Latest news with #UniversityofNorthTexas
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
What we watch shapes how and where we travel: How set-jetting turns watchlists into bucket lists
Movies and TV shows are changing how we travel. Back in 2011, on a trip to Kashmir, we were scammed into paying `30 as entry fee to visit Betaab Valley, situated at a distance of 15 kms from Pahalgam. For those wondering why, it was the setting for the 1983 romance drama Betaab, that launched the careers of Sunny 'dhai kilo ka haath' Deol and Amrita Singh. But with little else to do on an off-season trip to Kashmir, how this 30-year-old movie was still relevant was not a question we wanted to ask. Predictably, it proved to be an underwhelming experience at best. Down South, atop another hill, you have what's known as the 'Shooting Spot ' or Wenlock Downs in Ooty — the setting for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahaani among others — that, for `10 per head, you can use to film your next reel. Bollywood movies have always inspired Indians to travel — Yash Chopra was recognised as the 'Ambassador of Interlaken' in 2011 and Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara prompted many Indians tourists to make it to Spain. But these days, more often than not, the trip you book is decided by what you are bingeing. Say hello to ' set-jetting '. The term is believed to have been coined in the early 2000s by travel writers and marketers who noticed a surge in tourists seeking out filming locations after watching popular movies or shows, mainly fuelled by the release of films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy (New Zealand), The Da Vinci Code (Paris and the UK), the Harry Potter series (Scotland) and Game of Thrones (Iceland and Croatia). The concept, though, can be traced to the 1960s with the blockbuster The Sound of Music providing a boost to tourism in Austria. In a recent New York Times article, Daniel L Spears, an associate professor of hospitality and tourism, University of North Texas, who has studied the trend, credits its popularity to the immersive nature of streaming , which establishes a deep bond with the characters and the place, giving fans a sense of nostalgia'. Whatcha watchin' Set-jetting is becoming a significant driver and motivator for travel, especially for younger audiences — Gen Z, millennials — who grew up on streaming. Rajeev Kale, president and country head (Holidays, MICE, Visa) of travel agency Thomas Cook India , says that popular choices include South Korea, thanks to K-dramas and K-pop. 'We've even seen travellers extend their stay in Japan and South Korea by a day or two just to visit anime or K-pop landmarks — these extensions can add roughly `25,000 per day,' he says. More recently, Kale has noticed bookings going up for Thailand — especially Bangkok, Phuket, and Koh Samui — after The White Lotus 3, with the show sparking an uptick in demand for luxury resort stays. 'It's not just restricted to younger segments — India's HNI and UHNI travellers are also equally drawn to these immersive, highend set-jetting experiences,' he adds. 'We're seeing a growing number of Indian travellers base their holidays not on traditional sightseeing, but on moments they've watched on screen,' adds SD Nandakumar, president and country head (holidays and corporate tours), SOTC. Nandakumar counts Emily in Paris for promoting Paris, The Crown and Bridgerton for popularising Bathand Richmond, and Game of Thrones and Succession promoting Iceland and Norway respectively. Experience counts SOTC data also shows that people are willing to spend more for set-jetting experiences. 'We've seen holidays in this space start from `2–2.5 lakh per person and go higher — especially when they include experiences like royal stays in the UK, film location walks in New York, or private f a sh ion st yl i n g sessions in France,' Nandakumar reveals. In 2024, for instance, Expedia noticed that searches for Hawaii and Sicily (destinations for the first two seasons of White Lotus) spiked by more than 300%. Similarly, traffic increased 160% for the London suburb of Richmond where Ted Lasso was filmed. Mohit Joshi, travel and destinations expert, for travel search aggregator Skyscanner, says that their travel trends report for 2025 reveals that over half (52%) of Indian travellers say films and television shape their travel dreams, second only to social media (68%). Skyscanner's trends for last year also listed 'main character energy' as a factor that is driving travel, with 94% of Indian travellers revealing that they've been inspired to visit a destination after seeing it on screen. 'A great example was when we saw Manali (48%) being highlighted as a favourite destination thanks to Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, followed by Ladakh which continues to inspire nearly half (47%) of travellers after its portrayal in 3 Idiots,' Joshi says.
