2022 Movie Scratches: Godfather-- Batman-- Morbius-- Uncharted

Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw at the theater in 2022.

The last movie I had seen at a theater was in February 2020 and then, COVID-19!!  I finally went back to see my first movie since then on March 24 of this year.  Before that, I had been trying to see 50-60 movies a year.

And, what better movie to get back into a theater than the 50th anniversary of that great movie "The Godfather."  I show the date I saw it, where and how much.

1.  THE GODFATHER--  3-24--  Fox Lake--  $6--  Still making those offers which can't be refused fifty years later.  What a way to return to the movies after that virus thing.   The last movie I had seen in a theater was on February 28, 2020, when I saw "Birds of Prey."

2.  THE BATMAN--  3-31--  Fox Lake--  $6--  You've sure got a lot of cats.  That Riddler was pretty deep.

3.  MORBIUS--  4-12--  Woodstock--  $5--  Watch out for the cure's side effects.  All batty.  A vampire with a conscious.

4.  UNCHARTED--  4-14--  Fox Lake--  $6--    Feed the cat. Where'd they hide the gold?  A cross between Indiana Jones and National Treasure.

Good To be Back.  --RoadMovie

Chicago's Top 97 Classic Rock Song Countdown in Honor of Chicago and Illinois' Reopening

We finally get back to  a form of the good old days here in northeastern Illinois and Chicago as we come out  from all the things we couldn't do since March 2020.

In honor of that, Chicago's WDRV 97.1 FM, the Drive, radio station is counting down the top 97 classic rock songs today.  These were voted on by listeners.

It is streaming right now at #50.  Tune in on the internet.

Some of the ones they have played while I've been a typin' away with my two little fingers:

62.  MAKE ME SMILE--  Chicago

61.  WHAT'S YOUR NAME--  Lynyrd Skynyrd

60.  PINK HOUSES--  John Mellancamp

59.  SMOKE FROMA  DISTANT FIRE--  Sanford Townsend Band

58.  NEVER BEEN ANY REASON--  Head East

57.  STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN--  Lynyrd Skynyrd

56.  THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE--  10 CC

55.  NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN--  Moody Blues

54.  MORE THAN A FEELING--  Boston

53.  I MISSED AGAIN--  Phil Collins

52.  WHAY A FOOL BELIEVES--  Doobie Brothers

51.  ROCK THE CASBAH--  Clash

50.  FREE BIRD--  Lynyrd Skynyrd

It's streaming, so you classic rock folk give it a listen.

Poor Bob Stroud came in really hoarse from a cold.  He trooped it through though.  He and his family made it through the pandemic perfectly and then this week his son went back to school, caught a cold, came home and gave it to his parents.  Nice Son!!

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Well There's A Black Man With A Black Cat."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Pink Houses"

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 6: "How Bad Flu Can Be"

This newspaper article is from 2018.

Medical science  has continued to   improve its response to influenza.

Most developed nations are sitting on stockpiles of antivirals that work against flu, and new antiviral drugs are in the research pipeline according to Dr. Nicole Bouvier.  "If the pandemic doesn't happen for another five years, we'll have a whole other set of drugs that work in a different way against flu."

Other research has focused on new technologies that can cut vaccine development time down from six months to two months,  she added.  "We'll be able to churn out vaccine much more quickly than we were in the last pandemic in 2009."

Overall, Bouvier believes health officials are better prepared today because the 1918 influenza occurred.

"Having gone through it once, having seen how bad it could be, has made people in the public health and governmental sphere aware of how bad flu can be," she said.  "That may be the biggest lesson we have learned, to not underestimate how bad flu can be."

Well, I Guess a Flu Epidemic Was Imminent Two Years Ago.   --RoadDog

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 5: Get Those Flu Shots

This is taken from a newspaper article written two years ago.

The history of the 1918 pandemic shows that humans do have one very big advantage in responding to a dangerous new flu strain, Dr. Greg Poland said.  And, that is the modern rite of annual flu vaccination.

