foggy morning where I live
On another Saturday three weeks ago (here) I invited visitors to our site, whether old-timers or newcomers, to talk with us and each other about what was happening to them and their communities in this time of the virus and how they were feeling about it. Time has seemed disjointed and hard to track since then, and even before then. For some people it might seem to have slowed down or sped up, but I suspect for most of us it has simply stopped, or become like a directionless soup of events.
Looking back at the previous version of this invitation three weeks ago, I thought of all the things that have changed dramatically in the outer world since then, but also how little they have changed in terms of my own daily existence, mostly bottled up here inside my home with my wife and two cat-children. On the other hand, I can’t say I’ve successfully adapted to this strange new world of isolation and invisible threat. I think others have done a good job of adapting, and others have gone steeply downhill. But I suspect that even the most naturally reclusive types have missed human contact — real face-to-face contact.
We are social animals, and swapping stories over the internet isn’t really an adequate substitute for the physical interaction that’s gone missing. But it may be therapeutic at some level, and entertaining at another one (the previous version of this post certainly generated a lot of interesting comments), and so I’d like to repeat what I did three weeks ago and invite whoever happens to encounter this post to do some sharing of their lives and thoughts. The suggestions are the same as before:
If you feel like it, tell us what has been happening to you in recent weeks. What’s now happening in the community where you live? Are you shut in or still moving around? Are you out of work or still working, at home or in a publicly accessible location that’s deemed essential and is still open?
And how do you feel about the current situation? Are you in trouble or adjusting? How are you spending new-found free time? If you’ve found any new metal that’s helping you get by, feel free to share that too.
As before, I’ll start things off.
Three weeks ago, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., more than 275,000 cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed globally, including over 11,000 deaths. As of yesterday, the same source reported that global confirmed cases are now greater than 1.6 million and deaths have topped 100,000. In the U.S. alone, there are now more than 500,000 confirmed cases and 18,586 deaths, an enormous increase from three weeks ago (and those numbers understate the reality, because virus-related deaths aren’t always always ascribed to the virus and because testing is still ridiculously inadequate).
In Washington State where I live the data is showing that the state’s early and aggressive efforts to impose social distancing and shut down businesses is producing positive effects on the rate of infection. Nevertheless, our Governor stated yesterday that he may still need to extend his emergency shutdown order past its May 5 expiration date (he has already ordered that all public and private K-12 schools are to remain closed for the remainder of the academic year).
I can’t precisely remember when I started staying at home except for occasional trips to the grocery store or the pet store. The governor’s emergency shutdown order was first issued on March 15th (and later extended). That was preceded by some restrictions on the size of social gatherings (which were later restricted in size even more dramatically). But in looking back through some work e-mails, I’m pretty sure that my own last day in the office where I work was March 6th. Not long after that, there wasn’t much going on in the little community across the water from Seattle where I live anyway, so I’ve been in near-total isolation at home for 36 days already. By May 5th, when the emergency order might be lifted or loosened — and I emphasize MIGHT — I will have been shut in for two months and two days.
I can’t even wrap my head around that. It’s even more depressing to contemplate that even if the emergency order expires on May 5th and isn’t extended before then, things aren’t suddenly going to return to normal. As long as there is still risk of infection and inadequacy of testing, I think many businesses (including the place where I work) will not require people to return, and many people will remain hesitant to resume normal social intercourse (much less intercourse of the other kind). Around here at least, gloves and masks will remain ubiquitous, and if businesses and social gatherings resume, it will happen VERY slowly. Many businesses won’t re-open at all, because the shut-down will have permanently killed them.
All of which is to say that I and others in my community are looking at continued isolation lasting deep into May and probably into June or even July. I have no idea how I’ll manage that mentally and emotionally. At least I’m not broke, I still have a job, we don’t have human children in the house, and I haven’t historically suffered from depression. One or more of those things isn’t true for lots of my friends. As much trouble as I have envisioning what my own life will be like a month or two from now, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for those people right now, much less that far down the road.
As for how I pass the days, my one unbending routine is NCS. It has forced me to wake up early and to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I and the other people who write for the site haven’t slowed down — we’re still posting stuff at the same daily and weekly rate as before. Maybe it’s like a life preserver that we’re still clinging to, or maybe we’re just compulsive personalities who hate the idea of interrupting our 9+ years of activity just because of some fucking pandemic.
So, I get up early, write and edit stuff, surf the web looking for new music, wade through the hundreds of e-mails that are still arriving every day in the NCS virtual mailbox, and spend time listening to new metal. Some days I drift away from NCS activities after lunch. Most days I continue messing with it off and on during the afternoons, interspersed among conversations with my wife and our cats (those cats are very affectionate, to the point of being needy), and time spent watching her put giant jigsaw puzzles together while the cats complicate the effort. At night I tend to drink and watch something on the TV with my housemates.
I’m definitely drinking too much, and becoming less careful about what I eat, and gaining weight. The weather here has been glorious lately, and I’ve been going outside more, but just slowly wandering rather than vigorously walking, and that’s the only exercise I’m getting so far (it’s so slothlike that I don’t even really count that as exercise). Got to do something to get my shit together soon, but still don’t have the willpower for it. My brother in Texas, who is keeping fit, gently harangues me about how exercise will improve my mood and outlook, but I’m still not there yet.
