#The Lookout 2007

[filmjunky-99]

t h e l o o k o u t, 2007 🎬 dir. scott frank

[barefoot-gothic]

The Lookout (2007)

[grecoromanyaoi]

helloo since we're on the topic: top historical fiction (or adjacent) ? can be any time period I just really love your taste in shows/games/etc and am always on the lookout for history inspired media !

thank you!!! im rly glad im like. inspiring other ppl to engage w things im insane abt hudofajsdfdassfsad. anyways. i will probably expand that list bc i literally forgot every single thing i ever read. also i havent watched that many movies so far

ancient times: i havent really watched a lot of movies/series set in ancient times so far :(

rome HBO (2005-2007) (tv series) - OF COURSE. i personally think its one of the best series ever made. they combine political, miliatry history with the lives of every day people in an incredible way. they never let you once engage with the series through modern lenses. according to my teacher (a historian, archeologist & self described 'romaphile') its incredibly historically accurate, mostly the clothing, set designs, characterization, military practices, etc. except for the things they straight up made up, of course.

i really enjoyed gladiator (2000), i think its a masterpiece.

prince of egypt (1998) i guess?

all the asterix movies of course, all the animated ones and most of the live actions. but i wouldnt really call it historical fiction

ok i havent actually finished watching it for now but sebastiane (1976) - an erotic, x rated, gay interpretation of the martyrdom of st sebastian. its in latin also.

wait i cant believe i forgor about assassin's creed odyssey - so far the only one ive played. its so fun and incredibly immersive visually. especially pour moi who cries into the pillow about how ill never experience the ancient world. also you can b a faggot which is always fun. i have things to say about their portrayal of same-sex sexuality and slavery in classical greece but i get why they did that considering its supposed to like. appeal to a lot of people, and a more "historically accurate" portrayal (for example of pederasty or how common slavery was etc.) would b v difficult for a lot of their target audience. alas.

medieval and early modern era:

the name of the rose (1986) - my medieval history teacher literally showed us bits of this movie to teach us about monasteries and monks fhdosiasdjasd.

the borgias (2011-2013) - incredibly messy, lots of political intrigue, and so so fun to watch. about the history of the borgia family. filled to the brim with drama.

the three musketeers (1993) - my favorite adaptation, also coincidentally the one i grew up on. casting tim curry as richelieu was genius. he slays so hard.

i also like bbc's the musketeers (2014-2016) - a neat little series. very fun and entertaining to watch.

outlaw king (2018) - like i dont think most ppl heard of this movie. its about robert the bruce's fight to reclaim the throne of scotland. starring chris pine

vikings (2013-2020) - its fun. i havent watched the entire series tho. dont expect anything resembling historical accuracy

the northman (2022) - you will see something resembling historical accuracy

mihai viteazul (michael the brave) (1971) - a fun movie. very much romanian propaganda tho.

1670 (2023-) - such a fun series!!! incredible cast, shows respect to the actual history and the lives of historical people. really cute and funny.

caravaggio (1986) - a biopic about caravaggio.

wait i also forgor about pentiment - an intriguing, immersive, and incredibly beautiful video game! it has a lot of 'the name of the rose' vibes, with it being a medieval murder mystery taking place in a monastery. its incredibly touching and made me cry, and in the last few years i very rarely cry. also im 99% sure its an indie game? go support the creators!

vaguely-medieval/early modern fantasy:

mirror mirror (2012) - a retelling of snow white. a very fun movie imo, with incredible costume design. julia roberts plays the evil queen and she SLAYS. armie hammer is unfortunately in that movie.

stardust (2007) - one of my fave movies growing up. more modern-inspired but still.

the green knight (2021) - controversial i know but i actually loved this movie! i liked it both as a standalone movie but moreso as a 21st century adaptation to sir gawain and the green knight.

galavant (2015-2016) - !!!!!!! one of the most series ever! they manage to tackle such difficult concepts and conversations with a hilarious wit. so fun to watch. i listen to a lot of the songs still, and rewatch every once in a while.

disenchantment (2018-2023) - very fun to watch, especially the first season.

i also really liked the novel uprooted by naomi novik. its a polish-inspired fantasy.

modern era:

killers of the flower moon (2023) - of course. a masterpiece

aferim! (2015) - a romanian movie set in 19th century wallachia, about two officers, a father and son, who were sent by a nobleman to retrieve an escaped enslaved romani man. a lot of the people in the comments were calling the movie humorous and funny, maybe im missing smth (as im watching with subtitles n dont understand the original language) but it was a very difficult watch for me??

