Latest news with #Brosnan
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Longtime chairman made life member of national association
A pillar of the Oamaru Licensing Trust has received a national honour. Longtime chairman Ali Brosnan was made a life member of the New Zealand Community Licensing Trust Association last weekend. It was a great honour, he said. "Especially coming from a wee licensing trust like Oamaru, we're one of the smaller ones of the 16 licensing trusts that are left in New Zealand." Mr Brosnan has been on the Oamaru Licensing Trust for 23 years and has been chairman for the last 18. He also spent eight years on the New Zealand Licensing Trust serving as president, immediate past-president as well as junior and senior vice-president in his tenure. When asked for his favourite part of the role, the answer was simple — the people. "We don't have a huge turnover but we've had some great people." He first joined the Oamaru trust in 2002 because he wanted to give back to the community. "I had always been involved in Excelsior Sports Club over the years and we were always applying for funding through the licensing trust. "I sort of thought I'd like to get involved in that side of it but I was a wee bit naive in some ways in that once I got on to the trust I found there was a lot more to it than just giving out grants." After he joined, the trust downsized in 2004 selling off small country pubs and investing in the North Star, upgrading the restaurant and building the motel. It now owns four businesses with roughly 60 fulltime equivalent staff. Mr Brosnan has seen it all in his tenure from the 2008 World Financial Crisis to the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic put the trust back three to four years financially, he said. "I'm pleased to say now we've turned the corner. We'll turn a profit this year. "Tourism, which is a big part of what we do, is back up to about 80-plus-percent of what it was pre-Covid. "If we can get it back to 100% or better, we'll be pretty happy." The trust is "owned by the people for the people" . "The board members are only representing the people of Oamaru. "The more we can improve the value of our assets the better it is for the owners, the people of Oamaru. "We just want people to be proud of the business they own." Mr Brosnan will stand again in this year's election. Nominations close next Friday. "We'd like to see younger people involved in it as the trustees get older," Mr Brosnan said. "A bit like all elections, all public office, there's not a queue of people lining up to take these positions."
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Dean Brosnan: 'Cork are the best team in the country, they just need to show it on the big day'
Former Cork hurler Dean Brosnan maintains Cork are the best team in the country, but just haven't shown such on the biggest day. Brosnan, who won Munster SHC medals in 2017 and '18, said for Cork not to perform on Sunday must be 'heartbreaking' for all involved. 'My heart goes out to the lads. I was on the Cork panel for a while and I know the effort that goes into it. They didn't perform on the day, I've been in county finals where that has happened, and it is heartbreaking. "After everything they have put in, to have that then on the day, it is very tough on them,' said Brosnan, who was representing Glen Rovers at the launch of the Co-Op Superstores Cork PSHC. While Cork were a tug of Robbie O'Flynn's jersey away from a replay at the end of last year's extra-time decider against Clare, not even the closeness of that game and consequent touching distance of glory will compare to the hurt currently running through the group. 'It is obviously very tough that there was only a puck of a ball in it last year, but just knowing that you performed close to your best does give you that bit of clarity that you are good enough. I feel for them and hopefully they refocus. 'In my eyes, they are the best team in the country, they just need to go and show it on the big day.' Read More Tomás Collins and Kilmurry eager to earn their right to succeed at Intermediate A grade In attempting to bounce back from Sunday's 15-point hammering, Brosnan gave his own personal experience of a similar scenario. 'It happened to us [Glen Rovers] in 2014. We were beaten 16 points in the county final by Sars. It was heartbreaking. Jesus, I remember sitting at home afterwards, didn't want to go anywhere. And just a year later, we won the county. So it can be done, it is a case of refocusing and building back up. 'The team holiday later in the year and that team bonding will be worth everything to them. They can refocus, rebuild their character, and they'll hopefully come back as strong as ever. Age profile is very good. If I was any of them, I'd be itching to get back next year.' Another former Cork hurler from the middle of the last decade, John Cronin, said there will be learning from the chastening second-half experience. 'There is no beating around the bush, the next few weeks are going to be tough. But they have given us a great summer. The Munster final, I'll never forget it,' Cronin remarked. Dean Brosnan, Glen Rovers and Conor Power, Blarney, ahead of the CoOp Superstores 2024 Cork Senior A Hurling Championship Final. Pic: Jim Coughlan. 'The duty we have to them now is we have to pick them up. Sunday was very disappointing, but they'll learn from it and they'll be back on the horse next year no doubt.' Cronin's 21-year-old Lisgoold clubmate, Diarmuid Healy, was a standout first-half performer against Tipp, shooting three from play, assisting Niall O'Leary's white flag, winning a converted free, and forcing the turnover for Shane Barrett's goal. Cronin said it was unfortunate that Healy was pulled in response to the sending-off of Eoin Downey. 'Typical old Duds, nothing fazes him. He has a lovely mentality about him. He had a really great first half. It was unfortunate with the sending off, he had to come off to fill a back position, because it was really opening up at the time and Jesus, his legs are unbelievable.'
