#dundee award

[peterpparkour]

“From nothing to here, B. I’m glad it was with you.”

#irwin dundee #barry benson #bbmc #bondi boys motor club #Bondi Boys #nopixel #gta rp #gta nopixel #bcz andromeddas post made me sentimental #i saw the start of chip pez riley wolfe and buck finding a clip 😭 also chain looking v different #i cant remember exactly what whippy said but it was something like that #mine #mine np #barry bensons hat deserves an award for how much shit its been through #haha dont talk to me about how barry was on the left and then is on the right like hes taken the place of dundee goD leave me alone

[scottishgames]

Nominations Announced For Scottish Games Awards 2023

The nominees for the 2023 Scottish Games Awards have been released, with the largest and most diverse range of entries yet received in the competition. Over 110 entries were received across the 15 categories, recognising and celebrating the achievement and success of individuals, organisations and games from across the whole Scottish Ecosystem. The competition’s new categories including Rising…

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#awards #dundee #edinburgh #games #scotland #Scottish Games Week

[consanguinitatum]

In honor of David Tennant's Olivier nomination for Macbeth...

I feel like giving out something special from my collection in celebration of David Tennant's nomination for Macbeth at today's Olivier Awards:

Here's a photo printed in a local newspaper from Long Day's Journey Into Night, a 1994 production David did at the Dundee Rep!

This was the second time David had starred alongside Edith MacArthur, who famously told David's father Sandy he'd do just that someday (the first time had been in 1992's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, also at the Dundee Rep.)

Here he plays Edmund Tyrone, a consumptive (which you can see from his haggard appearance.)

I wish it was a better quality photo, but ya know....sometimes you have to take what you can get!

#David Tennant #Long Day's Journey Into Night #Isn't he just the most adorable sickly-looking wee boy?

[blackswaneuroparedux]

I never admitted to anybody during my entire military service that I had been an actor. I was terrified that I would be put in charge of Ensa [Entertainments' National Service Association]. Not even my closest friends knew I was an actor. I told them I was reading English at St Andrews University.

- Richard Todd

In his heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, Richard Todd was Britain’s leading matinee idol. If you love old movies, you’ll have seen Todd in one of his starring roles in “The Virgin Queen” opposite Bette Davis, “Stage Struck” with Marlene Dietrich, or “The Dam Busters” for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He was the tough little Scotsman in the wartime weepie “The Hasty Heart” and had audiences madly hunting for hankies.

Those were the days when Todd streaked across North American film screens as virtually every romantic hero from Rob Roy to Robin Hood. Ian Fleming chose him to play James Bond in “Dr. No” in 1962, but a schedule clash meant Sean Connery stepped into the role.

Little less known is the fact that he was also among the first British soldiers and the first Irishman to land in Normandy on D Day. More specifically, he participated in Operation Tonga during the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944.

So it must have been surreal for Richard Todd the hearthrob actor to find himself playing Major John Howard in the epic movie ‘The Longest Day’ (1962) based on Cornelius Ryan’s book. Not least because he served with Howard and took part in the fighting at Pegasus Bridge that Major John Howard was tasked to secure on D Day.

Richard Todd was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1919. His father was a medic in the British Army and, as his posting required, the early years of his life were spent in India. The family settled in Devon upon their return to England, and Richard was educated at Shrewsbury Public School, in Shropshire. The theatre was his first love, and he furthered his dramatic skills at the Italia Conti school, thereafter moving to Scotland where he helped to form the Dundee Repertory Theatre. When War was declared, Todd went to St. Andrew's University on the following day to volunteer. He was not a member of the University, but he not only convinced the selection unit that he was, but also added that he had been reading English there for six months, and that he had obtained a Cert A in his school cadet corps; a key point to being accepted as an officer. Despite success in passing off this invented career, Todd was to be disappointed by a lack of interest in him thereafter.

Becoming increasingly desperate to get into the War before it ended, he sent numerous letters to the War Office to press his case, which, in June 1940, was finally noticed.

Accepted by the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Todd went to Sandhurst to receive his officer training. He had a very lucky escape here when he was in a corridor on the second floor of a building when it was hit by a bomb, and he was blown into the garden outside by the blast. He got to his feet in the darkness and did not feel particularly affected by it, but an examination by torchlight revealed that his whole body was covered in blood from numerous small wounds.

A spell his hospital delayed his passing out from Sandhurst until early 1941. Celebrating in London, he narrowly avoided death again when he found his usual haunt, the Cafe de Paris, was too crowded to admit him and so he went elsewhere; it was hit by a bomb that same night and 84 people were killed.

