Show Notes - Week of August 3, 2020

Welcome from 53.5° north latitude, where I wasn't for the majority of the week. We were fortunate to be able to escape to the mountains for a few days. Being out in nature was a great refresher, and the weather was fantastic which made it even better. 

Back in March, I posted an article about the Goldman Sachs prediction that the US economy would decrease by 24%. I was thinking about that post as I listened to the Planet Money episode from July 30, entitled "GDP -32.9%???!!!" (emphasis theirs). As it turns out, the 24 % / 32% decreases are a bit misleading. The Planet Money episode describes how the GDP prediction is how much the economy would shrink if the current performance was extrapolated out for four consecutive quarters. 

In fact, the US economy shrunk by 9.5% in the last quarter. Seeing a decrease of 9.5% is far less dramatic than seeing -32.9%, but it is still most likely the worst quarter in US history so the impact should not be overlooked. One economist on the podcast speculated that a lot of that decrease would come back once restaurants, bar, sporting events, and other social events return to previous levels. 

However, I still question how soon that will be. Bill Gates was quoted in a recent Wired article that he suspects we still have between 18 and 30 months before we have a consistent semblance of pre-COVID normalcy in our societies. 

And that makes me feel like, for the rich world, we should largely be able to end this thing by the end of 2021, and for the world at large by the end of 2022. --Bill Gates

If Gates' prediction is accurate, then the temporary nature of the GDP decrease starts to become much more permanent. 

In other readings about the impact of COVID on society and industry, the New York Times had an interesting long article on how COVID crushed the fashion industry, and interestingly how it was already imploding over the last few years. I had not realized how much venture capital influenced the fashion industry, but apparently the toxic mindset of needing quick profits and immediate results was a crushing blow to several small fashion houses. Added to this was the collapse of traditional retail channels, and the fashion industry was ripe for failure just as COVID came along. It is an interesting article as much about bubble economies as COVID. 

New Music:
I highlighted the band Dead Horses in last week's entry, and mentioned that I was looking forward to checking out their February release of the EP entitled "Birds". After a few listens through, I definitely enjoy the album but I do not find the personal connection that I did with "My Mother The Moon". Still, they are a good duo with good music. 

That is it for new music this week. So much time was spent outside that I did not have much time to dig into anything new. 

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New Beers:
Even though I was on holidays and even though the weather was super warm for most of the week, I only had two beers. The first was a great hot weather beer, and the other was unfortunately something that would have been better in cooler weather.

The first beer was the hot weather hit, the Big Chutes Lager from Freehold Brewing in Calgary. ​This is a very good lager, which is a style I tend to dismiss fairly consistently. Big Chutes was clean and very drinkable and is definitely worth keeping around the house, even on less than blisteringly warm days. (3.75 / 5)

The second beer was the Parkway Porter from Folding Mountain Brewing. I was sitting 200 m from the brewery and taproom when I drank this, which is always a nice way to enjoy a beer. It was really hot when I drank it, and a porter is not really a great beer for the heat. I will have to have it again when it is cooler to check my rating. (3.25 / 5)

New Words:
I picked up a few new words this week, and as you can see, they are all words that are outdated or archaic, which speaks to the setting in the story I was reading at the time. 

scuttle
[ˈskədl]
NOUN

1. (Nautical) A small, usually circular window in a ship's side. A porthole. 

ague
[ˈāˌɡyo͞o]
NOUN

1. (archaic) malaria or some other illness involving fever and shivering.

counterpane
[ˈkoun(t)ərˌpān]
NOUN

1. (dated) a bedspread.

logorrhea
[ˌlôɡəˈrēə]
NOUN

1. a tendency to extreme loquacity.

ruction
[ˈrəkSHən]
NOUN

1. (informal) a disturbance or quarrel.
   
2. unpleasant reactions to or complaints about something.

slaver
[ˈsla-vər]
INTRANSITIVE VERB

1. drool, slobber

TRANSITIVIE VERB

1. (archaic) to smear with or as if with saliva