Mandolin Picker

The Original Avengers

Citizen DJ is a new website offering free samples from the US Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is the US’s primary library and contains more than three million sound recordings. It’s also part of the US Copyright Office; this is significant because it means that you can be confident that anything you download from Citizen DJ can be used for free and without restriction. The library is divided into collections of everything from free music to government films, speeches and interviews. The project is scheduled to run until September 2020. http://citizendj.labs.loc.gov.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/?l11_uid=66666

Folks, you can believe what you want. Has everyone really forgotten what happened in Italy and Spain just a month ago? But if it is the flu, I don't recall any point in a past flu season where mass graves were being dug all around the world. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-covid-19-victims-bodies-burials-morgues-cemeteries-photos-2020-4 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52031539 https://theconversation.com/overloaded-morgues-mass-graves-and-infectious-remains-how-forensic-pathologists-handle-the-coronavirus-dead-135275

Watched part of this(about15-20 minutes of part 1), and noted several items where they are not exactly being forthright. This is their comparison of COVID-19 to the flu, that confining health people to their homes has never happened before and the status of Sweden and Norway. He stated COVID-19 is very much like the flu and the death rate is small (lots of cases, small number of deaths). He emphasized that flu deaths in 2017 were at about 45-50K in the US. As of this morning (April 26 at 7:31 am) John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard (https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6) is reporting 53,934 deaths in the US. This is since they first starting tracking on January 21, 2020. If we extrapolate the COVID-19 deaths from the first three months for an entire year (multiply the first 3 month totals by 4), we find a projected yearly death total of 215,736. That would make COVID-19 the third leading cause of death in the US, following heart disease (647,457) and cancer (599,108) (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm). Influenza is at number 8 (55,672 in 2017) which COVID-19 will soon pass. COVID-19 is not influenza. He also talked about Sweden which has not done any type of lock down and their case rate. A review of their daily reported cases on the John Hopkins site is showing that the trend for daily number of cases in Sweden is still rising (see below) This is significantly different from what we are seeing in Norway where the trend of daily cases is on the decline (see below). So we won't really know the difference between Sweden and Norway as it is simply too soon to tell. Could Norway see a spike? It's possible. Could Sweden flatten out after today? It may happen. The fact is we don't know yet. This is also the issue with the models being used. Any model makes assumptions. And in the early days of COVID-19 we knew even far less than we know today. As we get more data we can make better decisions and better models. It doesn't mean anybody did anything wrong. It does mean that we are learning. He also said that we have never before locked down society like we are doing today. That is not true either. If you research the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 you will see they did the exact same type of social distancing and lock downs. And they struggled with the same issues of reopening society. Baltimore did it too soon and the second wave death toll was far worse than the initial (https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0319-1918-flu-baltimore-20200318-cu7jhknfczekfezf5kuk5g7d5q-story.html and https://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-baltimore.html) Now, there is a lot of what he stated that is true. There is much to be said about the level of lock down that has occurred in the US and elsewhere. There is much truth in that people with other healthcare conditions are not being seen and that is worrisome. The extended economic shutdown is causing negative health consequences among a number of people and that should not be ignored. However, I think he was way off base trying to compare it to the flu. And its not just me. There were two recent studies that were released that compared COVID-19 to the flu, and both studies have been called into question (https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/experts-demolish-studies-suggesting-covid-19-is-no-worse-than-flu/). I think the comparison between Sweden and Norway is still playing out and that we need to watch what happens in both countries. To say this has never happened before is disingenuous.

A follow-up to an earlier posting on the Guitar Center Distribution Warehouse being forced to shut down due to COVID-19 Earlier this month, Guitar Center was forced to shut down its Kansas City warehouse after the city’s health department stated that the retailer was in violation of the mayor’s “stay-at-home” order. Looks like the city officials have had a change of heart and allowed the facility to reopen. New measures Guitar Center was able to resume operations after company representatives were able to convince the mayor’s office that it would employ stricter measures during the ‘stay-at-home’ order, in compliance with the city’s Health Department’s guidelines. These changes will include closing the lobby to walk-in customers, ending in-person sales, following CDC guidelines for sanitation and employee protection, and reorganizing schedules so as to minimize the number of employees in the building at any given time. More at https://www.gearnews.com/guitar-center-reopens-its-kansas-facility/

If you recently ordered something from Guitar Center, Musician's Friend or Woodwind&Brasswind.com, you may not get your order. The warehouse has been shut down by Kansas City Health Department. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Is Guitar Centre an “essential” business? Not according to the Kansas City Health Department. After defying the city’s stay-at-home order by continuing business in its 700,000 square-foot warehouse, the retailer was ordered by Kansas City Health officials to suspend further operations. That’s according to Music Trades News. The industry publication reported that Kansas City code enforcement personnel, along with the Kansas City police, had to show up to the instrument retailer’s warehouse to shut down all activities. The stay-at-home order issued by Mayor Quinton Lucas on the 24th of March to battle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, allows only “essential” businesses to carry on running. It appears that the company was in violation of that order. https://www.gearnews.com/is-guitar-centre-finally-headed-for-insolvency/

Sounds like you have Ripple Edit set to all. Try changing it to "Selection" and that should solve your issue

