Latest news with #ChrisKennedy
Scottish Sun
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Inside the world's first Oasis college masterclass – but can YOU beat the final exam quiz?
THE first ever Oasis Masterclass has been held ahead of the super group's three sell-out gigs at Murrayfield this week. Lecturers Chris Kennedy and Amy Butler from Glasgow Clyde College forensically dissected Noel and Liam Gallagher's impact on the world of music from when they first exploded onto the scene in the 1990s. Advertisement 5 Sun man Matt adopts the classic Liam pose as he joins the class of Oasis fans. 5 Lecturers Chris Kennedy and Amy Butler from Glasgow Clyde College forensically dissected Noel and Liam Gallagher's impact on the world of music. 5 Jasmine Kennedy and Emma Marshall, both 16, reckon the Masterclass has prepared them for their first Oasis gig at Murrayfield in August. They covered everything from them being signed on the spot in Glasgow's King Tut's to the highs of playing to 250,000 fans at Knebworth the feud that kept the brothers apart for 16 years. Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS dusted down his parka and dug out his bucket hat and John Lennon specs to join the class of superfans. Advertisement THE MASTERCLASS I THOUGHT I would qualify as an Oasis fan having seen Liam and Noel four times during their 90s heyday - but it turns out I was a lightweight compared to this lot. Dad Garry Walker from Clydebank has been to see the band 40 times, but worse was to come when even his 10 year old son Alex trounced me in the multiple choice exam at the end - and he hadn't even been born when the split-up in 2009. But that was for later, first we were taken on the ultimate Oasis journey by Chris Kennedy, himself a veteran of 80 Oasis and post-Oasis concerts when the feuding Gallagher's went their own ways. Chris, 50, told the class: 'We hope to impart new information to younger fans and rekindle some fond memories for the older guard. 'But the real aim is to get is all in the mood and up to speed for the upcoming reunion gigs.' Advertisement He begins in 1991 when bassist Paul McGuigan, guitarist Paul Arthurs, drummer Tony McCarroll, and singer Chris Hutton formed a band called the Rain. But Hutton was soon replaced with Liam Gallagher who wanted an immediate name change to Oasis. Not after a desert watering hole as I thought, instead it was in honour of the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon - a venue on an Inspiral Carpets tour poster that hung the brother's Manchester bedroom. Hundreds of Oasis fans queue down Scots street to bag gig merch as buzz begins ahead of Edinburgh shows Oasis played their first gig on August 14, 1991 at Manchester's Boardwalk Club watched by Noel - who was working as a roadie at the time - who was impressed by what he saw. Chris says: 'Noel said he would only come onboard if he was given complete creative control. Advertisement 'But in return Noel boldly promises 'global stardom'. A promise he would go on to keep. 'His musical approach is crafted on simplicity and as one music critic noted, 'so devoid of finesse and complexity that it came out sounding pretty much unstoppable.' 'We Oasis fans know this as the 'wall of sound'.' But the moment the class is all waiting for is the date that is seared into Oasis folklore - May 31, 1993 - the day they played King Tut's Wah Wah Hut for the first time, even though they weren't on the bill. Chris says: 'They caused mayhem and managed to get a slot and played just four songs including Rock 'n' Roll Star, Bring It On Down, Up in the Sky and I am the Walrus. Advertisement 'It would change their lives because in a bizarre twist of fate Alan McGee was at the gig and promptly signed them to his Creation Records label.' Chris then plays the only video footage of the historic gig, explaining how it had been accidentally shot by a Japanese tourist, who sent it to McGee years later. CAN YOU ANSWER THE COLLEGE EXAM QUESTIONS ON OASIS? 