What defines a hero? Are all heroes heroic? | Notes and Queries
Posted on June 16, 2024
| 1 minutes
| 198 words
| Merlyn Hunt
NOOKS AND CRANNIESWhat defines a hero? Are all heroes heroic? Denis Till, London, UK
A hero is someone who gives of himself, often putting his own life at great risk, for the greater good of others. However, such as in war situations, what is good for others will always divide opinion into opposing camps. Outside of the standard dashing war portraits of men/women facing the gates of Hell, the most heroic are often the most ordinary of people doing ordinary things for a greater humane purpose.
[Read More]Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles?
Posted on June 15, 2024
| 5 minutes
| 952 words
| Christie Applegate
EV mythbustersAutomotive industryThe first in a series exploring the myths and realities surrounding EVs
When a fire ripped through a car park at Luton airport last month it set off a round of speculation that an electric vehicle was to blame. The theory was quickly doused by the Bedfordshire fire service, which said the blaze appeared to have started in a diesel car.
Yet the rumour refused to be quelled, spreading on social media like, well, wildfire.
[Read More]Jack Draper stuns Karen Khachanov to continue promising Australian Open buildup | Tennis
Posted on June 15, 2024
| 3 minutes
| 636 words
| Delta Gatti
Tennis This article is more than 1 year oldJack Draper stuns Karen Khachanov to continue promising Australian Open buildupThis article is more than 1 year oldBriton’s 6-4, 7-6 (3) win sets up second career ATP semi-finalMikael Ymer or lucky loser Kwon Soon-woo up next in AdelaideOn the eve of the Australian Open, one of the best weeks of Jack Draper’s young career continued with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Karen Khachanov to reach the semi-finals of the Adelaide ATP 250 event.
[Read More]Pine Gap review lots of yakkety yak and occasional scenes of bonking
Posted on June 15, 2024
| 4 minutes
| 822 words
| Delta Gatti
Apparently even spy bases can be extremely boring. Photograph: ABC TVApparently even spy bases can be extremely boring. Photograph: ABC TVTelevisionReviewFirst ABC TV/Netflix co-production is less a spy drama than an attempt to cure insomnia
It certainly sounds like an exciting concept: the first ABC TV/Netflix co-production, set in Australia’s ultra-secretive spy facility. And then the show starts. As Guardian Australia reported earlier this week, a real-life former employee of the titular station, David Rosenberg (who worked at Pine Gap for 18 years) was present on set as a consultant, keeping mum about classified matters but advising the director Mat King on issues such as decor and dialogue.
[Read More]Thomas Quasthoff: From birth, my mum felt guilty. I had to show her I made the best of my life
Posted on June 15, 2024
| 8 minutes
| 1587 words
| Delta Gatti
Classical musicInterviewThomas Quasthoff: ‘From birth, my mum felt guilty. I had to show her I made the best of my life’Stephen MossBorn disabled due to the effects of Thalidomide, the exuberant star rose to classical music’s pinnacle – then quit at the peak of his powers. Now he’s back – singing jazz
Thomas Quasthoff has been retired from classical music for nearly a decade now. The German bass-baritone was in his early 50s when he made the shock announcement – an age when singers of his type are still in their prime.
[Read More]Top 10 Chinese myths | Children's books
Posted on June 15, 2024
| 5 minutes
| 1025 words
| Merlyn Hunt
Children's booksChildren's booksTop 10 Chinese mythsTo celebrate the Chinese new year, Moon Princess author Barbara Laban, shares her favourite mythological stories from China, from Sun Wukong the monkey king to how the Chinese zodiac began
I often wonder how the East and the West came to view mythological creatures so differently. Are dragons lucky or scary? Are rabbits wise or timid? I gave such questions a lot of thought when I created invisible animal companions for the characters in my book Moon Princess.
[Read More]Alex Garlands cult novel The Beach, 20 years on
Posted on June 14, 2024
| 9 minutes
| 1775 words
| Christie Applegate
Leonardo DiCaprio as Richard in The Beach (2000). Photograph: PALeonardo DiCaprio as Richard in The Beach (2000). Photograph: PARereadingFictionThe author’s 1996 debut, about a group of young backpackers who discover an ‘idyllic’ island off Bangkok, captured the late-90s zeitgeist. But does it still thrill?
In my mid-20s, in the early 1990s, I moved to west London from Scotland. I remember meeting them, at parties in Notting Hill flats, in nightclubs, at raves.
[Read More]Drew Barrymore was Americas sweetheart but her baffling video was a terrible misstep | Arwa M
Posted on June 14, 2024
| 4 minutes
| 760 words
| Christie Applegate
OpinionDrew Barrymore This article is more than 4 months oldDrew Barrymore was America’s sweetheart – but her baffling video was a terrible misstepThis article is more than 4 months oldArwa MahdawiHer decision to continue her talkshow amid the writers’ strike received such a backlash that she reversed it. But the holes in her ‘apology’ had already been laid bare
Gal Gadot must be giddy with relief. For the past few years, the Wonder Woman actor has held the No 1 spot in the category of most cringeworthy and ill-advised celebrity home video ever made.
[Read More]How Women in Love's nude wrestling scene romped past the 1960s censors | Movies
Posted on June 14, 2024
| 3 minutes
| 617 words
| Christie Applegate
Movies This article is more than 12 years oldHow Women in Love's nude wrestling scene romped past the 1960s censorsThis article is more than 12 years oldSecret letters released by the British Board of Film Classification reveal how film-making shed its innocence over the past centuryThe controversial nude wrestling scene in the 1969 film Women in Love was passed for release only as the result of a secret pact between the then British Board of Film Censors and director Ken Russell, it has been revealed in archive correspondence released by the BBFC.
[Read More]I saw carved on a tree trunk an inscription dated 1920. It was very high up on the trunk. How do tre
Posted on June 14, 2024
| 3 minutes
| 469 words
| Merlyn Hunt
BIRDS AND THE BEESI saw carved on a tree trunk an inscription dated 1920. It was very high up on the trunk. How do trees grow - from the top, the bottom, or both? Flo, London Trees, like all plants, grow from groups of dividing cells called meristems. In trees these are usually at the tips of shoots, and at the tips of the roots. Meristems not at the tips produce branches.
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