Latest news with #Laurie
Powys County Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Netflix star of Fool Me Once to star in new BBC series
The Powys star of hit Netflix show Fool Me Once will be starring in a new BBC feel-good series which boasts a top tier cast. Laurie Kynaston, who hails from Llanfyllin, is currently filming in Dublin a six-part series based on the award-winning, bestselling novel Leonard and Hungry Paul. The story follows two unique board-gaming friends meandering through leafy suburban life, charting a story about Judo, ancient Rome, first loves, and the expansion of the Universe. Laurie, 31, stars alongside Derry Girls ' Jamie-Lee O'Donnell and The End of the F***ing World's Alex Lawther in the series which has been filmed throughout May in Ireland. "Having the time of me little life over in Dublin with this lot," Laurie shared in a post on social media which was liked by fellow Fool Me Once star Michelle Keegan. "Leonard and Hungry Paul are fantastic people and we couldn't be making this show with a better bunch." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laurie Kynaston (@lauriekynaston) The former Llanfyllin High School pupil has been hailed as an emerging talent after winning an Evening Standard Theatre Award for his performance in The Son and also receiving a WhatsOnStage Award nomination. Most recently, he has starred in Harlen Coben's Fool Me Once mystery-drama Netflix mini-series alongside Dame Joanna Lumley and in the Disney+ drama about Anne Franks, A Small Light. In 2015, Laurie returned to Llanfyllin High School to take acting workshops with several drama students and visit his drama teacher Mandy Saunders who described her former student as 'always hardworking and disciplined' who paid 'meticulous attention to detail'. 'It is wonderful to see how his hard work has paid off and we are all so proud of his success- he deserves it!' she added. Llanfyllin High School also boasts an Oscar winner among its former pupils. Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain-raised cinematographer Lol Crawley won the prestigious award for his work in the epic period drama The Brutalist starring Adrien Brody. Speaking about Leonard and Hungry Paul, Eddie Doyle, Senior Head of Content Commissioning at BBC Northern Ireland, said : 'This series promises something special and is full of charm and poignant moments that encapsulate ordinary life. 'With a stellar cast bringing this acclaimed novel to the screen, it will make an exciting addition to BBC Northern Ireland's offering this year.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Built for the Wild: Aorkuler GPS Tracker Gives Dog Owners Peace of Mind--Even Without Cell Service
Reliable, real-time tracking with no subscriptions, no cell signal needed, and no bulky gear. SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- For dog owners who live off the beaten path or spend weekends in the backcountry, most GPS trackers come with two major problems: they rely on spotty cell service and require ongoing monthly fees. Aorkuler offers a different path — a GPS dog tracker without subscription or cell signal that's lightweight, easy to use, and built for real adventures. Now available across the U.S., Aorkuler has gained traction among rural pet owners and outdoor adventurers alike. The system includes a small tracker that clips to the dog's collar and a handheld receiver that displays real-time direction and distance — all without needing Wi-Fi or a phone connection. "We heard from people who hike with their dogs, live on farms, or travel off-grid — and they all said the same thing: they just wanted something that works," said Casou, product manager at Aorkuler. "No apps, no monthly payments, no signal headaches. That's exactly what we set out to build." A Blind Dog, the Colorado Wilderness, and a Simple Solution Laurie Luce, who lives in rural Colorado, adopted River — a blind rescue dog who loves the outdoors. But over time, River began to stray farther during walks, sometimes losing track of Laurie entirely. Finding a solution that didn't rely on cell service wasn't easy — until she came across Aorkuler. "It was the answer I didn't know existed," said Laurie. "Now, I always know where River is. It's given both of us more freedom and confidence." Laurie's story has resonated with other pet parents caring for senior or special-needs dogs, as well as those whose pets simply love to roam. Built for Real-Life Dogs, Not Just Big Gear Unlike heavy-duty tracking systems often designed for hunting dogs, Aorkuler is compact and easy to carry — even for smaller breeds and non-technical users. It's waterproof, ready for rough conditions, and doesn't need cellular towers to guide owners to their dogs. Veterinarians are also starting to take note. Dr. Richard S., a vet and dog owner living in rural Western Canada, tested the Aorkuler with his energetic Gordon Setter and found it far more reliable than subscription-based options. "If you live in a rural area with limited cell service, or if you take your dog into remote areas with no cell service at all, the Aorkuler dog tracker may be the answer for you," said Dr. Richard S. "When the numbers start decreasing, I know he's on his way back long before I spot him again. It's always gratifying when I call him and almost immediately the numbers go down." About Aorkuler Aorkuler is a pet technology company focused on real-world solutions for dog owners who live, travel, or play beyond the reach of traditional systems. By removing subscriptions, apps, and the need for cell signal, Aorkuler gives owners more freedom — and more peace of mind — wherever their dogs go. To learn more, visit or contact [service@ View original content: SOURCE Aorkuler Sign in to access your portfolio