1. Which band did Noel roadie for before joining Oasis? A) The Stone Roses, B) The Happy Mondays, C) The Smiths, D) The Inspiral Carpets 2. How many gigs had Oasis played before they were signed at King Tut's? A) 36, B) 14, C) 25, D) 18 3. Where did Oasis warm up for their first headline tour in 1994? A) The 100 Club, B) Gleneagles Golf Club, C) The Cavern Club, D) King Tut's 4. During the Definitely Maybe tour in Los Angeles what did Liam hit Noel over the head with? A) Guitar, B) Microphone, C) Tambourine, D) Marcacas 5. During the recording of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? What did Noel hit Liam over the head with? A) Bottle of beer, B) Cricket bat, C) Tennis racquet, D) Golf Club 6. What was unique about the Whatever single they released in 1994. A)It was a non-album single, B) It was a cover version, C) It featured Bonehead on vocals, D) It was an instrumental 7. What type of car in submerged in the swimming pool clever of Be Here Now album? A) Rolls-Royce, B) Mercedes, C) Lamborghini, D) BMW 8. Half The World Away was used as the theme tune to which BBC comedy? A) The Office, B) The Mrs Merton Show, C) The Royle Family, D) Gavin and Stacey CHECK THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE FOR ANSWERS The lecturer goes on to wax lyrical about them playing the first T in the Park festival in 1994, weeks before the release of their debut album Definitely Maybe, which became an instant rock classic with tracks including Supersonic Live Forever and Cigarettes and Alcohol. Their next album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? also ticks all the boxes for Oasis fans, followed by where I come in, covering their double date concerts at Maine Road - then home to their beloved Man City - and Loch Lomond in 1996. However Chris maintains that their gig the following week at Knebworth, where they played to a record 250,000 fans, was one of their defining moments. Advertisement He says: 'They could have sold out Knebworth 10 times over as an estimated 2.5 million people applied for tickets.' On he takes us through the band's timeline of tours and seven studio albums, before the group begin to crumble, ending with a bust-up backstage in Paris in 2009 that saw them split - until now. Now it was time for Amy to take us through a multiple choice exam to find out exactly how much we'd taken in. But it was the youngest student Alex who stunned us all when he knew the answer to one brain teaser - what was the band's only non-album single. 5 Oasis are playing three sell-out gigs at Murrayfield this week Credit: PA Advertisement 5 Matt gets to the point of the Liam and Noel Oasis masterclass. That definitely - no maybe about it - wasn't in the curriculum and so there are no spoilers, the correct answer, with all the others, is at the bottom of the Glasgow Clyde College quiz we've reproduced on this page. Afterwards Alex says: 'I did my homework before coming here as we thought there would be a quiz. I had studied their singles so I couldn't believe when that came up.' But dad Alex, who has his own vehicle business, was just delighted that the lecture jogged some music memories. He admits: 'I sort of lived the rock and roll lifestyle so my recall of the dates of the gigs I went to are a little hazy. Advertisement 'But the lecture was excellent. I thought I knew everything there was to know about Oasis, but I still learned a lot tonight.' Pals Jasmine Kennedy and Emma Marshall, both 16, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire reckon the Masterclass has prepared them for their first Oasis gig at Murrayfield in August. Jasmine says: 'I already thought I was a big fan, but after that I feel like a superfan. It has prepared me all the more for Murrayfield as now I know their entire backstory.' While Emmas adds: 'I've been raised on their music but I didn't know that they had become big so quickly.' Chris was delighted that his lecture was so well received by both the young and old. Advertisement He says: 'Now they're all ready for Murrayfield which will be an amazing experience for those seeing them again or for the first time. 'I said they should all take some photos then for a couple of hours, put their mobiles away then put their life in the hands of a rock and roll band.' And although some of the students don't have tickets for the Scottish gigs, no one left the campus empty handed as they were given a gift bag with a Liam facemask and bottle of Oasis drink along. But crucially it also contained replicas of the Raybans the frontman now wears - which means I can ditch the John Lennon specs and the Parka and finally get up to date for the Oasis reunion.
