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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 months

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It all started with a mouse

For the public domain, time stopped in 1998, when the Sonny Bono Copyright Act froze copyright expirations for 20 years. In 2019, time started again, with a massive crop of works from 1923 returning to the public domain, free for all to use and adapt:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2019/

No one is better at conveying the power of the public domain than Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle, who run the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. For years leading up to 2019, the pair published an annual roundup of what we would have gotten from the public domain in a universe where the 1998 Act never passed. Since 2019, they've switched to celebrating what we're actually getting each year. Last year's was a banger:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/#oy-canada

But while there's been moderate excitement at the publicdomainification of "Yes, We Have No Bananas," AA Milne's "Now We Are Six," and Sherlock Holmes, the main event that everyone's anticipated arrives on January 1, 2024, when Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse was in 1928's Steamboat Willie. Disney was critical to the lobbying efforts that extended copyright in 1976 and again in 1998, so much so that the 1998 Act is sometimes called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Disney and its allies were so effective at securing these regulatory gifts that many people doubted that this day would ever come. Surely Disney would secure another retrospective copyright term extension before Jan 1, 2024. I had long arguments with comrades about this – people like Project Gutenberg founder Michael S Hart (RIP) were fatalistically certain the public domain would never come back.

But they were wrong. The public outrage over copyright term extensions came too late to stave off the slow-motion arson of the 1976 and 1998 Acts, but it was sufficient to keep a third extension away from the USA. Canada wasn't so lucky: Justin Trudeau let Trump bully him into taking 20 years' worth of works out of Canada's public domain in the revised NAFTA agreement, making swathes of works by living Canadian authors illegal at the stroke of a pen, in a gift to the distant descendants of long-dead foreign authors.

Now, with Mickey's liberation bare days away, there's a mounting sense of excitement and unease. Will Mickey actually be free? The answer is a resounding YES! (albeit with a few caveats). In a prelude to this year's public domain roundup, Jennifer Jenkins has published a full and delightful guide to The Mouse and IP from Jan 1 on:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

Disney loves the public domain. Its best-loved works, from The Sorcerer's Apprentice to Sleeping Beauty, Pinnocchio to The Little Mermaid, are gorgeous, thoughtful, and lively reworkings of material from the public domain. Disney loves the public domain – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's other flexibilities, too, like fair use. Walt told the papers that he took his inspiration for Steamboat Willie from Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, making fair use of their performances to imbue Mickey with his mischief and derring do. Disney loves fair use – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's limitations. Steamboat Willie was inspired by Buster Keaton's silent film Steamboat Bill (titles aren't copyrightable). Disney loves copyright's limitations – we just wish it would share.

As Jenkins writes, Disney's relationship to copyright is wildly contradictory. It's the poster child for the public domain's power as a source of inspiration for worthy (and profitable) new works. It's also the chief villain in the impoverishment and near-extinction of the public domain. Truly, every pirate wants to be an admiral.

Disney's reliance on – and sabotage of – the public domain is ironic. Jenkins compares it to "an oil company relying on solar power to run its rigs." Come January 1, Disney will have to share.

Now, if you've heard anything about this, you've probably been told that Mickey isn't really entering the public domain. Between trademark claims and later copyrightable elements of Mickey's design, Mickey's status will be too complex to understand. That's totally wrong.

Jenkins illustrates the relationship between these three elements in (what else) a Mickey-shaped Venn diagram. Topline: you can use all the elements of Mickey that are present in Steamboat Willie, along with some elements that were added later, provided that you make it clear that your work isn't affiliated with Disney.

Let's unpack that. The copyrightable status of a character used to be vague and complex, but several high-profile cases have brought clarity to the question. The big one is Les Klinger's case against the Arthur Conan Doyle estate over Sherlock Holmes. That case established that when a character appears in both public domain and copyrighted works, the character is in the public domain, and you are "free to copy story elements from the public domain works":

https://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/klinger-order-on-motion-for-summary-judgment-c.pdf

This case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, who declined to hear it. It's settled law.

So, which parts of Mickey aren't going into the public domain? Elements that came later: white gloves, color. But that doesn't mean you can't add different gloves, or different colorways. The idea of a eyes with pupils is not copyrightable – only the specific eyes that Disney added.

Other later elements that don't qualify for copyright: a squeaky mouse voice, being adorable, doing jaunty dances, etc. These are all generic characteristics of cartoon mice, and they're free for you to use. Jenkins is more cautious on whether you can give your Mickey red shorts. She judges that "a single, bright, primary color for an article of clothing does not meet the copyrightability threshold" but without settled law, you might wanna change the colors.

But what about trademark? For years, Disney has included a clip from Steamboat Willie at the start of each of its films. Many observers characterized this as a bid to create a de facto perpetual copyright, by making Steamboat Willie inescapably associated with products from Disney, weaving an impassable web of trademark tripwires around it.

But trademark doesn't prevent you from using Steamboat Willie. It only prevents you from misleading consumers "into thinking your work is produced or sponsored by Disney." Trademarks don't expire so long as they're in use, but uses that don't create confusion are fair game under trademark.

Copyrights and trademarks can overlap. Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted character, but he's also an indicator that a product or service is associated with Disney. While Mickey's copyright expires in a couple weeks, his trademark doesn't. What happens to an out-of-copyright work that is still a trademark?

