#journalist Andy Webb

[easterneyenews]

https://www.easterneye.biz/bbc-martin-bashir-controversy/

[byneddiedingo]

Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger (Michael Cuesta, 2014)

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta, Lucas Hedges, Tim Blake Nelson, Barry Pepper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Paz Vega, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Richard Schiff, Andy Garcia, Robert Patrick, MIchael K. Williams. Screenplay: Peter Landesman, based on a book by Gary Webb and Nick Schou. Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt. Production design: John Paino. Film editing: Brian A. Kates. Music: Nathan Johnson.

There are things to like about Kill the Messenger, mostly having to do with the performances its first-rate cast, starting with Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb, the journalist at the San Jose Mercury News who took on a story that proved to be more than he and his newspaper could handle. The film in fact has three great stories to tell, but unfortunately fails to tell any of them well. The first story is the one that Webb thought he had broken: the CIA's connection to the crack cocaine epidemic. Given the complexity and range of that story, which will probably never be fully and accurately told, it's not surprising that the movie fails to do it justice. The second story is that of the internal politics of journalism, a story that probably holds little interest to anyone not a journalist and is hard to dramatize because there are so few clear-cut heroes and villains to be found in it. (And in any case, it has been superseded by another and perhaps more important story: the demise of print journalism.) Webb was a victim of "Pulitzer fever," the desire of newspapers to make their mark within the realm of journalism, sometimes to the detriment of reporting the news. And finally, there's the story of the way Webb's involvement in the other two stories sent his life into a downward spiral. This is the story the movie chooses to concentrate on, but it does so in such a heavy-handed, cliché-ridden way, particularly with its focus on Webb's relationship with his wife (Rosemarie DeWitt) and teenage son (Lucas Hedges), that it doesn't make the tragic impact that it could have.

[ulkaralakbarova]

A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA’s role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Gary Webb: Jeremy Renner Anna Simons: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Fred Weil: Michael Sheen John Cullen: Ray Liotta Ronny Quail: Robert Patrick Norwin Meneses: Andy García Coral Baca: Paz Vega Ricky Ross: Michael Kenneth Williams Sue Webb: Rosemarie DeWitt Alan Fenster: Tim Blake Nelson Russell Dodson: Barry Pepper Jerry Ceppos: Oliver Platt Richard Zuckerman: Richard Schiff Quail’s Girlfriend: Jena Sims Rich Kline: Joshua Close Danilo Blandon: Yul Vazquez Ian Webb: Lucas Hedges Eric Webb: Matt Lintz DEA Agent Miller: Gil Bellows Anonymous Agent: Steve Coulter Leo Wolinsky: Dan Futterman Los Angeles Times Editor: Susan Walters Washington Post Editor: David de Vries Doug Farah: David Lee Garver Female Anchor: Rhoda Griffis Ricky Ross Trial Judge: Jen Harper DEA Agent (uncredited): David Alessi Reporter Washington Post (uncredited): Grace Baine DC Business Woman (uncredited): Shaira Barton Self (archive footage) (uncredited): Nancy Reagan Christine Webb: Parker Douglas Film Crew: Producer: Scott Stuber Director: Michael Cuesta Executive Producer: Peter Landesman Producer: Jeremy Renner Producer: Naomi Despres Executive In Charge Of Production: Louis Phillips Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt Novel: Gary Webb Original Music Composer: Nathan Johnson Executive Producer: Pamela Abdy Executive Producer: Michael Bederman Executive Producer: Don Handfield Editor: Brian A. Kates Production Design: John Paino Casting: Avy Kaufman Costume Design: Kimberly Adams Costume Design: Doug Hall Movie Reviews:

[elakiyaweekly]

Martin Bashir felt racism fuelled backlash after Diana interview, new emails reveal

Numerous emails connected to the probe into Princess Diana’s infamous 1995 Panorama interview with journalist Martin Bashir featuring claims that Bashir deceived the Princess into agreeing to the exclusive interview have been disclosed by the BBC.

Responding to a Freedom of Information request, the BBC disclosed about 3,000 emails related to the interview.

Bashir, who has been embroiled in the scandal over his 1995 interview with the princess attributed the controversy to professional envy and believed his background and race influenced perceptions, BBC News reported.

In 2020 emails, before documentaries scrutinising the interview aired, Bashir expressed these views.

A 2021 inquiry found Bashir used deceit and fake documents to secure the Panorama interview. Andy Webb, an investigative journalist, played a crucial role in unearthing these details, suggesting the BBC attempted to conceal Bashir’s 1995 actions.

However, the BBC refutes any accusations of bad faith.

In a significant email dated July 20, 2020, Bashir argued to Robert Seatter, head of BBC history, that the controversial documents were irrelevant to the interview.

He suggested that his socio-economic and ethnic background fuelled the backlash, contrasting it with how a journalist from a “dynastic” family might have been perceived.

Bashir, who re-joined the BBC in 2016, also noted that he had declined to discuss the interview publicly, a stance appreciated by the staff of the then-Prince of Wales, now King.

Bashir resigned from his position as the religion editor at the BBC just before the release of the critical inquiry report, which also condemned the BBC for its management of allegations regarding his tactics.

Following Webb’s legal challenge, the BBC released 3,000 emails on Tuesday (30), heavily redacted.

Webb criticised the redactions and maintained that the BBC was covering up significant informat Webb said that the extensive redactions in the emails would necessitate another court challenge.

The BBC defended its actions, citing compliance with Freedom of Information (FOI) Act guidelines and denying any wrongdoing.

The BBC said, “There is nothing to support the allegations that the BBC acted in bad faith in 2020 and we maintain this suggestion is simply wrong.”