Times
24-07-2025
- Business
- Times
ITV cuts costs as it nurses hangover from last year's Euros
A new round of cost-cutting and scaling back in content spending has been unveiled by ITV after profits declined because it failed to repeat the boost in advertising sales from the men's Euros football tournament last year. The UK's largest free-to-air broadcaster said that it would save an extra £15 million this year, in addition to the £30 million already identified, which would partly come from 'technology and process efficiencies', according to Chris Kennedy, its finance chief. Projected content spending has also been lowered to £1.23 billion, from £1.25 billion, which reflected a 'rearranging' of its programming, Carolyn McCall, ITV's chief executive, said. That will include playing shows on its linear television channels and ITVX, where it had previously put more content exclusively on its streaming platform. Merging the production of Good Morning Britain into ITN and reducing soap operas from two hours to one 'power hour' would contribute to more effective use of its content spending. The shares rose 8p, or 10.3 per cent, to 85.5p on Thursday morning, taking the total gain since the start of this year to just over 16 per cent, or the highest level in more than two years. Revenue continued to decline during the first six months of the year, by 3 per cent compared with a year earlier, to £1.8 billion and pre-tax profit declined by 80 per cent to £67 million, after being lifted by proceeds from the sale of its 50 per cent stake in Britbox to the BBC. It said, however, that its performance had been stronger than expected during the first half. A 7 per cent decline in total advertising revenue compared with a year earlier, when audience numbers were boosted by the men's Euros, was less severe than the 8 per cent fall that it had expected. 'We've known about the Euros effect; it's budgeted for … We got that right,' McCall said. 'There's no doubt it's a softer market: the economic uncertainty is not helping.' An increase in national insurance contributions had been 'a real weight' on businesses, she said. The studios business performed more strongly, its revenue having risen 3 per cent. It flagged an uplift in profits during the second half as more higher-margin shows were expected to be sold. McCall would not be drawn on progress in any mooted talks over a potential sale of its studios business, insisting that 'everyone talks to everyone and everyone is talking to everyone' and that the board would 'keep all options under review'. Earlier this year reports emerged that ITV had been approached about its studios by Banijay, Europe's largest production house and the company behind shows including Peaky Blinders and Big Brother. It had previously held early-stage discussions with All3Media, another production house, over a potential combination. • French media group Banijay considers bid for ITV ITV has been battling a decline in linear television audience numbers, which has pushed it to turn increasingly to ITVX to help to monetise its content. Last month ITV and Disney announced a content-sharing partnership that will promote a selection of programming across each other's streaming platforms. McCall said she was open to more deals to 'explore new kinds of viewers'. The shares rose 6.4p, or 8.2 per cent, to 83.9p.
ITV News
16-07-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Sky and ITV extend multi-year content and platform partnership
Sky and ITV today announced an extension of their long-standing partnership, which will see ITV's content and services remain seamlessly available across all Sky TV platforms in the UK. Building on decades of collaboration, the renewed agreement means Sky customers will continue to enjoy choice and flexibility across ITV's full catalogue of high-quality content, deeply integrated into Sky's innovative TV range. Sky Stream, Sky Glass and Sky Q viewers will retain access to the ITVX streaming service, as well as all of ITV's free-to-air linear channels, with the channels and ITV's on-demand content also available on the Sky Go app. Additionally, Sky Q customers will continue to enjoy a choice between on-demand catch-up content ingested directly into their set top boxes, alongside the ITVX app. Nick Herm, Group Chief Operating Officer, commented: 'This renewed partnership continues to deliver long-term value for both Sky and ITV, ensuring millions of viewers enjoy seamless access to ITV's content, however they prefer to watch. Whether it's live TV, streaming or on-demand straight from their box, we'll continue to bring our customers unmissable TV, all in one place.' Chris Kennedy, ITV Chief Operating Officer and Chief Finance Officer, said: "Our renewed agreement with Sky ensures that ITV's much-loved programmes continue to reach millions of viewers across the UK through Sky's platforms. This is a key part of our continued commitment to deliver unmissable content to audiences, wherever and however they choose to watch." The agreement means ITV content, such as Trigger Point, Code of Silence, The 1% Club, I'm A Me Out Here! and Love Island will continue to sit alongside award-winning Sky Originals like The Day of the Jackal, Gangs of London and Sweetpea, as well as Sky's unrivalled line up of live sport and programming from partners including Netflix, Apple TV, Disney+, Paramount+, Prime Video, BBC and Channel 4. Last month, Sky and ITV, alongside Channel 4, also announced their joint intent to launch a groundbreaking new advertising marketplace, which will offer SMEs access to premium on demand and streaming inventory across all three sales houses for the first time. The collaboration, which is set to launch in 2026, represents a major development in television advertising, enabling new-to-TV advertisers a direct, simple way to access premium video content from the three portfolios. The three broadcasters are also in discussions to simplify the purchase of addressable inventory for media agencies, which includes exploring the potential of a joint agency-facing solution, based on ITV's Planet V technology. Contacts:
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Expand the night-vision hunting season for Kansas' top varmint? I'm rooting for the coyotes.