Perth Now
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Lily James is a mountain-climbing 'addict' after filming Cliffhanger
Lily James has become a mountain-climbing "addict" since filming the Cliffhanger reboot. The Cinderella star, 36, leads the cast of a new version of Sylvester Stallone's 1993 action movie alongside Pierce Brosnan and the actress has confessed she had the "had the time of [her] life" working on the film and she's thrown herself into the sport of climbing. She told The Hollywood Reporter: "Oh my God, I had the time of my life. It was so hard. I did five hours of climbing a day for many weeks. "I was on mountains nonstop. I fell completely in love with it. It's the most mind-body-soul activity. "And I'm a [mountain-climbing] addict now. I did all my own climbing [in the film], and I got real strong. I was just pounding press-ups between every take." The film is due for release next year and Lily can't wait to share it with audiences. She added: "I'm really proud of Cliffhanger. I'm so excited. We're in the edit and getting it ready, and I'm super hopeful. "It is such a cool reimagining, and while it's really unexpected at times, it keeps all the gripping glory of the original, I hope." Lily went on to reveal she loved working with Brosnan again after they previously appeared in 2018 movie musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. She said of her co-star: "We were so lucky to have him, and he's so brilliant in the movie. He's one of life's true gentlemen, and he was such a brilliant actor to have as our father in this story. "He just brings real heart, and he elevates the whole thing. He's just a dream, and getting to work with him again was so wonderful." Lily plays Naomi Cooper in the new film with Brosnan as her onscreen dad - and the actress previously insisted the new take is "definitely different" to the original. Speaking with Screen Rant, she said: 'I don't want to say too much to give it away right now. What I will say is I had one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. We shot in the Dolomites. We were there for six weeks on the mountains. 'I was really hanging off mountains. We had to shut down multiple times because of freak snowstorms. "The story is very much through Naomi and her sister Sydney. I would hope that we are maintaining what people love about the original cliffhanger, but it's definitely different. "It's feral, it's raw. It's a real re-imagining, and I am producing it too." Stallone was initially due to reprise his role as ranger Gabriel 'Gabe' Walker in the new Cliffhanger movie, but the actor ultimately left the project and it was subsequently overhauled with James and Brosnan leading the reboot instead. The official synopsis reads: 'In this reboot of Cliffhanger, seasoned mountaineer Ray Cooper (Brosnan) and his daughter Sydney run a mountain chalet in the Dolomites. "During a weekend trip with a billionaire's son, they are targeted by a gang of kidnappers. Ray's older daughter Naomi (James), still haunted by a past climbing accident, witnesses the attack and escapes." The cast for Cliffhanger also includes Nell Tiger Free, Franz Rogowski, Shubham Saraf, Assaad Bouab, Suzy Bemba and Bruno Gouery.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Celebrities who picked up painting as Ed Sheeran turns to art
A new exhibition of Ed Sheeran's artworks is taking place at Heni Gallery. The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter began painting in 2019 during downtime between recording sessions and touring. Last year, he exhibited his brightly-coloured, Pollock-esque paintings in a disused car park. Sheeran has now teamed up with Heni, the company that represents Damien Hirst, to put on a new exhibition: Cosmic Carpark Paintings, running until August 1. Prints will be on sale for £900 each, with 50 per cent of funds going to the Ed Sheeran Foundation, which supports music education in state schools and grassroots organisations across the nation. Kill Bill star Lucy Liu began making art when she was a teenager. Growing up in Queens in the 1980s, Liu would wander around the streets of New York City, taking photographs, which she'd use in collages. After doing an intensive class at New York Studio School, she turned to painting, which found to be a more freeing medium. The world-renowned Beatles star has a lesser-known creative outlet: painting. McCartney's artwork often depicts famous figures, such as David Bowie and Elvis Presley, through acerbic colours and warping shapes. Jim Carrey has been drawing and painting since childhood. The actor is drawn to vivid colours and abstract figures, often with fierce political undertones, such as his cartoonish depictions of Donald Trump. Alongside winning multiple Oscars, Anthony Hopkins is also a painter. Working with ink, oil and acrylics, the actor creates vibrantly-coloured artworks, often veering towards distorted faces. He might be best known for playing James Bond but Pierce Brosnan grew up dreaming of becoming a painter. An alumni of London's Central St Martins College of Art and Design, Brosnan has created at least 300 artworks. Often depicting psychedelic landscapes, Brosnan has recently ventured into ceramics. Beyond his Hollywood career, James Franco is also a Gucci model, a published poet and a visual artist (as well as holding a PhD from Yale). The two-time Golden Globe winner is drawn to themes of masculinity, celebrity and identity in his multimedia artworks. 'Acting, writing, painting – they all orbit around those ideas for me,' he told Numero Magazine, 'It's about capturing a person – their essence, their transformation.' The Golden Globe-winning actor Johnny Depp has also embarked on visual art, including a number of self-portraits. Last year, the artist's work was exhibited at an art gallery in Chelsea, New York, and received mixed critical acclaim. The New York Post described it as 'one huge, derivative, delusional ego bath'. Creativity is in Jemima Kirke's DNA. The Girls actress is the daughter of a rock musician father and fashion designer mother, a talented household that likely influenced her to pursue painting at Rhode Island School of Design. Her work often gravitates towards portraits of young girls. 'My kids are sick of being painted,' Kirke told W Magazine. Alongside his musical career, Bob Dylan is also a painter, sculptor, filmmaker and author. The Nobel Prize-winning singer has drawn since his childhood in Minnesota, continuing to take inspiration from American cityscapes throughout his life.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A team of engineers saved Morgan Stanley more than 280,000 hours this year. The bank says their tool won't take jobs.