I’ve been enjoying Zoom group chats with family and friends, both metalheads and co-workers. They’re up to 3 or 4 a week now. But paradoxically, as much fun as those are, they often leave me feeling down-hearted, because it’s just not the same as what we all used to do. In fact, it’s a vivid reminder that THINGS ARE NOT THE SAME, and just makes me miss all those people all the more.
We still make trips to the local grocery store and pet store. The grocery store trips used to be like a welcome adventure — the adventure of human contact!!! Now it’s just weird, and depressing. All the customers at the grocery store (and there aren’t a lot of them) are now gloved and masked, as are the workers, and everyone moves warily around each other in the aisles, not wanting to get too close. Plexiglass screens separate us from the people ringing up our purchases. The staff is constantly disinfecting things that people touch. At the pet store, they want you to call ahead so they can bring your purchases out to your car instead of letting you inside.
Heavy music is still a welcome distraction, although I think things will soon change. At least for label output, when the virus hit there was a pipeline of records that had already been fully completed, awaiting release. Some of those are getting postponed. At some point the pipeline will begin to run dry, because I assume that bands who are used to recording in studios and writing music in practice and rehearsal sessions won’t be doing that. It also seems that the process of manufacturing physical releases has slowed down, and maybe people won’t be able to spend money like they used to on physical editions, because they don’t have the money to spend that way.
Of course the pipeline won’t run completely dry. Tracks can still be recorded by performers in isolation with home equipment and then shared, and mixing and mastering isn’t an endeavor that requires groups of people getting together physically. And there will always be one-man black metal bands who won’t notice any change at all.
I don’t know when live gigs and tours will resume, or when people will feel confident enough to turn out for them. I’m so anxious for those days that I can hardly stand it. There will be some blow-outs for sure, all this pent-up energy and desire given an outlet. But no one should be even slightly holding their breath for this to happen. It won’t happen soon. Maybe by the fall?
Well, I think I’ll stop. These musings have already gone on much longer than I originally intended. Even just writing this has helped me. Maybe it will encourage you to share your experiences and thoughts in the Comments. I hope so!
P.S. If you need some fun, this is some fun:
41 Responses to “STAYING IN TOUCH (WHILE STILL NOT TOUCHING)”
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I’m still working, it’s been fun. I don’t see customers unless its the last half hour of my day, so I’ve just been armed with my headphones and doing a lot of album deep dives at work – which is why you may have seen me musing recently on the various cover art of Kataklysm’s Victims Of This Fallen World or the original art for SepticFlesh’s Revolution:DNA (secretly one hell of a Dark Tranquillity album) recently as it has been fun to just put one artist on and watching that shit go wild for the 10+ hours I’m grinding it out.
That said, we’ve been asked to voluntarily wear masks/bandanas at work to lead by example, especially as my county has made it pretty clear that masks are basically required out in public by this point, so I rock a bandana and cut-proof gloves at work now when there are customers in the store. I’ve been told alternating compliments of ‘You cut a very imposing figure’ and ‘You look like you rob gas stations’, so I guess I’m scaring people away, which is perfect. I did help a guy find a bunch of LED lightbulbs so he could build a bunch of light up board with a bunch of buttons for a toddler niece of his that is trapped inside this year, which made my Wednesday a little brighter.
The review pile is still hilariously huge so if any of you are wondering why such and such band hasn’t appeared here yet, its obviously because they’re fucking garbage and their latest release is cancer in a box and not because I currently have…..eight opening paragraphs written.
I need a pic of you in the masks/bandanas and gloves. It will help in looking back at these glorious times (unless this shit becomes an annual occurrence indefinitely).
I’ve ALWAYS thought you cut a very imposing figure.
It saddens me I probably won’t get to see it in person this year.
Just wanted to say thanks for your continual presence. That alone is helpful in creating the feeling of “normalcy”. The pandemic has augmented the uncertainty in my already precarious position in life as a busker. For the past ten years, I’ve paid my rent and funded my projects by bringing a real piano around Oakland/sf in my van and setting up in odd places, pushing (forcing) my compositions and merch on people. It’s strange to have that dissipate- on the one hand, I’m less stressed because I don’t have to do it anymore- it’s like a breath of fresh air. The horrifically taxing 7-8 hr stints being gone have allowed my joints and tendons to heal and I’m slowly regaining the initial joys of simply playing music, rather than doing it for performance/work. On the other hand, the already elusive nature of money has evolved into a full blown nightmare. Not for this month, but for all the months to come. I feel so sad for all the musicians and further, all the people who don’t have a safety net. It’s crushing. Another curve ball was having my van stolen a couple days ago- this has been happening to quite a few people here in Oakland bc cars are just sitting ducks now. In that van was my street piano, a custom dolly my dad and I fabricated, as well as a custom stereo system he built – a super beautiful subwoofer, console, and amps totaling about 2000 watts. I ripped apart the insides of the van when I got it and refinished and upholstered the whole thing. The van represented hard work and goodwill to me. The violation of that and the unspoken social contract we all abide is subhuman- makes me sick. Either way, lots of people have it worse than that- even though my sole source of income has been castrated completely, I still attempt to see the glass half full. There are better days ahead and the way to find them is to go full steam on projects, AND don’t lose sight of the things you love- music, family, friends, and WHISKEY. NCS, though I don’t respond to every post, is something I like to see and dip into every day. It’s inspiring that you guys are working so hard to find and talk about new music. I had the thought last week – what if it wasn’t there, what if your posts weren’t there? It would be an emptiness, like a friend disappearing. Above other blogs, the writing here is honest and comes from the point of fascination and true interest in music. Couldn’t ask for more. Thank you guys.
