#Paddington in concert

[popcornforone]

hiya everyone, hope you all had a fab two week.

On this weeks episode, we have two reviews for you. Paddington in Concert & Monkey Man.

As well as that we look at what youve watched & what ive seen. We also finally complete the a to z of physical media. & it was also Popcorn for one day in the last 2 weeks so we chat about that too.

[lonelycowgirls]

get you a mutual bestie like my G 🥰

also the way I’ve been so uninspired to write and then one look at him 10 feet in front of me and suddenly I’m back on my bullshit 🤣🤣

Currently thinking about sweet wee nel who’s there just now and going to witness this

@lonelycowgirls I cannot wait for your full thoughts about this

[jcs-singular-slut-strand]

Getting into the car to go to that concert because the world didn't end when I sobbed my eyes out at the pictures seeing Paddington 3 last night before leaving the building and almost immediately fucking up my ankle

[wingzie]

The Mirrorring of Army: Then and Now

I didn't expect my previous post to gain some hate, so here goes my third post of the day: There are good and bad side to every fandom, but if you spend so much time with the negative. All you will see or feel is that negativity. Yes, some of my experiences with Army have been frustrating, but it's like a sibling relationship. I will still be there for other Army and A LOT of my experiences have honestly been life changing in a good way. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this... In 2019 BTS performed at the GMA. Spoilers: Jikook were very cute. Army there at the time were told to leave quickly and they did, but then returned to pick up their trash or belongings. Last year when Jungkook's concert, also at GMA, got cancelled there was a lot of confusion and fear. Army helped each other to get shelter and reach home. Especially those who were not from the area or who had flown in from South Korea. This is simular to what happened at Busan when the mobile network went down and some I-Army got stranded. K-Army helped them reach their destinations when they got turned down by local taxis. When BTS did their recent concerts, there were A LOT of complaints about Army not singing along enough. It was obvious that the sound wasn't coming through properly on the stream, because you could hear the chants in fancams. However, there was a delay. Now that we have the PTD Behinds, the members THEMSELVES mentioned about how bad the sound reverb was. There was a delay on the sound in the stadium, depending on where you stood. That's why in some clips it sounds like the fan chants are massively out of sync.

There was also the belief that certain members would get zero cheers whilst on stage. I still do not understand where this lie came from, but it spread very far and hashtags were started. All the members got the loudest cheers I have heard. They always will. It was started to create fear and it started a chain reaction for no apparent reason, because so many like to assume the worse before getting their facts right. Army also helped each other whilst waiting in lines. Again, simular to what happened at James Corden in 2020.

Back in 2019 there were a lot more scandals or hate aimed towards the members than some of you might know of. However, they were dealt with in GC's or in private to prevent those hateful words from spreading. Now it's almost like this hatred is used to get engagement. Paddington, a know anti back then, even said that they would say things to try to get on Report Pages because it would help get them more attention. Antis follow our report pages to know which posts or accounts to boost. Boosted accounts are harder to take down because of the Twitter algorithm and it's why so many do beg to not engage with such posts. This includes using their name, responding or quoting. Is there an easy solution? I don't really know. But if you ever start to feel unsure, please step away and remember those good times: When MMA 2020 Jikook happened. When we donated money to the Beyond the Rainbow Foundation in South Korea after Yoon won his election. The happiness each Bangton or Run Episode brings. The joy we'll feel once Jin is back...

[gardenwalrus]

Malcolm MacAlister Hall interview with Jane Asher, 'Forget Cakes… Jane Asher Talks about being Lazy, Leopard-Skin Boots and Learning to Live with the Darker Side of Life', Good Housekeeping (1 Feb. 2003)

Full article

When you think Jane Asher, you think cool, auburn, alabaster. You also think nice cake-lady. But, as is the case with anyone who has a spotless media record, there’s a great deal more going on. She is deeper, darker, lazier, more passionate than you would ever imagine. The perfect image that she’s acquired obscures this other Jane Asher, who knocks off The Times crossword for relaxation, describes herself as ‘left-leaning’ and discusses the idiocies of politicians with her husband, the cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, as he works on his drawings. ‘If you’re dealing with politics all the time you’ve got to be cynical, haven’t you?’ she says. When we meet, it’s the day after the Commons vote on extending adoption rights to gay and unmarried couples, and Jane is fizzing.