Morgan Stanley's newly patented tool was developed in-house and released in January. The bank says it has saved almost 300,000 hours this year alone but won't replace developers' jobs. solves a long-standing headache for coders within and beyond Morgan Stanley. During a Morgan Stanley hackathon at the end of 2023, two teams were trying to solve a problem that has plagued developers for years: how to rewrite legacy code into modern programming languages. Those nuggets of an idea turned into a tool the bank unveiled in January that has so far saved developers more than 280,000 hours as of June, or 11,666 days they would have previously dedicated to deciphering outdated code, said Trevor Brosnan, the bank's global head of technology strategy, architecture, and modernization. Brosnan led the effort to build the tool, which turns code from old languages into plain-English specs that can then be rewritten. Legacy code refers to outdated, older software code — think of languages such as Cobol, which was developed in 1959 — that can raise security risks and slow down how quickly companies can take advantage of new technology, as The Wall Street Journal reported. Banks and financial institutions are especially dependent on older programming languages, the Journal said. "In early 2024, I pulled some of our top distinguished engineers at the firm out of their line of business teams and into a new applied AI team, because my instincts told me that there was some great opportunity here," Brosnan told Business Insider. His instincts were right — the tool has exceeded even his high expectations. It was granted a patent in early June with assistance from the bank's Patent Accelerator Program, which Megan Brewer, the head of firmwide market innovation and labs, helped start. Brewer and Brosnan said wouldn't take software engineering or other jobs with the time it saves. The technology, Brewer said, replaces "onerous" rote work. "That means those people can actually go work on what we need to be working on, which is the future," she said. AI presents opportunities throughout the firm, Brewer said, and Morgan Stanley is looking into how it can use agentic AI across teams. "The reality is we have so much modernization work to do, and we have ongoing demand from all of our businesses to deliver more functionality, more capability for our clients," Brosnan said. Young people are struggling to land quality positions in the tech sector in particular, and AI is already starting to gobble up jobs across industries. White-collar job postings nationwide are shrinking faster than blue-collar listings, including for software developers. Still, Brewer and Brosnan were adamant that wouldn't render developers obsolete. Morgan Stanley had 233 technology jobs in the Americas posted on its website at the time of writing, including dozens of openings for software engineers. Not many of the technologists at the bank worked on — Brosnan said the initial team was fewer than five people "who are passionate about this." Eventually, the core group expanded to about 20 engineers. Throughout the process, they consulted with subject matter experts across the firm to figure out different use cases for the tool, Brosnan said. Morgan Stanley could have outsourced the development of the tool, but Brosnan said they decided to develop it internally in part to "implement all the kinds of security controls." Now, he said, employees across divisions, from its institutional to wealth management businesses, are using the tool. "Even within the world of generative AI, this was a very, very, very clever use of it, but it also was extremely impactful," said Larry Bromberg, the global head of intellectual property legal, who co-leads the Patent Acceleration Program. Pleased as he is with the result, Brosnan said his team very briefly celebrated their successes. "Frankly, they are still very focused on their day job. Our mission is to accelerate modernization at Morgan Stanley, and we've still got lots of work to do," he said. One cause for celebration was receiving a patent, which Morgan Stanley employees are encouraged to do through the Patent Accelerator Program. Brewer said the program provides support throughout the invention and legal process. Patent-holders span the firm — there are about 500 across 14 different divisions, Brewer said. From 2023 to 2024, the Patent Accelerator Program increased final submissions to patent offices by 53%, and Brewer said they'd "definitely" surpass that this year. Brewer said 20% of patent holders were junior staff, and 10% were distinguished engineers. One of the lead engineers on the team is something of a serial patent recipient, or a "serial offender" as Brewer put it, with 13 patents to date. Brosnan said the team didn't have immediate plans to license the newly patented tool externally; it would probably be in high demand given how many financial and Big Tech companies have to deal with outdated coding languages. "Right now, our plan is to leverage this definitely for all of our modernization demands internally. We haven't decided anything different from that," he said, adding that Morgan Stanley had shared technology with peers in the past. In the meantime, the question of how to use AI and modernize the bank isn't going anywhere. As Brosnan put it, his technologists are back to "hands-on keyboards" after every win. 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