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Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose tariffs of up to 25% on Canada and Mexico (ABC News). Perhaps one day history will look back and view this as a clever negotiating ploy but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a bullying tactic from a pathetic man who only views the world in zero-sum terms. I remember being extremely upset at what America wrought on the world when it elected George W. Bush and yet somehow they’ve found new depths to plumb. Why must Republicans be like this? Other conservative parties aren’t this crazy.
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I don’t know how likely it is that the rest of the Free World can pull together to stand up to this kind of behaviour but I’m hoping that’s what happens. I realise he won’t be the one doing the standing up for much longer but credit to Justin Trudeau for a strong initial response (YouTube).
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Rowan came down with a cold that then hit John, then Emma and now has given me a mild sore throat. Eri’s own respiratory problems haven’t cleared up but conceivably she’s been hit with it as well.
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Not coincidentally, Brandon is in Tokyo but I haven’t been able to catch up with him yet. Hopefully that’s rectified soon!
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Maia Wyman (AKA Broey Deschanel) is one of those video essayists that YouTube periodically recommends but whose videos never land for me. That was until I watched her essay about Pulp Fiction’s post modern shrug. A solid 35 minutes.
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While I’m predominantly watching video essays on YouTube, I do love the energy of Hank Green’s… videos? I’m not sure what to call them. They’re not essays but they’re also not simply video diaries. Lightly-edited streams of consciousness (LESOCs?)? His latest one about car paint is a perfect example of the form.
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When Emma and John were very little (and before we had Disney+), Disney had a free app on Apple TV that mostly showed a small selection of Mickey Mouse cartoons from the 2013-2019 revival (Wikipedia). I’d always found Mickey and friends pretty boring (particularly in comparison to Warner Bros and its stable of classic Looney Tunes characters) but these shorts have a zany humour that is very much in the vein of Chuck Jones or Friz Freleng or Tex Avery. We hadn’t watched it in years until John put one on the other day. I think Rowan had seen them before but he absolutely loved them this time around and, since he’s been home sick, they’ve been on constant rotation. I have no idea if these are region blocked but ‘Cable Car Chaos’ is apparently on YouTube if you’re intrigued.
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I realise there’ve been a lot of YouTube links in this update but this is the final one: Trash Theory’s 40-minute essay about Take That and ‘Back for Good’. I don’t have much affinity for boy bands of the 90s but I agree with Noel Gallagher (!) that ‘Back for Good’ is just an awesome song. The Trash Theory video talks about it being covered by other artists and while most of what I found on Apple Music was pretty uninspired, I quite liked the spin Swedish duo, the Mayries, put on it (Apple Music).