I live in Israel and we currently have above 10,000 positive cases and 92 deaths.
we can go out only to shop for groceries and medicine otherwise there is a need for a special written authorization to go out.
we celebrate Passover this time of year and usually, this is the best time of year. everyone is traveling or just taking a vacation to be with their families and relax. this time it is definitely strange. everybody’s home – all closed, canceled, strict restrictions(must wear a mask for example) and a lot of questions for how we are going to get through it. what is the strategy?
As for work, I and my wife are working from home which we found out to be very difficult. it is hard to put the line when “at work” or “at home relaxing”, all mixed up and eventually we finish our day tired than usual. BUT, one thing is good and it is the time we now get to spend with our baby daughter (ALL DAY!)
On the 30th of May Iron Maiden is scheduled to play in Israel. I REALLY hope that they won’t cancel and by then things will get much better for all of us. Thank you for posting this and for giving the opportunity to express ourselves as well. Long live NCS!
Stay Safe
Thank you for writing, and I also hope for you that the Iron Maiden concert will happen as scheduled. If it doesn’t, I would feel confident that Maiden will reschedule and it will still happen some day in the future.
I’m not religious myself, but I have many friends who organized Zoom Passover seders with their scattered families and friends, and am now hearing about them eating the leftovers. The few seders I’ve attended wouldn’t make me think the leftovers are all that appetizing, but I lack a true appreciation of the symbolic significance of the foods, which may have something to do with that. Enjoy all the newfound time with your baby daughter, and be thankful she is still a baby. 🙂
My law school has shifted all classes online, and we have been attending our sessions on Zoom. It’s quite a change from the experience of going to school every day with my classmates, being able to have conversations about what we’re learning as we spend the day on campus together, to this solitary crash into my apartment. A steady schedule of walking the dogs is most of my outside time.
At least we can take some comfort knowing that there are a lot of talented songwriters out there stuck at home with nothing better to do. The metal economy is going to bounce back even if the US economy never does.
Like most of us, I have my own memories of higher education, and almost all those memories involve things I did with my fellow classmates, or in some cases inmates, outside of classes. Online school must be a very hollow shell. I do have my fingers crossed that you’re right in believing the metal economy will bounce back. There may be particular labels and bands who don’t, but the demand for metal isn’t going to diminish, and talented people aren’t going to just abandon what was driving them before the pandemic hit, and for reasons that seem insane, there will be people who start new labels as well as existing ones who just won’t give up. Also, there’s already a lot of music and music/video dreck being concocted by people remotely now, but there are some gems being created too, which is an unexpected silver lining to this mess.
It’s been a while since I visited here, and even longer since I last commented. Funny how the state of affairs now makes me less anxious of interactions online.
I’ve been at home for the past 3 weeks, mostly rolling around in bed & on the couch in front of the TV. When I can muster the energy, I go for a slow walk around my apartments campus, playing Pokémon GO for an hour in the evening.
No special gloves & mask here; just the ones I uusally wear while out riding my bike, along with a Newsboy Hat.
I don’t listen to music while on my walks any more. But, Gojira, Strapping Young Lad and various Pro-Wrestler’s entrance songs have been getting a lot of playtime every night, before I fall asleep.
Wow, it’s really good to see your name again after so long, and to know that you’re still alive and apparently well. Don’t be such a stranger going forward! (That’s not an attempt at being an authoritarian, just a fond wish.) And I don’t think anyone could go wrong with a soundtrack made of Gojira and SYL, but I confess ignorance about pro-wrestler entrances.
{5%Graphic 95% verbose}
Thanks for doing this again, it is cathartic to write and good to hear about how others are coping. Those are beautiful pictures; it brings back memories of when I used to live in Ohio. My brother-in-law who is from there came to visit me in Vietnam in February, pre-pandemic, and I haven’t seen him in 5 years. He is stuck on an island in Thailand at the moment, which might sound great but it could also be hell. I do not remember how long I have been in isolation. I do however know that I have not worked conventionally for over 4 months now. Weight is stable, putting the Marlboro man to shame, but there is a welcoming absence of depression.
I’m spending way too much time playing Toca race driver 3 as well as this free tennis game I found on steam. There is a minigolf game there too, my friend bought it for me because I was wary of using my card too much, was awaiting my salary to get paid. I teach for a language centre (online now) that probably likes to evade taxes by paying cash weekly and the pandemic has made this impossible. It was a bit stressful because accounting ignored me for a week. The owner made bombastic claims in company emails of how he would personally assist everyone, no replies gotten from him. If you get me drunk one day, which I suppose isn’t too difficult in the time of Corona, ask me the origin story of this franchise. It is hilarious and quite frightening. Let’s just say there’s an unsolicited but assisted drug overdose and a gigolo involved. Haha. I got my salary today. The minigolf game is great, you can play with friends and requires a bit more than just point and shoot.