His Battalion, the 2nd/4th Battalion The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, was posted to XII Corps in defence of Kent, where a German invasion if it came would almost certainly land. Todd was given command of the infantry in the Dymchurch Redoubt, a fort of the Napoleonic era mounting two six-inch guns.

In the event of an invasion, this would certainly have been a primary target for the enemy, and those manning it were told that, with the main defensive line far to their rear, they would be left to fight to the end. General Montgomery commanded XII Corps at this time, and his characteristic emphasis on training and preparedness led to the formation of the first Battle Schools. Richard Todd attended one of these, and the experience allowed him to run his own School when, in December 1941, he was sent to Iceland with the 1st/4th King's Own Light Infantry to be trained in arctic and mountain warfare. Returning to England in September 1942, he eventually ended up in the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion of the 6th Airborne Division. He was among troops of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion who, at 00:40 hours on 6 June 1944, landed behind the Normandy beaches in a cornfield, perilously close to tracer fire.

Todd scrambled into a wood and with 150 other paratroopers reached Pegasus and Ranville bridges, vital crossings to allow Allied forces to break out from the beachheads into Normandy. They had been seized by a glider force from the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry under the command of Major John Howard, who needed reinforcements to fend off ferocious German attacks.

In his memoirs, Caught in the Act, Todd would write of the carnage, “There was no cessation in the Germans' probing with patrols and counter-attacks, some led by tanks, and the regimental aid post was overrun in the early hours. The wounded being tended there were all killed where they lay. There was sporadic enemy mortar and artillery fire we could do nothing about. One shell landed in a hedge near me, killing a couple of our men.”

Todd would go on and see action at the Battle of the Bulge and push into the Rhine into Germany. After VE day, his division returned to the UK for a few weeks, then was sent on counter-insurgency operations in Palestine. During this posting he was seriously injured when his Jeep overturned, breaking both shoulders and receiving a concussion. He returned to the UK to be demobilised in 1946. 

In 1962, Todd was given the part of Major John Howard in the film adaptation of Cornelius Ryan's book about the D-Day landings, ‘The Longest Day’ (1962). Due to the nature of cinema, it was impossible for the film to give a thorough reflection of the role of the 6th Airborne Division during the Invasion, and as such their activities were solely represented by a reconstruction of the capture of Bénouville Bridge by Howard's coup-de-main force. Although briefly mentioned, the role of the 7th Battalion in the defence of the western bridgehead was largely ignored, and so it appeared as if the defence of the bridge rested only on Howard's men.

Naturally, the omission of their fierce defence of Bénouville caused some resentment amongst veterans, not least because one of their own was championing this re-working of history. Todd, however, regarded ‘The Longest Day’ (1962) as a film rather than a documentary, and his part in it was simply that of an actor doing as he was told.

Richard Todd would never have guessed, that in 17 years since he was on Pegasus Bridge as a paratrooper that he would standing there again as an actor portraying Major John Howard who was given the order: 'Hold,… until relieved'. It had to be Richard Todd’s 'twilight-zone' moment.

The ‘relieve’ for Howard had to come from Lord Lovat and his troops, who had landed on SWORD Beach, and were legging it towards Pegasus Bridge.

Before the shooting of the scenes were started at Pegasus Bridge, the film producer of The Longest Day, Darryl F. Zanuck, had the real life Lord Lovat and Major John Howard brought over to meet the men who were going to portray them (Peter Lawford portrayed Lord Lovat). The men had not seen each other since 6 June 1944.

Photo (above). From L-R: Peter Lawford, Lord Lovat, Richard Todd, Major John Howard.

#todd #richard todd #quote #british army #D Day #DDay #Normandy #pegasus bridge #war #second world war #major john howard #parachute #battle #actor #soldier #paratrooper #the longest day #film #movie #cinema #britain

[scotianostra]

April 21st 1746 saw Glasgow host formal celebrations to mark the defeat of the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden, and award the Duke of Cumberland the freedom of the city.

The Town Council of Glasgow became the first municipality to confer the Freedom of the City on Cumberland. They were followed by Edinburgh and Dundee, even as Cumberland was presiding over a campaign of genocide in the Highlands and Islands. He could have gone south to a no-doubt rapturous reception in London, but stayed for three months to personally supervise the genocide and then left orders to his officers and men who were only too happy to carry out his butchery.