‘The debacle of Duncan Smith telling Tory MPs they had to take the three-line whip [meaning that every member must attend and vote according to the party line] - from a man who must be reasonably intelligent, it’s the stupidity that’s so mind-blowing,’ she says angrily. She speaks with a passion you wouldn’t begin to glean from reading between the lines of her biography: stage and film actress; astoundingly prolific author (18 books on cake design, home entertaining and childcare, plus three well-received novels); shrewd businesswoman (she has her own cake shop in Chelsea and Jane Asher branded goods are sold in Debenhams and supermarkets); mother of three children (Katie, 28, Alexander, 20, and Rory, 18); and wife of 30 years. At 56, she looks mesmerisingly beautiful to a jealousy-inducing degree: slim as a teenager and with an English-rose complexion, she genuinely appears 20 years younger than she really is. So, Jane: lucky genes, cosmetic miracle, or savage health and beauty regime? ‘I put it down to a combination of stress and stairs,’ she says. ‘There’s such an obsession now with reducing stress, but stress is just a natural part of living. And I grew up in a very tall house, and I still live in one now. I’ve had to run up and down stairs all my life.’ The tall house she grew up in was Wimpole Street in central London. Her father was an eminent consultant endocrinologist who identified Munchausen’s syndrome - where the patient feigns an illness to get admitted to hospital - and but for his modesty, it would have been labelled Asher’s syndrome. Her mother was a professor of music and an oboe teacher at the Royal Academy of Music. It was a happy, middle-class childhood. She and her sister Clare, now an Ofsted inspector, learned to curtsey at Miss Lambert’s School in Paddington. At 17, when she was working for the Radio Times, she was sent to cover a pop concert at the Albert Hall and met Paul McCartney in a corridor. He reportedly described her as a ‘rave London bird’. And the heavy-fringed Jane became the most famous girlfriend in Britain. It lasted five years, until she came home unexpectedly one day to find him with another girl. She walked out, and although he wrote And I Love Her and We Can Work It Out for her, she never returned. McCartney was said to be devastated. To this day, she has never spoken about it publicly. She has never spoken, either, about the death of her adored father who, struck by a terminal illness, committed suicide when she was in her early 20s. She has always politely insisted that these two events should not become just more public property. Her novels, surprisingly to some, have addressed serious issues - the traumas of infertility, betrayal and obsession. ‘Everyone gasps: “They’re so dark!”’ she says, ‘but life’s bleak and disturbing, isn’t it, really? We all float along pretending it isn’t, but when you stop to think about what’s going on at any moment, there’s probably a child screaming in pain within 10 miles of wherever you are. I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but it’s bloody awful.

‘I don’t know why, but my fiction does tend to look at the blacker side. But hopefully with humour as well - as in life. In fiction, although it’s all invented, you probably are letting out more of yourself: your beliefs, your feelings, your attitude to things. I think when I’m writing fiction it’s almost like a bit of the real Jane is speaking to the reader.’ At weekends, the ‘real Jane’ likes to gather the family around her at their large house overlooking the Thames. ‘That’s when I do enjoy cooking for them all,’ she says. ‘Weekday cooking gets a bit boring when you’ve just got to feed everyone every day, but at weekends when I’ve got a bit more time I like experimenting with new things. It’s relaxing.’ Her family and her marriage to Gerald are clearly her foundation. ‘He’s just lovely and funny and we think the same way about things,’ she says. ‘Not that a 30-year marriage is all easy and wonderful, of course. But I’m very lucky I picked such a lovely man. It’s wonderful to have someone who loves you whatever you look like and whatever you do - I always think about that when he sees me in my bath cap, the most unattractive object in the world,’ she says, amid gales of laughter. ‘If you can pass the bath-cap test, I think you’ve got a very strong marriage.’ On most other subjects, she dismisses her achievements. ‘I’ve never been clever enough to plan a career for myself. I just sort of lurch from one thing to another,’ she says. ‘As a writer I have to have a deadline or I would never do it. It’s a combination of being lazy but also not being able to say no to things. But I’m just as happy lying on a sofa watching an old film and doing nothing. I don’t find it difficult to switch off and ignore piles of things I should have done. ‘Obviously I wrote all the books and did all the cake things because of the children. I didn’t want to leave them when they were young, and I could do those things from home.’ She made a conscious decision to put her children before her acting career, and turned down countless roles. ‘It wasn’t always easy. There were things I would have really liked to do, mostly plays. But I don’t regret it for a second. I think it’s made a huge difference, hopefully, to all of them being as happy as they are, that Gerald and I were around all through their childhood.’ And now that her children are grown, she has taken a role so far removed from anything else she’s done that it almost beggars belief. But it’s precisely because her children are now more independent and she fancies doing ‘something that’s terrific fun and in mainstream television again’ that she’s taking the unlikely role of the new proprietor of Crossroads Hotel. The revamped soap, set in a Birmingham hotel, is not in its third incarnation, and Jane will be playing Angel Samson, owner and queen bee of this buzzing hive of sex, intrigue, high-voltage frocks and clashing personalities. The word around the studio corridors is that the new, and hopefully improved, soap is going to be like Dynasty in the Midlands. Angel is described as being a superbitch, but what’s Jane Asher doing in the middle of this cat-fight? Can she even do bitchy?

