Television

What the Simpsons would look like in real life

Published

4 months ago

February 17, 2021

There is an Instagram artist called Hossein Diba who creates characters that look almost real. He recreated the entire Simpson family and other characters of the show to look like they would be in real life. The results are quite astounding.

There are also other characters from other series in his Instagram account. You can have a look at them here. If you want to know more you can also have a look at his YouTube channel.

I would have loved to have thought of this before, and above all to have the talent to accomplish it, but I can’t even draw the Simpsons characters in 2D, let alone in 3D.

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Books

Keeping Up Appearances; from Hyacinth Bucket to Eleanor Rigby

Published

1 week ago

June 4, 2021

Carole Ford

Keeping Up Appearances was a British sitcom that ran on BBC television from 1990 – 1995. It featured a woman called Hyacinth Bucket, which she insisted was pronounced Bouquet. The humour lay in watching her attempts at social climbing. She lived to impress her unfortunate neighbours, who tried to avoid her!

Coincidentally, at that time, I was in contact with relatives, who erroneously insisted on a French pronunciation of their surname, and were oblivious to their ridiculous behaviour.

While the programme was enjoyed for its comedic effect, some people in real life struggle to keep up appearances and it is no laughing matter. People who have social status, such as by being a home owner, but lack actual income, are said to be in genteel poverty. This leads to reduced spending and failing to replace things that are broken. By keeping up appearances, others are not aware of the true state of affairs.

The March family in the novel Little Women, by Louisa M Alcott, are an example of genteel poverty. They gave up their Christmas dinner to take to a family, who were in absolute poverty. Today, people who have very little themselves, may leave an item to be collected for the food bank, on their way out of the supermarket.

Another sort of keeping up appearances, is the disguising of emotions. This may extend to hiding actual physical or mental abuse. Victims of controlling behaviour may show no sign to the outside world, suffering at home in silence.

In “Eleanor Rigby”, the song by Paul McCartney, the woman disguises her loneliness by appearing cheerful, wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door, as the song says. She is an example of all the lonely people, who keep up appearances.

Footnote : As a tribute to the Beatles, Tommy Steele commissioned a statue of Eleanor Rigby, (a fictitious person, although the name is found in a Liverpool graveyard) It is placed not far from the site of the club, the Cavern, where the Beatles first performed.

Bestseller No. 1

Little Women

Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh (Actors)
Greta Gerwig (Director) - Amy Pascal (Producer)
English (Playback Language)
English (Subtitle)

Bestseller No. 2

Movin' On Up

Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
Kinetic Content, LLC. (Producer)
English (Playback Language)
English (Subtitle)
Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over

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Television

Bridgerton on Netflix thinks that Bath is London

Published

5 months ago

January 9, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

Released on Christmas Day on Netflix, Bridgerton has made headlines online and off-line.

The series is an adaptation of Julia Quinn’s series of romance novels set in the Regency Period. It may please some, but not everyone is convinced above all by the fact that it is not very accurate historically.

The thing that amazed and shocked many however is having used the Royal Crescent in Bath, one of the most recognizable buildings in this city, for a story set in London.

Wilton House in Wiltshire is used several times, becoming Clyvedon Castle (which does not exist), Hampton Court Palace and the London home of the Duke of Hastings. Wilton House is very popular, in fact it is also seen in the Netflix drama the Crown.

Although many are shocked, remember that it is fiction and does not have to be historically accurate. But just so as not to get too confused, it’s worth remembering that the Royal Crescent is still located in Bath.

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Museum

New TV series featuring London’s Natural History Museum

Published

5 months ago

January 4, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

The new series is called Natural History Museum: World of Wonder and will air every Thursday from January 7 at 8pm on Channel 5.

The series documents the work of around 300 scientists at the museum and takes a look behind the scenes of the preparations for the exhibition. It explores nearly every inch of the museum, including public galleries, laboratories, scanner suites, collection rooms and dissection rooms.

Among the highlights of the programmes you will see:

Principal Curator of Mammals Richard Sabin reveals details of the Museum’s blue whale skeleton. He shaves tiny samples from Hope’s mouthplates for chemical analysis and makes fascinating new discoveries, including the fact she was carrying a calf.

Paleontologist Dr Susie Maidment opens a box from a famous dinosaur dig in Lesotho, Africa, which has never been unpacked. She discovers a rock that could contain a rare dinosaur skull that is 199 million years old.

Head of Earth Sciences Collections and planetary scientist Professor Caroline Smith has revealed a meteorite containing particles older than the solar system itself.

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