#calling paul his wee son

[tlou-obsessed]

THE FATHER AND HIS WEE SON BEING INSANELY CUTE

[scott1984fp2]

Thank Aunty Francine & Uncle Paul For Messages Via Mum Paula & Dad Paul 🤗🫂

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[madandi]

Another interview for Better

A witty, no-nonsense policewoman faces off against a charismatic but chilling villain in crime-filled Yorkshire. You can see why Better might fill a Happy Valley-sized hole when it starts tonight on BBC1.

That, probably, is where the similarities end because Lou and Col, the central pair in the new series, have a very different relationship from Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley. For a start they actually like each other. Lou (Leila Farzad, aka Suzie’s manager in I Hate Suzie) is a high-ranking cop in Leeds, while Col, played by Andrew Buchan — who was the grieving father Mark Latimer in Broadchurch and Matt Hancock in This England — is the dapper Northern Irish head of a drug-dealing network.

Not a typical friendship, then, but they’ve been scratching each other’s backs for 19 years, rising to the top in their respective fields. The five-parter by Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent (Humans, Spooks) is moody and stylish with flashes of gallows humour. In the first episode Col invites Lou to his birthday dinner, telling the guests: “I’ve made it to another birthday in a challenging line of work.” Col and Lou sneak off for a fag. “I would not be here today without you,” he tells her. “Same here,” she replies. Their loyalty to each other is about to be challenged.Better is “a character-driven morality piece about redemption”, Buchan says over Zoom from a café near his home in Buckinghamshire. “And two characters who’ve made some very particular choices that slowly start unravelling. They’re both landlocked in a sense but just can’t get out.”It is, he adds, “nothing like Happy Valley”, although he understands why people might wonder.

The night before we speak he was at a screening in Leeds, where the show is set and shot. “One of the questions from the audience was about how people are going to naturally draw comparisons with Happy Valley. But in the future, hopefully, when a million more shows are being made up there, you wouldn’t need to draw comparisons.”Shows such as the one Buchan, 43, has just written, Passenger, which we’ll get to later. He is a proud northerner, having grown up in Bolton and married a fellow Lancastrian, Amy Nuttall, who played Chloe Atkinson in Coronation Street and Ethel the maid in Downton Abbey, with whom he has a child.

He used to excel at what he calls “everymen going through a crisis”, from Mark in Broadchurch, whose son is killed, to a former soldier accused of murder in The Fixer. These days he brings similar nuance to less ordinary — and richer — types: the millionaire scion John Paul Getty Jr in All the Money in the World; Andrew Parker Bowles, husband of Camilla, in The Crown; Felim Bichan, a financial player in Industry. SKY UKHis character in Better is loaded and powerful with an Ulster accent to boot, while the London-born Farzad, whom he describes as “a force”, does a Yorkshire one. Both sound pretty impressive to these poncey southern ears. Col’s accent was inspired by the Belfast-raised actor Jamie Dornan. “I bumped into him in a lift in London and we had this little brief chat,” Buchan says. “It’s such an amazing accent. I was walking along, quietly doing impersonations of Jamie Dornan to myself.

”When Buchan was first offered the role, “I was, like, ‘God no. He’s got to be 68 with a loose tooth and a gold chain. I’m not that guy.’ ” The director told him that they wanted someone a bit more charming. “He’s quite calm and careful and considered. He’s not a psychopath. But when people press his buttons he can go places.” Col’s lavish modernist house, filmed in Harrogate, “was a wee bit ridiculous”, Buchan says. Harrogate’s posh, isn’t it? “To us Boltonians it definitely is.”

He got closer to privilege when reading modern languages at Durham University and studying at Rada, where he was in the same year as Tom Hiddleston and Andrea Riseborough.Buchan also starred in the political drama Party Animals with Riseborough, whose recent Oscar nomination has been criticised after she benefited from celebrity cheerleaders including Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet. “All I know is that she’s a phenomenal actress,” Buchan says. “My initial reaction to her being nominated was ‘about time’.

”Playing Hancock was “interesting”, he says, but he won’t be drawn on a political judgment. This England went quite easy on the former health secretary but Buchan “could only play what was on the page”, although he admits he must have “subliminally” incorporated his impressions of a man he had seen on TV daily during the pandemic.Well, it worked — his performance was eerily persuasive. He won’t say what he thinks of Hancock doing I’m a Celebrity but he raves about Kenneth Branagh’s take on Boris Johnson. “I’ve worked with some witty folk in my time, but Ken’s ad libs are off the scale.”

We talk about The Crown, in which he starred with Josh O’Connor and Emerald Fennell (“whose careers have nosedived obviously since then”, he says wryly), and All the Money in the World, where Christopher Plummer famously replaced Kevin Spacey as John Paul Getty Sr after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct.Filmed in Rome, it was a taste of movie opulence that Buchan hadn’t had before. He compares it with The Fixer in 2008: “We filmed it in Lewisham, in minus 2C, covered in fake blood, in a vest and it was all quite unpleasant. So, to shoot in Rome!” For the reshoots he was flown back out on a private jet with Plummer, Michelle Williams and Ridley Scott, the director. “I think I was the only one who’d never been on a private jet before.”

Plummer handled the cast and crew with panache, he says, which was hard “when you’ve got 20,000 people in between takes saying, ‘Can you do Edelweiss?’ ” Plummer and Spacey had “very different takes” on the role, the father of Buchan’s character. “Christopher grabbed my hand really tightly and smiled at me with this twinkle in his eye, which was really unnerving. Whereas Kevin was the complete opposite.” More in character? “Yeah, whereas Christopher kind of played against it.”

His big ambition is to do more comedy. When he was playing the 18th-century lawyer William Garrow in Garrow’s Law he had long chats about it with his co-star, Alun Armstrong. “Al said, ‘The problem is that good comedies are as rare as rocking horse shit.’

”Buchan has found a neat way around that problem — writing his own show for ITV. Passenger is a horror comedy set in a small village called Chadder Vale in Lancashire. “We start filming in five days’ time, which is quite frightening,” he says. He won’t be acting in it but he has written all six episodes.“I’m on a bit of a hamster wheel at the minute, churning them out. When you can hear the execs barking at you, ‘We need, we need, we need . . . ’ you think, ‘I’m just going to treat that as white noise.’ ” The series will feature a former Met policewoman called Riya Ajunwa investigating a series of unnatural crimes including the abduction of a local girl. Dark, funny, female cop, set in the north — it’s all the rage, you know.

[blogger360ncislarules]

Growing up in St. Charles, Illinois, Dallas Jenkins was not the child who was restless while sitting in the pews of church during a long service or in a classroom learning about the Bible. In fact, he was invigorated by Scripture lessons. And the Evangelical Christian, who would end up creating spiritual megahit The Chosen, always asked lots of questions.

Jenkins remembers seeing classic imagery of Jesus Christ while in classes, where the Son of God was dressed in immaculate white and blue robes on flannelgraph and picture books (so unlike The Chosen’s scruffy Savior, played by Jonathan Roumie). “He was just a big, smiling guy, and all the disciples are these old, bearded dudes,” the 48-year-old recalls. “But I was the one in class [asking], ‘What would it be like playing cards against Jesus? He always knows what you have! What would it be like to play sports with Jesus or to sit around a campfire [with Him]?’”

Now, Jenkins has brought those questions to life. The Chosen’s Jesus shares campfires with His Apostles and even joins in on a catching game with His hometown friends in Season 3. Maybe in Season 4 they can play the 1st century version of Go Fish?

(Credit: The Chosen)

Telling stories is in Jenkins’ blood, after all. He’s the son of prolific Christian author and New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins, who has written over 200 books, including the Left Behind series (with coauthor Tim LaHaye) and three Chosen novelizations. Besides inheriting what Jenkins calls “the storytelling gene” from his father, inspiration was also found on the big screen, he notes, citing a moment from his high school years when he first saw the 1975 Jack Nicholson drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. “I was watching it, moved, with tears in my eyes, and I thought, ‘I want to do that.’ If I can arouse in viewers the kind of reaction that this did for me, maybe I could have some impact.”

After studying media and the Bible at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul and marrying his wife Amanda (the couple now have four children), Jenkins had some early career stumbles, and his first major feature, 2017 feel-good film The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, was a financial flop. He took his biggest — and most successful — swing when he created The Chosen.

The goal was to present a faithful Jesus who also felt fresh — unlike the one-dimensional Christ he encountered as a young Christian. “I grew up seeing a lot of portrayals of Jesus, a lot of paintings and stained-glass windows that didn’t feel very authentic,” he notes. The Chosen’s Jesus not only cracks jokes with a big grin, but He broods and gets emotional. And viewers see more than just the final results of His miracles — we see Him at work. Adds Jenkins: “The Chosen does not shy away from the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, capable of doing miracles.”

Jenkins also works some miracles of his own. In addition to being the show’s creator and an executive producer, he writes every episode with cowriters Tyler Thompson and Ryan Johnson (often in the wee hours) and, as if that wasn’t enough, he also directs every single episode. “I’m a bit of a control freak, so that’s part of it,” he says with a laugh. But it wasn’t ego or vanity that led him to helm each hour of the series. “I just felt like it was important for the show to have one voice and to be cohesive, because we shoot it like one big narrative,” he says, referencing recent prestige dramas with one mind at the wheel like Big Little Lies and The White Lotus. “We don’t shoot it episode by episode.”

And as busy as he is behind the scenes, Jenkins also steps in front of the camera for The Chosen’s seemingly never-ending fountain of social media and video content — from showing off the latest swag (sweatshirts! coffee mugs!) to interviewing his own cast about their experiences on set. Might we see the charismatic creative in a role on the biblical drama? Don’t hold your breath. “If you saw me in the background, it would feel like, ‘OK, there’s Dallas trying to talk to us about crowdfunding Season 5 right in the middle of this [episode],’” Jenkins says. “I’m comfortable just keeping that in the studio.”

That’s probably a good thing, since the busy creator definitely needs some time to unwind. “I really do need to rest more,” Jenkins agrees. “It’s not the physical exhaustion of [making the show], although that is tiring. I’ve got a lot of energy. But I need to take more mental breaks and more spiritual breaks, so I’m not just spending time telling stories about Jesus. Sometimes I need to spend time with Him.”

[the-firebird69]

Pee Wee Herman - Tequila

YouTube · Sooner Craig

Apr 13, 2007

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/arts/paul-reubens-pee-wee-herman-dead.html

Pee-wee Herman has died today and he was annoying our son up to the last minute almost and he was laying in the hospital bed and so I guess I'm going cuz people are saying goodbye now and he said you got it going on kid it says what. So he started laughing and laughing and slept woke up and he was hungry and he ate and he is very sick he couldn't keep it down and threw up and felt bad and upset and afraid but he died comfortably thinking everybody liked him and a lot of people still like him he was a madman towards the end and was harassing people but he couldn't help it A lot of people came down on him for educating kids and helping them and entertaining them. And a lot of them were clones. He heard that there was this action committee and finding clones fighting the clones and it couldn't believe it was you he wasn't told. But it was our son and they don't usually call that but really it's a good name and Pee-wee Herman is credited with it and it will say on his grave Uncle Paul was not the last one to see him but he did the scene and it was Jason and it was last week roughly and he was not on a Hard knock kicker 5150 he was on a vintage Hard knock kicker 5150 and he was on the one with one motor that her son designed yes and people loved it well it's the one that Randall text Cobb designed our son designed the bobber that sold the most and Randall text car was pissed off so he made it a little more cruiser and people buy more of them and so that's amazing it's really weird if you go the other way it's a barber is that laughing again so here's how it goes our son watch the show and it helped him and it suits them a little bit and that girl watched it with him and he understood that they're a little bit simpler but they still like things that he likes and she wasn't mean to him or anything and it taught him about life a little about with them and he's been trying to hold on to it but nobody's hanging out with him at all and he's all alone and everyone's kind of upset again it's not really the money because it's all coded and they can't handle it and he doesn't want to handle it yet help and they the foreigners have to help with the code and they do. But things are not going well this is an indicator and it's more of it happening in the news and a lot of them just let go because they can't fight anymore and they don't have the resources and or they don't want to use them

Thor Freya

RIP peewee ok

Hera asJen and I'm sorry Trump but you are way too rude and crude and trying to kidnap him and harm him and it's ridiculous all day and night you got to go somewhere else. I watched the program too it's a little bit childish but it was funny and it's humorous as teaching little kids and it was interesting how he's doing it

I'm right here folks no I'm his brother there's a lot of people talking about him and saying things and posting statements about him and this one is not bad and he helps people and the clothes are after him and they named action groups after him which is perfect I really like that I'm sorry my brother is gone I know how he feels now it's a living hell and he's laughing because I'm saying I don't know what it'll be like if they were all captured. I can see what you're saying this guy's everywhere and it's horrible but he feels bad for me and says he's sorry for my loss and PeeWee will always be remembered. A lot of kids are writing me letters asking me if I can be him I sent back to one child I think I'm the vengeful one. I'm on a day later almost does the end of the day he wrote back and said that's good

And I appreciate him saying that. We know boy George was too and you've had a hard life these people are very mean and they're impersonal and gosh darn it it's kind of our fault and Max we did not go there and we can't do it again

Vengeful one

Tonight we ride and that was bright and Frankenstein and he had to change the word Bride of Frankenstein and we're going to ride our Hard knock kicker 5150s and he wants someone to get me eventual one and eventual one and they're volunteers it's called the vengeful one and they're volunteers to get it over we're going to have a ride tonight and we see what he's saying he had made the tire it's saving a lot of lives in Saudi Arabia and it works very well and it's a little bit big but it looks like the motorcycle tire he says it is his and it's the bobber and it's the first one and it was stretched out and he didn't get to drive it but he sat on it and it switched it out and disguise it and I can't believe it but it's true now this is the way that Randall text Cobb did business and we're going to too and the ride is going to be on tonight and at 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles at the usual place guys and you know who I am grandson of trump they were having a hard time and we get the idea

[aweecrush]

As soon as she opens the glass door, the October chill immediately comes to tickle her face. She sighs in delight - feck, it's hot in that apartment. Between the room full of people dancing, the various groups scattered all around the place, the smoking and the booze, it's like a damn volcano in there.

