I have a small claim to fame. One of his sisters is a friend-of-a-friend and she borrowed my best maternity dress - the one I bought to graduate in - to wear to Holyrood when he was sworn in.
Alex Salmond 69 years. An affable chap who came across well north and south of the Scottish border. His supporters would say that he was dedicated to achieving Scottish independence. I would say that he was dedicated to breaking up the United Kingdom.
We have a delightful photo of Alex Salmond, aged about 7 or so, at our friends' house in Linlithgow, wearing a paper hat at a birthday party. Not a great picture, but he is instantly recognisable - he didn't change much!
I knew his work mainly as editor of Saturday Night, a monthly magazine he edited for many years and was a very influential quality magazine of arts, politics, and culture. Unfortunately it never broke even and eventually was shut down after being taken over by Conrad Black. His memoirs Best Seat in the House make for interesting reading about a particular time as the Canadian cultural world was starting to develop an independent identity.
I knew his work mainly as editor of Saturday Night, a monthly magazine he edited for many years and was a very influential quality magazine of arts, politics, and culture. Unfortunately it never broke even and eventually was shut down after being taken over by Conrad Black. His memoirs Best Seat in the House make for interesting reading about a particular time as the Canadian cultural world was starting to develop an independent identity.
A while back on the Canadian politics thread we were discussing him, wondering if he was still alive. (Which, obviously, he was.)
I think on that thread I mentioned that our high-school social-studies textbooks had an essay by him published during the October Crisis, attacking the imposition of the War Measures Act. While I might not go so far as to describe that as a courageous opinion, it was definitely swimming against the current.
For the record, Saturday Night was purchased by Black in 1987, but actually lasted until 2005, albeit for a few years as a weekend supplement in Hollinger papers.
Liam Payne, Pop star aged 31 years.
Liam was born and raised in Wolverhampton. He found fame as a member of One Direction. It made him rich but he never found regular happiness and he had a troubled life.
Some might say he was a glory hunter because he supported my team, West Bromwich Albion.
Oh - that's a bit close to home, though I didn't get into the band until mid-80s. I was a misfit at a rather posh school, and Bruce Dickenson (PDA's replacement) turned up a couple of times at the invitation of the fencing tutor. Not the kind of fencing I ever found myself engaged in.
Another 70s-80s UK legend is dead - shot-putter and world's strongest man Geoff Capes. Continuing the 'builder' theme he apparently still holds the UK record for throwing a brick.
Was Dickinson famous at the time he visited your school?
He was, yes. Apparently he was more keen to talk to the fencing boys, than fans in 'Eddie' T-shirts - or so a friend told me, who was into fencing. (I played table tennis, because you didn't have to pay extra to do it. I was a poor footballer, and even worse at Rugby though, oddly, no tuition seemed available there. Perhaps those skills are hereditary).
The actual director of all those films billed as "Andy Warhol's [whatever]".
I think the only films I ever saw by him were half of Andy Warhol's Trash, Mixed Blood, about gang wars in NYC's Alphabet(real 80s thing), and Beethoven's Nephew, about Beethoven's rather unseemly obsession with a young relative. But I'd say the two horror parodies, Andy Warhol's Dracula and Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, along with Spike Of Bensonhurst, were probably his most well-known films.
Like Warhol, he seems to have been a sexually conservative Catholic harbouring a fascination for the debauched. I read an interview with him from around 2012, in which he denounced the Factory scene as degenerate, insulted Warhol with ablist slurs, and opined that Michelle and Barack Obama were "Mr. And Mrs. Communist".
Incidentally, the people named in the song Take A Walk On The Wild Side were all members of the Morrissey stable of actors.
Not known to anyone but a small subset of Australians...
