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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a great way for those currently shut in to do very simple things they currently cannot, like catch fish and bugs and pay off their housing loans. It’s also a great way, apparently, to protest Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which has led to the game’s import into China to be banned.

Among the many uses of the game’s robust pattern and design creator has apparently been to stage protests inside the Animal Crossing universe for pro-democratic activists in Asia. While Hong Kong protests may feel like they happened decades ago in our current news continuum, it was less than a year ago that the NBA was embroiled in a scandal because pro-Democratic protests drew support from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey on Twitter.

Coronavirus and its impact on the world has made that a less visible issue internationally, but the movement hasn’t been silenced in China. In fact, players who have imported copies of Animal Crossing have actually taken the protests in-game and shared them on social media.

A quick search of Twitter can uncover a variety of protests that may not have context outside of Hong Kong, but are serious enough that the Chinese government has apparently taken steps to keep the game, not officially for sale in China, out of the country.

Activist Joshua Wong tweeted on Thursday that the game has disappeared from import sites, presumably as a result of the in-game protests and the ability for gamers to customize designs that could spread anti-government sentiment.

Though the game was never truly available in the country, this isn’t all that much of a surprise. But it’s still a fascinating look at how one of a game’s major strengths in many places — the ability to customize and replicate real life interests in the digital world — has made it essentially impossible to sell in others. If Nintendo ever sold it in China, much of the customization options that are a staple of gameplay would likely have to be removed.

As some have noted online, it’s still possible to get in China if you know where to go. But it’s clear the freedom to do pretty much anything in the game, while a feature in most places, is considered a bug in others.

(Via Vice)

Despite the fact that fast food and fast-casual restaurants are still operational thanks to various state measures country-wide that allow them to continue to serve take-out during the coronavirus quarantine, eateries are still being hit hard — with an increasing number of people adapting to a world in which most of their meals are made at home. According to the market research company NPD Group, total restaurant transactions are down by 42% compared to this the same week last year. And considering that we’re far from out of the weeds with this whole coronavirus thing, it’s likely that those trends will continue.

Throughout the shutdown, we’ve covered the innovative ways chefs and restaurants are adapting to the changing buying habits of the American dining public. Many independent restaurants have already cycled through multiple iterations — going from takeout service to delivery to meal kits. Now it looks like national chains like California Pizza Kitchen, Panera Bread, and Subway are following suit.

According to Food & Wine, since Monday of this week, Panera has been offering online orders of bread, milk, or produce products from their stock for pickup or delivery. California Pizza Kitchen is also selling basics like milk, flour, dry pasta, meat, beer, snacks, and other pantry items through what they are calling the CPK Market, which also sells meal kits and “build your own” pizzas. Across California, Connecticut, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington, Subway locations are selling bread rolls, 2-pound packs of their deli meats, and produce.

Will any of this work? Who knows. It’s a new world for the restaurant industry and uncertainly looms over every decision. We’re fully in the era of throwing things at the wall and hoping it works.

Tonight on the WWE Friday Night Smackdown open discussion thread:

The Monster Among Men earned a career-changing win at WrestleMania and heads to Smackdown to usher in his new reign as Universal Champion.

Braun Strowman fought off not one, not two, not three, but four vicious spears before delivering four consecutive Running Powerslams and conquering WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg at The Show of Shows for the title.

What will the future hold for Strowman now that he carries the crown of Universal Champion? Will a new challenger step up and run the risk of getting THOSE hands?

Tune in to SmackDown at 8/7 C on FOX to see the champ reset the Smackdown landscape. (via WWE.com)

All that’s announced for the show so far is “what will the future hold for Braun Strowman,” and a Women’s Tag Team Championship rematch between Bliss Cross Applesauce and the Kabuki Warriors. Maybe they’ll have set up a pirate ship in the Performance Center by now.