Luckily for us, this is also a thoroughly settled case. As in, this question was resolved in a unanimous 2000 Supreme Court ruling, Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox. A live trademark does not extend an expired copyright. As the Supremes said:

[This would] create a species of mutant copyright law that limits the public’s federal right to copy and to use expired copyrights.

This elaborates on the Ninth Circuit's 1996 Maljack Prods v Goodtimes Home Video Corp:

[Trademark][ cannot be used to circumvent copyright law. If material covered by copyright law has passed into the public domain, it cannot then be protected by the Lanham Act without rendering the Copyright Act a nullity.

Despite what you might have heard, there is no ambiguity here. Copyrights can't be extended through trademark. Period. Unanimous Supreme Court Decision. Boom. End of story. Done.

But even so, there are trademark considerations in how you use Steamboat Willie after Jan 1, but these considerations are about protecting the public, not Disney shareholders. Your uses can't be misleading. People who buy or view your Steamboat Willie media or products have to be totally clear that your work comes from you, not Disney.

Avoiding confusion will be very hard for some uses, like plush toys, or short idents at the beginning of feature films. For most uses, though, a prominent disclaimer will suffice. The copyright page for my 2003 debut novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom contains this disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction, set in an imagined future. All the characters and events portrayed in this book, including the imagined future of the Magic Kingdom, are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. The Walt Disney Company has not authorized or endorsed this novel.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250196385/downandoutinthemagickingdom

Here's the Ninth Circuit again:

When a public domain work is copied, along with its title, there is little likelihood of confusion when even the most minimal steps are taken to distinguish the publisher of the original from that of the copy. The public is receiving just what it believes it is receiving—the work with which the title has become associated. The public is not only unharmed, it is unconfused.

Trademark has many exceptions. The First Amendment protects your right to use trademarks in expressive ways, for example, to recreate famous paintings with Barbie dolls:

https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/mattel-walkingmountain-9thcir2003.pdf

And then there's "nominative use": it's not a trademark violation to use a trademark to accurately describe a trademarked thing. "We fix iPhones" is not a trademark violation. Neither is 'Works with HP printers.' This goes double for "expressive" uses of trademarks in new works of art:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Grimaldi

What about "dilution"? Trademark protects a small number of superbrands from uses that "impair the distinctiveness or harm the reputation of the famous mark, even when there is no consumer confusion." Jenkins says that the Mickey silhouette and the current Mickey character designs might be entitled to protection from dilution, but Steamboat Willie doesn't make the cut.

Jenkins closes with a celebration of the public domain's ability to inspire new works, like Disney's Three Musketeers, Disney's Christmas Carol, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days, Disney's Alice in Wonderland, Disney's Snow White, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Disney's Cinderella, Disney's Little Mermaid, Disney's Pinocchio, Disney's Huck Finn, Disney's Robin Hood, and Disney's Aladdin. These are some of the best-loved films of the past century, and made Disney a leading example of what talented, creative people can do with the public domain.

As of January 1, Disney will start to be an example of what talented, creative people give back to the public domain, joining Dickens, Dumas, Carroll, Verne, de Villeneuve, the Brothers Grimm, Twain, Hugo, Perrault and Collodi.

Public domain day is 17 days away. Creators of all kinds: start your engines!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/15/mouse-liberation-front/#free-mickey

Image: Doo Lee (modified) https://web.law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/images/centers/cspd/pdd2024/mickey/Steamboat-WIllie-Enters-Public-Domain.jpeg

CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #copyfight #scotus #mickey mouse #public domain #ip #contract #trademark #tm #jennifer jenkins #copyright #disney #nominative use

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colinodonoghue · 1 day

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222aghoststory & colinodonoghue1: 🚨 MEET YOUR DUBLIN CAST 🚨 @shonabmx @birdspotting @colinodonoghue1 @thewhitmore will be taking #222AGhostStory to Dublin’s @3olympiatheatre this Summer, 21 June - 11 Aug. For a strictly limited run 🚨Do you dare to join us? Book your tickets now! Link in bio 👻📸 @seamusphoto

Colinodonoghue1: Woohoo!! So excited to be a part of this show!!

[Get your tickets here!!!]

Runaway Entertainment in association with 3Olympia Theatre presents

2:22 - A GHOST STORY

Shona McGarty, Jay McGuiness, Colin O’Donoghue, Laura Whitmore, Announced for The Very Special, Standalone Irish Production

The smash hit play by Danny Robins Makes Irish Debut At 3Olympia Theatre This Summer For a Strictly Limited Run

Directed by Matthew Dunster & Isabel Marr

“A slick, chilling, romp of a play” The Guardian

‘A modern classic’ Sunday Times

Producer Runaway Entertainment is delighted to announce the stellar cast for the critically acclaimed, smash hit, supernatural thriller 2:22 - A Ghost Story opening at Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre this summer for its debut Irish performances.

Shona McGarty (Eastenders) will play Jenny, Jay McGuiness (The Wanted, BIG! The Musical, Rip It Up), who is currently on the UK tour in 2:22 - A Ghost Story, will play Ben, Colin O'Donoghue (Once Upon A Time, The Tudors, The Right Stuff, The Gray House) will play Sam with Laura Whitmore (Love Island, Finding Joy, Queenie, and Jenny in 2.22: A Ghost Story in her West End debut) stepping into the role of Lauren.

