Latest news with #TheClash
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Wrexham: Tributes paid to 'chess king' David Bennion
On Friday, May 30, David Andrew Bennion sadly passed away, aged 64. A beloved son to the late Mary and Denis, he was known to his nearest and dearest as 'the chess king', and he spent most of his life living in Ruabon, Wrexham. David completed one-year at Keele University where he played bass and drums in an amateur punk rock band, which was honoured at his funeral by The Clash and Eddie & The Hot Rods. A floral tribute of a Knight at David's funeral by Regent House of Flowers (July 16). (Image: UGC) In his later life, his musical taste broadened to include popular and classic sounds from all eras. David was also interested in a wide variety of topics, including current affairs and politics, but his main passion in life was always chess. David was a proud member of the Wrexham Chess Club in the 1980s, with the early 2000s being the best years of his career. Graham Ives (Captain), Charles Higgie, Brian Whyte, Dave Bennion and Richard Bryant (Image: Oswestry Chess Team) He represented his country and played in tournaments across the globe, regularly contesting the Welsh Championship, including Hensol Park 2006 where he shared fifth place. He contested it again in Hensol in 2007 and later in Cardiff in 2009. But his greatest triumph was not in Britain, but the USA. The highest rated player he ever beat was Hungarian Grandmaster Emil Anka in June 2004 in the National Open, Las Vegas. Friend Charles Higgie, who remembers their time playing the game together fondly, said: "His modesty was such that I only learned of these achievements after his death. David playing chess (Image: Holmes Chapel Chess Club) "As a chess player Dave had a very interesting style. He would frequently sacrifice material for an attack. When it came off it was most impressive. "I used to joke with another chess player, Peter Lovatt, that Dave was the Mikhail Tal of the team and we gave up trying to predict the outcome of one of Dave's games while he was still playing." It was when Covid struck that Dave gave up team chess. Unlike most other players, he didn't get into playing the game online, nor did he return to it once the pandemic ended. But, more than anything, David was a much-loved family man. His niece, Tamsin George, describes her uncle as extremely kind with a dry sense of humour. She said: "We are very proud of our uncle, and happy that he found success in something he enjoyed. "He managed to travel the world for chess tournaments, against the odds. "He had a keen interest in current events, politics and so on, as well as football - he was a Wrexham supporter and used to take my grandmother to football matches, until it got a bit much for her." David also hugely influenced her love of music, as that was another great passion of his, and would often come out with obscure trivia about a band he's seen or heard in documentaries. Read more Tamsin added: "He was funny, had quite a dry sense of humour and was quite stoical about things most of the time. "He was very kind to us nieces, always asked if we were ok and liked to hear about what we had been doing." A funeral was held for David on Wednesday, July 16. His nieces wore a pendant in the shape of a King, and there was a beautiful floral tribute by Regent House of Flowers in the shape of a Knight to honour his love of chess. David is survived by his sister Fiona. He was a much-loved uncle of Tamsin, Mhairi, Ailsa and Alex, and a dear great-uncle to Rohan and Eben.
