Coronavirus #13: Putting the brakes on in the UK

Cases are starting to rise in the UK again; that seems to be pretty unambiguous. The localised restrictions in the North West and slowing down some more reopening make sense, although the communication has been pretty haphazard to put it mildly.

It's become clear that we've probably reached the limit of where we can reopen with present levels of infection and we need to work on getting the levels of cases down again. This requires continuing clear public health campaigns from the government, cooperation from the public and patience from all of us.

We are not likely to get back to normal before Christmas.

Coronavirus #12: Heading for the global peak

While new cases continue to come down across much of Europe, the virus is very much in full 'rage' in many major countries outside it.

Most notably the United States of America, where the woeful incompetence of Donald Trump is being shown up in a way much worse than hoped. There are those who feared he would spark a massive war with his approach, but to the most extent, he prefers to pick on small targets that can't fight back. Now he faces an enemy he can't tweet bully into submission. 200,000 American deaths out of all of this is a real possibility; all the economic loss of the first lockdowns has been for nothing as governors opened up too early, Trump supporters refuse to wear face masks and the virus remains downplayed by many Republicans.

India, unable to fully lock down in an economy where millions live hand to mouth and South Africa that is largely the same, are also facing large increases in cases, with their testing systems unable to keep up.

It's likely we will get a number of healthcare collapses in the next few weeks as systems even in developed countries like the United States are unable to cope with sheer numbers, bringing up overall death rates.

It will not be a nice time.

****

While only a small percentage of people are dying from this, a significant minority of around 10% seem to be developing longer-lasting health problems as a result of this virus and rehabilitation for them is going to be something that will be a major cost going forward.

This virus doesn't seem to be Ebola or the flu... if anything, it's seeming a lot like polio - most won't have serious problems, only a few will die, but a lot of people will be seriously messed up by this.

****

I continue to pray for those working to tackle this situation. I would suggest you do so to if you are a believer.

This Earth Thing Called Kissing 2: Electric Choke Collaroo (Review: 'Star Trek' 2.16, "The Gamesters of Triskelion")

Other titles I considered include "Game of Weird Clothes" and "Whip It Good".

****

As they are about to beam down to a planetoid, Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are 'yoinked' out of the transporter bay and taken to a strange planet in a trinary system i.e. one with three suns, where they are captured by some bloke who looks a bit like Ming the Merciless. Their intended fate - to spend their lives as slaves fighting for the entertainment of unseen beings called ""Providers".

****

Written by a woman - a comparatively rare thing in science fiction television even today - this episode has a load of concepts that I am sure I've seen in other works, including control collars used to ensure discipline, an array of very weird costumes (William Ware Theiss clearly had a field day) and brain aliens.

Indeed this episode has been parodied in a number of other shows, including Futurama and South Park.

The overall story is frankly rather poor; there's no true impression of the size of the enslavement operation, the whole security of the operation is reliant on a single person (what if he's asleep?) and the resolution involves some rather lucky misses with spears.

The regulars are mostly pretty good with Scotty, McCoy and Spock getting some fine material on the Enterprise. The main issue is Kirk, who again loses his shirt (good thing they've got a replicator) and falls for an alien woman. His willingness to bet this entire shp is rather worrying...

Speaking of alien women, we have Angelique Pettyjohn as Shahna, a humanoid woman wearing a silver cutout leotard more appropriate for BDSM and with green hair. She has no concept of romance... and generally no concept of acting with her dialogue very clipped. Kirk kisses her... twice. Because he's Kirk and that's what Kirk does.

The other guest stars are also nearly all poor; with the same stilted acting and some more ridiculous costumes. One of the slaves tries to rape Uhura on the grounds that he has been "selected" for her. After she fights back, the whole thing is never mentioned again. Something true of a lot of sexual assault survivors even now.

At least we don't get a comedy ending. 

****

Conclusion

To be rather frank, I wouldn't pay 10 quatloos for this, let alone a hundred.

5/10

Coronavirus #11: Two metres or not two metres?

The government is reviewing whether the two metre guidelines for social distancing can be reduced to one metre, something many hospitality businesses feel is necessary to for their survival as their capacity is severely constrained at two metres to the point of unprofitability.