The very special, standalone Irish production, produced for Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre, will open on Thursday 20th June 2024 with performances until Sunday 11th August 2024 - for a strictly limited run only.

Full list of performances below. Age Suitability: 12+

Tickets priced from €26.50 including booking fee and €1.50 restoration levy on sale now with Ticketmaster Ireland

2:22 - A Ghost Story began in summer 2021 at the Noël Coward Theatre, starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood, and where it won the WhatsOnStage award for Best Play. It then transferred to the Gielgud Theatre for 10 weeks from 4 December 2021. The production there starring Stephanie Beatriz, James Buckley, Elliot Cowan and Giovanna Fletcher completed its run on 12 February 2022. For the first season at the Criterion (May - September 2022) the cast was Tom Felton, Mandip GIll, Sam Swainsbury and Beatriz Romilly. In late September Laura Whitmore, Matt Willis, Felix Scott and Tamsin Carroll took over.

The box office record-breaking run at the Lyric starring Cheryl, Jake Wood, Scott Karim, and Louise Ford, concluded its run on 23 April. The West End season at the Apollo Theatre starred Sophia Bush, Frankie Bridge, Ricky Champ, Clifford Samuel and Jaime Winstone, and set off on its UK tour in Autumn 2023 with Joe Absolom, Charlene Boyd, Nathaniel Curtis and Louisa Lytton in the cast. Current cast on the UK tour: Vera Chok (Lauren); Jay McGuiness (Ben); George Rainsford (Sam); Fiona Wade (Jenny).

2:22 is written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, and is directed by Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr; it’s an adrenaline-filled night where secrets emerge and ghosts may or may not appear…

Danny Robins said: ‘I'm really looking forward to seeing how Dublin audiences respond to 2:22 this summer. The tour continues to be a great success and I can't think of a better place to round off the journey in 2024 than here with a brand new cast to be announced soon!'

What do you believe? And do you dare discover the truth?

“THERE’S SOMETHING IN OUR HOUSE. I HEAR IT EVERY NIGHT, AT THE SAME TIME"

Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they’re going to stay up... until 2:22... and then they’ll know.

2:22 - A Ghost Story features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound and illusions by Chris Fisher. Casting by Matilda James.

2:22 - A Ghost Story is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon. [source]

#colin o'donoghue #twitter #instagram #theatre #shona mcgarty #laura whitmore #jay mcguiness #3OLYMPIA THEATRE #Sam #2:22 a ghost story #danny robins #isabel marr #matthew dunster

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scotianostra · 2 months

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On 29th February 1904 the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, opened.

Designed by Bertie Crewe for Thomas Barrasford, the Pavilion Theatre opened at the corner of Renfield Street and Renfrew Street, Glasgow on the 29 February, 1904. It was regarded as luxurious for its time with its decor being described by the owners as “pure Louis XV”. An electrically operated sliding roof ensured good ventilation.

Performances in the early days were mainly variety, melodrama and pantomime. Many of the leading music hall artistes of the period appeared at the Pavilion, including Marie Lloyd, Little Tich, Harry Lauder, Florrie Forde, Will Fyffe, Sarah Bernhardt and a then unknown Charlie Chaplin.

Since the 1930s, the Pavilion began to host pantomimes with top name stars of the Scottish variety scene, such as Harry Gordon and Dave Willis. In more recent times it has produced plays, such as ‘The Sash’ and ‘The Steamie’.

The Pavilion Theatre is now the only privately run theatre in Scotland and one of a few unsubsidised independent theatres left in Britain.

“Defying all the odds, Glasgow’s Pavilion regularly purveys variety to this day. All the more remarkable as it is completely unsubsidised and receives no funding from the Scottish Arts Council and kindred bodies whose thoughts and cash are directed at higher cultural activities. It remains the last stronghold of a long music hall tradition in Europe’s City of Culture owing everything to a dedicated staff and patrons and nothing to the public purse.

With its imposing terra cotta facade, the Pavilion Theatre of Varieties was designed by Bertie Crewe in the grand manner for Thomas Barrasford. The domed ceiling was surmounted by an electrically controlled sliding roof for ventilation. Fine Rococo plasterwork on the circle, balcony and box fronts; decoration executed in pure Louis XV; handsome mahogany woodwork and the marble mosaic floor all lent the 1800 seat theatre an aura of splendour.

No less amusing than the dentist advertising in the Pavilion programme “painless extractions with nitrous oxide for 4/- (20p) or cocaine for 1/- (5p)”, were the press observations on the “fashionable company” which attended the Pavilion’s first house on 29th February,1904. We learn that “among the elite there was quite a preponderance of ladies and gentlemen of quality in evening dress”. Alas, class consciousness and respectability were all in Edwardian Britain!

The ‘forties and ‘fifties saw pantomime runs of sixteen weeks, the happy and hilarious summer seasons were emulated during the 1960s and early 1970s by Lex McLean. Another regular crowd puller to Renfield Street was Jack Milroy.

