Latest news with #downtime
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jill Halfpenny opens up about the challenges of life as an actress - as she admits being out of work makes her feel 'pointless'
Jill Halfpenny has opened up about the challenges of being an actress - and how long periods out of work make her feel 'pointless'. The Strictly Come Dancing winner, 49, who recently starred in Channel 5 drama The Feud, said as she gets older the lack of structure in an actor's life has gotten harder. And Jill admitted that she's quick to warn up and coming performers about the dark days of being out of work. 'When ever anyone asks me for advice about being an actor, I always say, "How to do you operate in your downtime", because they are the most challenging times,' she said. 'The work when it arrives is easy, but it's when you're in your own head, going, "I'm so pointless". I literally need to put points in my day to make me feel that there's a point to me being here today.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The Byker Grove star continued: 'When I am out of work and I've been out of work so much in my career, I've had long spells when I am not doing anything and I realise that I like structure, for my day to be punctuated with certain things. 'I really struggle, maybe now more than ever with just waking up and my boyfriend will say, "So what have you got on today." 'In my head I am saying "Nothing, absolutely nothing." I have to give myself structure and its mentally hard.' Speaking on Sophie Ellis Bextor's Spinning Plates podcast, the Geordie actress revealed that she sometimes envies her friend with their so called, normal jobs. 'Some of my friends don't like their jobs and they'll say, "Oh I've got an 8.30am meeting and it's with a person I hate and I've got a two hour meeting with them". 'And I find myself thinking, "I wish I had a meeting with someone I didn't like" because at least it would be something and I'd have something to whinge about, like "Oh that meeting was dreadful." 'But no, there's nothing to say, you're out of work, never knowing if you'll work again. You have the faith and think, logically something will come up, but there are no facts there.' TV favourite Jill has come through a tragic time following the death of her partner Matt James, who collapsed at his local gym from a heart attack in 2017, aged just 43. The terrible event was especially triggering for the star, who had been through the trauma of losing her own father to sudden heart failure after he died playing football when Jill was only 4 years old. Writing in her recent Memoir, A life Reimagined, she spoke about how the aftershock of her father's death led to a period of unprocessed grief in her 20s. She said: 'I realised a lot of my behaviour was down to this unprocessed grief. I got divorced, I stopped drinking alcohol and then it all seemed so clear – the jigsaw pieces fit.' But then when she was forced to go through a season of grief in her 40s, she now feels that she emerged, a 'better person.' 'Grief has made me a better person. Processing the grief has softened me and I've become less judgemental about myself. I am my own worst critic, but I have got better,' she said. Now Jill, who is based in Newcastle, has found love again with marketing executive Ian McAllister and the pair recently enjoyed a romantic trip to Paris together. In her memoir she said: She said: 'For the first time since Matt died, I have met someone and fallen in love. 'The relationship has helped me understand the importance of all the work I have done before I met him. 'I can allow myself to be happy and in love without feeling any guilt. I can be vulnerable and scared and understand where it's coming from. 'I can be free and open, allowing myself to be seen without fear of abandonment. Jill was previously married to actor Craig Conway from 2007 until 2010 and together they are parents to 17-year-old son Harvey.
Fast Company
6 days ago
- General
- Fast Company
Is that website actually down? This essential web tool will tell you
Everyone's always talking about new tools, but some of the best tools are the classic ones—incredibly useful things that have been around for ages. These are the tools that have stood the test of time and are just as handy today as they were 20 years ago. They're also the kinds of things you won't hear about from most people or publications. And it's easy to see why: They're not the hot new thing. They're just quietly helpful for anyone in the know. So today, let's take a look at one of those web-wide classics. It's the ideal way to tell, in an instant, whether a website is actually down or not. I've used it for nearly two decades, and I still rely on it regularly. Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. You'll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures! Is it down for everyone—or just for me? Sometimes, no matter what you do, a website just won't load. The question is obvious: Wait, is the website actually down for everyone? Or will it just not load for me for some reason? It's an important question to ask. Sometimes, the problem may very well be with your computer, phone, or internet connection. Other times, the website may indeed be completely down for everyone. And these days? It can even be somewhere in between: A website might go down only for people in your region but be accessible elsewhere at the same time. ➜ The way to get to the bottom of whatever's going on is with a simple little site called Down for Everyone or Just Me. To use it, just pull up the site in your browser of choice—on your phone, computer, or any other web-connected contraption. Then, plug in a website address—an address like or a social media service, the name of an app, or anything else that doesn't appear to be working right. You'll learn whether the website appears to be down for everyone—or just for you. And it's not only a one-way interaction, either: You can also report what you're seeing. And you can see what problems other people have reported recently, too. It really is that simple—no accounts, no paid subscriptions, and nothing but a few ads on a single page. It'll help you troubleshoot website connection problems in a snap, exactly as it has since the internet's early era.
Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
John Lydon: ‘After my wife's death from Alzheimer's, I lost interest in cooking'
How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: John Lydon 6.30am I'm always up with the Malibu sunrise. If I stay in bed any longer, I feel like I'm getting aches and pains and bedsores, although I have been known to sleep on the couch if I know I'm getting up early to watch Arsenal play in a lunchtime kick-off. If that's the case, it'll be a 4am start, and sometimes I'll stay on the couch until all the games are over. 9am In the years leading up to Nora's death [from Alzheimer's nearly two years ago, after 44 years of marriage] I used to take great pleasure in considering her diet and preparing her breakfast, but since it's been just me, I've lost interest in cooking. I went through a stage of just eating a tin of ravioli first thing, but a bit of time has passed now so I'm looking after myself better. 10am There's a farmers' market down the mountain from me, which is bloody expensive, but everybody needs a stick of celery in their life. I used to have great fun going downhill on an electric bike to collect the veg – I've loved swedes and turnips and parsnips since my childhood – but the battery never lasted the journey back, so I've started getting them delivered now. 11am Since Nora passed, I've got caught up in all manner of diabolical entrapments of domesticity. I've got a dishwasher now but I'm struggling to work out how to use it. My brother comes round to programme it from his cell phone, but the wildfires haven't helped the local power, which is always cutting out. On tour I'll just let the clothes rot off me. I'm not one for carrying around large bags of laundry. 1pm I'll usually make myself a roast beef sandwich at home rather than go out for lunch. I'll have it with Bermuda onion, English mustard and, of course, unsalted Country Life butter thank you very much. If I'm seeing friends they'll come here as I've gone off the restaurants since all the smoking bans, and since the fires you can't even smoke outside now. 2pm My favourite thing to do in the afternoon is explore the local countryside on foot. I'll take the long walk from my house down to the beach, where I'll usually bump into the weekend cleaner brigade cleansing it. I love being out in the elements and I'll walk for miles and always find something interesting. 4pm I know a lot of people like to reflect in the afternoon, but I only reflect when I'm asleep. I can't turn off. I'm on sensory overload all the time. I just find that I'm interested in everything and love everything… right down to an itchy big toe. I find it all deeply relevant and fun. 5.30pm The Californian sunsets are fantastic and if I'm not down on the beach watching them, I can see them from my bedroom window, which virtually overlooks the beach. I've got reams of photographs and I've painted them a few times too, but often the photograph in my head is better. 7pm Breakfast and lunch will do me, so I don't always have dinner, and I'll just play music at the end of the day, but not on Spotify, obviously. I love the physicality of a record although most of my collection got burnt in a fire in London. Before she died Nora cancelled the insurance as she thought it was a waste of money, then six weeks later a spin dryer caught fire and burnt out the whole kitchen plus three quarters of my record collection. 9pm I don't stay up late or go to bars or nightclubs – what's the point? I go to bed early, though that doesn't mean I go to sleep early. I like to rummage through my thoughts before I finally pass out, then my thoughts gradually waft into dreams, which is when I write my best songs. I babble thoughts into a tape recorder, then in the morning I'll replay it and be amazed by what was going on in my head.
Telegraph
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Elaine Paige: ‘I enjoy a good play – perhaps more than a musical'
How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Elaine Paige 9am I'm not a morning person. I'm slow to get up, I don't go zinging into the day. I laze in bed and say: 'Alexa, please play Radio 4.' I love the stories of the guests on Saturday Live. 10am I go to the kitchen and make a cup of PG Tips, then I shower and put my face on, do my hair. My mother was a milliner and always terribly well dressed, she'd never leave the house without a hat. I saw that every day as a child and it's something I've inherited. I like to feel well presented, I'm not ready if I don't have my mascara on. People don't take care of how they dress like we used to in the old days, but it's respectful to other people to make an effort. 12pm I go over to the King's Road, something I've done since the '60s when I was a bit of a hippie, though now I mostly do my weekend food shop there. If I'm having friends over, I make Thai food. I'm a big lover of a wonderful soup, especially tom yum goong, a hot sweet and sour soup. I love to cook. I'm not performing every day any more so I've been able to indulge myself in all these wonderful things I never had time for before. 3pm A game of doubles with friends at The Queen's Club in Kensington. I wanted to be a tennis player as a child, but I was told I was too short. The taller ladies have a wider reach, but I'm quite quick because I'm nearer the ground. I can keep a rally going and the joy is the challenge of improving, rather than whether I win or not – having said that, I am quite competitive. 5pm I've been in the business for so long, out every night of the week and two shows on a Saturday so, now I'm not performing, I like a lazy time at home. It's hard to believe it's been 60 years since I started and I was very flattered that the BBC put together a tribute concert for me, it's a lovely way to look back [ Elaine Paige: 60 Years in Showbusiness and Zoe Ball meets Elaine Paige are on BBC Sounds now; Elaine Paige: 60 Years on Stage is on BBC Four and iPlayer on 11 May]. Getting the role of Evita was major [Paige starred in the first production of the musical in 1978]. The whole thing was a whirlwind and hit me like a ton of bricks. I can remember as clearly as if it happened yesterday, the final audition at Andrew Lloyd Webber 's apartment. He asked me to sing Rainbow High three times. I said, 'Is there something I'm doing wrong?' and he said, 'No, no, it's just this one separates the men from the boys' – at the time, it was the most challenging aria he'd written. 7pm I don't like crowds, so I don't always go to the theatre on a Saturday, but I do go nearly every week, I can't live without it. I recently saw Oedipus with Mark Strong and Lesley Manville, which was marvellous, and Giant at The Royal Court with John Lithgow as Roald Dahl and Elliot Levey as the agent. That was wonderful. Rather interestingly, I enjoy a good play, perhaps more than a musical. 10pm I love Yellowstone. When it first came out, I couldn't watch because I didn't understand a word anybody was saying as I'm slightly deaf and they're talking in this cowboy accent, but then – this sounds totally ageing – I discovered the subtitles. When I was young in Barnet, I'd go to the pictures on Saturday with my sister and it was always a Western, so it takes me back. 11pm I read Dickens: Public Life and Private Passion by Peter Ackroyd in bed. It's an absolute tome of a book, so I can only get through a chapter, but it's fascinating, you see that so much of his work came from his own life. I don't turn the light out until after midnight, it's all the years of going to bed so late. I'm a bit of an insomniac. I was awake at 4am this morning.