Sister Theodora (Virginia) of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese passed earlier this week. I met her once earlier this year when I visited the monastery she was at. She encouraged me to read alternatively with her Psalms and hymns and prayers at Vespers and at Matins while we waited for the professionals to arrive ha ha (it's a parish church as well as the formerly two monastics) which was a blessing. Memory eternal!
susie menadue
Her husband John is perhaps better known to Australians but between them they established and ran the excellent public policy website Pearls and Irritations
Terri Garr also appeared in one episode of original Star Trek!
Meanwhile, in Herefordshire, local author Phil Rickman has just died. He wrote the Merrily Watkins novels that we're discussing in Heaven at the moment.
Meanwhile, in Herefordshire, local author Phil Rickman has just died. He wrote the Merrily Watkins novels that we're discussing in Heaven at the moment.
Do you have a link? His demise hasn't made it to wikipedia yet. (Possibly not surprising, since his page is VERY sparsely maintained.)
It has occassionally occured to me that in Oh, God! and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, she played basically the same character, facing the same situation: the much-suffering wife of an otherwise unremarkable man on a frenzied mission to connect humanity with a higher power.
Other than that, I never saw Young Frankenstein in full until I was in my 30s or 40s, and her performance left little impression on me. Never saw Mr. Mom.
Caitlin Warrior, the administrator of the Phil Rickman Appreciation Society page on Facebook, announced the news. As I'm a member, I saw it pretty much straight away.
Phil's new book, Echo of Crows, will be coming out shortly.
Caitlin Warrior, the administrator of the Phil Rickman Appreciation Society page on Facebook, announced the news. As I'm a member, I saw it pretty much straight away.
Oh, I'm sure. But anyone relying on media-of-record or wikipedia would assume he was still alive right now.
The BBC has posted their obituary for Phil Rickman.
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
I don’t know how you could possibly decide whether to regard an author as an arbiter of literary taste when you’ve only read a few pages of the thousands and thousands of pages that author has written. And surely no one judges a writer’s literary abilities based on a movie adaptation, especially given that movie adaptations often differ from the books they’re based on.
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
I don’t know how you could possibly decide whether to regard an author as an arbiter of literary taste when you’ve only read a few pages of the thousands and thousands of pages that author has written. And surely no one judges a writer’s literary abilities based on a movie adaptation, especially given that movie adaptations often differ from the books they’re based on.
Yes. That's why my statements were intended partly as qualification, not simply as an announcement of credentials. I was kinda throwing it out there to see what those better-versed in the relevant writing might think.
There are a few writers whose PLOT DEVICES I think I can probably generalize about without having read any of the books, based on what seems to get repeated in film after film of their work. Stephen King is one, Philip K. Dick another. But that only applies to plot, not style.
I think the idea is that Stephen King is a famous horror writer, and Phil Rickman wrote horror, so Stephen King's opinion was worth listening to on the quality of his work.
I've just seen an article on local (Oz) ABC that Quincy Jones has died aged 91, working with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson. That was some career!
@WormInTheGrass there was a lovely tribute to Susie Menadue (I think it was on Pearls and Irritations), which I read every so often.
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
I don’t know how you could possibly decide whether to regard an author as an arbiter of literary taste when you’ve only read a few pages of the thousands and thousands of pages that author has written. And surely no one judges a writer’s literary abilities based on a movie adaptation, especially given that movie adaptations often differ from the books they’re based on.
Yes. That's why my statements were intended partly as qualification, not simply as an announcement of credentials. I was kinda throwing it out there to see what those better-versed in the relevant writing might think.
There are a few writers whose PLOT DEVICES I think I can probably generalize about without having read any of the books, based on what seems to get repeated in film after film of their work. Stephen King is one, Philip K. Dick another. But that only applies to plot, not style.
Not a big reader of Stephen King myself, but even I wouldn't be willing to say that The Shining and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (both of these works have been adapted as films so there may be more general familiarity than with any of King's unadapted works) have the same plot.
Famed illustrator Greg Hildebrandt has died. With his twin brother, they did many popular illustrations as "The Brothers Hildebrandt." I am trying to remember the fantasy book I had growing up with their illustrations. It was not anything Tolkien or Star Wars related.