Lulu from Dennistoun (real name Marie Lawrie) broke box office records in 1975, Billy Connolly, Hector Nicol Andy Cameron portrayed their own distinctive brands of humour while Scottish songstresses Lena Zavaroni, , Sheena Easton, Lena Martell and Barbara Dickson also scored heavily with Pavilion audiences.

It was anything but plain sailing for the Pavilion and there was gloomy speculation of closure after incurring heavy financial losses in 1981. Spared the fate which befell the Queens, Metropole, Empire, Alhambra and Empress Theatres, the 80 years old Pavilion was rescued by James Glasgow and transformed into a modest profit maker. Smash-hit shows with Sydney Devine; spells from hypnotist Robert Halpern; pantomime with Denny Willis, and one night gigs from the foremost modern television entertainers have kept the cash tills registering.

The Pavilion also played a major role in the annual Mayfest – Glasgow’s International Festival of popular theatre, music, the arts and community programmes.

Little altered and virtually unspoilt since its inception, the seating capacity of 1449 is made up of 677 stalls, 341 circle, 413 balcony and 18 box seats. While the stiff shirts in chauffeur-driven cabs have given way to coach parties from the rural areas of Strathclyde and beyond, a policy of providing the best in live entertainment has been pursued consistently. The portents look good for the vibrant Pavilion Theatre of Varieties.”

The Pavillion is, in my view a survivor, even over the past few years tragedy has struck the area with a series of fires.

#scotland #scottish #history #glasgow #THEATRE

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bread--quest · 16 days

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sunny being a spooky little guy in their first ever interaction :eyes:

actually y'know what this is basically at a ending point anyway and i've just been looking for an excuse to post it so. surprise sunny treat!

By Season 22, Day 70, Liquid Friend has more or less gotten reacquainted with the Vault. It and Plasma have dusted off their office and gotten it back in working conditions, said hello to their old friends, and reintroduced themselves to the people who have come here since they left. The Vault's gotten bigger since it was last here, but Liquid still knows its hallways like an old friend, and it knows all the people in here by name at least, if not more.

Which is why it's taken completely by surprise when it rounds a corner to see someone it's absolutely never seen before standing there, happily dusting a wall.

Liquid runs through all the people it knows of in its head. Obviously this is not Uncle Plasma. They are also obviously not Clare (although they do have little wings and a glowing, flickering halo), Parker, New Megan, or Fletcher. They could be Cote, maybe, since Liquid's never actually seen Cote, but that would raise a lot of other questions. Definitely not Nagomi. Not York. Not Chorby, Aldon, Goodwin, Pitching Machine, or Valentine. Not James Mora either.

Well, what the heck.

"Hey there, uh..." Liquid takes a slight step forward. The person(?) turns to face them with wide golden eyes. "I'm Liquid Friend. It's nice to meet you! Are you...lost?"

"Are you lost?" Liquid Friend's own voice says, and Liquid jumps, startled, and thinks for a second it was an echo, but one of the many strange things about the Vault is that it doesn't usually echo, and anyway that was far too pitch-perfect and crisp to have been a quirk of architecture, which means...

"Did you say that?" Liquid says, and this time it keeps an eye on the person so it can tell for sure— when their mouth moves, what comes out is Liquid saying "Say that?" A perfect echo.

Okay. That's a little creepy.

The person moves forward, towards Liquid. They're keeping one hand on the wall, Liquid notes— maybe for comfort? To keep from getting lost? For steadiness? They move like someone who's not quite used to having a body. Their hand leaves a bright gold streak behind it as they drag it along the walls— do they have wall polish on their hand, or something? (...Is wall polish a thing?)

The person stumbles a bit closer and then stops. They don't seem threatening, exactly, but Liquid's getting the willies for sure. It might be time to call in backup.

Liquid turns around and calls "PLASMA? THERE'S SOME KIND OF...HAUNTED BABY OVER HERE!"

Haunted Baby makes a startled yelping sound and Liquid looks back to see them stumble backwards a few steps, plastering themself against the wall, eyes wide.

"Oh no! Did I scare you? Was I too loud?" Liquid says, bubbling in distress.

"Too loud," echoes Haunted Baby, looking very betrayed.

"Aw, I'm sorry," Liquid says, kneeling slightly to be more on their level. It notes a couple interesting things about their appearance—same golden tint to their skin as the Replicas, the little halo and wings that look like a mimicry of a Legend, hair orange-brown but golden-tipped in a way it doubts is hair dye—but mostly focuses on the fact that they look, more than anything, like a frightened little kid. "I'll be more quiet now, promise. I didn't mean to scare you. It's okay. Do you need help? Are you– do you know where you are?"

Haunted Baby visibly brightens– as in, they look happier, but also as in their halo and wings glow slightly and, unless Liquid's mistaken, their eyes get brighter as well.

"The Vault," they say, in a voice that isn't Liquid's but seems like it shouldn't be theirs either, far too big for that tiny body and with an echo of its own, like the hallway itself is trying to amplify it, and it's Liquid's turn to rock backwards slightly, very startled and the tiniest bit afraid.

"Liquid?" Plasma's voice says, and Liquid finds to its great relief that the voice is coming from Plasma's mouth this time (inasmuch as Plasma has a mouth, anyway.)