It added, “Further, as has been said many times, far from attempting to conceal or cover up matters, the BBC commissioned Lord Dyson, a former senior judge, to conduct an independent investigation”, which was published in 2021.

“The BBC provided all relevant documentation that was in the BBC’s possession to the Lord Dyson inquiry.”

In 2021, Webb sought access to correspondence exchanged between BBC managers regarding Bashir during a specific two-month span in 2020.

While the BBC initially revealed several emails, it was later discovered that the total count amounted to 3,288.

The corporation had previously asserted that this body of emails included content that was either deemed irrelevant or protected under legal privilege.

In December, Judge Brian Kennedy mandated the release of the BBC emails, criticising the corporation’s “inconsistent, erroneous, and unreliable” handling of the initial request and labelling it a serious concern.

Acknowledging its errors and apologising to Webb and the tribunal, the BBC incurred £126,525 in legal fees contesting the email release.

Webb argued that unveiling these emails was crucial for public interest, suggesting they might reveal attempts by BBC executives to conceal the Bashir scandal. He deemed the expenditure to block the release as nonsensical.

Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer, supporting Webb’s probe, condemned the BBC’s use of costly legal defenses, especially during a time of budget cuts, as detrimental to the integrity of those responsible within the organisation.

Earl Spencer suspected BBC management fabricated a story about Martin Bashir’s illness to make him unavailable during heightened interest in the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s interview.

Bashir left the BBC amid scrutiny over how he secured the interview with Diana, a significant event watched by over 20 million viewers.

In October 2020, a documentary spotlighting Bashir’s tactics was aired, followed by news of his illness from Covid complications.

The Dyson inquiry concluded in May 2021 that Bashir deceitfully obtained the interview and lied to BBC management.

Subsequent revelations indicate that Bashir’s presentation of fabricated bank statements likely influenced her decision to participate in the interview by leading her to believe that members of her close circle were receiving payments from tabloids.

The inquiry revealed Bashir asked a BBC graphic artist to create fake bank statements, suggesting payments to Earl Spencer’s former staff members, aiming to gain Spencer’s trust and access to Diana.

Bashir initially admitted to creating the forgeries but denied showing them to Spencer, later conceding when it became untenable.

Despite admitting the forgery was a mistake, Bashir maintained it did not influence Diana’s decision to participate in the interview.

[the-empress-7]

It’s also being rehashed now because Earl Spencer claims to have discovered the full involvement of the BBC just a few weeks ago. It feels very timely though with the release of the “Diana-season” on The Crown, but even if that was done to get as much publicity as possible, it’s still very serious allegations against the BBC.

1/2 Many people are, quite understandably, asking why I’ve waited till now to come forward with the truth about how the @BBCPanorama with my sister came about. While I knew that Martin Bashir used fake bank statements and other dishonesty to get my sister to do the interview,...

2/2 ... what I only found out 2 weeks ago, thanks to journalist Andy Webb’s persistent use of the Freedom of Information Act, is that the BBC also knew. Not only knew about it, but that they covered it up.

https://twitter.com/cspencer1508/status/1325369386648154113?s=21

Yes, these are very serious allegations, and rightfully so.

[javic-piotr-thane]

Torchwood Soho - the entire VORTEX article

TORCHWOOD HAS had the honour of being populated by larger than life characters over the years. We’ve met Captain Jack Harkness and Yvonne Hartman, plus Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Susie Costello on television. And Big Finish has given us Mr Colchester, Ng and Orr – as well as the one and only Norton Folgate.

We had a glimpse of bygone Torchwood in 2018’s audio release, Goodbye Piccadilly, in which Norton dragged his friend Sergeant Andy Davidson back in time to Soho in the 1950s. And now we turn back the clock again to witness Norton accompanied by Andy in Torchwood Soho. Tom Price reprises his role as Andy, joining Samuel Barnett (Dirk Gently in the BBC series) as Norton. Gangsters are vanishing from the streets of Soho, there’s a deadly Nazi secret on the loose, and something’s moving in the smog. Norton Folgate should be sorting this out, but the Torchwood agent is in disgrace. Who’s going to save London this time?

Torchwood Soho – Parasite contains six stories: The Man From Room 13, Meet Mr Lyme, The Mould, The Spread, The Dead Hand and The Liberty of Norton Folgate.

Vortex asks writer/producer James Goss at what point did he think that Andy and Norton should get their own series? James explains: “Actually, everyone’s been so kind about the relationship between Norton and Andy, that it really didn’t take much arm-twisting to convince Big Finish to let us spend three blissful days in studio with Sam and Tom.

“The fabulous thing about Torchwood as a franchise is that it spans a huge period, and there are chunks of it that are just worth exploring. We vaguely glimpsed 1950s Torchwood in the Doctor Who TV episode, The Idiot’s Lantern, and this new release is a real peep under the murky, awful bonnet.”

James has been particularly pleased by the reception Norton has had from listeners: “Thrilled, blown away, boggled – and that’s just in reaction to some of the fan art on Tumblr! Seriously, it’s weird to have sort of created a Torchwood character that wasn’t on TV who the Big Finish listeners are dying to hear more of and who has a following of his own. I’d love to say it’s all down to the writing, but really it’s down to Sam’s performance and his rapport with Tom. They’re just audio magic, aren’t they?

“As it’s set in the 1950s, it was obvious to follow the rhythm of the Quatermass serials – so there are six half-hour episodes. And, in the tradition of Quatermass, we start out in an office and end with the world in peril.