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
'The Clash': Marian Pimenta says singing competition brought her out of her comfort zone
Even though her 'The Clash' journey ended on Sunday, Marian Pimenta still has high hopes for her singing career. The college student from Lipa, Batangas told GMA News Online in an interview that although she lost, 'If matapos po 'yung journey ko sa 'The Clash,' sa 'The Clash' lang po 'yun.' ''Di po 'ko titigil kasi ito po 'yung first competition ko and bata pa 'ko. Ang dami ko pang opportunities na pwedeng ma-grab.' Marian also said that her main intent in joining the competition was for her voice to be heard, and to prove wrong those who do not believe in her. Another goal was to show people that singers of any genre can join singing competitions. 'Na-normalize na 'yung 'The Clash' is puro biritan,' she said. 'Hindi lang laging nabirit, parang diversity, magiging open-minded po mga tao na ah, sa 'The Clash' pala, hindi lang sila natingin sa mataas ang boses or mababa, natingin sila kung ano talaga 'yung ganda ng boses mo.' 'Gusto ko po ipakita sa kanila na 'yung boses ko, kahit hindi maingay, hindi siya 'yung parang malakas, 'di loud, 'di ako super confident, may mararating pa rin po ako,' she added. More than that, she hopes her 'The Clash' journey will be a way for her to inspire those with social anxiety and lacking self-confidence. She looked back on how she previously feared public speaking, socializing, and sharing her thoughts, adding that the show taught her to get out of her comfort zone. 'Every event na nangyari or every situation na napasok ko sa 'The Clash,' lagi siyang may advantage sa 'kin. Lagi siyang may binibigay sa 'kin,' Marian said. 'Ngayon po, nalabas ko 'yung personality ko nang maingay ako, nalalabas ko 'yung mga gusto kong sabihin, nakakapag kulit po ako. 'Yun po 'yung biggest achievement ko.' In a previous interview with GMA News Online, Marian likened her 'The Clash' journey to 'The Scientist' by Coldplay, saying that she gained opportunities because of the show. —JCB, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
'The Clash': Tombi Romulo thankful for a second chance at the singing competition
Tombi Romulo is the latest hopeful to get eliminated on 'The Clash 2025,' but she remains thankful for the opportunity. In an interview with GMA News Online, the Cavite native said she is she gave her best. 'Actually 'pag nanalo ka, bonus na lang 'yun eh,' Tombi said. Tombi competed in 'The Clash' Season 2, and returned as a Clashbacker to redeem herself from the loss. In the previous season, Tombi was unable to sing properly because she was sick. 'Ang gusto ko lang po, maitawid ko 'yung piyesa ko nang maayos para ma-redeem ko po 'yung sarili ko sa nangyari before,' Tombi said. She added, 'Happy pa rin ako. Pasalamatan ko pa rin sila direk. Direk, thank you so much kasi kung hindi dahil sa inyo, wala ulit ako dito sa 'The Clash.' Thankful pa din.' Tombi said she is leaving the competition with lots of lessons learned, like how to bond with the Clashbackers, New Clashers, and the staff. ''Yung lesson po kasi na naranasan ko doon is kailangan palaging matulog nang maayos, ingatan 'yung health. Kasi kapag may sakit ang katawan, ang hirap. 'Pag may sakit, ng hirap mong kumanta,' she said. 'Pinaka best na ano ko pa rin 'tong 'The Clash 2025' kasi parang ang saya to be back.' 'Sobrang happy and thankful ako na isa ako sa mga napili na ituloy 'yung journey ko na nasimulan ko before.' Tombi also looked back on the challenges she experienced this season, and said it was as if she was competing for the first time again. 'Kasi ilang years na po, nagbago na po. Tapos may new Clashers pa na magagaling so nakaka-pressure,' she said, and added that this season had so many twists. Meanwhile, one of her biggest achievements was winning Round 1 when she beat out Jeniffer Maravilla. 'Biggest achievement po sa 'kin itong piyesa ko, maitawid ko nang maayos. Eh sobra sobra pa 'yung binigay ni God, nanalo pa po 'ko." On social media following her elimination, Tombi said "nagtapos man ang journey ko sa The Clash, mananatili pa din akong palaban 'di lang sa contest, pati sa mga hamon sa buhay." If Tombi would have won, she said the first thing she would do is to thank the Lord and go to church. She also would use the prize money to start businesses. In a previous interview, Tombi described her 'The Clash' journey through the song 'Patuloy ang Pangarap' by Angeline Quinto, because she was given a second chance as a Clashbacker, to pursue her dreams, and redeem her loss from Season 2. 'The Clash' airs at 7:15 p.m. on Sundays on GMA Network. —JCB, GMA Integrated News
Daily Mirror
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'Kemi Badenoch may hate the 1970s but Starmer should look to them'