"Plasma!" it says, scrambling back to its feet. "I'm so glad you're here." If it was possible for anyone to pinch Liquid, it might ask Plasma to pinch it to make sure it's not dreaming.

Plasma nods towards the tiny figure standing across from them, looking blissfully unaware of the mega-spooky thing they just did. "Is this the...Haunted Baby?"

"Haunted Baby!" chirps Haunted Baby, in Plasma's voice.

Plasma's expression doesn't appear to change much, but Liquid's known them long enough to know they're startled. "Ah."

#chattin #sonder scribbles #radio my friends radio #fan: gnym!!#oc: sunny mason #blb: wyatt mason xix #blb: uncle plasma #blb: liquid friend

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thelighthousestale · 4 months

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More Pettigrew Thoughts

He was the youngest of the Mauraders

Like I said in the first part, one of Peter’s vulnerabilities to radicalization is his desire for a position of influence inside a group dynamic. He wants to feel valued and wants people he think are cool or important to rely on him

Peter’s betrayal of James and framing of Sirius was pre-mediated and planned out

This leads me to think that Remus and Sirius starting to distrust each other was a recent development and was part of Peter’s manipulation to control the group dynamic so he could sell out the Potters.

It all happened so fast that Remus and Sirius didn’t have time to understand or question Peter’s whisper campaign fully. They all knew someone close to them had turned on the order and I don’t think anyone was sleeping well, or in their right mind and Peter used that to his advantage

Peter subtly planted the switch secret keeper plan in Sirius's head to make him think it was his idea.

Peter did not plan on staying a rat for 12 years because the Killing Curse backfired and Voldermort becoming a shade was not part of the Plan. After Voldy disappeared Peter needed to lie low and staying with a family as a pet meant food and a warm bed.

Peter’s backup plan was to change his appearance and move abroad permanently but he could never master the transfiguration spells. (shame he got his best friend who was a transfiguration prodigy murdered)

But Peter gathered lots of good intel by staying with the Weasleys (especially what happened to former death eaters. Peter brought Voldy all the hot gossip)

When he realized he was going to share a dorm with Harry he freaked out but when he figured that Voldemort was still out there and actively trying to come back to power he stayed in place.

Peter thought Voldemort would reward him with all the intimate knowledge he gathered on Harry

And the sad luck of Peter is after he spent more than a decade as a rat, betrayed his best friends, gathered information on former death eaters, harry potter and wizarding politics, went willying back to Voldemort and spent a year resurrecting him, playing servant to Snape and the Malfoys, all he got was a stupid silver arm that ended up killing him

#harry potter #harry potter headcanon #peter pettigrew #moony wormtail padfoot and prongs #wormtail #mwpp #the #the mauraders

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takearisk-xo · 10 months

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I’d love a little one shot showing little James being doted on by his sisters, maybe they put ribbons in his hair, that sort of thing. 😉

"No, wait!" Ruby cried, reaching for the basket. "We should do the yellow ones too!"

"Oh, definitely!" Lily agreed, sliding a second green bow into place.

Ruby dug through the mess of ribbons and hair clips to find anything yellow to go along with the small pile of green accessories. James watched her with a little furrow between his brows.

"Dat's too many," he frowned and crossed his arms in a classic James pout.

Lily combed a section of James' hair to the side and replied matter-of-factly, "Do you want to play or not?"

James hesitated, then finally grumbled a soft, "Yes."

Lily returned to her task while Ruby hummed quietly to herself as she sorted hair bows. For a three year old, James had quite a lot of hair. It was dark, like Lily's, and grew every which way, also like Lily's, but where Lily had let it grow and grow until it was long enough to plait away from her face, James' hair was short and stuck up all over the place.

Which made the perfect canvas for her and Ruby's collection of clips, ribbons, and bows.

"Does this count as yellow?" Ruby asked, holding up a gold sequin scrunchie.

"Ooh! Yes!" Lily snatched it from Ruby's hands and started working the crown of James' head into a pony tail.

"Ow!" James complained, trying to duck out of Lily's reach.

"Hold still!" Lily ordered, holding onto his hair tighter.

"Willy, stop!"

"Don't be such a baby!"

"It hurts!"

"What's going on in here?" Mum appeared in the doorway to Lily and Ruby's bedroom. She took in the three of them on the floor, then clapped a hand over her mouth to cover her snort of laughter. "What have you done to your brother!?"

Lily and Ruby sat in guilty silence as James piped up, "They said I couldn't play Harpies with them unless I was a girl!"

Mum bit her lower lip and Lily knew she was trying not to smile.

"Couldn't he just pretend to be a girl?" Mum asked, her gaze sliding between Ruby and Lily. "Did you have to dress him up?"

Ruby put on her best smile. "But look how cute he is as a girl!"

James scowled.

"Ruby," Mum chided, then she gave Lily a quelling look like she knew whose idea it had really been. "If your brother asks, and he's doing it properly, you need to let him play with you. You don't make up rules to torment him."

"Okay," Lily and Ruby grumbled apologetically.

"Okay," Mum nodded like the matter was put to bed. "James do you want to wear ribbons in your hair?"

James looked up at Mum with wide eyes. "No."

"Then you don't have to," Mum explained, then her eyes sparked. "But can you keep them in for just a little while longer so I can get the camera?"