“We get to see Norton hunting down alien artefacts stolen by Nazis, escaping from a timetravelling pub, and battling zombies in Margate. We get to meet Norton’s boss (played by Dervla Kirwan) and the hapless leader of Torchwood Soho (David Troughton) – who both share a terrible secret. And we get to discover why Torchwood hid the Skylon at the Festival of Britain. Norton’s also trying to avoid the attentions of a journalist (played by Joe Shire) who is determined to uncover what Torchwood is. Norton’s in a whole lot of trouble – and this time he needs Andy to help him.”

Scott Handcock has been responsible for directing the series. How did he find bringing this volume – effectively a period piece – to life? He grins: “Maybe it’s just because I’ve done a lot of Doctor Who, where you’re constantly flitting all over space and time, but I’m not sure I really register the difference! Obviously, you’re aware of the period and need to convey that in the world you build and characters you cast, but it’s the same approach as creating a civilisation of reptilian aliens in the far future. The script sets up the rules and everyone plays by them. If anything, period pieces are often a bit easier because everyone has a frame of reference. Though having said that, it also means you have to really do your homework.

“The 50s is a fascinating period. Yes, you have a bit more Received Pronunciation – especially with Norton, who throws in a dash of Polari every so often – but there’s a lovely mix of characters in this script, covering various classes and backgrounds. Belle Epoch (gloriously portrayed by Franchi Webb) is a character who you could probably only bring to life in this era. People own those identities more – a lot of them are hiding things and putting up barriers – which makes characters like Andy and Gideon more relatable as our identification figures.”

Tom Price is delighted that not only does Sergeant Andy continue to feature in Torchwood, but he’s also a series lead. He admits: “The listeners really like what Big Finish is doing with Torchwood, which means we can rock up and do more. It’s amazing that the world of Torchwood has been built on good foundations and we can keep adding to it.

“I watched The X Files back in the day, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, as they can reboot and keep going forever and ever. If something is built well, it will last, and that’s exactly what’s happening with Torchwood. It’s got a good engine, and you can tweak it here and there so we can take the cast and put them into a new setting.

“Norton is such a great personality – he was never on TV and I think Sam Barnett is slightly annoyed about that! Characters like him have just got that thing, where they’re big and funny and very memorable.

“I love our team of Scott and James. James is a magnificent writer – he has such a brilliant ear for a story and putting these worlds together. If he was writing music he would be Guy Chambers! And Scott understands the characters better than you or I do. A lot of directors throw way too much stuff at you, but Scott has a good hand on the tiller and will give you a couple of points that can change your performance. I just love going into this created world, and having such fun.”

SCOTT ENJOYS the dynamic between Sam and Tom, in particular. He says: “I think it’s fair to say that Sam and Tom hit it off instantly. Even before Ghost Mission (their first Torchwood together), they met at the recording of Doctor Who: Nightshade and it was clear they enjoyed working together – and that’s only grown the more we’ve done. There’s a shorthand between them that comes from having recorded a lot together, and that trust means they can push the material further. It also means when we get new characters coming in, and the actors see what Sam and Tom are bringing to it, they relax and feel able to give that little bit extra, which is kind of what you need when you’re projecting an entire performance through your voice.”

Scott adds: “It’s a lovely change of pace for Torchwood. I remember the old BBC Sexton Blake dramas, and that slightly pulpy, serialised style they had, so when James first mooted this I suggested we do it as a six-part serial of half-hour episodes. It moves along at one hell of a lick! And as always with James’s scripts, the humour is contrasted with some genuine horror and drama. It’s a really strong character piece and, as a director, has some fantastic set pieces that test you as you leap around the schedule. One of the biggest highlights was getting Dervla Kirwan in to play Lizbeth Heyhoe. She fell in love with the script and said it’s absolutely the kind of part she’d never get seen for on screen – and we just had an absolute blast. It was our first Big Finish together, though obviously when I had to recast Miss Quill in Class, she was my immediate first choice. She’s simply amazing. The entire cast just got it…”

And James concludes: “Honestly, it was just three days of bliss in a studio with a great set of actors.” VORTEX

[awardseasonblog]

I recenti verdetti dei #CASAwards hanno confermato #Dune come il favorito agli #Oscar2022 per il #MigliorSonoro dopo aver dominato la Stagione dei Premi per questa specifica categoria dato che ha conquistato tutti i riconoscimenti finora assegnati: BAFTA, Portland Critics Association Award, North Carolina Film Critics Association Award, San Diego Film Critics Society Award, DiscussingFilm Critic Award, North Dakota Film Society Award, Music City Film Critics Association Award, Online Film & Television Association Award, Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Award, Minnesota Film Critics Alliance Award. Senza dimenticare che si è aggiudicato anche l'altro premio dedicato al mondo del sonoro e in particolare al #SoundEditing, e cioè il MPSE Golden Reel Award assegnato dal sindacato dei montatori del sonoro. Molto distanziato tra i candidati l'altro vincitore del MPSE Golden Reel Award e cioè West Side Story che però ha vinto solo questo riconoscimento per la categoria del sonoro e conquistato la nomination solamente ai BAFTA. PREVISIONI MIGLIOR SONORO 1. #Dune 2. West Side Story NOMINATIONS OSCAR 2022 Best Sound “Belfast,” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri “Dune,” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett “No Time to Die,” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor “The Power of the Dog,” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb “West Side Story,” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy #BestSound #AwardsSeason #AwardsRace #OscarsRace #RoadtotheOscars #Movies #Oscars2022 #OscarsPredictions #StagionedeiPremi #Oscar2022 #FinalPredictions #PrevisioniOscar https://www.instagram.com/p/CbUoymMMiDJ/?utm_medium=tumblr

[gadgetgirl71]

Amazon First Reads October 2020

Wow October all ready!! Halloween seems as though it’s just a few days away then before we know it, it’ll be Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night. I digress as it’s all about Amazon First Reads for October and again Amazon are letting their Prime Members choose two books instead of just the one.