Things I learned: dog sex is weird.
My housemate invited her friends over that deliver food in this area. I was surprised because it was just before an online lesson I was gonna have an hour later. Also, social distancing? I guess a lot of Hanoians don’t care that much about it. My housemates were nice enough to let me teach in their room, I don’t have a desk and usually teach with my laptop on the dining room table, which can be irksome if I put on my noise-cancelling headphones, I get loud. Haha.
So after my class it would be weird to just stay in their room and I thought “if this act of foolishly ignoring the law and common sense already infected my housemates: I’m fucked anyway.” So I joined them in the living room. They brought their poodle, we have a pug which I’m fucking convinced is mixed with some kind of terrier or pit-bull. He has an endless well of energy. Quite fitting then that he was named Obelix before we knew he was a Gaul and had super-canine abilities. We were told not to turn him into a eunuch before he reached a certain age and the lucky boy still has his cojones, for a short while. When I opened the door stepping into the living room, everyone was seated staring and laughing at the pooches, both males, going at it. Obbi as I call him endearingly, might be bi, he hasn’t seen any action in weeks though, so good for him. But what was striking was Obbi’s lil doggie dick protruded all the way out and his balls being so eager, followed through. They popped right out the front with his dick, protruding like little shamefully averted pug eyes. Guess there’s now a new image in your heads as to what balls-out means. Never heard of or seen that before. We locked him in the bathroom for a time and he got back to normal. Googled it afterward, and the vets would know, it was just the knot they need to tie with the bitch for mating, no female this time though. But it does possibly mean he had a great time.
Vietnam has stabilized a bit. We have had 258 total cases now which seemingly has plateaued. This can change in a heartbeat. There have been zero deaths ascribed to the virus as of yet and of those total cases: 144 have been discharged after recovery. I’m praying to the great old ones that general nonchalance here does not bloom in the form of funeral ash and endless gravestones as it has elsewhere.
I am able to go to the store and leave the house for whatever other essential services there may be. Construction seems to be one of them, because like someone said: Mao had his 4 pests campaign, Vietnam’s pest be angles. For you can never tread two feet without hearing the wail of an angle grinded to death. The police had to crack down because here just like anywhere else, misinformation and pseudoscience proliferate quicker than the virus. People simply don’t care and when the sun is out I’m sure it’s hard for people to stay inside, yet I see countless citizens in the park going for a jog, cycling and walking with their families. This ignorance spans race, nationality and creed. I have developed a palm imprint on my forehead from the amount of times I’ve had to slap it for friends and acquaintances posting bs online.
A friend of mine voluntarily went to a hospital here to get tested. Her American family freaked out because she had a fever and fatigue for one night. She is planning on returning stateside end of this month and decided to do this in order to waylay their fears. She was in the hospital for about 3 or 4 days I think. She got tested twice, is safely negative and spoke very highly of all the hospital staff.
Books, creativity and things. I don’t have anything that’s new that stands out as far as conventional metal, but I did start listening to Boris yesterday. I put ‘rainbow’ on repeat and got a translation for the lyrics through someone that posted the Japanese on YouTube. Comparing this translation with that of metal-archives got me to thinking that they both are more correct and more wrong than the other. And so, we lose things in translation. Words, ideas, motivations, can be lost to one another across divides both imagined and real, but that which connects us on a visceral level, our humanity, our animalism reminds us that we have sameness.
I have the kindle app on my phone and thought I’d have a gander as to what was available for free and found quite a lot of books labelled under Amazon classics. Downloaded Moby Dick and giving it another go.
I haven’t been writing much at all. The last project I worked on got to the cutting room floor, but we need more footage for the video and seeing as most of it requires cityscapes with droves of people and the insurmountable flow of Hanoian traffic: we gotta wait.
I posted a few bands from Vietnam in the previous ‘Staying in touch’ post and discovered that a metalhead buddy is listed as a guitarist for one of those bands on metal-archives. He didn’t know, kid was ecstatic. This same friend replied to a meme(https://www.facebook.com/dailyblasphemy/posts/973344696416544) I sent him and it got me to write a few haikus for fun. So I did some writing other than this overlong reply.
His was this: “at this point we are only stagnating to watch as our sanity withers”
Meagre attempt at haiku:
At this point we are
only ceasing to watch as
our sanity fades
As I read this post, I put on Pure Wrath and later In Tenebriz. Both are enchanting and beautiful in their own way. Downcross is also a lot of fun to listen to. Thanks!