the handmaiden (2016) - need i say more

black sails (2014-2017) - a prequel to the famous novel 'treasure island'. not an easy series to watch. incredibly good.

the favourite (2018) - need i say more pt 2

the rabbi's cat (le chat du rabbin) (2011) - animated movie set in early 20th century algeria. a rabbi's cat learns to talk overnight.

the nice guys (2016) - a fun murder mystery set in the 1970s

o brother, where art thou (2000) - a retelling of the odyssey set in the southern us in the 1930s

victor/victoria (1982) - set in early 20th century paris. julie andrews pretends to be a man and takes on a job as a drag queen. extremely fun, extremely gay movie.

lady chatterley's lover (2022) - very much porn for moms but it was a nice watch imo

amulet (2020) - set in like. idk. sometime in the 20th century. this is a horror movie, deals a lot with misogyny, sa, and so on. i really like it, personally. a lot of people, mostly weird men, dont tho.

the great (2020-2023) - i have mixed feelings about this show. on the one hand, its really fun to watch. on the other hand, its basically ofmd for girls who have public mental breakdowns whenever someone claims corsets were oppressive. and theyre so weird about russians, jesus christ.

disses:

domina (2021-) - i just couldnt get into it, esp since i tried right after finishing rome hbo. it was kind of silly, and not in a good way. takes itself wayyyy to seriously.

i didnt like spartacus (2010-2013) - the dialogue was almost grotesque and the editing, especially the transitions, straight up killed me

damsel (2024) - holy fuck what a trainwreck of a movie. absolute waste of angela basset and robin wright. the only good thing were the costumes.

lancelot du lac (1974) - i just didnt like it at all. couldnt get into it. i guess it was way too french and artsy fartsy for me. a movie that was trying to say both too little and too much at the same time.

i didnt rly like bram stoker's dracula (1992) - i mean. it was a fine movie. it was definitely not the godfather. the movie itself was meh. the visuals tho? absolutely stunning

[dareduffie]

❝ man, it must be pretty cool to be chris pratt. ❞ — the lookout (2007)

[ktwritesstuff]

The Babysitter (a Last of Us fanfic) pt. 3

Title: The Babysitter Fandom: The Last of Us Rating: Explicit Characters & Pairings: Joel Miller x Reader Word Count: ~2000 Summary: Playing house with Joel is not all it's cracked up to be. As always, lovingly beta-read by @bs-fangirl. Additional content notes below the cut

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (below cut) | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Content Notes & Warnings: mentions of assault, depression, p-in-v sex, & violence.

I consider my personal brand to be "All your faves want to fuck fat chicks" but the post-apocalyptic setting makes that harder to convey. Given that the diet culture of the 90s and early 2000s fucked us all, be on the lookout for body talk and mentions of disordered eating.

Atlanta 2007

It was a miracle you were alive.  That was what the doctors said when Joel and Tommy managed to find a FEMA clinic nearly 48 hours later.  The bullet had hit Joel first, just grazing him, but slowed down enough that when it struck you the impact didn’t send you into cardiac arrest.  It entered a few inches below your right shoulder, missing the lung, the subclavian artery, and the bundle of nerves controlling your arm, and exited the top of your chest before lodging in Sarah’s stomach where it tore her apart from the inside.  Some miracle.

The clinic doctors decided to send you to Dallas by helicopter, where there was supposed to be a working trauma center.  Of course, by the time you got there everything had gone to shit.  But the fluids and antibiotics they had already pumped into you kept you stable.  You hunkered down for a few weeks until Joel and Tommy decided it was safe to move you.  

From there you headed east, eventually making your way to a refugee camp in Atlanta.  It was a fucking mess–most folks had fled their homes without gathering important documents, but the bureaucrats were still insisting on trying to verify peoples’ identities.  The people outside were begging and bribing for someone to vouch for them.   

With Tommy being military, the government knew everything down to what underwear he had on; Joel managed to hang on to his wallet so thankfully he still had photo ID.

“This is my daughter,” he said, pushing you in front of him at the gate.  “Sarah.”

The powers that be immediately pressed Tommy into service helping to control the crowds and guard supplies, leaving you and Joel to get settled into one of the canvas tents on site.  It wasn’t much, but you had a cot, a toothbrush, and a bar of soap, which was quite a bit more than you had arrived with.