So now I need to decide which books I’m going to choose, I always get so excited when we get a chance to choose more than one free book. As you know I can’t resist free books.

This months choices are:

Memoir

The Boy Between by Amanda Prowse & Josiah Hartley, Pages: 286, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: Bestselling novelist Amanda Prowse knew how to resolve a fictional family crisis. But then her son came to her with a real one…

Josiah was nineteen with the world at his feet when things changed. Without warning, the new university student’s mental health deteriorated to the point that he planned his own death. His mother, bestselling author Amanda Prowse, found herself grappling for ways to help him, with no clear sense of where that could be found. This is the book they wish had been there for them during those dark times.

Josiah’s situation is not unusual: the statistics on student mental health are terrifying. And he was not the only one suffering; his family was also hijacked by his illness, watching him struggle and fearing the day he might succeed in taking his life.

In this book, Josiah and Amanda hope to give a voice to those who suffer, and to show them that help can be found. It is Josiah’s raw, at times bleak, sometimes humorous, but always honest account of what it is like to live with depression. It is Amanda’s heart-rending account of her pain at watching him suffer, speaking from the heart about a mother’s love for her child.

For anyone with depression and anyone who loves someone with depression, Amanda and Josiah have a clear message—you are not alone, and there is hope.

Suspense

Girls of Brackenhill by Kate Moretti, Pages: 330, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: Haunted by her sister’s disappearance, a troubled woman becomes consumed by past secrets in this gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year.

When Hannah Maloney’s aunt dies in a car accident, she returns to her family’s castle in the Catskills and the epicenter of a childhood trauma: her sister’s unsolved disappearance. It’s been seventeen years, and though desperate to start a new life with her fiancé, Hannah is compelled to question the events of her last summer at Brackenhill.

When a human bone is found near the estate, Hannah is convinced it belongs to her long-lost sister. She launches her own investigation into that magical summer that ended in a nightmare. As strange happenings plague the castle, Hannah uncovers disturbing details about the past and startling realizations about her own repressed childhood memories.

Fueled by guilt over her sister’s vanishing, Hannah becomes obsessed with discovering what happened all those years ago, but by the time Hannah realizes some mysteries are best left buried, it’s too late to stop digging. Overwhelmed by what she has exposed, Hannah isn’t sure her new life can survive her old ghosts.

Thriller

The Cipher by Isabella Maldonado, Pages: 332, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: To a cunning serial killer, she was the one that got away. Until now…

FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera escaped a serial killer’s trap at sixteen. Years later, when she’s jumped in a Virginia park, a video of the attack goes viral. Legions of new fans are not the only ones impressed with her fighting skills. The man who abducted her eleven years ago is watching. Determined to reclaim his lost prize, he commits a grisly murder designed to pull her into the investigation…but his games are just beginning. And he’s using the internet to invite the public to play along.

His coded riddles may have made him a depraved social media superstar—an enigmatic cyber-ghost dubbed “the Cipher”—but to Nina he’s a monster who preys on the vulnerable. Partnered with the FBI’s preeminent mind hunter, Dr. Jeffrey Wade, who is haunted by his own past, Nina tracks the predator across the country. Clue by clue, victim by victim, Nina races to stop a deadly killer while the world watches.

Book Club Fiction

This Magnificent Dappled Sea by David Biro, Pages: 255, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: Two strangers—generations and oceans apart—have a chance to save each other in this moving and suspenseful novel about family secrets and the ineffable connections that lead us to one another.

In a small Northern Italian village, nine-year-old Luca Taviano catches a stubborn cold and is subsequently diagnosed with leukemia. His only hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant. After an exhaustive search, a match turns up three thousand miles away in the form of a most unlikely donor: Joseph Neiman, a rabbi in Brooklyn, New York, who is suffering from a debilitating crisis of faith. As Luca’s young nurse, Nina Vocelli, risks her career and races against time to help save the spirited redheaded boy, she uncovers terrible secrets from World War II—secrets that reveal how a Catholic child could have Jewish genes.

Can inheritance be transcended by accidents of love? That is the question at the heart of This Magnificent Dappled Sea, a novel that challenges the idea of identity and celebrates the ties that bind us together.,m.

Historical Fiction

The Last Correspondent by Soraya M Lane, Pages: 336, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: When journalist Ella Franks is unmasked as a woman writing under a male pseudonym, she loses her job. But having risked everything to write, she refuses to be silenced and leaps at the chance to become a correspondent in war-torn France.

Already entrenched in the thoroughly male arena of war reporting is feisty American photojournalist Danni Bradford. Together with her best friend and partner, Andy, she is determined to cover the events unfolding in Normandy. And to discover the whereabouts of Andy’s flighty sister, Vogue model Chloe, who has followed a lover into the French Resistance.

When trailblazing efforts turn to tragedy, Danni, Ella and Chloe are drawn together, and soon form a formidable team. Each woman is determined to follow her dreams “no matter what”, and to make her voice heard over the noise of war.

Europe is a perilous place, with danger at every turn. They’ll need to rely on each other if they are to get their stories back, and themselves out alive. Will the adventure and love they find be worth the journey of their lives?

Gothic Fiction

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb, Pages: 288, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: From the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Daughters of the Lake comes an enthralling spellbinder of love, death, and a woman on the edge.

After a devastating loss, Brynn Wilder escapes to Wharton, a tourist town on Lake Superior, to reset. Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos.

But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows.