The balcony is not actually what you could call small, but even so, she can hear the drunken advice of Orla’s roommate clearly from the other side of it. She doesn’t know the friend she’s talking to, but the sight of the both of them half shouting how great the other is while trying - and failing - not to spill all their wine is as sweet as it is funny. Ah, the outbursts of love of the shitfaced.

A smile on her face, Erin turns towards the other side of the space where, as predicted, she spots the special someone she loves, shitfaced or not.

Her heart immediately drops at the sight of him.

Leaving her glass on the first table she finds, she makes her way towards his dark figure leaning over edge as he gazes at the city. She can’t see his face yet, but his hunched shoulders are indication enough. Not that she needs any, really.

When she wraps her arms around him from behind, James straightens up to make it easier for her. She holds him as close as she can and rests her cheek against his back, breathes him in. He takes one of her hands and kisses it, then laces their fingers together and places them back on his stomach.

There’s the muffled music and the laughs coming from the inside, the shouts from the girls not far. The sounds of the city night life beneath them.

“I’ve missed you tonight,” he says after a while. They’ve barely seen each other since they arrived.

Erin holds him even tighter. “I’ve missed you too.”

But both his hands are covering hers, one of his thumbs drawing slow patterns on her skin, and he’s warm, and he smells good, so good. It’s all perfect now.

“You drunk?” She can hear the smile in his voice. She turns her head just enough to bury her nose between his shoulder blades, a giggle that betrays her current state escaping her lips.

“Yep,” and she feels his chuckle against her chest. “Clare’s much worse though. She’s currently alternating between telling our non-France going story to that French girl and burping in a very horrific and worrying way, so it’s safe to say there's a disaster looming.” James snorts. “You?”

“Not really, no. Although Nick’s waiting for me with a shot competition when I go back inside, so that should change really soon.”

Thanks to her heels, she can drop a couple of kisses on his cheek without having to raise on her tiptoes, a smirk on her lips.

“As much as I love you, and that’s quite a lot to be honest, you do know that there’s no way you’re winning said competition, right?”

He nods, faking seriousness. “Oh yeah. I mean, he’s like a magician or something.”

“Unbeatable.”

“Uh uh. He and Michelle really did find each other, didn’t they - he’s probably the only person I know who can actually drink more than her. I mean, the Halloween party...”

“Clare’s birthday.”

“That Christmas break party.”

“That was impressive.” She feels sick just remembering the amount of vodka involved.

She lets their laughs slowly die down before nuzzling him, dropping a wee kiss behind his ear, another just a bit lower.

She figures now is as good a time as any, isn’t it. “I heard you and Michelle talk in the kitchen earlier.”

The moment the words leave her mouth, she feels him tense against her. Of course he does.

She trails kisses down his neck as an apology for approaching a subject she knows he doesn’t want to. As an encouragement. She buries her face there, waits for a bit. Then, mumbles softly against his skin, “You know she didn’t mean what she said.”

“You know she did.”

Well. He’s not exactly wrong on that one - they both know it.

“She’s just angry, that’s all. You know how she gets.”

She lets one of her hands leave his, and travel on his forearm lazily. Soothingly, she hopes. “She’s just very protective of you. But she shouldn’t have said that.”

“Yeah, well.”

He does that, when he’s upset. Shuts down, coming up with only short answers to let you know that he’d rather not continue this conversation - short, but answers all the same, because he wouldn’t go as far as shutting you out completely. That he'd consider mean, hurtful, and James doesn’t hurt people - he never would.

That’s why it sucks even more to have to watch when people hurt him.

She wants to tell him that Michelle will come back to her senses in the morning, that she’ll regret her harsh words and apologize for them, sincerely. That she’ll hit him in the shoulder for good measure, and that it will be that, over in a second. Because well - it will, really. There’s no doubt about that.

But the thing is, he already knows all that. The thing is, Michelle’s usual lack of delicacy and moderation isn’t the problem here, far from it. She wishes that it was. Much easier to deal with, wouldn’t it.

Pressing her whole body against his, Erin brushes her lips on the back of his neck, and lets the hair at his nape tickle her nose as she lingers there a little.

“I’m sorry your mum isn’t coming to the wedding, baby.”

“It’s fine.”

An answer too fast, too rehearsed to be sincere. Not that she would have believed it had he been more convincing.

She rests her chin on his shoulder, brings her hand back over his own. “No, it’s not - not at all.”

He snorts. “Of course it is, Erin. It makes sense, really: I mean, who wouldn’t choose a vacation that may or may not happen with a guy they’ve known for five minutes over the most important day of their son’s life?”

The irony in his voice does nothing to cover the bitterness underneath it. The pain.

Feck, she hates this.

After a few seconds, he huffs. “Whatever - I don’t care.”

Ever since the day he had changed his mind about going to London all those years ago, since that moment he’d decided to stay in Derry and she’d been able to breathe properly again, James had started to see things more clearly when it came to Cathy. He’d told her so - told her what Michelle had said to convince him not to go with her, told her how it felt to finally understand how right she was. That day, and after.

In the days, the weeks that had followed, it had stayed with him, turned again and again in his head. How she’d only take care of him when there was nothing more distracting to do when he was a kid. How his stepdad Paul had been the one raising him, playing with him. Caring.

The reasons - excuses - he had made to explain her leaving him in Derry without so much as a goodbye had started to fall apart one by one, leaving what she did only for what it was: an abandonment. She’d abandoned him, plain and simple.

And it had hurt, really hurt, but yet, he hadn’t blamed her - never would. Again, he was just far too good for that. She was still his mum, and he still loved her.

So he hadn’t said anything when she called to say she wouldn’t be able to take him the Christmas, then the summer after her visit. He never complained that she actually never visited him again in Derry after that. Michelle would fume everytime he called her, hating that he was always the one doing the effort (but she never said anything to him, only to them girls - none of them would ever say anything, because none of them wanted to make him sadder than he already was).

Things never changed. Not when he finished high school, not when he finished Uni. To this day, she hadn’t really congratulated him on his first nor his second job, least of all learnt what it was. And again, James never complained, because again, he loved her, and he could never really resent her. He’d lowered his expectations more and more over the years, learnt to be disappointed each time anyway. But he never said anything.

It affected him, though. She knew, she was there to see it. They all were. Ma Mary won’t even let the name of ‘that heartless woman’ be uttered in her house, even though she always makes sure never to show or say anything in front of James.

He cared - still does, always will. How couldn’t he?

Desperate for something, anything to make him feel even a tiny bit better, Erin leaves a hundredth kiss against his skin, painfully aware that that won’t be enough.

“You do care. Hey - ” She grabs his hips to turn him in so she can face him when he snorts, and he obliges. She waits until he’s looking at her to speak again. “Of course you do.”

Anyone would be affected by something like this, but him? He’s so sweet, her English, so sensible, and he wears his heart on his sleeve, and she hates how even in the darkness of the night, she can see just how much he does care. Just how heavy his heart is right now.

It was palpable, evident ever since Kathy had called this morning to tell him, but now, as he slowly let his defenses down, sadness and defeat taking over with each second, it’s written all over his beautiful face, and it just breaks her fecking heart.

“I should have expected it, right?”

He chuckles, not an ounce of humor in it. “I mean, missing birthdays - including my 25 and 30, not showing up at graduation, not visiting our flat even once, not this one, not the one before that...That was the next logical step - nothing to be surprised about.”

He shakes his head, and as he looks away, the lights of the balcony reflect on the watery green of his eyes.

His voice is so small when he speaks again, she barely hears it. “I don’t know why I thought it’d be different this time.”

Erin runs her hands up and down his back, hating herself for not being able to do more, to take the pain away from him, just like that.

“Because it should have been," is all she finds to say.

Aye, of course it should have been - just this once, for Christ's sake.

“It’s just...How little do you have to care about your own child to do that, you know. Over and over. Even now - even for this. I told her, once - I told her what you mean to me. I guess I just thought...I guess I thought that it was something every parent wanted to see for their kid, and that for once, that would include her, too.”

He finally looks back at her at that, and suddenly, she sees the fifteen year-old sitting next to her in Sister Michael’s office the day they met again, the heartbreak clear in his eyes as he understands that his mum left him.

She fecking hates all of it.

Helpless, Erin brings their foreheads together, her arms firmly wrapped around his torso as he lets out a heavy sigh.

“She does care, James.”

“You don't have to lie.”

“I’m not - of course she does. And she loves you. She's just- "

“Selfish? Self centered? I’m running out of the polite words used by Michelle now, the others were much more colourful,” and Erin backs away slightly, smiling at him knowingly.

“In her own world, let’s say. I don’t think she realizes just how much damage she does. And I’m not going to try to make excuses for her, for this or for everything else - it is shitty, and she’s an adult and she should realize what she’s doing and do better. I’m just saying...She doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love you, because she does.”

He looks away again at that, and it’s a punch to the stomach to realize that yeah - the thought did cross his mind. It really did.

Slipping her hands from his back, she brings them to his cheeks, gently making him look at her again, hating the sadness she finds in his eyes.

She smiles. “She does love you. And it sucks so bad that she doesn’t show it to you, because she should, and she should realize just how lucky she is to have you, for feck sake, but...But please don’t forget that you do have a family who makes you their number one priority, and who always will. I mean, I think that was a smile I saw on your Aunt Deirdre’s face when we told her - an actual smile!”, and she’s proud of herself when he chuckles at that, a true smile of his own lightening his face.

“And we all know that Michelle punching you harder than usual that day was her stupid way to cover the tears I definitely saw in her eyes - even though true, there were nothing compared to the way Paul just - well, broke down, really.”

He smirks. “Even Clare didn’t weep this much.”

“Which really, is saying something. Also, my family loves you more than they love me, Ma, Anna and Orla don’t even bother to pretend otherwise at this point, and I think at least one of us should take pleasure in that.” He’s laughing now, and yeah, this - this is how she wants him to be for the rest of their lives. Laughing, his squinting eyes shining - that’s what he deserves.

Biting down her own smile, Erin draps her arms around his neck, bringing him close. “And for what it’s worth, you also have me. You’re my person, remember? My favorite one in the whole world. I’m here - I’ll always be here.”

Always.

“Also, it will still be the best party ever, because I didn’t want to say anything, but I’ve prepared a massive, massive surprise, and - ”

But then his lips are on hers, and Erin just holds him closer, fingers tangled in his brown curls, and kisses him back.

Aye - more than fifteen years she's known him, and that boy still manages to leave her light headed. It vaguely occurs to her that maybe she should be worried about that.

“Thank you,” he says when they eventually part, still so close that she feels his words on her lips. She smirks.

“For what, the surprise? Because to be honest, I haven't actually figured out what it would be just yet: I just know it will be so grand, you'll - ”

She’s not exactly surprised when James kisses her again to shut her up - she definitely doesn’t mind, either. She can feel his chuckle against her as he pecks her once, twice, then moves to her cheek, her jaw, and her heart swells in her chest.

“For everything," he smiles, looking back at her and pinching her side playfully. "For not piling up on Michelle's heartfelt opinions about my mum, tonight or ever, even though I know that you hate her too."

She frowns. "Hey, I don’t hate her.” There’s no accusation in his tone or in his eyes, but she needs him to know. “I swear, I’ve never hated her. I just hate the situation, and you being sad.” She lets her fingers run on the back of his neck, lets her eyes travel over that handsome face of his. “I mean, we have her to thank for you, haven't we? How could I hate her, silly."