Irish Examiner
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
True friendships are central to our wellbeing and good for our health
Gal pals Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate in the hit series The White Lotus rewrite the script on how female friendships are typically shown on our screens. We've become accustomed to seeing the likes of Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe cheerfully popping in and out of each other's apartments and being intimately involved in each other's lives on Friends. Or Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte confiding in each other over cocktails on Sex and the City. The dynamic on The White Lotus is different. These three successful women have been friends since childhood, and in the opening episode, are buzzing with an excitable energy as they catch up on each other's lives on their luxury trip to Thailand. But over the next seven episodes, cracks emerge in their relationship as they compare themselves with one another and cattily compete to present their lives in the most flattering light. I know from personal experience how complicated female friendship can be. I still remember the shock of listening to a local radio request while driving one day. It was from a pal congratulating our mutual friend on her engagement — the first time I heard about it. The newly engaged friend and I had once been besties, spending hours on the phone giggling over jokes only we understood. Her not telling me this life-changing news left me feeling profound and painful rejection. Chatting with others online, I've learned I'm not the only one to have experienced a friendship breakup. A woman named Grace [name changed] tells me how she met her friend at school and thought they would be friends forever. 'But when I married and relocated west, our paths diverged and our once natural conversations started to turn into uncomfortable exchanges,' she says. 'One day, we disagreed about something trivial and she stopped responding to my messages. No explanation. Just silence.' She felt grief-stricken afterwards. She describes the feeling as 'the profound sorrow of losing someone who was still alive but had completely disappeared from my world.' GP, mental health expert, and the author of books such as The Power of Connection, Harry Power, explains why friends are so important. Gal pals Laurie, Jaclyn and Kate in the White Lotus series. 'Our relationships with them are some of the closest relationships we have, more intimate perhaps than our relationships with family,' he says. 'With true friends, we can be totally ourselves and tell each other anything and everything that's going on in our lives. And when life gets hard and things go wrong, friends are there to support us.' Dr Ann-Marie Creaven is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Limerick and specialises in social connectedness. She says we have a fundamental need for close connections. 'Just as we need food and water, we also need to feel we matter to other people and that we belong,' she says. 'Friendships fulfil that need.' Friendship has also been shown to be good for our health. US research published in 2019 reported that having social supports significantly predicted wellbeing and helped protect against depression and anxiety. Another study in 2019 analysed data from 479,054 people in Britain found that people who lacked friends were at higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death. Because friends are so central to our wellbeing, Creaven understands why it is so painful to lose one. However, she believes it might help if we understood that friendships are likely to change as we move through the different stages of life. 'In adolescence, for example, friends help us figure out who we are as we establish independence from our parents,' she says. 'It's exciting to have them with us on that journey of self-discovery. But as we transition into adulthood, we don't rely on friends for our sense of identity in that same way. And because we're no longer at school, we don't see them as much. This can change the intensity of the relationship.' The natural flow of friendship Barry says it might help to see some friendships as seasonal, rather than for life. 'Realistically, most of us will only ever have a small number of lifelong friends, four or five people who will last the pace,' he says. 'But that's not to say we won't enjoy shorter-lived friendships with others. 'Parents we meet at the school gates or at the kids' soccer practice, for example. These connections might then fade when our children leave school. 'Life brings us in different directions and changes us as it does so. It's part of the natural flow of life that our friendships will change, too. But just because we grow apart from someone doesn't mean the friendship never mattered.' This may be pragmatic advice, but it can still hurt when you feel that a once-close confidant has become distant. Creaven suggests two approaches to help deal with such feelings. One is to readjust expectations, particularly if we're overly reliant on particular pals to meet our emotional needs. 'No one person can meet all of your needs, and expecting them to do so will only put pressure on the friendship,' she says. 