“Why’d you tell them I was your daughter?” you asked.   

“Because I’m pretty sure it’s still frowned upon for grown men to be traveling with a random teenage girl,” Joel replied gruffly.  “It’s just temporary.”

But after four years this temporary stopover looked more and more like home and you felt more like a mother than daughter: washing, mending, cooking when there was food which there usually wasn’t.  You had lost more weight than was probably safe, but you weren’t quite as rail-thin and sallow as most of the other evacuees haunting the camp.  

Still, you regretted all the time you had spent starving yourself when there was plenty of food around, desperate to shrink down to nothing.  Your body had kept you alive in impossible circumstances and you had promised yourself you would do what you had to to take care of it. 

With Joel, it was a different story.  About a month into your stay at the camp, a man whistled at you in the breadline for weekly rations of beans and government cheese.  It was so strange and unexpected that you didn’t even realize it had happened until Joel had jumped the guy.

“Stop it!”” you screamed, helping two other guys pull him off.  “You’ll kill him!  Daddy!”

Even after one of the guards slammed his rifle into the back of Joel’s neck, he still wasn’t satisfied.

“I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!  She’s mine!  I’ll fucking kill you!”    

The guards probably would have hanged them both if not for Tommy running interference, but that didn’t keep Joel from picking fights wherever he could.  He had a death wish and that made him dangerous. 

Losing Sarah had broken something inside of him, how could it not.  Keeping you and Tommy safe had kept him grounded for a while, but now that things were (relatively) stable, he had no reason to keep going.  You sympathized, of course, with the unfathomable grief of losing a child.  That didn’t mean you were content to stand by while he self-destructed.  

It was past noon and Joel was asleep, passed out, you realized as your toe connected with the bottle that had rolled under his cot.  

“Get up,” you said, pushing on his back.  “Laundry day.  Get up.”

Joel grunted, balling up under the blanket.

“Well that’s just great,” you said.  “You want to drink a week’s worth of rations in one afternoon, fine.  But if you think I’m gonna let you get a staph infection from sleeping in the same filthy clothes for weeks, you’ve got another thing coming.”

You grabbed the corner of the blanket and pulled with all your might.  Joel fought you, growling and thrashing, but ultimately you managed to wrestle it away.  Joel harumphed and turned over in bed.  You threw the blanket into the laundry basket and stormed out of the tent.

Tommy was on rounds and you passed him on your way to the little stream that ran through the east side of camp.

“You need to talk to him,” you said.  “Cause I am at the end of my rope.”  

Joel had been shutting down for weeks and things seemed to be getting worse and worse.  You knew he wished you had died instead of Sarah.  As if it wasn’t bad enough that you'd always be left to wonder if you hadn’t turned around when you did, would that bullet have passed through Sarah and killed you.  You would have taken her place if you could.  This wasn’t the life any of you would have wished for, but this was the life you had.

“Cut him some slack,” Tommy said.  “Birthdays and anniversaries are always rough.”  

“I’m sorry,” you said, as Tommy walked with you toward the edge of camp.  “I’m sorry.  I can’t imagine how hard this has been for you–I know how much you loved Sarah and we can’t even talk about her.”

Tommy shrugged.  “You compartmentalize.  Deal with it when it’s safe.”

“So never?” 

“That’s the job,” Tommy said.  

You shook your head.  “The job sucks.  And we still need to figure out what we’re going to eat this week.  I already traded my last tampon for the month.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Tommy chuckled.  “I don’t need to know that.”

“Yeah, well, I figured your back was getting tired from carrying us,” you teased.

Tommy waved you off, jogging back to his post before his C.O. noticed he was gone.  

You sat down by the river, sprinkling your weekly allotment of laundry powder onto the stones.  Having to do all the scrubbing manually certainly gave you time to think.  When weekly assignments came around, you usually asked to be on the cleaning crew–it wasn’t a desirable chore, but you liked knowing that the communal showers and horrible pit latrines you had to use were as sanitary as possible.  Besides, as long as you weren’t greedy you could get away with pocketing extra hand sanitizer and disinfectant–that shit was better than gold around camp.  

But FEDRA was trying to get a factory up and running about a mile outside camp, hard work, double shifts, and shit pay.  But there were fringe benefits for those willing to take the risk.  This dude called Axel had a pot farm on the other side of the fence.  He was always looking for people dumb enough or desperate enough to move his product–they were always getting caught at the gate.        