#this was so fun lolololol i love these kids #tpfy next gen #the path from you #pottermum #answered

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georgefairbrother · 8 months

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This is the third in our occasional series featuring luminaries of stage and screen with a strong personal or professional connection with Northeast England, inspired by @robbielewis. Previous profiles were of John Nightingale and Edward Wilson. This time, Jean Heywood.

She was born Jean Murray, in Blyth, Northumberland, to a coalmining family, in 1921. She worked initially as a librarian, married mechanical engineer Roland Heywood in 1945 (they remained married until his death in 1996), and became involved in amateur theatre, finally turning professional only after her children had grown up.

Following work in repertory theatre, she made her television debut in 1968, but her breakout role was as family matriarch Bella Seaton in 39 episodes of the Tyneside Depression-era drama, When the Boat Comes In (1976-77).

In 1978, she had a leading role in the acclaimed BBC Play for Today, Our Day Out, written by Willy Russell and directed by Pedr James, in which she played a dedicated teacher at a tough, inner city Liverpool Comprehensive school, determined that her struggling students, resigned to the fate of becoming 'factory fodder' according to The Guardian, should at least have a nice time on a coach excursion to Wales. Our Day Out became one of the BBC’s most successful European exports, leading to a memorable headline in The Liverpool Echo.

In a 2015 interview with television historian and author, Oliver Crocker, Jean Heywood talked about the similarities between Bella Seaton and Mrs Alton, her character in the final season of the original All Creatures Great and Small (1990);

"...It’s sort of the character of the women in my early life… I never had any money when I was young and had to make do and mend and manage…So I didn’t have to search how to play that kind of character. People loved my character in (When the Boat Comes In), a working class, good woman, quiet but very strong and I think Mrs Alton was a similar character…"

"…Rehearsing is like playing a ball game, you throw a ball off the idea of your character that you’ve formed in your head, you keep throwing it in the air and nobody has received it back, until you go into the rehearsal studio where you throw the idea from inside your head to the other person, it comes back differently from how you’d imagined, so the character develops and works much more excitingly than what you had in your head..."

With James Bolam as Jack Ford, in When the Boat Comes In

Her television career spanned over 40 years and included appearances in War and Peace, Emmerdale Farm, Coronation Street, Family Affairs, Kavanagh QC, Boys from the Blackstuff, The Bill, Our Friends in the North, Heartbeat, Casualty and on the big screen in Billy Elliot.

Her final screen credit was in 2010, and she passed away in 2019, aged 98.

Sources include The Guardian, IMDb, and All Memories Great and Small by Oliver Crocker (Published by Devonfire Books)

#social history #working class history #northeast england #british culture #british actors #british television #bbc drama #jean heywood #when the boat comes in #play for today

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strangeandspookyworld · 2 years

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Strange & Spooky Tour Season is Upon Us

The dates have been set, the audio and video have been uploaded, and the car’s been packed. It’s time. Time for the biggest and longest Strange & Spooky Tour to begin! And this year, I’m not stopping on October 31st–I’m running straight on through the middle of December! Honestly, I can’t remember at the last time I crammed as many presentations into one season. We’ve expanded out from just…

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#author appearance #James A. Willis #james a. willis author #james willis appearances #Ohio ghost stories #Southern Ohio Legends & Lore #Weird Ohio author #weird willis

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maslows-pyramid-scheme · 4 months

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After weeks of speculation and anticipation, many of the names of former associates, employees, friends and victims of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released. ... Many of those whose names appear in the documents released Wednesday aren't accused of wrongdoing or have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts. The documents released Wednesday are not an Epstein "client list." ... Nearly 90 names were included in the documents, with four redacted: 1. Ghislaine Maxwell 2. Virginia Lee Roberts Giuffre 3. Kathy Alexander 4. Miles Alexander 5. James Michael Austrich 6. Philip Barden 7. REDACTED 8. Cate Blanchett 9. David Boies 10. Laura Boothe 11. Evelyn Boulet 12. Rebecca Boylan 13. Joshua Bunner 14. Naomi Campbell 15. Carolyn Casey 16. Paul Cassell 17. Sharon Churcher 18. Bill Clinton 19. David Copperfield 20. Alexandra Cousteau 21. Cameron Diaz 22. Leonardo DiCaprio 23. Alan Dershowitz 24. Dr. Mona Devanesan 25. REDACTED 26. Bradley Edwards 27. Amanda Ellison 28. Cimberly Espinosa 29. Jeffrey Epstein 30. Annie Farmer 31. Marie Farmer 32. Alexandra Fekkai 33. Crystal Figueroa 34. Anthony Figueroa 35. Louis Freeh 36. Eric Gany 37. Meg Garvin 38. Sheridan Gibson-Butte 39. Robert Giuffre 40. Al Gore 41. Ross Gow 42. Fred Graff 43. Philip Guderyon 44. REDACTED 45. Shannon Harrison 46. Stephen Hawking 47. Victoria Hazel 48. Brittany Henderson 49. Brett Jaffe 50. Michael Jackson 51. Carol Roberts Kess 52. Dr. Karen Kutikoff 53. Peter Listerman 54. George Lucas 55. Tony Lyons 56. Bob Meister 57. Jamie A. Melanson 58. Lynn Miller 59. Marvin Minsky 60. REDACTED 61. David Mullen 62. Joe Pagano 63. Mary Paluga 64. J. Stanley Pottinger 65. Joseph Recarey 66. Michael Reiter 67. Jason Richards 68. Bill Richardson 69. Sky Roberts 70. Scott Rothstein 71. Forest Sawyer 72. Doug Schoetlle 73. Kevin Spacey 74. Cecilia Stein 75. Mark Tafoya 76. Brent Tindall 77. Kevin Thompson 78. Donald Trump 79. Ed Tuttle 80. Emma Vaghan 81. Kimberly Vaughan-Edwards 82. Cresenda Valdes 83. Anthony Valladares 84. Maritza Vazquez 85. Vicky Ward 86. Jarred Weisfeld 87. Courtney Wild 88. Bruce Willis 89. Daniel Wilson 90. Andrew Albert Christian Edwards, Duke of York

