Night Music: Hell To Pay

Chronicles of the Plague Year #9

Another week or more gone.  I rarely know what day it is and sometimes it feels like we are inmates on a prison hulk being transported to a new world.

We have fallen into new habits over these last few weeks. Some, like long naps every afternoon, are merely extensions of what went before. But some are quite different. For example, my usual bedtime these days is an hour or more later than it used to be, presumably because I don’t have plans (or European sporting events) early on the following day.

And then there is breakfast.  For many years we used to whip through the New York Times real estate pages over breakfast. Now, we take our time and this interlude often lasts an hour or more. We watch whatever sumo news is available, maybe some old comic skits (often British or ancient SNL), and then settle down with an episode of University Challenge, probably the toughest game show ever devised.   We found a channel on YouTube that has all the episodes going back to the early 2010s and we are watching them in sequence.  Yesterday we saw the final of the 2014 season.  This morning we started in on 2015.

Talking of sports, longtime readers of this blog will know that I am a devotee of a wide range of sports. The virus, of course, has put a stop to live sports quite literally all over the world. What we are left with is reruns and replays. About thirty years ago I used to lawn bowl at what was then called the Terminal City Bowling Club (I even won a rookie cup my first year). I have rekindled my love of that sport by watching many years’ worth of international matches and marvelling at the skills the best players exhibit.  More peculiarly perhaps, I have enjoyed many years’ worth of elite triathlon races. Even I think that is odd.

Thank goodness for YouTube!

Which reminds me, I notice that I have not been reading books during this time at home. No idea why as I have four library books sitting here that I have until the library re-opens. I have, however, been reading a lot of journal material online, watched some mighty fine documentaries, and learned new cooking skills. YouTube has become my TV of choice.

I miss our friends and the endless street cabaret of Commercial Drive. I am a home body at heart but even I want this to be over.

 

 

Grandview 2nd May 1920

 

Vancouver Sun, 19200502, p.4

 

All previous Grandview 1920 clippings

Press Freedom Around The World

In advance of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, Visual Capitalist has this interesting map indicating the level of press freedom around the globe.

Select image for a detailed look.

One doesn’t have to accept the figures given as gospel. It does however allow a good general indication.