Discographies I’ve worked through on repeat: Sulphur Aeon, Inquisition, Thy Catafalque, Rebel Wizard, The Ocean
Temet nosce, stay safe and thanks for the persistent magic that is NCS
Oh man, where to start: I can’t get you drunk in Vietnam from Seattle, but I still want to hear the origin story. Yes, I now have a new image in my head as to what balls-out means, one that no amount of bleach or sandpaper will get rid of (but hey, I’m not complaining, I’m laughing). The infection and death rates where you are seem stunningly small but I hope it remains that way, even if the incidents of social gathering you mention make me think it won’t. “Mao had his 4 pests campaign, Vietnam’s pest be angles. For you can never tread two feet without hearing the wail of an angle grinded to death.” — that’s a great line, even if I only barely comprehend it. And another, which I do comprehend: “Words, ideas, motivations, can be lost to one another across divides both imagined and real, but that which connects us on a visceral level, our humanity, our animalism reminds us that we have sameness.” And you can haiku too!
I’m glad you returned, for many reasons, including the reminder to me that I meant to do some kind of feature about Vietnam metal. I’m drinking now, so there’s no certainty that another reminder won’t be required. Thank you again — and I hope you remain safe even after the invasion of food deliverers.
Posted it in the wrong spot!! SORRY!
Just wanted to say thanks for your continual presence. That alone is helpful in creating the feeling of “normalcy”. The pandemic has augmented the uncertainty in my already precarious position in life as a busker. For the past ten years, I’ve paid my rent and funded my projects by bringing a real piano around Oakland/sf in my van and setting up in odd places, pushing (forcing) my compositions and merch on people. It’s strange to have that dissipate- on the one hand, I’m less stressed because I don’t have to do it anymore- it’s like a breath of fresh air. The horrifically taxing 7-8 hr stints being gone have allowed my joints and tendons to heal and I’m slowly regaining the initial joys of simply playing music, rather than doing it for performance/work. On the other hand, the already elusive nature of money has evolved into a full blown nightmare. Not for this month, but for all the months to come. I feel so sad for all the musicians and further, all the people who don’t have a safety net. It’s crushing. Another curve ball was having my van stolen a couple days ago- this has been happening to quite a few people here in Oakland bc cars are just sitting ducks now. In that van was my street piano, a custom dolly my dad and I fabricated, as well as a custom stereo system he built – a super beautiful subwoofer, console, and amps totaling about 2000 watts. I ripped apart the insides of the van when I got it and refinished and upholstered the whole thing. The van represented hard work and goodwill to me. The violation of that and the unspoken social contract we all abide is subhuman- makes me sick. Either way, lots of people have it worse than that- even though my sole source of income has been castrated completely, I still attempt to see the glass half full. There are better days ahead and the way to find them is to go full steam on projects, AND don’t lose sight of the things you love- music, family, friends, and WHISKEY. NCS, though I don’t respond to every post, is something I like to see and dip into every day. It’s inspiring that you guys are working so hard to find and talk about new music. I had the thought last week – what if it wasn’t there, what if your posts weren’t there? It would be an emptiness, like a friend disappearing. Above other blogs, the writing here is honest and comes from the point of fascination and true interest in music. Couldn’t ask for more. Thank you guys.
Oh hell, this made me choke up. I happened to see your FB post about the van being stolen, which was simultaneously infuriating and very sad, but now knowing more about its history and what went into it makes the theft all the more wrenching. I don’t understand people who go out to do something like this in the midst of such awful times. I don’t care who they are or what pressures they might have been feeling, in some ways it’s just like shooting a gun into a random crowd, not caring who you hurt. I hope the van turns up, and isn’t too worse for wear when it does.
I admire your effort to see the glass as half full, and to remember that someone else is even worse off. I’ve always been a believer in that way of looking at the traumas that life deals out so randomly, but doing it after what just happened to you has to be fucking tough. And that makes me especially grateful for your message to all of us not to lose sight of what we love. (And of course I’m also very grateful and humbled for what you said about our efforts at NCS.)
Thanks man. Felt good to write – and hell yeah NCS! This article is so good for everyone, didn’t even realize the need I and others had to share our experiences.
Hang in their brother. While normalcy isn’t exactly around the corner, the numbers do seem to indicate that we’re flattening out..at least here in the U.S. It’s not as good as this thing just disappearing over night, but maybe there’s a light at the end here after all.
Life is still fairly normal for me…my morning job is still going along like usual, though I’m one of just a few who still hasn’t been told to stay home yet…and my personal business is still getting a bit of work rolling in, though not as much as I’d like. The real change for me has been school. In some ways I like the online format, but I’ll admit it’s much harder to get my head into the right state of mind for classes and doing projects when I’m not going to an actual classroom each day. On the plus side, at least one of my teachers was on top of his shit, and had a game plan in place for when things went sideways…the other two are basically trying to convert their whole curriculum into an online format and it’s not working too well. My feeling is they really need to acknowledge that we can’t do everything we’d normally do, and make some adjustments…maybe just eliminate some things entirely.
The thing I regret the most is not being able to see my family right now. I’m tight with my parents, as well as my sister and her family, and they all conveniently found themselves living with my parents for various reasons before the lock-downs. the means they’re all together right now, but with my wife and myself still working and being exposed to whatever’s floating around out there I can’t chance bringing something to their house. Between my parents age and my sister’s health issues, it would mean bad things if any of them caught it. Means I’m missing a lot of birthdays and family get togethers right now and that just sucks.