So you wrung out and hung the laundry and marched down to the big house to sign up for the next truckload of workers leaving camp.

You worked the graveyard shift, and made it back through the gate the next afternoon with half a kilo of weed in the hidden pocket you had sewed into the lining of your jacket.  As you suspected, the guards were more interested in groping your breasts and between your legs during their pat-down.  You headed back to your tent with the most money you had ever held in your hands–before the outbreak or after.  

Your euphoria at your success was only somewhat diminished by the realization that Joel and Tommy had spent the morning tearing the camp apart looking for you.

“Where the hell have you been?” Joel said.  He looked frantic, disheveled, cold sweat, the works. 

“Working,” you said, digging the wad of ration cards out of your bra and handing it over to Tommy.  “Maybe you can find us some real food now.”

“Jesus, kid,” Tommy said, flipping through the cards.  “Where’d you get this?”

“Why? They’re good, aren’t they?”

You toed off your shoes and pulled off your sweatshirt as you came into the tent.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Joel followed after you, wiping a hand across his forehead.  “We’ve been worried sick–thinking you were dead in a ditch somewhere, or worse–and that’s all you have to say for yourself?”  

“Can we have this conversation later,” you groaned, shimmying out of your bluejeans and collapsing on your cot.  “I’m exhausted.”  

When you finally woke, Joel was sitting on the folding chair beside your cot.

“So what are you a whore now?” 

“Jesus Christ, Joel,” you groaned, sitting up, pulling the thin blankets up around you.  “Does it fucking matter?”

You had considered sex work, but the truth was there wasn’t much of a market for it.  Assault was more common than toilet paper in the camp–there was hardly a woman who hadn’t been groped (or worse) or a man that hadn’t been mugged for that matter.  You figured the only reason you had been spared so far was that Tommy and Joel were so fucking scary.  

“Yeah, it fucking matters, Sweetpea,” he growled.  You had never seen him angry before, not like this.  You would have been terrified if you weren’t so goddamn tired.  

“I am responsible for you.”

“Oh, spare me the sanctimonious bullshit,” you said.  “I’m not a child.  I am grown.  I’m certainly not your daughter.”  

“You think I don’t know that!”  Joel grabbed you by the chin.  You met his gaze; for a moment, you weren’t sure if he wanted to hurt you or something else.

“Prove it,” you said, the corner of your mouth lifting into a sneer.  “I fucking dare you.”

In the space of a breath, Joel had crushed his mouth against yours.  You moaned against his lips, leaning back in bed, but Joel held the back of your neck, keeping you close.  You put your hands on his face, running your fingers into his hair.

Joel climbed on top of you in bed, the thin mattress sagging under your combined weights.  He sat up long enough to unbuckle his belt and paused.  

“Say yes,” he instructed, leaning down, planting his lips in the space where your jaw met your neck.  

You sighed, gripping his shoulder, turning your face to expose your neck to him.  

“You have to say yes.”

“Yes,” you breathed, pulling your ratty t-shirt off over your head and dropping it on the floor.  

Joel pulled down his jeans and ran his hands down your back, looping them into your panties, pulling them down.  You kicked them off to hook your ankles behind Joel’s thighs as he kissed your throat.  

He pressed into you all at once; you were so exhilarated you hardly felt anything.  Then pressure and a sharp tug behind your pelvic bone as he withdrew and pushed deeper. You gripped his arms and squeezed your knees into his sides. 

“Good?” he asked, kissing and sucking a trail down your chest, grazing the mounds of your breasts with his teeth.  

You took a few deep breaths and relaxed your face which had tightened into a grimace.  

“It’s a lot,” you said, running your hands down his back.  

“I know,” Joel breathed.  “I know, Sweetpea.  I got you.”

Joel moved one hand between your legs, to the bundle of nerves at the peak of the wishbone where your bodies met, massaging in circles with his rough fingers.  You felt something coiling inside you, hot and tight.  You arched into him.

“That’s better?”  

“Mmhm.”  You nodded, relaxing your thighs.  “That’s nice.”  

Joel moved against you, hips flicking up into the bowl of your pelvis as he massaged you.  He cupped one breast with his spare hand, pressing his mouth over the other, tongue circling the sensitive nipple. 

“That’s nice.”

He bucked into you harder; you bit your lip to stifle a cry.  You could feel the knot in your belly spreading, unfolding.  Your body stiffened and relaxed and with a low moan, Joel dropped his weight onto you, tired and spent.

