspect it must vary a great deal.

Meanwhile Bournemouth is closing it's vaccination centre doors for a month for their annual international Cheerleading competition. Don't panic - apparently there will be other centres able to cover the vaccinations.

[ggordon]

On the whole is it relatively easy to work out how many people have had at least one jab in your local area if you live in the US? I suspect it must vary a great deal.

Yes, there are many sites available for looking at the data state by state and down to the local level. Here is one for King County, which includes Seattle.

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/cov ... ation.aspx

If you scroll down to the map, you can see the wide variation just within the county.

There are wide variations among states and within states. At this point it is getting to where it is more a matter of personal choice rather that availability of the vaccine.

[AvastMH]

That's an impressive set of data Gordon. I can see the spread of vaccinations. As you say, it's probably getting down to those who are deciding against getting the jab