He’s looking at her that way now, that way that’s far too soft, too - something, and that always makes her cheeks redden. Tonight is no exception.

She’s not exactly sure how long they stay out there, kissing like they’re teenagers at a party again. She does hears herself moan in disapproval when he eventually leans back, and he nuzzles her to make amend, amused.

“Come on, let’s go back inside - you’re going to catch a cold out here.”

To be fair, she is freezing her arse off. But -

“You sure you’re okay?”

He’s got that wee soft smile of his on his face now, and, before she can say anything else, James brings his warm hands on her neck and puts an even softer last kiss on the corner of her lips.

“Of course I’m okay - I’m marrying you.”

Truth is, she’s pretty sure she looks like an eejit, beaming and blushing like she is. Again, she can’t bring herself to mind.

Lacing their fingers together, Erin leads the way back inside. “Come on, then - let’s get shitfaced, my love.”

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday, Scottish actor Paul Brannigan, born September 14th 1986 in Glasgow.

Paul was brought up in the working-class East End are of Glasgow around Barrowfield. Both of his parents were long-term drug addicts and much of his youth was spent amidst gang violence and petty crime. It isn’t surprising with this background that Brannigan was a gang member in Glasgow, expelled from school at 14 he served time in a Young offenders institution. After his release, He joined the Strathclyde Police violence reduction unit, where he was spotted by scriptwriter Paul Laverty and later given the lead role of Robbie in The Angels’ Share.

I hope nobody starts condemning Brannigan for this, he has got his life together and left that behind him, it was tough for him growing up, and found this from him in an interview in 2012;

“It was tough growing up, and there were moments where I just wanted to crawl away and die. I slashed my wrist with a mirror after a fight with my dad and was just like: fuck it, man, fuck it. But it’s not a sob story. I’m quite sensible; I don’t get myself too close or let my emotions go. You can get hurt and then you feel your life is destroyed.”

In jail, he taught himself to read via a diet of dictionaries and Newsnight , he said it wasn’t for the news or the politics but to listen to the way they speak, then find out what the fancy words mean, then put sentences together and learn to become articulate.

On release he was full of good intentions, but still “a bit of a lad, doing daft things”. The scar on his face was the result of a fight with his brother. He lost a job at a community centre and it looked bleak for him, however he re-prioritised after his son, Leon, was born.

He was spotted by scriptwriter Paul Laverty at the Strathclyde police’s Violence Reduction Unit, where he taught four hours of football a week. He was sceptical initially, skipped auditions, and it was only the pressure of repaying a Christmas loan that meant he finally responded to Laverty’s rallying phone calls. “It probably saved my life, to be honest. I’d nowhere to turn, got a kid; who knows what I’d have done for money.”

I could go on and post a lot of things that Paul has done wrong on his life, but I could also say many things about my own life that I have done wrong, Brannigan still has his demons to fight and was due to appear in court in relation to an assault on his brother but the Procurator Fiscal abandoned the case citing  “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the Procurator Fiscal decided there should be no proceedings taken “

We last saw Paul in a recent drama, The Nest, set in Glasgow, alongside Martin Compston, I wish him luck in ll he does in the future, I do recommend you watch him in The Angels Shareand Sunshine on Leith. 

Last month  Brannigan revealed he will play former gangland enforcer Paul Ferris in a film about his life, Paul says  “I understand that background. I’m more like Paul today — constantly in a process of change and trying to keep it real and guiding people away from that stuff I find that more inspiring than anything he has done in his past.”  

Brannigan will follow Line of Duty star Martin Compston, who played Ferris in The Wee Man in 2013.

[kevrocksicehouse]

Dean Stockwell 1936-2021.

Before Dean Stockwell turned 50 he had shared a screen with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra (Anchors Aweigh), acted in a Best Picture winner (Gentleman’s Agreement), was acclaimed as a D.H. Lawrence hero (Sons and Lovers), and won two Cannes acting awards, one for what was a definitive version of Eugene O’ Neill’s Long Days Journey Into Night co-starring Ralph Richardson, Katherine Hepburn and Jason Robards, the other shared with Orson Welles and Bradford Dillman for Compulsion. He had also acted in The Werewolf of Washington and Won Ton Ton the Dog Who Saved Hollywood as he would later show up as a gun-range owner in Beverly Hills Cop II and a sheriff in the low-budget horror film Creepy Crawlers. As an in-demand child actor who aged into a busy character actor, he took work where he got it and picked his moments as he found them, and he found quite a few in a career anybody could be proud of. And then there was that four year stretch of the ‘80s where he was arguably the best and most provocative actor of his time.

Stockwell had previously dropped out of acting to pursue the LA hippie lifestyle (he designed the album cover for Neil Young’s American Stars and Bars album) and again to dabble in real estate after a disappointing adult career. He was coaxed back by Wim Wenders to play the estranged brother of Harry Dean Stanton’s emotional and physical wreck. Stockwell turned the well-adjusted  sibling into more than a straight man and his dynamic with Stanton made me wonder what a gender-switched Persona might have been like. In Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob he played gang boss Tony “The Tiger” as an innocent-in-his-own-mind playboy, a man who thinks nothing of killing second banana Alec Baldwin. (“I loved you like a father” says Baldwin. “Well you disappointed the shit out of me” Stockwell replies before pulling the trigger) and then coming on to his wife at the funeral. And the scene where he blithely sings a fast-food jingle on his way to an assassination attempt (“Drive up to the clown”/ “It’s a Burger World town.”) is one of the movies loopiest depictions of a happy man. As Howard Hughes in an almost-cameo from Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker: The Man and His Dream, he went to places neither Jason Robards or Leonardo DiCaprio got to, holding up a dark mirror to Jeff Bridges sunny dreams, playing a drifting Ahab who lost sight of his white whale years ago. And as Ben, the small-town pimp in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, rouged up like the love child of Joel Grey’s Cabaret Emcee and Paul Reuben’s Pee-Wee Herman (with a slithery smooth voice suggesting he’d been up to things neither of them would countenance) Stockwell stole the decade’s best film. “Suave,” admires Dennis Hopper’s demonic psychopath Frank Booth, “You’re one suave f---” and as Stockwell grabs a handy stage light (the better to cast shadows) and lip-synch’s Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” (“The candy-colored clown they call The Sandman….”) slowly turning in into a dance of depraved seduction, he turned the movie away from surreal-tinged noir, and towards the transgressive nightmares (Lost Highway, Inland Empire) that would fully complete Lynch’s career. (If that scene doesn’t show up at least once in your nightmares, your nightmares aren’t doing it right). Stockwell would complete his own career (even as he kept his hand in for another decade) as a hologram appearing to a time-travelling physician on TV’s Quantum Leap, neatly blending an actor’s “gig is a gig” philosophy with the weirdness that turned him into a legend. RIP.

[boyneriver-fraser]

Ho! The house! 🗣

When I grow up, I want a personalized guided tour of the Big House on Fraser’s Ridge

The moment the last tenant hangs up his tool belt, I want to walk back and forth through that breezeway. Peek into every cupboard. Climb every stair. Rootle through every cubbyhole. Jump on every bed. There is so much to see, and touch, and smell… and I want to DO IT ALL!

Thoughts & Observations: S5E3 Free Will

Marsali is already proving to be the perfect apprentice. She’s motivated, inquisitive, intelligent, detail-oriented, logical, and curious about all sorts of new-fangled ideas and things there in Boston. Just wait till she tastes those cream pies.

Claire’s voiceover almost needs a Dun Dun Dun… soundtrack. Let’s hope she dares history with caution, and the copy of Dr. Rawlings’ Recommendations Fergus delivers to the printer doesn’t include scrawls and doodles of anything too new-fangled.

Really like the Jamie Payne (director) – Luke Schelhass (writer) combo! 😃

No doubt many people echoed Jamie’s Deo gratius when they realized we were being treated to a JamieClaire-centric episode. It worked well for me, but so did Between Two Fires. I find each of Jamie and Claire compelling on their own, pursing their individual interests and causes. I also like seeing their relationships with other characters. Call me kooky.

Callback #1: This one takes place in a kind of Upside Down. Remember S4E5 Savages, when Jamie returned to the Ridge from Woolam’s Creek, happy after discovering #MurtaghSaved? A shotgun-armed Claire was unable to sleep after the tragedies of Petronella’s and her baby’s measle deaths and Adawehi’s murder.

In Free Will, Jamie returns to the Ridge from Hillsborough, stunned by the Regulators’ tarring and feathering and by Lieutenant Knox’s murdering Ethan MacKinnon, and anxious about needing to form a militia. Despite missing Jamie while he’s away, Claire’s work on the Ridge and interaction with her children and grandchildren satisfies her and allows her to sleep soundly.

Fergus takes a mean shorthand! 🖌

We hear the first of many “Roger Mac(s)” to come.

“We’ll be taking yer whisky with us to share with the men. The finest I’ve tasted since leaving Scotland.” Fergus Claudel Fraser: Official Distiller of Fraser’s Ridge (I love this adaptation! I don’t think I mentioned in my The Fiery Cross episode review how much I loved Jamie’s calling Fergus to stand by his hand. Fergus, like Young Ian, is a man of worth.)

⚠️ Murtz Alert ⚠️ Oops… False alarm… 🙁 Fraser’s Ridge workforce includes a lot of silver-haired, ponytail-wearing tenants. 🤷🏻‍♀️

“Mr. Trouble” 😂 Too bad wee Robin Scott, who plays Germain, would be too young to attend most of the cast’s social outings. He would be the life of the party. 🎉

Does Marsali need Brianna’s help with reading because medical books are advanced academics and Brianna holds a degree from M.I.T, or because Laoghaire dropped the ball and didn’t educate her daughters? It’s safe to say Laoghaire didn’t encourage them to read anything that sat on a witch’s bookshelf.

Callback #2: The JamieClaire-on-horseback-led convoy’s leaving Fraser’s Ridge took me back to S2E8 The Fox’s Lair and E9 Je Suis Prest. Did you notice the pecking order? 1: Colonel & Physician. 2: Captain. 3: Official Distiller. Priorities are important, during times of peace and of war.

So… Stephen Bonnet’s free from incarceration, and recently sighted in Wilmington? How far is Wilmington from Fraser’s Ridge? Does it matter almost every fit and young man, almost every weapon, and the only doctor are on the road to Brownsville, while Bonnet’s purported child and the child’s mother are back with the not-so-fit-nor-young-nor-armed men on Fraser’s Ridge? I suppose it doesn’t, since the mother herself knows Bonnet could be consulting a map and stealing a horse as we speak. I somehow doubt her husband and named father of her child would agree… if he only knew.

Callback #3: Colonel Jamie tells Captain Roger there’s no time to train the militia, so he’ll teach them to fight like Highlanders, to gather and scatter on his command. Can you say Dougal MacKenzie in S2E9 Je Suis Prest? Sure. I knew you could.

Thank goodness for Closed Captioning. Growing up immersed in Scots (language, accents, people), I rarely “huh?” during Outlander, but I have no ear for Welsh, and John Quincy Myers keeps my clicking that CC button. And his lines are so worth understanding! 😂

Callback #4: The fireside banter and guy-talk, with Claire’s being the only participant without a Y chromosome, takes me back to S1E5 Rent. Good times.

We’re slowly adding to the books’ Fraser’s Ridge roster.  We already know Isaiah Morton and Ronnie Sinclair. Around the fire we meet brothers Evan and Kenny Lindsay, and Geordie Chisholm. Isaiah Morton on his way to Brownsville? What could go wrong?

Speaking of books, so much of Fireside Chat reminded me of The Fiery Cross, right down to Jamie’s not needing to worry whether his feet or his hair might burn in order to sleep “warm.” Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Say no more. 

I am very impressed with Paul Gorman’s playing the Beardsley twins, and duly impressed with his characters’ appearing onscreen at the same time. Well done! BUT… the BEST part of the entire Twins Story introduction was the explanation for Keziah’s missing britches. 😻

You’re lucky, Lizzie Wemyss, I’m completely committed to Murtz, because any man who would forgo his pants to keep kittens warm is my kind of man. ❤️

I wonder if Father Fogden ever missed his mirror?

I couldn’t begin to imagine those young men’s lives. Orphaned at two, with four sisters dead at sea. Sold on a 30-year term, starved, beaten, deafened… and made to sleep in a barn that is too cold for goats.

Josiah isn’t going to avoid Claire’s scary looking medical tools for long if he keeps drawing attention to his sore throat. Owie!

More book people, People: Joan, Hugh, and Iain Òg Findlay. In The Fiery Cross Roger also meets with Iain Mòr, Joan’s brother and head of the family.

Two years, three months, and five days…

It’s probably the meds, but when Fanny Beardsley slams the door in Jamie’s face, I imagined her turning to the goats and saying, “I told ‘im we got already got one.”