#i bolded some of the names i recognised - i wonder what the nature of their association with him was?#radblr

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julez-fiction · 1 year

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Top 10 Movies You Probably Haven't Seen about Time Travel and Parallel Universes

If you are a fan of time travel movies, this list is for you. This list includes some gems you probably haven't seen but are totally worth a watch. Included on the list are movies with themes about time loops, alternate realities, parallel universes and time travel itself. So go on, get lost in time with this amazing list. Sorry, couldn't help it 🤣

1. Coherence, 2013

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Sci-fi/ Thriller

IMDb: 7.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Director: James Ward Byrkit

Starring: Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicolas Brendon, Elizabeth Gracen, Lorene Scafaria, Hugo Armstrong

Synopsis:

Eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of events due to the malevolent influence of a passing comet.

Google Synopsis:

2. Parallel, 2018

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Sci-Fi/ Drama

IMDb: 5.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: -

Director: Isaac Ezban

Starring: Aml Ameen, Martin Wallström, Georgia King, Mark O'Brien and Alyssa Diaz

Synopsis:

A group of friends stumble upon a mirror that serves as a portal to a "multiverse", but soon discover that importing knowledge from the other side in order to better their lives brings increasingly dangerous consequences.

3. Triangle, 2009

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Horror / Thriller

IMDb: 6.9 / 10

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Director: Christopher Smith

Starring: Melissa George, Michael Dorman,Liam Hemsworth, Henry Nixon, Rachel Carpani

Synopsis:

Five friends set sail and their yacht is overturned by a strange and sudden storm. A mysterious ship arrives to rescue them, and what happens next cannot be explained.

4. The Endless, 2017

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Horror / Thriller

IMDb: 6.5 / 10

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Director: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Starring: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Callie Hernandez,Tate Ellington, Lew Temple, James Jordan

Synopsis:

Two brothers receive a cryptic video message inspiring them to revisit the UFO death cult they escaped a decade earlier. Hoping to find the closure that they couldn't find as young men, they're forced to reconsider the cult's beliefs when confronted with unexplainable phenomena surrounding the camp. As the members prepare for the coming of a mysterious event, the brothers race to unravel the seemingly impossible truth before their lives become permanently entangled with the cult.

5. The Mandela Effect, 2018

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Sci-Fi / Drama

IMDb: 5.8 /10

Rotten Tomatoes: 20%

Director: David Guy Levy

Starring: Charlie Hoffheimer, Aleksa Palladino, Robin Lord Taylor, Clarke Peters

Synopsis:

A man becomes obsessed with a phenomenon where facts and events have been collectively misremembered by thousands of people. Believing it to be the symptom of something larger, his search for answers brings him to the brink of insanity when a startling revelation forces him to make a difficult decision that, if he is right, could have consequences for the entire world.

6. Looper, 2012

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Sci-Fi / Action

IMDb: 7.4 / 10

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Director: Rian Johnson

Starring: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Sagan, Piper Perabo, Garret Dillahunt, Jeff Daniels

Synopsis:

In a future society, time-travel exists, but it's only available to those with the means to pay for it on the black market. When the mob wants to eliminate someone, it sends the target into the past, where a hit man known as a looper lies in wait to finish the job. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one such hired gun, and he does his job well -- until the day his bosses decide to "close the loop" and send Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) back in time to be killed.

7. Madelines, 2022

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Horror / Sci-Fi / Drama

IMDb: 3.9 / 10

Rotten Tomatoes: -

Director: Jason Richard Miller

Starring: Richard Riehle, Brea Grant, Perry Shen, Sydney Steinberg

Synopsis:

While working in their garage, Madeline and Owen discover the secret to time travel. However, a mistake in their code causes a copy of Madeline to appear every day, and the pair must kill her to prevent the universe from destroying itself.

8. The Alternate, 2021

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Sci-Fi / Thriller

IMDb: 5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 75%

Director:Alrik Bursell

Starring: Ed Gonzalez Moreno, Natalia Dominguez, Syra McCarthy

Synopsis:

A man discovers a portal to another dimension in which he has everything he has always wanted.

