A small country with an epic history for book lovers
It's also there on the walls as we make our way through the crowds to the rambunctious streets of Temple Bar on our first night in Dublin – in a mural with the headline 'Feed Your Head – READ'. There's Brendan Behan cheek-by-jowl with Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. A panel nearby reveals that Ireland has produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
And that's without mention of W.B. Yeats, Jonathan Swift, and the great James Joyce, whose masterful Ulysses spawned Bloomsday (June 16 every year), one of the biggest literary festivals in the world. This is the land, for goodness' sake, of John Banville, Colm Toibin, Edna O'Brien, Roddy Doyle, Sally Rooney and Bram Stoker.
Which makes our first day in Dublin, before we head south-west for Kilkenny and beyond, such a pleasure; because our first stop is Trinity College's Old Library, which houses the famous Long Room and the Book of Kells.
Unarguably one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, the Long Room is 65 metres of burnished wooden bookshelves, normally filled from floor to barrel-vaulted ceiling with 200,000 of the library's oldest tomes.
These, however, have been temporarily removed as part of the Old Library Development Project, which aims to improve fire and environmental protections in the library and clean, document and electronically tag the books.
Even without them, it's still an alarmingly impressive space. And taking things up a notch since November 2023 is the presence of Gaia, a remarkable illuminated globe that, using detailed NASA imagery of the Earth's surface, shows our planet as it is viewed from space.
Sitting about two-thirds of the way along the Long Room, this large but miniature Earth by artist Luke Jerram is suspended in the air, a bright blue ball contrasting beautifully with the polished old oak beams of the library. It is mesmerising, eminently Instagramable, and it will be a crying shame when it is taken down in September 2026 (so get your skates on).
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ABC News
6 days ago
- ABC News
In Alien: Earth, Fargo creator Noah Hawley brings fresh ideas to the Alien franchise
"There's a creature loose, approximately 8 feet tall, armoured." Fast facts about Alien: Earth What: A prequel to the original Alien (1979), where a team of human/synthetic hybrids must contain an alien infestation before it spreads across the world. Created by: Noah Hawley. Starring: Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin and Essie Davis. Where: Streaming now on Disney+. Likely to make you feel: Fear, dread and a few chuckles. This is how medic Hermit (Alex Lawther, The End of the F***ing World), trembling with fear, describes what he sees when calling for backup. It's a reminder that these aliens (or xenomorphs, as they're often referred to) are most terrifying when a character encounters them for the first time. The Alien franchise has been many things over the years, but it's this fear of the unknown and the nightmarishness of their newness (plucked from the mind of Swiss artist HR Giger) that made Ridley Scott's 1979 original an all-time sci-fi horror masterpiece. Fast-forward seven years (and 57 years in narrative time), with the aliens no longer having that same element of surprise, James Cameron pivoted the sequel (1986's Aliens) to be less horror and more action-oriented. That movie, featuring a now-pantheon-level bad-ass Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), became an all-time sci-fi action masterpiece. On that spectrum, Alien: Earth, the new FX series (Disney+ in Australia) created by Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion), sits somewhere in the middle, serving an entertaining mix of eerie dread and balls-to-the-wall action. And being a series, with almost six hours run time over six episodes, Alien: Earth manages to be an excellent, well-rounded Alien experience that also incorporates (and expands on) several running themes of the franchise, such as corporate greed and the essence of what makes us human. Set in 2120, two years before Ripley wakes up from stasis in the original movie, Alien: Earth begins with the space vessel Maginot (owned by the Weyland-Yutani corporation featured in the original films) mysteriously crash-landing on Earth in a city run by rival corporation Prodigy. When Hermit and the rescue team arrive at the crash site, they find several alien creatures have escaped from containment and the whole crew dead, except for their security officer, Mr Morrow (Babou Ceesay, Into the Badlands), a cyborg who escapes their attempts to detain him. Joining the fray is a group of hybrids (synthetics with uploaded human consciousness), owned by Prodigy, called the Lost Boys (one of the show's many Peter Pan references). The team is led by Wendy (Sydney Chandler, Pistol), who isn't so much interested in the crashed ship as she is in being able to protect Hermit, who was her brother when she was still a human. Oh, and each hybrid houses the consciousness of a once-terminally-ill child, who now gets to be in a super-powered young adult body, with a supercomputer brain, that can live forever. While there's a lot there, the world building is rich and complex without being overbearing. The show deftly weaves new information in and newcomers should be easily able to follow along without having to fire up Wikipedia on a second screen. Noah Hawley's biggest strength as a showrunner is that he's a creative chameleon, which makes him ideal as a caretaker for existing IP. He is best known for his work on anthology series Fargo, which, over five seasons, was able to arguably match, or even outdo the success of the 1996 Coen Brothers film of the same name that it was based on. In Fargo (the series), Hawley was able to harness the essence of what made Fargo (the film) great and then push that