You felt your heart rate slow and your breath grew deeper.  Joel rested his head on your chest and you ran your fingers through his hair.  You noticed it was damp and smelled faintly of mint.

“Did you shower?”

Joel nodded, his beard rubbing against your skin.  You smiled.

“You do listen to me.”

“Mmhm.”  You ran your hands over Joel’s shoulder girdle; felt the tight knots of muscle relax under your touch.  

Joel’s lips found the ragged scar under your collarbone where the bullet had left your body.  He kissed the scar gently, running his fingertips over it.  For an instant you felt like he was worshiping you, in awe of you.  And you marveled at your own sweet self for being able to give such pleasure.  

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Joel said.  You pressed your eyes closed.

“I may not have a choice,” you sighed.  “Axel wants me to do another run at the end of the week–I don’t think he’ll take no for an answer.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. 

After a moment, Joel rose from the bed, pulling on his pants as you pulled the blankets up over you. 

“What are you going to do?” you said.

“I said I’d take care of it,” he repeated.

“Joel,” you warned.  “You can’t narc on him…you can’t kill him.  Don’t kill him, Joel.  Please.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, leaning over to kiss your cheek.  “Eat something.  Tommy brought you peanut butter.”

You had half a mind to try and stop him from leaving, but who could resist peanut butter.

Baby's First Taglist: @stilllivindue2spite, @amethystwonders11 & @teacupcollector

[pleasereadmeok]

"I went and met Scott and auditioned and that was err... that was actually one of the most relaxed auditions considering I hate audtions ... and particularly doing it with an accent and stuff... He made me come back 7 times - another 7 times...The Bastard!"

Matthew had to work hard to get his first role directed by Scott Frank. Wonder if Scott made Matthew audition for his new role in 'Department Q'!

Matthew Goode talking about his role in The Lookout. Interviewed by Warren Etheridge at a special screening 2007

Loved this interview that was syndicated to promote 'The Lookout' -

‘For Frank, “The Lookout” represents a transition from being one of Hollywood’s most celebrated screenwriters into a first time director who successfully has taken his razor sharp gift for onscreen gab in films such as “Out of Sight” and “Minority Report” and translated it into a taut, tightly paced thriller. And he couldn’t have found a better heavy than Goode, a British actor known for starring in lightweight romantic comedies such as “Imagine Me and You” and “Chasing Liberty.” But Goode turns in a performance where he subverts the charm that has led many to call him the next Hugh Grant and turns it towards making his character Gary into a Midwestern drifter whose lurid magnetism is stronger than his fists.  How did you cast the film? Many of your actors, specifically Matthew Goode, play against type. My casting director knew [Matthew Goode] and said he’s more like the guy in your movie than he is the guy in “Match Point.” And I went, “really?” And she said, “really.” I met him and he had a spectacular energy to him. He was all over the room. He had a real danger to him, yet he was also funny and charming, which were two really important things to me. [Syndicated interview]

This little insight from Dan Stevens about Scott Frank is funny - from Moviefone. - 

‘And he wanted someone a little unexpected to play this Brooklyn drug trafficker -- someone who, by their very casting, would tease the audience's expectations. He delights in seeing actors try things they'd never tried before. I really liked "The Lookout" and I loved what he was doing with Matthew Goode in that movie. I remember thinking, "What a cool role to take on," especially someone who had taken on a lot of similar roles to me back in England. I know Matthew a little bit and we delight in the sense that an American director would be like, "Play a weird bad-ass." That vote of confidence is so enormously empowering.’  

Matthew showing Scott Frank just how big his bad ass is.

📷 The Warren Report

[asgoodeasgold]

Yes, this is a post solely focused on Matthew Goode's arms (with a bit of chest and neck thrown in).

But before someone accuses me of being shallow (the cheek), let me explain this is purely for scientific and educational purposes, so that we can improve our knowledge and understanding of human musculature. You are welcome.

Apogies forthe quality of the Roadside Picnic edit, the trailer is not HD.

📷 My edits from The Lookout (2007), Ordeal by Innocence (2018), The Hatton Garden Job (2017), Roadside Picnic (the trailer) (2016)

[amoviescreen]

“my old man used to say to me, probably the only thing we ever really agreed on, was that whoever has the money has the power. you might wanna jot that down in your book. it's something you're gonna need to remember”

— the lookout, 2007

[botmilf]

Your script for Episode 1 Version BOTMOM got me cackling, the way Wyatt first meets the team? This is good stuff, consider me hooked!