The science around the distance ultimately goes back to the 1930s and is subject to a lot of caveats; coughing is more likely to spread the distance than talking for example. Time spent at the various distances is also important. In a way, it's rather like radioactive exposure; a little won't harm you, but a lot will.

However, it is a lot easier to get rid of viral droplets than radioactive substances; the former can be destroyed with just soap and water.

Ultimately, a lot of this will come down to hygiene; a lot of the mini-spikes have been around meat processing plants where a lot of people work in close quarters, some of them not exactly with full legal papers (so they will be reluctant to speak up about any issues) and where hygiene practices can be sketchy. It's a good thing that proper cooking kills the virus too.

I'd personally favour Germany's 1.5 metres with an increased emphasis on face masks; you could wear them while not eating in a restaurant of course i.e. while waiting for the bill.

But I'm not a scientist.

On the removal of statues

I'm perfectly fine with statues of slave traders coming down; it is not erasing history to remove a statue that is there to venerate someone. Churchill and Baden Powell, while holding views definitely unpleasant now and dubious even then, ultimately did more good than harm.

Ultimately, we should honour God above people. However, when we do honour people, we really do need a wider range of people represented. More than just white men made this country.

Coronavirus #10: Coming down from the peak

The 'peak' has now very much passed in Europe; in Britain this was in the first week of April. Europe is starting to open up; 15 June will see full openings of many of the internal borders in the Schengen Area.

The UK quarantine regulations start on Monday, but I really don't see them lasting for too long - summer holidays abroad will definitely possible... but in a somewhat different form. Clubbing is likely to be very much off the menu, along with buffet breakfasts.

Fears of a 'second wave' are widespread, with every little rise in cases jumped on by people who believe we shouldn't be lifting lockdown now. We are going to see these mini-spikes across Europe, often hyper-local ones linked to a specific workplace or community. The overall trend in cases is something that needs to be taken into consideration and localised increases in restrictions may be needed as we continue to damp down this fire.

Ultimately, it will be imperative on us to 'stay alert' and take reasonable personal precautions to prevent further spread. That will mean wearing face masks, even if they are pretty uncomfortable, which will be a small price to pay to save lives.

More than a grain of greatness (Review: 'Star Trek' 2.15, "The Trouble with Tribbles")

This is an episode that's rather hard to review. Firstly, it is considered an absolute fan favourite with a main alien that has turned up throughout the history of the franchise in some form or another - 14 times in fact, with the last appearance being in 2019 in a Short Trek that I don't think I've watched yet because it's not on Netflix in the UK...

Secondly, I've already seen it once.

Anyway, a Priority One message warning of disaster leads to the Enterprise racing to its next destination, a space station called K-7. There is in fact no disaster, which leads to a very annoyed Kirk... but there is a Klingon ship. There is also a trader selling small furry little creatures.

****

For a first professional script, this is a superb effort by David Gerrold (who would write two animated series episodes and was involved with the first season of The Next Generation before quitting after a dispute with Gene Roddenberry over a story idea that was dropped) with Gene Coon providing rewrites. There's a lot of humour, a great plot and an excellent 'threat'.

The regulars are all great, except for Sulu, who isn't in it (George Takei was away for much of the season filming the pro-Vietnam War film The Green Berets). Not just the top three, but Scotty, Uhura and Chekov all are very well catered for in this story; their character traits are wonderfully brought out here. Spock's "I don't feel emotion... until I do" trait gets an excellent appearance here.

No less than 500 tribbles were made for this episode; many went walkies after the episode, others would turn up around the set for months after the fact. They're fairly adorable, although I prefer my cute things to have eyes. The sheer number allows for some wonderful scenes, including Kirk half buried under the things when opening a storage hatch. This in fact took eight takes to get right, with Shatner visibly wondering when this will stop. Well, there are worse indignities an actor can suffer. At least the props were dry.

The bar fight in this episode, when a drunken Klingon insults Scotty's true love - his ship - leads to some truly epic Kirk-fu (without Kirk) that just works here whereas it doesn't where the stakes are truly mortal. Many points to James Doohan for doing most of his own stunts.

The Klingons themselves of course lack the refinement, not to mention the makeup, of their 'later' versions. They're portrayed rather like Cold War Soviets here, engaging in a spot of sabotage for gaining influence. There's a rather interesting bit that foreshadows a certain Star Trek: Discovery character...

