Latest news with #Scrooge
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
In the case of Emma Raducanu and the crying child, it's clear who's to blame
As a childless man who hates sunshine, parties and the countryside, I am among the last people who should be consulted about banning young children from public places. What do you expect me to say? To quote an unfairly misused businessman in Charles Dickens's most adapted story, 'Are there no … union workhouses?' Okay, I don't exactly think that. But this week's contretemps at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament did bring out the Scrooge in me. Emma Raducanu became visibly irritated at the continuous crying of a small child. As the British ace prepared to serve, she turned to the umpire and remarked, 'It's been, like, 10 minutes.' Here's where it got interesting. 'It's a child. Do you want me to send the child out of the stadium?' the umpire replied in an apparently puzzled tone. Not unreasonably, Raducanu, who seems a polite young woman, gestured in exasperation to those fans who were answering the (presumably rhetorical) question with a firm 'Yes!' As ever with such viral moments, if you dig a little deeper you discover the lines of combat were not so starkly drawn as online commentary suggested. 'I can call in, but we need to continue for the moment,' the umpire said during a later break. READ MORE Raducanu, ranked 39th in the world, did go on to lose the match against Aryna Sabalenka but, taking the world number one to a tiebreak in the deciding third set of an excellent match, the Brit recovered impressively from that irritating distraction. Never mind reality. The online mob had soon gathered a library of related issues to chew over. Polls came out in favour of expelling wailing children. The cadre of digital grumps who like to 'blame the parents' were there to blame the parents. One entertaining strain of pointless whinge wondered why tennis and golf – unlike, say, boxing or soccer – demand that audiences remain silent during play. Was this a class thing? Well, not really. For all the waistcoats and bow ties, snooker, during which sepulchral calm reigns, remains a working-class sport. The notion that any referee might allow a baby to cry himself out while Mark Selby was accumulating 147 is beyond absurd. Individual sports that require focused attention on a discrete task – putting a golf ball, serving at Wimbledon , cueing on the baize – are in a different category from those in which a player strives continuously as one collective against another. Even the famously raucous crowd at darts matches will quieten down a little when Luke Littler approaches the oche. Most of the debate was, however, around the age-old question of where we should allow young people to be and how we should then expect them to behave. People who aren't me (honest) favour the approach taken by stern imperialist fathers in 19th-century England. They would be shown a son at birth and not meet him again until, standing nervously before their mahogany desk, he said goodbye in uniform before going off to be garotted in Bechuanaland. Get this right and it was almost like not having children at all. Don't mind my facetious ragging. It is now a happier time to be a parent and to be a child. Over the past 50 years or so we have allowed the walls between generations to fall away. We go to restaurants together. We attend sporting events together. A few thousand teenagers will, no doubt, be accompanying parental Oasis fans to see that Status Quo tribute act at Croke Park this weekend. Good luck to them. They were always better at this in mainland Europe. The French snort at the notion of not allowing their eerily well-behaved children to share every social event. That's probably how they got to be so eerily well-behaved. For all that, the discussion around Raducanu's inconvenience reflected a belief that too many parents have now got a little too indulgent of their littler ones. You really should not bring babies to operas, cinemas or snooker tournaments. If you do then you should be prepared to remove them once they make any noise louder than a gentle sniffle. There is a separate debate to be had (look, I'm pretending to be tolerant here) about whether venues should make more allowances for parents of young children: glassed-off areas, creche arrangements, whatever the heck else these people want. But, while such facilities remain unavailable, those attending should expect the conventions to be observed. You turn off your mobile phone. You muffle sneezes. 'It's a child!' is a perfectly reasonable riposte to some jerk complaining about your offspring crying in the supermarket. It does nothing to excuse your bringing the unfortunate wee fellow to Fidelio or the French Open. Which, now I think of it, is me admitting that, yes, I blame the parents.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Christmas Carol adaptation to feature Scrooge who ‘despises refugees'