‘Oh, yes,’ she says. ‘We’ve just done a scene where I’m absolutely horrible to Kate, the hotel manager, who’s played by Jane Gurnett. There’s nothing more fun than having a fight with someone you get one with. And,’ she adds, ‘we’ve got lots of wonderful frocks.’ She jumps up to riffle through her stage wardrobe, pulling out sequinned dresses and sky-high stiletto leopard print boots. ‘These are so tottery,’ she exclaims. ‘They make me feel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.’ Despite her girlish enthusiasm for the role - and its frocks - she admits that this is the sort of part she might have once turned down. ‘If I’m honest, 20 years ago I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go into a soap, but they’ve changed so much. Now you get every kind of actor popping up in them, and they’re such a big part of our culture. When this came up, I really didn’t hesitate.’ The time was just right, it seems, for Jane Asher to mess with our perception of her again.

[world-of-wales]

The Princess of Wales with Faustina Yang and the Paddington Bear at the Together At Christmas Concert at Westminster Abbey || 8 DECEMBER 2023

[thepastisalreadywritten]

What does Paddington have to do with the Queen?

It can all be traced back to 1986, when Michael Bond wrote Paddington At The Palace.

In the story, Paddington Bear goes to Buckingham Palace, waves a Union Jack flag, gets to see the Queen’s Guard, and even supposedly spots Queen Elizabeth II herself through a window.

Paddington would visit the palace again in 2006, this time for a pantomime called The Queen’s Handbag, which took place as part of the children’s party at the palace as part of the Queen’s 80th birthday celebrations.

The most recent collaboration came this year as part of a tribute for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (2022). 

In a comedy sketch to launch her televised Jubilee concert, Paddington and Queen Elizabeth II sit down in Buckingham Palace together, sharing afternoon tea, some bear-induced clumsy chaos, and naturally, marmalade sandwiches.

Now considered one of the most memorable parts of the Jubilee celebrations, the video has just over 10.2 million views on YouTube.

“It used to be said that millions of people had dreams in which they had tea with the Queen,” remarked Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the writer of the sketch, after the Queen’s passing.

“Even our dream life is going to have to change. Watching her have tea with Paddington will have to do instead.”

This wasn’t Paddington’s only appearance during the Platinum celebrations.

Artist Eleanor Tomlinson created an image of the Queen holding hands with Paddington, alongside one of the Queen’s corgis, as they walk through what looks like the aftermath of a Jubilee street party.

This image has now become synonymous with the Queen’s passing, with the picture circulating widely with various heartfelt captions and even being turned into commemorative tattoos. 

https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/queen-elizabeth-ii-paddington-bear-connection/707799

🤍💜🤍

[ijustwantedtobeoneofthestrokesuk]

Is That It?

New York

New York was energised, and it all coincided with a new ‘sound’. The Strokes had just released their debut album in Australia and the UK, September saw it come out in the US and the spotlight was on New York because of The Strokes too. The most hyped band in the world helped build a new movement in music that would last the decade.  

The Modern Age EP was 3 songs, the band had done 1 tour in the UK, they were the biggest band in the world, the pressure was on. Is This It came out, 11 songs, 36 minutes and 28 seconds but it could have easily been forgotten with 9/11. 

9/11 was unlike anything before, it happened live on TV, the first major moment in the age of 24/7 news. New York was mourning, everyone was empathic for New York and Is This It felt so New York (the USA release was pushed back and they replaced one song, New York City Cops with When It Started). The album could have been buried under the rumble of 9/11 but it was a tribute to New York, it made New York cool again. That band looked effortlessly cool, the messy hair, leather jackets, ripped jeans and Converse hi-tops, it was punk in the 21st Century and the album sounded just as cool, so different, so fresh and flawless.