I’m thankful my TV’s Smell-o-Vision™ is out of order. Brianna, oh she who could not tolerate an autopsied torso, is thankful she skipped this road trip all together.

The direction, lighting, special effects, makeup, and prosthetics are excellent in this part of the episode and Mr. McCreary has outdone himself with the soundtrack. Truly a House of Horrors, Chez Beardsley.

“None of us could give him a baby.” Um, I hate to break it to you, Aaron, but I suspect it’s your problem, not any of your five wives’.

Brit Bronwyn James gives Baltimore Fanny a decent generic American accent.

Poor Jamie! He knows the pain of sending Claire back through the stones. Contemplating sending his beloved daughter and grandson, and tolerated son-in-law, is too much. 😖

Poor Fanny! To live as she has for two years, three months, and five days with that “wretch,” and awaken to see Jamie and Claire’s spooning, peacefully sleeping in her living room. I’d sneak off in the dead of night, too.

My grand-père went to Hillsborough and all I got was a wagon full of goats. 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐

“I’ll do what must be done.” No foreshadowing, thank you very much. James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser has suffered enough.

__________

March 2, 2020

Photo: Starz, Screenshots: @boyneriver-fraser​ Jon Gary Steele Twitter, W Network/Global TV app, Gifs: @abreathofsnowandwaffles​ (1 & 2), @jemscorner​ (3), @avasetocallmyown​ (4), @grantcary​ (5), @mistress-gif​ (6 & 7)

#Outlander #Personal #Review #The Fiery Cross #S5E3 Free Will #Claire Fraser #Jamie Fraser #Roger MacKenzie #Fergus Claudel Fraser #Geordie Chisholm #Adso #Mama ComfyPants & The Kittens #193 #030220

[aion-rsa]

The 20 Best Horror Movies on Netflix UK – Scary Films to Watch Right Now

https://ift.tt/2RE5emn

Netflix is an ever-changing, constantly growing treasure trove of hidden gems and secret delights (here’s everything new on Netflix UK this month). Sometimes, a teeny bit too secret though.

Who hasn’t sat down to watch a horror movie and found themselves scrolling endlessly, either not being able to find something they’re in the mood for, or not really knowing what half the titles are, or if they’re any good?

We’ve scoured the full current catalogue available to watch in the UK now and picked out the best scary movies. It’s a mix of classic and new, and a range of slashers, horror-coms, mumblegore, monster movies and more to hopefully scratch that itch with ease.

We’ll keep this updated as and when titles drop in and out of the service.

Hereditary (2018)

If you haven’t seen this slice of trauma, the feature debut of Ari Aster, you probably should. If you have seen it, you probably won’t want to again. Toni Collette stars as a woman whose controlling mother has just passed away setting of a series of horrible events. Aster says the film was partly inspired by his own sense of his family being cursed – this a movie absolutely drenched in grief and pain with astonishing performances all round. It’s tough going, but it’s a masterpiece. Read our review.

The Platform (2019)

This existential Spanish horror made a splash at the start of lockdown with it’s tale of prisoner trapped in an enormous vertical prison with a platform at it’s centre which delivers food to the inmate floor by floor starting at the top, so that each floor only gets what the floor above has left over. It’s political, allegorical, it’s clever and it’s very violent.

The Endless (2017)

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s gorgeous sci-fi horror stars the two as brother who escaped from a cult ten years ago and are drawn back in in search of answers when a strange videotape arrives. This is their third movie after Resolution and Spring and the two are only growing in strength as directors – The Endless is rammed with indelible imagery and deeply unsettling moments within a plot that is a joy to unpick.

What Keeps You Alive (2018)

Couple Jackie and Jules head to a remote woodland cabin to celebrate their first wedding anniversary but things go bad… Ok this sounds like the most generic slasher in the world but trust us it’s not. Twists hit early on (that we’d hate to spoil) and the tension ramps up fast in a very effective cat and mouse chase with a female bent. This comes from Colin Minihan who made Grave Encounters – this isn’t similar but both have a disorientating sense of place. Read our review.

Orphan (2009)

Released during the heyday of Dark Castle’s mid-budget horror splurge, Orphan is one of those genre films with an absolutely ludicrous (and therefore thoroughly enjoyable) twist, which we will not spoil for you. Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga star as a couple mourning the loss of their baby, who decided to adopt a little Russian girl called Esther from the local orphanage. Things quickly start to go very, very wrong as the pair start to suspect that wee Esther – who insists on dressing like a spooky doll – isn’t all she appears to be. Check out our review.

Insidious (2010)

The many sequels may have yielded diminishing returns but the first of this franchise, about a couple (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) whose comatose son appeared to be trapped in another realm by a evil spirit, is a very effective chiller. Horror genius James Wan directs, and the first half of this movie at least is pretty much guaranteed to make you jump out of your skin.

Annihilation (2018)

An all star cast including Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tessa Thompson, plus the quality direction of Alex Garland wasn’t enough to secure this horror sci-fi based on Jeff Vandermeer’s novel a theatrical release in the UK. Nevermind, that just means you can watch it for free on Netflix. Portman joins a crew of women exploring the mysterious Area X where he husband ventured some time before and came back changed. It’s a weird, unfamiliar landscape of beautiful flora and terrifying fauna defying explanation until the strange, indelible finale (not sure what it means? Have a read of this explainer). And you can check out our review, too if you like.

Daybreakers (2009)

You’ll get a little bit of everything with this Spierig Brothers curio. It was the film that really got the directing team noticed and it’s not hard to see why. Set in a dystopian world where basically everyone has been turned into a vampire, one corporation thinks it’d be a bloody (sorry) good idea to track down all the surviving humans and…well, basically milk them. Ethan Hawke stars as a vampire haematologist who starts to think there might be another way for this story to go after he’s collared by a former vampire (Willem Dafoe), who can cure everyone. (Living) dead good. Check out our review.

The Bar (2017)

Slightly bonkers Spanish horror thriller which sees a bunch of strangers stuck in a busy Madrid cafe when snipers begin shooting anyone who tries to leave. Confusion and personality clashes abound in this economical single location chiller with a dark sense of human as the inhabitants slowly discover what’s going on, who’s responsible and try to work out if and how they will survive.

Read more

TV

Netflix UK: What’s New in April 2020?

By Kirsten Howard

TV

21 underappreciated films to watch on Netflix UK

By Paul Bradshaw and 2 others

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s love/hate letter to the horror genre felt like something of a game changer when it finally arrived (it was shelved for several years because of financial issue with original distributor MGM). Chris Hemsworth and Haley Bennett star in a double layer story about ordinary kids vacationing in a woodland cabin, with Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins as very particular kinds of bureaucrats up to something in the background. No spoilers, just watch. Here’s our review.

Cargo (2017)

Martin Freeman stars in this Netflix original developed from a short directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke. Set in the Australian outback, Freeman is a father trying to find someone to protect his child in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. More wistful and emotional than that sounds on paper, there’s a fascinating subplot about an Aboriginal girl mourning her father and the final set piece is unforgettable. Check out our review.

Lifeforce (1985)

A Cannon Films classic directed by late Texas Chain Saw legend Tobe Hooper, people are still discovering the ’80s madness that is Lifeforce. Originally entitled Space Vampires, it’s exactly what you’d expect, and so much more. Nude, energy sucking bat creatures are brought back to Earth after an interstellar mission finds a gaggle of them lying dormant in Halley’s Comet, and it all goes very badly for the planet. You can expect a scenery-chewing Patrick Stewart to pop up in between the tits and gore. Not literally! Although, sometimes literally.

Creep (2014)

No, not the one set on the tube, this ‘mumblegore’ horror is far weirder than that. Director Patrice Brice plays Aaron, a videographer hired by Mark Duplass’s Josef to make a video for his kid to watch after he’s died of a terminal illness. Or does he? Playing on the power of politeness and the awkwardness of male relationships this is a highly original, itchily uncomfortable watch. Creep 2 is also on Netflix, and also good!

Read more

TV

17 of the best TV series on Netflix UK

By Louisa Mellor

TV

Underappreciated comedy movies on Netflix UK to watch now

By Mark Harrison and 1 other

Hush (2016)

Another smart sensory-based horror, this time from Oculus and Doctor Sleep man Mike Flanagan. This home invasioner sees deaf writer Maddie (Kate Siegel) attacked in her woodland retreat by a masked stranger. He uses her inability to hear to sneak around and terrorise her, but she has tricks of her own up her sleeve. Check out our review.

The Invitation (2015)

Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, Destroyer) just keeps knocking it out of the park (and she’s recently been attached to a Dracula movie from Blumhouse Productions), and with The Invitation she continued to secure her place as one of the best directors around. Here, Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend go to a party held by his formerly suicidal ex-wife, and discover that she seems to be happier than she ever was, but Will starts to suspect that rather than healthily coping with her mental illness, she may well have joined a doomsday cult instead, and be planning to kill them all. Paranoia and tension are at the max in this bad boy. Here’s our review.

Little Evil (2017)

Comedy horror from Eli Craig who made the wonderful Tucker and Dale Vs Evil. This time he’s playing on creepy kid tropes, particular those from The Omen movies. Adam Scott plays a man who discovers his new wife’s (Evangeline Lilly) son might actually be the anti-christ. And because it’s Eli Craig, of course it’s funny and very good natured as well as playing with the genre.

Gerald’s Game (2017)

Another Mike Flanagan offering here – what can we say? he’s damn good! – as Jessie (a spectacular Carla Guigino) and her husband Gerald drive to a remote house to try and spice up their marriage with a bit of gentle BDSM. One problem: Jessie is not into it. At all. Two problems: Gerald carks it, leaving her tied up with only her cunning to help her free herself from her prone, handcuffed predicament. Three problems: a mythical, supernatural killer may be in the house. Stephen King, you’ve done it again. Read our review.

Ravenous (2017)

Unusual Canadian zombie movie (in French) which sees remaining stragglers after an outbreak of the infected band together in disparate groups travelling to find other survivors. Ravenous sets up its infected as worshipping a sort of new religion of found items (chairs, TVs etc.) making comment on the zombification of society. It’s also funny and quite scary, so there’s that.

Veronica (2017)

Loosely based on a true story, Veronica is set in Madrid in 1991 and follows a young woman who messes with a Ouija board who thinks she’s accidentally summoned an evil spirit. Director by Paco Plaza, one of the two directors behind [REC], the movie gained minor notoriety when it first landed on Netflix because of a few viewers finding it overly scary. It’s true there are some seriously creepy bits (but you’ll be fine!).

The Perfection (2018)

Get Out‘s Allison Williams and Dear White People‘s Logan Browning star in this twisty, trashy but nonetheless enjoyable tale of two musical prodigies hothoused at a mysterious academy. It’s lurid and lavish (and it’s got some fairly dodgy sexual politics, we’d warn you) but great lead performances and a tricksy three act structure that keeps you guessing, make this an entertaining and unusual Friday night pick. Read our review.

Want more horror? Here’s our list of 81 genuinely creepy horror movies. Here are some horror movies it’s safe to watch with your kids. And here are some underappreciated Scream-inspired horror movies of the 90s.

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[xtruss]

Rigis Philbin, Television Personality and Host, Dies at 88

— BY DAVID BAUDER | July 25, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Regis Philbin, the genial host who shared his life with television viewers over morning coffee for decades and helped himself and some fans strike it rich with the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” has died at 88.

Philbin died of natural causes Friday night, just over a month before his 89th birthday, according to a statement from his family provided by spokesman Lewis Kay.

Celebrities routinely stopped by Philbin’s eponymous syndicated morning show, but its heart was in the first 15 minutes, when he and co-host Kathie Lee Gifford — on “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” from 1985-2000 — or Kelly Ripa — on “Live! with Regis and Kelly” from 2001 until his 2011 retirement — bantered about the events of the day. Viewers laughed at Philbin’s mock indignation over not getting the best seat at a restaurant the night before, or being henpecked by his partner.

“Even I have a little trepidation,” he told The Associated Press in 2008, when asked how he does a show every day. “You wake up in the morning and you say, ‘What did I do last night that I can talk about? What’s new in the paper? How are we gonna fill that 20 minutes?’”

“I’m not gonna say it always works out brilliantly, but somehow we connect more often than we don’t,” he added.

“One of the greats in the history of television, Regis Philbin has passed on to even greater airwaves,” President Donald Trump said in a tweet. “He was a fantastic person, and my friend.”

Ripa and her current partner, Ryan Seacrest, called Philbin “the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes every day.”

“There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis,” Gifford said Saturday on Instagram. “I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift.”

