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Canada Boy Vinyl closed in 2017 and, more significantly, Rainbo Records closed in late 2019. And then there was a fire back in Feb. at the plant that was the "world's largest supplier of lacquer" for records. https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/blaze-california-plant-jeopardizes-global-vinyl-record-supply/VSRIJ2O5ZZF3JLKQ4SFXCCRCWU/ So tough times right now, all the way around.

It's a good piece. Zoom claims that as of Thurs, they are disabling one of the data mining features. Zoom plays fast and loose with security settings and is more concerned about growth than privacy. That said, when an app looks cool and fairly useful but is free or near free, then there's a good chance that the app developer is going to be reselling your data one way or another. I'll probably continue to use Zoom in my personal life for low-stakes things and at work, they are moving to get us all into Microsoft Teams, though there is a bit more of a learning curve. (And I imagine the data harvesting is a bit more discrete...) I have already witnessed some of the Zoom-bombing, though it was contained to silly and then somewhat vulgar comments in the chat, which the host was able to turn off completely. So it wasn't nearly as disruptive as it could have been.

Very interesting news. It isn't clear if there will be a CD release of this material, or it is vinyl only. And would there eventually be a release to iTunes, Spotify, etc.? I'm just feeling a bit pessimistic about the ability to get physical product, particularly vinyl (when a few pressing plants have already gone under) and then having it actually shipped in the next many, many months. Thanks.

I had one order cancelled recently, and then trying to place another order for a replacement (from Amazon.co.uk actually), a note popped up and said that this wasn't important and that they weren't shipping to Canada for the time being (paraphrasing only slightly). I can't honestly disagree, but I would have preferred they place a hold on that item (a Picasso monograph with only 3 left in stock) and ship it much, much later. I may place a domestic order for something not strictly essential; I won't mind too much if it is moved to back of the queue.

Only 52! Shit! https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/01/adam-schlesinger-fountains-of-wayne-dead-coronavirus Not particularly aware of this group (aside from "Stacey's Mom"), but Adam seemed very talented in the pop world. Such a loss, along with all the others we are losing too soon.

Very surprised that this has already turned up on iTunes (and Spotify?), but this does give you an opportunity to sample if you are still on the fence.

My step-brother is a pastor, and he goes to his empty church and preaches. I assume it's live-streamed but don't have all the details at my finger tips. It's not a perfect solution, but it's one that keeps the community safe.

I just voted on 3 and it appears to have shown up.

I see the same. So #3 is the only logical choice for me...

This reminds me that there was just a video on LinkedIn of some guy using a bandsaw to cut paper towels down to toilet-paper shaped rolls (almost a Red Green move, though no duct tape was involved). Most of the comments begged him to take it down, as this was a particularly terrible idea that would clog up sewers and septic systems. I mean it was probably meant as a joke, but there are a lot of clueless and/or scared people out there now. This really isn't the best time to be spreading such bad information.

Very sad. I agree; there are a few other NYC-based musicians I am very worried about... I'm not 100% sure I did see Roney, though it is likely I did at the Jazz Showcase or at the Chicago Jazz Fest.

I was very fortunate to see Griffin in probably his last appearance in Chicago (he had decamped for France long before). Look at this line-up! March 19, 2005: The Great Chicago Tenor Saxes, featuring Johnny Griffin, Ira Sullivan, Von Freeman, Franz Jackson and Eric Alexander I think there were only one or two true tenor battles after the intermission, but Griffin snuck on-stage during another number (maybe a piano trio piece?) and was enthusiastically added to mix. I don't think it was officially recorded but maybe it will surface one day...

Corbett Vs. Dempsey is a small art gallery just upstairs from Dusty Groove in Chicago. I saw quite a few of their shows, but probably not Musician<->Artist. I don't know if they had an actual connection or just an affinity to Dusty Groove. Probably their most ambitious show was far too large for the gallery and they worked out a deal to put it on at the Chicago History Museum - http://www.corbettvsdempsey.com/2007/10/20/big-picture-2/

I got a big brochure in the mail for taking the great courses and learning the classics from the comfort of your home. A little bit cheerier...