American Military News
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- American Military News
Joe Don Baker, actor who wielded a big stick in ‘Walking Tall,' dies at 89
Joe Don Baker, the leading man turned character actor who broke out playing Sheriff Buford Pusser in the 1973 movie 'Walking Tall,' has died, his family announced online. The Texas-born tough guy died May 7 at age 89. No cause of death was given. Baker lived in Southern California when he died. 'Joe Don was a beacon of kindness and generosity. … Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him,' his family said. Born on Feb. 12, 1936, in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker played football and basketball well enough to earn a sports scholarship to North Texas State College — now University of North Texas — where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1958 and pledged to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Baker went into the U.S. Army for two years and then emerged in New York, where he studied at the Actors Studio and performed onstage. His acting career took off in the mid-1960s when he moved to Los Angeles, where he started with TV roles in shows like 'The High Chaparral' and 'Mission: Impossible' before taking the spotlight as a leading man in movies like 'Walking Tall' and 'Final Justice.' When he aged into character actor work, he played Claude Kersek in the 1991 Robert De Niro remake of 'Cape Fear,' Olaf Anderson in Eddie Murphy's 1992 movie 'The Distinguished Gentleman' and Tom Pierce in 1994's 'Reality Bites.' Baker played a villain in the 1987 James Bond movie 'The Living Daylights,' featuring Timothy Dalton as Bond, and then CIA agent Jack Wade in two Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan: 'GoldenEye' in 1995 and 'Tomorrow Never Dies' in 1997. He also spent a lot of time working in TV, playing the title cop role in 'Eischied' in 1979 — he often portrayed officers of the law — Big Jim Folsom in the 1997 miniseries 'George Wallace' and myriad other roles in shows including 'Ironside,' 'The Streets of San Francisco,' 'Gunsmoke' and 'Mod Squad.' As he moved around between TV and film, Baker was ahead of the curve in declaring Hollywood creativity dead. 'In Hollywood, they've chased away all the good writers,' he told The Times in 1986 when he was promoting the BBC-made miniseries 'Edge of Darkness' and strongly favoring foreign work over domestic. 'You never meet the writer when you're making a TV movie in America — they're too ashamed to show up and see how their work has been mangled by some committee. 'I hate the thought of showing up on another TV movie set in America,' he continued. 'All they care about here is whether you remember the words. In England they take the time to get everything right. I was there six months to make six hours. That's a little more than twice as long as it would take in America.' In the United States, Baker said, 'By the time the networks get through worrying about who they're gonna tick off, they wind up with nothing.' He said it was hard to get American studios interested in anything different. 'They want huge budgets, which are easier to steal from. The studios don't seem to mind losing hundreds of millions — they can write it all off. The rest of us can either pay to see their lousy movies or be taxed to cover their write-offs.' But 'Walking Tall,' the movie that made him, was based on the true story of a Tennessee sheriff whose life was turned tragic by criminals. During his six years in office, the real Pusser, known for carrying a big hickory stick he used as a weapon, fought a gang of bootleggers and con men who were operating along the Mississippi-Tennessee state line. He was shot and stabbed on several occasions and killed a thieving female motel owner who ambushed him. Then in 1967 he was waylaid in his car by criminals who shot him and killed his wife, Pauline. Pusser became a nationally known figure thanks to coverage on network news. Even though the movie took the usual Hollywood liberties with Pusser's life, the film played like a pure piece of American neo-realism: Audiences saw a strong family man who becomes politically involved only after being cheated at a local casino, beaten and left for dead. Elected sheriff, he becomes driven, fighting the local criminal syndicate, corrupt judges and state government officials. The film packed an emotional wallop. It was not an instant success, however, when it was first released in urban theaters and sold as a good-old-boy Southern law-and-order drama. 'The initial ads had me coming out of a swamp with slime coming off me and I had this little stick in my hand,' Baker told The Times in 2004, when a significantly reimagined 'Walking Tall' remake starring Dwayne Johnson was coming out. 'They were just terrible ads.' But outsized success in Asian markets led to a new marketing campaign that turned the movie into an American hit. 'I very seldom get good parts offered me now,' he said in 2004. 'I had better parts before I became a so-called star in 'Walking Tall.'' In a 2000 humor column, former Times columnist Chris Erskine lovingly called Baker 'one of the best bad actors ever.' Good parts or not, he won a Robert Altman Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2014 for his work in the 2012 Matthew McConaughey movie 'Mud,' where he played the father of a murdered man. It would be his final work before he retired. Baker was married for 11 years to Maria Dolores Rivero-Torres; the two had no children. A voracious reader and lover of cats and nature, the lifetime member of the Actors Studio 'is mourned by a small but very close circle of friends who will miss him eternally,' his family said. A funeral service will be held Tuesday morning at Utter McKinley Mortuary in Mission Hills. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Los Angeles Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Joe Don Baker, actor who wielded a big stick in ‘Walking Tall,' dies at 89
