Day 117

July 6, 2020 The Good, the Bad and Ugly reprise...news this morning informs us that composer Ennio Morricone has died resulting from complications of a fall he took last week. He was 91 years old. Morricone was a composer of over 500 film scores and most famously know for scoring seven films by renowned Italian director and childhood friend, Sergio Leone. Leone is best know for his spaghetti westerns. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly being one. Morricone created unique music for unique movies. “All kinds of sounds can be useful to convey emotion … it’s music made up of the sound of reality,” he said. The music of the westerns particularly evoked emotions because the dialogue was scarce. It was the action and the music that drove the plot. Along with Leone's use of techniscope they created cinema history. The music is haunting and riveting at the same time.
Now onto virus news. It is not new that the United States continues to stumble through its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. As many experts have noted the two strategies used to handle the virus are according to the New York Times:
"The first approach prevented major outbreaks through an aggressive initial response that included travel restrictions, tests, contact tracing, quarantining and mask wearing. Several Asian countries, like South Korea and Vietnam, followed this model." 
"The second set of countries, including several in Western Europe, did suffer major outbreaks. But they responded with lockdowns and then began reopening carefully. All of these countries continue to cope with new cases, and will for a long time, but the numbers are small."

Unfortunately America reacted to slowly and only a few cities have forcefully implemented strict shutdowns. Most areas have prematurely stated victory and we are seeing the increase in cases from a general misunderstanding of the virus and how to prevent transmission.  We will not be able to get the virus under control for a very long time with this strategy (or lack thereof).  The numbers in the U.S. were at their highest going into the weekend.  A weekend where typically people gather in large masses to watch fireworks, barbecue and celebrate the nation's independence.  The country now waits to see the results after 14 days.  If Memorial day weekend was any indication of how we are taking precautions then we are in for some bad news come mid-July. 

All medical associations are urging Americans to take the right steps in preventing the spread. 

America is not the only country struggling as this article and video shows the U.K., having recently reopened pubs for the first time since March, is not adhering to social distance or mask suggestions from the medical experts. 

In more sad news, Nick Cordero, an actor of both stage and screen has died from COVID-19. he was 41 years old. His most recent film is entitled Mob Town.  He is known for playing the character Sonny in the Broadway version of A Bronx Tale.  The movie was directed by Robert Dinero with  Chazz Palminteri, who wrote both the play and the screenplay, playing the part of Sonny.

                                .                                   RIP Nick Cordero.

Stay Safe everyone