Also I've never read anything formated like a script before, this is cool! I cant wait to see Episode 2!

I am so thrilled that you love it!

If you like reading script format, I definitely recommend a website called ScriptSlug! They even have the original 2007 Transformers movie script on there. Fuckin' rocks.

Keep on the lookout for episode 2!

[bowtiepastabitch]

Let's Talk Costuming: The Globe Costume Collection

Alright my loves this is a very slight tangent to my usual Good Omens direct analysis but I promise it's vaguely related! Inspired by a comment from @theonevoice on my analysis of the costumes used in the Shakespearean scene, which were borrowed direct from The Globe's costume collection, I went on a self-indulgent research journey into Shakespearean costume design history.

So the question that started it all was whether Crowley's outfit in this scene could potentially have been worn or designed for a "classic" Hamlet in its past life. With theatrical costume collections, these items are worn again and again by actors for different shows and even lent out, depending on the shop, to other productions. It's one of my favorite things about live theatre. This means that all of the gorgeous costumes worn for this scene have been worn at least once, likely many times, for other shows.

I was largely on the lookout for anything black that David might have worn here, with little luck on specific pieces, but I'm here to share what I've found that was similar and/or interesting!

[gorgeous postcard with lots of cool costumes, leaving it as a link so y'all can see it in full glory]

[Olivia and Malvolio, Twelfth Night, The Globe, 2013]

[Hamlet, Hamlet, San Diego Central Library exhibit borrowed from Old Globe Theatre, production 2007]

[Hamlet set sketch, Cyril Walter, 20th century]

[costume workshop, image from Royal Shakespeare Company]

[Hamlet, The Globe, 2022]

At my most optimistic, I was hoping to strike gold and perhaps find evidence of the use of these glorious costumes from the past, but either way I had a blast tracking down Shakespearean costumes for y'all's enjoyment.

[thislovintime]

Peter Tork, 1967 and 1969. Photos by Nurit Wilde (screenshots from the documentary Laurel Canyon: A Place In Time), and by Henry Diltz. [click to enlarge].

“Peter Tork…..I miss him. He was such a kind and wonderful human being!❤️” - Nurit Wilde, Instagram, June 13, 2021

“Peter was a mensch…such a generous person in every way you can imagine. I miss him.” - Nurit Wilde, Instagram, January 30, 2021

“He was indeed [a gentle soul]. Also very kind, generous and thoughtful. I miss him.” - Nurit Wilde, Instagram, November 10, 2020 (x)

“I lived on Lookout Mountain, and then I lived to Tork’s house. Peter was like my best friend. I was always taking pictures of Peter. I took more pictures of him than anybody else. So good — a mensch, as they say.” - Nurit Wilde, Laurel Canyon: A Place In Time

“I think I was a sort of Gatsby [during the Monkee years]. I was isolated and did not have a continuing sense of community. I'd have a moment of friendship here or there, a moment of sharing, but I didn't believe that was the main body of my life. I didn't know who my friends were, and anytime somebody asked me for a favor I wrote them off as a hang-around. And I wasn't able to ask people for favors, because I was supposed to have all that it took to keep myself together, because I had the money. At the same time, by giving the money away, I thought I was returning something to the community. I didn't see myself as apologizing, which is how I see myself now. But I had all this money, and I tried to make amends to the world by throwing it at people. And, essentially, what that did was to isolate me all the more.” - Peter Tork, When The Music Mattered (1984)

“Poor Peter Tork of the Monkees, he was so sweet. We stayed with him part of the time, and the Digger boys just about emptied his house. I really regret their doing that.” - Jeff Kisseloff, Generation on Fire (2007)

“Peter Tork of the Monkees generously offered a place to say while Elsa and the others worked the town. ‘He was sweet,’ says Elsa with some chagrin, ‘and I felt bad because the [Digger] boys ripped him off for everything that was liftable.’” - Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle (1999)

“He has an almost naive belief in the basic goodness of his fellow man (a trait which hasn’t changed one iota through the years), and he thinks there is hope for everyone. […] Most of the people who live with him (there are seven now) have known Peter for years. Since money has no value to him, he lavishes his money on his friends. Peter has spent thousands of dollars just helping, with no thought of getting repaid. (That much has changed — a few years ago Peter couldn’t give much more than a sympathetic ear.) [...] With all those people living with Peter now, he has very little privacy, but apparently it isn’t missed. Everyone at the house is working and ‘doing their thing,’ and the house is a simple, unpretentious, very lived-on home. As one person living there puts it[,] ‘It’s a happy, productive household, so full of love you can’t quite believe it.’” - Judy Sims, Disc and Music Echo, May 11, 1968 (x)