Joe Don Baker, the leading man turned character actor who broke out playing Sheriff Buford Pusser in the 1973 movie 'Walking Tall,' has died, his family announced online. The Texas-born tough guy died May 7 at age 89. No cause of death was given. Baker lived in Southern California when he died. 'Joe Don was a beacon of kindness and generosity. ... Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him,' his family said. Born on Feb. 12, 1936, in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker played football and basketball well enough to earn a sports scholarship to North Texas State College — now University of North Texas — where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1958 and pledged to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Baker went into the U.S. Army for two years and then emerged in New York, where he studied at the Actors Studio and performed onstage. His acting career took off in the mid-1960s when he moved to Los Angeles, where he started with TV roles in shows like 'The High Chaparral' and 'Mission: Impossible' before taking the spotlight as a leading man in movies like 'Walking Tall' and 'Final Justice.' When he aged into character actor work, he played Claude Kersek in the 1991 Robert DeNiro remake of 'Cape Fear,' Olaf Anderson in Eddie Murphy's 1992 movie 'The Distinguished Gentleman' and Tom Pierce in 1994's 'Reality Bites.' Baker played a villain in the 1987 James Bond movie 'The Living Daylights,' featuring Timothy Dalton as Bond, and then CIA agent Jack Wade in two Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan: 'GoldenEye' in 1995 and 'Tomorrow Never Dies' in 1997. He also spent a lot of time working in TV, playing the title cop role in 'Eischied' in 1979 — he often portrayed officers of the law — Big Jim Folsom in the 1997 miniseries 'George Wallace' and myriad other roles in shows including 'Ironside,' 'The Streets of San Francisco,' 'Gunsmoke' and 'Mod Squad.' As he moved around between TV and film, Baker was ahead of the curve in declaring Hollywood creativity dead. 'In Hollywood, they've chased away all the good writers,' he told The Times in 1986 when he was promoting the BBC-made miniseries 'Edge of Darkness' and strongly favoring foreign work over domestic. 'You never meet the writer when you're making a TV movie in America — they're too ashamed to show up and see how their work has been mangled by some committee. 'I hate the thought of showing up on another TV movie set in America ,' he continued. 'All they care about here is whether you remember the words. In England they take the time to get everything right. I was there six months to make six hours. That's a little more than twice as long as it would take in America.' In the United States, Baker said, 'By the time the networks get through worrying about who they're gonna tick off, they wind up with nothing.' He said it was hard to get American studios interested in anything different. 'They want huge budgets, which are easier to steal from. The studios don't seem to mind losing hundreds of millions — they can write it all off. The rest of us can either pay to see their lousy movies or be taxed to cover their write-offs.' But 'Walking Tall,' the movie that made him, was based on the true story of a Tennessee sheriff whose life was turned tragic by criminals. During his six years in office, the real Pusser, known for carrying a big hickory stick he used as a weapon, fought a gang of bootleggers and con men who were operating along the Mississippi-Tennessee state line. He was shot and stabbed on several occasions and killed a thieving female motel owner who ambushed him. Then in 1967 he was waylaid in his car by criminals who shot him and killed his wife, Pauline. Pusser became a nationally known figure thanks to coverage on network news. Even though the movie took the usual Hollywood liberties with Pusser's life, the film played like a pure piece of American neo-realism: Audiences saw a strong family man who becomes politically involved only after being cheated at a local casino, beaten and left for dead. Elected sheriff, he becomes driven, fighting the local criminal syndicate, corrupt judges and state government officials. The film packed an emotional wallop. It was not an instant success, however, when it was first released in urban theaters and sold as a good-old-boy Southern law-and-order drama. 'The initial ads had me coming out of a swamp with slime coming off me and I had this little stick in my hand,' Baker told The Times in 2004, when a significantly reimagined 'Walking Tall' remake starring Dwayne Johnson was coming out. 'They were just terrible ads.' But outsized success in Asian markets led to a new marketing campaign that turned the movie into an American hit. 'I very seldom get good parts offered me now,' he said in 2004. 'I had better parts before I became a so-called star in 'Walking Tall.'' In a 2000 humor column, former Times columnist Chris Erskine lovingly called Baker 'one of the best bad actors ever.' Good parts or not, he won a Robert Altman Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2014 for his work in the 2012 Matthew McConaughey movie 'Mud,' where he played the father of a murdered man. It would be his final work before he retired. Baker was married for 11 years to Maria Dolores Rivero-Torres; the two had no children. A voracious reader and lover of cats and nature, the lifetime member of the Actors Studio 'is mourned by a small but very close circle of friends who will miss him eternally,' his family said. A funeral service will be held Tuesday morning at Utter McKinley Mortuary in Mission Hills. Freelance writer Lewis Beale contributed to this report.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Tyler High School student earns scholarship worth more than $100,000
