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It was a global pandemic. If it had killed 50% of its victims, WWI would be a historical footnote.

Which is exactly why doing a direct comparison didn't provide the expected warm and fuzzies...

I'm going to assume you are neither an epidemiologist nor a statistician*

Nope.

so I'm not sure why you picked that bar for "A-OK". I'm also not either of those things but even I know that diseases with mortality rates that high are very rare and/or difficult to catch.

I had expected the Spanish Flu to be way worse than all indicators point to it being. The fact that so many people were engaged in conflict out in the open - in extremely unsanitary conditions, with no readily available treatment (and none coming close to modern medicine) - seems to demand a much, much higher percentage of deaths than merely 10-20%.

Counting those who were killed while the war was going on, while fatally infected, would skew the estimates upwards a little, but not significantly given how many (overall) people were infected.

They're not the heroes we need but the ones we deserve, (or something).

If this is the Batman we deserve, then we'll get Rave!Joker, whose every appearance is punctuated by techno beats, Pattinson will yell "I'm the goddamn Batman" at some point, and Poison Ivy will give us a lecture on equality.

They said there's already a thing called 'walking illness' and 'working pneumonia' whereby staff have no paid sick leave (in fact, taking time off sick often leads to dismissal), and can't afford ANY unpaid leave due to their minimum wage roles, so come into work sick.

Which is already a thing that happens routinely in the UK - and, I would wager a guess, nearly everywhere else these days - given how easy it is to replace people on zero hour contracts.

I'm trying so, so hard to avoid the easy target here, and not point the blame at multinational corporations for, once more, fucking people over in cruel and unusual ways, but it is extremely difficult not to see the obvious solution here. Banning the use of such contracts, and allowing people to take time off work when they are clearly unwell, seems to be too obvious for the government to see.

Meanwhile, every single customer they service is exposed to whatever illness they're forced to endure in work.

Which, in metropolitan locations, is going to include a number of people who routinely take international flights...

Chilling stuff, given a 7% mortality rate so far.

I don't think the general mortality rate is anything like 7% — I understood it was more like 2%.

Because numbers can offer a little reassurance in these instances I checked what the Spanish Flu mortality rate was - hoping to see that it was much, much higher, and therefore things were nowhere near as bad as was being made out.

Not so reassuring:

...it is estimated that 10% to 20% of those who were infected died.

Well... damn. Taking into consideration the advances in treatment since 1918, and the (arguably) better living conditions overall (for certain countries, at least), there isn't a dramatic difference*. The only real encouraging divergence from that outbreak is that the current epidemic isn't killing off people at such an alarming rate.

There are rumblings that the first Briton to die from the virus has occurred, but it doesn't seem to be reported as yet in any news sources.

Depressingly, it is spreading to untouched areas, far and wide:
Coronavirus: Nigeria confirms first case in sub-Saharan Africa (BBC News)

*Not, say 40-50%, which would be enough to make it clear that things are going to be a-okay.

[Mandy]

If you haven't seen Mandy, I highly recommend it.

I'll second the Mandy recommendation, that film is a real mood and Cage is fantastic in it.

Added to the list. And dear goddess, that's a bloody long list now.

I think I may upset the internet with these observations, but...

Ghostbusters wasn't bad. In fact, I liked the reboot better than Ghostbusters 2 right up until the final act, where everything seemed to get thrown at the screen in a pointless attempt at going one better. It ruined what could have been the best installment in the franchise - and I really, really love the animated series and its comics spin-offs from the 80s, so that's saying something.

Charlie's Angels was a massive disappointment. Preachy and slow at the start, then it wasted a decent cast with a re-tread of plot points which have been done to death - not to mention flubbing the one scene which could have been a desperately needed shot in the arm with some awful sound editing. If someone is going to get caught near an explosion I expect at least as good an audio mix as in the beach scene from Saving Private Ryan.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw isn't merely the most disappointing film in the franchise, it is one of the most disappointing films I've sat through in the last decade - and I've sat through the DVD of Space Marines a bunch of times. Not a single idea in its empty little head, and no matter how good the glossy, slick presentation is, there's no substitute for an interesting story. Don't watch it immediately after Rampage, however good a double bill might sound - it is somehow less realistic than a film about a giant, intelligent gorilla.

The virus plot from M:I-3, a Marvel supervillain, a Transformers cameo, the croaky 80s MacGyver section at the end... Even Jason Statham (who normally delivers the goods even in the creakiest of movies) can't bring it up to the level of a B-movie. I was trying my hardest to see what Hobbs & Shaw was attempting, but the only thing I'm left with is "we want a cut of the Marvel success story," which is no good reason to make a film.

Haven't seen The Shape of Water yet, so there's still hope that I can provide some slightly more positive comments about the state of cinema...

