Random News Stories

[Allan Young]

As for the body double issue, Ekland herself is claiming that it was her in the scene, so I guess that settles it. Maybe she, or her publicists, let it be known at the time that the scene was done by a body double, because she didn't want to be considered a porno actress and thus denied mainstream roles in the future?

Where has she claimed that it was her in the scene? I have a copy of the book Inside the Wicker Man, which contains an interview with the body double. Hard to imagine why she would make up the details.

[Randy Stankey]

Easy! None of them want to watch an "old" movie. They are just a bunch of lying weasels, looking for any excuse to avoid anything they don't want to do. The "trigger warning" is just the excuse they need.

Had the school admins done things the right way, they would have made the statement, "Please read the movie's Rating statement for more information," this whole thing would have gone unnoticed.

... Cacking hens!

[Harold Hallikainen]

“Until now, no student has chosen to view it.” is surprising to me. And the "trigger warning" was issued on nudity and not extreme violence. I wonder which would cause the most nightmares.

[Randy Stankey]

This story is not about a classification/censorship board rating, but rather a university issuing a "trigger warning"...

The rating system *IS* the trigger warning!

If somebody wants to know whether a movie has content that they don't like to see, they can look at the rating for that movie. That's what it was designed for, in the first place!

The rest amounts little more than the sound of hens clucking.

[Leo Enticknap]

Isn't this what the MPAA Ratings and Classification System is for?
If a movie is Rated-R that means it is for consenting adults only. Right?
If it says, "Nudity & Sexual Themes" that means people are going to take their clothes off and do sexual things. Right?
If the movie contains violent scenes then that would also be reflected in the rating. Yes?
Putting up a ratings poster at the box office should explain all that. Shouldn't it?

This story is not about a classification/censorship board rating, but rather a university issuing a "trigger warning" to its students to the effect that some might find the Ekland nudie scene difficult to deal with, and giving the option of skipping the movie altogether.

This gets even more absurd the more one looks into it. Firstly, the university course in question is a master's degree. The bare minimum age that anyone is going to be studying for a master's degree in the UK is 21 (a bachelor's degree in a humanities subject is typically three years full time, starting at 18), and most are significantly older. Secondly, as opined above, if you're going to be "triggered" by the scene in question, you're really going to be triggered by the Kentucky fried Edward Woodward scene. Or rather, if you are by the former but not by the latter, you are in need of serious psychological help, IMHO.

Thirdly, Randy raises an interesting point with ratings and classifications. The British Board of Film Classification has actually lowered their minimum age guidelines for being able to see this movie over time. For theatrical, it was X (under their old rating system, which lasted until the mid-1980s) on original release (this meant a minimum age of either 18 or 21, depending on the local jurisdiction in which the film played), but downgraded to 15 in 2007 (however, the 2007 re-release was three minutes shorter, so maybe the downgrade reflected cuts rather than changes to their censorship criteria). For home video it was 18 for the first release in 1990, and then 15 for a re-release of almost identical length in 2002.

So for the version that these students in their 20s or older are most likely going to see, the British Board of Film Classification, which is basically a building full of child psychologists (I applied and was interviewed for a job with them straight out of college in 1995, but didn't get it, essentially because I knew a lot about movies but bugger all about child development), reckons that a typical 15-year old can see this pic without anything bad happening to him or her. But if you're a postgrad at the University of Hertfordshire...

As for the body double issue, Ekland herself is claiming that it was her in the scene, so I guess that settles it. Maybe she, or her publicists, let it be known at the time that the scene was done by a body double, because she didn't want to be considered a porno actress and thus denied mainstream roles in the future? The Wicker Man certainly was a controversial movie at the time of its release, but my memory of reading about it is that the burning alive scene was its most controversial aspect, and that Scottish nationalists campaigned against it, because it didn't exactly portray their neck of the woods in a very positive light.

[James Biggins]

Funny thing is, it's not Britt Ekland who's naked in the film. They used a body double.

Not necessarily. There are conflicting stories on the subject.

[Allan Young]

Funny thing is, it's not Britt Ekland who's naked in the film. They used a body double.

[Randy Stankey]

Isn't this what the MPAA Ratings and Classification System is for?
If a movie is Rated-R that means it is for consenting adults only. Right?
If it says, "Nudity & Sexual Themes" that means people are going to take their clothes off and do sexual things. Right?
If the movie contains violent scenes then that would also be reflected in the rating. Yes?
Putting up a ratings poster at the box office should explain all that. Shouldn't it?

So, then, why did it take me an entire paragraph to explain all that when the statement, "Rated-R for violence, nudity and sexual themes," would have done the same?

It should have! People, today, need to have the dictionary read out, to them, in order to understand something that a person of average intelligence should understand, intuitively!

That's where the real bullshit is!

[Leo Enticknap]

From NY Breaking:

Wicker Man actress Britt Ekland slams university after issuing trigger warning for her nude scene in 1973 film

By Chris Hastings Arts Correspondent

Published: 23:00 GMT, February 15, 2025 | Updated: 04:16 GMT, February 16, 2025

It is a time when many teenage boys would have been the first glimpse of nakedness on the screen, while the character of Britt Ekland danced naked to seduce a policeman in the wicker man.

