SirBillybob

Not mentioning any specific venues in Montreal but I have prowled around The Village zone the past few weekends, about a 25-minute walk from my home, bored out of my skull in semi-confinement but curious about the scene. It seems apparent that the strip clubs might barely be making ends meet. I am comparing 20 years of observation, based on the approximate evening timeframe of 21:00-22:30 ... not hanging around all night for this, but sitting on some of many newly installed street benches, occasionally sticking my head in for a peek where possible. I would estimate the current patronage volume at about 25% the more recent pre-pandemic ‘normal’ and 10-15% the greater busyness that occurred up to the higher 2000s (eg, 2002-2008). I cannot imagine any increase when the street is imminently repurposed for vehicular traffic and there is extremely reduced capacity for informal pedestrian hanging out.

You mean that he will indulge in any Lion King stage costume fantasy of one’s choosing but was reluctant to openly state that?

Sometimes I feel so sorry for celibate friends that have money to burn and send around photos of hot guy fantasies but would blanche and be all ‘judgey’ at the idea of hiring, that I am tempted to hire a provider to set up a pickup that seems random and have my friend believe he is being sought after. But most of these older fellows would probably talk themselves out of follow-through.

Made me chuckle ... spread on sheet with forced spanking.

Remember Emma Donoghue’s Room, made into the award winning 2015 movie? I just finished her latest, The Pull of the Stars. It is set Fall 1918, another mainly claustrophobic environment, a special makeshift maternity ward in a hospital supplies closet for Spanish flu infected women giving birth in Dublin. The protagonist a nurse/midwife. Conceived and written just prior to the current CoV pandemic. It reads at a blistering thrilling pace. If you think we have it bad ...

It may fall into a grey area. Massage parlours can operate with face covering. Sexual entertainment venues are restricted from reopening. I don’t think that the playbook of a place like Villa Giani actually falls within a defined UK commercial category within the phased lifting of lockdown. It is basically a short term room rental where two people convene but it is likely viewed as a brothel. Commercial sex between provider and client is not illegal but operating a brothel, pimping, etc is a crime, rendering this place vulnerable during these desperate times.

On a very few occasions over several decades I suspect that a provider has spilled the beans outside of the dyadic bubble about selling me sex. Never ever disclosing my commercial habit to others in my social radius (mostly thirsty yet perpetually parched), outside of likeminded punters who are separate from my peeps, gives me the advantage of plausible deniability, however delusional my thinking about this. lol

Tall? Did something fall short?

Am I missing something? I have seen many pleasant yet not particularly outstanding profile images. Is there a consolidated list of the more impressive ones?

Turks & Caicos and US Virgin Islands also just took a major incidence hit.

LOL, no more distinction domestic and foreign ... all in it together.

Aruba just posted a slightly higher than 1/1,000 per capita single day incidence, the highest single day count of anywhere anytime duration of pandemic. I do not know the context. A blitz of testing last week? A retroactive data dump due to a reporting glitch? An artefact of 5 weeks open to tourism (4 weeks for USA), that all accounts for 80% GDP? If it’s the latter, I wonder if it will dial back opening and other Caribbean nations will get cold feet. So if you are a tourist there now, imagine the chaos, at least 115 cases in a small area. All that would have taken would be one or two cases from Canada or USA to spur growth. A negative test had been required for travel from ‘red zone’ American states but tests are egregiously inaccurate. The probability of at least one infected passenger on a flight based out of most continental international USA airports is currently 100%. Look Ma, the insurance premiums are escalating.

He was of the Mertz family in Podunk?

Interesting article. One factual error, though, or ambiguous wording: the USA pandemic mortality rate by incidence of infection (6%) is about the same as globally (5%), not 6 times greater as that would be a whopping 30% when it is only 1% difference. The author likely meant to convey the USA death toll by total population is greater than globally; it is: by 5.3 times, but latency in developing nations will likely shift that comparison. He also highlights BC (his home) as an example of Canada doing relatively better but neglects to point out that Quebec’s death toll is 20% greater than USA overall. Only 9 states’ death tolls exceed Quebec’s. Ontario and Quebec combined are comparable to USA overall.

Canadian poll: 50% would take vaccine as soon as approval granted, 32% would hold off and assess, 14% intend to not be vaccinated. If the latter group contained any people that already had the virus it would alter the percentage by a negligible amount.

Got so caught up in this I forgot that component. Some trials will administer another ‘potentially better than nothing shot’ for control, such as meningitis vaccine, I think as well to attempt to mimic side effects of vaccine arm and maintain ‘double-blind’ rigour, but who needs it? Bless the hearts of volunteers, though, seriously.

I think resistance is two-pronged: fear based on pseudoscience, and skepticism about whether vaccination makes enough difference even if reliable science is not discounted. I have taken influenza vaccine every year since late 1970s and I cannot remember the last time I had influenza; it is certainly decades. Yet influenza vaccination likely lowers the risk of probability of death from influenza infection by 30-40%. I am assuming that is due to less than 100% effectiveness of vaccination. The risk fatality reduction is pretty good from my point of view but I think many people would not be impressed. Having been very ill with HBV at a point in history between the availability of blood-derived vaccine and eventual recombinant vaccine, I kicked myself for not knowing more about gay men’s health in the context of being recently out. My GP was gay but did not cover the hepatitis topic, perhaps because it was contemporaneous with early AIDS and HIV prevention that sucked up all the focus. [i am not excusing him; lesson learned] If CoV vaccination is not effective for everybody while not attenuating disease severity for those who are vaccinated yet acquire infection, I think it stands to reason that mortality rates among that subgroup will approximate those of the non-vaccinated. In that case, maybe my thinking is distorted on this, but the ‘hard sell’ will be convincing people to take a partially effective vaccine (that is, not viable for all recipients), packaging in a convincing way the benefits of protecting others and reaching sufficient population immunity to mitigate incidence and reduce the numbers of people with sustained morbidity.

I am pretty sure I watched every TV episode for years as a child. Paul Drake was played by a dreamy actor, only son of columnist Hedda Hopper. Really enjoying the HBO version.

No, I want to hold out as long as possible because better vaccine candidates than the early ones out of the gate may evolve, but I can remain confined without financial consequence. My confinement stance also makes me a poor study subject because I would continue to take all measures to avoid virus exposure. I don’t have expertise in Virology/Immunology, but what if a shitty vaccine on board in your system compromises the effectiveness of a better later vaccine option?

I’ll have what she’s having ... due to the pandemic.

It’s also the beginning of Pride Week in Montreal, though obviously modified.

Are there now signs actually on aircraft indicating a mask is obligatory? That could be a way of doubling down. For example, regarding aircraft seatbelts it can be an offence (FAA?) ... I’m not American (not the airline) ... to disregard the fasten sign but I believe refusing crew verbal instructions is a different offence. For a mask sign I suppose a new piece of transport legislation would need to be passed unless a public health law exists to cover the bases.

But ya are, Blanche ... due to the pandemic.

C. Soprano: More is lost by indecision than wrong decision ... due to the pandemic.