News Sushi #101: Morsels of News from Japan and Beyond

News Sushi #100 Hamish keeps serving the best News Sushi!
Hooray! More News Sushi for you to enjoy!
Editor Note:It is Friday and that means it is time for the World Famous, soon to be Intergalactic Famous, News Sushi from our very own, Hamish Downie. Hamish brings us a decidedly different slant on Pop Culture as viewed through the lens of a non-native living in Japan.

Thank you (ありがとうございました) Hamish, for your insights.

こんにちは！Which means “Hello”!

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How is everyone doing? Are you ok?

The world is pretty crazy right now. If you are feeling anxious and are having a hard time sleeping, maybe this will help:

Australia’s Public Broadcaster (the ABC) has made these nature tracks that are perfect for relaxing. Maybe it’s because I miss the way Australia sounds, but I really adore these tracks, and they do make me feel relaxed.

Recently, I got to be a part of the reading of this poem for Black Lives Matter on the Talking With Our Mouths Full podcast (Michael Chan’s project)… please take a listen if you have time:

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This is for anyone who needs to hear it. ~ Michael & Nightingale #WeStandWithYou #WeStandTogether #BlackLivesMatter (Many thanks to Julius Cho, Katisha Shaw, Hamish Downie, Bec Rehm, Melody Shang, Camille Blott, Olivia Jon, Angelica Alejandro, Timothy Ng, Scott Dion Brown, Tiffany Elefano, and Josh Aries for lending us your voices.)

A post shared by Talking With Our Mouths Full (@twomfpodcast) on Jun 3, 2020 at 6:31am PDT

Thank you for listening. Please consider donating to places like Black Rainbow, which supports Aboriginal LGBT in Australia: http://www.blackrainbow.org.au/

I remember RuPaul saying that being a Pollyanna is actually incredibly difficult, and writing this column through some pretty rough times, both personally and globally, and still remaining positive has been a challenge, but I will attempt to do so.

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My film which is set to be released later this year on the Gagaoolala platform has an exciting announcement… they have launched globally! Now the largest LGBT streaming service in Asia is available for everyone!

You can read more about it here on Variety: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/gagaoolala-portico-media-taiwan-gay-marriage-boys-love-1234608357/

Here’s an example of the content available:

They launched on the one year anniversary of marriage equality in Taiwan (they are a Taiwanese-based company).

I recommend watching HURT, a Singaporean short film.

Story: After receiving his test results, Chris deliberates his confession to Jonathan about an unforgivable mistake. He desperately wants to be comforted by his soul mate, but is at huge risk of losing him.

HURT is available now to stream for free:

https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/1614/hurt-2016

Congratulations Gagaoolala! Look for my film, “Matcha & Vanilla” coming to this platform later in the year.

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Dating During Lockdown… Restaurants are coming to the rescue.

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There’s this lovely new podcast from Minneapolis called “Let me draw that” and the idea is wonderful. Chris asks his interviewees to relay the happiest moment in their life, and he uses the story as an inspiration to create an artwork, which he shares on instagram. I’m thrilled to be able to say that I’m going to feature on an upcoming episode and the artwork is fire!

Check the podcast out: https://open.spotify.com/show/7B0AayekZcyQFWRtk7TRFJ

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🚨new podcast! 🚨 Art inspired by Shea’s story. We talk about it on todays episode of Let Me Draw That. I had some mixed emotions about uploading a feel good podcast on the morning of the Minneapolis riots. But, I also feel that art is crucial in times like this. So, if your looking for some positive inspiration, check out todays episode. Link in Bio. Available wherever you listen to podcasts #minneapolis #podcast #feelgood #art #illustration #inspiration

A post shared by lmdt cast (@lmdtcast) on May 28, 2020 at 6:11am PDT

If you are feeling like you want to escape from home… escape with me! My episodes of J-Trip Plan are back on NHK World on Demand. Let me show you my favourite places in Wakayama!

Here are the links:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2059054/

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2059073/

Also, please look forward to this amazing book, Scorched Earth. It’s a page-turner (I read the beta version). The Author has just released the trailer:

HOT LINKS OF THE WEEK

Another link from Chris:

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Art inspired by Denzel’s story #art #digital art #procreate #lmdtcast Find "Let me draw that" on sticher and Spotify (and everywhere else when it gets approved!)

A post shared by lmdt cast (@lmdtcast) on May 14, 2020 at 5:22am PDT