There is a simple explanation for Glasgow’s civic actions – to them, he was the good guy and Charles wasn’t bonnie but a baddie. It was a Whig town, loyal to the House of Hanover and opposed to Jacobitism, and was doing very well out of the Union with millions of pounds of tobacco being landed on the Clyde and treated for export across the UK and Europe.

At the turn of the year, Glaswegians had also experienced a week-long occupation by Charles and the Jacobite army and had been none too impressed, not least because the Prince demanded £15,000 and fresh clothing for his men – he got £5500 and a lot of shirts.

According to one source Charles himself was not as popular with the ladies as he had been in Edinburgh, though it was in Glasgow that he first met his future mistress Clementina Walkinshaw. He also apparently had time enough to father a child who grew up to be a Kirk minister.

Glasgow militia had been the reserves for the government army at the Battle of Falkirk Muir, so it is no surprise that the city was in raptures when news came through of Cumberland’s victory over the Jacobites at Culloden.

According to excerpts from the records of the Town Council: “The event was duly ‘solemnized’ with a cake and wine banquet by the city fathers on 21st April, and a deputation was sent to Inverness to congratulate the Duke of Cumberland, who was presented with the freedom of the city in a gold box.”

In June, Glasgow University was among the first educational establishments to confer an honorary doctorate on the man who by then was still only 25 – Aberdeen and St Andrews Universities would later make him Chancellor.

The Glasgow citation read: “Who, by the blessing of God, has put an end to the unnatural and wicked Rebellion that threatened destruction to all our Religious and Civil Rights and Liberties … the Rector Principal Professor of Divinity and Professor of Law are appointed to wait upon his Royal Highness when he comes South, and present the diploma with the Universities compliments to him”.

Cumberland had overnight become the most popular man in lowland Scotland. It was only when the Tories in England learned of the aftermath of Culloden that he was nicknamed the Butcher – an English invention and one that stuck. The Scottish public later passed their verdict when a type of foul-smelling ragwort was called Stinking Billy. Tories were the opposition to the Whigs.

It surprises me that there have been no motions to rescind the honours bestowed on Cumberland, given the atrocities carried out by his men in his name in the aftermath of Culloden. A petition to to repeal the freedom of the city bestowed on Cumberland was submitted in 2017 bu a guy called John Toner, but for whatever reason he must not have shared it, the only signature on it was his own, hence it was rejected. More recently there have been calls to rename Cumberland Street in Glasgow.

#scotland #scottish #history #glasgow #'45 uprising #jacobites

[felassan]

Scottish Games Sale

Benefitting Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity

Scotland is known for its rugged landscapes, warm people and vivid storytelling, and there's no better place to see these things flourish than in the Scottish Games Industry. From thriving talent in Dundee to award-winning studios in Glasgow and Edinburgh, we welcome you to celebrate the incredible games being created and developed within Scotland. Scottish Games Sale is supporting Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity’s ‘Games for the Weans’ campaign (Weans is our word for Children!). The funds raised will kit out the hospital with adapted gaming equipment, consoles, board games and supporting the hospital's Play Team - so that children in hospital always have someone to play with.

[source and Steam link]

A number of Scottish developers and publishers have joined forces to launch a charity sale on Steam. The Scottish Games Sale runs until September 14 and includes more than 50 games, all of which have been discounted to raise funds for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. [source]

#caledonia's been everything #video games #signal boost

[endlessnightlock]

If you're still taking 40 Fluff Dialogue Prompts, then #4 or #23 please and thank you! 🥰🥰🥰

"You're the worst, I love you so much."

More from the world of Dunder Mifflin Snow Paper Corporation. Thanks for the prompt, @pookieh !!!

The Office/THG crossover

Snowies=Dundees (a made up award Michael Scott gives out to his employees)

Katniss stumbled through the Chili’s front door, giggling, after her banishment from the entire chain of restaurants. 

Peeta followed close behind, making sure she didn’t fall down in the parking lot or crash into a handicap parking sign.  Another year of The Snowies were in the bag, and after downing a fishbowl blue hawaii and the remainder of Effie’s discarded margarita, Katniss was drunk. 

Not tipsy, not buzzed, but drunk.

Peeta couldn’t blame Katniss for drinking an insane amount of alcohol to try and forget the night. The Snowies were always awful; this year seemed to hit particularly hard after Seneca handed over her Snowie for the longest engagement. Her fourth, because she’d been engaged to Gale for four years.

Of course Gale was gone by then. He left early to meet his brother Rory for beers, leaving Peeta to keep her company. 