Yet the scene from the classical film from 1973 has now received a trigger warning, since the university bosses are supposed to fear that it might be too much for the sensitive students of today.

The film is on the syllabus of a master’s degree in Folklore at the University of Hertfordshire. But students on the course – mostly older than 21 years – have been told that they can skip it if they are concerned about the ‘image of nudity’.

Last night the Swedish actress burned the decision ‘absurd’. Mrs. Ekland, 82, the mail told on Sunday: ‘Excuse my language, but it is B ******.

‘I had many comments in 52 years [from men] That was their first experience to see someone from the opposite sex without clothing.

“I never had a comment that said,” You disturbed me for the rest of my life. “

‘I doubt that every young person will be shocked or dismissed in the twenty or unable to function for the rest of the day, or the week or month, because they keep an eye on the thatched man naked for one minute .

“The whole thing is absurd. If they start warnings for this, they have to put them on television for an award ceremony or premieres where people actually wear less than me. ‘

Britt Ekland has branded the decision to hit a trigger -warning on her iconic scene in the wicker man as ‘absurd’

It is a time when many teenage boys would have been the first glimpse of nakedness on the screen, while the character of Britt Ekland danced naked to seduce a policeman in the wicker man.

Yet the scene from the classical film from 1973 has now received a trigger warning, since the university bosses are supposed to fear that it might be too much for the sensitive students of today.

The film is on the syllabus of a master’s degree in Folklore at the University of Hertfordshire. But students on the course – mostly older than 21 years – have been told that they can skip it if they are concerned about the ‘image of nudity’.

Last night the Swedish actress burned the decision ‘absurd’. Mrs. Ekland, 82, the mail told on Sunday: ‘Excuse my language, but it is B ******.

‘I had many comments in 52 years [from men] That was their first experience to see someone from the opposite sex without clothing.

“I never had a comment that said,” You disturbed me for the rest of my life. “

‘I doubt that every young person will be shocked or dismissed in the twenty or unable to function for the rest of the day, or the week or month, because they keep an eye on the thatched man naked for one minute .

“The whole thing is absurd. If they start warnings for this, they have to put them on television for an award ceremony or premieres where people actually wear less than me. ‘

Britt Ekland has branded the decision to hit a trigger -warning on her iconic scene in the wicker man as ‘absurd’

Mrs. Ekland, 62 (photo), said the decision was B ***** s and ‘can only happen in England’

Details of the university warning, which is issued to students participating in a workshop called Folklore on the big screen, were obtained under the freedom of information legislation.

The film was X-rated when it was first released, but was relegated as a suitable for those aged 15 or older when it was re-released for home to 2002.

A spokeswoman for the University of Hertfordshire defended the warning. She said: ‘The well -being of our students will always be our greatest priority.

‘It followed students that we have added a content warning to our screenings of the Wicker Man and an option to look at themselves as the preference.

“Until now, no student has chosen to view it.”

Agreed completely with Ekland that the trigger warning is b******* and absurd, but not only for the reason she has in mind. In whose mind is a trigger warning necessary in respect of her cavorting around with no clothes on for a few seconds, but not of a much longer scene in which a guy is burned alive?!

[Frank Cox]

That's what happens when you monkey around with high voltage.

[Leo Enticknap]

From Jim's article:

There was no word on the fate of the monkey.

It would appear to be, unsurprisingly, a case of RIP monkey. From The Telegraph's coverage:

A security guard at the Panadura power station said he heard a loud explosion followed by a ball of smoke rising from the power station.

The monkey died on the spot, he said.

Seriously, crumbling power transmission infrastructure seems to be a growing problem in both the developing and the developed world. Prolonged outages have become a fact of life in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and they've even happened in California and Texas in recent years. I wonder if the long term future is distributed microgeneration (which is already happening: many of the parking lots around here have canopies with solar panels on them now) that can be operated both on and off grid as required, gradually making the grid itself less critical over time.

[Jim Cassedy]

Source Link Here> https://tinyurl.com/4ff3jh27

MonkeyPower.jpg

A countrywide power outage in Sri Lanka has been blamed on a monkey that clambered into
a power station south of Colombo. The blackout, which began around midday on Sunday, left
many people sweltering in temperatures exceeding 30C (86F).

“A monkey came into contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the power
system,” the energy minister, Kumara Jayakody, told reporters. Engineers scrambled to restore
power in the island nation of 22 million people, prioritising critical facilities such as hospitals and
water purification plants. While some areas regained electricity within hours, many households
without generators remained in the dark well into the night.