One minor flaw - and it's enough to stop this getting a 10 - is that the tranquilising effect that Tribbles supposedly have on people isn't very consistent.

****

Conclusion

An absolute classic. Small and nearly perfectly formed, much like a Tribble, only it won't eat your grain. The Hugo nomination for this episode was justly deserved although another episode would win it.

Those tribbles was robbed, I tell you. Robbed.

9/10

George Floyd

Many controversial police killing are often cases where a jumpy officer misinterpreted the actions of a person, often with mental health issues that mean they don't understand how to act around police officers.

Not the case with George Floyd, where kneeling on a man's neck for nearly nine minutes had no tactical justification whatsoever, especially once he become unresponsive. The officer who did this has been rightly charged with third degree murder and to be frank the others need charging as accessories.

There have many protests, there have also been riots. There has also been some real police brutality. Donald Trump has managed to set a new low, even by his standards, with his staged photo opportunities at churches... with peaceful protestors forced out of his way by tear gas just so he could do one of them.

Should Joe Biden become President in 2021, he will need to do a lot to heal the United States. The rot runs deep - Trump has some genuine popular support, there is deep-rooted and probably institutional racism in American police forces (including in Democratic cities like Minneapolis) and the justice system has real problems - like the grand jury system, which often fails to indict.

I pray for his success.

RIP George Floyd. You didn't deserve what happened to you.

US Upfronts 2020-2021

Normally I'd be writing an annual review of the US television renewal and cancellation decisions, as well as views on the new shows, but this isn't a normal time.

The Covid-19 pandemic struck right in the middle of pilot season, with only one of them actually being finished before the stay-at-home orders put production on hold. Production on a lot of shows will not fully resume for a while and the summer season is likely to be pretty dead this year. This saved a number of shows that probably would have been cancelled.

Also, with the closure of TV by the Numbers, I'd lost a major source of TV news and ratings analysis. I've now added The Futon Critic and TV Grim Reaper to my subscriptions.

Anyway, some thoughts:

• Madam Secretary's shortened final season on CBS was the best way to end it; it was clear that ratings were falling and the best thing a show can get is warning that the end is coming.
• Legends of Tomorrow, having cycled out more cast members and brought new ones in, is proving to still be a lot of fun. It's the only one of the Arrowverse shows I watch and so whenever the crossovers come about, I have to look up various things.
• Ruby Rose walking out on Batwoman suggests something was seriously wrong on production there. The recast will be interesting; I wasn't keen on the character when I saw her in a crossover.
• The Blacklist is still going strong. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I don't know where they get their ideas from, but they must be some seriously disturbing places.
• Have finally caught on Stranger Things and it is brilliant. I will most definitely be watching Season 4.
• Time will tell if we start losing networks or streaming services due to the recession that this pandemic has caused.

I'd add some more here, but the pandemic has been massively distracting for me to the point I'm not following TV as much as I have.

I'd like to speak to the manager (Review: 'Star Trek' 2.14, "Wolf in the Fold")

It's been a massive while since I last did one of these - been preoccupied with the Picard series for one thing. But I now plan to try to do one every fortnight, other things depending and complete the whole lot by sometime in 2021 or 2022...

So, here we resume... and to be honest, it's not a good one.

****

On the planet Argelis II, Kirk, McCoy and Scotty are in a nightclub watching a belly dancer do her thing with grins on their faces more akin to teenage boys. Basically McCoy has decided that the best treatment for Scotty after a recent head injury is for him to get some action. Scotty goes off for a late night walk for the belly dancer, there's a scream... and she's found murdered with Scotty holding the knife...

****

So, Scotty at a strip club looking for a casual hookup. Now, there's something that definitely needs some eyebleach. I can imagine Kirk doing it, or Sulu. Chekov at a pinch. Scotty, though... that just seems wrong.

After Scotty is accused of murder and doesn't remember anything about what happens, Kirk has a Lieutenant Karen Tracy brought down to conduct a memory analysis on him. She doesn't even get a line before she gets murdered.

It's pretty obvious whodunnit from the get-go; the actual revelation of the full circumstances of the murders then leads to a rather preposterous denouement where Kirk decides that the best idea to deal with a dangerous situation is to tranquilise the whole crew at a time when they should be pretty sharp. Also, a piece of technology introduced here for one episode never gets mentioned again, because it's too much of a 'game-breaker' in any plot.