The tributes flooding in over social media read like blurbs for a movie Philbin would promote: “Always made me laugh” — Tony Bennett. “One of a kind” — Henry Winkler. “A lovely man” — Rosie O’Donnell. “His wit was only surpassed by his huge heart” — Meredith Vieira. “As wonderful a man as he was talented” — Paul Reubens, also known as Pee-Wee Herman. “You were the best” — LeVar Burton.

After hustling into an entertainment career by parking cars at a Los Angeles TV station, Philbin logged more than 15,000 hours on the air, earning him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most broadcast hours logged by a TV personality, a record previously held by Hugh Downs.

“Every day, you see the record shattered, pal!” Philbin would tell viewers. “One more hour!”

He was host of the prime-time game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” briefly television’s most popular show at the turn of the century. ABC aired the family-friendly program as often as five times a week. It generated around $1 billion in revenue in its first two years — ABC had said it was the more profitable show in TV history — and helped make Philbin himself a millionaire many times over.

Philbin’s question to contestants, “Is that your final answer?” became a national catchphrase. Philbin was even a fashion trendsetter; he put out a line of monochramactic shirts and ties to match what he wore on the set.

“You wait a lifetime for something like that and sometimes it never happens,” Philbin told the AP in 1999.

In 2008, he returned briefly to the quiz show format with “Million Dollar Password.” He also picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award from the daytime Emmys.

He was the type of TV personality easy to make fun of, and easy to love.

When his son Danny first met his future wife, “we were talking about our families,” Danny told USA Today. “I said, ‘You know that show Regis and Kathie Lee?’ And she said, ‘I hate that show.’ And I said, ‘That’s my dad.’”

Yet Philbin was a favorite of a younger generation’s ironic icon, David Letterman. When Letterman announced that he had to undergo heart surgery, it was on the air to Philbin, who was also there for Letterman’s first day back after his recovery.

Letterman returned the favor, appearing on Philbin’s show when he went back on the air in April 2007 after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

In the 2008 AP interview, Philbin said he saw “getting the best out of your guests” as “a specialty. ... The time constraints mean you’ve got to get right to the point, you’ve got to make it pay off, go to commercial, start again. Play that clip. Say goodbye.” He gave his desktop a decisive rap.

“And make it all conversational.”

Regis Francis Xavier Philbin grew up in the New York borough of the Bronx, the son of Italian-Irish parents and named for the Roman Catholic boys high school his dad attended. He went to Notre Dame University, and was such an enthusiastic alum, he once said he wanted his ashes scattered there.

After leaving the Navy in 1955, Philbin talked his way into a meeting with the stationmaster at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. He got a job parking cars, then progressed into work as a stagehand, courier, newswriter and producer of a sports telecast. When its sportscaster didn’t show up one day, Philbin filled in.

Philbin got far more on-air experience in San Diego in the early 1960s, when KOGO-TV began producing “The Regis Philbin Show” for a national audience. The program of music and celebrity interviews was taped two weeks before each airing. It was canceled after four months.

In 1967, Philbin was hired as the announcer and sidekick to comic Joey Bishop on his network show. When he heard that he was going to be fired because of poor ratings, Philbin tearfully announced he was leaving on July 12, 1968, walking off during a live broadcast. He returned three days later after letters of support poured in.

He and Bishop had bad blood: Bishop called Philbin an “ingrate” for walking off during a salary dispute and later badmouthing him.

Philbin’s second wife, Joy, was Bishop’s assistant.

After three years of commuting to St. Louis each week for a local Saturday night show, Philbin became a star in local morning television — first in Los Angeles, then in New York. In 1985, he teamed with Kathie Lee Johnson, a year before she married former football star Frank Gifford, and the show went national in 1988.

Philbin’s “sarcastic playfulness” endears him to fans, Good Housekeeping magazine wrote in 2000.

“He’s the little guy protesting the injustices of life, from crime waves to paper cuts,” the magazine wrote. “The ranting is punctuated with Kathie Lee’s familiar cry of ‘Oh, Reege,’ uttered sometimes in sisterly sympathy and sometimes in teacherly admonishment.”

The gentle bickering and eye-rolling exasperation in Philbin and Gifford’s onscreen relationship was familiar to anyone in a long-lasting relationship.

“No arguments, no harsh words in all this time,” Philbin told a theater audience in 2000. “Well, there was the time I didn’t talk to her for two weeks. Didn’t want to interrupt her.”

Gifford left the show in 2000. After a tryout period for a replacement, soap star Ripa (“All My Children”) filled the slot.

The same hustler who parked cars in Hollywood worked just as hard to land the job on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

“I begged my way on,” he told People magazine. “There was a short list, and I wasn’t on it. I called my agent, and we made a full assault on ABC in L.A.”

The audience responded to Philbin’s warm, comic touch in the role. He later jokingly referred to himself as the man who saved ABC. It wasn’t complete hyperbole: ABC was suffering in the ratings before the game became a smash success. Forbes reported that two-thirds of ABC’s operating profit in 2000 was due to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Philbin appeared to love every minute of it. Even the ultimate arbiter of hip, the MTV Video Awards, asked him to make an appearance.

“It’s better to be hot,” he told the AP. “It’s fun. I know this business. I was perfectly content with my morning show. People would ask me, ‘What’s next?’ There is nothing next. There are no more mountains for me to climb. Believe me when I tell you, all I wanted when I started this show in 1961 was to be a success nationally.”

The prime-time game burned out quickly because of overuse and ended in 2002.

Philbin enjoyed a side career as a singer that began when he sang “Pennies from Heaven” to Bing Crosby on Bishop’s show. He said a record company called him the next day, and he made an album.

Even though the series “Regis Philbin’s Health Styles,” on Lifetime in the 1980s, was part of his lengthy resume, Philbin had health issues. Doctors performed an angioplasty to relieve a blocked artery in 1993. He underwent bypass surgery in 2007 at age 75.

He’s survived by his wife, Joy, and their daughters J.J. and Joanna Philbin, as well as his daughter Amy Philbin with his first wife, Catherine Faylen, according to People.

Regis Philbin, American TV host who spent 17,000 hours in front of camera, dies of natural causes at age of 88

The New Yorker was paid $28 million a year in 2000, the most ever for a game-show host, and had a career lasting six decades.

— ABC.NET.AU

American TV host Regis Philbin, who logged more hours in front of the camera than anyone else in the history of US television on shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, has died aged 88.

Key Points:

Philbin died of natural causes, according to his family, one month before his 89th birthday

Guinness World Records listed Philbin as having put in about 17,000 hours on television

He was paid $28 million a year in 2000, the most ever for a game-show host

People magazine said Philbin died of natural causes one month before his 89th birthday, citing a statement by his family.

"His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him for his warmth, his legendary sense of humour, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about," the statement said.

"We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss."

Philbin was known for his rough edges, funny anecdotes, self-deprecating humour and a Bronx accent that was once described as sounding "like a racetrack announcer with a head cold."

American comedian and late-night host David Letterman, a long-time friend, called Philbin the funniest man on television.

Philbin, known to fans as "Reeg", was a fixture on various local and national shows for half a century with co-hosts including Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa.

He hosted Who Wants to be a Millionaire when it debuted in the US in 1999, as well as other game shows.

His $US20 million ($28 million) a year salary in 2000 was the most ever for a game-show host.

Guinness World Records listed him as having put in more time on camera than anyone else in the history of US television — about 17,000 hours.

Philbin was perhaps best known as the host of the nationally syndicated talk show, Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee. It started in 1988, and became Live! with Regis and Kelly in 2001, running until 2011.

Jimmy Kimmel@jimmykimmel

Regis was a great broadcaster, a good friend and a tremendous amount of fun. He leaves behind a beautiful family and a TV legacy that will likely go unmatched. Regis, I hope our friend Rickles met you at the pearly gates with open arms and a slew of the insults you loved so much

Kelly Ripa Pays Tribute to Regis Philbin After His Death: 'He Was the Ultimate Class Act'

Philbin first made a name for himself in the 1960s with his own show on local TV in San Diego and then as a sidekick to comedian Joey Bishop on another program.

His biggest success came in the various incarnations of his nationally syndicated morning talk show that began in 1983 when he created The Morning Show for WABC in his native New York City.

After two co-hosts came and went, singer Gifford joined him in a highly successful collaboration in 1985, and in 1988 the program gained national syndication.

Gifford was his co-host for 15 years before Philbin was partnered with former soap opera actress Ripa for 11 years. Ripa remained as host of the show after Philbin departed.

"I think he is the world's greatest storyteller … that's his gift," Ripa said in 2011.

In 2001, he won a Daytime Emmy award as outstanding talk show host and claimed another Emmy for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

He also received a lifetime achievement Daytime Emmy award in 2008.

Philbin, who was born into an Irish-Catholic family in New York City, dealt with heart problems during his career and underwent triple-bypass surgery in 2007 at the age of 75.

Philbin married his second wife, Joy, in 1970 and remained married the rest of his life.

She sometimes co-hosted his national talk show with him when Gifford or Ripa were absent.

ABC/wires

[warfear]

what is popping, home - slices?   if you’ve been in the group chat—then you are aware of my wee identity crisis :     involving the dropping of three, picking up of one.   don’t worry, they’ll be back!   whenever i feel alive again.   SO NEVER.   jk.   anyway…   in the meantime, with the exception of odette and julian—i offer you my trashiest child  (found in the dumpster behind burger king wrapped in tinfoil.   * australian accent *  think they were gonna throw her on the barbie…   huh?)   so, SEE BELOW for the 411 on this 4′11 gremlin.

INTRODUCTION.

☢     —     (  KATIE DOUGLAS, AGENDER, SHE/THEM  )     Trading in their tattoo gun for a chainsaw might not come easy for MINOO PEARCE. This twenty-two year old artist brings spray cans galore, divergent thinking, and a history of shoplifting to the table … but their small stature and double-dealing could drag the group down. And while their unorthodox nature might raise group morale, their arrogance might give them a few enemies. That’s the last thing anyone needs right now. Hopefully, in the apocalypse movie that’s now their life, this QUINCY PUNK will make it to the end credits.

BASICS.

born in boston, massachussets—or as i like to call it…   massachuchu—minoo is the first and only child of two garbage folk.   mitch & rachel pearce.   devout catholics.   patriotic.   all - american.   thoroughly unfit to be parents.   only in a sexy  “our daughter isn’t her own person but an extension of ourselves”  kinda way.   slammed like a ping pong ball between being invisible and controlled this one.

a military brat, too…   meaning that no place was permanent, and boston was ditched before she could take her first step.   she has lived in boise, in a small fishing town south of anchorage, and once her family spent six months in waipahu.   when she was thirteen her father got a permanent position in fort elms.   lucky she!

during the flashes of love and pampering  (see: no autonomy)  minoo was subjected to the cringe - worthy world of child pageantry.   we love it when mommy lives vicariously through us!   even if she aims for jonbenet ramsey…   ending up with honey boo boo instead.   don’t get it twisted, though—she was little miss texas during her prime  (age 8).   AND WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THAT.   not unless you wanna get shanked   * stabby motions *   …   side note :     she still fits into her last puffy - armed dress.   we don’t talk about that either.

she eventually learned to put her foot down.   much to rachel’s horror.   sorry not sorry, darling.   minoo abandoned the gowns for band tees soon after.   not as much as a speck of rogue on this honey - pie these days, just some sick, sick raccoon eyes.   call it what it is…   punk rock.

minoo first found her greatest passions  (shoplifting and vandalism.   not necessarily in that order.)  when she was eleven years old.   she pocketed a strawberry scented hello kitty eraser from macy’s and she has not looked back since.   a habit which earned her a trip to boarding school.   catholic.   gag us with a spoon.   side note 2 :     she still fits into her middle school uniform, too.

all jokes—they’re not jokes—aside…   she is not completely hopeless.   in fact, she is a little miss smarty - pants.   minoo got a raging hard - on for classic literature  (jane austen, what’s good?)  and conceptual art  (richard hambleton, what’s good?).   not much of a writer but one hell of a graffiti artist—most of her work can be spotted around town.   some genuine, some dicks.   TALENT!   a good portion of her art can be found on mj herself, though.   stick ‘n pokes, babes—we love to see it. 

minoo is also a mother.   she has a son.   and he’s a really good boy.   almost bigger than she is now…   they grow up so fast, don’t they?   his name is rusty, and he’s the cutest saint bernard you ever did see.   her best friend.   her only friend, really.   intended to be a guard dog, my boy rusty flopped—onto the couch that is.   he is a certified couch potato, something minoo can relate to.   AND SHE LOVES HIM SO!   the only person she’d put before herself.   dog - person…   

once intended to get her license.   that opportunity was shot when she chose teenage rebellion over independence.   you see, mj here has got herself a rap sheet longer than herself.   (not that impressive all things considered.)   and she takes much pride in it.   which means that when daddy dearest tried to have her late teen mishaps expunged—she saw red.   psychological help, i’ll get her some.   now she’s twenty - two and destined to travel the world by skateboard…   all because she backed the family jeep into their neighbour’s backyard.   nobody was hurt, alright.   dare i say yet?