As always, give a thumbs up to any comments from tonight’s open thread you enjoy and we’ll include 10 of the best in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of Friday Night Smackdown on Fox report. Make sure to flip your comments to “newest” in the drop down menu under “discussion,” and enjoy the show!

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When it comes to shaping public opinion hard-hitting visual examples can be a lot more persuasive than words and statistics. The Ohio Department of Health created a visually dazzling public service announcement using ping-pong balls and mousetraps to explain how social distancing works.

This PSA is just another example of how Ohio is getting things right during the pandemic. As of April 9, the state has about 5,100 infections, fewer than a third of the cases in similarly sized Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Mouse traps and ping pong balls to show powerful message: ‘Social distancing works’

www.youtube.com

Ohio’s governor Mike DeWine was among the first governors to start aggressive shut-down measures in their state. “Every one of us is in this fight. We don’t need to go into the battlefield, we simply need to stay home,” DeWine said in a press conference.

Social distancing continues this weekend amid the global pandemic, and several new TV seasons are here for the binging. If nothing here suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now. We’ve also included a few Monday shows for this long holiday weekend.

Killing Eve (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — Jodie Comer’s assassin and Sandra Oh’s MI6 agent are back, and this time, the cat-and-mouse game has evolved into something deeper. The show’s still as hypnotic as always, only with different focuses, and it’s more of an ensemble game now than almost exclusively focusing on the duo, all for the greater good of the show’s survival.

Brews Brothers (Netflix series) — If you want to watch some booze-loving monks (who doesn’t?) and a story where a key obstacle is how to recreate an IPA that a distributor loved without knowing that someone peed in it (why not?), then you’re probably gonna dig this show, which co-stars Alan Aisenberg from Orange Is The New Black.

SNL (Saturday, NBC 11:30 p.m.) — Aaaand the long-running sketch show will be back with “original content,” although no one knows exactly what that will look like in quarantine-based format.

Run (Sunday, HBO 10:30 p.m.) — The new show from Fleabag and Killing Eve dynamic duo Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge has arrived. The series stars Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson as two college exes who send fateful texts and reunite for a cross-country adventure.

Les Misérables (Amazon film) — Not related to the musical: this movie’s about a new recruit for a Parisian local anti-crime squad who must help ease a spiraling situation based upon the 2005 Parisian riots.

Love Wedding Repeat (Netflix film) — Sam Claflin, Olivia Munn, Eleanor Tomlinson, Joel Fry, and Freida Pinto star in an “innovative romantic comedy” that unfolds alternate versions of the same wedding. Claflin’s the romantic hero here, and he’s attempting to reunite with the One Who Got Away, Olivia Munn. Good luck, man.

The Main Event (Netflix film) — A superhero movie revolves around a magical wrestling mask that gives an 11-year-old boy super strength. Naturally, he enters a WWE competition and attempts to rise to WWE Superstar level. The movie stars Adam Pally and Ken Marino, along with Kofi Kingston, The Miz, and Sheamus.

Tigertail (Netflix film) — Alan Yang, who worked on Parks and Rec and co-created Master of None, presents an immigration drama that’s both nuanced and incredibly funny. The film’s tied to Yang’s father’s experience after moving to the Bronx from Taiwan, and as one can expect, the cultural shift resonated for him.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Charmed (Friday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — A faction gala event is targeted by the Charmed Ones to rescue Harry while Macy arrives at a shocking conclusion.

Dynasty (Friday, CW 9:00 p.m.) — Fallon becomes the Internet’s new queen of mean, and she’s actually not thrilled about it. This tosses her relationship into disarray, oh no.

Real Time With Bill Maher (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Virtual interview guests include NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, Al Gore, Ian Bremmer, and Nikki Glaser.

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (Sunday, HBO 8:00 p.m.) — Part II of HBO’s unraveling of a shameful legacy airs. Read our interview with two of the filmmakers, and then tune in to watch Wayne Williams odd behavior (and that of the police) make no sense.