In this chilling season of love, transformation, and fear, something is calling for Brynn. To settle her past, she may have no choice but to answer.

Historical Fiction

Spellbreaker by Charlie N Holmberg, Pages: 300, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: A world of enchanted injustice needs a disenchanting woman in an all-new fantasy series by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician.

The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spell-breaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. She always did love the tale of Robin Hood.

Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his master-ship when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain. She’ll help Bacchus fix unruly spells around his estate if he doesn’t turn her in. Working together, Elsie’s trust in—and fondness for—the handsome stranger grows. So does her trepidation about the rise in the murders of wizards and the theft of the spell-books their bodies leave behind.

For a rogue spellbreaker like Elsie, there’s so much to learn about her powers, her family, the intriguing Bacchus, and the untold dangers shadowing every step of a journey she’s destined to complete. But will she uncover the mystery before it’s too late to save everything she loves?

Contemporary Fiction

Perfectly Impossible by Elizabeth Topp, Pages: 314, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: In this witty debut novel, Elizabeth Topp crafts a story that ventures behind the fanciful facade of Park Avenue and into the life of one lovable type A assistant.

Anna’s job is simple: prevent the unexpected from happening and do everything better than perfectly. An artist at heart, Anna works a day job as a private assistant for Bambi Von Bizmark, a megarich Upper East Side matriarch who’s about to be honored at the illustrious Opera Ball.

Caught between the staid world of great wealth and her unconventional life as an artist, Anna struggles with her true calling. If she’s supposed to be a painter, why is she so much more successful as a personal assistant? When her boyfriend lands a fancy new job, it throws their future as a couple into doubt and intensifies Anna’s identity crisis. All she has to do is ensure everything runs smoothly and hold herself together until the Opera Ball is over. How hard could that be?

Featuring a vibrant array of characters from the powerful to the proletarian, Perfectly Impossible offers a glimpse into a world you’ll never want to leave.

Children’s Picture Book

Some Days Written & Illustrated by Maria Wernicke, Translated by: Lawrence Schimel, Pages: 24, Publication Date: 1 November 2020

Synopsis: From an Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nominee comes a touching story of family, security, and loss.

A young girl tells her mother about a passageway in their yard. Down this passageway, it is not cold, there is no danger, and nothing bad can ever happen—and the person she longs for is with her again. The only problem is that, on some days, the passageway is not there. But maybe, together, mother and daughter can find a way to carry that feeling with them always.

First published in Argentina, this lovely picture book will tug on the heartstrings of anyone who knows what it means to miss a loved one.

#AmazonFirstReads, #Amazonkindle, #AmazonPrimeMembers, #BookClubFiction, #Books, #ChildrensPictureBook, #ContemporaryFiction, #GothicFiction, #HistoricalFiction, #Kindle, #KindleBooks, #Memoir, #Suspense, #Thriller

[verschwoerer]

Surprise NGO Das neue Heft ist da! Es heisst «Kein Weg zurück» und wird – zum ersten Mal in der über 20-jährigen Geschicht von Surprise – online erscheinen. Kostenlos zum Download. Das Heft wird zurzeit aufgrund der Corona-Krise nicht auf der Strasse verkauft. Dass wir das Heft im gewohnten Rhythmus und Umfang weiterproduzieren und Ihnen zum Lesen zur Verfügung stellen, hat seinen Grund darin, dass es Journalismus auch in der Krise braucht. Aber nicht nur. Es hat seinen Grund auch darin, dass wir alles daran setzen, die Surprise-Verkaufenden gerade jetzt weiterhin und umso mehr zu unterstützen. Sozial und finanziell. Sie finden daher zurzeit auf www.surprise.ngo nicht nur das Magazin online, sondern auch die Möglichkeit, auch online zu spenden. Wir sind jetzt auf Ihre Hilfe angewiesen und freuen uns über jeden Betrag. Spendenkonto Verein Surprise, 4051 Basel, PC 12-551455-3 IBAN CH11 0900 0000 1255 1455 3 mit dem Vermerk «Corona» «Kein Weg zurück» mit folgenden Themen: Der Reporter und Fotograf Philip Breu nimmt uns mit vor Ort in die nordsyrische Stadt Hasakah – er hat dort europäische IS-Anhänger im Gefängnis besucht. Marc Engelhardt, der aus Genf über die Ereignisse der Vereinten Nationen berichtet, ordnet ein und beantwortet die Frage «Zurückholen oder nicht?», und zwar eindeutig. Der Journalist Stefan Michel hat sich den Preis der Erwärmung genauer angeschaut: Naturkatastrophen nehmen zu, die Risiken für Rückversicherer ebenso. Das führt zur Frage: Liefern diese nun den entscheidenden Anstoss, um wirksam gegen den Klimawandel vorzugehen? Und Journalist Sandro Zulian war in der Swiss Church in London an einer Modeschau. Organisiert hat sie der ehemalige Obdachlose Andy Palfreyman. Die Schau war auch eine Art Demo: ein Tag der schrillen Outfits und klaren Statements. Und weiter: Pressefreiheit in der Welt der Pixel – IT-Journalist Dominik Bärlocher erzählt, wie Reporter ohne Grenzen im Computergame Minecraft mit einer geschützten Bibliothek gegen die Zensur kämpfen. Musikjournalist Hanspeter Künzler hat in London Rustin Man getroffen – der Mann heisst auch Paul Webb und war Bassist bei der Band Talk Talk («Such a Shame»), jetzt ist sein zweites Soloalbum draussen. Dazu: Gerichtsreporterin Yvonne Kunz sagt, wie ein Senior aus Unbedarftheit zum Täter wurde. Slam-Poetin Fatima Moumouni mahnt zur Zivilcourage. Carlo Knöpfel, Professor für Sozialpolitik, rechnet vor, wie die Fixkosten finanziell schlechtgestellte Haushalte belasten. Autor Stephan Pörter sah sich in Zug um, solange wir noch ohne Gewissensbisse raus durften. Und der Rumäne Remus Diaconescu erzählt von seinem neuen Leben als Verkäufer des britischen Strassenmagazins «The Big Issue». #SurpriseLockdown

[glovenose82-blog]

Development Update: Friday, December 14

[12/14/18 - 11:23 PM] Development Update: Friday, December 14 By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:

Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!