While I understand the anger directed towards the "orange man" let me assure you that this has been going on for years. After nearly 35 years in EMS and Public Health, multiple administrations at the Federal, State and Local levels have consistently reduced the funding and personnel in public health, hospitals and emergency services. There have been times in the past where they have received small bumps in funding (remember the anthrax attacks after 9-11, or the H1N1 scare) but after a short time that bump goes away. At the start of this pandemic most public health departments were little more than agencies that inspected food trucks and passed out condoms. Anyone working in health care/emergency services knew this was only a matter of time, but no one listened. Remember the movie "Contagion" from about 10 years ago? It was filmed based on the CDC insight what would likely happen in a major pandemic. I have been teaching a healthcare leadership course for the past 3 years. Our last tabletop exercise is a pandemic. It never ends well. What is a local health department that consist of a one RN in a rural jurisdiction supposed to do? Yes, there is reason to be angry, but don't focus your blame just at the one in the white house. It wouldn't have made a bit of difference who was occupying the presidency when this happened - it will have still turned out the same. The majority of folks in CDC and state and local health departments have been there through multiple administrations. They don't suddenly become "incompetent" when a different administration comes into office (I know you didn't say that Notes, but I have heard it elsewhere and it angers me). If you want another group of folks to be angry at, look at the bean counters at hospitals. Their "Just In Time" supplies are no longer just in time. Look at China and how they lied about what was going on, and how they threatened to cut off medical supplies to the US. And yes, there are a number of state operators who are using this time to sow the seeds of misinformation, discontent, etc. Those are folks that we need to be legitimately angry at. There are so many good people working like crazy to fight this. I know a number of them and I am extremely concerned about them and their families. I know how these folks work - they are dedicated and will go above and beyond to try to work the problem. Often times it leads to the detriment of themselves and their families. They are heroes in every sense of the word, and they need to be in your prayers. We need them now more than we ever have. And we are going to lose a number of them before this is all over. Its time to stop the blame game - there is too much going on right now. Be part of the solution. There are a number of ways to help, even if you are not in the medical field. When we get on the other side of this thing (and we will), let's make sure we learn from it. As Notes said.... "/rant"

Have the LP cover to "The Gambler" hung on the wall. Sad day for the music world.

Thunderbirds are GO! One of my favorite shows growing up

Long term natural immunity from exposure to COVID-19 at this stage is not really known. It is suspected that at least short term immunity to COVID-19 is likely, especially in the young (like children). But like the flu COVID-19 is likely will mutate. That means you can get it again. It is the same reason you get a yearly flu shot. Again, all of this is conjecture at this stage. As we learn more about the virus these questions will be answered. But right now it is too soon to tell.

The Mortality Rate: The hospital problem isn't from the number of patients that die, it is the number of patients that survive. These surviving patients spend a long time in ICU and on a vent. Typically 2-3 weeks (based on what is being seen in Italy). That's a long time to be in ICU. COVID-19 causes a interstitial pneumonia, and right now all we can do is place you on a vent to take over breathing. The pneumonia covers the lining of the lungs, so you don't have the area needed within the lung to exchange oxygen into the blood stream. If you smoke or have an existing lung disease, it makes it that much worse. Currently in Italy, with the shortage of vents/ICU beds and staff (they have already had a number of doctors succumb to COVID) they have adopted what is called a "Crisis Standard of Care" in which they triage patients who under normal circumstances would qualify for a vent. However, because of COVID-19 if you need a vent (for any reason - not just COVID-19) and are over 65 yoa you will not be placed on a vent - period. If you are under 65 yoa with co-morbid factors, you do not get a vent. So the majority who die are the ones that don't get a vent, don't go to ICU, and die after a few days. The survivors, however, stay in the ICU a long time (2-3 weeks), causing the backup. When you understand why they need to use this type of triage system, you also begin to realize that there are a number of deaths you don't hear about - folks who are dying because of injury or illness but can't get an ICU bed or a vent due to the high number of patients being struck down by the virus. If you have a stroke, no vent. If you have a heart attack, no vent. Traumatic brain injury, no vent (remember, under 65 with co-morbid factors - such as heart attack, stroke, TBI). These types of patients in normal circumstances would get an ICU bed and a vent. Most would likely survive. Today they don't. These patients are not included in the statistics you see on the death rate for COVID-19. As for people following the social distancing, we know that isn't happening the way it needs to occur. It appears the largest age group that is non-compliant is college age to 30s. There are numerous reports of crowded beaches in Florida and Alabama as the college students are on spring break (these beaches and bars were so crowded that the governors of both states shut down all beaches today). Bars and restaurants also report high numbers of this age group. Part of this is likely based on the earlier information where it appeared that the younger age groups only appeared to get mild cases of the virus. However, new data (not from China but rather Italy, Spain and the US) is showing that a significant number of young people are getting seriously ill, but usually survive. Even if these younger folks didn't get real sick (as first thought) they can still pass the virus along to mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, etc.

Just finished doing this myself. I installed a SSD to replace my aging hard drive - big improvement. Go to the old Cakewalk Sonar web site and download the Command Center - https://www.cakewalk.com/Command-Center. Install and run it. It will list all of the software you had purchased/registered with Cakewalk. You can still download and activate that software through the Command Center. Once you have the stuff installed that you want to keep, then download BandLab Assistant. Run it and download/install the latest version of CbB. It is a fairly easy and painless process, but it does take time using the Command Center. Some of the files are huge. If you are on a metered connection (like I am) you need to watch your data usage. Hope that helps!