A modern-day film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol will feature a version of Ebenezer Scrooge who 'despises refugees', the director has said. Musical movie Christmas Karma stars The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar as a contemporary Scrooge, called Mr Sood, who is haunted by three ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, Pose actor Billy Porter and British singer Boy George. Advertisement Bend It Like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha hopes the audience will be invested in the transformation of Mr Sood, and his chance to be a part of a society that doesn't allow 'Scrooges, twisted and shaped by prejudice, to grow.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Christmas Karma (@christmaskarmamovie) Former EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, singer Pixie Lott, Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran, Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville and Sanditon's Leo Suter also star in the movie. Chadha, 65, said in her director's statement: 'Our Scrooge, called Sood, is a rich British Indian who despises poor people and refugees in particular.' 'Sood has decided that immense wealth brings him status and standing, so to hell with the poor, unemployed and disenfranchised who didn't work as hard as him to get where he is.' Advertisement The movie 'is very true to the original text and sentiment', according to Chadha, and will teach audiences 'the urgent lesson of how prejudice, poverty and division in all its forms shapes Sood and our society today'. The British-Indian director added: 'A hundred and eighty-two years later, Dickens' novella still resonates globally in today's sometimes harsh world.' She also said she was inspired by a family member, who lost his home in Uganda as a child, and came to Britain around Christmas time, arriving to a hostile welcome as a refugee. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Christmas Karma (@christmaskarmamovie) 'For years he didn't feel Christmas was for him and the hardships he faced as a child left him despising it,' she said. Advertisement She added: 'For me, Christmas Karma is a legacy film with a humane message that will live on long after I do.' Soap star Dyer, 48, plays a London cabbie, while Bonneville, 61, plays the ghost of Jacob Marley. Influenced by gospel, bhangra, Christmas carols, rap and classic pop, the soundtrack features music from Take That's Gary Barlow, former All Saints member Shaznay Lewis, and England-based Punjabi bhangra singer Malkit Singh. Other adaptations of the classic novel, published in 1843, include a 2019 BBC mini series starring Adolescence actor Stephen Graham, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Advertisement On stage Doctor Who's Christopher Eccleston played Scrooge in a retelling of the story at the Old Vic in London between November 2023 and January 2024. There are also a number of film adaptations including Scrooged (1988), starring Bill Murray as an angry TV network president and modern-day Scrooge, and The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992). The film is in cinemas from November 14th.
The Herald Scotland
02-08-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Grimsby boss David Artell says win over Crawley is just the start
He said: 'I'm never satisfied, but we would've taken three goals from three different scorers with a clean sheet as well. 'It's just a start, and we should've scored more; we should've been a lot more ruthless. 'I don't want to sound like Scrooge at Christmas, but it's my job to keep raising standards and making sure that the players keep getting better. 'They deserve a huge amount of credit today, of course, but we'll keep coaching to get more out of them and make them better. 'We were dominant in all areas of the pitch, you don't have 41 touches in the opposition box otherwise.' It was the dream start for Irish forward Kabia – signed from Truro City – and scoring early on in his EFL debut. 'He's a pest,' added Artell on debutant scorer Kabia. 'It's why we brought him to the football club. I ask myself with strikers whether I would've wanted to play against them, and I certainly wouldn't have with him. 'Dion Conroy is no mug, but I thought he got the better of him on numerous occasions, and he deserved his goal, which you want for your forwards early in the season.' It was not the ideal start for Crawley, returning to League Two following relegation from the third tier last term, and head coach Scott Lindsey did not hold back in his assessment. He said: 'We were rubbish, that's the truth of the matter, we didn't have a shot on goal until the 57th minute. 'We were clearly off it today; they won every single second ball in the middle of the park. 'They wanted it more than we did, which is not a reflection of me or what I want. 'We were miles off it, and we deserved what we got, which was nothing. The good news is that it won't reflect anything that we do this season. 'We got beaten 6-0 away at Swindon early on in the season, we got promoted, so it can happen. 'I didn't want that, but we will learn loads from it, and we obviously have to improve massively from it. 'We can have games where we don't play well, and we can accept that, but when they don't put the effort in, I can't accept that, and there will be some very frank discussions to make sure that isn't an issue.'
Business Journals
01-07-2025
- General
- Business Journals
The Salvation Army's 'Christmas in July' is changing lives in St. Louis. Here's how you can play a part.
