Step Lift, Swine Flu, Lautrec

[poliphilo]

The engineer is outside tinkering with the lift. It's almost right but not quite- and almost right is the same as unusable.

Ailz just had her swine flu jab. I think the whole swine flu thing is madly overblown. She was telling me afterwards of an item she'd seen on TV where they tested public transport in Manchester for horrible, lurking germs- and found there weren't any to speak of.  From there we passed to a theory she'd heard of on the radio which posits that our ancestors took up kissing as a way of exchanging germs and building up immunity to one another. 

I watched a documentary about Lautrec last night. Given the chance I will always watch a documentary about Lautrec. There's a case- I'm saying this, not the people who made the documentary- for billing him as the first pop artist. I love him very much. Sometimes I think that dying at 36 of a combination of syphilis and alcoholism is a supremely rational way of coping with life in the material world- especially when you've taken the trouble to revolutionise poster design and produce some of the most deeply empathetic artworks of the 19th century first.



Lautrec: In Bed 1882

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Not so overblown, I think:

http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/

The particularly troubling aspect of this strain is that it's hitting younger, healthy people hard. In fact, I believe I remember reading somewhere that those over the age of...I think it's 65? already have a limited immunity in their systems to H1N1.

In some respects, the "over-"reporting may be one of the reasons we've been able to keep a handle on this and prevent a truly serious pandemic. People who are constantly hearing about H1N1 are more likely to take more precautions which is helping to stop spread of the disease...which in turn makes it seem like we're making a big deal over nothing, but the reason it's not a big deal is because we've managed to slow the spread.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Only by making a disproportionate fuss can we stop the virus from getting out of hand. Yes, I take your point.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

As someone currently suffering from swine flu, I assure you that it is nothing less than a crime against humanity.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you're not well.

I had flu earlier this year. It was never diagnosed. It might have been swine flu, but I'll never know.