concept to its very limits. Likewise, Alien: Earth feels like it belongs in the Alien universe, both in tone and visuals. If you're familiar with the franchise, you will recognise the now-anachronistic macho vibes of the ship's crew, the ponderous musings about the nature of humanity and the ominous shadow of malevolent multinational corporations. You'll also notice the computers having analogue light-up buttons and green text on MDA monitors that visionaries from 1979 apparently couldn't imagine a future without. Hawley has been able to grow this world, populate it with interesting characters and give them the room to develop themselves and their relationships with one another. It feels like an essential expansion for a franchise best known for gnarly alien creatures, visceral body horror and claustrophobic gun-based action. What little lightness there is in the show mainly comes from the natural comedy of children occupying adult bodies, and the interactions between the Lost Boys, particularly between Slightly (Adarsh Gourav) and Smee (Jonathan Ajayi), are welcome comic relief. As protagonist Wendy, 29-year-old Chandler convincingly plays a child growing more comfortable with being in what is essentially an adult superhero body (though she complains about having breasts, saying 'they get in the way'). Her relationship with Lawler's Hermit is the beating heart of the show. Playing the kids' stand-in parents are synthetic mentor and trainer Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant, Justified, Deadwood) and human scientist Dame Silvia (Australia's own Essie Davis, The Babadook). Olyphant, known for charming but emotionally avoidant characters finally gets to play a robot, while the always superb Davis makes the most of a somewhat limited role. The Peter Pan of the story is Prodigy Corporation's CEO and founder Boy Kavalier, a genius megalomaniac played with gusto by English actor Samuel Blenkin. It's a fun performance, but the character is just a little too much of a comic book villain for my liking. It's an eclectic cast of characters — the majority of whom are either synthetic or partially synthetic — that effectively explores themes of family, childhood and humanity … whenever they take a break from fighting off xenomorphs. Alien: Earth is a remarkable achievement, given how inconsistent some of the Alien sequels and spin-offs have been. It's a show that understands what makes the source material so special but at the same time feels fresh and new. It doesn't just play the hits; it introduces new ideas to further build and fill out the world. Given the critical and box office success of 2024's Alien: Romulus, we could be looking at the next franchise resurgence to grace our screens, both big and small. Alien Earth is streaming on Disney+.
The Advertiser
09-08-2025
- The Advertiser
Tom Hanks pays tribute to Apollo 13 mission commander
Tom Hanks has paid tribute to late astronaut James Lovell. The 69-year-old actor portrayed the former NASA commander in 1995's Apollo 13 - which told the story of the ill-fated 1970 lunar mission which endured critical failures before safely returning to Earth - and following his death on Thursday at the age of 97, Hanks praised his work and legacy. "There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own," Hanks wrote on Instagram. "Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy. "His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive — and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages. "On this night of a full moon, he passes on — to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell." Ron Howard, who directed Apollo 13, also paid tribute to the former Navy test pilot, as he admitted it had been a "tremendous honour" to know such a "remarkable" man, who took part in four space missions during his life. Sharing a carousel of photos and videos of the astronaut, including side-by-side photos from his film and the real life events, he wrote: "RIP #CommanderLovell. Navy test pilot, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and, of course, Apollo 13. "Simply knowing Jim has been a tremendous honor. His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I've ever met. His support of our movie-making efforts inspired authenticity and elevated our process in so many ways. "Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and to humankind." Hanks previously admitted he would like to go to the moon and thinks he could play a particular role. He joked to the Daily Telegraph in 2023: "I would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon. "If there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained." Tom Hanks has paid tribute to late astronaut James Lovell. The 69-year-old actor portrayed the former NASA commander in 1995's Apollo 13 - which told the story of the ill-fated 1970 lunar mission which endured critical failures before safely returning to Earth - and following his death on Thursday at the age of 97, Hanks praised his work and legacy. "There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own," Hanks wrote on Instagram. "Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy. "His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive — and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages. "On this night of a full moon, he passes on — to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell." Ron Howard, who directed Apollo 13, also paid tribute to the former Navy test pilot, as he admitted it had been a "tremendous honour" to know such a "remarkable" man, who took part in four space missions during his life. Sharing a carousel of photos and videos of the astronaut, including side-by-side photos from his film and the real life events, he wrote: "RIP #CommanderLovell. Navy test pilot, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and, of course, Apollo 13. "Simply knowing Jim has been a tremendous