9. Synchronic, 2019

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Sci-Fi / Thriller

IMDb: 6.2 / 10

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Starring: Jamie Dornan, Anthony Mackie

Synopsis:

When New Orleans paramedics and longtime best friends Steve and Dennis are called to a series of bizarre and gruesome accidents, they chalk it up to a mysterious new drug found at the scene. But after Dennis' oldest daughter disappears, Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality -- and the flow of time itself.

10. Synchronicity, 2015

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Sci-Fi / Thriller

IMDb: 5.4 / 10

Rotten Tomatoes: 47%

Director: Jacob Gentry

Starring: Chad McKnight, A.J. Bowen, Brianne Davis, Michael Ironside

Synopsis:

A physicist (Chad McKnight) travels back and forth in time to prevent a seductive woman (Brianne Davis) and a ruthless tycoon (Michael Ironside) from stealing his invention.

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blogthebooklover · 21 days

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Movie Recs In Honor of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

I decided to write out a list of movies to watch in honor of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes coming out very soon. This list will feature movies with apes besides the POTA movies, or movies with weird and bizarre friendships/found families.

The Original Planet of the Apes Franchise (1968-1973, Amazon Prime)

Honestly, I've only watched the 1968 movie a handful of times. I decided to watch all of the original franchise leading up to the release of Kingdom. They're all a lot of fun, with social/political commentaries at the time of each film. If you're a movie collector, or like behind-the-scenes/director's commentaries, I highly recommend buying the Blu Ray compilation pack.

2. Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes (2001, Disney+ or Amazon Prime)

I know, hear me out. Yes, it's over-hated, and yes, there was A LOT of potential for this movie. There were definitely too many "cooks in the kitchen" when drafting this movie. Imho, I think it's a guilty pleasure, popcorn movie. If you're a fan of makeup effects, Rick Baker (THE modern makeup effects master) does an absolutely phenomenal job with the designs of the apes in this movie (and check out his Instagram too). I do like the production and the ape costume designs for this film as well.

Tim Roth and Paul Giamatti are such a blast in this movie, too!

And the posters for this movie look so cool.

3. Planet of the Apes Reboot Trilogy (2011-2017, Amazon Prime)

I think this is what the 2001 movie should have been, and was trying to go for. While the three movies did make their money back at the box office, I have two theories why they almost went under everyone's radar (again, this is my opinion):

A. Because of the mixed reception from the 2001 movie.

B. Because of the abundance of comic book & remake movies coming out during the 2011-2017 years.

I put this trilogy right up with the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. The storytelling is great, the special effects hold up well, and this reboot's version of Caesar has became one of my favorite main characters in modern film.

4. Mighty Joe Young (1998 remake, Disney+)

I don't know why this movie doesn't get talked about that much. Rick Baker, once again, does incredible work on the special effects for Joe. There's also a great musical score by James Horner. And Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron give amazing acting performances. And I think it's actually one of the better remakes that came out from the late 1990s.

In fact, the team that worked on the 1933 King Kong also made the 1949 film. Even Robert Armstrong (Carl Denham) came back for the '49 film. Ray Harryhausen worked under the supervision of Willis O'Brien for the special effects for the original movie. He also has a cameo appearance alongside Terry Moore (Jill Young) in a party scene.

Aaaaand I just found out the writers, Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner, also did an uncredited rewrite for the 2001 POTA movie.

5. Tarzan (1999, Disney+)

Of course, who doesn't love Tarzan??? And Phil Collins's A.M.A.Z.I.N.G soundtrack???!!!

6. King Kong (1933, 2005, Amazon Prime/MAX)

Okay, technically it's a giant monster movie and the OG prior to Godzilla. And it also set the standard of film making overall. However, it is also a bit of a Beauty and the Beast story, hence the lines: "It was Beauty killed the Beast" and the "And the prophet said: And lo, the Beast looked upon the face of Beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day forward, he was as one dead." I also recommend watching the extended cut of the 2005 remake.

7. Lilo & Stitch (2002, Disney+)

Again, who doesn't love Lilo and Stitch???

8. How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy (2010-2019, Amazon Prime/Peacock App)

Once again, who doesn’t love HTTYD (and why are they remaking it as a live action movie????)???

9. Gorillas in the Mist (1988, Amazon Prime)

This movie is about Dian Fossey (played by Sigourney Weaver), a primatologist who studied mountain gorillas and she was part of a trio of women who studied great apes; the amazing Jane Goodall and her study of chimpanzees, and Birute Galdikas who studies orangutans. The movie is also based on her book of the same name.

I use past tense for Dian, because she met a tragic and horrific death while she was conducting her research on gorillas. I have in-lined a link to Dian Fossey's Wikipedia article for further reading.

Rick Baker, once again, does some amazing practical creature effects work for the gorillas.

10. George of the Jungle (1997, Disney+)

One of my favorite Brendan Fraser movies, and such a fun, and a bit of a campy movie based on the cartoon series (which is also a spoof of Tarzan). I quote this movie every so often. Unfortunately, Rick Baker did not do the ape designs for this movie. The creature effects this time around was done by none other than the Jim Henson Creature Workshop!

#movies #sci fi #planet of the apes #movie recs #tarzan #mighty joe young #king kong #planet of the apes 2001 #tim burton #the iron giant #how to train your dragon #lilo and stitch #gorillas in the mist #george of the jungle #movie recommendations #science fiction

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