Latest news with #Waugh
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Construction work for Whanganui's North Mole upgrade delayed until next year
A March report from Whanganui District Council project manager Diana Veitch said construction was due to be completed by this coming November 25. However, she told the council's projects and grants committee on July 29 that Waugh's departure, plus a sporting accident to an expert adviser that forced them out of the role, had caused a delay. 'We do have dependencies on the planting season and when we can construct,' she said. 'It means we have to push out to next year.' Te Pūwaha (Whanganui port revitalisation) project director Hayden Turoa had taken Waugh's position, with Progress Castlecliff chairman James Barron also joining the group, Veitch said. 'We are very pleased to be partnering with Seletar Taputoro as our hapū expert adviser to the project,' she said. 'Timeframes are extended, but we are on track and we are making a lot of progress. 'We have high-level quantity surveying under way, which will be completed this week, and we are also working on draft tender documents for the detailed design.' Taputoro is the business pathways activator at Whanganui's Port Employment Precinct. Veitch's report to the committee said the total budget was $2.56 million. Funding of $1.7m had been allocated so far through TIF and the Whanganui council, it said. Councillor Peter Oskam asked if the delay would cause a rise in costs. Veitch said that would not be known until quantity surveying was completed. 'When we looked at this originally, costs were quite high for contractors and things like that,' she said. 'They've flattened out a little bit, so it might be that it evens out.' She said the TIF funding could only be used for a hapū-led project, with an initial requirement of project completion by October this year. 'TIF has agreed to extend the timeframes so we will be able to continue drawing that funding down.' Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said that once completed, the project would bookend the Mountains to Sea Ngā Ara Tūhono cycle trail. 'We don't have that at the moment, so I'm looking forward to the progress. 'It's of significant size and symbolism for Whanganui.' He said he hoped lessons would be learned from the project so other community-led initiatives could be rolled out in the future. Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is on local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
Scotsman
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Meet three comedy couples performing at the Fringe this year
Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love Our comedy critic Jay Richardson meets three couples who are presenting shows together at the Fringe this year. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Ada Player and Bron Waugh Don't be surprised if you see Ada Player and Bron Waugh walking in circles around a park, conversing in silly voices. That's just how they create characters. They met while studying theatre at Bristol University, joined the sketch troupe Bristol Revunions, then moved in together, but only began shooting videos with each other during the Covid lockdown. Since then, they've co-created the Bafta-nominated Channel 4 sitcom pilot Peaked, starring Player as part of a love triangle; won a BBC Comedy Collective bursary and are sharing their absurdist character comedy showcase, Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love, at the Fringe. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The couple's process is usually to 'start with funny voices, build the characters, ask what's the emotional story and then add the jokes' explains Player. Incorporating 17 relationships, their festival debut is 'a bit dark and twisted' but 'done in a really campy, over-the-top manner' Waugh adds. 'Every character says something sincere and different about love in quite a weird way'. Featuring affairs, werewolves, James Bond and dancing robots, it's 'a rollercoaster' Player suggests. 'But it's feelgood, it ends in joy.' Indirectly inspired by Aristophanes' theory of soulmates, via the Mika album of the same name, The Origin of Love also features their Revunions colleague Ed Lyness on piano. And the couple admit to a fascination with awkward 'third wheels'. 'I don't know why that is' Waugh confesses. 'Because we're in an insular bubble as a couple I guess, it adds danger and excitement. Player agrees. 'Because we live this duo dynamic, having a third energy shakes it up, really gives it drama. There's tremblings underneath all of our relationships. Whether that be a third person or just the outside world intruding.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Complementing each other, clown-trained Player 'can go on stage with no safety net and perform with nothing', whereas her film graduate boyfriend likes 'the story set', he doesn't 'ever waste the audience's time.' Waugh smiles. 