SPEED RUN!     got nancy spungen for a role model.   saving up to run off to sacramento.   hates authority yet somehow has an authority kink.   adhd embodied.   looks like the artwork of numerous kindergarteners.   thinks attention is love.   homeless by choice (nobody said she was smart…   except i did.)  could eat her weight in olives.   anarchist without a cause.   10/10 will break into your house.   took fuck the police too literally that one time.   fantasises about her dad’s suicide.   wants to be loved.   does not want to love.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

friend - o’s :    i think it goes without saying that minoo is a handful.   although i still think she should be allowed some buds.   whether through her MANY INTERESTS  (literature, art, punk rock, skating, large dogs, disappointing her parents…)  or just through circumstance.   she is twenty - two, and never made it to art school—*  that one vine vc *   way to go, paul mitch!—but she did go to fort elms high all four years.   someone’s bound to know her!   just give me some bitches to put up with her shit.   god bless america.

parental figure :    listen…   she needs this.   obviously!   just some OLD PERSON who doesn’t tell her that she stinks and that her tattoos are ugly.   she has a lifetime of trauma to make up for.   we need some rachel and mitch opposites to fix that shit, alright.   and stat!   she intends on being dead by twenty - seven.   cobain hasn’t even bit it yet, and still…   she’s so ahead of her time…

enemy slash victim :    she stinks.   (yes, this is her dad speaking.)   and is a complete fucking nuisance.   if she decides you suck then she wont settle for simply knowing herself—you also have to know.   really know…   it’s no fun hating somebody if they don’t know it, man.   just let her pull some cutesy pranks, you know?   ordering half a dozen pizzas to their house, leave their number in the x - rated section of blockbuster, graffiti an ugly portrait of their ugly face on their driveway, slash their tires…

and that’s it, fellas!   please love her…   or else…   :gun_emoji:

[crunchybones-mcspine]

OKAY BLACK FRIDAY THOUGHTS BABEYY

I really enjoyed it. They had some fun themes, interesting ideas, and the lighting was so much fun to look at.

The set was really cool. Nothing super ostentatious or overly extravagant. But exactly what was needed, simple and effective while still being sweet to look at. In classic starkid way. I LOVE the use of spotlights and the tinsel. That was really damn cool and i wished they had used it more. Though i understand why they didnt.

Kim has the voice of an angel my god. The banana child has an incredible voice that really worked with the finale song.

I love that corey finally got his solo. I lovw that it was a weird frank n furter meets capitalism vibe. Joey stole the stage whenever he was in a speaking role. Incredible perfirmance on his part that guy felt gooey and greasy in all the worst ways. I would loved to have him more explicitly referenced as Wilbur, because unless i managed to miss it its only heavily implied?

The wiggly jingle is great. The void wiggly song is awesome and once again KIM. But a fair few of the other songs seemed a little plonked in? Or very samey? (Might just me my terrible hearing not able to pick up on the song shift though that could be on me) As much as i adore Dylans voice he was near exclusively ballads and softer songs, and without his son on stage with him or seeing more of that relationship full stop they felt a little hollow.

However his duet with Kim when theyre in the playground with Hannah was incredible. I personally just would have liked a few more intense songs with a bit more oomph to them. But thats an opinion based on preference not a fault with the show itself.

I loved Gary Goldstein. Loved him. I dont know why but i do.

Macnamara has mad gay vibes and also seemed the most rounded as a character??? Maybe thats because weve seen him before but he had the most fleshed out feel. The other people with that feel were the president and maybe lex? But the rest felt a little 2d, however i am super excited to see where theyre gonna go with them and how theyll grow if we see them again.

I did feel as a whole the story was a little stretched out. There were lots of things going on in different places all at once and it was hard to properly attatch to their stories. But again thats just me. Im genuinely excited for starlid to get more ambitious in their projects and this is a good start even if i myself am a bit slow to follow.

Like i said earlier paul matthews autistic icon.

Curt was wonderful as the president. I really loved the cowardly wimp only president because he thought it was a cushy job in power but when called to step up he wilts. I really liked that and the jabs at polititians at the top that takes.

There were a few GREAT one liners.

The first death i feel could have been pushed back a little. For maximum hurt. Again there wasnt much time to really really appreciate the character. And feel that ACHE.

Becky Barnes good for her! On both counts.

But that said her relationship with tom felt? Meh? I didnt really care too much it was a bit bland and kind of sudden? Idk im not to interested in romance plots anyway so might just be me.

One the subject tho lex and ethan parenting the banana child was hilarious and wonderful that was amazing.

Overall, not my faviurite starkid show but i did love it and really look forward to seeing where theyre taking everything. Seeing more hatchetfeild is awesome. I nearly cried at the sight of paul and emma which is very lame on my part, and it was really nice to see sections expand. I feel if theyre really gonna pull this multiverse dealio off they might have to step away feom referencing their own universe too heavily though? The firearm authorisation line worked wonderfully and was a funny nod, but the hidgens reference (as much as it pains me to say given how much i adore him) was a wee bit on the nose. Fun nod though.

Im really looking forward to seeing where theyre going!!!! Bring on more hatchetfeild!!!!

[chuffyfan87]

A Welcome Visitor. Part 1a

Cowritten with @fairheads. Set early series 16.

-x-

It was just before lunch when Charlie arrived at Duffy's house. Even though it was his day off he'd been up early but had decided to give her some time to get the older two boys to school before popping in to visit.

It sounded like she wasn't having the best morning though as Paul's screams could be heard even through the closed door as he reached the doorstep.

Charlie's hand hovered over the doorbell, uncertain, he didn’t want to add any more noise. He pressed it anyway and waited patiently on the step, holding in one hand the flowers he had selected and in the other a bag.

It was several minutes before a very flustered looking Duffy finally opened the door. Paul was screaming in her arms, a trail of milky sick running down the shoulder of her top and onto her leggings. Her hair was pulled back and she wore no make up.

Charlie’s heart went out to her, it was never easy being a parent to a newborn, let alone having to do it alone and while grieving.

“Hey you,” He smiled at her, a mixture of concern and sympathy for his best friend.

Duffy sighed at the look that filled his eyes. Pity. Just what she needed! "Are you coming in or planning to just stand on my doorstep all day?"

Charlie ignored the angry tone in her voice. “Thought you’d never ask,” He laughed, trying to lighten the mood. “I bought you these,” He thrust the flowers towards her, grinning in an almost child like way.

She softened slightly. "Thanks." She smiled before heading through to the kitchen.

Charlie took his boots off and shut the front door, noticing the piles of toys and laundry scattered around the hallway. He desperately wanted to help her, but it would be so difficult to get her to agree to that! Paul continued to scream as he entered the kitchen. He watched her sigh, she looked defeated.

"Sorry about the mess. I keep trying to get the boys to help me tidy up." She sighed again. "Coffee?"

“Duffy, it looks fine!” He tried for reassure her. “And even if it didn’t, there’s no need to apologise. Coffee would be lovely. Here, shall I take this little man for a bit?” He reached over to take Paul from Duffy’s arms.

Duffy reluctantly let Charlie take Paul so she could make coffee.

Charlie noticed her reluctance but didn’t question it. It was fortunate timing more than anything else, but Paul settled as soon as he was in Charlie’s arms.

“You get cuter everyday little man,” Charlie cooed, watching the baby’s eyes close as he gently swayed.

"You wouldn't say that if you saw him at 2am." Duffy muttered as she put an extra spoonful of coffee granules in her mug.

“I’m sure,” He agreed, watching her prepare the coffees. “I remember when Louis was this little, night time is the worst.”

"You're lucky he didn't have siblings to be woken up by all the noise." She muttered without thinking.

Charlie once again tried to ignore the combativeness of her words, putting it down to her state of constant fatigue and grief. Duffy carefully carried the coffee over to the table. Once settled, he decided to bite the bullet.

“How are you doing Duffy? I mean really doing, none of this 'I’m fine' business.”

"I'm doing the best I can!" She shot back, taking his concerned question as an accusation and slight on her ability to cope with everything.

“Duffy,” He warned, hoping she would realise how difficult she was being. “I know that, but we’ve been friends for long enough. I know that this can’t be easy.”

"Its not like I've got much choice Charlie."

He was taken a back by the force of her words. Gently he reached out his hand, resting it on hers. “I know,” He whispered in agreement.

"So I've just got to get on with it. It's not like I've not done it before."

“I know, but this time I can help. Please let me help. I can entertain the kids for a bit, take them to the park or something, give you some time?” Charlie wasn’t sure how well this would go down, but he hoped that despite her fierce independence, she might accept his help.

"Use my kids as some kind of substitute for Louis you mean?" The words were out her mouth before she had time to think it through.

“That’s not fair Duffy.” He was shocked by what she had said.

"I know, I'm sorry." She ran her hand through her tangled, greasy hair that had fallen from the ponytail she'd thrown it back into to do the school run. "That was out of order."

“Will you let me help you?” He asked.

"I don't want pity and charity Charlie."

“You are the most stubborn woman I know. I’m not pitying you Duffy, I care about you and I want to help. You would do exactly the same!” Charlie was growing more and more frustrated, how could he get through to her. He picked his brain to think of something that might work.

"I am not stubborn!" She retorted, though a tiny whisper of a smile tugged at her lips.

“Oh you are!” Charlie smiled, grateful that she appeared to finally be cracking.

"You're more stubborn." She replied, pulling a face.

”We both know, that’s not true!” Charlie laughed, standing up, with Paul still in his arms. He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Charlie was surprised when Duffy placed her own hand on his and leaned into his arm.

“You’re doing great,” He said softly, before kissing her head.

"I wish he'd settle like that for me." She sighed.

“Oh this is just lucky timing, you know that!” He responded, downplaying the fact that Paul had been asleep for the best part of half an hour! “Why don’t you take some time for you, I’ll look after him for a bit?” Charlie suggested.

"I'll be sure to call you when he won't settle in the middle of the night, see if you can work your 'lucky timing' then!" She remarked offhand as she cleared away the empty coffee mugs. She turned and shot him a mock glare. "Is that your way of saying 'Duffy go take a shower, wash your hair and change your clothes coz you stink'?"

“You are impossible, you know that!?” He shot back, exasperated. “No, it’s 'Duffy accept some bloody help when it’s offered to you'.” He instantly felt bad.

"Fine." She pouted. "But only if first you show me what's in that bag."

He sighed, how did this woman have the ability to change his emotion so quickly?

“No way, you’re only finding out if you put yourself first for a bit and let me help.” He couldn’t believe he was now having to bribe her!

"OK, OK." She rolled her eyes. "Just don't eat all the biscuits or you can explain to the boys what happened to them!"

As Duffy left the room, Charlie did a little fist pump. He wouldn’t let her know, of course, but he’d just won a mighty battle. Paul was still out cold, so he placed him in his basket and began to clean the kitchen. It was something he could do to help.

He heard the shower turn on and then off again several minutes later but by the time he'd finished cleaning the kitchen and had put a few things away in the lounge he realised it was almost an hour later and she still hadn't returned downstairs.

He thought she may have fallen asleep, but as time went on and he’d virtually tidied the entirety of the downstairs, he was starting to wonder where she was.

He'd been putting off going upstairs as he worried she'd view it as an invasion of her privacy but his hand was forced when Paul began to cry in his moses basket.

Attempting to soothe Paul, he lifted him up and cradled the tot to his shoulder. “Duffy?” He shouted, but there was no response.

Paul continued to cry, a pungent smell wafting from his nappy.

There was only one thing for it, he’d have to take Paul upstairs. If only for the changing mat and nappy in the nursery. “Duffy?” He tried one last time. What was she up to?

As he reached the top of the stairs he realised her bedroom door was slightly ajar and the sound of light snoring with drifting from within. He had to walk past the doorway to reach Paul's nursery and as he did he risked a peek through the open door. She was laid on the bed fast asleep, the towel barely covering her naked body.

Charlie inhaled sharply, he had not expected to see her like that, her long, red hair fanned out across the bed and her arm languishing above her. The towel was barely covering her breasts. She was beautiful. He felt something stirring in his trousers, but this felt so wrong. He didn’t mean to invade her space. Quickly, he scurried into the nursery and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Paul wasn't keen on having his nappy changed and his screams woke Duffy who quickly dressed and hurried out into the hall. Quickly glancing around she realised they were in the nursery just in time to see Charlie dart to one side to narrowly avoid being wee'd on by her seven week old son.

She couldn't help but giggle at the shocked expression on Charlie's face as he addressed the baby.

”Now come here little man, we don’t wee in people’s faces,” Charlie battled with the wipes and the nappy. Before long, Paul was all covered up.