Not that he was upset, he’d never turn down time with Katniss. It just made Peeta mad that he was such a moron and a shitty fiance. Why couldn’t he see how special Katniss was? She deserved better than treated like some afterthought. 

If he was engaged to Katniss, he wouldn’t wait a year to marry her, let alone four going on five.

But he was just her best friend. Although he hadn’t quite given up yet. After all, engaged wasn’t married. 

Katniss swung around to face him, her Snowie firmly in her grasp, with that wide-eyed expression people got when they were trying to sober up, when every thought in their head seemed important and needed said immediately. “I don’t get Gale sometimes,” she said.

Peeta nodded. How could he answer that?

“He couldn’t wait to get out of here. Like spending time with you guys was the worst,” she added, frowning at the thought of her fiancee. “An I like you guys, most of the time. Not Seneca,” she clarified.

“Of course not,” he agreed, grinning. There was a lot more hate than love in that relationship.

“In fact I love you guys. Especially you, Peeta. You’re my best friend. I love you.”

He was pretty sure his heart was going to explode. Like she had her fingers wrapped around it at that very moment. He wished it was real, that she did love him in the way he wanted to be loved by her.

Katniss’s gaze was locked on his face. “Do you love me too?”

Peeta cleared his throat, pushing the hurt out of his voice. "You're the worst,” he said softly, “and I love you so much. Now, Drunkie,” he added with a smile. Heart stupidly full, he gestured toward Annie’s car, pulling up to the curb. “Here comes your ride.”

#endlessnightlock writes #the office/thg crossover #everlark as Jam #katniss everdeen/peeta mellark #everlark fanfiction

[warningsine]

favourite succession episodes?

My favorite episodes are—naturally—the ones that cause me the most pain. Either they tear me apart emotionally or they terrify me with their spot on sociopolitical commentary.

It's hard to watch a democracy crumbling in such plausible ways when you take a look at what's happening around the globe, you know?

Anyway, my top 10+1 episodes are:

All the Bells Say (Season 3, Episode 9). The back-to-back epic betrayals and tragedy (Shakespearean, Greek, Roman, Jacobean — you name it) have bewitched me body and soul and I love them. And the cinematography? Some frames look like Renaissance paintings.

Connor's Wedding (Season 4, Episode 3). Honestly, this episode is why I watch television. Now excuse me while I sob.

America Decides (Season 4, Episode 8). Give Kieran all the trophy awards for managing to make Roman so loathsome and disgusting when 5 episodes earlier he had me crying like a baby because of how pitiable his character was. "Succession" had always made it clear that these characters are awful yet human. That being said, I love how this particular episode focuses on how complicit they all are (Jess, Greg, Hugo, Gerri, Karl, Frank, the dude that takes the "pending call" decision) and how it makes you hate the Roy siblings for damning an entire nation. Kendall? Unlike Roman, he knows right from wrong and how terrible of a father he is, but when it comes down to it, he's a spineless coward. Shiv? Believes that she cares for the world (democracy, misogyny, racism), but is actually a huge hypocrite. When her country is about to succumb to fascism, the first thing she can think of is to double down on her deal with another amoral and abusive billionaire. She cares more about sticking it to her brothers more than anything else.

This Is Not for Tears (Season 2, Episode 10). Everything about this episode is perfect: the music, the script,the direction, the acting. I'm a Shiv stan, but Tom's "I wonder if the sad I’d be without you, would be less than the sad I get from being with you" absolutely breaks me. Logan mentioning the Incas and Kendall Judas kissing him before fucking him over? [chef's kiss]

With Open eyes (Season 4, Episode 10). Sad to see you go, happy that you chose to keep your legacy and not drag, beloved show.

Church and State (Season 4, Episode 9). Please respect my privacy while I cry. There was Roman's heartbreaking breakdown of course, but what really got to me was Marcia touching Kerry's hand and then telling Shiv that Logan hurt all of them. Hiam Abbass is there for 5 mins and unsurprisingly manages to steal the show.

Nobody Is Ever Missing (Season 1, Episode 10). When the series turned from capitalist satirical drama to tragedy of the highest caliber was when it really won me over. "You're my number one boy" indeed.

What It Takes (Season 3, Episode 6). Like Shiv said about Jordan-Peterson-meets-Trump Mencken, it's terrifying to watch a “YouTube provocateur” whose vibes are “aristo-populism … ‘rape is natural, it’s all red pill, baby'" gain power.