…and I understand what you mean about talking to people not being the same as getting to see them. Most of my closest friends live across the country, and even though we talk to each other practically every day, with MDF shutting down until next year, I won’t get to see them face to face…which is one of the high points of every year for me. I hate not getting to spend those four days with them.
The music backlog as is huge as ever, and continues to grow every day, but if you want some good stuff
Muscipula – https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/little-chasm-of-horrors
Wampyric Rites – https://deathkvltproductions.bandcamp.com/album/demo-iii
Hecatomb – https://hecatomb666.bandcamp.com/releases
Anthropophagous – https://anthropophagous.bandcamp.com/album/post-natal-abortion-demo
Lamp of Murmuur – https://lampofmurmuur.bandcamp.com/album/the-burning-spears-of-crimson-agony-demo
We’re going to get through this…and next May we’ll raise a beer or two to celebrate
I’m someone who visits the site often but has very rarely posted. Just want to say that I’m grateful for your continued work during the pandemic. You’re playing a vital role in keeping the metal community alive.
Outside of metal, I’ve actually never been busier. I’m fortunate to have a job (I’m a public defender in Maryland) for which I’m still getting paid. And while what I do on a daily basis has changed, it’s really been replaced with other work. One of my agency’s biggest projects now is seeking to reduce the population in the prisons and local detention centers, which are hotbeds for the virus.
But back to the metal! I’ve also found time to catch up on metal documentaries, many of which are available for streaming, and to start reading J.J. Anselmi’s Doomed to Fail.
Stay healthy!
Not much has changed for me since last time. Still working as safely as possible and getting some actual human interaction daily. So my daily/weekly rituals remain, though altered.
We’ve been mostly successful at limiting grocery trips to once a week with the extra precautions. Fuckin’ scored the good TP this mornin’!
Known cases in the area are growing slow and steady with 101 cases and 10 deaths. It’s a relief that we aren’t impacted like some areas, but the behavior of some people out here (in spite of stay-at-home orders) is very concerning to me.
All y’all stay safe out there and goddamn motherfuckin GOATWHORE!!!
Congrats on scoring the good TP! Hell, I think I’m going to celebrate by drinking! Yes, it’s only 10 a.m. here, but every hour is happy hour! I hope people in your area get wise soon, and don’t have to be smacked in the face with corpses to figure out what they should be doing. And in closing, GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKIN’ GOATWHORE!!!
Well I live in Appalachia. Southeastern Ohio. Since Im a Nurse and a Emergency Responder life really hasnt changed much for me. I work I go home play video games and listen to metal. Im in school full time online for my bachelors which again hasnt changed that much. Hospital has actually been slow here and layed off some because of shutting down all ancillary services but since Im a rapid response Nurse this also hasnt affected me. I have been around highly infectious diseases and have learned how to take precautions and my area has about 50 positive cases with about 10 deaths but its really not that different than anything else. Yeah I could be exposed and I could die but to quote one of the greatest lines in a movie…this is the life I chose the life I lead and there is only one guarantee I wont see heaven hahaha. I do miss going to 12 step meetings having been in recovery for 20+ years but I keep in touch with my circle of comrades through other means. I do appreciate this site. It has been a reliable source for good music and scene updates for me for many years and though I mostly stay silent via internet communications I felt the universe telling to assure you all from a health care perspective this shut is for real a we must listen to science and use logic but this is not the end we will get through this and hopefully learn as a species from it. If not then we may not fair so well when a deadlier pathogen hits us. Time will tell. Stay well everyone. Hailz from the Midwest
-Evan
Hailz to you Evan, and thank you for deciding to write. There was a calming effect for me in reading what you wrote — just the reassurance coming from someone who is in the middle of the shit and isn’t freaking out. Anxiety is a problem I think a lot of us are feeling (I know I am), and we need reminding that this can be controlled. And your point about the risk of even deadlier pathogens coming at us in future years is a critical one. If we don’t learn from the Covid-19 experience and become better prepared to mount a massive coordinated response the next time, it could really be terrible. I really hope we don’t get past this problem and then just forget about what we learned (and by “we” I mainly mean governments and public health authorities at all levels).
I needed that video; it is awesome. Thanks for hanging in there and helping to keep us all connected through the lovely NCS site, Islander. FWIW, I am an introvert and can handle a fair amount of isolation, but I really, really, really miss the live shows. I just feel imbalanced… And I also just hate how weird and disconnected I feel from other humans in doing just the simplest of damned things, like buying milk and bread…and cookies (lots of cookies). There are times when I feel like I am in some version of Jacob’s Ladder – this is all some sort of collective purgatory…it is all so weird…
“Imbalanced” is definitely the right word for what we’re going through now. None of it feels right, and the silver linings that people are prone to point to don’t change the fact that it’s still a big dark cloud that’s hanging over us. Glad you liked the video (which is one of those silver linings)!