'I'm more relaxed improvising with Ada though. I check my brain and we can just play in the moment.' Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love, Pleasance Courtyard, 11pm, until 24 August Marnina Schon and Micah O'Konis Couplet: Honey Honey Moon Moon When Marnina Schon and Micah O'Konis' wedding venue was destroyed by wildfire, they quickly began composing. 'There was this sign, 'Welcome to Farnsworth Park', behind it burnt out rubble. That's kind of funny' O'Konis reflects of the awful omen. 'We felt we should process it through a song.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Premiering Our Wedding Venue Burned Down at a firefighters' fundraiser in Los Angeles was 'delicate' Schon admits. Yet 'emotional'. Incorporating the Fringe into their trans-European honeymoon, Couplet, as they call themselves, 'workshopped' their debut and wedding concurrently. 'Which I wouldn't wish on anyone' Schon sighs. Classically trained musicians, they appear to have few boundaries onstage, bitching harmoniously about their couples counsellor. Yet dirty laundry is only aired on a 'lyric by lyric basis' Schon maintains. Writing their show, Honey Honey Moon Moon, 'I was pushing to go deeper, really reveal dark things about ourselves and get into a real fight in front of the audience' O'Konis confesses. 'But we quickly realised that's not fun for us and it's not fun for them.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Schon agrees. 'We don't want the audience to feel they should be getting paid as therapists. Even if we do make an audience member give us therapeutic advice at one point.' Recently described as the 'it couple of the LA Jewish/comedy/music/queer world', violinist Schon, pronouns (she/they), and guitarist O'Konis (they/them), 'unpack our intersectionality' in the song People Think We're Straight. 'The universe handed us a low point with the fire. But we got our happy ending making the wedding our narrative arc,' Schon relates. 'That actually made it a lot easier to explain our identities. Because planning a wedding, you're thinking about how much gender you include in the ceremony.' With Schon the more pessimistic 'performer-writer' with a 'musical theatre background' and O'Konis a more easygoing, 'writer-performer', 'a little bit more indie rock', their voices 'didn't sound so good together' when they began dating nine years ago. 'We didn't have a great blend,' the latter recalls. Yet over time they've prioritised the double act. 'And we've definitely merged.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Couplet: Honey Honey Moon Moon, Assembly Rooms, 6.25pm, until 24 August Joz Norris and Miranda Holms Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes. It isn't coincidence that Joz Norris' characters are darker and more intense since he got together with fellow comedy writer Miranda Holms. 'Neither of us are good at small talk' she admits. 'Storytelling, filmmaking, comedy, that's what I'm preoccupied by. I wouldn't find it easy being in a relationship with someone who didn't feel the same, who wouldn't just commit to silly things'. For the committedly experimental Norris, meanwhile, performing is easier 'knowing I'm accepted, liked and appreciated by someone who gets me. 'I've realised monsters, idiots, morons, braggarts and egotistical narcissists are what I find funniest. I can be the most flawed versions of myself and not need affirmation that I'm a nice person.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They met in early 2020, moved in together later that year and have channelled their combined energies into short films, Radio 4 sitcoms, hosting Eggbox, their comedy script showcase, and Norris' Fringe shows. There's some irony in his latest Edinburgh hour, You Wait, Time Passes, focusing on a character obsessing over his magnum opus while neglecting his loved ones. 'He's me if I really pushed the workaholism' Norris observes. 'Driving everybody away while slaving over something he believes is important, but is clearly just a waste of time.' However, it's Holms who confesses to being the 'perfectionist' in their partnership. With 'maybe a more visual, narrative brain … Joz is good at just getting stuff done, deciding that 'this' is the 'thing', this is how it's going to happen, and pushing through. 'We have very opposite ways of approaching comedy but we kind of meet in this happy medium of the two extremes.' Norris agrees. 'We've built a working language together. And being together, it feels like we have more licence to be creatively belligerent with each other'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Holms is credited as script consultant on Norris' show. And he reckons the abiding myth of the 'lone genius' comic is increasingly being challenged. 'I used to know so many whose girlfriends or partners were effectively working on their shows, in constant discussions about them, and they weren't credited at all. But I find it hard to make anything good without her eye, it always elevates it.'
