2021 - Mika @ Philharmonie de Paris, 23 and 24 October

[krysady]

10 minutes ago, Prisca said:

Epsilon? I hadn't even heard about it yet.

It's the new variant having resistance to vaccines and antibodies gained after the covid infection.

9 minutes ago, Prisca said:

Well, she didn't need a passport for 20 years. It seems to work without as long as she doesn't need to leave her country?

Indeed, if you are really sure that you won't leave the country, it's fine 

[mellody]

On 7/4/2021 at 3:25 PM, Hero said:

Oh wow, great colours and ideas! 

 

So, that floor length gown I was eyeing up earlier would be OTT then...  

 

I have a similar dress to that and I also thought of wearing it for one of the nights. Maybe mine looks less elegant because it's an inexpensive microfibre fabric, and the straps can be arranged in different ways, but it's also red and floorlength. So generally I don't find this overdressed.

 

On 7/4/2021 at 7:04 PM, giraffeandy said:

 

No, I don't think so, it's very elegant! OTT would be a dress like this...

 

 

I guess that would be a little too much for this occasion.  But your dress is suitable imo. 

 

I'd love to have that dress, and an occasion to wear it!  My wedding dress was a bit like that, and I gotta say it's not very practical for anything except standing around and looking pretty, but it's nice anyway.  During the photoshoot outside I had an exquisite selection of insects in between the tulle layers (including spiders), my husband kept stepping on the dress while we were dancing, and I won't even start to explain what "fun" it is to use the toilet with such a dress... 😅 Anyway, you feel like a princess. And you realize why princesses need help for everything.

[holdingyourdrink]

3 minutes ago, mellody said:

and I won't even start to explain what "fun" it is to use the toilet with such a dress... 😅

The hack is to go to the toilet facing the flusher! 😆

[mellody]

1 minute ago, holdingyourdrink said:

The hack is to go to the toilet facing the flusher! 😆

 

Lol I didn't know there were life hacks for princess dresses!  But good to know for the next time. 😅

[giraffeandy]

5 minutes ago, mellody said:

I'd love to have that dress, and an occasion to wear it!  My wedding dress was a bit like that, and I gotta say it's not very practical for anything except standing around and looking pretty, but it's nice anyway.  During the photoshoot outside I had an exquisite selection of insects in between the tulle layers (including spiders), my husband kept stepping on the dress while we were dancing, and I won't even start to explain what "fun" it is to use the toilet with such a dress... 😅 Anyway, you feel like a princess. And you realize why princesses need help for everything.

 

I had a dress like that for my prom night and I really felt like a princess even though it wasn't easy to get dressed, there was even a crinoline for the huge skirt so I do get why princesses needed servants... 

[mellody]

4 hours ago, krysady said:

Now let's hope we will have the chance to use our documents in October, I'm really worried about this new Epsilon variant spreading around 

 

That one doesn't sound very worrying tho: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS-CoV-2_Epsilon_variant ... where did you hear that it's spreading again?

[krysady]

21 minutes ago, mellody said:

 

That one doesn't sound very worrying tho: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS-CoV-2_Epsilon_variant ... where did you hear that it's spreading again?

It was on our TV news all day: https://timesofoman.com/article/103697-vaccines-found-to-be-less-effective-against-epsilon-strain-of-covid-19

They said it's not spreading very fast yet, but it's worrying that the vaccines might not be effective against it.

Edited July 5, 2021 by krysady

[mellody]

4 minutes ago, krysady said:

It was on our TV news all day: https://timesofoman.com/article/103697-vaccines-found-to-be-less-effective-against-epsilon-strain-of-covid-19

 

That article seems to be mainly about a specific clinical study, it does mention "fast rising cases" of that variant, but doesn't say how fast and where? I hadn't heard about it yet, but anyway it's likely that new variants will come up that are immune against the vaccines, that's why they said from the beginning that it's likely we'll need another vaccine shot once a year or so, where they'll include the new variants. Especially the mRNA vaccines seem to be easy to adjust to new variants. So I don't find this variant any more worrying (yet) than the Delta variant. Especially since in the Wikipedia article it says Epsilon is less transmissable than Alpha, and as you can see it's less the escape from the antibodies that makes the infection numbers rise (tho that does play a role as well), but more the transmissability - and that is highest in the Delta variant, so far.