In 1918, the flu was particularly deadly to people in their 20s and 30s, and epidemiologists theorize that's because they hadn't previously come into contact with similar influenza viruses.

"Those who have received immunizations in the past do, on average, better than those who haven't," Poland said.  "They build up some immunologic imprinting and memory that serves to help insure they survive."

In other words, the flu shots you've gotten in the past will increase your chances of survival, even if you come down with a nastier strain of flu.

--RoadDog

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent?-- Part 4: We Had a Dry-Run of Coronavirus in 2018

If such a deadly strain rises, the response to this year's severe flu season (2018) has revealed that health care professionals may be ill-equipped to respond to it, Dr. Greg Poland  argued.

He pointed to recent reports of overrun hospitals setting up makeshift facilities, spot shortages of antiviral medications and a nationwide shortage of IV bags caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.  

On top of that, there are other concerns that would only arise in the event of a 1918-like influenza, Poland added.  He doubted that there would be enough ventilators to respond to such a scenario and pointed to evidence that shows many health care workers would not go to work in the face of a virus that lethal.

"Much of the antibiotic manufacturer, virtually all the chemicals required for that come outside the U.S., and it's all done in a just-in-time inventory method," Poland said.  "Make the people who run the ships and airplanes sick -- now what?"

This Guy Sure Knew What he Was Talking About.  Maybe We Could get Him to Do the Weather Now.

Is a Flu Epidemic Imminent?-- Part 2: (This Was From 2018)

Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic is concerned with a new and deadly strain of flu that could emerge that would sweep across the planet, erasing every advantage that modern medicine has given doctors in treating the flu.

"(What) I've learned after thirty years of studying this virus is there's next to nothing predictable about it, and when you begin to feel comfortable, you're well on the road to bad things happening."

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more people than any other disease outbreak in human history, according to "The Great Influenza" book by John Barry.

"Influenza killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century.  It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years," according to John Barry.

Reckon It Was Imminent Two Years Ago.

Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent? --Part 1

I came across this article in the February 28, 2018, Chicago Tribune that I had put aside back then for possible future coverage on one of my blogs.  "Is a flu pandemic imminent:  One like 1918 outbreak is possible, expert warns" by Dennis Thompson.

This was marking the 100th anniversary of the 1918 "Spanish Flu" outbreak.

"One hundred years ago, the deadliest influenza pandemic of a all time made a ravaging march across the globe.

"The 'Spanish' flu of 1918-1919 infected an estimated one-third of the world's population and killed between 50 million and 100 million people, modern epidemiologists estimate.

"This raises the inevitable question as the United States battles its way through another severe flu season -- could a pandemic as devastating in scope occur in the future?

" 'It's '100 percent' certain that another global flu crisis will happen, said Dr. Greg Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  "There's absolutely no controversy that we will have another pandemic," Poland said.  'What's unpredictable is the severity of it."

Well, Reckon He Was Exactly Right.  --RoadDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE 'V": I just want to let you know that if you start choking, I will not use the Heimlich maneuver, but will throw shoes at your back from six feet away."

Living with the Corona: Hair and Birdies

To say that this virus has turned things upside down is an understatement.  I'm hoping our economy can recover and hoping that people don't get greedy, but that's people for you.

Anyway, in Illinois, they have closed down all the barbershops and beauty salons.  And, folks are complaining about getting more than a bit shaggy as we go to day 42 of the close down.

However, it has not been a problem for me as I haven't been to a barbershop in probably 35 years.  I have one of those home electric clippers you just drag through your hair and that's it.  It cost me $19 to buy back then.  How much have I saved since then?

It is not as good as a regular barber, especially around the ears and back of the neck, but I ain't a fancy guy, pretty basic.

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Plus, some people are starting to watch birds.  We've been watching the lil' birdies for at least 25 years and they provide hours of entertainment, all for the cost of a little seed.  Sometimes it is mob city with flittering and arguing all over back there.  But we have probably ten types of birds who regularly use it, topped by cardinals, blue jays, yellow finches, purple finches and, of course, lots of sparrows.

