Latest news with #NormalPeople
Buzz Feed
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
19 Popular Books That Are Actually Really Overrated
Sometimes, I don't know how to trust the book recs on BookTok. It's easy to say that art is subjective, but occasionally a book will blow up to such a degree that when I get my hands on it, I ask the universe, "What am I missing here?" So when Reddit user sbucksbarista asked, "What are the worst books social media has introduced to you?", I had to share the answers with you fellow bookworms. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover surrounding It Ends With Us is cringeworthy. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros Normal People by Sally Rooney A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas The Midnight Library by Matt Haig They Both Die in the End by Adam Silvera Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin someone tells me they didn't like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. A Little Life by Hanya Yanaginhara Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller The Martian by Andy Weir Maybe the movie was just better. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Dark Matter by Blake Crouch someone hates on Blake Crouch. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin Bunny by Mona Awad Babel by R. F. Kuang Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica And my favourite: Any popular horror novel that's not Stephen King! I have my own personal "big misses" that BookTok tricked me into reading, including Cloud Cuckoo Land, Our Missing Hearts, and The God of the Woods. Now, tell me in the comments the popular books that YOU think are maybe our thread will get as heated as Reddit. And make sure you follow BuzzFeed Canada on TikTok and Instagram for more!
The Journal
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Controversial Mayo data centre project opposed by author Sally Rooney stalled
CONTENTIOUS PLANS TO proceed with a data centre in Co Mayo opposed by international best-selling author, Sally Rooney have been stalled. This follows a third party appeal lodged with An Bord Pleanala against Mayo County Council's decision to grant planning permission last month to Mayo Data Hub Ltd for a data centre at Mullafarry and Tawnaghmore Upper, Killala. One of the objectors to the data centre, Colin Doyle from Station Rd, Ennis, Co Clare has lodged the third party appeal. The data centre for a site located 1.8km to the south of Killala and 10.5km to the north of Ballina will require 50MW average electrical power to operate. A planning report lodged with the application by John Spain Associates states that proposed development 'will attract complementary technology-based companies within the ICT sector and complementary industries to the west of Ireland which will provide for higher paying jobs and activate the local economy'. The Spain planning report also states that the electricity grid in the west of Ireland is currently unconstrained with sufficient capacity to accommodate the required connection for the data centre. The report states that the project 'was in fact situated in this part of Ireland after consultation with Eirgrid because this location is outside grid constrained areas and in a region with a surplus of renewable power'. In his original objection with the Council, Doyle stated that his main concern was indirect greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) generated by the data centre and the resulting impact on climate. In her own objection to the centre, Sally Rooney told the Council that 'I urge you in the strongest possible terms to refuse planning permission for this wasteful, unnecessary and environmentally toxic proposal'. Rooney said that she was making this submission 'as a resident of County Mayo and a concerned citizen.' The Normal People and Intermezzo author said: 'Climate change represents an immediate and unprecedented threat to our way of life here in Mayo and to the future of human life around the world'. Advertisement She said: 'Unless we act now to stop runaway overheating, children born today are likely to witness a catastrophic breakdown of global civilisation.' Rooney said that in 2023, 'private corporate data centres accounted for 21% of Ireland's total electricity usage – more than all urban households combined'. Rooney said: 'The truth is that these data centres exist largely to support online advertising. Some estimates suggest that online ads account for 50% of internet data usage; others put the figure between 60% and 80%. She added: 'Whatever the specific figure, online advertising is extremely energy-intensive and is increasing in scale all the time, requiring more data centres, more energy, and more fossil fuels. Rooney said: 'Advertising, needless to say, is pointless. It adds no value to the real economy. It does not improve the overall quality of life for anyone. It is an utter waste of resources. At the best of times, this seems a shame; at a time of urgent global crisis, it is a catastrophe.' Rooney argued that 'wasteful consumption of electricity is a disaster. Not only does it drive energy prices upward for ordinary consumers; it also increases the total demand for energy and thus the total demand for fossil fuels' Rooney said that as the applicants have conceded that the project will result in the emission of more carbon dioxide' into our already overheated atmosphere'. She said: 'This additional atmospheric carbon will contribute to climate change not only here in County Mayo, but everywhere on the earth, as part of the catastrophic planetary crisis that is global warming.' Rooney further contended that 'Carbon credits' and 'offsetting programmes' deployed by operators of data centres 'act only as a smokescreen for corporations that want to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for profit'. She said: 'These gases have already been responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, and in the coming years we can be confident they will claim the lives of thousands more. No complicated EU policy instrument can wave that fact away.' In her six-page submission, Rooney further stated that 'Not only would this proposed data centre represent a wasteful use of precious and limited electricity; it could also endanger that vital resource for other users, including hospitals and homes.' A decision is due on the appeal in September.