"I could have done that. Why didn't you wake me?" Duffy asked from where she stood lent against the doorframe, her hair hanging in damp waves around her face.

“I did try to shout for you, I...” Charlie became flustered, as the thought of her naked body flooded back into his mind.

"Oh, I didn't mean to fall asleep..." She mumbled, blushing and turning her gaze to the floor as she caught the look that briefly entered his eyes.

“Oh no, it’s not a problem, I just... I was trying to sort Paul, I shouldn’t have come up here without your permission.” He continued, embarrassed.

"Its ok. He's probably hungry." She reached out for Paul who was still whimpering softly.

Charlie stood awkwardly. “I’ll leave you to it,” He was reluctant to go but he didn’t want to get in the way.

"You could stay for some lunch if you like? Seeing as how you've come all this way." She offered, a shy note to her tone.

His heart beat faster, what was wrong with him!? This was his best friend, her husband had recently died, he, himself had delivered Paul only a few weeks ago. Yet, that constant attraction he had felt since day one, had reared its head once again and it scared him and thrilled him all at the same time. “That would be lovely,” He replied, trying to compose himself.

"It'll be nice to have a lunch companion who can speak actual words for a change." She smiled before heading downstairs with Paul in her arms.

Charlie followed her down the stairs, wondering if she had noticed anything or in fact was feeling the same. Pushing the thought from his head, he smiled as she noticed his efforts at tidying the downstairs.

"So this was your plot all along?" She shook her head fondly.

“We’re a team, it’s always been you and me against the world,” He smiled at her, looking away, fearful of her expression.

"Is that still going to be true by the time I get back to work?" She grumbled as she made up a bottle for Paul.

“What makes you say that?” He enquired.

"I'm well aware of how comfortable Colette has made herself in my job."

Charlie knew that Duffy was right, Colette had made a number of changes while Duffy had been off. There was no point arguing.

“Who told you?”

"Wouldn't you like to know..!"

“She’s not you Duffy, the team misses you,” He tried to placate her.

"So that's why you're the only one who's bothered to visit?"

Geez, she was so fiery, he thought. “Duffy, they know you have a lot on your plate, they don’t want to get in the way. You’re not the easiest person to help.” He continued, regretting it immediately.

"Oh so it's my fault that they can't be bothered?!"

“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m trying really hard here, Duffy.”

"Even just a phone call would be nice. If Megan can take a train and two buses to come visit then they can at least pick up the phone!"

“Okay, they’ve been shit. They should have been better. But I’m here.”

"Yeh you are. There's no getting rid of you." She smiled softly.

“Come here you,” He pulled her into a hug. “I’m proud of you kid.”

She rested her head against his shoulder. "Don't you think that nickname is getting a little old?" She giggled.

“Is there another one you’d prefer me use?” He laughed, resting his chin on the top of her head and inhaling her shampoo. She smelled gorgeous.

"I dread to think what you'd come up with." She shifted Paul in her arms slightly as he was getting grumpy at being squashed and wanted his bottle but Duffy was reluctant to stray from Charlie's embrace.

“Oh I’m sure I could think of a few,” He giggled. He rubbed her back and shoulders, not wanting to part either.

She managed to grab the bottle from the worktop and chuckled at Paul began to suckle hungrily on it. "Well that's what you get for puking your last bottle all over me mister, no wonder you're hungry now!"

“How about you? Are you hungry? Shall I make us something?” Charlie enquired.

"But you can't cook..." She replied, leaning back against his chest as she felt his arms encircle her waist.

She felt so good in his arms, he himself leant back against the counter, holding both of them. He wondered if she could feel the stirring in his trousers, which he was trying hard to control. “I may have cheated...,” He explained, motioning to the bag that was still on the floor.

"Oh so that's what you've been hiding!" She giggled.

“Ahh, just a few supplies,” He deflected.

"You're too good to me you know that?" She smiled.

Charlie found his hand had begun to unconsciously touch her hip. “You know you don’t have to put your brave face on with me Duffy.”

She was about to reply when Paul finished his bottle and began to fidget.

He clung to the moment, but it had gone. He ran his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath. This constant limbo and trying to do the right thing by her was exhausting. As he reached for the bag, she held her hand out to him.

"Let's see what's for lunch." She smiled before moving her hand to Paul's back as he let out a big burp.

Charlie laughed, “That was a good one!” He began to empty the bag on the side, he had some salad and a pizza. Simple but effective, he thought. And to top it off, some chocolate brownies, her all time favourite.

"I'm just glad he didn't puke like last time!" She looked at the food laid out on the counter. "You are a very bad influence Charlie!" She giggled.

He raised his eyebrow at her and winked, before laughing again.

"I'm supposed to be trying to lose the baby weight and yet you brought me chocolates last week then pizza and brownies this week." She glared at him but there was a smile on her lips.

“You look great and you need your energy!” He smiled. He so wanted to hold her in his arms again, he wondered if she knew. Instead he busied himself preparing the salad.

"Hmm... I tried on my work uniform yesterday and it says you're wrong." She pouted.

“I’m sure I can help with that,” The words were out of his mouth before he realised his mind was in a very different place to hers!

"You do have access to the uniform stock cupboard but that's not what you meant is it?"

“Sorry, yes, I have access,” He mumbled.

The atmosphere was tense as Duffy settled Paul back in his moses basket and Charlie placed the pizza in the oven. As he straightened up he noticed that Duffy was watching him intently.

The tension was palpable. “What are you looking at?” He said softly. Was she checking him out?

"Savouring having a man cook me a meal." She grinned.

“Oh yeah? Well the pleasure is all mine,” He grinned back.

"Its been a very long time since the last time it happened."

“It can happen more often, if you’d like?” Once again, Charlie felt like he had crossed a boundary, but today was a day for pushing those he felt.

"Surely you have better things to do with your time?"

Charlie shrugged. “I like being here?”

"We like having you here too but it's hardly fair for us to monopolise all your free time."

“You probably need a break from me too hey...”

"Its not that..." She began.

He looked over at her, she was fiddling with her button.

She didn't really know what to say. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire!

“Then what?” He took a step closer to her, narrowing the distance between them.

She looked up, her eyes locking with his as they moved closer. His lips brushed against hers just as the oven timer beeped.

“Fuck,” He swore, laughing.

[newagesispage]

                                                                            MARCH    2020

PAGE RIB

 The Stones are touring the U.S. again.

*****

Paul Reubens is touring with Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

*****

Al Franken is touring.

*****

Keenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj are bringing comedy back to the White House Correspondents dinner on April 5.

*****

Days alert: There is some casting news but most of this won’t show up until the fall. Word is a couple of newbies will be Remington Hoffman who will play Li Shin, son of Mr. Shin and Emily O’Brien may join the cast. Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe) may be on her way back. Let’s bring the original Phillip back for her!!! Brandon Barash (Stefan) will return as well as Louise Sorel ( Vivian )and Alison Sweeney ( Sami). Judi Evans is headed back. Will she play Adrienne or Bonnie?? It looks like Casey Moss (JJ), Freddie Smith (Sonny), Chandler Massey (Will) and Galen Gering (Rafe) mill head out for awhile.

*****

It looks like Friends freaks will finally get their reunion on HBO. I am glad they aren’t bringing the characters back and are just getting together to talk about their time together.

*****

Downhill hit theatres on Valentine’s Day with Will Ferrell, Julia Louis- Dreyfus and Zoe Chao. The film was written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.

*****

The more I see of it, the more I LOVE Stumptown, the best show that nobody seems to know about. Please renew ABC!!!!!

*****

So.. Rush Limbaugh got the Medal of Freedom.  Oh my.

*****

Shadow Inc. owned by former Clinton and Obama staffers made an app that thoroughly fucked up the Iowa caucus. It was good at calculating the results but not delivering them.  And hey.. Wolf Blitzer, stay off the phone with people that are trying to get those results. Let them just do their job!!

*****

Brooklyn 99 is back and Vanessa Bayer is there!!!

*****

Rod Blagojevich is out and hitting every show that will have him. Trump pardoned him along with 10 other criminals including Ed DeBartolo Jr., Mike Milken and Bernard Kerik.

*****

Forty thousand kids won’t get free lunch because Trump threw them off food stamps. The two usually go hand in hand. Getting food stamps automatically sets a kid up for the free lunch program.

*****

Over 1000 former DOJ officials have asked Bill Barr to resign.** 70 former Senators have written an open letter to congress to tell them they are not fulfilling their congressional duties.**” Yoo Hoo! Bush, Clinton, Carter, Obama, you’re up.” –Patricia Arquette

*****

Pete Davidson and Kaia Gerber have split.

*****

Indiana Beach is closing after 94 years.

*****

Denny Hamlin won the 2020 Daytona 500.

*****

Can’t we get some real gigs for Rainn Wilson and Curtis Armstrong? Ok, so Cyrtis Armstrong was on Stumptown so thank goodness for that! They can do better than Dominoes and Little Caesars ads. And how funny is it that Dominoes, known for its very Chrustian owners use a Risky Business ( a film about prostitutes) ad for their product. Hmm.

*****Hey.. Comics, quit bringing up Trump and his former womanizing. It didn’t work with Clinton and it won’t work here. People just don’t seem to care. Focus on the real damage he is doing.

*****

Scary Clown is working on opening nearly a million acres of land in Utah for energy exploration that had been a National monument. Redford and Romney can’t be happy about that.

*****

A new animated series from a brand new production company owned by Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph looks promising. Look for The Hospital.

*****

Southern Illinois University is giving Bob Odenkirk an honorary degree.

*****

Ukranian immigrants Lt. Col. Vindman and his twin brother are out. Ambassador to the EU Sonland is out.

*****

The Democrats had a debate on Feb. 7 . At Andrew Yang’s first chance to speak, he rehashed his stump speech. I mean, c’mon give us something new. There really seemed to be a restrained nervousness on the stage that night. Klobachar seemed too needy but she got great reviews. Biden called Buttigieg ‘a friend ‘ a couple of times. Mayor Pete did quite well. ** Deval Patrick is out** Andrew Yang is out.**Michael Bennet is out** Another debate was on Feb. 19.** Bloomberg/Yang? Is this true?

*****

Check out the new series, Hunters. It is awesome, funny and terrifying!

*****

Dozens of Native American women and girls have disappeared from Big Horn county, Montana over the last few years. The victims were later found dead and Trump has put a federal task force together.

*****

Grassley and Wyden are trying to get lower prescription drug prices but Moscow Mitch won’t bring the proposal to the floor. Others are looking to get some traction on HR3.

*****

JSW Steel has sued the Trump administration for refusing to exempt it from paying the levies on slabs of steel that the company imports.

*****

64 women have filed sexual harassment or discrimination lawsuits against Mike Bloomberg. I’m not a fan of the guy but it does seem sort of coincidental.  It does not seem to matter cuz all his ads seem to be working, he is picking up steam. Tom Steyer is gaining a bit of momentum as well.

*****

The corona virus has brought us Covid 19. 600 people are being held in quarantine camps that the military has set up.  Italy has new cases and the disease is spreading. Scary Clown is trying to spin it all.

*****

ICE is being sent into sanctuary cities to cause trouble for immigrants.

*****

You have to check out Horse girl with Alison Brie, Molly Shannon and Matthew Gray Gubler on Netflix .

*****

Rapper Larry Sanders AKA LV is letting us in on a miscarriage of justice he has had to live thru. LV, best known for his work on Coolio’s Gangsters Paradise, was approached by police and later put on the Calgang database. The practice put about 80,000 mostly African Americans on a sort of gang list. In a 2016 audit it was found that there were many inaccuracies including the names of babes who could not possibly be gang affiliated.

*****

Nature does not need people. People need nature. –Harrison Ford

*****

The Clark bar is back. The roll out has started in Pittsburgh and will soon spread across the country.

*****

Scientists have found some turtle fossils that are the size of a car in South America.

*****

U can donate to the Trump campaign and may win a yaqut and hunting trip with Don Jr. The Beach Boys will perform.

*****

The Oscars were held Feb. 9. Brad Pitt and the production design team won for Once upon a Time in Hollywood. Woo Hoo! Word is that Pitt has hired a speech writer to write his acceptances. JoJo Rabbit won for adapted screenplay. Little Women won for Little Women and Toy Story 4 for animated film. Laura Dern won best supporting actress. Renee Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix too home the top actor prizes. Parasite surprised everybody and won best pic and got Bong Joon Ho a best director statue. My best dressed were Billy Porter, Antonio Banderes and his date, Janelle Monae ( her opening seemed to make some in the audience uncomfortable), Robert DeNiro, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Geena Davis, Regina King, Charlize Theron, Adam Driver, Joanne Tucker, Cynthia Erivo, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Kathy Bates, I don’t know what Kristen Wiig and Idina Menzel were thinking. Wiig always has a unique style so I have to admire that. ** The ratings were down. I have heard people saying they just don’t watch award shows or late night shows anymore because they are afraid things will get political. Funny, that is part of the reason I watch!