'So no matter how much you love spending time with any particular person, try to remember there are other people who can add to your life too.' The other is to have a conversation with friends about what's happening. 'You might think they've forgotten about you because they're not checking in as often as they used to but it could be that they are just distracted by their new lives,' she says. 'If the friendship is still important to you both, maybe you could suggest things you could do to keep it up.' However, if the friendship is destined to end, she says it's best to accept it, adding that a friendship breakup can have ripple effects in your social circle, causing people in the group to feel uncomfortable about inviting you both to social occasions. 'But if neither of you makes an issue of it, then others shouldn't make an issue of it either.' Losing a friend can make us appreciate the friends we still have all the more. Despite our busy, time-poor lives, Barry urges us to make time to nurture those relationships. 'It's very easy not to make time for friends when life is hectic,' he says. 'But life won't always be hectic, and you'll have a big gap in your life if you've allowed your friendships to wither.' Talk openly about life's demands Making the effort to reconnect with friends doesn't have to be overly demanding. 'Tell your friend that you're busy but that you want to maintain the friendship and ask them how they think you can do this,' he says. 'Have a chat about it. It could be that you arrange to meet once a week for coffee or once a month for a glass of wine. You might text or call each other at regular intervals. It's that regular communication that will keep your connection alive.' Creaven adds that spending time with friends doesn't even have to be spent doing something special. 'You could both go to the same gym class every week or they could even call over for coffee while you fold your laundry,' she says. 'What you do together isn't the important thing. It's giving each other the chance to catch up on what's going on in each other's lives.' Beware of relying too much on platforms such as WhatsApp. Text messages and voice notes might make us feel as if we're maintaining friendships despite not seeing people very often. But while they can keep us in contact, they don't always provide a real connection. 'What people value most is spending time in person,' says Creaven. 'Even if all you can do is meet up once a year, it shows that you are willing to make an effort to maintain the friendship.' Grace now has a more philosophical view on her friendship breakup. 'I spent so long replaying past conversations as I questioned what I had done to cause it,' she says. 'But I understand now that friendships don't always last forever.' I'm trying to be equally accepting. Life has taken my friend and I in different directions and stretched our relationship to breaking point in the process but I'll always be grateful for the closeness we shared. She was once such a support to me and we used to laugh so much. I miss that but I've learned from the experience and I'll make sure the friends I'm lucky to have in my life today know just how much they matter. Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate appear to arrive at a similar conclusion at the end of The White Lotus. Here's hoping we can grow our friendships so that they add meaning and depth to our lives. Read More Scaling Ireland's highest peaks in aid of charity supporting adult survivors of child sexual abuse
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
We were born to run outside to escape from Highway 29
The tea towel, the glistening pint glass and the hands holding both fell still. Hannah's attention was fixed on the table in the corner, and the rising volume of the quarrel that had just erupted. Two old mates, pub regulars, looked ready to trade blows. Not good. Suddenly, both men were on their feet. Hannah strode towards them. "Laurie! Les! What the hell?" But Laurie was already threading his way through the tables, making for the door. His face set hard in the rigour of wrath. Les watched him go. "Don't just stand there you old fool — go after him. You guys have been mates since before I was born. Get out there and set this right." Les scowled, gulping down what was left of his ale. "I've had it with that right-wing prick," he hissed, reaching for his cap — "had it up to here". "No you haven't, Les", Hannah said softly. "I know how much you two look forward to your bouts of political jousting. So don't you try and tell me this is about politics. "Get out there and find out what's really upsetting the two of you. Go on." Les's shoulders slumped. He sniffed. "All right, all right. Just bring us out another couple of ales, will you." The ageing Boomer breathed deep and followed his friend out on to the wet wooden deck. Laurie was standing at the rail, staring blankly into a landscape made indistinct by autumnal rain. The day's palette of sombre greys, thin blues and deep greens matched the men's now flattened emotions. "Sorry, mate," Les stood woodenly at Laurie's side, his eyes locked, like his friend's, on the middle-distance — a blurred composition of hills and trees. "That was uncalled for. I don't know why I said it. It isn't true." Laurie nodded imperceptibly. "Apology accepted, old friend, but unnecessary. I'd been needling you all afternoon." "Yeah," Les's voice was without rancour. "It's in the air, mate. Anger, cruelty, bitter rage. We're taking it in with every breath, like some colourless, odourless, poisonous gas. But where's it coming from? Whose making it? And how the hell do we