Star Trek isn't exactly the most feminist show out there - the successors are much better - but this is particularly bad and critics have noted it as such over the years. After opening with an egregious example of the male gaze, the female characters generally just serve to be victims, with little real agency at all. Spock also gets an offensive line about women being more easily terrified.

The guest cast are pretty dire with some major overacting, there's a fight scene that's ridiculous even by Kirk Fu standards and the 'laugh at the end' seems very forced.

Finally, there's some awful handling of crime scene evidence.

Conclusion

A frank waste of 50 minutes; this episode is pretty bad all around and I can't think of much that can save it.

2/10

Coronavirus #9: Back to school?

The primary debate about the moment in the UK's 'recovery' from this pandemic is about returning to school, with teachers' unions particularly concerned about how safe it is.

I'm of the personal opinion that this return should initially be voluntary, at least in June and with careful monitoring of any cases that arise in schools. Giving school children access to testing will be vital for that.

I also don't think that secondary schools should go back until September. Those pupils are too vulnerable to the disease and at a phase in their development where they are less willing to comply with social distancing because they believe that they are invincible at that age. While teenagers are far less likely to die from this disease than most, no age group is completely immune - and they could easily spread it to their parents.

Coronavirus #8: A failure of imagination

In the final outcome of this pandemic, we are likely to have the worst outcome in terms of lives lost in Western Europe, with 40,000 dead overall a reasonable estimate.

There seems to have been major failings in preparation for this pandemic going back over a decade. A public inquiry is needed to answer some key questions.

It is tempting to blame Boris Johnson solely for this. He has a degree of responsibility, but the issues go back deeper to before his premiership and beyond elected politicians.

There seems to have been a general acceptance that when a pandemic did occur, a lot of people were going to die. The leaked Exercise Cygnus report suggests that lockdown was an idea that did not arise in people's minds.

PPE seems to have fallen off the radar - we should have had a bigger stockpile before this crisis. Why this wasn't done needs to be investigated. Also, those who have engaged in profiteering need to be named, shamed and if possible prosecuted.

Border closures, which a lot of countries were slow in implementing, would have definitely helped back in February/March. Now, it looks like action for action's sake. I would support a quarantine period, but there needs to be testing available to let people out of it and exemptions for low-risk countries, or you will finish off much of our tourist industry.

But the issues are wider than that. We have the most obese population in Western Europe and that is largely down to poverty; where junk food is cheaper than the healthier stuff. Tory underfunding of the NHS and misallocation of resources has meant that we are the 'sick man of Europe'. 'Austerity' has led to major issues of social deprivation, especially in the BAME community.

Major disasters tend to be multi-level failures; Chernobyl, Hurricane Katrina and the Great Leap Forward come to mind.

Ministers are not psychic; they cannot be expected to see everything that goes in vast departments. However, they dropped the ball and it may well very much be due to Brexit.

Moving forward, we need to ease up as fast as the science says - no faster and no slower as this situation is damaging health in other ways - then put in adequate measures for the next pandemic.

In a way, we were lucky this wasn't the 'Swan Flu' of Cygnus or something worse, otherwise we'd be digging plague pits now.

VE Day 75 - in the shadow of Covid-19

The grand plans for marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe have of course ended up in tatters; with the pandemic forcing nearly all the major events to be cancelled and other stuff having moved online.

It's very difficult therefore to think of VE Day without thinking about our current situation. We're in the midst of the biggest public health crisis in my lifetime at any rate. There are signs that we are at least at the end of the beginning, with some loosening up of lockdown restrictions likely from Monday, although any timeline is not firm and should be based on the science.

The "Blitz Spirit" is somewhat of a historical myth. Many people were likely terrified of the bombs, sick of the deprivation and anxious for their loved ones. We might not have got a cheery reaction to the war, but instead we got a dogged perseverance. It would have been easy for us to accept Hitler's peace offer and escape the Blitz, allowing Nazi Germany and the USSR to slug it out.

But we didn't take that poisoned chalice. People sacrificed their personal wants for the greater good and Europe as a whole is better off.

This crisis will pass; we have lived through worse and survived as a nation. There are of course questions about the response and the preparation. That will be discussed in other posts.

Today, I want to give thanks to the wartime generation.

We will remember them.