“I did make a pretty fair amount of money with the Monkees. Not much by today’s standards, but a pretty fair amount. But I let it all go because I didn’t understand value then. I didn’t understand value in myself. What I’ve learned since then is you can’t handle money well if you don’t have an appropriate sense of self-value.” - Peter Tork, Toxic Fame: Celebrities Speak on Stardom (1996)

“[J]ust everybody tried to take advantage of the Monkees and then turned their backs when they began to slip: I saw Peter do a real lot of things for Steve Stills but there was a time when Peter wasn’t allowed on Stills’ property when the Rolling Stones were visiting. Poor Peter, he bought David Crosby a boat and stuff but they all bled him dry with peace signs and bullshit.” - Lynne Randell, quoted in Monkeemania: The True Story of The Monkees (1997)

Q: “How did you manage to keep sane within that madness?” Peter Tork: “I either didn’t notice, I didn’t care, or I didn’t permit it. It was that easy, generally. I only know in retrospect how badly I was ripped off.” Q: “Do you mean financially?” PT: “Largely financially. I let it happen to myself. You know what they say about a fool and his money.” - Goldmine, 1982 (x)

“[Peter had] always found the fame hard to handle. ‘I gave a lot of my money away when I was younger – just left it in bowls around the house and people would help themselves to handfuls of it,’ he says. ‘I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time and it might have been my low self-esteem, thinking that I didn't deserve to keep the money, but it wasn’t really that bright, was it?’ he laughs. ‘I mean, there’s nothing wrong with giving money away to people, but give it where you can do some good.’” - Daily Mail, August 14, 2015

[barefoot-gothic]

The Lookout (2007)

[scotianostra]

David (Davy) Blair was born on 11th November 1874 at Broughty Ferry.

Blair was an employee of the White Star Line and had been originally earmarked to sail on The Titanic on it’s maiden voyage to New York, indeed he was second officer on the ship during its trial voyages to test the ship’s seaworthiness and the final journey from its place of construction in Belfast to Southampton, but a change in crewing lists at the last minute saw the second officer from Broughty Ferry taken off the passenger liner.

In his hurry to disembark the ship at Southampton docks, Davy accidently took a locker key with him. It was an innocent oversight, but one that likely contributed to the sinking of the Titanic. The seemingly innocuous key was in fact the key to the cupboard in which the crow’s nest binoculars and telescope were kept locked away. Titanic’s lookouts on that fateful night had no access to binoculars, and failed to spot the iceberg until it was too late.

He sent a postcard to his sister-in-law, writing: “Am afraid I shall have to step out to make room for chief officer of the Olympic. “This is a magnificent ship, I feel very disappointed I am not to make her first voyage… I hope eventually to get back to this ship.” But when he left Titanic on April 9, he would never set foot on it again.

The ship sank on April 15th after striking an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives.

Investigations into the sinking of the Titanic raised lots of questions, including the obvious – why had the iceberg not been seen sooner?

It was believed Davy inadvertently hampered the ability of Titanic’s lookouts during the transatlantic crossing. The official inquiry heard from surviving crew members, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee.

The pair told the inquiry they would have spotted the iceberg sooner had they had the means to do so.

When questioned how much sooner, Fred replied: “Enough to get out of the way.”

Davy kept the key as a memento and it was considered to be one of the most important artefacts from the Titanic.

He died at the age of 80 in 1955 and the key was passed on to his daughter Nancy.

It later sold at auction for £90,000 in 2007 and the proceeds were used to set up scholarships in Davy’s name.

Davy Blair went on to win gallantry medals later in his career. In 1913, when he was First Officer on the SS Majestic, he jumped 40-foot overboard to help save a crew member from the chilly waters of the Atlantic.

The ship was 700 miles from New York when a stoker from the engine room “rendered temporarily insane by the heat of the stokehold had rushed on deck, and in his frenzy thrown himself into the sea”. Davy, who had just come off duty, heard the commotion and “without a moment’s hesitation” dived from “the dizzy elevation” to the man’s aid.

A report about the rescue in the London Gazette at the time said: “On the morning of 6th May, 1913, whilst the Majestic was in the North Atlantic, a Fireman jumped overboard.