*****

Tom Papa was pontificating about a real dog show that should have REAL dogs. It would make a great weekly show with people bringing on their dogs.

*****

The goalies of the Hurricanes were out of commission and David Ayres, the Zamboni driver was brought in to help and the won against the Maple Leafs. Woo Hoo!!

*****

Hooray for New Hampshire and their use of paper ballots. Things in the campaign got a little shook up with Bernie taking the top followed by Pete and Amy.

*****

2 years of research in Canada has brought the announcement of a new discovery. Skull fragments  that were cleaned and collected about 10 years ago have been named Thanatotheristes or the reaper of death. The discovery helps us all learn more about the early times of Tyrannosaurids, a sub group that includes T.Rex.

*****

New Jersey has a ban on self- serve pumps and another state is talking about getting in on the action.  The gas station attendant act has been proposed in Illinois.

*****

Van Jones was right when he said we shouldn’t give Trump any press coverage for a week. He would hate it. Trump loves the old adage of bad publicity is better than none because he just must have attention. It would never work for they just can’t resist.** Joe Mcguire is out after he warned of Russian interference. If you want to keep your job in this administration, do not tell the truth. Now at the Department of National Intelligence is Johnny Mcentee , a 29 year old former football player who worked on the campaign. He immediately called department heads and said he wanted lists of never Trumpers in their offices. ** And who is in charge of weeding out the people in the government who may be disloyal to Scary Clown? Well, it is none other than Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence. She calls it the list of snakes. Trump is now saying he even wants liberal judges on the Supreme Court to recuse themselves when it comes to “Trump related cases”. It just keeps getting worse.

*****

Trump had fun in India. He should, his business has 5 projects going there right now worth 1.5 billion.

*****

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape and criminal sexual assault. He was not found guilty of all the charges that included predatory behavior.

*****

Andrew Yang is a new correspondent at CNN. He tells us that he is getting word from former donors that Bloomberg is calling those big donors. Allegedly he is telling them they do not have to donate to his campaign because he can afford his own campaign but he still won’t forget them. He would like them to save their money and not give money to other democrats running either.** And I am so sick of talking heads trying to tell us to play it safe. We are not as stupid as we look, thank you!! ** Now there is a firestorm about Bernie telling the world that the education program that Castro implemented was a good thing. I understand the anger and it could not have come at a worse time and he did it to himself. BUT..  We are adults and we have to be able to talk about things as they really are, not in sound bites. Castro sucked and history teaches us that bad people do good things occasionally and good people do bad things once in a while. ** It seems that everyone was in agreement that we would all gather behind the winner of the democratic campaign to beat Trump. Suddenly when it could be Bernie, everybody is bitching.

*****

This month held 2 more Democratic debates. The Nevada debate got pretty heated. I see that Mayor Pete and Bloomberg are lefties (left handed that is). Pete always looked poised and articulate which I appreciate and he got in a good one when he mentioned that the party should choose someone who is actually a democrat.  Bernie seemed a little rattled by that. Later Pete really dressed down Amy Klobuchar and made himself look like a dick. Joe Biden jumped in with his credits occasionally but often seemed a bit lost. He slammed back that they were all talking about the health care plane he helped to create and that he himself had dealt with the Mexican President. His name came up after it was mentioned that Amy could not remember the President’s name. The gloves were off with Bloomberg as Elizabeth Warren called him out on Billionaires and NDA’s. I loved the interaction but realistically Mr. Mike can’t just release people from agreements they made in an NDA, especially if it did not involve him. Bloomberg sounded pompous and clueless about the world outside of his company. He got a moan when he said he couldn’t exactly use turbo tax and when he said he may have told a few jokes that women didn’t like. He brushed off his taxes much like Trump does. The former mayor of NY called out socialists as communists. Klobuchar had the best comeback of the night when she was told her health care plan could fit on a post it. She proclaimed that the post it was invented in her state of Minnesota. Again, there were people shouting from the audience as Joe tried to talk. C’mon give everybody an equal chance.

*****

The South Carolina debate was fiery as well. The CBS debate was hosted by Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell. Bloomberg was booed right off the bat about Russia helping Bernie but he late had many cheers. He and Biden and Steyer had some real support there. Tom Steyer was actually quite impressive and seemed well spoken.  He was the only one who brought up the impeachment. He had a great point that we all know that republicans who did not convict Trump are complicit in the Russian meddling. Then he ruined it all by being alarmist with his fear. He warned us off the former republican and the socialists. I loved Bernie’s ideas about small business’s getting in on the marijuana business and not letting big corporations taking it over. He is also the only one in debates that I have seen consistently bring up Native Americans.  Biden again kept jumping in to tell us that he did this or that. Amy disagreed about a bill he claimed to have written. Warren said “dig in” numerous times. She went for the jugular with Bloomberg when she said a former female employee of his said to “kill it” in response to her pregnancy. He denied it but it sure is memorable. She did make great points that he has given much money to Linsey Graham’s campaign as well as other republican runs including against her. BTW he also gave 2.3 mil to Rick Snyder, the Gov of Michigan after the water crisis was well known.  I love that Amy is always saying that we shouldn’t fight amongst ourselves but she just does not have the votes so she needs to go. Bernie got some boos about guns for he seems the softest in that area.

*****

Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary in a big way.

*****

Dick Van Dyke, Sarah Silverman and Public Enemy among others will be at the Bernie Sanders rally in L.A. on March 1.

*****

Just think what the 400 million that Bloomberg spent on his campaign could have done for the debt of the average American.  Instead of a campaign for a presidency that he can’t win, he could have helped so many get a leg up.

*****

I don’t understand why “respected” journalists like Chuck Todd don’t throw W H reps off the set when they disrespect him or his colleagues with fake news jabs.

*****

Bob Moore of Bob’s Red Mill is giving his company away to his employees. Now, that’s a boss!!

*****

Bone, Thugs and Harmony have made a deal with Buffalo Wild Wings to rename themselves Boneless thugs and Harmony. The publicity stunt is to promote boneless wings.

*****

NASA is hiring.

*****

Scotland has made feminine sanitary products free!!

*****

Is this true? There were pigeons in Nevada with MAGA hats glued to their heads??

*****

The final Criminal Minds has aired. CBS often aired double episodes which made it seem like they really wanted to get rid of it. Kirsten Vangsness and Erica Messer wrote the final episode which seemed to give special attention to Penelope and Reid as they were the originals. The other characters seemed a little overlooked but they all had happy endings. Where was Reid’s new girlfriend?  I was hoping to see Shemar Moore but it was great to see Reisgraf and Howell which are old favorites.

*****

Animal Kingdom returns to TNT on May 28.

*****

So there is a bit of a mess with the Roger Stone sentencing. Trump is hopping mad about the long sentence recommendation, Barr is said to be pretending to spar with the Prez, the DOJ is backing down and people are resigning.

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R.I.P. Shirley Jean Cade, Robert Conrad,  Katherine Johnson, Lyle Mays, B. Smith, A.E. Hotchner, Bashir Jackson, Ja’net Dubois, Pat Agee, victims of the Molson Coors shooting and Orson Bean.

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On August 19th 1560 James Crichton “The Admirable Crichton”, scholar, soldier and adventurer was born.

Always one of my favourite wee tales, James Crichton was the original ‘Admirable Crichton’ and reputed to be one of the most gifted individuals of the 16th Century. He achieved the major portion of his fame through his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences, primarily in Italy, but some of his exploits are likely to be more legendary than true. Nevertheless, if half be true; a star he was. He had a good start in life, being the son of the Lord Advocate of Scotland and a descendant of the Royal line of Stewart.

He was undoubtedly an unusually gifted prodigy and was noted for his mental prowess. Crichton was said to have had the gift of perfect recall and to have displayed amazing erudition and powers of memory in public disputations. Of course, like any legendary figure, he had amazing physical capabilities and admirable good looks. Well, good looks are relative; let’s say his contemporaries so thought – and he was better looking than most Stewarts, particularly James VI with whom he shared a tutor.

It is said that by the age of twenty, Crichton could speak ten or twelve languages in each of which he was not only fluent, but could also hold forth in verse and prose. Those social graces meant he was considered the very model of a cultured gentleman. The list of his accomplishments is a long one and includes: adventurer; athlete; debater; fencer; horseman; linguist; man of letters; musician; orator; poet; singer; soldier; scholar; and swordsman – although his admirers probably exaggerated. His languages are listed as: Hebrew; Syriac; Arabic; Greek; Latin; Spanish; French; English; Italian; Dutch; and Flemish or Selavonic; to which we must add at least a Scottish dialect.

James Crichton was born at Eliock House in Dumfries or James Crichton was born in Nithsdale or James Crichton was born in Clunie Castle, Perthshire – take your pick; the sources differ. His family, who was from Nithsdale, moved into Clunie Castle in 1562, so that suggests to me that it’s most likely James was born in Nithsdale. He certainly spent his boyhood at Clunie. Although he apparently went to a school in Dunkeld and had some schooling in Perth, what is certain is that he was educated at St Salvator’s College, in St Andrews, by the noted poet and scholar, George Buchanan, tutor to King James VI. Remarkably, Crichton took his B. A. in 1574 and his M. A. in 1575, at the ages of just thirteen and fourteen respectively.

After University, he left Scotland for the Continent and spent two years in the army of Henry III of France. By 1579, he had pitched up in Italy, where he went on to achieve fame. He initially attracted attention by his scholarly accomplishments, fluency in classical and modern languages, and his undoubted, personal charm, despite having arrived in Genoa in a destitute condition. Orator and polymath that he was, in 1579 he delivered an elaborate Latin oration before the Senate in Genoa. The following year, he went to Venice, where he introduced himself to Aldus Manutius, and challenged all scholars to ‘learned disputations’ – that means to test his knowledge. Then famously in Padua, in 1581, he is said to have overcome the scholars there in a similar debate of three days duration, which took place in the Church of St. John and St. Paul.

He appears to have been something like a vastly conceited Mastermind winner who travelled around Italy, earning his board and lodgings by challenging all comers in tests of knowledge. However extraordinary his achievements sound, there is evidence concerning Crichton’s taunt to the learned men of Italy. Crichton’s oration before the scholars of Genoa is evidenced by a Latin address to the Doge and Senate entitled ‘Oratio J. Critonii Scoti pro Moderatorum Genuensis Reipubl electione coram Senatu habita’ and printed there in 1579. In addition, two copies of the hand-bill describing Crichton’s marvelous knowledge, printed at the Guerra press of the brothers Domenico in Venice, in 1580, can be seen in the British Museum. The hand-bill sports a short biography and an extravagant eulogy of Crichton’s powers. It states that Crichton speaks ten languages and has a command of philosophy, theology, and mathematics. It goes on to say that “[Crichton] improvises Latin verses in all metres and on all subjects [and] has all Aristotle and his commentators at his fingers’ ends.” A final flourish avows that “he is of most beautiful appearance; a soldier from top to toe.”

This tribute is attributed to Crichton’s friend Aldus Manutius, as it was reprinted several times under Aldus’s name as ‘Relatione della qualità di… Crettone’. However, the sceptical might say that the text was nothing other than 16th Century ‘spin’ by Crichton’s mate and publicist in order to attract an audience for his challenge.

Nevertheless, Joseph Justus Scaliger, the famous Continental scholar, described Crichton in ‘Prima Scaligerana’ as a youth of “very wonderful genius”, but qualified his statement by adding that he was “more worthy of admiration than esteem.” Scaliger was very astute. He once went to England and confessed that he did not like the people, but curiously, he drew a distinction between the English and the Scots, viewing the latter more favourably and according hearty praise to Scottish ballads.

Crichton’s death occurred in a rather more uncouth manner than the course of his life as it is generally believed that he died at the age of twenty-one in a street brawl in Mantua on the 3rd of July, 1582. One of his own pupils, the son of the Duke of Mantua, was either directly or indirectly responsible for the ‘assassination’. Whether or not he or the son or both were drunk, the unfortunate outcome hasn’t seemed to have damaged his reputation.

Crichton’s status comes largely from an enthusiastic account of his life and exploits, which was written by his 17th Century biographer, Sir Thomas Urquhart. Published in 1652, that book was called ‘The Discoveryie of a Most Exquisite Jewel’. However, it was in John Johnston’s ‘Heroes Scoti’ of 1603, that Crichton was first given the epithet ‘the Admirable Crichton’. His fame is also due to the extravagant praise given him by Aldus Manutius. Needless to say, such a man is also the subject of several novels, not least J. M. Barrie’s 1902 novel about the perfect butler.

The second pic is the blue plaque commemorating Crichton in St Andrews St Salvator’s College.