Maskerade.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my post.  Apparently Toastmasters recommends that you start with a joke, so here goes.

These two Russians, Yuri and Lev, are sitting in a bar during the height of the Soviet Union.

Yuri leans over and softly says to Lev, “My friend, I’ve known you my entire life, we have been friends since birth.  Tell me something.  What do you really think about Communism?”

Lev quickly looks around in horror and hoarsely whispers, “No, not here!  Quiet now, come with me!”

They quickly finish their vodkas and leave the bar, silently skulking through icy, deserted Moscow alleys until they reach a small hut in a deserted lot on the very edge of the city. 

Lev produces a set of keys, unlocks six locks on the door, one after another, and then opens the door and they go inside, where there is only a rickety table and two chairs.

Lev carefully relocks the six locks, then lights a candle and sets it in the middle of the table, where its flickering light illuminates the shack’s frigid wooden walls. 

He looks around carefully, leans forward, and whispers, “I kind of like it.”

The moral of the story?  I'm really enjoying the lockdown.

I don't think that makes me unusual, but it certainly drives home the degree to which I really am an introvert.  Like a lot of geeks, nerds, otaku and other societal outcasts, a lot of my happiest time has been spent on my own, and as such I'm not suffering from cabin fever in the least.

In a lot of ways, this is very much like my childhood.  I'm the youngest of five, and at an early age became very familiar with making my own fun when older siblings weren't interested in more childish games.  Because we were in an extremely rural environment, where the blackflies were a constant menace in the summer, and winters could get as cold as -40,  I spent a lot of time inside - that's where my love of books started, reading in my bedroom while avoiding the outside world.

Having computer games, the internet, and cable TV would have been a great addition, but they're really not necessary, if you took them away right now I would start happily working my way through my bookshelves and be content for years.

Karli, bless her, has been a perfect stay-at-home partner, and just today she thanked me for being a good person to be locked up with, so we're doing well there.  She's not quite as acclimated to sheltering in place as I am, she misses her family, but she's done Zoom parties with them and phones people regularly, so she's doing all right, although she certainly looks forward to seeing them in person again. People in my family often go for decades without seeing each other, so no issues there for me.

One of my co-workers expressed their disbelief when I mentioned being an introvert, and commented that as far as they were concerned, I was anything but.  In reality, like people who suffer from depression, a lot of introverts create a public face that lets them function in the outside world - I'm actually pleased by how good my version of that person has become over time.  It's such a good mask that I'm almost surprised at what a relief it is not to have to wear it right now - ironically, just when more and more people are starting to wear masks in public.

In the end, we'll all go back to work.  Apparently British Columbia is doing an acceptable job of flattening the curve, and as such the next month will probably see relaxed restrictions and reopened retail, along with a return to the regular nine to five day at the office - well, 7:30 to 4:00 in my case, but you know what I mean.  I haven't decided if I'm going to wear a mask for that, under the circumstances it almost seems redundant.

- Sid

Casualties.

Today at 8:55 am, the Storm Crow Tavern posted the following to its Facebook page:

There’s no easy way to do this, so we’ll just say it plainly: the Storm Crow Tavern will not be re-opening, regardless of the short-term resolution of the Covid-19 crisis. 

It’s been estimated that up to 75% of all the independent restaurants that closed in the wake of the virus will never re-open. Restaurants run on narrow margins at the best of times. The Tavern already had many challenges, such as an expiring lease, and the coronavirus, for us and many other small restaurants, is a fatal blow while we’re already down. 

That said... the Alehouse on Broadway (and the Manor in Toronto) are potentially different stories, and we are going to fight like hell to re-open those Storm Crows as soon as we can. 

It’s a sad day for us, for our employees, and for our regular guests. For over seven years, the Storm Crow Tavern has been a special place in all our lives: more than just a “nerd bar,” it was a neighbourhood haven for the misfits, the geeks, the oddballs and bohemians of Commercial Drive and Vancouver in general. 

The Tavern had an amazing run. And while it may be gone, other Storm Crows will rise, like those less-awesome phoenix-y birds, up from the ashes when this conflagration has ended. 

Stay safe. Stay sane. We’ll see you all again one day.

A sad day indeed. Although I switched my allegiance over to their Broadway location when it opened, solely due to its adjacency to home, the original branch always held a special place in my affections.  The original Storm Crow introduced a kind of pub that I'd always wanted, and on behalf of "misfits, geeks and oddballs" everywhere, thanks for proving that not every bar has to have a hockey game playing.

- Sid

"It's okay, I have a permit."

This week, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order endorsing the right of United States citizens "to engage in commercial exploration, recovery and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law.  Outer space is a legally and physically unique domain of human activity, and the United States does not view it as a global commons."

Now, from the perspective of global politics and outer space, this isn't a great moment.  There's a existing international agreement from 1979, the Moon Agreement, that stipulates that non-scientific use of extra-terrestrial resources be controlled by international oversight, but the United States has never been a signator - in fact, in 2015 Congress passed a law that basically said that any US citizen involved in the commercial recovery of "space resources" is entitled to them.

The new Executive Order specifically states that "...the United States does not consider the Moon Agreement to be an effective or necessary instrument to guide nation states regarding the promotion of commercial participation in the long-term exploration, scientific discovery and use of the Moon, Mars or other celestial bodies."

The key word there is "commercial" - the 1967 Outer Space Treaty states that nations cannot claim space or any celestial bodies, but the United States is saying that corporate exploitation by US citizens is completely permitted, rather like drilling for oil in international waters, and that they can keep whatever they find.  The new order does say that this should be consistent with applicable law, but then immediately announces that the existing agreements aren't applicable.

In other words, to quote Ron Swanson's permit from Parks & Recreation,  "I can do what I want."

From the perspective of a science fiction fan, this is a fascinating development, given that one of the common tropes of near-future science fiction is the exploitation of mineral resources as the driving force for expansion into the further reaches of our solar system - and eventually, other planetary systems.  This kind of development provides a logical purpose for space exploration, combined with an obvious return on investment.

However, the potential for disaster is epic, which is why there need to be controls in place.  As with undersea oil drilling , if something goes wrong, it's unlikely that its effects will be restricted to the area where the accident took place.  True, there's no equivalent to aquatic life that can be harmed, but the real analogy is that eventually the oil reaches a coastline - and in this case, we're talking about the entire planet, rather than a few miles of beach.

We're decades away from any kind of practical industrial exploitation of space, but if something goes wrong that results in asteroid mining debris or radioactive waste hitting Earth, it's going to take a lot more than a few drums of Dawn dish detergent to deal with the consequences.

- Sid