Jay McAllister (Beans On Toast) “The Strokes felt like they emerged out of thin air and became everybody’s favourite band overnight. I was at Reading the year they were supposed to be the small band tent and they moved up to the main stage as everyone wanted to see them, the music matched up to that.” 

They were young, good-looking poster boys, girls wanted to sleep with them, boys wanted to be them (as Alex Turner sings on Star Treatment). The Strokes brought skinny jeans back from the seventies paired with vintage tees, and a don’t give a fuck attitude. It was punk, it was cool. Our parents might have seen this before but we hadn’t.  

Tom Atkin (The Paddingtons) “Everyone was waiting for The Strokes to come out, everyone needed this movement. They gave birth to that whole era, such an amazing time.”

That debut lived up to the hype that the NME had generated. In 2001 that hyped saw the band be upgraded to the mainstage at the Reading and Leeds Festival,  a year later, they headlined it, playing after icons Pulp. 

MTV played a key part in distributing music in the early 2000’s, videos gave an insight into “who” the band was, in an era before they would share everything on social media. The Strokes made some iconic videos (Somedayshowed the band hanging about at a bar, taking on Guided by Voices at a TV game show and just being cool dudes with Slash).

It was their MTV $2 Dollar Bill Concert that “sold” the band as it captured everything special and exciting about them. Julian stumbled on the stage in the iconic military jacket, Nick stands out in a white blazer while Fab doesn’t miss a beat. It was filmed to look vintage at the time, over 20 years later, it looks like a classic. 

The question everyone was asking was, can they do it again?

Yes.

Initially, they returned to New York to work with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich for Room On Fire however those sessions were scrapped, both him and Julian clashed as they are control freaks. They went back to the tried and trusted Gordon Raphael.

London

Gordon “There was more time and a big studio (my small studio was gone by then.. as I was living in UK) when it came to recording Room On Fire. The band had been touring for two years and were SO SO tight and powerful. Nothing could have prepared me for that happy surprise.”  

It still had that same feel that everyone loved from the debut but it was polished, cleaner, and modern. Julian’s vocals had gone from muffled to slightly digitalised and, it wasn’t recorded “live”, it wasn’t raw, instead it was slicker. It was the same, but different. The songs weren’t as instant, they didn’t hit as hard but that was ok, they didn’t need to have attention-grabbing singles this time. They had already proved that they could do it and, which album is better is always a great argument.

Unfortunately, after releasing the album, the band admitted they weren’t exactly happy with it, It was finished with sleepless nights, arguments and stress to reach the deadline RCA had given. Is This It might have been important, but it wasn’t a big seller, RCA put heat on the band to deliver on Room On Fire which came out just over 2 years after the debut. 

Between those 2 releases, the band toured the world a few times, playing over 200 gigs while living under constant pressure to live up to the hype. The Strokes tried to avoid being labelled as “rockstars”, but they lived like them, never shy around drink and drugs, they were in their early 20’s, it was inevitable.  Julian had been a drinker from an early age, the band might have been a 5-piece but Julian was more than a frontman, the songs were his. Every day was full with duties, interviews, promoting, soundchecks and gigs, the afterparty was the relief. There wasn’t time, or energy to write new songs, so, when the tours were finished and it was time to go in the studio, the only thing they had were hangovers. Still, a decent effort!

NEXT CHAPTER

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

I hate to bring it up after HM passing but you weren't around when it happens what did you think of the jubilee celebrations? I thought th RF really pulled it out of the bag, I still can't watch her skit with Paddington without crying.

Paddington and the light show at BP were amazing. I felt the impromptu fashion show at the concert could have been better. The designs were not as compelling as they could have been.