Spadina and Dundas is by far the largest Chinatown, but there are a few others now, including a small Chinatown mixed with a bit of Vietnamese on Gerrard near Broadview. I live fairly close to this one.

I think the bias against Chinese restaurants and Chinatowns is a little less pronounced in Toronto than elsewhere, but it seems there is an impact, probably more than against other restaurants, who are all suffering obviously. We do very, very little eating out/take out as a family (honestly it was down to ~10 times annually, though I ate lunch in the food court a lot more often than that). So I'm trying to order out a bit more often just to help some of these restaurants, but it will likely still only come to twice a month.

Fair point, though I thought it was Andrew who was in hiding. His diary suggests Charles was still hobnobbing it up until March 12. https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/diary/past-engagements Anyway, great news on the self-testing kits. I hope it comes true, and that they will be in North America shortly!

I don't begrudge him or any of the other "super spreaders" like NBA players or national-level politicians getting tested, since they will spread it far, far beyond what a typical doctor or nurse would do. So it is critical to test the "elites" to try to stop these massive waves of infection. Even with his testing, Rand Paul probably has spread this to a few Senators, and without testing him it might have infected all of the Senators (given the nature of this thread, I won't pursue this further...). That said, I still can't believe how behind the US, Canada and the UK are in terms of test availability, particularly for first responders. I am certainly hoping that by late April or early May there will be truly widespread testing, and then we can see about having the uninfected people restart the economy. It probably won't play out that way, but that is the best case scenario I can envision.

Well, except for the fact that the sewer systems in cities can't handle newspapers or paper towels or even wipes. It's all but guaranteed that London and New York City sewer systems will break down under the recent strain...

Sadly I will have to change my answer to the 3rd poll. John LaPlante, a Chicago transportation commissioner and later engineer at T.Y. Lin, died from COVID-19. It is believed he picked it up from a trip to Egypt. Now this is more of a professional connection, and he was not a close personal friend, but it still hits way too close to home.

Very sorry to hear that! The odds are good for him at least. I know a fair number of people in NYC, and I am sure it is terrifying right now. It's pretty bad in Toronto, and we don't have it nearly as bad (so far).

Rand Paul has it and may well have passed it onto quite a few Senators. What is so terrifying about this is he was asymptomatic and was feeling fine, but still had it (and was almost certainly infectious). Because the US (and Canada) are so desperately short of testing equipment and facilities, the official line is if you don't have symptoms, you won't get tested -- and then obviously you can and will keep spreading it. I'm not trying to spread blame, but right now we're up the proverbial creek.

My understanding is that it is still illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey (the only state with such a law). I imagine there will be a lot of gas station attendants who may not be so willing to come out and pump gas for strangers these days. I know NJ politicians are going to be dealing with a lot of other issues, but I do wonder if this law's days are finally numbered. Anyway, I had read that at least some Costco's were very strictly limiting the numbers of shoppers (people can only go in after other shoppers come out). I was pretty surprised to see this at my neighbourhood store, where they were only letting in 5 people at a time. Last night they turned off half of the self-service kiosks to space things out a little bit more, but there wasn't quite as strict crowd control about getting into the store. I think people were a bit surprised and frustrated but no one was really acting up or trying to cut through the line. It will be pretty interesting to see if this level of diligence can be maintained for 4-6 weeks and beyond.

Somewhat incredibly it [French Horns for My Lady] is on iTunes and Spotify. Now whether the right people are being credited/reimbursed, that I do not know... But it is definitely worth a stream tonight...

What is so incredibly frustrating is that the experts basically have an idea how to beat this, which is to do extremely widespread testing and then isolate the folks who have caught it (and apparently maybe put them into forced isolation, as there are individuals who are breaking quarantine, though this seems to be fairly rare). However, there are simply not enough chemicals and swabs for the tests, and not enough labs and technicians. It's taking close to 5 days to get a test response back in Ontario, which is completely unacceptable. So in North America, we are flying blind. We seem to have finally gotten to the other side of the toilet paper hoarding crisis (there was still some on the shelves at the store this evening), so I guess that's a small victory... The next couple of weeks are going to be really tough, when the pain of all these measures doesn't seem to be having a major impact on bending the curve (because of how many people will just start showing symptoms from having caught the virus up to 10 days beforehand).