turn it off? Because it's killing us?" "You don't blame the internet?" "Of course I blame the bloody internet. Everybody blames the bloody internet. But that's too easy — isn't it? Sure, it carries our rage far and wide — but does it make our rage?" Les turned to take the glasses of ale Hannah had carried out to them on a tray. Acknowledging her approving expression with a wan smile. "Some say that it does, by using algorithms, whatever they are. They reckon social media software somehow reads our emotional state and amplifies it. "Apparently, a rarked-up audience is more profitable to these tech billionaires than a placid one." Laurie shook his head. "How can that be true, Les? Every ruler throughout history has preferred placid subjects to angry ones." "Maybe. But, it's also true that those in charge would rather have the masses at each other's throats than clamouring for their heads. Maybe the anger and division encouraged by social media is a feature — not a bug?" "Perhaps. But I think the rage was there long before the internet. Long before social media. Long before smartphones." He paused. "You're a big fan of Bruce Springsteen, right?" Les asked. "Huge fan." "Do you recall his song Highway 29 , about a pair of doomed lovers, and a bank robbery that goes horribly wrong? That last verse, when the guy says something like: 'I told myself it was something in her. But I knew it was something in me. Something that had been coming for a long, long time. Something that was with me now on Highway 29'." "Yeah, I do. It's off The Ghost of Tom Joad — one of his best albums." "Yes, that's right, and I agree, one of his best. And you know, Les, when I look at our country today, I think about those words. We are all so keen to put the blame on those who are travelling with us. Those who aren't responsible for our crimes. But we're wrong to do that. Because what's emerging now has been working its way out of us for a long, long, time." Laurie sighed, and put down his glass. "Les, I've got an awful feeling we're on Highway 29." ■Chris Trotter is an Auckland writer and commentator.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michelle Monaghan reveals the sweetest unscripted moment in ‘The White Lotus' Season 3 (and the ladies' water aerobics instructor)
For many fans of The White Lotus' trip to Thailand, the final dinner shared by the women known as the Blonde Blob and the Toxic Trio will remain their fondest memory of the HBO series' third season. In the finale, TV star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and her childhood best friends, New York City lawyer Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Austin socialite Kate (Leslie Bibb), sit down for one last awkward meal, with church-going conservative Kate declaring all their metaphorical gardens in bloom and famous Jaclyn insisting she's been on cloud nine all week despite feeling so deprived of attention that she cheated on her husband with the man she'd been trying to get divorced Laurie to bed. But then, it's Laurie's turn to speak, and she admits she's actually been sad, contemplating her misplaced faith in her career, love life, or motherhood saving her. She's had an epiphany, however: Time gives her life meaning, and talking to her oldest friends feels very deep even when it's happening poolside. More from GoldDerby 'It: Welcome to Derry' gets creepy trailer, Elle Fanning joins 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,' 'Yellowjackets' renewed, and more top news today Cannes: Scarlett Johansson's 'Eleanor the Great' scores praise and Oscar buzz for June Squibb 'Somebody Somewhere' final season aims big for 2025 Emmys: Bridget Everett in Best Actress, Comedy Writing, and Original Music categories The cathartic scene ends with each of the women saying "I love you" — which Monaghan tells Gold Derby wasn't scripted. "You have to understand, in [creator Mike White]'s process, you don't really rehearse. You just kind of rock up and you say your lines. So we were stunned at [Carrie's] performance and the vulnerability," she says. "The more we got into it, and we got to witness and be good listeners, it just felt very natural for us to have that very authentic moment together." The women had also grown close off-screen during the long shoot. They didn't know each other when they were cast, but quickly established a group text to create that sense of history. "We didn't take for granted how fortunate we were to be three women working together in a show. I've been in this industry for over 20 years, and I can count on one hand the number of times my costar has been a woman," Monaghan says. "Immediately we knew we were in a very privileged position, and the three of us have been working a long time, so we really respect the process. We understand how integral prep is, and we wanted to start that bond immediately. I don't know which one of us said, 'Hey, show me your best 10-year-old picture.' We dug up some pictures, and we started texting and sharing questions like, 'When was your first kiss?' We just started to have that dialogue, and it was really fun and really helpful." SEE How Natasha Rothwell helped Belinda get her groove back in The White Lotus Season 3 Once they arrived in Thailand, their storyline kicked off production. "The three of us spent a lot of time together, just bonding over water aerobics, believe it or not. Leslie is a very good water aerobics instructor," Monaghan says with a laugh. "And so we would run lines and just talk and gossip, and do the things that we were all meant to do to