Tomorrow will start week 5 of working from home here in Portland, Maine. My wife and I have a good groove with both of us working at home (she’s a yoga teacher who has moved her work online). I work for a workers’ comp insurance company, so we are dealing with COVID-19 every day and continue to see an increase in claims in all of our key states on a weekly basis from front line healthcare workers and others. Thanks to you guys for continuing to crank out content so folks like me can stay sane and listen to new music recommendations loudly and without encountering the scorn of our employees and coworkers (my Spotify and Bandcamp queues have grown significantly over the last several weeks). But the lack of social contact sucks and the upending of our social rituals has been a bummer (you can’t Zoom everything). But when this is all over (whatever that means), there’s some real questions of what the new normal will be. While my wife and I spend an inordinate amount of $$ on live music yearly, right now, neither of us can see us wanting to be in a packed crowd in a venue to see music and that sucks. We can’t be the only music lovers wrestling with that. That will then send you down the rabbit hole of the fate of artists and venues. We’ve got some amazing bands/musicians here in Portland- Falls of Rauros, Obsidian Tongue, Shabti and plenty of others across the musical spectrum- and how do they move forward? I’m left thinking that this pandemic is going to change many facets of life we have taken for granted, even in positive ways. Thanks to NCS and the writers for doing what you do and keeping us sane, musically at least. Stay safe.
The point you make about how the virus is going to change live music is one I’ve worried about a lot. Here in the Seattle area, even before the virus got serious, metal-oriented venues were closing due to an imbalance between rising commercial rents and either stable or declining ticket sales. Now even the venues that had managed to weather that economic storm have no money coming in at all but still having to deal with landlords who expect to be paid. There has been some short-term relief on rent do to orders by Seattle’s mayor, but I still worry that some of the surviving metal venues won’t re-open, or they’ll re-open when they can and people just won’t turn out due to continuing health concerns, and then they’ll fail anyway. Very discouraging.
It’s been weird. I’m sure that’s the understatement of all time. I fortunately work in the insurance industry, so we can work remotely, and I still have a well-paying job. All of our physical offices are closed to the public until further notice, but we still handle customers over the phone and through the internet. I was having a lot of trouble focusing while working from home, so I requested, and was granted the chance to actually work by myself in one of our closed offices my normal hours, which has been essential for me to stick to a normal routine. Having nowhere to go or anything to do was really taking a toll on me. I am an introvert and love to hit the gym. Luckily, I have basically built my own over the years in my basement, so I can still get that in. Otherwise, new music has been essential. Luckily, I recently started to write for Teeth of the Divine, so I get to deep dive on promos, as well as chat with those guys. As far as the area, well, I feel like it is going to get worse. I live in Eastern Ohio and most people around here are not taking it seriously. We’re a very backwards, regressive area. People call it fear mongering while these same folks think immigrants are coming to steal their jobs and kill their families. My apologies for being slightly political. While most businesses are shut down, of course the grocery stores are not. It was only within the last few days that people started wearing masks in public. Not only that, but I can tell more people are leaving their homes and going in public. Traffic has increased. I am doing my best to go to my office and come home. I make grocery store trips, of course. Our company is hopeful we can get back to “normal,” or at least some semblance of such at the beginning of May, but I continue to express my opinion that things are just getting started around here because no one is taking it seriously.
The disparity among different parts of the country in how quickly and aggressively they have reacted to the virus and seek to contain it is going to needlessly prolong the outbreak, and runs the risk that it will be re-transmitted from places that still aren’t taking it seriously to places that have, and are already flattening the curve. This should have been a uniform national effort instead of the patchwork quilt we currently have. But I have no hope that situation is going to change anytime soon. It’s already too late.
Interesting that you found a way to use your closed office as a way to get your focus back. I’ve never really wanted to work from home, wanting my home to be a refuge, and I definitely have had trouble focusing on work while at home. Too many distractions and the voice in my head that keeps saying, “this is your home, you’re not supposed to be working here.”
That’s exactly what it is. I will work from home, then get distracted, then forget I am supposed to be working. To put it in perspective, as far as the response, I know the area isn’t taking seriously based on the traffic situation I mentioned above. My office has street parking. Before this, at 5pm, when I left the office and had to cross the street, it would take forever because I had to wait for traffic both ways very close to a busy intersection. For a couple weeks, this died down. However, this past week, it is seemingly back to normal with the traffic. I was used to just locking the door, walking out, then strolling right across the street. I now have to wait again for a long time. In other words, seeing this, I feel like the worst is yet to come for my area and it’s far from over. I hope I’m wrong, but the response in general should have been, as you mentioned, a uniform national effort. Since it hasn’t been, I believe we still have a way to go before we get back to any semblance of normalcy.
Almost 4 weeks shut in here in France. Hopefully I can work remotly and used to work at home 1 or 2 days a week before the pandemic. Now 5-d a week ! Same for my wife…and our 2 children. So we had transformed our 2 hours and a half of travel to go to work (and return) each by a new work : teacher. Quite a touchy thing.. Hopefully, their real teachers are doing a great job to make things practicable,
We have a garden so that this weird period remains enjoyable in a way, compared to people packed at 5+ in 50 square meters…
We really miss social life, having bbq with friends or family.. As much people, drinking has been a rising activity, not being a real concern as such. I hope so !! What is really annoying is the lack of live music… The pandemic canceled all events, especieally 4 gigs I’had planned to attend to, and the same with the big 3-day fest we have in France, Hellfest, planned in june, which is postponed to 2021…
Listening to music is still a huge part of my daylife. And discovering new stuff ! Thanks to you all at NCS ! Glad to see you’re still on board, keeping feeding our thirst with huge amont of new releases. Thanks also to all the artists and masterminds behind those releases keeping us (mentally) sane !