Daily Mirror
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Daisy Edgar-Jones looks totally different in throwback snap as star turns 27
Fans have noticed that Daisy Edgar-Jones, who celebrates her 27th birthday today, is looking completely different these days - and is almost unrecognisable in a throwback snap from January 2020 when she was in her early 20s Daisy Edgar-Jones, best known for her roles in Normal People and Where the Crawdads Sing, turns 27 today (May 24). She first burst onto the scene in Cold Feet and War of the Worlds, and has had an illustrious career since. She has an Instagram following of almost three million fans. The glamorous actress, from London, is no stranger to posting stunning snaps on social media. But in a picture of her from five years ago, she looks totally different, and fans can't get enough. Back in 2020, she posted a photo captioned: "Vanity Fair Bafta Rising Star Party," and Daisy looks like a different person. The photo was posted to her Instagram in January of that year, just before the Covid pandemic. Sporting cropped brunette hair and wearing a silky pink gown with a sweet floral pattern across the bust, she looked youthful and adorable, and received many comments complimenting her at the time she posted it. "I love this photo, you look stunning," one fan penned, with another adding: "Bleeeeedin hell here she is," followed by fire emojis. People even called her "magic" thanks to her natural beauty. Now, Daisy sports a more mature look, opting for longer hair and even more pared-back, fashionable clothing. During a recent trip to Cannes, she sported a black figure-hugging bandeau dress with embellishments all over it as she smiled for the cameras. But what fans were more obsessed with was the fact that she was seen with Normal People co-star Paul Mescal. While the pair have always maintained that they are friends, some fans have always hoped the pair might share a romantic bond. Someone wrote: "The way Paul & Daisy always have the biggest smile when they're together". "He's never going to beat the allegations," another added, but a fan responded: "This is just a picture," suggesting that it didn't actually mean anything that the pair had been photographed together. The pair have spoken about their relationship several times. They have always maintained that they share a close friendship, with Daisy saying Paul is one of her "lifetime best friends," and that she loves him platonically. Paul Mescal is currently dating singer and songwriter Gracie Abrams, who made headlines when she joined Taylor Swift's Eras Tour as an opening act in 2023 and 2024. She then released the song 'That's So True,' which went on to become a viral sound on TikTok thanks to hundreds of thousands of people using it in their videos. Daisy is also in a happy relationship with her partner, photographer Ben Seed. They were first publicly seen together during an outing in London, where they were photographed embracing, kissing, and holding hands in 2023.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yes, Paul Mescal can sing in 'The History of Sound'
CANNES, France — If you are not perpetually online, you may have missed a TikTok titled 'Paul Mescal Having Pipes for a Minute Straight.' Ardent fans already know that Mescal — jovial Irish lad IRL and incredibly talented sad boy from 'Normal People,' 'All of Us Strangers' and 'Aftersun' — can sing. They've circulated 2012 clips of him playing Javert in 'Les Misérables' and the titular role in 'Phantom of the Opera,' both from when he was 16 and in high school. Occasionally, the actor, 29, has posted videos of himself playing piano and singing at home, including a lovely, impressive duet of 'Nothing Arrived' by Irish indie folk group Villagers alongside Mescal's sister, Nell. He's also been a surprise guest vocalist at a concert of Irish singer Dermot Kennedy, played guitar and sang in a music video for a mostly songless film adaptation of the opera 'Carmen,' and even performed a musical parody of 'Gladiator II' on SNL in 2024 — which may be the first time the public became aware of those pipes. That word, though, hadn't quite gone international, judging from the pleasantly surprised gasps, impressed murmurs and longing sighs that echoed throughout the theater during the premiere of Mescal's singing-infused period epic, 'The History of Sound,' at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday night. Ever since the film — a quiet, heartbreaking gay romance set in and around World War I — was announced as a Cannes selection, there have been two burning questions: How's the chemistry between its co-stars, Mescal and Josh O'Connor — two of the biggest young actors of the moment? And how's Mescal's singing? Reviews have been giving shockingly little space to either of these very important topics, so it seemed imperative to dive in. The sepia-toned film — from South African director Oliver Hermanus ('Moffie,' 'Living'), with a script that Ben Shattuck adapted from his own short story — is told from the perspective of Mescal's Lionel, a farm boy raised on guitar-plucked folk songs in rural Kentucky who has both synesthesia and a voice that lands him at the Boston Conservatory of Music. At