On social media, Sri Lankans likened the incident to a slapstick comedy, while others highlighted
the fragility of Sri Lanka’s power grid. “One monkey = total chaos. Time to rethink infrastructure?”
one user wrote. “Only in Sri Lanka can a monkey knock out the entire nation’s electricity,” another joked.
Beyond the internet memes, the outage underscored Sri Lanka’s ongoing struggles with energy security.
Experts have long warned that the country’s power grid is outdated and vulnerable to disruptions.
“The national power grid is in such a weakened state that frequent island-wide power outages may be
expected if there is a disturbance in one of our lines,” an unnamed senior engineer was quoted as saying
by the Daily Mirror. Sri Lanka is no stranger to power shortages. In 2022, amid a deep economic crisis,
rolling blackouts became a grim reality as fuel shortages forced authorities to ration electricity for up to 13
hours a day. The Ceylon Electricity Board issued an apology for the Sunday blackout but did not explain how
one incident could have had such widespread repercussions. There was no word on the fate of the monkey.
Monkeys have become an increasing problem in Sri Lanka due to their booming numbers. As humans
encroach on forested areas, the animals raid villages in search of food and destroy crops. The endemic
toque macaque is estimated to number between 2 and 3 million on the island.

< end >

In an ironic twist, this story popped up on my newsfeed last night when I was right in the
middle of an advance screening of "The Monkey", which was followed by a Q&A with
director Osgood Perkins that was being live-streamed to about 20 theaters nationwide.
We'll be running this flick in 35mm when it gets officially released later this month

Director Osgood Perkings (on right) during THE MONKEY
QnA. The video crew in back is handling the 3 remote cameras
and all the audio. I wind up being the overall 'technical director
and stage manager" during these events, which we do on a semi-
regular basis. The auditorium, which seats over 300ppl was actually
sold out, but from the booth, the high seat-backs hide some people's
heads if they're of short stature or sitting down low.

MonkeyQnA.jpg

[Randy Stankey]

That ad was probably done by some intern who waited until the night before his deadline and tossed something together at the last minute. The boss, busy with a hundred other things on his mind, took one look and said, "Yup! Send it to print!" but didn't even consider what he was looking at.

An eighth grader could have done a better job using "Paint Shop!"

You could fix that ad, simply, by horizontally flipping the image of the airplane and repositioning it to make it look like it was flying OVER the Eiffel Tower and not into it!

It would have taken about an extra ninety seconds to fix, including the time it would have taken to e-mail the file to your boss.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Parisians have had enough tragedy befall their cherished national monuments for a lifetime lately. Let's spare the tower please, even though it is actively trying to tear itself down on it's own with rust.

[Leo Enticknap]

Telegraph.

Pakistan Airlines advert shows plane flying into Eiffel Tower
Setback for state-owned carrier on same day flying ban to Europe lifted

James Warrington
Senior Business Reporter
10 January 2025 3:11pm GMT

Pakistan’s national airline has come under fire for a “tone deaf” advert that appears to show a plane flying into the Eiffel Tower.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which was banned from flying to the UK, US and EU in 2020 amid safety concerns, on Friday announced it had resumed flights to Europe after the ban was lifted.

In a post on social media, the airline published an image showing a plane and the Eiffel Tower against the French tricolour flag, accompanied by the caption: “Paris, we’re coming today.”

But critics pointed out that the advert appeared to show the plane heading straight for the Paris landmark.

Omar R Quraishi, a Pakistani PR expert and former adviser to politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, branded the campaign “completely tone deaf”.

He wrote on X: “Did the idiot who designed this graphic not see a PIA plane heading for the Eiffel Tower? One of Europe’s iconic landmarks. Do they not know about the 9/11 tragedy – which used planes to attack buildings? Did they not think that this would be perceived in similar fashion?”

Mr Quraishi said the advert was particularly insensitive given Pakistan had often been accused of supporting terrorism. Osama bin Laden, who led Al-Qaeda, hid in Pakisan following 9/11 before being killed by US special forces at his compound in Abbottabad.

The backlash is a setback for the state-owned airline after the EU’s aviation safety agency lifted the four-year ban.

The restrictions were imposed in 2020 after a PIA plane crashed in Karachi, killing 97 people. An investigation found the crash was caused by pilot error and that almost a third of Pakistani pilots held fake licences or had cheated in exams.

In 2017, PIA came under scrutiny after admitting it overfilled a flight and allowed seven extra passengers to stand in the aisle.

The airline was also ridiculed after images circulated online of ground staff sacrificing a goat next to an aircraft just before take-off in a bid to ward off bad luck. That followed a crash that killed 47 people in 2016.

Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, said the lifting of the ban would improve the airline’s image.

PIA said its first flight from Islamabad to Paris was fully booked with more than 300 passengers.

It is not the first time the Pakistani airline has raised eyebrows with its adverts. A 1979 campaign for PIA showing the shadow of a jetliner against the Twin Towers resurfaced in the wake of the 9/11 attacks given its eerie similarities with America’s deadliest terrorist attack.

PIA has been contacted for comment.

image.png

Is there an official goat sacrificing procedure in the Boeing and Airbus operations manuals? Do the ground staff have to pass a type rating before they can do that (not that it really matters if they do, given that most of them have phony licenses)?