TYLER, Texas (KETK) – A Tyler High School senior earned a scholarship worth more than $100,000, providing her a full-ride to college. Yoselin Bustamante was named a Terry Foundation Scholar, which is one of the most prestigious scholarships available to Texas students. The scholarship will cover Bustamante's tuition fees, books and on-campus living expenses. Winnsboro police chief announces departure Bustamante expressed her gratitude for being awarded the scholarship and how it reflects the hard work she has put into her high school career. 'To me, this scholarship is more than just financial help—it's a door opening into the future I've been working towards,' Bustamante said. 'Most people don't see the work that happens behind the scenes, but I do. This reminds me that hard work really does pay off. I'm beyond grateful knowing I can focus on my goals without worrying as much about money.' OFFICIALS: Man admits to heroin possession, arrested in Van Zandt County Bustamante will be attending the University of North Texas this fall where she will be pursuing a major in social work. Following her college career, she hopes to become a licensed clinical social worker and work with children in underrepresented or underserved communities. Bustamante explained her passion for social work and why she wants to help children who come from underprivileged communities. 'Advocating for mental health, particularly in communities where it is often considered taboo, is incredibly important to me,' Bustamante said. 'Coming from a Hispanic household, I understand how hard it can be to ask for help. I want to make that process easier—especially for children.' In order to keep receiving finical support through her undergraduate career, Bustamante must remain in good academic standing and live on campus during her first year in a Terry-designed residence hall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Missing the Eras Tour? This tribute band performs an unofficial version around the world
Missing the Eras Tour? This tribute band performs an unofficial version around the world Welcome to the (unofficial) Eras Tour! The record-shattering, stadium bumping and happiness generating adventure through Taylor Swift's 11 eras lives on through singer Charity Eden and her Lover Tribute Band. "Taylor really is my biggest inspiration," Eden says over a video call. "It's just the relatability of her music and how her experiences are my experiences. It's her ability to create a soundtrack to our lives." What fans may be shocked to learn is how fast the 35-year-old learned the lyrics and dance moves to 50+ songs. Surprisingly, she had never scream-shouted to "All Too Well," danced to "Shake It Off" or harmonized to "Willow" until 2022. "I honestly only listened to Christian music up until three years ago," she says. Eden's introduction to non-Christian music was the superstar's 10th studio album. "When 'Midnights' came out, it wrecked me and literally changed my life." A friend invited her in 2023 to see the Eras Tour in Dallas, where she was indoctrinated in Swift lore. As the "Karma" confetti enveloped her at the end of the show, she knew she wanted to recreate the magic of the three-hour show. She just didn't know how. 'OK, I guess I'm doing this' At Eden's birthday party in June 2023, the University of North Texas music grad performed some Swift covers for her family and friends. "My friend and now drummer," she explains, "told a venue booker shortly after, 'My friend Charity does a Taylor Swift tribute, you should call her.' I got a call and was like, 'OK, I guess I'm doing this.'" The little white lie propelled her into a full-fledged career. She quit her finance and wealth management job and dived in, enlisting friends to join her 10-person team of bandmates, dancers and stage managers. She styled her hair like Swift's signature blonde bangs, sharpened her cat eye and donned a bold red lip. "This is what I was born to do," she says. "I love when people come up after the show and say, 'I wasn't able to go to the Eras Tour and it feels like I got to go' or 'I was able to go to the Eras Tour and it feels like I got to go again.'" Long live the Eras Tour with our enchanting book Eden bought a bunch of spangly outfits on Etsy and had them professionally altered. Her portable closet of gowns, catsuits and jackets has followed her across the U.S. and to Japan, Canada and Kuwait. "The costume changes are the craziest 2 minutes every 12 minutes," she says. "In the beginning, I didn't realize how long it would take. I had three friends backstage helping me do everything. But I learned a few tips and tricks like investing in high-quality zippers. There was one show where four zippers broke." She perfected the transitions between eras and now only needs one assistant to help backstage. And like Swift, she sings live. "I'm not going a full three hours. It's usually two," she says. "There are days I don't talk at all, just to fully recover my voice. I try to be as healthy as I can." Booked through 2026 Eden makes a point to emphasize she's not affiliated with Swift's team and her intention is to spread some of the sparkly and shimmery magic to cities and countries that never got the chance to see the show. The tribute is as close to the Eras Tour as a fan can get, aside from turning back time. Eden hands out a "22" hat, plays a moss-adorned piano, faints after "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" and sings "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me." Relive the final night: Taylor Swift ends record-breaking Eras Tour in Vancouver Her most memorable performance happened last Fourth of July for an audience of troops stationed in Kuwait. "It was almost all men and it was fun to see how in the beginning, the crowd was maybe 50 feet from the stage and they weren't really interacting," she says. "During the 'Fearless' era I went out into the audience and slowly started luring them in. By the end of the show, they were right at the stage. I loved singing 'Karma' because they were all dancing and singing it down the octave." The Lover Tribute Band is booked through February 2026 with trips to Canada, Mexico, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Bermuda, Virginia, Utah, Minnesota, Ohio and Florida. Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat. Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