Instead I've opted to catch The Invisible Man and True History of The Kelly Gang this weekend so I can get some use out of the card, both look pretty good so here's hoping they're decent.

True History of the Kelly Gang sounds maginally more interesting of the two, and (maybe its only me, but...) there's a detectable touch of Flashman about the book - alternate takes on well-known events may be slightly out of synch with what's going on in the world (the tedious Fake News chants), but the film looks to be one of the highlights of the year.

The New Three Kingdoms, if it is even released in 2020, probably takes my spot for most promising film of the year though - if it is done correctly, that is.

How many Batmen do we need?

Only the one - Adam West.

Although I have a fondness for Kevin Conroy's portrayal, West will always be the definitive Batman as far as I'm concerned.

When did Affleck pass the torch in film as well?

"Health issues" apparently. What Private Eye describes as being 'tired and emotional.'

There's a great quote of Kevin Smith's about the role:

I'll take it one step further, it doesn't take talent at all to work in the movie business," Smith says in the special. "You think it takes talent to stand there on a movie set and say 'I'm Batman'? Ben Affleck does it so I know it don't take f—king talent.

Off to Lanzarote a week on Saturday - don't mind if they close the airport once we're there, I could do with a month of quarantine in the sun 

There are worse places to be stuck... As long as you have enough insurance coverage for any unexpected hotel bills - if you cough and sneeze enough when you get to the airport you might be refused entry on the return flight. (not suggesting anyone should get themselves quarantined for a little extra sun, but...) 

As for conspiracies, unless there's proof I'll side with Occam and go with unregulated farming and markets.

Not forgetting the people keeping all kinds of animals in their homes... Walls covered in cages full of chickens, for example. I'm still astonished at some of the things the H1N1 reportage uncovered, and no doubt we're going to get similarly awful stories coming out of the hotspots as this goes on.

I just had a knee scope surgery yesterday so am on the couch and off work.

All those years teaching - you have more than earned some down-time.

On the positive side, I have an excuse to read some back progs.

Always a silver lining...

Rest up and let yourself heal. You'll probably want to get back to doing things as quickly as you can, but there's no need to push yourself. Trying to rush the healing process is a very bad thing.

Gutted I can't get to Bristol tomorrow to support Greta Thunberg.

There will be other opportunities. You're supporting her by spreading the message, which is just as important.

Wish me luck!

Good luck. Let us know how things go.

Second motorbike stolen in 8 months.

Did you have a GPS tracker installed?

I don't even know if I should make another insurance claim after making one 8 months ago, when the same model of bike was taken from pretty much the same place.

Definitely make a claim - you paid for the policy, so make use of it.

It is probably something which I should discourage, but... if you catch someone in the act of stealing your vehicle, no matter what it is - from a BMX right up to a yacht - you should make them regret being born. When (if) they ever go before a judge they'll merely be given a telling off, then set free to go do it again.

First confirmed case of Corona in Northern Ireland.

The WHO map of Europe is slowly but surely turning blue. By the time this is over I doubt there will be anwhere completely untouched. Anyone who's already booked a flight for later in the year would be wise to check the cancellation details - just in case.

I've been in touch with my old boss (actually an attractive young Chinese lady) in Beijing who told me things are worse there than we're told.

Is she okay? And how much worse are things than the already-horrific news stories?

She believes it's a conspiracy to attack the Chinese government.

We can't rule anything out at the moment, but the list of possible aggressors isn't very long. Only NK really stands out as being capable of anything, and it is highly questionable that they have the technological capabilities to do so. The notion that it is a conspiracy is somehow scarier than it being random bad luck.

This isn't blowing over any time soon:

Coronavirus: Outbreak at 'decisive point' as WHO urges action (BBC News)

Globally, more than 80,000 people in nearly 50 countries have been infected. Nearly 2,800 have died, the majority in China's Hubei province.

Big European companies ban business travel as coronavirus outbreak escalates (CNN)
How the coronavirus outbreak is affecting travel in Europe (The Guardian)

And people say dolphins are intelligent.

Given that they are unable to keep out of tuna nets, I hardly think one is going to complete the Times crossword puzzle in the near future.

I'll have a couple of Ginger nuts to go with me cuppa.

The preferred term is redheads.








I couldn't not make the joke. Apologies to all redheads - death threats won't be necessary...

How do you know you aren't the answer to a trick question?

6 Underground on Netflix.

It felt like a Greatest Hits album rather than something new - surprising to see so many familiar things lumped together in a single story, as if Bay was engaged in a challenge to see how many things he could mash into a whole without adding anything which could have elevated the story beyond its component parts. Although saying that it is derivative is like saying the sun is hot...

Reynolds is the only reason that I stayed to the end, and it is his performance that largely saves the film.