ANDI MACK (Disney Channel) - Actor Stoney Westmoreland, who plays grandfather Ham Mack on the series, has been terminated by the network following an arrest "for allegedly trying to arrange online to have sex with a 13-year-old." Said the cable channel: "Given the nature of the charges and our responsibility for the welfare of employed minors, we have released him from his recurring role and he will not be returning to work on the series which wraps production on its third season next week." (Deadline.com)

BLACK TAPES, THE (NBC, New!) - Paul Bae and Terry Miles are looking to bring their podcast - which "follows a journalist's investigations into the unexplained supernatural mysteries caught on tape by a skeptical scientist" - to the small screen at the Peacock. The pair will pen the adaptation alongside Matthew Arnold with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Ben Forkner also executive producing for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

EMBODY (CBS, New!) - Chai Hecht has sold a potential drama to the Eye in which "after a mission gone wrong renders her permanently blind, a special agent volunteers for an experimental government program that can temporarily transfer her consciousness into someone else's body, giving her the ability to see through their eyes as she infiltrates high-stakes situations and takes down criminals from within." CBS Television Studios is behind the hour with Fulwell 73's James Corden, Leo Pearlman and Jeff Grosvenor serving as executive producers and Hecht as a co-executive producer. (Variety.com)

LAST MAN STANDING (FOX) - Tisha Campbell is set to recur on the series as Chuck Larabee's (Jonathan Adams) wife Carol Larabee. She takes over from Erika Alexander, who played said role in the ABC incarnation and was not available to return. (Deadline.com)

LAST SPY, THE (NBC, New!) - Writer David Guggenheim and director Marc Webb are set to team for a new drama at the Peacock "in which the members of an elite deep cover CIA unit are killed after their real-life identities are exposed. In the aftermath, the only operative to escape the onslaught recruits her own team of former spies and assets to complete their missions while also working to unravel the conspiracy behind who betrayed her friends and colleagues." Imagine Television's Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo and Samie Falvey also executive produce for CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)

MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION WITH DAVID LETTERMAN (Netflix) - The streaming service has commissioned a six-episode second season, due in 2019. (Deadline.com)

SPINNING OUT (Netflix) - Willow Shields has been cast opposite Kaya Scodelario in the upcoming drama series as her younger sister Serena: "While Serena lacks her sister's natural grace on the ice, she makes up for it with discipline and fierce determination. Her complicated relationship with her sister is made up of equal parts loyalty and competition." (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED PEANUTS PROJECT (Apple, New!) - DHX Media has closed a deal to produce new Peanuts content for Apple. First up: "original short-form STEM content that will be exclusive to Apple, featuring astronaut Snoopy." Charles M. Schulz's characters most recently appeared on a short-lived Italian-French-American series that ran on Cartoon Network and sibling Boomerang in the U.S. (Deadline.com)

WHO RULES THE WORLD? (TNT) - Morgan Spurlock has agreed to pay more than $1.17 million to Turner Entertainment Networks to settle a lawsuit over the shelved series. Production on the project, originally announced in May 2017 as an effort to "unpack the most divisive and complicated issues facing women today," was suspended last December after Spurlock himself made a public confession of sexual misconduct. The settlement serves as restitution for not completing the series. (Deadline.com)