Chiantishire (Season 3, Episode 8). Dickpicgate, comedy gold. Hearing your mother tell you that it'd have been better if she had had dogs instead of you and that you'd make a terrible mother too? Harriet Walter, the actress that you are.

Tern Haven (Season 2, Episode 5). I love season 2. I love the Pierces. I love Rhea. I love Nan. Holly Hunter and Cherry Jones should have been regulars is all I'm saying.

Dundee (Season 2, Episode 8). "L to the OG" way before "R to the IP" took place.

--

Honorable mentions:

Tailgate Party (S4E7). That Tom/Shiv balcony scene... Give Snook all the awards.

DC (S2E9). When Shiv manipulated and silenced that victim of sexual harassment and abuse, showing us her true colors. When Rhea proved that she had something resembling a moral backbone after all. “This doesn’t feel right" indeed.

Rehearsal (S4E2). Because the last thing that Logan said to his children was, "I love you, but you are not serious people."

Honeymoon States (S4E4). Had not expected this episode to be so funny and yet.

Too Much Birthday (S3E7). Always a pleasure to watch Kendall fall apart and the 3 siblings backstab and be awful to each other.

Which Side Are You On? (S1E6).

Safe Room (S2E4).

The Disruption (S3E3). For Snook's acting after Kendall interrupts Shiv with Nirvana's "Rape Me" and Kendall's cowering in the server room after Shiv published that letter about him. Jeremy Strong's acting says so much even when his character doesn't utter a word.

The Munsters (S4E1). Greg's "Where are your kids?" was pure savagery. Logan should have been given some aloe vera for that burn. No, but how dare Brian Cox make me feel bad for the fallen king? It's "Breaking Bad" all over again.

#honestly i love the whole show and you can't go wrong with any episode 'cause even its worst episode(s) is still better than 98% of what's #on tv #anon #sc

[origamiquotes]

“You were a whiz at origami. Why?

For obsessives it’s a focus – I could latch on to it to stop my brain from eating itself. I still do it. At the last school council at St Andrews [Paterson is soon to retire as professor of poetry at the university], I found myself folding an alien tortoise.”

#don paterson #origami #literature

[mybeingthere]

DOMINIQUE CAMERON, British artist.

"Montrose 2016-2017.

The river meets the sea here. In a sycamore tree a small birds nest sways. A pilot boat heads out to a ship anchored beyond the lighthouse. High tide. Railway sleepers, pallets, geese flying south. Dog shit, tinsel, good morning, aye right. Voices carry across the water, boat engines, hammers, hi viz. Children run as the school bell rings. Old men in caps, hands buried deep in their coat pockets. Out for a paper, filling a day. January. Forgotten. And a thin sun falls for a moment on a line of white washed shirts, a brattle of pegged seagulls bursting to take flight..."

1989-92 – Napier University, Edinburgh – B.A Photography (Distinction). Agfa bursary and Final year award winner ( Hamilton- Tait Award ).

2013- 14 – Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee – MFA Art, Society and Publics. Award for outstanding academic achievement.

https://dominiquefcameron.com/

[scottishgames]

Judges Announced For Scottish Games Awards

The judges for the 2023 Scottish Games Awards have been announced. Several leading Scottish games and news journalists are joined by a noted games entrepreneur and a member of the Scottish parliament, to choose the winners at a ceremony which will be opened by Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf. The judges will be selecting winners for 15 categories of award, celebrating and showcasing…

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#awards #dundee #edinburgh #games #glasgow #scotland #Scottish Games Week

[consanguinitatum]

Sunburst Finish - my (other) favorite David Tennant audio drama

Hello again, everyone! Today we'll be discussing David's 2002 audio drama, Sunburst Finish!

A bit ago I did a long discussion thing about one of my favorites of DT's audio projects, the 2003 audio drama Tuesdays & Sundays by Daniel Arnold & Medina Hahn. Today's deep dive is into my other favorite audio drama - 2002's Sunburst Finish by Andrea Gibb, with Paddy Cunneen.

I say "other favorite" because boy, do I do a lot of flip-flopping between these two audio dramas. One day one will be my all-time favorite, but then if you ask me the same question the next week, you'll probably get a different answer. They're both just SO stellar, and David is sublime in both. So don't ask me which one I prefer!

Speaking of Gibb and Cunneen - Sunburst Finish isn't the first (or last) time David's worked with them. In this earlier thread I discussed 1997's Bite, a fantastic short also written by Gibb, with music composed by Cunneen.