[krysady]

24 minutes ago, mellody said:

and that is highest in the Delta variant, so far.

Yes, that is the most contagious by now. About Epsilon variant, they labelled it as VOI ( variant of interest) not VOC (variant of concern) yet, let's hope it will remain like that. The problem seems to be the fact that exactly mRNA vaccines are the ones ineffective for this variant and they have hopes from the other types of vaccines, including Novavax that might be available since autumn. 

[Hero]

23 hours ago, Hero said:

Update: I've received the certified copy of my birth certificate. Rang the passport helpline and was told the name difference would be queried, so I have to get a 'statutory declaration' from a solicitor explaining the discrepancy. 

So now I have a solicitors appointment for tomorrow afternoon. For which I need to provide evidence of who I am (utility bill, bank statement/card, id card from work, etc). Cue running around gathering documents. 

 

It'll be worth it in the end. Mika, I hope you appreciate all this! 

Update: AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!! 

 

Been to solicitor. Explained situation. No problem she said, do you have the form to sign?  Er, no, what form? She was expecting me to have a pre-prepared form from the passport people to take to the solicitor for signing. 

So now, my case has been passed to their family department, who will call me back "probably some time next week" to confirm the details and draw up the stat dec. I'll then need to go in again and have it signed by a different solicitor (they can't sign it if they've drafted it). Then back to them to collate it all. And then I'll be able to send it in to support the application. 

Nothing against the solicitor, she was very nice and sympathetic, said they see it quite often that the passport people just say "see a solicitor" without giving further info.I feel ill with all this running around, so stressful! 

 

But, currently sat in Tesco cafe with a hot chocolate, and they're playing Queen's Lover Boy so I'm thinking of Mika dancing in his kitchen cooking spanakopita. Small victories.  Plus I was able to pick up some adhesive gems to bling up my button, so there's a nice job for tonight. 

[Mikasister]

15 minutes ago, Hero said:

Update: AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!! 

 

Been to solicitor. Explained situation. No problem she said, do you have the form to sign?  Er, no, what form? She was expecting me to have a pre-prepared form from the passport people to take to the solicitor for signing. 

So now, my case has been passed to their family department, who will call me back "probably some time next week" to confirm the details and draw up the stat dec. I'll then need to go in again and have it signed by a different solicitor (they can't sign it if they've drafted it). Then back to them to collate it all. And then I'll be able to send it in to support the application. 

Nothing against the solicitor, she was very nice and sympathetic, said they see it quite often that the passport people just say "see a solicitor" without giving further info.I feel ill with all this running around, so stressful! 

 

But, currently sat in Tesco cafe with a hot chocolate, and they're playing Queen's Lover Boy so I'm thinking of Mika dancing in his kitchen cooking spanakopita. Small victories.  Plus I was able to pick up some adhesive gems to bling up my button, so there's a nice job for tonight. 

 

 

 Yes, very stressful but I'm sure it will be worth it 

[giraffeandy]

1 hour ago, Hero said:

But, currently sat in Tesco cafe with a hot chocolate, and they're playing Queen's Lover Boy

 

NO WAY, last week I've been to the mall and there was a café that serves hot chocolate AND THEY PLAYED LOVER BOY!

But it wasn't a Tesco café, it's called "Mondieu - Organic Bistro & Chocolat". It seems that Lover Boy & chocolate is a well-known combination all over the world. 

[Sabine64]

Last week I was in a nice boutique and looked for a cocktail dress. The owner of the boutique came and asked me if she could help me, I told her I was looking for a nice dress for October and she told me " for October? You don´t need to look for October because we will be shut down again by then!"  I left the shop at once, I don´t want to think about things like this.......

[giraffeandy]

1 minute ago, Sabine64 said:

Last week I was in a nice boutique and looked for a cocktail dress. The owner of the boutique came and asked me if she could help me, I told her I was looking for a nice dress for October and she told me " for October? You don´t need to look for October because we will be shut down again by then!"  I left the shop at once, I don´t want to think about things like this.......

 

That doesn't sound very customer friendly, she should have been happy about the possibility to sell a dress, I guess she wasn't the owner of the shop but with this attitude she can close the shop right now... 

[Hero]

3 hours ago, Sabine64 said:

Last week I was in a nice boutique and looked for a cocktail dress. The owner of the boutique came and asked me if she could help me, I told her I was looking for a nice dress for October and she told me " for October? You don´t need to look for October because we will be shut down again by then!"  I left the shop at once, I don´t want to think about things like this.......