honor. His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I've ever met. His support of our movie-making efforts inspired authenticity and elevated our process in so many ways. "Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and to humankind." Hanks previously admitted he would like to go to the moon and thinks he could play a particular role. He joked to the Daily Telegraph in 2023: "I would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon. "If there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained." Tom Hanks has paid tribute to late astronaut James Lovell. The 69-year-old actor portrayed the former NASA commander in 1995's Apollo 13 - which told the story of the ill-fated 1970 lunar mission which endured critical failures before safely returning to Earth - and following his death on Thursday at the age of 97, Hanks praised his work and legacy. "There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own," Hanks wrote on Instagram. "Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy. "His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive — and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages. "On this night of a full moon, he passes on — to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell." Ron Howard, who directed Apollo 13, also paid tribute to the former Navy test pilot, as he admitted it had been a "tremendous honour" to know such a "remarkable" man, who took part in four space missions during his life. Sharing a carousel of photos and videos of the astronaut, including side-by-side photos from his film and the real life events, he wrote: "RIP #CommanderLovell. Navy test pilot, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and, of course, Apollo 13. "Simply knowing Jim has been a tremendous honor. His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I've ever met. His support of our movie-making efforts inspired authenticity and elevated our process in so many ways. "Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and to humankind." Hanks previously admitted he would like to go to the moon and thinks he could play a particular role. He joked to the Daily Telegraph in 2023: "I would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon. "If there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained." Tom Hanks has paid tribute to late astronaut James Lovell. The 69-year-old actor portrayed the former NASA commander in 1995's Apollo 13 - which told the story of the ill-fated 1970 lunar mission which endured critical failures before safely returning to Earth - and following his death on Thursday at the age of 97, Hanks praised his work and legacy. "There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own," Hanks wrote on Instagram. "Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy. "His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive — and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages. "On this night of a full moon, he passes on — to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell." Ron Howard, who directed Apollo 13, also paid tribute to the former Navy test pilot, as he admitted it had been a "tremendous honour" to know such a "remarkable" man, who took part in four space missions during his life. Sharing a carousel of photos and videos of the astronaut, including side-by-side photos from his film and the real life events, he wrote: "RIP #CommanderLovell. Navy test pilot, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and, of course, Apollo 13. "Simply knowing Jim has been a tremendous honor. His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I've ever met. His support of our movie-making efforts inspired authenticity and elevated our process in so many ways. "Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and to humankind." Hanks previously admitted he would like to go to the moon and thinks he could play a particular role. He joked to the Daily Telegraph in 2023: "I would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon. "If there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained."
Perth Now
09-08-2025
- Perth Now
Tom Hanks pays tribute to James Lovell
Tom Hanks has paid tribute to late astronaut James Lovell. The 69-year-old actor portrayed the former NASA commander in 1995's Apollo 13 - which told the story of the ill-fated 1970 lunar mission which endured critical failures before safely returning to Earth - and following his death on Thursday (07.08.25) at the age of 97, Tom praised his work and legacy. He wrote on Instagram: "There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own. "Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy. "His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive — and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages. "On this night of a full moon, he passes on — to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell." And Ron Howard, who directed Apollo 13, also paid tribute to the former Navy test pilot, as he admitted it had been a "tremendous honour" to know such a "remarkable" man, who took part in four space missions during his life. Sharing a carousel of photos and videos of the astronaut, including side-by-side photos from his film and the real life events, he wrote: "RIP #CommanderLovell. Navy test pilot, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and, of course, Apollo 13. "Simply knowing Jim has been a tremendous honor. His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I've ever met. His support of our movie-making efforts inspired authenticity and elevated our process in so many ways. Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and to humankind." Tom previously admitted he would like to go to the moon and thinks he could play a particular role. He joked to the Daily Telegraph in 2023: 'I would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon. 'If there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained.'