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
I don’t know how you could possibly decide whether to regard an author as an arbiter of literary taste when you’ve only read a few pages of the thousands and thousands of pages that author has written. And surely no one judges a writer’s literary abilities based on a movie adaptation, especially given that movie adaptations often differ from the books they’re based on.
Yes. That's why my statements were intended partly as qualification, not simply as an announcement of credentials. I was kinda throwing it out there to see what those better-versed in the relevant writing might think.
There are a few writers whose PLOT DEVICES I think I can probably generalize about without having read any of the books, based on what seems to get repeated in film after film of their work. Stephen King is one, Philip K. Dick another. But that only applies to plot, not style.
Not a big reader of Stephen King myself, but even I wouldn't be willing to say that The Shining and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (both of these works have been adapted as films so there may be more general familiarity than with any of King's unadapted works) have the same plot.
Well, maybe plot per se was the wrong word. Plot-devices, motifs, etc.
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
I don’t know how you could possibly decide whether to regard an author as an arbiter of literary taste when you’ve only read a few pages of the thousands and thousands of pages that author has written. And surely no one judges a writer’s literary abilities based on a movie adaptation, especially given that movie adaptations often differ from the books they’re based on.
Yes. That's why my statements were intended partly as qualification, not simply as an announcement of credentials. I was kinda throwing it out there to see what those better-versed in the relevant writing might think.
There are a few writers whose PLOT DEVICES I think I can probably generalize about without having read any of the books, based on what seems to get repeated in film after film of their work. Stephen King is one, Philip K. Dick another. But that only applies to plot, not style.
Not a big reader of Stephen King myself, but even I wouldn't be willing to say that The Shining and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (both of these works have been adapted as films so there may be more general familiarity than with any of King's unadapted works) have the same plot.
The film should have been Raquel Welch and the Shawshank Redemption
Comments
https://brenansfh.com/tribute/details/32995/Richard-G-Thorne/obituary.html#tribute-start
I have a small claim to fame. One of his sisters is a friend-of-a-friend and she borrowed my best maternity dress - the one I bought to graduate in - to wear to Holyrood when he was sworn in.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-prominent-public-intellectual-robert-fulford-was-a-champion-of/
I knew his work mainly as editor of Saturday Night, a monthly magazine he edited for many years and was a very influential quality magazine of arts, politics, and culture. Unfortunately it never broke even and eventually was shut down after being taken over by Conrad Black. His memoirs Best Seat in the House make for interesting reading about a particular time as the Canadian cultural world was starting to develop an independent identity.
A while back on the Canadian politics thread we were discussing him, wondering if he was still alive. (Which, obviously, he was.)
I think on that thread I mentioned that our high-school social-studies textbooks had an essay by him published during the October Crisis, attacking the imposition of the War Measures Act. While I might not go so far as to describe that as a courageous opinion, it was definitely swimming against the current.
For the record, Saturday Night was purchased by Black in 1987, but actually lasted until 2005, albeit for a few years as a weekend supplement in Hollinger papers.
Liam was born and raised in Wolverhampton. He found fame as a member of One Direction. It made him rich but he never found regular happiness and he had a troubled life.
Some might say he was a glory hunter because he supported my team, West Bromwich Albion.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2024-10-21/paul-dianno-dead-iron-maiden-original-vocalist
Oh - that's a bit close to home, though I didn't get into the band until mid-80s. I was a misfit at a rather posh school, and Bruce Dickenson (PDA's replacement) turned up a couple of times at the invitation of the fencing tutor. Not the kind of fencing I ever found myself engaged in.
Another 70s-80s UK legend is dead - shot-putter and world's strongest man Geoff Capes. Continuing the 'builder' theme he apparently still holds the UK record for throwing a brick.
I'm confused. Why did the fencing instructor invite Bruce Dickinson to your school?
I've never fenced, but I have hedged...
@mark_in_manchester
Was Dickinson famous at the time he visited your school?