Here's a little bit about the author(s): Andrea Gibb is an award-winning Scottish screenwriter/actor. As an actor she's best known as Deirdre in All Creatures Great And Small, and as a screenwriter? You name it! Dear Frankie, Call The Midwife, AfterLife, Mayflies...I could go on and on! Her ex-husband Paddy Cunneen is an award-winning Scottish theatre director, playwright and composer for radio, TV and film. Some of his best-known works include scores for Boy A, King Lear and Twelfth Night, and for his plays Fleeto and Wee Andy. He's also an Associate Music Director of the Cheek by Jowl Theatre.

Throughout David's career, he and Cunneen have worked on many of the same projects. Other than Bite and Sunburst Finish, Cunneen's composed the music scores for three more plays starring David: 1995's An Experienced Woman Gives Advice, 1999's Vassa, and 2003's The Pillowman.

But back to Sunburst Finish! I don't know half as much about this play - what was its inspiration (was it based in real life events?), was it written specifically for audio, was the lead character called 'Davey' by coincidence or specifically for David, what if anything was the significance behind the title Sunburst Finish, etc? - as I'd like to know. But I'll tell you what I do know: Sunburst Finish was produced by BBC Radio, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as the Friday Play. It went out at 9-10pm on 24 May 2002. David played Davey, the lead role. It was directed by Gaynor Macfarlane. Other cast members were Julie Austin as Amy, Ewan Stewart as Uncle Gus, and Helen Lomax as Georgie.

It's hard to talk in-depth about the plot of this audio without giving the thing away, but here's a little something from The Guardian (trigger warning - references to self-harm). It describes the play as follows: "Davey is a gifted music undergraduate with plenty of friends, who appears to have everything going for him - except that he doesn't want to live."

And also, here's the play's BBC Genome entry:

It appears the play was received very well, for in 2004, Gibb and Cunneen adapted 'Sunburst Finish' for the stage. Some 2nd year acting students from David's alma mater, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (the RSAMD, now the Royal Conservatoire) put on a production. On 23 February 2004, it was performed at the Dundee Repertory Theatre (in association with the Rep).

The production was also performed at the Tron as part of the RSAMD student Play:ground season, and ran for one night only on 3 March 2004. Emun Elliott (Black Watch, Star Wars, Guilt and Game of Thrones) played Davey, and Paul Blair played Uncle Gus. The Scotsman had this to say about the play: "...Here, though, the subject is the confusion and despair of a final-year music student who - despite the concern of his parents, sister and girlfriend, and the gruffly affectionate care of his uncle Gus, an aging rocker turned sheep-farmer - finds the darkness in his mind too much to bear. There’s a conventional hint of untold family secrets and lies at the root of the boy’s despair..."

Announcement of the play's performance at Glasgow's Tron Theatre

But back to David's version! For a brief and glorious period in 2018, Sunburst Finish was uploaded to the Internet Archive. It was swiftly removed because REASONS, but many (me-me-me-me!) got to enjoy it, including this iconic moment when Davey sings Nirvana's 'All Apologies' with his uncle Gus, and this adorable little singy-song to Semisonic's 'Secret Smile'!

If you're interested in the play and want to read it, you can...sort of? If you can find the stage screenplay adaptation, that is. One was published in 2004 by Capercaillie Books Limited, but it's sold out everywhere I looked - and as I really wanted one, believe me, I've looked!

There's also a printed version available at the University of Glasgow, though! It's a 103 pg 4th draft script of the audio play - not the stage adaptation - and it's held in the Scottish Theatre Archive collection. Wish I'd read it when I was doing my postgrad work at the University in 2018-2019, but I had so many other things on my research plate, it (sadly) slipped through the cracks.

And that's it for 'Sunburst Finish' - and this edition of Obscure DT!

#DavidTennant #DavidTennantAudios #SunburstFinish #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

A hand salute for a coat of arms

By Jonathan Monfiletto

The village of Dundee may be the only community in Yates County – and probably in all of the Finger Lakes region – that has its own coat of arms. The village received this honor from the Scottish city of the same name in 1973 when Dundee, Scotland marked its 300th anniversary and Dundee, New York celebrated its 125th anniversary.

In 1973, the Lord Provost of Dundee – an office similar to mayor – bestowed upon its daughter community the right and privilege of bearing the arms of its ancestor. The movement mimicked an occasion 300 years before, on July 30, 1673, when King Charles II awarded the Royal Burgh of Dundee a deed of proper arms for a fortified city loyal to the crown.