[12/16/18 - 08:24 AM] Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: UFC Sparks Demo Victory for FOX The network wins the night among adults 18-49 while CBS is the most-watched broadcaster. [12/15/18 - 08:39 AM] Friday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX Continues Demo Win Streak The network has won the night among adults 18-49 for 12 straight weeks. [12/14/18 - 11:23 PM] Development Update: Friday, December 14 Updates include: Netflix renews "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman"; NBC developing small screen take on podcast "The Black Tapes"; and DHX Media to bring the Peanuts characters to Apple. [12/14/18 - 02:23 PM] Bravo Media's "Married to Medicine" Season 6 Three-Part Reunion Hits a Fever Pitch on Friday, December 21 at 9PM ET/PT The subsequent installments will air Sunday, January 6 and 13 at 9:00/8:00c. [12/14/18 - 01:42 PM] Superstar Recording Artists Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Dierks Bentley, Halsey, Marshmello and Bastille, Panic! At the Disco, Brynn Cartelli and More to Perform on "Voice" Finale The season finale will also feature special musical collaborations with the Top 4 finalists, which will be announced soon. [12/14/18 - 12:01 PM] Netflix Picks Up "Bonding" from Rightor Doyle The dark comedy centers on the relationship between former high-school BFFs, Pete, a recently out gay man, and Tiff, a grad student and secretly one of New York City's top dominatrixes, who reconnect in an unexpected way years later. [12/14/18 - 10:03 AM] HBO Films' "Brexit," Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Debuts Jan. 19 This provocative feature-length drama goes behind the scenes, revealing the personalities, strategies and feuds of the Leave and Remain campaigns. [12/14/18 - 10:00 AM] ABC Television Network Orders Additional Episodes of Comedies "black-ish," "The Goldbergs," "The Kids Are Alright" and "Single Parents" for the 2018-2019 Season "Black-ish" has received two additional episodes while the others have been extended by one episode. [12/14/18 - 09:06 AM] Video: Showtime(R) Releases Official Poster and New Teaser for "Black Monday" The 10-episode series will premiere on Sunday, January 20 at 10:00/9:00c. [12/14/18 - 09:05 AM] "Strike Back" Begins Season Six Jan. 25 on Cinemax The show follows the explosive escapades of Section 20, an elite, multinational, covert special ops team, as it spans the globe fighting a vast web of interconnected criminal and terrorist activity. [12/14/18 - 08:23 AM] Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Thursday Night Football" Powers FOX Victory The network's last Thursday game of the season delivers top honors in total viewers and adults 18-49. [12/14/18 - 08:03 AM] Video: "Russian Doll" Season 1 - Date Announcement - Netflix From Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland comes "Russian Doll," February 1 on Netflix. [12/14/18 - 08:01 AM] DC Universe: The Ultimate Holiday Binge-Watching Destination Anchored with the Season Finale of Original Series "Titans" on December 21 97% of members have watched the exclusive original "Titans." [12/13/18 - 11:22 PM] Development Update: Thursday, December 13 Updates include: CBS revealed to have settled sexual harassment case with Eliza Dushku; Logan Lerman in talks to lead Amazon's "The Hunt"; and Jennifer Garner, J.J. Abrams to re-team for Apple's "My Glory Was I Had Such Friends." [12/13/18 - 03:14 PM] Red Nose Day Returns to NBC for Fifth Year with a Special Night of Programming on Thursday May 23, 2019 In 2019, the multi-week fundraising campaign will culminate on Red Nose Day, Thursday, May 23 with a three-hour block of Red Nose Day-themed programming on NBC.

Source: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2018/12/14/development-update-friday-december-14-616215/12762/

[biofunmy]

As Protesters Fill Hong Kong’s Streets, Businesses Are Alarmed, Too

HONG KONG — As tens of thousands of protesters returned to Hong Kong’s streets on Wednesday to speak out against a proposed law that would allow extraditions to mainland China, one prominent voice has been largely silent: big business.

But quietly, a wave of concern has spread through the community of foreign consultants, investors and executives who depend on Hong Kong as a safe base from which to do business in China.

No major company dares to speak out publicly for fear of angering the Chinese government. Behind the scenes, they are grappling with difficult questions about whether the legislation would endanger foreign executives or undermine the city’s legal system, a preferred venue for resolving disputes over the mainland’s Communist Party-controlled courts.

“The business and financial community is deeply concerned about what this may augur for Hong Kong,” said Fred Hu, founder of the investment firm Primavera Capital Group and former head of Goldman Sachs’s Greater China business.

“Any perceived erosion of independent judiciary and individual freedom could undermine investor confidence and negatively affect Hong Kong’s future as a leading global business and financial center,” Mr. Hu said.

The law could broadly threaten Hong Kong’s place as a middle ground between China and the business world. As the protests gathered steam in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the United States House of Representatives, issued a statement questioning whether Washington should reconsider a law that exempts Hong Kong from some of the trade and technology limits it imposes on the rest of China.

“Congress has no choice but to reassess whether Hong Kong is ‘sufficiently autonomous’ under ‘one country, two systems’ framework” if the government passes the bill, she said, referring to the arrangement that allows the Chinese city to function under its own laws.

Hong Kong’s stock market fell 1.7 percent on Wednesday in an otherwise quiet trading day in Asia, as protesters filled up a main transportation artery where multinational companies and international banks occupy much of the gleaming skyscraper real estate. The police used tear gas on protesters Wednesday afternoon on the same streets and sidewalks that bankers and lawyers for some of the world’s biggest companies travel on their daily commutes. Employees at major banks like HSBC and accounting firms like Deloitte were told to work from home in anticipation of grinding traffic and concerns about safety.

There were signs on Wednesday that tensions in Hong Kong were already undermining business confidence. A Hong Kong property developer called Goldin Financial Holdings cited “recent social contradiction and economic instability” for its decision this week to walk away from its $1.4 billion bid for a plot of land at the city’s former Kai Tak airport. It did not detail its concerns.

For big business, Hong Kong was supposed to be safer than this.

When the British handed over Hong Kong, a former colony, to China in 1997 under the policy of “one country, two systems,” there was a promise that the territory would continue to operate under relative autonomy. Though Beijing effectively controls the system by which Hong Kong picks its top leaders, the city enjoys wide freedoms of speech and of the press. The government takes a light hand compared with the mainland when it comes to business regulation, and its courts are considered independent and well run.

For decades, major companies parked their Chinese or Asian headquarters in Hong Kong, making the city a major nexus of finance and commerce, though some of that power has ebbed as China grew wealthy in its own right and more companies began to deal with that market directly.

Still, unease has grown in recent months.

Last year, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said that over half of its respondents were concerned about the rule of law. Business leaders cited a move by the Hong Kong government to reject a standard request by a journalist to renew his work visa last year as a major setback for Hong Kong’s independence. While the city government declined to disclose a reason, it appeared to be in response to the journalist hosting a talk with Andy Chan, the leader of a small political party that calls on Hong Kong to secede from China.

The trade war between the United States and China also threatens to make Hong Kong a bargaining chip. On Monday, a State Department spokeswoman said that “the continued erosion of the ‘one country, two systems’ framework puts at risk Hong Kong’s long-established special status in international affairs.”