A coyote surveys the terrain around the author's campsite. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector) Find yourself a patch of land away from city lights just about anywhere in Kansas, and you will hear them. Sit down on a good rock and wrap yourself in the cold and dark, especially during a new moon in winter, and they will eventually begin to yip, yowl and yap. Their cries will grow in intensity until you might think yourself surrounded, subject to imminent attack, although you are likely as safe on the prairie as in your own bed. What just sent a thrill down your spine is the cacophonous song of the coyote. These 'song dogs' are among nature's best survivors, an adaptable omnivore that has been with us since at least the last ice age. They are present in every state except Hawaii, are blamed for killing farm livestock and snacking on suburban house pets, and have been the target of unsuccessful eradication attempts for the past 200 years. The latest campaign in the war on coyotes came April 24, when the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission voted 5-2 to extend the night-vision hunting season from the current three months to seven. During the meeting, held at Fall River in southeast Kansas, the commissioners acknowledged various conflicts over extending the season but declined a request from Wildlife and Parks secretary Chris Kennedy for more time to study the coyote problem. The new season would be Sept. 1 to March 31, excluding some firearm deer seasons. Currently, the season is limited to January, February and March. The extended season would not take effect until after the new regulation passes statutory and legal review and is officially adopted. Night vision hunters typically spend thousands of dollars in rifles, scopes, and thermal optics. Their gear resembles tactical military gear, and that may be part of the appeal. We'll get to this Zero Dark Coyote pretend combat presently, just as we will recount the story of a coyote named Rattlesnake. In places like Kansas, where the myth of the frontier seethes just below the cultural surface, the coyote is not just a predator but a living symbol of the dichotomous desire to both hold the wild and to tame it. For First Peoples, Coyote often represents the Trickster, the entity who alternately brings creation and chaos. For ranchers, the coyote is a profit-eating pest to be eliminated by any means available. For romantics, the animal represents wildness, rebellion and cunning survival. We see ourselves in the clever and grinning countenance of these nocturnal ramblers. Coyotes have been watchers on many of my outdoor adventures, but my best memory comes from a night some years ago sleeping on a sandbar on the Arkansas River far below Wichita. I had been kayaking the river for a book project and, retiring to my tent after miles of paddling, the coyote yips seemed like the voices of old friends. Their night song spanned the centuries, at least in my imagination, to a time before the plow broke the plains. From the moment white settlers came to Kansas, coyotes were targeted for extinction because of real and suspected depredations. Rabbits and mice are the primary foods for coyotes, but just about anything can become a meal of opportunity — garbage, crops, livestock, the occasional toy poodle. Coyotes generally don't attack human beings, although when cornered or trapped they can be dangerous, just as any wild animal can. In 1916, the Kansas Supreme Court took up the case of a coyote in a Wichita zoo that bit a child. Four-year-old Bessie Hibbard had been taken by her parents to the zoo at Riverside Park, where she put her hands in a cage containing a coyote on display. The animal bit and scratched her hand and arm. Bessie's father sued the city for negligence. The state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling and found in favor of the city, saying officers and agents of the city were not liable for damages while performing official duties. A dissenting justice, Judson West, said the coyote cage was a 'most malignant and excuseless' nuisance which afforded zoological specimens the opportunity to 'dine upon the children' of visitors. I'm with West. For decades, beginning around 1900, the state attempted to eradicate coyotes by poison, firearms and paying bounties on their hides. When I was a kid, I remember some of my friends getting $2 per pair of coyote ears, paid by the county. I was a hunter in my youth, and always in need of money, but I never shot a coyote. I have since given up hunting, believing it immoral to kill wild things for money or sport. Your results may vary. Perhaps the biggest change in the state's approach to coyote management was the result of one man, F. Robert Henderson, a specialist who worked 27 years for the Kansas State Cooperative Extension Service. Henderson, hired in 1968, educated livestock producers across the state about the myths and realities of coyote predation. 