The Chicago Audubon Society Face Book has grown 134% in the last month.

Birdie, Birdie in the Sky, Why'd You Do That....  --RoadDog

TOP TEN COUNTRY SONGS:  "If the Phone Don't Ring, You'll Know It's Me."

Good Things Coming Out of the "V"-- Part 2: Throwing Stuff Out, Movies and John Prine

Continued from March 30.

**  I will be able to find the top of the bar as I clear everything off it.

**  We are eating stuff in the freezer.  Sadly some has to be thrown out with 2015 and before dates on the items.  A lot of stuff is nothing more than a block of ice.

**  We are cleaning out the refrigerator.  There are things in there that I don't remember having.  Plus, some real icky items which have been thrown out.  I swear, one thing made a bolt for it.

**  Plus, all the pantries are being cleared out with some way old stuff, as old as 2003, being thrown out.

**  I've been listening to a lot of John Prine tunes on You Tube.  I liked him before, but not as much as now.  He was a great entertainer.  What a way with words.

**  Plus, lots and lots of movies and even marathons.  Just this past week, I watched the Harry Potter marathon on USA.

**  Liz and I have been making a date to watch MeTV's "MASH" from 6-7 p.m.  You forget how good that show was.

**  This has been a really crummy spring so far.  Since the middle of March, we've only had about six decent days.  The last three days, we've had snow flurries and a little accumulation.  Looking forward to getting some 60+ days.

**  Fortunately, we have a big house, so we don't get on each other's way.  She stays upstairs and I stay downstairs for a lot of the day.

--RoadDog

LAUGHTER TO DEAL WITH THE "V":  To the tune of "Fifty Ways to leave Your Lover."

"Just use some Purell, Mel
Keep wipes near at hand, man
Don't Listen to John, Don
You don't need more TP."

Just the Facts about the Big "V" and the Past Ten Years

2009 Pandemic in the United States--  Wikipedia.

The CDC says that between April 12, 2009, and April 10, 2010, there were 60.8 million cases of A/H1N1, commonly known as the Swine Flu, in the U.S.

Of that, there were 274,000 hospitalizations and 12,459 deaths.

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The CDC says that between 2018-1019 in the U.S., the flu causes 35.5 million sicknesses requiring 490,000 hospitalizations and 34,000 deaths.

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The CDC also says that from October 1, 2019, to March 7, 2020, there have been between 36 and 51 million illnesses, 370,000 to 679,000 hospitalizations and between 22,000 and 55,000 deaths in the United States.

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According to Worldometer, as of March 21 at 19:05 GMT, in the U.S., there have been 24,116 cases of the coronavirus and 288  deaths.

I have to wonder why we haven't taken the draconian steps over the past ten years that we are now taking?  Now I am sure, this new virus is just now picking up steam, but the last three were much worse.  I mean, much worse.

What does the government know that they are not telling us?

Does not compute.  I repeat, dos not compute.

Coronavirus and the Spanish Flu (Which Hit 102 Years Ago This Week)

Sure has made the headlines with all the St. Patrick's and sporting events cancelled the last few days.

I can't help but believe this is partially fueled by the media where disaster equals big bucks for advertising.  Just look at the weather channel come a good-sized hurricane.

But, diseases are nothing to ignore and it is better to be careful than not.  However, I didn't go out and stock up on toilet paper or food. When we have several deaths and a hundred cases here in McHenry County, Illinois, I will then be taking really serious steps to deal with it.

Yesterday, we were at Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes,Wisconsin, and playing our usual This Happened on Today's Date trivia game.  And, one of the items on it was March 11, 1918, when the first known case of what became known as the Spanish Flu broke out in Fort Riley, Kansas. By the end of the day, over 100 soldiers were sick with it.

And, with all the Coronavirus going on right now, 102 years later.

Now, that Spanish Flu was a really, really bad pandemic.  It is estimated that anywhere between 17 million and 50 million people died of it across the world and the United States was particularly hard hit.

So.