build that dynamic. It was just a beautiful process, and we kept that going throughout our entire experience." You'd think playing an actress would be easy for Monaghan, but the idea of portraying perpetually sun-soaked Jaclyn (whose unnamed TV show even she doesn't know) made her nervous. "I felt like, it's very meta. How does one play an actress? It hit a little bit close to the bone," she says. Once she had her first Zoom with White, and read all eight scripts, she felt way more at ease. "I discovered all the layers and the subtleties and all of the beautiful complexities that Mike White, of course, brings to each and every character," she says. "The beautiful thing about Mike is, and I'm sure he's said it publicly, he's never really written anything that he hasn't observed and experienced himself. He's been a part of this industry for such a long time, and I don't think he's written an actor before." White has shared how he observed three women on vacation and couldn't tell them apart until one of them left and the others started talking about her — a scenario that plays out repeatedly for Laurie, Kate, and Jaclyn. "He thought it would be interesting if Jaclyn, someone who has this privilege and enjoys the benefits of her fame and utilizes that, would do her friends a favor and take them on a trip of her lifetime, and see how those nuances might arise in terms of that constant comparison in that competitiveness that you see the ladies endure and also perpetuate," Monaghan says. It was important to both her and White to find moments where Jaclyn is humbled and humanized. "She likes to create a lot of drama. My inspiration was a butterfly: She's very colorful and lively, but somehow she knows she has the really short lifespan in terms of career and vanity. As the week starts to devolve, I wanted to see her looking for that external validation in all the wrong places," Monaghan says, noting that the ladies getting caught in the festive Songkran water gun street fight was one of her favorite sequences to film (and also foreshadowed the trio witnessing the real gunfire in the season finale). HBO "I wanted to see a woman who we want to believe is charmed or different or extraordinary, but she's just like us. You know, she's human, and she is ordinary. I just wanted to make sure that we found those moments of a little bit of self-reflection," she says. "And even though she's probably a great actress, she's a terrible liar. That was something that I really wanted to bring to the table." Monaghan thinks viewers were fully invested in the fate of the women's relationship by Episode 3, when Jaclyn and Laurie come to realize registered independent Kate voted for Trump. "That was a conversation that a lot of people are having around their dinner tables," Monaghan says. "I think that was a very special scene not just because of the subject matter, but it also really highlights what Mike White does so well, which is he allows his actors to really live in the moment in a nonverbal way. That's where all of the actors shine. I don't know if a lot of directors allow their actors to hold space like that, and there was a lot of pregnant pauses and looks that felt very authentic to that conversation, and I think people were kind of having a holy shit moment with that. So it was nice to see how it affected audiences." That kind of freedom brings out different layers in a performance, Monaghan says. She credits White being a keen observer of people and an empath. "He likes to feel the dialogue. He likes to feel the tension. And because he is that person, you just have that inherent permission from him. And by the time you start working and he sees the qualities that you're bringing to the table as a performer, he can fine-tune you. He just understands the range." White being an actor himself makes filming The White Lotus a particularly collaborative experience. "He has such a specific tone. So if I felt like at some point, I wasn't getting a line or I was just off by like a percentage, I'd be like, 'Just give me a line read,' and he would just give me a sense of what direction he wanted it to go," she says. "He's an actor, so you know he gets it, and it's not offensive, and then you kind of nail it, and then at some point he just goes, 'Oh, just do what Jaclyn would do.' Which is like, 'Oh, wow!' That essentially means that you've embodied the role, and then you can just really let loose and have a lot of fun. And it's very rewarding to hear him laugh. I'm sure you've heard many people say, 'If you can hear his cackle…' It's more gratifying than it probably should be." What does Monaghan think Jaclyn will do when she returns home from Thailand? "I think she's fulfilled her promise to her friends, but I don't know if this trip has filled her cup, so to speak," she says. "Part of me feels like she's been able to maintain these deep friendships, and she's going to leave paradise and go back to her little bubble in Malibu, but also know that this friendship is intact and that it's been able to survive these ups and downs. And no doubt there will be more ups and downs in their future, but they're connected." Best of GoldDerby 'The Four Seasons' star Erika Henningsen on the 'biggest opportunity' she's ever been given and what might happen in Season 2 TV makeup and hair panel: 'Bridgerton,' 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' and 'The Wheel of Time' 'The Wheel of Time' makeup, hair, and prosthetics head Davina Lamont breaks down Rand's multiple looks in Rhuidean Click here to read the full article.