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Wallabies want 'accountability' over controversial Lions try
Rugby Australia chief Phil Waugh has backed Joe Schmidt's criticism of the match officials after Saturday's Lions Test in Melbourne. The British and Irish Lions clinched their series versus the Wallabies with a game to spare after Hugo Keenan's late try sealed a 29-26 win after an epic Test at the MCG. That winning try was clouded by controversy though, with the score eventually being awarded after a TMO check for possible foul play by Lions flanker Jac Morgan, who had cleared out Australia's Carlo Tizzano in the build-up. Australia head coach Schmidt made his feelings clear after the game, saying the decision to award the try didn't stack up with World Rugby's drive for better player safety. And the former Ireland boss has been given his backing by Rugby Australia chief executive Waugh, who says they will be seeking an explanation from the game's governing body. "Joe's comments at the press conference were 100% aligned with mine as a CEO and a former Wallaby," Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Our position on that particular decision is consistent to what Joe outlined in his analysis of that last breakdown. "Clearly there'll be the usual process, which is what happens after every test match, and we'll certainly be looking for a level of accountability from World Rugby over the next period of time." The incident has dominated the Australian sports media since Saturday night, with the Sunday Telegraph's back page headline simply reading "ROBBED", before saying referee Andrea Piardi "ruined our shot at victory" with his decision to award the try. Naturally, most northern hemisphere pundits have backed Piardi's decision, and Morgan's technique at the breakdown, with the bulk of the criticism levelled at the door of Tizzano for milking the collision. Former England and Lions flanker James Haskell was the most vocal as he called for the Australia flanker to be carded for allegedly taking a dive. Wallabies pair Nick Frost and Max Jorgensen spoke to the media on Monday, and used the opportunity to give their support to their team-mate. "A lot of the forwards put ourselves in harm's way a lot of the time. It's tough on the body," Frost said. "It's hard when you've got guys [pundits] who aren't on the field – I know they're ex-players – but when the people are on the field day in and day out and putting their body [on the line]. "Especially a guy like Carlo, who always gets over the ball. It's tough. "It's a tough one for him. We don't really listen to outside noise, whatever the media says around that stuff. It's the first time I've heard of it. "It's disappointing in general that this series is done for us. "Carlo is there as a competitor like he always is, he's trying to get on ball. "The 7 puts his hands there, he's there first and gets hit pretty hard with a full-force cleanout. "It is what it is. We can't do anything about a decision. Joe's spoke about all of that stuff, but for us, we're trying to compete for the ball there." Jorgensen, who scored a try in the opening Test in Brisbane, said the defeat felt like a sucker-punch after the Wallabies had been leading the game since the fifth minute. "It really hurts, it's a tough pill to swallow," the 20-year-old said. "I was absolutely gutted personally, I know everyone in the team was. "To have to wait another 12 years to have the chance of getting a series win is obviously devastating."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Man admits a £26,000-plus benefit fraud after failing to inform DWP of change
A NORTH Cumbria man has admitted a £26,000-plus benefit fraud which occurred during a period of more than two-and-a-half years. Carlisle Magistrates' Court heard 49-year-old Ian Andrew Waugh was also subject to a crown court-imposed suspended prison sentence when he committed a fraud offence between December 6, 2021, and July 4 last year. During a short hearing this morning (Monday) in front of a deputy district judge, Waugh pleaded guilty to one charge: dishonestly failing to notify a charge of circumstances which affected entitlement to social security benefit. Court papers show he did so by dishonestly failing to promptly notify the Department for Work and Pensions that his children were no longer residing with him. This is said to have resulted in an overpayment of universal credit totalling £26,278.62. In May 2022, Waugh appeared at Carlisle Crown Court where a judge suspended an 18-month jail term. The court heard a bitter Facebook fallout ended violently as Waugh subjected his victim to an attack with a crow bar which left him with a fractured skull and a head wound which was stapled. Committing the offence of benefit fraud put Waugh in breach of that suspended sentence. Deputy district judge Roger Lowe adjourned the case and requested that a probation service pre-sentence report be prepared before Waugh receives his punishment. Waugh, of Millriggs, Great Corby, is due to be sentenced by a judge at Carlisle Crown Court on August 26. In the meantime he has been granted unconditional bail.
The Star
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Rugby-Rugby Australia want 'accountability' on late call in Lions test
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said he would seek an explanation from World Rugby on the late call by referee Andrea Piardi that ultimately decided the match and the series in the second test against the British & Irish Lions. Hugo Keenan's last-minute try gave the Lions a 29-26 win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but the Irish fullback only scored after Jac Morgan had cleared out Carlo Tizzano in a ruck in the buildup. The Wallabies wanted a penalty for high contact but Piardi allowed the try to stand, a decision slammed by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt in his post-match press conference as contrary to World Rugby's campaign to improve player safety. "Joe's comments at the press conference were 100% aligned with mine as a CEO and a former Wallaby," Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Our position on that particular decision is consistent to what Joe outlined in his analysis of that last breakdown. "Clearly there'll be the usual process, which is what happens after every test match, and we'll certainly be looking for a level of accountability from World Rugby over the next period of time." Waugh will not have to go far to air his views with senior World Rugby officials in Sydney this week for events looking forward to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Saturday's victory gave the Lions an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series ahead of the third and final test at Sydney's Stadium Australia this weekend. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
