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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).

I think her single best novel is Song of Solomon, though in my case (as I am rereading most of her novels in an irregular fashion), I want to end on a high note, so I will finish with Song of Solomon.

There's still a lot of music to listen to this weekend, but I'm really digging Hugh Masekela's take on Hancock's Cantelope Island, which is on Masekela's live album The Americanization of Oooga Booga.

This is closely related to Greatest Albums That Never Made It to CD, but is a slightly different problem. There are quite a few cases, particularly in the early days of CDs, where 2 albums would be fit onto 1 CD but one or even two tracks had to be dropped for space considerations. This was a common occurrence at Verve but most of the labels would do it. The problem then becomes since the music has basically been reissued, it becomes hard to make the case for a special edition to be put out just to get the missing track. Sometimes the missing music crops up on a related release where there is more dead space to fill, but more often than not the track is in limbo. Right now I am listening to Hugh Masekela's The Lasting Impressions of Ooga Booga, which combines The Americanization Of Oooga Booga and The Lasting Impression Of Hugh Masekela, but leaves off the very last track (a live version of Child Of The Earth). As far as I can see, this live version hasn't resurfaced anywhere, but if you are aware of it being reissued, do let me know. Thanks! I'll dig around and come up with a few more examples, but this is the one that is top of my mind right now.

An interview with Tony Allen in the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/19/tony-allen-afrobeats-master-on-hugh-masekela-damon-albarn-and-friction-with-fela-kuti It pointed me to a recording that he and Hugh Masekela did back in 2010, Rejoice, which has just been released for the first time today, wherever you buy or more likely stream music.

It will be a fascinating case study down the road to see if it really made a difference that the UK held off so long on closing schools (and pubs are apparently still open!). Australia is one of the only hold outs (where the government is actually threatening private schools that want to shut down!). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-19/coronavirus-why-is-australia-keeping-schools-open/12070702 It seems very clear to me (from a distance) that they have the science exactly wrong. Kids are largely immune, which is great for them and their parents, but they are near-perfect vectors of infection.

Just a small rant. I've found out yesterday that our accounts payable dept. will not process invoices without the original hard copy (I kid you not!). So I will have to come in and put the invoices into inter-office mail (which apparently is still also working) and then split. (At least I can bike to work and shouldn't run across anyone while at work.) Believe me, I have flagged this and elevated to the CEO, so they may see the error of their ways soon, but some people truly do not have any common sense! I've heard similar horror stories of judges not accepting electronic filings, though I am expecting there will start being some executive orders coming down shortly (and very likely all trials and judicial proceedings will be suspended in short order).

He is still playing, though I don't think he gets much outside of Toronto (and maybe Vancouver, pre-epidemic). It's a little frustrating as he doesn't have a very good website listing his sideman gigs (and he doesn't appear to lead his own groups any more). There are a few leaders he tends to gig with, like Kirk McDonald and Renee Rosnes, so when I see them, I click through to see if the whole band is listed.

Don't know about vinyl, but I've had it on CD for practically forever. Actually went to a gig Swainson was at last year and got him to sign it.