What on earth? She won't be in business for long with that attitude. Sorry you had to experience that. Can you leave a review on their website/sm? 

 

[Hero]

Bling bling

 

[holdingyourdrink]

Just went to have my dress shortened! I am 5’3” and the dress was probably for someone 5’8” or more  I wonder what I could do with the excess fabric  probably make a shawl 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

22 hours ago, Hero said:

Bling bling

 

 

 

 

  Beautiful jewelry ! Mika will like it 

If we wear this during the concert we will create a new trend 

[Hero]

3 minutes ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

 

 

  Beautiful jewelry ! Mika will like it 

If we wear this during the concert we will create a new trend 

Thanks Anna! I'm glad you like it, it was a great idea you had.  

We'll have to watch out for Mika stealing our buttons! 

[holdingyourdrink]

1 minute ago, Hero said:

Thanks Anna! I'm glad you like it, it was a great idea you had.  

We'll have to watch out for Mika stealing our buttons! 

Only if we outbling his pink shoes I think, but you are well on our way 

[Mikasister]

41 minutes ago, holdingyourdrink said:

Just went to have my dress shortened! I am 5’3” and the dress was probably for someone 5’8” or more  I wonder what I could do with the excess fabric  probably make a shawl 

 

And masks 

[holdingyourdrink]

5 minutes ago, Mikasister said:

 

And masks 

OMG YOU HAVE THE BEST IDEAS

[Prisca]

On 6/13/2021 at 5:11 PM, holdingyourdrink said:

The only thing is that if I would do that, no one would see me and I can’t see a darn thing either  (I’m 1.63m, yes the 3cm counts!)

Ah, body height is always a matter of perspective.

 

You're not even as small as you think. You simply live and work where the people are among the tallest in the world.

 

Average Female hight:

 

Netherlands: 170.7 cm (5 ft 6 in)

Germany: 166.2 cm (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in) (This is not as representative because people in West Germany are significantly taller than in East Germany).

 

A subfield of economic history research considers body size as an essential measure of a country's biological standard of living and economic development. The more prosperous a community, the taller the people who live in it. This branch of research is called anthropometric history.

 

Since I assume that, apart from the French, most Italians will be at the concerts, here are the average sizes.

 

Average Female hight:

 

France: 164.5 cm (5 ft 4 in)

Italy: 161.8 cm (5 ft 3 in)

 

Here the other sizes if you are interested:

 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Länder_nach_Körpergröße

 

(You can switch to English, but the list there is a bit confusing and the numbers are not exactly the same. I have used the German table because I find it clearer .)

 

I don't know if it's good news that you'll be pretty average in France. Average is not exactly what you want to be in the Mika fan base.   In any case, you should not feel as small as you usually do in your life.

 

How tall I am? 1.63 m!!!!!

 

Yes, the three centimetres count. You see, the door from my living room into my bedroom is 1.61 m high, so if I were only 1.60 m, I wouldn't bump my head.   I also bump my head in the basement of the house and in the laundry room.

 

In summary: At 1.63 m, I am too tall for my house. Poor Mika, if he lived in my house, he'd probably have a crooked back pretty quickly.

 

What? What were you expecting? I live in a fairy house.

 

 

Ok, ok I don't live in a fairy house. My flat is in a house that was built in 1696, and in the past people were known to be smaller and they didn't build the flats too high so that the heat would stay inside. Although old houses have a reputation for being badly insulated, I don't have that problem. The walls are very thick and in winter the cold stays outside and in summer (once it would come ) the warmth outside.

 

End of lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by Prisca

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

6 hours ago, Hero said:

We'll have to watch out for Mika stealing our buttons! 

Our beautiful buttons are worth more than the elephant's head 

[giraffeandy]

14 minutes ago, Prisca said:

A subfield of economic history research considers body size as an essential measure of a country's biological standard of living and economic development. The more prosperous a community, the taller the people who live in it. This branch of research is called anthropometric history.

 

Tbh, I don't think it's just that because if you look at the list of countries with tallest persons, not all of them are the most prosperous... So there has to be more factors, also people in the north tend to be taller than people in the south. 

 

 

Btw, I'm 10 cm taller than the average woman in my country and about 4 cm taller than the average person. And I wish I was rich. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by giraffeandy