QUARANTINE BLOG # 178

September 24, 2020

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday it started a 60,000-person clinical trial of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine on three continents, becoming the fourth experimental Covid-19 shot to enter final-stage testing in the U.S.

A vaccine that Moderna Inc. codesigned with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases started Phase 3 testing in July and has enrolled nearly 26,000 people toward a goal of 30,000.

Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE also started a Phase 3 trial of their vaccine in July and have enrolled nearly 32,000 toward a goal of 44,000.  Interim results of the Moderna and Pfizer studies could come as soon as October.

AstraZeneca PLC, which licensed a vaccine from the University of Oxford, started a 30,000-person Phase 3 trial in the U.S. in August, but that study is on hold while an independent committee reviews a safety matter.

👉  The world’s most popular beverage is becoming more expensive.  As one of our blog reader orders it, “Unsweetened iced tea.  Lots of ice.  No lemon.”  But remote working arrangements and other home routines established during the coronavirus pandemic have led more people to reach for cups of tea, which is consumed in larger amounts world-wide than any drink other than water.  Supplies of tea leaves are tightening, due to bad weather in some producer countries, labor shortages, port closures and other logistical issues.

👉  When Covid-19 shuttered flea markets nationwide, Chris Fernandez, a vintage clothing dealer, filled the void.  On Instagram, Fernandez started “the Virtual Flea,” a recurring, weekend-long livestream where vendors  hawk their wares.  On August 3, Corbin Smith, a 27-year-old dealer from Arizona, put a special T-shirt on offer, which he’d bought in December for $500.  It promoted the 1992 Disney animated classic “Aladdin” with a gigantic print of the Genie character grinning his pearly whites.  Smith hoped it would go at auction for $2,000.  The sale started at $1, but climbed rapidly.  It passed the pre-sale estimate of $1,200.  Then $2,000.  The winning bid was $6,000.

If you think that’s crazy – and thinking about that 6K has made you consider scouring your closets, dresser drawers, flea markets, or thrift stores for the next big cash out – consider this one.  A rare pair of Nike’s “Moon Shoe” broke the world auction record for a pair of sneakers, according to New York auction house Sotheby’s.  Collector Miles Nadal purchased them in July 2019, for $437,500.  Only 12 pair were made and Nadal’s purchase was the only pair which were new in the box.  The previous world auction record was set in 2017 at $190,373, for a pair of signed Converse that Michael Jordan wore in the 1984 Olympic basketball final.

👉  I should have shared this one a week ago today, but since I only found it yesterday, here are some cool facts about the number 17:

According to research done by MIT the number 17 is the most common randomly chosen number between 1 and 20.

17 is the seventh prime number.  The number 17 is more than just a prime number though – if you add the first four prime numbers together their sum is 17.  It’s also the only prime number that is made up of four other consecutive prime numbers, these numbers being 2, 3, 5, and 7.

The Beatles hit song “I Saw Her Standing There” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwBdWVTR-o8 was originally going to be called “Seventeen.”

Side note one: That clip is obviously from early in their career – can you imagine any band setting up behind them while they were performing once they became superstars.  And when the boy and girl come out at the end, John is obviously unhappy that they run in front of the group and has words with the boy.

Side note two: The Observer is a student-run, daily print & online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s & Holy Cross.  Their writer, Allie Tollaksen offers a play list of 17 songs about being 17 https://ndsmcobserver.com/2014/09/playlist-17-songs-17/.  If you don’t want to read the whole article scroll down to the bottom and get a 30 second or so snippet of each.  FYI my favorite from the list is “Dancing Queen” by ABBA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN9lgrT8eVc.  Incidently, that clip is historically when ABBA revealed “Dancing Queen” to the world, performing it for the first time ever at the wedding of the future queen of Sweden.

Back to the point.  One of the most commonly known forms of Japanese poetry is the Haiku, which imposes a strict rule on the number of lines and syllables allowed. The first line must have five syllables, the second must have seven, and the last line must have five. The total syllables in a Haiku is 17.

And, your favorite blogger was born on February 17, 1947.  If you want to see the whole list of 17 cool things about 17 click here https://www.thefactsite.com/number-17-facts/.

👉  Today is Kiss Day.  “Kiss” comes from an early Germanic word “kussijanan” or “kuss” – from the sound that kissing can make.  The orbicularis oris, known as the “kissing muscle,” allows lips to pucker.  About two-thirds of people tip their heads to the right when they kiss, and between 10 million and 1 billion bacteria are exchanged with a kiss.  Ignore that last and celebrate!

👉   DIDJA EVER WONDER?

I wrote this piece way back May 1996.  You would have figured that out rather quickly without my having told you, I think.

The late Andy Rooney, “60 Minutes” long time curmudgeon, often said he never said, “Didja ever wonder...”  Well, he may not have, but I have.

Didja ever wonder why they call it “The Express Line?”

You are in the grocery store.  It is the quick grab of a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and head for the shortest line maneuver.  Over head there are signs which direct you to the “proper” choice – cash only, no coupons, polyunsaturated fats only, or, in flashing neon letters, beckoning the unwary, harried shopper, “Express Line!”

Those express check registers should be programmed to shut down after 10 items have been scanned – cursive writing is no longer taught in public schools, but they still teaching counting from 1 to 10 – but you will probably get front of the line about the time the Pittsburgh Pirates win another World Series.

You say you never wondered about why it says, “Express Line.”  Well, didja ever wonder:

What genius decided that movies, and television programs, would be more realistic if the characters used four letter words every fourth word?

Why do TV stations superimpose their logs over the programs, but not the commercials?  If you have to write it down, you’re watching too much TV.

Why did Sally, Montel, Rolanda, Carney, Ricki, Tempest, and Danny get a talk show and you didn’t?  But then you listened when your mother taught you not to talk trash in public.

And why do people reject God’s Son as their only Savior and face a lost eternity?   That is nothing to laugh about.

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