These times, I’m listening to Treurwig, Vukari, Aodon and Stworz. Last opus of Iapetus is played at leatst once a day.
Once more : many thanks to you Islander and to you all at NCS !
Thank you for your thanks, and for the mentions of those great bands you’re listening to. Hellfest was one of those European festivals I always dreamed of attending someday, and I hope that the 2021 event will come off without a hitch. Wishing you the best of luck in becoming a teacher with your new-found time, and in keeping sane while doing that.
I’m still fantasizing about going to an empty office and working alone, surrounded by silence. For some reason thoughts of that Will Smith vampire movie are popping into my head, the last man alive….
Dude c’mon…Omega Man is clearly the superior last man on earth movie
That’s a hell of a good movie that I’d forgotten about. As you may know, both that one and the Will Smith movie I thought of first are both based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel “I Am Legend”.
Well this is a nice surprise – I love “I Am Legend” (the novel, as well as the movie) but had never heard of Omega Man. Time to check it out. Also I love the twist the at the end of the novel, it’s so much darker than the movie.. which is I guess why they changed it for the cinema release.
Keep in mind, Omega Man is just based on the I am Legend book. It’s very much its own thing and actually has some similarities to the Will Smith movie
The numbers are still low in my area, compared to elsewhere, and there’s not expected to a dramatic rise when we peak. My job has remained the same, and my wife and I are comfortable at home. She’s sowing masks for the hospital. I’ve been working on music. We watch a lot of movies to break up the 24/7 news coverage. I do the errands, and it’s almost always stressful. There’s too many people being extremely careless. I only go out on weekdays to avoid crowds. Recently we live trapped a racoon that was living in our crawlspace. We set it free at the lake, which turned out to be an ideal way to get my wife out of the house for some sunshine and fresh air.
I saw the video of your freeing of the raccoon, and that seemed like a great reason for you both to be outside. I’m glad you’re still hanging in there.
That poor little guy was so scared. I always feel bad about stressing them out like that, but we try really hard to find the best spot to set them free. A densely wooded area near the lake seems ideal. And we spent a lot of time searching the crawlspace for babies before we set him/her free. I’d feel absolutely awful if I broke up a family.
Hi erveryone,
Still the same containment here in Belgium. Normally it was supposed to end next sunday but it will be extended (France is extended till 10 may and as we follow them usually…).
Still getting paid for staying home thanks to our social system wich is good for me and my partner.
I only go to the grocery store once a week, that’s all.
Don’t understand people wandering around in the streets just for “fun” because, you know “liberty” and stuff like that & it’s already 4 weeks, I have to go out!
I don’t see the problem being at home. 4 years ago I stayed 4 months in hospital after a car accident. The first month I couldn’t move at all! THATwas difficult. Now it’s piece of cake 🙂
On a side note, I thank NCS because one of the first thing I did after intensive care was to visit this site & listen to music for the first time in 2 weeks. So you guys helped me a great deal at the time to recover! That made me realise how I NEED music in my life….
I still find amazing bands nearly everyday here and, again, thank you for that.
Finally, the band I listened to on repeat is Brutus. I’m a little ashamed of myself because I miss completely Nest when it came out! What a brilliant album!
Stay safe & keep feeding me with new music please 🙂
I just lost work last week. That stimulus check though was a bit over what I make a month, and I think I got on unemployment, so financially I am fine. My room mate and I are having some serious drama though involving my kid who lives with her mom, so that’s been stressful. I’ve probably been the skinniest I have been in years, but definitely drinking a lot and smoking a lot of pot. The weight is more because I walk around the neighborhood a lot and I mainly avoid gluten.
I don’t know all this isn’t really that weird for me. I am use to staying at home and not going out, the biggest thing is the parks being closed I guess but I still have a few places I could go. I’m not too worried about concerts and am sure small time gigs with 20 or so people will return soon, and I look forward to that. I hate crowds anyway.
I’m lucky where I live, part of why I don’t want to just give this up, and if it wasn’t for the room mate situation I’d probably be having the best time of my life right now. Social distancing champ!!
Did you check out the new Graceless and Perdition Temple? those have been on heavy rotation.
Man, I’m sorry you got thrown out of work but glad that you’re managing economically. I can imagine that the current situation is putting lots of stresses on roommate situations for a whole bunch of reasons, and just hope that people can figure out ways of co-existing in ways they didn’t have to before. And it seems you’re lucky for not having the current weirdness conflict too hard with your your own usual likes and dislikes. I’d love to see small gigs come back in uncrowded rooms. I liked those best anyway, even though it wasn’t great for the venues or the bands. Which is another issue going forward — who can survive economically putting on sparsely attended shows?
And on the music, Perdition Temple is in my Top 10 for the year so far. We had the privilege of premiering the album stream:
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2020/03/24/an-ncs-album-premiere-and-a-review-perdition-temple-sacraments-of-descension/
Haven’t spent as much time with Graceless, but need to.