“The extradition bill is worrying because for business it starts to call into question whether there is now a blurred line between politics and business in a city that views itself as a commercial capital that puts business first,” said Tara Joseph, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Yet even as American companies, sometimes privately, have expressed increasing concern about the bill, it was too early to say whether they would pull out of Hong Kong and move operations elsewhere. “People are talking about what this bill could mean and what their possible alternatives could be, but there are no immediate answers,” Ms. Joseph said.

One fear among businesses is that the United States could begin treating Hong Kong as if it were just another Chinese city. Under a 1992 law called the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act, the city enjoys special treatment for customs and commercial purposes. Changing or eliminating that law could crimp Hong Kong’s status as a business crossroads.

In recent days, as the front pages of American newspapers displayed images of the protests, lawmakers in Washington have taken greater interest in the territory both publicly and in private meetings, according to two people with direct knowledge of these meetings but not authorized to speak publicly.

Many have cited the most recent Hong Kong Policy Act Report by the State Department in March that reported an increased “tempo of mainland central government intervention in Hong Kong affairs — and actions by the Hong Kong government consistent with mainland direction.” Despite this, the report concluded that Hong Kong continued to have a sufficient degree of autonomy.

Unlike big companies, many small businesses in Hong Kong have been outspoken against the legislation, worrying that it could permanently damage Hong Kong’s economy. More than a thousand of them closed on Wednesday in solidarity with the protesters. The city’s historically weak labor groups asked workers to call in sick.

On Instagram, hundreds of coffee shops, restaurants and other businesses posted pictures with the hashtag “#612strike.” One online floral company called Floraholic wrote, “Hong Kong is sick, let’s take a day off for some rest!”

“Striking is the only action we could take,” said Yanki Lam, co-owner of a company called Changchang Goodstore in the city’s Kowloon district.

The Eaton Hong Kong, a hotel and co-working space, said it would allow its employees to attend the protests on Wednesday, saying that “we respect our team members’ political stances.”

Yet even with this growing sense of concern, foreign businesses that speak out could face retribution from the Chinese government.

“It’s almost impossible for foreign companies to do business in China without the approval of the mainland government. Quite rationally, they don’t want to stick their heads above the parapet,” said David Webb, a former banker and the publisher of the financial and corporate governance website Webb-site.

There is also a sense of resignation from big companies that rejecting the extradition legislation will do little to address a bigger problem of China’s growing reach into the city, Mr. Webb said.

“No amount of padding around the extradition treaty is going to fix that,” he said.

Katherine Li contributed reporting.

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[jazzreloaded]

Review: Cafe Society Swing, Theatre Royal Stratford East

Cafe Society Swing :  Tue 5 - Sat 16 Jun 2018                                Writer, MD and Piano - Alex Webb Director - Christian Durham                             

Vimala Rowe (right)pays homage to the late great Lay Day in this reworking of a true historical event  - the first racially-integrated jazz club in New York.

The nature of jazz is like so much writing on water; it's musical graffiti, stolen moments to be revered only by those with timing taste and discretion So  when Alex Webb's Cafè Society Swing -  the true story of New York's  first racially-integrated jazz club -  went into its second week at Theatre Royal Stratford  there was really something to savour. Like lightning striking twice, This production built on its successful run at the (then) Tricycle Theatre to present an(other) all star cast recreating the soundtrack  of the world's Art Deco capital at its zenith.

"Cafe Society" was a two-club franchise which Barney Josephson originated in wartime New York.  is served as a both speakeasy and  launch pad for many now-legendary jazz stars; Red Allen, Lena Horne, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and the like.  

By deliberately treating black and white customers the same ( in contrast to the Cotton Club, where, at the time,dark skinned people were welcomed as artists and servants, but not patrons ) Josephson flew in the face of the Greenwich Village cognoscenti, and borrowed their brand name  - which had typically signalled which social classes should NOT be made to mix.  This at a time when Madison Square garden was receiving tens of thousands of Nazi Supporters to openly and freely demonstrate against blacks, jews and migrants.

Alex Webb’s interpretation sees this foment through the eyes of an anti-communist Journalist, played by Peter Gerald [The Hobbit, Maeleficent ] who is determined to write the clubs epitaph, and instead has to endure a decade long cultural revolution in the jazz hotspot

Cafe Society saw the likes of  Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie and Thelonious Monk perform.  Ironically, Monk would have not been allowed to work at Cafe Society ,or anywhere else in New York, in later years,  having lost his equity card due to a marijuana related possession arrest. Today, New York has decriminalised the smoking of Marijuana, and there is an American company called "Strange Fruit" legally selling Marijuana to Americans in America. Abel Meeropol's lyrics "Strange Fruit" were popularised by Billie Holiday’s voice , and was first sung at Cafe Society by Billie at the request of Barney Josephson

The music in the production -  as you would exepect when the likes of Dave Bitelli (tenor sax, right) Ciyo Brown ( guitar, left) Nathaniel Cross ( trombone) Tony Kofi ( alto) Sue Richardson  ( trumpet) and the incredible rhythm section of Miles Danso on double bass and Andy Chapman Drums and  writer and Musical Director Alex Webb on piano. is on point and authentic The show assidiously avoids the stereotype of an American songbook cabaret via the originality of the voices of  Vimala Rowe, Judi Jackson(above),  and China Moses(below) . They all manage to strike a balance between homage and making some of these jazz standards their own.

It's easy to look at Art Deco now as kitsch, and see its architecture as some past glory.  But Webb's production serves as a reminder of the role music has in subverting fascism with fun and flair and a fair few frolics. Whilst not exactly capturing lightning in a bottle,   Director Christian Durham has definitely assembled a beacon of hope for Trump-era theatre.

Original Article: Nichola Rich

Photos by Craig Brough