Coronavirus #7

It's clear that the Government dropped the ball in the initial handling of this; to be honest, most people did in one way or another. While the death toll is grim, we seem to have avoided the even worse scenario of a NHS collapse and infections are slowly coming down.

The question is of course how to lift the lockdown without risking a 'second peak'. A blanket "stay at home" policy cannot continue indefinitely, as we need to get the economy and society going again - we are likely to be dealing with this in some form or another for at least the rest of this year.

A lot of places will need to adapt for social distancing to minimise the spread of this; but let's remember how this is spread - by coughing and saliva. So, it seems to me that cloth face masks are the best way to reduce further spread and I would wear one on public transport if that was recommended.

For one thing, staying at home is boring and I want to see the world again.

The Lord of Hope - Easter 2020

Since the churches have closed, we've been having services online streamed from the home of our minister. They're somewhat shorter than usual as it is rather difficult to sign hymns in a case like this, or to take a collection (people have been advised to use Justgiving or send a cheque when we resume "normal" activity.

It's a pretty unpleasant time for everyone, although of course much worse if you are affected by Covid-19 directly or indirectly. A lot more people are likely to die around the world before this virus is dealt with.

But things will get better and not just with regards to this virus. Things will improve across this whole fallen world. The Risen Lord will come back at some point (we do not know when) and create a new world, where the righteous will live free from the chains of death, fear and sadness.

Happy Easter. Have a good time at home.

Coronavirus #6

Working from home gets a bit boring after a while. While I can talk online at with my colleagues, the lack of noise is something I miss. I might end up putting Spotify on...

Coronavirus #5: It takes as long as it takes

5 days into what is currently a three-week "lockdown" and it feels like longer already. We've had over 28,000 deaths from this worldwide so far and that number is likely to increase yet further. As testing becomes more widely available, the number of confirmed cases will skyrocket, but that figure is going to become increasingly meaningless as time goes on.

Going out for daily exercise and shopping, there's still a reasonable number of people around, but they're of course keeping a distance and it's not like there is that many shops available. Most foodstuffs can now be acquired, but you have to be a bit less choosy than normal.

As to how long this lasts, your guess is as good as mine. We cannot operate on artificial timetables - any decisions have to be data-driven.

We're just going to have to be patient. At some point, this will be over and we can file it as a bad memory. For most of us at any rate.

Coronavirus #4: We need a lockdown - and it probably still won't be enough

Judging by the number of people I saw out and about during a walk today where I got some food items as well, it's clear that the social distancing calls from the government are not getting through to many people. Especially in Havering.

To slow the spread of this disease and release the pressure on the NHS, we need to close more non-essential shops (estate agents, furniture stores, hardware stores), as well as forcibly break up mass outdoor gatherings.

Even then, that might not do it. We don't have the police capacity - we arguably never had - to enforce a nationwide lockdown. Many will happily run the risk of a fine and a jail sentence because "it's just the flu".

It's probably a matter of time before we get scenes like in Lombardy in London.

Coronavirus #3

It's now very likely that we're going to have disruption from this for weeks, if not months. With bans on big events likely for at least March and probably April, it's probably not a very good time to be planning anything major because it will likely be closed or called off.

The question is ultimately how quickly we can develop an effective treatment that isn't reliant on the body fighting this off - not always possible, especially if you've got other conditions - or a vaccine. 'Herd immunity' through the bulk of the population getting the regular version of the disease is going to result in a lot of deaths and take a long time indeed.

I think we're going to be dealing with this for a good year or two and will to adjust our behaviour to adapt.

Coronavirus #2: Northern Italy on lockdown

With the announcement of movement restrictions for large parts of Northern Italy and other prohibitions that will heavily restrict social life in the country for nearly a month, the impact of Covid-19 is having some real effects on this people. It appears that the quarantines imposed in Wuhan worked in slowing down the disease; which is buying us time to develop treatments and ultimately vaccines.

However, it's likely to be a pretty unpleasant next few months in any event; a lot of people are going to get this disease and a noticeable percentage of them will die of it. There are about 3,500 new cases a day and around a hundred deaths. We've not yet reached the peak and it might not be done this month.

Also, I suspect that No Time To Die will not be the only film put back because of all of this - however, with Black Widow not out until May, Marvel will likely hold off on a decision until April.