'Not all coyotes kill livestock,' Henderson said in his memoir, published in 2016. 'It is a learned thing on the part of the coyote. … I found out that generally ranchers hate coyotes.' He also learned that most people who set out to kill coyotes end up thinking that killing indiscriminately is not the answer. Instead, you have to eliminate those animals that have learned to kill livestock, and the best way to do that is by trapping. In the 1970s, Henderson set out to make an educational movie about coyote control. Lacking funds, he used a Super 8 movie camera and wrote his own script. The star of the film was Rattlesnake, a coyote the Henderson family had raised as a pet — something, the author cautioned, that 'is not a good idea for you or the coyote.' Rattlesnake became the film's star because he would attack livestock when given the opportunity, a drama Henderson created with the help of a local rancher. It all seems a little bloody now, but I think the point of the staged scene was to show Rattlesnake running away when a pickup truck approached. When the film was shown, Henderson recalled, 'Kids would first feel sorry for the calf, then cheer when the coyote got away.' Like the kids, Henderson's sympathy was with the coyote. 'Wild animals do get into situations where they create losses and cause people to have loss and worry,' Henderson wrote. 'This is true, always has been and probably always will be.' The actual number of cases is likely far fewer than generally believed. Henderson's memoir, appropriately called 'Coyotes Go to Heaven,' is a sprawling and folksy account of his life, and that of his wife, Karen, from 1933 to 2016. Henderson recounts, among other things, hunting with Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden and the influence of environmental ethicist Aldo Leopold on wildlife conservation. Henderson died in 2024. He was 91. I was thinking about Henderson as I reviewed the video stream of the Wildlife and Parks Commission voting to extend the night vision hunting season for coyotes. I hadn't known much about Henderson until a few weeks ago, when a friend suggested I check out his work. I'm glad I did, because Henderson seemed like somebody I could have been friends with. I don't presume to know what Henderson would have thought about the expanded coyote season, but I can tell you I find it disturbing. The kit — night scopes, thermal optics, and typically an AR-15 style rifle — seem more suited to urban warfare than recreational hunting. I suspect that playing war is the point for some. I don't mean this mockingly, but hunting requires skills that are also useful in combat, something that novelist, soldier, and big-game hunter Ernest Hemingway knew well. But for all his faults, Hemingway did his hunting in the light. Coyotes are officially treated as a non-game species, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, but they are 'regulated and managed' as furbearers. As a non-game species, they can be hunted during the day year-round, and there is no bag limit. In 2021, a three-month night vision hunting period was introduced, ending March 31. With a hunting license and a special $2.50 permit, hunters can use artificial light and thermal imaging equipment. This year, 7,310 night vision permits were issued, according to Laura Rose Clawson, chief of public affairs for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. 'Coyotes are an important recreational species in Kansas,' Clawson said in an email. 'About 30,000 hunters spend about 200,000 days total hunting coyotes in the state. Most of this is the result of traditional (non-night-vision) hunters and methods.' Clawson said there were alternatives to hunting for controlling losses to predation, including penning livestock at night, removing carrion, having guard animals, and fencing. 'However, coyotes do sometimes prey on livestock,' she said, 'and in those cases, lethal removal of the offending animal is often the most effective solution.' About 4% of cattle losses and 11% of lamb losses were due to coyotes, she said, citing figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Trapping is an option, but that is also lethal. The animals are destroyed after being trapped because relocation isn't viable. In public hearings on the night-vision season held last month in El Dorado, Junction City and Hays, a total of 58 individuals attended. Thirty-eight were in favor of an expanded coyote night-vision season, Clawson said, while 10 were opposed. Another 10 were neutral or did not complete the survey. 