MAY: Saturday the 9th
Commander of Drones, Controller of Minds
This themed weekend takes us to Spain, with none of the travel and all of the stress. Our meal was Tapas of course: Andalusian Chicken, Albondigas, prawns in lemon and garlic, chorizo in a tomato sauce, and Patatas Bravas. The spread was really something but getting everything to finish at the same time makes a roast dinner look like canned spaghetti. Our Spanish film was 100 Metros, about a guy suddenly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis attempting an Iron Man triathlon trained by his Miyagi-esque father-in-law. It’s pretty good. Sad, funny, touching, without a hint of queso.
Our weekends are a great means of escapism, so it’s a shame I’ve committed myself to writing about the news every day. Britian’s new compulsory 14-day quarantine1 of international arrivals is taking up most of it and airports demanding specific guidelines on how they’re meant to carry it out. It comes into force at the end of the month. At this evenings press briefing the Transport Sectary Grant Shapps2 encouraged the public to embrace greener methods of transport, like cycling and walking. Valient sentiment but not useful for airports. The surging popularity of biking in London3 he’s attached himself to is largely down to the absence of cars, which makes the scant cycle infrastructure massively less terrifying to use. Thing is, once Lockdown is we’ll be dredging those bikes from the Thames.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford says Welsh schools won’t restart4 in June, which is expected to be the target set by England. Scotland5 has also refused to open schools in June which could make Johnson look reckless if he goes through with his plans. He gets constant stick as it is over his slow initial reaction and inadequate provisions. Try keeping hundreds of children are two meters apart at all times. Johnson himself is never more than two metres away from one of his children. Total deaths in the UK6 are up 346 to 31,587 today, cases up 3,896 to 215,264.
President Putin told Russians they are “invincible” when united7 during his Victory Day speech at the Kremlin. Zooming out you’d see his evidence had gone missing. COVID has cancelled the usual military parades, and everyone was by themselves at home. If you believe the official data Russia’s caseload is the fifth largest in the world (209,688 cases, 11,012 new, 1,915 deaths, 88 new6). Seeing this India (62,939 3,277, 2,109, 128) has taken to science fiction methods of virus fighting. In Ahmedabad, a city about 250 miles north of Mumbai, drones and fire engines are being used to spray disinfectant8 over the site of anti-lockdown protests to prevent cases.
Brilliant as this sounds swarms of drones spraying stuff on the conspiracy inclined will doubtless lead to a dastardly new image for Prime Minister Modi, Evil Lizard in Chief. The police were using tear gas on them last night so now the air must really get up your nose, even without the regular industrial particulates. The only place more weepy is Seoul, South Korea, where following the recent clubbing scene case cluster all nightlife9 in the capital city has been closed.
Three days ago most restrictions10 had been lifted. Such a drastic and fast response implies South Korea ( 10,874, 34, 256, 0) is sticking to its strategy of eliminating COVID within its borders, and shows how quickly apparent victory can slip into recurrence of old problems. Britian and many other countries are looking to re-open while still finding hundreds of new cases each day. An interesting if scary experiment looms- Herd vs Health.
The other news is that Little Richard, the first musician whose work could be described as Rock & Roll, has died11 aged 87. Among the people his output inspired is everyone since 1955, when he introduced a shouting voice, onstage presence, offstage flamboyance, and sex appeal to mainstream music. He knew it too. Only Donald Trump and Kim Il Sung credit themselves with more inventions.
Perhaps that’s the result of the brazen confidence that made him stand out as a musician, or anger at being passed over while his invention swept the world without him. Like every revolutionary he was quicky outflanked and outdeveloped, and within two years he’d retired and become a Minster. The attitude of his live performance is his legacy. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and The Rolling Stones all opened for him. Each cited him as a musical hero.
1 Michael Savage for The Guardian Two-week quarantine will cripple us, aviation industry warns Boris Johnson 2 Department for Transport and The Rt Hon Grant Shapps Transport Secretary's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 9 May 2020 3 BBC News Coronavirus: Will London embrace walking and cycling? 4 BBC News Coronavirus: Schools in Wales not reopening on 1 June 5 BBC News Coronavirus: Reopening Scottish schools too early could 'overwhelm' NHS 6 WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Report– 111 7 Alessio Dell'Anna for Euronews Russia celebrates Victory Day as lockdown leaves Moscow deserted 8 SBS Australia Drones disinfect Indian coronavirus hotspot city after clashes 9 Georgia Simcox for The Daily Mail South Korea shuts down 2,100 nightclubs and hostess bars after new coronavirus spike is blamed on clubbers who went out last weekend as soon as country relaxed lockdown rules 10 France 24 S. Korea returns largely to normal as Covid-19 cases slow to a trickle 11 BBC News, Culture Obituary: Little Richard, a flamboyant pioneer