Westworld (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — The confusion continues as the third season of this series follows up on those Delores reveals from last week. Theories abound already, so get dive into the futuristic dystopia.

Homeland (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — No one admits to anything, but Carrie’s still freaking out. We’re growing close to the penultimate freakout, so hang on, spy lovers.

Black Monday (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — A moral quandary arrives with a new client, and Tiff’s got an identity crisis brewing while Mo, Blair, and Keith dig into leads.

Insecure (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Issa’s holding a courtyard mixer to push a bigger block party to sponsors, but there’s a mutual connection that’s spawning trouble. Oh, and Molly is crushing on Anrew.

9-1-1 (Monday, FOX 8:00 p.m.) — The call center’s taken hostage, which (naturally) causes Maggie to fear for herself and her co-workers.

Better Call Saul (Monday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — Jimmy attempts business as usual while Kim’s got her own priorities following his misadventure.

The past year at FC Barcelona has occurred under an endless state of turmoil. There was the firing of head coach Ernesto Valverde, then there was “Barcagate,” the speculation that club president Josep Maria Bartomeu had hired a PR firm to deliberately sabotage some of the team’s former and current players on social media. In February, there was the very public spat between Eric Abidal, the sporting director, and Lionel Messi that still hasn’t really been resolved.

On Thursday night, the drama continued when six members of the club board resigned. As reported by La Vanguardia, the group’s letter of resignation to Bartomeu expressed discontent with his leadership and called for new elections, which would lead to a challenger emerging to take over the club:

We have reached this point by not being able to reverse the criteria and forms of management of the club in the face of the important challenges of the future and, especially, from the new post-pandemic scenario.

…

As a last service to our club, we recommend that as soon as circumstances allow it to convene new elections that allow, with all the ‘authority’, to manage the club in the best possible way in the face of the important challenges of the immediate future.

After rumors started swirling that Bartomeu was planning on reshuffling the boardroom, former vice president Emili Rousaud, joined by Enrique Tombas, Silvio Elías, Josep Pont, Maria Teixidor and Jordi Calsamiglia chose to leave the club. Bartomeu has been in charge since 2015.

In an interview with RAC1 on Friday, Rousaud suggested that someone at the club is stealing money and questioned Bartomeu’s honesty in an audit of the club’s finances. For their part, what was left of the Barcelona board immediately released a statement threatening legal action against the former vice president.

Bartomeu has come under pressure in recent months as internal strife within the club has worsened, making one of the richest clubs in the world look like an unorganized picture of corruption and mess. Fans have voiced their increasing frustrations on everything from the exorbitant amount of money the club was spending in the transfer market to the carousel of coaches to the consecutive disappointing exits from the UEFA Champions League.

Making matters worse is how the players have grown tired of the club’s antics as well. Reports of Messi’s dissatisfaction with the club’s transfers grow every day, Ivan Rakitic did not like how his rumored exit from the club was handled and the players released a statement last month about how they didn’t appreciate the way in which the club forced them to take a pay cut.

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It’s amazing how quickly things can shift. Just a few months ago, we were all making travel plans for 2020, now those grand designs are all on hold. Borders are closed. Hotels are being turned into hospitals. Airports are shutting down entirely. Answers to “When will it be safe to travel again?” are nebulous at best. “We simply don’t know” is the response du jour. The EU is thinking about reopening its borders around May 15th, but that could easily change. In fact, everything is subject to swift and immediate change.

Get used to being adaptable. And when we are actually allowed (and financially able) to get back on the road, expect travel itself to look a lot different. Temperature checks on planes, smaller crowds at clubs and festivals, masks at markets, and mandatory quarantines for people arriving or returning sick are all likely. We’re all going to have to tread lightly and adjust to the world as it presents itself.