'I'm concerned I don't have as much biological data on the coyote population as I'd like to have,' Kennedy, the Wildlife and Parks secretary, said during Thursday's meeting. He also wanted 'to make sure we're not hunting any wildlife population in the state to extinction.' Kennedy suggested postponing the vote on extending the night vision season, but the commission proceeded. There was, however, some concern. One member expressed worry about how hunting is perceived by the public. Another acknowledged that previously a wildlife biologist had told the commission that even a yearlong season would likely have no effect on the coyote population. The discussion preceding the vote was largely about conflicts with other hunting seasons, the added burden on game wardens and other law enforcement, the best month to hunt coyotes (January) and the importance of night-vision coyote hunting to the state economy. Guided night-vision hunts are a big business in Kansas, with operators charging up to $1,800 per night. The coyotes are lured in by electronic rabbit distress calls. The operators, of course, claim they are doing landowners a favor by killing the animals. Perhaps. But I doubt the accelerated killing of coyotes will do much to deter livestock predation because it doesn't target the offending animals. The animals killed by the night-vision hunters are being promised rabbit for dinner, not lamb. You don't kill all dogs because some have learned how to get into the chicken coop. Nature is indeed 'red in tooth and claw,' as Alfred, Lord Tennyson poetically observed in 1849. But we shouldn't be. Night-vision coyote hunting seems offensive in the same way as buffalo slaughters in the 1870s or rabbit clubbing during the Great Depression. There must be a better way to control coyotes than shooting them. Coyotes have expanded their range and tripled their numbers since the 1980s, but it's not the fault of the animals. Humans created the opportunity by destroying habitat and by reducing the coyote's chief rival, the wolf. The harder coyotes are hunted, either in calling contests like the ones held in Kismet or by night-vision seasons, the larger their litters. They have learned to exploit our trash, our livestock, and the habitats we create. They have become America's most successful predator because we have helped them become so. As author Dan Flores noted in 2016's 'Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History,' their strength is their uncanny adaptability. 'In one of the myriad ways humans and coyotes eerily mimic one another,' Flores wrote, 'like us coyotes are a cosmopolitan species, able to live in a remarkable range of habitats.' The current night-vision campaign to control the coyote population, like past hunting efforts, is doomed to fail. It may provide recreation for those who like military-grade kit, but it is ultimately a pseudo war against ourselves. I'm rooting for the coyotes. Max McCoy is an award-winning author and journalist. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Kansas duck zones may change soon, what to know
TOPEKA (KSNT) – State wildlife officials are set to meet in Topeka in late March to vote on Kansas' duck zones and coyote night vision hunting season. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) said in a press release that commissioners will meet at noon on Thursday, March 27 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library to hold discussions and votes on a variety of topics. Some of the topics that KDWP commissioners may vote on during the meeting include: 2025-2026 waterfowl season date, bag and possession limits. Kansas duck zones. K.A.R. 115-25-8 elk – open season, bag limits and permits. K.A.R. 115-25-9 big game regulations 2025 deer permit quotas. Park officials target invasive trees spreading in Kansas Clawson said Kansas' duck zones can only be changed once every five years in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the four Flyway Councils. Commissioners may decide to alter the established Kansas duck zones for the 2026-2027 season. 'The discussion at next week's Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission meeting is to kick off the first of two workshop sessions to evaluate Kansas's duck zone boundaries,' Clawson said. 'If it's determined any changes are warranted, they would be up for commission action later this summer.' KDWP commissioners and other attendees will also hear about topics like the downlisting of some Kansas threatened and endangered species, nonresident waterfowl hunting, camping fees and snagging of invasive carp. KDWP Secretary Chris Kennedy will also deliver remarks on coyote night vision hunting season. You can watch the meeting live by clicking here. You can read through the full agenda for the meeting by clicking here. The KDWP will meet again on Thursday, April 24 at the Flint Oak Hunting Resort in Fall River. What are the pink mystery rocks scattered across northeast Kansas? For more Kansas Outdoors, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