Boooooo!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Ely
He was, yes. Apparently he was more keen to talk to the fencing boys, than fans in 'Eddie' T-shirts - or so a friend told me, who was into fencing. (I played table tennis, because you didn't have to pay extra to do it. I was a poor footballer, and even worse at Rugby though, oddly, no tuition seemed available there. Perhaps those skills are hereditary).
The actual director of all those films billed as "Andy Warhol's [whatever]".
I think the only films I ever saw by him were half of Andy Warhol's Trash, Mixed Blood, about gang wars in NYC's Alphabet(real 80s thing), and Beethoven's Nephew, about Beethoven's rather unseemly obsession with a young relative. But I'd say the two horror parodies, Andy Warhol's Dracula and Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, along with Spike Of Bensonhurst, were probably his most well-known films.
Like Warhol, he seems to have been a sexually conservative Catholic harbouring a fascination for the debauched. I read an interview with him from around 2012, in which he denounced the Factory scene as degenerate, insulted Warhol with ablist slurs, and opined that Michelle and Barack Obama were "Mr. And Mrs. Communist".
Incidentally, the people named in the song Take A Walk On The Wild Side were all members of the Morrissey stable of actors.
Sister Theodora (Virginia) of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese passed earlier this week. I met her once earlier this year when I visited the monastery she was at. She encouraged me to read alternatively with her Psalms and hymns and prayers at Vespers and at Matins while we waited for the professionals to arrive ha ha (it's a parish church as well as the formerly two monastics) which was a blessing. Memory eternal!
I met her just a couple of times when very newly Orthodox but found I had to avoid being "taken over" by her.
Her husband John is perhaps better known to Australians but between them they established and ran the excellent public policy website Pearls and Irritations
Meanwhile, in Herefordshire, local author Phil Rickman has just died. He wrote the Merrily Watkins novels that we're discussing in Heaven at the moment.
Do you have a link? His demise hasn't made it to wikipedia yet. (Possibly not surprising, since his page is VERY sparsely maintained.)
It has occassionally occured to me that in Oh, God! and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, she played basically the same character, facing the same situation: the much-suffering wife of an otherwise unremarkable man on a frenzied mission to connect humanity with a higher power.
Other than that, I never saw Young Frankenstein in full until I was in my 30s or 40s, and her performance left little impression on me. Never saw Mr. Mom.
As of a minute or so ago, Rickman remains in the present tense on wikipedia. Some curious stuff in the editing section, however.
The battle on wiki continues, with present-tense currently carrying the day.
There are now about four or five rather obscure sites reporting the passing of Phil Rickman, but nothing so far that I can find in analog media.
Phil's new book, Echo of Crows, will be coming out shortly.
Oh, I'm sure. But anyone relying on media-of-record or wikipedia would assume he was still alive right now.
Interestingly, they apparently thought it laudatory to mention that he had been praised by Stephen King. Only read the first few pages of The Shining and seen about a dozen movies based on his books, but I personally wouldn't regard King as an arbiter of literary taste. (Though, granted, what I read of The Shining was pretty effective.)
There are a few writers whose PLOT DEVICES I think I can probably generalize about without having read any of the books, based on what seems to get repeated in film after film of their work. Stephen King is one, Philip K. Dick another. But that only applies to plot, not style.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Stephen_King
At the top is a picture of him receiving the US National Medal of Arts.
@WormInTheGrass there was a lovely tribute to Susie Menadue (I think it was on Pearls and Irritations), which I read every so often.
Not a big reader of Stephen King myself, but even I wouldn't be willing to say that The Shining and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (both of these works have been adapted as films so there may be more general familiarity than with any of King's unadapted works) have the same plot.
Ah! The Sword of Shannara. Yes, that was it.
That's basically Tolkien fan fiction, isn't it?
Well, maybe plot per se was the wrong word. Plot-devices, motifs, etc.
The film should have been Raquel Welch and the Shawshank Redemption