[noxexistant]

What happened looks concerned

several turns of events :’)

including a blur concert happening at wembley stadium, which is directly next to the newsies theatre, which let out at near the exact same time as newsies, so the trains were absolute chaos. hence me being unable to get back to paddington quick enough to get any of the last trains, and tomorrow it’s sunday service so the first train isn’t until 7am. so i’m waiting until 7am

also, if you’re curious, this was a small portion of the crowd getting out of wembley:

[phansterdam]

end of year joy list

was tagged by @deathclassic (like 2 days ago. sorry molly!) to make a little list of things that made me happy in 2023!! it's been a pretty big year for me with some ups and downs, but definitely a lot of ups!

big things:

i wrote my bachelor's thesis and successfully graduated! it was a lot of work and quite stressful but i'm really proud of myself

i started my masters degree in multilingualism in germany! it was my first time moving out of my parents' place and it's a long way away, but i'm so fucking glad i did it as it's been amazing so far!

in germany, i fell into a wonderful friend group, which has been so good for me as i was so fucking lonely before. i haven't known them that long yet, but all of them already mean a lot to me

got a girlfriend let's goooooooo!!! getting together was a literal hallmark movie lol so yeah that's been very exciting

dan and phil cam back!!!! (also i saw wad!) yes this is under big things fucking sue me

small things:

i didn't go to a lot of concerts but the ones i did go (eurovision in concert and froukje) were sooo good!!

i went on a lot of cool trips this year: berlin with my study association, solo interrailing through germany and denmark, and antwerp with my friends!

i read 36 books, most of which i would recommend, but the best ones were mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia, bunny by mona awad and giovanni's room by james baldwin

i watched around 40 movies this year! i was never that much of a movie person, but i guess i am now lol. best ones (in no particular order) were nimona, both paddingtons, both knives outs, bottoms, heathers, eeaao and barbie

don't think i watched that many shows this year but i did watch both succession and breaking bad and damn that's good tv

knitted so many things. my room is overflowing with knitted things. also i learned to crochet!

not tagging anyone bc idk who hasn't done this yet or if anyone even still wants to do it now we're in january proper, but if you see this and you want to do this then i want you specifically to do it

[wishicouldcrossthesea]

when i was in london this summer i wanted to go to evensong at westminster abbey but the line for the free concert immediately preceding the service was so long i went into the gift shop to loiter, was faced with a display of paddington meets the king memorabilia as soon as i walked in, and immediately turned around and got on a bus to saint paul's instead

[snowonthebeachmp3]

i need the royal family to get their hands off nationally beloved bear characters. first paddington at the platinum jubilee and now winnie the pooh at the coronation concert. get a job leave them alone!!

[dannythedog]

I was tagged by @gold-mines-melting and @gretavanfran 💕

1. Are you named after anyone?

My middle name is after my moms cousin who passed right before I was born. She considered him her brother. I know it’s sentimental, but I hate my middle name lol

2. When was the last time you cried?

The other day while watching the movie Paddington

3. Do you have any kids?

Nope

4. Do you use sarcasm?

😐 no

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Probably their hair or their clothes

6. What’s the color of your eyes?

Green but I have a ring of brown around my pupils so I guess that would technically be hazel

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I really like scary movies but sometimes im in the mood for a good happy ending

8. Any special talents?

Not really. I can pick up most wind instruments and teach myself

9. Where were you born?

Michigan

10. What are your hobbies?

I like cross stitching and blogging and going to concerts

11. Do you have any pets?

A cat named Tony :)

12. What sports do you regularly play?

None

13. How tall are you?

5’5

14. Favorite subject in school?

Band but if you don’t count that then English

15. Dream job?

Doing something that can get me on tour with a band

I’ll tag: @jackiidk @maverick-rose @canyonmoonkiszka @safety-sam

[humbug83]

Best of 2024

Favourite songs

Too Sweet - Hozier

Filthy Rich - Ella Henderson

Die With a Smile - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars

We Pray - Coldplay

Teardrops - Liam Payne 🥺

Also special mention to Stardust by Zayn from his album which was released in May but which I heard for the first time from his tribute to Liam at the end of his concerts and it's been on repeat a lot ever since 🥺

Favourite movies (I haven't watched many new movies this year)

The Garfield Movie

I also liked Paddington in Peru

Favourite TV (there are loads of series from this year that I haven't got round to watching yet)

Mr Bates vs The Post Office (I cried!)

Saturday Night Takeaway (hopefully not the last ever series 😭)

I'm a Celeb

I've really enjoyed Neighbours this year

Favourite book (I haven't read as many books as I'd have liked to this year)

More Confessions of a Forty Something F**k Up - Alexandra Potter

Favourite social media

Ant & Dec's Instagram

Person of the year

Danny Jones - he won Masked Singer at the beginning of the year and I'm A Celeb at the end of the year. From Piranha to Pencil 😂

[musicnewsweb]

ICYMI: Paddington in Concert tickets now on sale - #Paddington @Paddington http://dlvr.it/T3RkRj