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The Japanese Government changed the category of COVID-19 to the same as seasonal influenza (NHK). Separately, the World Health Organisation announced COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency (ABC News).
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Another Golden Week is in the books. It was excellent weather and I was a little disappointed we didn’t go somewhere (although, due to the insane numbers of peoples travel is not a particularly fun thing to attempt during the week). Instead of that, on Thursday, Eri took Emma and John to see the Super Mario Bros movie again (this time in Japanese) and then on Friday, we had a picnic with my friend, Ferdinando, and his family.
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Because it was Golden Week, NHK-E departed from their regularly scheduled programming and screened an anthology special where they featured presenters from shows of the past. I’d completely forgotten a bunch of them, none more so than the cast of Kore Nande Shōkai (NHK). It made me nostalgic for the shows that were on when Emma and John were very little which, I think we can prove with modern science, were objectively better.
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I watched Crazy, Stupid, Love and the Intern because I felt like I watch too many action blockbusters. They were both fine. I did find myself wishing Anne Hathaway had had a better career. She’s been very successful but what would you say are her must-see movies? The Devil Wears Prada? The Dark Knight Rises? Or does that say less about Anne Hathaway and more about the roles for women?
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I was gobsmacked at the evolution of images Brandon got out of Midjourney for a prompt about Queen Elizabeth II playing Street Fighter in a video game arcade. Brandon had the presence of mind to save the images he’s created across various versions and it’s really remarkable seeing the improvement.
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I’ve been a nervous wreck following the travails of the Golden State Warriors in this year’s NBA Play-Offs. They looked pretty good against the Sacramento Kings and I was optimistic about their chances against the Los Angeles Lakers but Anthony Davis (when he’s been engaged) has been dominant (as explained excellently in this video essay) and as incredible as Curry has been all play-offs, maybe Game 7 against the Kings will have to be enough for this year.
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Oh, and while I’m talking about all-time great NBA guards, I really enjoyed this 17-minute breakdown of Jerry West’s play-off career. If you’ve ever wondered if there was more to making him the logo than just racism, the answer is yes.
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If video essays are your thing but not when they’re about basketball, I can’t recommend enough this one by Listening In on Radiohead’s rejected opening song for Spectre. It still bothers me all these years later that Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson went with the vastly inferior ‘Writing’s on the Wall’.
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That of course makes it the obvious musical selection for this week and while I encourage everyone to listen to it (Apple Music), I actually wanted to link to Marian Hill’s Act One this week (Apple Music). I came across the band when the opening single, ‘Down’, was featured in the first commercial for AirPods (YouTube).
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Unrelated: AirPods were introduced with the iPhone 7 (?!).
