Pop quiz: quick -- cello or viola da gamba? Extra credit: how can you tell the difference? There are at least three hints, maybe a fourth one, in the clip below.
Grand Ballet, Marin Marais
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NASCAR
Chase Elliott was cruising to victory, only two laps left, when his teammate spun out, bringing out a caution. In "overtime," Chase Elliott comes in third. Brad Keselowski wins his first Coca-Cola 600. Jimmy Johnson takes second. Good race. [Later: Jimmy Johnson's finish was disqualified after the race; his car failed post-race inspection. Johnson's DQ put Chase Elliott in second place.]
Cuomo? Feeling pressure much? Anything to get the collective mind of New Yorkers off the nursing home debacle.
Comment: something tells me Americans could come out of this lock down faster than some think. Hard to say, but if the epicenter of the US Wuhan flu is already taking these steps ... Long Island -- one wonders if AOC is also feeling the pressure to get folks back to work ..
Natural gas -- who would have thought? Oil plays with major impact on natural gas. This is very, very interesting. Anyone paying attention saw it coming but I haven't seen many analysts talking about it until now, but the monthly EIA dashboards foreshadowed it all.
Under pressure from low oil prices, Iraq is seeking billions of dollars in debt relief from Kuwait and moving to bolster ties with Saudi Arabia, as the coronavirus pandemic compels Baghdad to court allies that could help it stave off an economic crisis.
Finance Minister Ali Allawi, who is also deputy prime minister and acting oil minister, said he was proposing that Kuwait delay or cancel some $3 billion that Iraq owes in reparations for the 1990-91 Gulf War, when dictator Saddam Hussein burned Kuwaiti oil fields.
Iraq stopped making payments in 2014 as it battled Islamic State militants who had seized control of a third of the country but resumed in 2018. Now, 3% of oil export revenue goes to wealthier Kuwait, which is also suffering from depressed oil prices.
“That will help our cash flow very significantly,” Mr. Allawi said. “This together with other measures would help to stabilize the situation.”
Iraq has avoided a major outbreak of the new coronavirus, with fewer than 150 deaths. But it faces an economic crisis as the pandemic further weakens demand for oil, sales of which account for more than 90% of state revenue, after a Saudi-Russian battle over market supply crashed crude prices.
Comment: this suggests to me that the US will widen the gap between itself and the rest of the world as we come out of this Wuhan flu depression.
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TCM
Now, The Wings Of Eagles, a John-Wayne-a-post-WWI-naval-aviation movie -- it starts out in Pensacola, FL. Wow, wow, wow.
One has no idea how many great memories I have of Pensacola, FL. And I've only been there maybe three days. It was all a lark. But incredibly great memories.
The automobile Maureen O'Hara drives up in the opening scenes: a 1914 Stutz Bearcat.
Which, of course, reminds me of Rota Naval Station, Spain. LOL.
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Word Of The Day
Caddie / caddy: as in someone who carries golf clubs.
From the French cadet: mid 17th century (originally Scots): from French cadet. The original term denoted a gentleman who joined the army without a commission, intending to learn the profession and follow a military career, later coming to mean ‘odd-job man’. The current sense dates from the late 18th century.
Current usage comes from 18th century Scottish, James Boswell, describing his run home after school, in Edinburgh, in the 1740s: "...past advocates, writers, Scotch Hunters, cloth-merchants, Presbyterian ministers, country lairds, captains both by land and sea, porters, chairmen and cadies."
Cadies (sic) were young men hired to do menial tasks.
TCM: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Wow. I won't watch much of the movie, but I might re-read the wiki entry and see where this "rabbit hole" takes me.I was unaware of the San Antonio connection but it explains a lot. "First leg," as it were:
Eglin, FL: T/O
San Antonio, TX: re-fuel
Alameda Air Field
Later: watching the scenes over Tokyo I was quite "moved." My wife was born in Yokohama in 1949, she of Japanese (her mother) and Mexican (her father) descent. The Doolittle raid and atomic bombs later put Wuhan flu in perspective. Journalists worried about whether the president was wearing a cloth mask when touring the Ford factory earlier this week.
Struggling. I hate to beat a dead horse, but I am really, really enjoying re-reading about the Scottish Enlightenment. See notes to the grandchildren at the bottom of this post. But I'm struggling. Our oldest granddaughter would really benefit from these two books. She would really, really enjoy these two books but it's not my place to "push on her" what I like or what I think might benefit her.
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make the horse drink."
In addition to the political history that Arianna is really interested in and philosophy, a secondary interest, or perhaps vice versa, simply the writing and all the vocabulary is to good to not share with others. The vocabulary is most important, an opportunity that should not be lost. I have a plan. We'll see.
Open Library: amazingly, How The Scots Invented The Modern World is freely available over at "Open Library."
Sturgis rally: somewhat "up in the air," but more than likely will occur. Link here. Knowing the editorial slant of The Bismarck Tribune, this news probably irritates them to the nth degree. LOL.