Still, having something to look forward to — whether it’s getting to go to your favorite bar with your crew again, staying at a boutique hotel, or finally having the chance to fly to a far off land — is a therapy we could all use right now. And with airlines dropping change fees and hotels offering deals, there are some interesting opportunities available. Though it feels tough to square, it’s true that while a lot of folks are struggling financially and we need to do everything we can to help and support them, traveling to communities around the world and spending money on the road is going to be an essential part of those broader recovery efforts.

Is It Worth Booking A Flight Right Now?

We think the first question you have to ask yourself is “why?” With so many unknowns right now, do you want to lay out some cash for an airline that’s getting billions in bailout money anyway? Help your local restaurants instead. But also, why do you want to go to the place you’re thinking of booking? Do you need to go there?

On the flip side, prices are rock bottom right now. And not just for travel in the near future. Flights all the way into 2021 are also at rock bottom price points. And with most airlines waving their “change fees” across the board on tickets bought right now, the potential for you getting stuck with the bill is slim. So ask yourself this: Is it worth buying a cheap ticket now, holding on to it, and changing down the road if you need to? In the worst-case scenario, if the flight is full-on canceled, you’ll still have a voucher for another flight at a later date. (Though most airlines aren’t offering full refunds, so if you’re worried about going into financial insolvency over the next few months, please don’t risk it.)

For those with savings or few liabilities, it’s not a terrible idea to buy a cheap ticket home for Thanksgiving or even late summer and then taking a wait and see approach. There are people out there tracking flight deals all over the world, right now Still, with the whole industry — and the status of the entire planet — in flux, don’t count on anything being permanent.

Is It Worth Booking A Hotel/Resort Right Now?

This one is a little bit harder to parse. One, there are huge chains out there that are probably going to be fine because they have someone in Washington, D.C. lobbying for them. And big property collections like Hilton, Marriott, etc. all have free change or cancelation policies right now. But this also comes down to “why?” The big chains aren’t really offering any great deals besides standard 20 percent off early booking discounts. It’s more likely they’ll run sales once things are back up and running in order to entice you in.

On the other side of the spectrum, small and independent properties are hurting and going to continue to hurt (and possibly fail) without real support. You can book rooms at local resorts, B&Bs, or small hotels — likely run by your neighbors and certainly employing them — just to give them some promise for the future. If it doesn’t pan out, it doesn’t. At least you tried to support your local economy (or an economy in a hard-hit area — Italy, Navajo Country, NOLA, etc).

Is it worth it? We’d say “yes,” if you focus on independent spots. Giving small properties a sense of hope right now is a worthy pursuit.

Is It Worth Booking A Package Trip?

This one is even harder to define. Pretty much the entire package tour industry is reliant on commercial airlines and local accommodations, restaurants, and tour guides. That’s a lot of moving parts.

Some companies are only selling trips in 2021 right now. Others are selling trips starting in the summer with money-back guarantees and/or free change fees. Companies like Contiki are offering up to 30 percent off all of their 2021 European trips with solid rescheduling policies in place. And let’s be honest, places like Spain and Italy are going to really need tourists dollars to get back on their feet.

Is it worth it? If you can get 30 percent off a trip in 2021 and a money-back guarantee? Maybe. At the very least, it’ll give you something to look forward to in 2021. Though again, if you feel like you might get to a true financial pinch point in the next few months, do not take any risks.

Is It Worth Making Plans At All?

The travel industry is a vital part of economies in every single corner of the world. Tourism dollars fuel New York restaurants, small fishing villages in the South Pacific, entire industries worldwide, sites in Europe big and small, buskers on the streets of Dublin, craft breweries in Portland, and so much more.

It’s going to be hard for the travel world to recover from this. We don’t know when we’ll be able to freely travel again. There’s a good chance that we may never enjoy quite the same freedom to roam internationally that we’ve had over the last 30 years. But we will get back out there eventually, in some way or another. We just have to make sure we travel safely and wisely. Hopefully, we can continue to learn from our own mistakes in judgment over the past few months and be more aware of why travel is meaningful and what it offers to our lives going forward.