Renny Rye, who directed The Box of Delights, and Devin Stanfield, who played Kay Harker, are interviewed for a Guardian piece on the making of this children's classic. Here is a little of what they have to say. Renny Rye I remember reading the script for the first episode, which includes Punch and Judy man Cole Hawlings riding into a painting and Kay landing in a wolf-besieged Roman encampment on a flying pony, and thinking, "OK, how do we do that?" These things just weren't possible in those days, but the technology was changing daily and the BBC was building ...
The death of the broadcaster Victor Lewis-Smith was announced today and John Jefferson, the first manager of BBC Radio York, shared his memories of him with the city's commercial station York Mix: "When we were setting up Radio York we were trying to find people who weren't little grey men. "Victor had just left the university music department with a trail of interesting stories behind him - larger than life stories. He walked into our lives and we took him on. "Wisely or unwisely, we gave him a Sunday morning show called News Buff. "And we were absolutely amazed by ...
Belgian card-indexes don't feature very much in the history of the internet or lists of amazing human achievements. But (as I've belatedly discovered) they should.
The government is mobilising the army to deal with civil problems. It is not the first time. Think back to the London Olympics. And the army's Green Goddesses that were used in the fire strikes of 1977 and 2002. Armed forces were also used during the epidemic, but that was a national emergency and all hands were needed. But we are not now facing a national emergency. We are facing strike action because the Conservatives have been in power too long. They have lost what little understanding they had with the gritty realities of life for many people. They have ...
It's not often that a football club stops, the fans stand and they give a rousing round of applause for a timed minute for anyone – but this was exactly what Cheltenham Town Football Club did for former Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones who recently died. An avowed community activist Nigel was a subscriber to the view that community politics – Tony Greaves-style – was a political philosophy and not a political tactic. He believed that Focus leaflets kept people informed and in touch and he stood by the Penhaligon mantra 'put it on a piece of paper and put ...
What is group A Streptococcus (GAS)? Group A streptococci are bacteria commonly found in the throat and on the skin. The vast majority of GAS infections are relatively mild illnesses, such as strep throat and impetigo. Occasionally, however, these bacteria can cause much more severe and even life threatening diseases. In addition, people may carry group A streptococci [...] The post Streptococcus A and Scarlet Fever: note from the Director of Public Health first appeared on Chris White.
Oops, it turns out that the impact of Brexit may be even worse than that envisaged by the most hardened remainer, with the official statistics watchdog pulling up Conservative Ministers on the accuaracy of some of their claims. The Guardian reports that the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) has reprimanded the Conservatives for claiming the UK had secured £800bn in "new free trade deals" since leaving the EU, saying the figure includes deals rolled over from before Brexit. In particular UKSA has written to the Tories about an infographic, shared last month by Michael Gove among others, warning that the party ...
Penelope James, current chair of the local Dover & Deal Lib Dem party, has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the next general election in Dover.
On 12 October two young members of the LGBTI+ community, university student and bartender Matus Horvath and visual merchandiser Juras Vankulic - were shot dead outside 'Teplaren', one of Bratislava's two LGBTI+ bars. The killer, the son of a local far-right politician, who later shot himself, had before the shootings published online a white suprematist manifesto, expressing his wish to carry out further attacks on different groups. The killings took place in Slovakia, a country which for months had witnessed increasing lies and insults from Slovakian politicians and the Catholic Church aimed at the LGBTI+ community, whipping up the atmosphere ...
The latest edition of Low Fell eFocus was published last week. Key issues covered include:Consultation date extended on Leisure CentreLow Fell's Service of RemembranceRosslyn Avenue bollardPorky's/O'Malley's Licensing ApplicationThanks to Team Digital PrintersYou can read eFocus on this link.
Finally, a debate is settled, or probably not. Shrews-bury or Shrows-bury? Development of artificial intelligence has been underway for decades. From primitive beginnings, it has been growing in power and in "humanness". Contact your bank or your council and in many cases, you'll be talking to AI by voice or online. But no one thinks these have intelligence. Mutter something unexpected to your bank's bot like "how do you cook crumpets" and you can cut through to a real human operator. At least I think it is a real human operator. Chat GPT is becoming a favourite internet game. It ...
Interesting fact from last night's Westminster Hour (BBC Radio4, 22:00hr, 11th of December). Across the UK there are one million planning permissions for new homes that are currently active. There is of course a long-standing housing shortage and has been for many decades. Why is this? It certainly is not because bureaucracy and red tape is standing in the way. Housing, whether a flat or house, lies at the root of poverty in the United Kingdom. The condition of one's home, whether it suffers from damp, how much it cost to heat, whether it is big enough, all feed into ...
I Wonder as I Wander was written by the American folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles, based on a fragment of folk song he collected in the Appalachians in 1933. It has since become a favourite Christmas hymn.
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2022 Miller's Wynd - closed until 26 December 2022 at its junction with Hawkhill for major construction works. Westfield Place - traffic control from Monday 12 December for 5 days for street lighting replacement works. Forthcoming Roadworks Glamis Drive - closed eastbound in 2 phases from Monday 9 January for 4 weeks for Scotland Gas Networks work. Phase 1: Hazel Avenue to Glamis Road. Phase 2: Invergowrie Drive to Hazel Avenue.