“Vessel was backed to the place where he was supposed to have gone overboard and after some time he was sighted close to the port bow.

“Starboard emergency boat was lowered but Mr Blair, fearing that the boat might not reach him in time, jumped overboard from the port side of the vessel, swam to a lifebuoy which had been thrown overboard, and endeavoured to reach the man with it.

“He did not succeed, but, although weakened by the coldness of the sea, he managed to point out the whereabouts of the man to those in the boat, who rescued him and then picked up Mr Blair.

“There was a fog prevailing at the time and the water was very cold.”

The act of bravery saw him awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal from King George V at Buckingham Palace in 1915 and a medal from the Royal Humane Society.

A total of nine medals awarded to Davy including an OBE, First World War service medals and his Legion d’Honneur – the highest French order of merit.

Pics are of Commander David Blair, and in the second left, packing scientific instruments for an expedition to the South Pacific.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Jaguar XKR “Badcat” 

Launched in 1996 and always more of a grand tourer than an out-and-out sports car, the Jaguar XK8 shared its chassis with the Aston Martin DB7, making it the thinking man’s choice for anyone in the market for a powerful, rear-wheel-drive luxury sports car.

Whilst those figures might be impressive for the XKR; it wasn't quite enough for our petrolhead vendor Graham, who in 2007 embarked on a 13-year journey to improve and modify the once standard 1998 XKR into this stunning 632hp unique Jaguar, more commonly known as the ‘Badcat’

The Badcat started life as a 1998 Jaguar XKR, which Graham saw for sale in 2007 and having a soft spot for the X100, plus having been looking for a car for a while, this was snapped up straight away. Driving the car for a few weeks was enjoyable, but as with any petrolhead, it wasn’t long before Graham started looking into tuning options for the XKR.

This started with a smaller top pulley and larger bottom pulley fitted to the supercharger, and this was complemented with a Racing Green ECU piggy back upgrade to keep on top of the fueling due to the faster spinning supercharger. The result was 456hp, an impressive 64bhp gain from the standard bhp.

With the 4.0 litre pushed to its limits, Graham was on the lookout to further improve the performance of the XKR, and this was the start of taking the car to an entirely new level. Graham found a new Range Rover 4.4 litre V8 which became the next base for the project. The engine was rebuilt using stronger high spec’ bespoke forged pistons from German automotive parts manufacturer Capricorn, which kicked off the need to have parts purpose made rather than buying off the shelf items.

The upgrade to the 4.4 litre brought the power up to an impressive 480bhp; it was never quite enough, and the need for more power continued. This need was realised when in 2012 when Graham, assisted by Jaguar expert Tom Lenthall, found an uprated Eaton supercharger which was originally destined for an XKR GT3 racing car. This was fitted along with some other improvements to bring the XKR to 510hp.

In 2016 whilst on a track day at Goodwood, flying at over 140 mph, the 4.4 litre detonated, melting five out of the eight pistons. The cause was put down to poor fuel pick-up from the standard Jaguar tank, which would later be resolved with a bespoke designed, foam-filled ally fuel tank with swirlpot fabricated by CKL Racing, containing two Walbro 450 high-pressure fuel pumps. Only one of the pumps is needed and more than capable of providing enough fuel for spirited driving; the other pump was simply fitted as a backup. Luckily the cylinder block suffered only minor scoring and was sent off to be rebuilt at performance engine experts Classic and new forged pistons from JE in America. This gave Graham the opportunity to develop even more power, and with a freshly built engine, a new twin-screw supercharger, a Whipple W175AX, was sourced from the USA. Although being told it would not fit by the company director, Graham had other ideas. With some well calculated CAD drawing and CNC machining, the charger was made to fit, pushing the XKR to the enormous power it now produces.

[sarademian]

Matthew Goode and Isla Fisher in THE LOOKOUT (2007)

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Isla Fisher as Luvlee in The Lookout (2007). Isla was born in Muscat, Oman, and has been married to Sacha Baron Cohen since 2010. Isla has 55 acting credits from a 1993 tv episode to a voice in a 2023 feature. This is her second honorable mention, after a voice in Horton Hears a Who.

Her other notable credits include 394 episodes of Home and Away, Scooby Doo, I Heart Huckabees, Wedding Crashers, Definitely Maybe, a voice in Rango, The Great Gatsby, Tag, and 15 episodes of Arrested Development.