The Tories are re-telling their favourite fairytale about the time a nasty wolf in left-wing clothing ate the heart out of Britain. At PMQs, Kemi Badenoch praised Norman Tebbit for rescuing this country from the Labour-run "chaos of the 1970s" before arguing that Keir Starmer wants to return us to that chaotic decade by flirting with a wealth tax. Well, seeing as you weren't alive in those bell-bottom days Kemi, let me give you some facts. Life was far from perfect in the 70s. Racism, sexism and homophobia were given free passes, the global oil crisis and shrinking post-Empire markets caused a run on the Pound, police corruption was off the scale and thanks to weak management, chronic underinvestment and powerful trade unions, industrial relations resembled a warzone. But it was, in many respects, a glorious time to be alive. There was a strong sense of community, belief in public services, free higher education, council houses aplenty, workers grafted for fewer hours in more secure jobs, The Clash and Sex Pistols ushered a new era of music, watching football was as cheap as chips and Thatcher had yet to turn Britain into a selfish, divided bearpit where only the strong survived. Plus, 1976 was officially the year when incomes in this country were at their most equal. Indeed, the only European country where the gap between rich and poor was narrower was Sweden. But Thatcher came to power at the end of the 70s and decreed this equality nonsense had gone too far. So she let the free markets rip and slashed higher rates of tax, helping the rich gorge on the nation's wealth and leaving the poor, the weak and the old industrial heartlands to rot. The gap between the top and the bottom in the UK has only carried on widening, which is why today we are the second most unequal G7 economy after America and the second most unequal nation in Europe after Bulgaria. The richest 70,000 people now take home 67 times more than the average worker, with CEOs like Tesco's Ken Murphy picking up £10 million last year, 431 times more than his company's mean wage. Recent research from The Equality Trust showed the UK's richest 50 families have more wealth than half the population and the billionaire count has soared from 15 in 1990 to 165 last year. We live in times of peak inequality making us an impoverished, unhealthy country where public services have stagnated, the economy has flatlined and a third of children live below the poverty line. Which is why the likes of Neil Kinnock is calling on Starmer to bring in a wealth tax on assets worth more than £10million and why this generation of Tories hate the idea almost as much as they hate the 1970s. Because equality is anathema to them. Whether it's Kinnock's tax on assets, a mansion tax, increasing capital gains tax, a new tax band for the super-wealthy or slashing relief on pensions for the richest, the government has to act. It's no longer a question of whether Labour's reputation can afford a wealth tax, it's whether, in the face of staggering debt and limited options, it can afford not to address the terminal dysfunction caused by a vampiric economy in which most of the wealth gets sucked up by the few at the top. It's about our country Stayin' Alive, as we used to sing in bell-bottom days.
Business Insider
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
How Tony Hawk spends his 5-9: From playing with his grandson to taking creatine
There are two versions of Tony Hawk, but you wouldn't know it by looking at his home office. The shelves behind him on our video call are stacked with various knickknacks befitting of the icon of youth culture, like a coffee table book about the iconic '80s British punk band The Clash. And there's a sky blue skateboard propped up beside the wooden office door. For those who watched Hawk make his name (and tens of millions of dollars) as the first truly famous skateboarder, he is crystallized as forever young in their memories. Creating one of the most successful and best-loved video game series of all time, "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater," solidified that. ("Pro Skater 3+4," a remake of the 2001-2002 games where your character wheels around various skate spots, completing tricks and missions, drops Friday). The fact that he's pushing 60 is such a strange concept that it's an inside joke between him and fans who pretend not to recognize him. How could Tony Hawk — the kid at the skatepark who was imaginative, dogged, and dumb enough to pull off the types of tricks that helped skating go mainstream in the '80s and '90s — get old? The 2022 documentary "Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off" explores this tension. His friends say they hope he'll soon slow down over footage of him repeatedly smashing to the ground as he tries to recreate what's known as the 900. In 1999, Hawk landed the trick — which involves spinning 900 degrees midair — after trying for a decade. Before that, skaters had only dreamed of it. But when he recalls seriously breaking his leg in 2022 during our call, it's clear there are two Tonys: pre-and post-break Tony. He's no stranger to injuries, but snapping your femur in half at 53 is as bad as it sounds, and it took him 12 months to recover. Becoming a grandad was another profound change. (His son, Riley Hawk, and Frances Bean Cobain have a 10-month-old son. Yes, that Frances Bean Cobain). Now, for the first time ever, Hawk works out daily, diligently takes supplements, and, without a sliver of regret in his voice, tells me he is at peace with retiring skating moves that he pioneered — including the 900. All this, he says, means he can still skate at the iconic action sports competition, the