COVID-19 Pandemic

[Karposh]

I actually feel like I've had it too but I never got tested to confirm. I got pretty sick a couple of months ago, which I assumed was just the common cold but, now that I think about it, it could have been covid. I had the same symptoms: a fever on the first day with cold sweats and a runny nose for the next few days with splitting headaches. I'm still alive though, and still a pureblood.

[Risto the Great]

I didn't really feel sick enough to warrant taking them. Ended up taking the following fwiw

Quercetin
Zinc
Vitamin C and D
Magnesium
Occasional ibuprofen

[kompir]

Originally Posted by Risto the Great

I didn't really feel sick enough to warrant taking them. Ended up taking the following fwiw

Quercetin
Zinc
Vitamin C and D
Magnesium
Occasional ibuprofen

Gin and tonic, atta boy.

[Risto the Great]

Originally Posted by kompir

Gin and tonic, atta boy.

Bit less sugar in my version. But yes lol

[kompir]

Originally Posted by Risto the Great

Bit less sugar in my version. But yes lol

What do you use instead of aspartame sweetened toxin?

[Risto the Great]

I rarely drink. But if compelled to have gin, I'll just have some soda water with it.

[kompir]

And it begins.

Live music in Melbourne under fresh threat after COVID horrors

Melbourne’s famous live music scene is emerging from the COVID doldrums, but some say the industry is under fresh threat from rising business and insurance costs and a looming conflict over performer pay.

Figures from the yet-to-be-released Live Music Census reveal the extent of the battering the industry sustained after the pandemic struck almost three years ago. In 2019, the live scene was thriving with 141,000 gigs across greater Melbourne, almost double the number identified in the 2017 census when the city was declared the live music capital of the world.

But in 2020 and 2021 combined (the census does not include the last couple of months of 2021) as Melburnians suffered 18 months of lockdowns just 26,518 gigs were played.

The census — to be released in full by contemporary music peak body Music Victoria in February — also found that in 2020/2021 spending on live gigs was down 71 per cent on 2019, with a similar collapse in performer income.

Music Victoria chief executive Simone Schinkel said the impact of COVID on the live music industry would be long-lasting. “It’s going to take long-term strategic planning, commitment and support to get us back.” she told The Age.

Lockdowns devastated musicians who lost income while being denied JobKeeper by the Morrison government and crucial contact with fellow artists and audiences. Flourishing young groups disbanded and bands that would have formed didn’t. Musicians stopped playing and writing, venues closed or turned themselves into takeaway food outlets.

Staying at home became the default for Melburnians, many of whom remained wary of crowds after the city’s rolling lockdowns ended.

But not everyone lost hope. In mid-2020, as Melbourne sunk deep into its first COVID winter, Kas Faase left her Sydney home to head south to form a rock band. COVID aside, said Faase, Melbourne still had more venues and a more creative culture than her hometown. “I feel like there’s more consensus in Melbourne for an appreciation of the arts.”

Faase and fellow former Sydneysider Sienna Laycock formed Heavy Amber, a three-piece psychedelic band. In November 2020, after months writing and rehearsing, the band played its first gig, a sold-out show at the Tote in Collingwood in between lockdowns.

COVID had left Melbourne short of bands, providing an opportunity for Heavy Amber which now performs at venues across Melbourne and is soon to release its first single.

In the 2022 edition of their longitudinal Consumer Insights Survey, Music Victoria and the Victorian Music Development Office found that live music was going through a “post pandemic boom”. However, it found that of those not attending gigs, almost 30 per cent said cost was the biggest deterrent, a higher percentage than those who cited fear of COVID.

Venue owners say they’re not surprised.

Liam Matthews’ The Old Bar in Fitzroy is back to hosting live music most nights of the week, but with fewer bands per night than pre-COVID. He said the main challenge to revival was the escalating cost of everything, from beer and food to electricity and staff.

Especially problematic is the soaring cost of insurance covering legal liability for injury or damage. Public liability costs are escalating worldwide due to climate disasters such as floods and fires, COVID, the war in Eastern Europe, and risk-averse insurance providers.

Matthews’ public liability bill has risen almost fivefold this year from about $10,000 to $50,000. Other venues are reportedly facing hikes 10 times previous years’ premiums.

He said that such huge increases threaten the viability of venues and called on the state government to work with the industry to address the insurance headache. “Dan Andrews is fond of saying Melbourne is the live music capital of Australia. Well, I’m saying that if something is not done, it soon won’t be.”

The aftermath of COVID is proving a time of reckoning for the industry. Young players struggling to pay rent and bills and buy equipment are demanding a better financial deal, warning that poor pay is an obstacle to a life in music.

Musicians Australia, a branch of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, is pressing for a minimum pay rate per gig of $250 per performer. But some venue owners say the proposal is counterproductive and that without government support would lead to closures and fewer gig opportunities.

Prominent music industry figure Helen Marcou is among those who back the push. “Life is harder for artists now than it’s ever been,” said Marcou who co-owns the celebrated Bakehouse Studios in Richmond. “It’s time to support them.”

Schinkel said she remained optimistic for live music despite the many challenges, including ongoing pandemic-related impacts like “hyper localised living” and the increasing cost of living putting pressure on audience wallets.

“We’re seeing venues open up in the north — but we’ve got to get people back into the city as well.”

“COVID denied many young people the integral first time moments of going out and being part of gigs,” said Schinkel.

“Hopefully, we can capture them again, and get them hooked on a lifetime of live music.”

https://www.theage.com.au/culture/mu...30-p5c9f1.html

[kompir]

I've bolded the key takeaway from that article. What is notable is a complete absence of an actual explanation for the premium increases. People are beginning to drop dead due to the poisons at venues, the cost of dealing with this ultimately falls on the insurance mob. They're factoring into the premiums the increasing rate of deaths from the vaccines.

What I'm waiting to see in the media is a sooky la la piece about life insurance costs going through the roof. Once that ball drops, it will be on for young and old. The ambulance chasers are primed and loaded.

[Risto the Great]

Yeah. Zero explanation. I think it's Ukraine. (Or at least the vibe of it anyway)

[kompir]

Originally Posted by Risto the Great

Yeah. Zero explanation. I think it's Ukraine. (Or at least the vibe of it anyway)

Not Mabo?