Update from The House of Plague, Day 21

[elisi]

Only one thing today, but it's literary.




(x)

And here is the story in question:

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

It's not long, but it IS unsettling... (I mean, of course it is.)

ETA: Breaking news: Boris Johnson moved to intensive care as symptoms 'worsen'

ETA2: And, since I'm doing 'official stuff', here is The Queen's Speech. (Rather good, I thought.)

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

No one learns from history, it seems. Yet it's remarkable what a boom there has been in pandemic-related viewing and reading. Apparently stories about the Black Death are in demand.

BTW, some things you might want for your posts. Mike's nephew shared the following quip which made me laugh:

"I'm going to call my mom and ask her if her offer to slap me into next year is still on the table."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlI-Lv-hsVI

[kerk_hiraeth]

Video unavailable message for me :-(

[yourlibrarian]

Ugh, I didn't even think of that :( It was a performance by a group of deaf dancers who signed a musical numbers on the TV show "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist." But it wasn't the whole performance, just a promotional video about it.

[elisi]

Sounds lovely. Might show up in a zone where I can watch. :)

[yourlibrarian]

I will substitute this instead:

https://imgflip.com/i/3uzkiw

[kerk_hiraeth]

Whoever thinks Boba Fett's not a dark side character is a little confused I feel. But at least I saw it :-)

[elisi]

omg, that's brilliant! :D

[elisi]

No one learns from history, it seems.
It's incredible. 'What do they teach in schools these days?' *shakes fist*

Yet it's remarkable what a boom there has been in pandemic-related viewing and reading. Apparently stories about the Black Death are in demand.
I guess people want to see how humanity coped before? Or didn't.

"I'm going to call my mom and ask her if her offer to slap me into next year is still on the table."
AHAHAHAH. Yes. I'd take them up on that offer too.

[shadowkat]

Yes, people on FB were discussing the Queen's speech and envying the Brits for having a decent leader who could cheer them all up.

[elisi]

I wouldn't call myself a Royalist as such (it's an expensive luxury to have a Royal family), but as an alternative to President Boris... yeah. Yeah, I'm glad we have her.

[watervole]

I wonder if they require quarantine after the test?

[elisi]

One would hope so...

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Good lord, the resemblance is just uncanny!

[elisi]

Rich people haven't changed...

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

Now I am going to read the Masque of the Red Death.

[elisi]

That was my exact reaction too! So I thought I'd make it easy for people. :)

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

Hmmm - but you can test negative and actually still have the virus - no??

[elisi]

And you can carry it for a while before it manifests? They should read Poe.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Masque of the Red Death is one of my favourite films. I must have a rewatch!

I think this message from the Queen is great, but about two weeks too late. Not that the Queen saying something anything is going to sway me either way, but she's our Head of State, we should have had this message at the start of the lockdown (to be fair, it may have been difficult to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the video, but there should have been a statement from the Palace at very least).

[elisi]

Masque of the Red Death is one of my favourite films. I must have a rewatch!
I didn't know it was a film! *makes note*

I think this message from the Queen is great, but about two weeks too late.
Better late than never. And *everything* has been late, so... What can you do. Anyway, Boris is presumably re-thinking a lot of his choices now and wishing he could have done things differently.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Oh yes it's a film! One of the Roger Corman Edgar Allen Poe adaptations with Vincent Price. I love campy old horror films.

[elisi]

Niiiice. I have added it to my to-watch list. :)

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Boris the one who espoused the "Herd Immunity" theory? The more ppl get the virus the more (rich, upper class, non-disabled) ppl will be protected? I wonder how he feels about that now? He wanted some unholy number of ppl to die of the virus and presumed he'd be safe. I just hope he doesn't take a ventilator away from someone who actually needs one.
I feel more worry for his pregnant fiancée who was isolated with more serious symptoms all last week.

Honestly, I have more respect for Taoiseach Leo who is going back to practicing medicine (I mean, it's over the phone and one shift a week, but it'll take some pressure off the front line docs at least a little bit).

[elisi]

He wanted some unholy number of ppl to die of the virus and presumed he'd be safe. I just hope he doesn't take a ventilator away from someone who actually needs one.
So far no ventilator, apparently. And to be fair, I presume his symptoms are worse than his girlfriend's since he's in intensive care, and she hasn't even been tested yet and has stayed at home. (Which is good. I hope she doesn't get any worse!)

Honestly, I have more respect for Taoiseach Leo who is going back to practicing medicine (I mean, it's over the phone and one shift a week, but it'll take some pressure off the front line docs at least a little bit).
Well Boris doesn't really have any skills except waffling on about nationalism and sounding posh.

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Fair points. You can tell I just watched the news and was cross about it when I commented XD.

Oh! You might enjoy the most recent icon posts at iwillnotdance and rebelicons, btw. Awesome Good Omens ones :)

[elisi]

Fair points. You can tell I just watched the news and was cross about it when I commented XD.
Absolutely a fair point. It felt distinctly weird to borderline defend Boris...

And thank you! I already follow rebelicons, but not iwillnotdance. I have now remedied this. :)

[sea_thoughts]

The Queen's one of the very few people who can use WWII references and have them mean something.

[elisi]

Uh-huh. I am of a mind that no one should be able to talk about it, if they weren't there.

[sea_thoughts]

That would neatly stop all the Brexshits from talking about it so I agree!

[elisi]

Ah, the Sound of Silence...

[sea_thoughts]

Kind of has a different meaning if you use a River icon. XD