Similarly, the village of Dundee voted to accept this grant and make it effective July 30, 1973, with changes to the arms to fit the village’s location and character. As part of its celebration that year, the village used the arms in flags, plaques, and other decorations. A cluster of grapes against a shield replaces a pot of lilies in the same spot of the ancestor’s arms; a representation of a lake and fingers replaces a castellated helmet to symbolize a fortified town.

It might be time for Dundee to bring out its coat of arms again, as this year the village marks its 175th anniversary since its incorporation. The village was indeed named after the more widely known Dundee, Scotland, but the naming came in more of a roundabout way.

When the first settlers – Isaac Stark and two families named Houghtaling and Harpenduyck – arrived there in 1807, about 20 years after settlers first arrived on the shore of Seneca Lake in modern-day Yates County, the community took on the name Stark’s Mills because of the mill Stark built on Big Stream where it crosses present-day Main Street. The Harpenduyck name was anglicized to Harpending, and the settlement eventually became known as Harpending’s Corners. For many years, though, the settlement was not much more than a small road crossing and an obscure hamlet known for lumber and some general produce.

At the time, Harpending’s Corners was first part of the town of Wayne, originally named Frederickstown, and then part of the town of Reading when Reading was formed from Wayne. The town of Starkey, which includes the territory of the settlement, was formed from Reading in 1824 and added to Yates County a year after the county was established.

Harpending’s Corners – named for early settler Samuel Harpending and the Harpending House hotel he had built early on in the settlement – began to grow in the ensuing years, with the construction of stores, mills, and dwellings and soon outgrew Eddytown – the hamlet now known as Lakemont – which had been the seat of the township. As the settlement became a trading center, the community decided it needed a new name.

First, of course, a few other names were suggested before the current name was agreed upon. There were Plainville, Harpendale, LaGrange, Starkville, and many others. Plainville seemed to win out but was turned down when it was learned that another place in New York State had the same name (there appears to be a hamlet of Plainville near Baldwinsville in Onondaga County). Then along came James Gifford, a local singing teacher, who suggested the name of Dundee.

Gifford didn’t take the name directly from the Scottish city, though, but naturally – being a singing teacher – he took the name from a song. In 1545, Guillaume Franc wrote a famous hymn tune titled “Dundee,” apparently taking its name from the home city of the composer’s red-haired love interest. Interestingly, Gifford eventually moved west and played a similar role in a settlement in Illinois for which people were deciding upon a name. Once again, Gifford suggested Dundee, and once again the people chose that name.

Harpending’s Corners officially became Dundee in 1833, and its growth in population and prominence continued. Fifteen years later, the settlement formally became a village with the support of 250 voters. By that point, there were 75 places of business in the village, including nine drinking establishments in one form or another as well as five churches, two schools with 150 students, a one-horse stage, and daily mail distributed from the postmaster’s kitchen.

But they weren’t all days of wine and roses from the young village. Three years in a row brought three major fires to Dundee – in 1859, the east side of Main Street burned down; in 1860, the west side of the street was destroyed; and in 1861, a blaze started by arson took down 40 buildings and almost the entire village. It took almost six years for the village to recover from these conflagrations; in fact, it is said the Civil War went on with barely any notice from Dundee.

However, a road in the village was renamed Union Street to show the Dundee’s support for the cause. And, from that point on, Dundee continued to prosper throughout the remainder of the 19thcentury, with the establishment of further schools, banks, village newspapers, other businesses, and even railroads and with improvements in infrastructure such as streets and sidewalks.

#history #historyblog #yatescounty #dundeeny #museum #archives

[scotianostra]

The Scottish actor Hamish Wilson passed away on March 26th 2020.

Probably most famous for replacing Frazer Hines for two episodes of Dr Who in the 60’s. Wilson was another one who started early, aged just 14 he started studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

He was born James Aitken Wilson in Glasgow, in 1942. His family moved to Cambuslang when he was very young. His father, also James, was a sales rep for a paint firm; his mother Isobel (née Willock) worked in the rag trade. After they divorced Isobel married another Wilson, Robert, and Hamish and his sister Jan grew up with step-siblings Leslie, Sheila and Robbie.

He discovered his love of drama while at West Coats Primary School. Later, at the Glasgow Academy, this love drove him to do “that stupidly romantic thing of running away from school to appear on the stage”. He was soon working professionally – he understudied Jimmy Logan for a summer season at the King’s Theatre and appeared in Peter Duguid’s 1957 Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre production of Enemy of the People.