X Games, starting that evening. I get the sense that now, at 57 years old, he applies the same blinkered focus that made his career to a new passion: aging well and having fun. For the latest installment of Business Insider's 5-9 series, Hawk shared how the post-break Tony spends his free time, as part of his partnership with CarGurus' "Big Deal" campaign, which celebrates life's biggest moments behind the wheel and beyond. Skating and supplements If I'm at home, we're up pretty early, usually by 6 or 6:30 a.m. Our daughter is turning 17 soon, and we make sure she gets out the door. I work for at least an hour and try to find time to skate, usually around 11 a.m. I have a ramp in my office that's about a 15-minute drive from here, so that's my happy place. Then just taking whatever comes — we are grandparents now, so maybe half the days he's here for a little while, and I try to work around that. It's just been so much fun having him. As soon as he comes into our door, he knows that it's all about him. You mentioned skating. Considering all the injuries you've had, how much do you think about longevity and aging? Do you set yourself up for the day by taking supplements, for instance? I do. I take some supplements including CoQ 10, a statin, multivitamins, and creatine, stuff like that. Honestly, a workout routine is something new to me. That's something I never did because I kind of prided myself on not being an athlete, so to speak. But at my age, I need something else to stay fit, to stay loose, to stay in motion. That's the one thing that has kept me at this level at my age. I'm literally flying to X Games in a couple hours, and I'll be on the ramp this evening. So that's kind of the state of things, and I love it. It's a blast. That's incredible. I watched the 2022 documentary "Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off," and your friend said that you are not slowing down, just doing more gnarly stuff. Is that how you approach aging? I have definitely slowed down since then. I broke my leg three years ago, after that documentary, and that changed everything for me in terms of assessing risk, my approach, my carelessness. My cavalier attitude to skating definitely changed in that recovery process. And for the better: I have a healthier relationship with skateboarding and risk. Would you say your attitude has also changed since you've had a grandchild? That helped to reiterate why I need to take it a little easier. I'm not breaking new ground necessarily, and I've let some techniques go. It's just more fun now. I value it more because of the injury and the recovery I went through. Every opportunity is a gift. Every ollie [a fundamental move where the skater and the board become airborne] is a thing to be cherished. That's how I feel now. Testing 'Pro Skater' and takeouts with the kids I love that. Tell me about what part of the day you come up with your best ideas, like creating " Pro Skater" or the insane feats you do, like skating over a Mini Cooper? It's usually when I'm falling asleep. Sometimes I have to wake up and write things down. When your brain is finally slowing down, I imagine. When it comes to the evenings, is dinner time family time for you? Yeah, we eat at home for the most part. If the kids are home for the weekend or whatever, we'll try to make sure that we do something at home. Generally, I'm ordering food if it's a big crew. If they're home, that means they're with their friends, and so it kind of keeps growing. One of our sons drove home late last night and got in at like 2 a.m. So they come and go, and we try to capture those moments. What's your go-to order? Oh, that's opening a can of worms. It's controversial? There's a really good Peruvian place here in Encinitas. That's one of our favorites. We're all over the place though. You name it: Mexican, Thai, Japanese. You have a very unique family: Kurt Cobain was your daughter-in-law's father. When you go out as a family, do people recognize you and talk to you? They're mostly respectful and friendly, or they're confused. They see my face and they'd know it from somewhere, or they didn't imagine that I could have grown old. And so there's a lot of confusion in that. It happens all the time. But I never aspired to fame. To have it is strange, but I've learned to live with it, and it's amazing. I mean, just the fact that people will tell me that a video game changed their interests and their musical tastes. I'm hugely proud of those kinds of things. In the evening are you on the go, even before bed? I just can't imagine you taking a day off. It's pretty rare, but they do happen. And when they happen, we're usually planning stuff with our kids. How often do you have a day off where you just do nothing? Well, I could tell you right now, I'm looking at my calendar. There were four this month. OK. Wow, that's pretty intense. Do you play "Pro Skater" to wind down? [laughs] Yes and no. I usually find time to play that during the day. That still is kind of a job in terms of R and D, but it's close to release, so it's not like we're making any changes. My job is kind of done there. My wife and I just try to unwind and watch something, catch up on a show or a documentary, something like that.