a bar, Lionel overhears a fellow music student, O'Connor's David at the piano playing a song Lionel's father used to sing to him. Soon, David gets the entire bar to quiet down and cajoles the much-shier Lionel into singing a traditional ballad for him, 'Silver Dagger,' which is essentially a mother's warning to her daughter about men. The only sound in the scene is Mescal's absolutely angelic voice, until David, listening intently, starts accompanying him on piano. Mescal brings a sense of utter joy to Lionel as he sings; this is what he loves more than anything in the world. And you can tell from O'Connor's face that David is mesmerized. It's hard for the audience not to be, too. David immediately begs Lionel to sing him every folk song he knows. That lesson turns into many other joyous nights around the piano, and eventually a night when David asks Lionel to walk him home and the two take their bond to its natural next step. After being torn apart by war, they embark on a blissful summer together hiking through Maine to 'collect' recordings of American folk songs on wax cylinders. There are long dialogue-free stretches, and even when the men are talking, an economy of words. The end of that summer is perhaps the film's greatest tragedy. Early reviews of the film and singing have been mixed. The film's tone was too 'listless' for some, and the BBC's Nicholas Barber wrote that 'Mescal's singing never sounds any better than anyone else's in the film.' Still, his many plaintive renditions of American heritage songs — which were stuck in this viewer's head for days — are deeply felt. 'The power of the music alone makes it one of the most unabashedly romantic LGBTQ films in recent memory,' wrote David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter. Much of the premiere audience had no quibbles, and seemed primed to love anything Mescal did. The two young women sitting next to this reporter were practically shaking with excitement that they'd scored last-minute seats, and sighed deeply every time Mescal let that lovely voice fly. The actor got a 'We love you, Paul!' shouted from the balcony, and a prolonged standing ovation once the movie ended. Mescal said during Thursday's news conference that he's long been surrounded by the kind of traditional Irish music that influenced so much of the American folk music in the film, 'so it's music that I grew up being familiar with,' he said. (O'Connor couldn't attend the premiere because he's filming Stephen Spielberg's untitled new sci-fi film with Emily Blunt. Rooney accurately describes his charming singing style as 'tuneful' but 'with more gusto than vocal skill.') This film is, bar none, the most of Mescal's singing his fans will hear yet — at least until he finally gets the Broadway musical he's broadcasted wanting to do. As for the chemistry question, the actors are overflowing with it. 'Josh is one of the easiest people to build chemistry with,' Mescal said at the news conference. '[Josh] has a great gift [in that] the person the general public sees is very close to the person we know,' Mescal continued. 'That's a very difficult thing for an actor to do in today's age.' The two men were attached to the film as it developed for four or five years and already came to know each other well. For three or four weeks, they filmed in the woods together, sharing inside jokes and warming up in cars instead of film trailers. On-screen, that gravitational pull is rarely shown with the touching of flesh, but rather through loving, sometimes lustful gazes and dialogue laden with unspoken meaning. More than a few critics brought up parallels to 'Brokeback Mountain,' Ang Lee's celebrated 2005 story of repression and longing among cowboys. Mescal pushed back on that notion in the news conference: 'I personally don't see the parallels to 'Brokeback Mountain,' other than we spend a little bit of time in a tent, but to each their own.' He added, 'To be honest, I find those comparisons relatively lazy and frustrating. For the most part, I think that the relationship that I have to the film is born out of the fact that it's a celebration of these two men's love, not a film about their repressed relationship with their sexuality.' Mubi bought the film out of Cannes and will be bringing it to North America sometime this year. The exact release date is unknown, but it will surely be accompanied by new TikToks of Mescal having pipes, and rightly so.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Yes, Paul Mescal can sing in ‘The History of Sound'
CANNES, France — If you are not perpetually online, you may have missed a TikTok titled, 'Paul Mescal Having Pipes for a Minute Straight.' Ardent fans already know that Mescal — jovial Irish lad IRL and incredibly talented sad boy from 'Normal People,' 'All of Us Strangers' and 'Aftersun' — can sing. They've circulated 2012 clips of him playing Javert in 'Les Misérables' and the titular role in 'Phantom of the Opera,' both from when he was 16 and in high school. Occasionally, the actor, 29, has posted videos of himself playing piano and singing at home, including a lovely, impressive duet of 'Nothing Arrived' by Irish indie folk group Villagers alongside Mescal's sister, Nell.