He then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and gained more professional experience during the summer holidays. He played the title role in 1959’s live ITV play, The Boy from the Gorbals, did a 1960 episode of Para Handy with Duncan Macrae, and met Walt Disney while he was working on his film adaptation of Greyfriars Bobby.

“I was trying to chat up a pretty blonde extra, with no success at all”, he once recalled, “and this gentleman with blond hair and a little moustache came over and started chatting to me. We nattered away for five minutes and then he wandered away. The girl was terribly impressed, but I spoilt it because I didn’t recognise him. I said, ‘Who was that?’ and she stopped being impressed. ‘That was Walt Disney!’, she said”.

He graduated from the RSAMD in 1963, winning the award for Most Promising Male Performance, and appeared on stage at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre , Perth Theatre and Dundee Repertory Theatre (1970-71), where his performance in Mark But This Flea was described as “remarkable” by The Stage, the trade weekly – not least because he had stepped in 24 hours before opening night after the original actor had broken his leg.

On television he appeared in The Wednesday Play, The Vital Spark , This Man Craig (three different roles, 1966), Softly, Softly and The Revenue Men (three different roles.

In 1968 Doctor Who regular Frazer Hines, who played Patrick Troughton’s Jacobite companion Jamie, fell ill with chickenpox while making the adventure The Mind Robber. After an ingenious, hasty rewrite Jamie underwent a temporary metamorphosis and with one day’s rehearsal Wilson took over, cramming his lines overnight and recording the first of his two episodes the next day.

Further TV roles followed, including The Borderers Boy Meets Girls (1969), Adam Smith, and The View from Daniel Pike but he found that he needed to turn his attention away from acting because “ a beautiful girl smiled at me”. Intent on marriage and starting a family, he gained more secure employment as an announcer for STV.

In 1975 he went to Radio Forth as its arts and drama producer. With limited resources but boundless ambition, he broadcast original writing, late-night horror classics, and a six-month long serial about Mary Queen of Scots, told in 130 twelve-minute episodes, broadcast daily. Drama of this kind on commercial radio was largely unheard of.

In 1979 he did an adaptation of The Slab Boys for Radio Clyde, ultimately joining the station and founding Independent Local Radio’s first drama department there.

His many productions at Clyde included The Bell in the Tree a series of dramas about the history of Glasgow by Edward H Chisnall; Donald Campbell’s Till the Seas Run Dry, with Tom Fleming as Robert Burns and Mary Riggans as Jean Armour), and Nick McCarthy’s Elephant Dances with Katy Murphy).

He also encouraged new talent, instigating initiatives which gave professional breaks to aspiring comedy writers and awarded contracts and prized Equity cards to final-year drama students.

He left Clyde in 1989 and joined the BBC, where he produced a huge number of plays and series for Radio Scotland, Radio 3 and Radio 4. He really believed in radio: “It allows you to creep inside somebody’s head”, he said, “and paint pictures that are going to stay long after the programme is finished.”

In all, he won 23 awards for his radio productions – his ‘Oscars’, as he jokingly referred to them – and served a juror in the Prix Italia (where he was also the first ILR producer to be jury chairman), Prix Futura Berlin and the Prix Europa.

When he left the BBC after ten successful years he went back to the old trade, doing voiceover work and acting in episodes of Taggart,, Monarch of the Glen and Still Game .

On March 21st 2020 Tony contracted coronavirus and sadly passed away only 6 days later on March 26th aged 77. He worked for many years for the actors union Equity, the Scottish Secretary of the union said of him:

“He led a full life and touched many people. He was one of life’s enthusiasts and succeeded at most everything he turned his hand to. Time in his company was always enjoyable and often informative. Remember that mischievous grin and raise a glass to him. RIP.”

The beautiful girl who smiled at him was Diana (née Baron), a wardrobe mistress at Dundee Rep, whom he had met in 1972. They married the following year and had three daughters, Emma, Alice and Abigail, who all survive him, as do grandchildren Colin, Finley, Amelia and Gregor.

#scotland #scottish #history #dr who #companion #actor

[clarafordahwin]

Dundee was the funniest episode title because it was about him getting a useless award and there's no way that no one in the writer's room had seen the office. Kendall is literally Michael Scott.

#ah fuck i think i was gonna make a succ office edit but i don't remember what #shut up clark #succession

[itsrainningjwight]

December 11th mini funko Dundee award

#the office #Dundee #funko pop