The Rise of Webcomics | Off Book | PBS
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A short documentary about web comics.
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Day Twenty-Two of ORCA in Switzerland – The Company of Cats
Today during my walk this afternoon I surprised a cat on some stairs and I moved patiently. It brushed up against me so I started to stroke it. During this pandemic the only living things I have had physical contact with are cats. During a pandemic, if you’re not living with people, you are very limited.
Yesterday I did go out for a bike ride with a group of people, virtually. Before the ride I was feeling really down, and negative. After the ride I was feeling refreshed and relaxed. For the first time in three weeks I was able to do something physical without having to avoid people, worry about routing or anything else. All I had to do was pedal to the limit of my motivation and endurance.
If we went into full lock down then I would treat it as if we were in winter. I’d train hard, on the indoor trainer, so that when we are finally allowed more freedom in the outdoors I’d be fit enough to explore new routes.
The Shopping situation
When I went to the shops they were the emptiest I’ve seen them in a long time. I didn’t even need to queue to get in, although I did have a brief moment of over-exaggerating my steps as I was behind people walking slower than me. Everyone, or almost, walks slower than me, so that’s not a criticism of the people ahead of me. It’s good for you. You can use entirely different muscle groups as you behave in an eccentric manner. Even the self-checkout was empty, just one other person.
Of course in the process I forgot to buy plain rice so now I’m going to have to cook with wild rice today. I think playing the COVID-19 lottery, by going to the shops once a day, is risky enough. Wild rice is meant to be healthier anyway.
A Slow Down In New Cases
According to the figures I see, and articles in the press, it seems that the Pandemic has reached a plateau and we may be able to feel optimistic about the end coming in two or three weeks. Of course we have to be wary. With good weather more people are going out to enjoy the conditions, and the likelihood of another flareup is high if people are not careful.
Having said this I saw a tweet that the Canton De Vaud judiciary is going to start work again today, I saw that a shop selling coffee was open again and that a pet shop was open again too. These could be seen as signs, that more people are optimistic that things are improving.
Societal Change
I see that people are discussing whether society will have changed when this is all over and I believe that it will not have because of two key reasons. The first is that the wealthy, those with the power to effect change, will not have suffered like those that do not have the power to effect change. As a result many things will remain the same.
The second factor is rate of infection. When China was infected every other nation on earth had the opportunity to react, but as we see, after Italy was infected, no societies changed. Switzerland, France, Spain, The United Kingdom and the United States did not change.
It took governments saying “stay home, and self-isolate” for people to take action. To me this is a clear sign that the societal change people idealise is just that, an ideal.
Update: Victorian England was afraid of germs and diseases, which is why they wore white gloves and tried to keep their homes clean. The problem is that the paint they used to cover their walls was poisoning them, as was makeup and other elements of everyday life.
Side Effect
I have seen the headline in French and English that according to some people, the earth is less seismically active than usual. As none of the reputable news services have written about this story I am seeing it as just a curiousity, rather than something serious. It’s more likely that with less traffic, whether cars, trucks or planes, that seismometers, may detect less background noise.
In theory now would be the perfect time to have the LHC running, as there is less background noise.
The Bellevaux Via Ferratas
This year I went to the Bellevaux Via Ferratas in June and the area had been damaged by the intense storms and rain from weeks of rain. I went there on Tuesday and the via Ferrata des Cascades was different. For a start there was no water in the cascade. As a result those who were canyoning down the waterfall were dry. It was also much quieter and the sensation from the via ferrata was different.
Water is dynamic, constantly moving and making noise. As a result it provides a sense of motion and danger. When water is not flowing footholds are easy to find and your focus can remain on the via ferrata. The Cascade is my favourite beginner via ferrata. The conditions I think beginners will appreciate are: 1. Easy access. Within 200m you are at the via ferrata ready to climb and 2. Proximity to the ground. This via ferrata does climb quite a bit but you are never that far off the ground so vertigo will not add badly to how exhausted you are by the end of the path.
This via ferrata has two thick beams you cross over the river and one nepalese bridge (one cable for feet, one cable per hand, fourth cable for the carabiners. There are short bits where you are climbing vertically and then one section where you negotiate a slight overhang. After this you have two more beams and the VF is finished.