Christmas in July? It might seem hard to reconcile chestnuts roasting on an open fire during a season of cooking bratwurst on the grill. Actually, Christmas in July is a longstanding tradition of The Salvation Army. We use the middle of summer to start preparing for winter, the greatest season of need for our marginalized neighbors. Christmas in July also makes me think of the traditional story 'A Christmas Carol' and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. In the story, the future is shown as dark and bleak — the consequences of Scrooge's poor behavior. But that probable forecast is adjusted when Scrooge realizes the impact of his actions. At The Salvation Army of Greater St. Louis, we often see the challenges our community is up against. We take our responsibility seriously in helping individuals and families find hope by providing them with tools, resources and training, care and spiritual connection. We focus on our seven core pillars of service — food, housing, material assistance and emergency disaster services, youth development, senior services, addiction and mental health, and anti-human trafficking. expand . When we talk about our most vulnerable populations, public dialogue often focuses on things like nature vs. nurture and empowering vs. enabling, but my wild idea is simply that if we're able to serve the community — and in particular, serve children — we won't have to serve them when they're adults. Their future will be transformed — just like Scrooge's was. Their potential, perhaps elevated. Their belief in themselves, restored. You see, in 2024, we provided Christmas gifts to more than 6,500 children in St. Louis City and County alone. We sent over 1,800 children and adults to summer camp at The Salvation Army's Camp Mihaska in Bourbon, Missouri, and even more to summer day camp at our Corps Community Centers. We saw more than 250 individuals through our Pathway of Hope program in St. Louis, which provides tailored services to families that desire to take action to break generational cycles of crisis and vulnerability. Think about a summer camp experience, a homemade Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas with gifts under the tree. These are things many of us take for granted. And for a child, these experiences can be so meaningful and even formative. They can help them see the future, or a way to rise above their circumstances. They are filled with a spirit of hope they might not otherwise have. Due to economic challenges and the recent tornadoes that have impacted the St. Louis area, we anticipate the number of families requesting assistance this Christmas to increase dramatically. There are so many ways to get involved with The Salvation Army at Christmastime, and during the 11 other months of the year. This July, we would encourage you and your organization to show up for children in need in our community. Host a toy drive. We have more than a dozen companies signed up to host toy drives, benefitting our Angel Tree Toy Town distribution. Collect in July, or start in the fall and collect through Christmas. Donate toys. Don't want to donate in person? Buy gifts online from our Walmart and Amazon gift lists. Volunteer. Volunteers are the heartbeat of our organization. Get your team or department together and sign up now to volunteer in December at Angel Tree Toy Town. You'll have the opportunity to 'shop' our toy store with parents and guardians, or inventory and stock donated items, changing the lives of local children. Enjoy a movie and give back. During the month of July, the Galleria 6 Cinema will provide a free medium popcorn to anyone who drops off a toy donation valued at $5 or more. expand . In addition, on July 11 and 18, you can join The Salvation Army for Movie Nights on the Plaza at Westport Plaza. Drop off a new toy, meet our mascots and receive giveaways before enjoying a movie on the lawn with your family or friends. Based on the musical stylings of Mariah Carey, 'all (we) want for Christmas is you' and your organization to show up for the kids in our community who so desperately need this glimmer of hope. How will you show up this year? Visit for opportunities to get engaged. The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
Daily Maverick
13-06-2025
- General
- Daily Maverick
AirFryday: Petit poussin in your air fryer
Cook two baby chickens side by side in even a small air fryer basket; a great way to make the most of your new kitchen gadget. It turns out that a petit poussin (young chicken, or poussin) is a great choice for cooking whole in an air fryer. You can even cook two, perhaps more, at a time, depending on the basket size. Given its diminutive size, a petit poussin obviously cooks much quicker than a fully grown specimen. You need a whole one per serving; to divide one in two would be worthy of a Scrooge. I cooked them simply, with fresh rosemary stuffed into their cavities to flavour them from within. (Serves 2) Ingredients 2 petit poussin (baby chickens) 4 rosemary twigs Salt and white pepper to taste Rosemary olive oil or plain olive oil 2 x 500 g baby chickens Method Wash and dry the birds inside and out, mopping the inside with scrunched-up kitchen paper. Season the insides with white pepper and salt, not too much. Push rosemary twigs inside them. Preheat the air fryer at 190℃ for 10 minutes. Season them outside with salt and white pepper and coat with rosemary olive oil (or plain olive oil), spray the basket with olive oil spray, and place them in the basket with space between them, upside down. Air fry for 10 minutes at 190℃. Turn them over and cook for another 10 minutes at 190℃. Test by inserting a skewer to the bone. If the juices are pink, give it another 5 minutes.