Dates to know:
June 15, 2020: Sturgis City Council to decide
August 7 - 17, 2020: tentative dates for this year's Sturgis Rally
iPad: I "officially" handed over my relatively brand-new iPad Pro to Sophia on Friday. It's hers. The iPad, the charger, and a special carrying bag, everything. She was overjoyed. She asked if it was really hers. I said, "Yes, but she would still bring it over to our apartment when she came to visit." I was a bit ambiguous in my answer about true "ownership," but now that I've been without it for two days, it appears I can live without it. My bedtime reading habits will change. I have been looking at the Apple site as well as Costco for pricing of the iPad Pro. LOL.
Take My Breath Away, Berlin
Inspired:
Berlin, "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun
Karen O, "The Immigrant Song," The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Maurice Jarre, "Lara's Theme," Doctor Zhivago
Herman Hupfeld, "As Time Goes By," Casablanca
Various, movie theme songs, James Bond (link here)
Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer/Audrey Hepburn, "Moon River," Breakfast At Tiffany's
Poker: a most enjoyable day yesterday. In the background, for about six hours, uninterrupted for the most part, I suppose -- the televising / re-run of the 2019 World Series of Poker. Absolutely mesmerizing. The 2020 WSOP, originally scheduled for late May, 2020, has now been postponed to a later, yet-to-be-decided, date in the fall of 2020.
it appears that Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch are on speaking terms following "that wreck"; the wreck occurred Wednesday, May 20, 2020, at Darlington; tonight's race at Charlotte -- we'll see if anything comes of Chase Elliott / Kyle Busch
it's been my impression, the field, in general, has been very, very "polite" as NASCAR returns to racing
if so, I would say that is very, very "smart" of the racers; fans aren't looking for controversy or chaos at this point; they are looking for good, clean races;
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WSOP -- 2019
Final Table: nine players --
US: 4
Canada: 1
Britain: 1
Germany: 1
Italy: 1
US-based Serbian: 1
Final Table: nine players --
one frosh: $0 at any previous WSOP event -- Kevin Maahs, US; finished 5th, $2.2 million
three sophomores: each had won cash at one previous WSOP event ($12,415; $3,276; and, $927)
Most experienced: the Italian, Dario Sammartino, with 38 previous cash wins at WSOP events; total WSOP earnings going into 2019 WSOP tournament: $3.5 million
none of the nine had ever won a WSOP bracelet
ultimate winner: Hossein Ensan, one previous cash win at a WSOP event, $3,267)
Marchington: legal spat; 21 years old; with 35 players left, he led the field; finished 7th, $1.5 million
Note: the top nine prizes --
not much separation for the bottom, 5th through 9th places
between 4th and 3rd, a jump from $3 million to $4 million
between 3rd and 2nd, a jump from $4 million to $6 million
from 2nd to 1st, a jump from $6 million to $10 million
this encourages aggressive play in the first few rounds; not much to lose between fifth place and ninth place, and a great deal to win if one can finish in the top four
Observations and comments:
a dust-up at the table before the Final Table, between Sammartino, the Italian, and the casino dealer, suggested a poor loser, and someone who lost his concentration; and, most incredibly, acted as if he did not understand the basic rules of poker (actions, not words, rule the day)
Sammartino went on to recover, and finish 2nd in the tournament; mostly by playing very, very, very conservatively letting others knock each other off in a circular firing squad, leaving him alone, head-to-head with the eventual winner, Hossein Ensan;
Hossein Ensan: lucky, lucky, lucky. An Iranian via Germany; I've never seen anyone get so many incredible downcards; flops; and/or river cards -- it was truly incredible
once Ensan had his huge chip lead going to the final table (of nine), there was little chance of anyone beating him; Sammartino came close but only by pretty much staying out of the game until the end, when he was head-to-head with Ensan;
in addition to being plain lucky, Ensan was formidable; using his chip advantage to intimidate and ultimately literally destroy his opponents; many seemed to appear not to know what just happened;
perhaps most endearing: Timothy Su; Boston; software engineer, and classical musician; plays the oboe as well as other instruments; resume suggests least likely to be playing poker;
Kevin Maahs: perhaps my favorite personality; link here;
The single Wuhan flu meme that I detest the most: Sweden did best among the Scandinavian countries. What a bunch of malarkey. Absolutely not true, and not true by a long shot. At 396 deaths per million, Sweden has more than 9x the number of deaths as Norway, on a per capita basis.
Sweden and Wuhan flu: Sweden is getting a lot of positive press
about how that country handled the coronavirus. When one actually sees
the data, one gets another impression. If one has time to read only one
article on Wuhan flu today, this would be the article.
#1: USA
#2: Spain
#3: Italy
#4: UK
#11: China
#14: Belgium
#22: Sweden
#39: Denmark
#44: Norway
#52: Finland
Now, rank them on number of total deaths per capita:
#1: San Marino
#2: Belgium
#3: Andorra
#4: Spain #10: Sweden (283 deaths per one million population) #14: USA #23: Denmark (87 deaths per one million population) #32: Finland (44 deaths per one million population) #38: Norway (40 deaths per one million population)