If you have energy left over you have two more via ferratas to enjoy. These are the Via Ferrata du Chatelard and the Via Ferrata “La Grotte De Cristal”. These are harder via ferratas. In the case of Chatelard the estimated completion time is about one hour and fourty five minutes. I completed it in over fourty minutes so I am not a reference. This via ferrata starts by ascending diagonally for a bit before continuing horizontally a bit further. Hand holds are not always easy to access and there are certain portions where you have an excuse to dyno (propulse yourself) to grab the next hand hold.
The Chatelard is physical but the views of the valley are nice. As you can see from the picture above you have a nice view of the town to the right if you have your back to the cliff and a nice view of the valley if you look to the left.
The Nepalese bridge offers a nice opportunity to admire the landscape. After this point you soon reach the combination point where the medium and hard via ferrata combine. From here you continue towards an excellent tyrollean. I tried it with both the red and the silver devices. With the red device I went fast and only had to pull for the last metre or two. With the silver one which I tried twice the ride is very fast. You hit the wooden ramp running. With a friend we did this twice each.
I strongly recommend that you try the tyrollean if you’re with a group of people that have the required equipment. It’s a highlight of the day.
When I do the third and hardest part again I will write about it. I tried it one or two months ago and did find it fun. I may write about it this weekend.
Europeanism and Brexit
Europeanism “is a term that encapsulates the norms and values that Europeans have in common, and which transcend national or state identity.” Source As an Italian Brit living in Switzerland the notion that Great Britain wants to leave the European Union makes very little sense. In the article Britain’s Dangerous Urge to Go It Alone we see the usual points being discussed. Articles should be written from the emigrant point of view every so often. Articles should be written about Brits who have chosen to live and work in Europe.
Yet the E.U. is an extraordinary achievement, a voluntary union of nations whose histories include some of the bloodiest wars ever waged. However flawed the bloc, it has replaced blood feuds with a single market, shared values, free travel and labor mobility.
Brexiters believe that Europe is an imperial project rather than a social one. They believe that Germany wants to dictate how every other country acts. They believe that the European Union has taken away their voice. Those people are indoctrinated by Murdoch’s media empire to think a certain way. As long as Murdoch indoctrinates the British to see themselves as unique, as outside of Europe they will fight for Brexit.
Imagine if the mainstream media in England behaved like that of France, French Switzerland (I make the distinction because I do not understand German well enough to follow the news as the majority of Switzerland perceive it) and other nations. Imagine that the British press wrote about the good things that Europe is achieving. The most prominent one for me is the roaming agreement. Europeans, including the Brits have cheap roaming. As a person in Switzerland I get the same roaming deals as if I was in North Africa. Do Brits really want the same privilege as we have in Switzerland?
_a loss of faith in mainstream politicians and experts, a nostalgia for a past when nations decided their own fates and kept foreigners out._
That nostalgia is misplaced. Remember that Byron, Shelley and many other English personalities of the 19th century travelled to Switzerland, Italy France and other nations. They lived as Europeans before that identity was defined. We also live in the age of motorways, cheap airlines and free movement.
The nostalgia also ignores that society has made big strides. We no longer live within 6km of where we were born. We live in the age of tarmaced roads, cars and motorbikes.
Great Britain and her desire to leave the European Union go against my common sense. Europeans are more connected than ever and yet some individuals want to undo all of the good work. The League of Nations was one experiment that failed to bring peace. The United Nations is a great idea in practice but slow to adapt to a modern context. The European Union, from my point of view is a success. 28 countries are working together to cope with modern challenges.
Mainstream media spend a lot of time telling us about immigration, about people coming to specific European countries but very few of them look at emigration. Few articles look at the emigration of retirees from England to Southern Spain to enjoy a more pleasant climate. Few articles look at the number of British people living and working in Switzerland. Few articles look at the number of British people everywhere. Look at Asmallworld, Glocals, Couchsurfing and many more of these travelling and expat communities. Without the free movement of people for their studies, their professional lives and their sporting passions such online communities would fail to exist as there would be no need.
From what I see the young, liberal democrats, labour, Scotland, Wales and women want to stay in the European Union according to the Economist’s brexit poll. I hope that the South decides to Remain. For now they are equally happy to remain in the European Union as they are to leave. Let’s hope they choose remain. It’s a shame that the graph does not show the opinion of British Europeans. I am certain that a majority of people enjoying the freedoms that the European Union provides them with would be pro-remain.
