Today in Entertainment, we speak to well-known American horror writer Stephen
King, who has just released his new novel, “Blaze”.
The author of over 50 best-selling horror novels, such as “Carrie”, “The Shining”
and “Dreamcatcher”, Stephen King has also written novels outside the horror
genre, such as “The Green Mile” and “The Shawshank Redemption”. Many of his
books have been made into films.
Stephen King has won 23 major book awards and has sold hundreds of millions of
books around the world, making him a household name. His name is known in
virtually every house around the world.
His latest book, “Blaze”, is about a man called Clayton Blaisedell Junior, who is a
mentally disabled man. He decides to kidnap a baby to get a $1 million ransom.
But 'Blaze' eventually grows to love the child as if it were his own. It's not a
horror novel like many of King's other books, so does Stephen believe most
writers can switch, like he can, between styles or genres?
Stephen King
I don't necessarily and I don't think that it's a given that you can write many different things. I
think that you're drawn in certain directions. You know in some ways I'm in a really good
position because I've seen an arc of critical approval for my work build over the years, which is
a lot better, believe me than starting out with a big bank of critical approval and then frittering it away.
Andrea: Stephen says that it's not a given that you can write lots of different things.
'A given' is something certain or definite. Not all writers can switch between styles. He
believes that all writers are drawn in certain directions – they are good at writing
certain stories over others. In his case, he was drawn towards writing horror stories.
He's happy though, that slowly over the years he's had more and more critical
approval. He's had good reviews over the years, and that's a lot better than getting
good reviews at the beginning of your career and then losing the ability to keep it up.
He talks about 'frittering away' your reputation. That means losing it, wasting it.
Instead, he has enjoyed his gradual acclaim.
So how did Stephen King become one of the world's best-selling horror writers?
Stephen King
That label has been put on me and I never put it on myself. More importantly in my head, I never
said 'It's time to write another horror novel'. I would just say, 'I have an idea it's time to write a
book'. I've been able to tell stories from tales of outright horror like “Pet Cemetery” to stories
like “The Shawshank Redemption” and a lot of time people don't believe that I had anything to
do with writing that, so, I wear different hats.
Andrea: Stephen says that he didn't choose to be known as a horror writer. He didn't choose
that label. If you're labelled, people choose to see you in a certain way. They label
you. But Stephen feels that he is much more than just a horror writer. People
sometimes don't believe that he wrote stories like “The Shawshank Redemption”.
But he likes to write different things. He talks about 'wearing different hats'. He
likes to be different people and write a variety of things.
Unfortunately in 1999, Stephen King almost gave up his writing career. He had a
terrible car accident.
Stephen King
I was walking and a guy came along in his van and I was where I belonged which was off on the
side of the road. The last piece of memory that I have is of the top of his van coming over the hill
and then I was in the ditch with my lap on sideways. I was pretty well shattered from the collar
bone, ribs broken, skull fractured, spine chipped in two or three places, hip, pelvis, thigh, knee,
shins, so it was all busted up all down one side, boom.
Andrea: Stephen describes how he was hit by a van while he was walking on the side of
the road. His last piece of memory, the last thing he remembers, was the van
coming over the hill. He was very badly injured from head to toe. He uses the
American expression 'busted up'. He was broken into lots of pieces and badly
hurt. But he's back now with his new novel and hopes it will do well.
2011年2月16日星期三
Shilpa Shetty
In Entertainment today we catch up with Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty,who is starring in the film, “Life in a…Metro”, which has just been released.
Shilpa Shetty started her career at the age of 16 when she worked as a model,and she made her film debut at the age of 17 in a film called “Baazigar”. If youmake your debut, it means it’s the first time you’ve done something. And inShilpa’s case, she was just a teenager when she started acting.
Shilpa’s been very successful as an actress – she’s been nominated four timesfor the Filmfare Awards in India. But she also made it into the internationalspotlight when earlier this year she took part in the British reality televisionshow, Celebrity Big Brother.
The programme was surrounded by controversy when Shilpa’s housemateswere accused of bullying her and making racist remarks.
But was it always Shilpa’s plan to get exposure from Celebrity Big Brother?
Did she want the fame and did she expect she’d become a heroine? As youlisten to Shilpa talking about her experiences in the Big Brother house see ifyou can hear some of these phrases: getting into – cater to – make it.
Shilpa ShettyYou know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I onlythought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going tomake me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you knowwhen people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make ithere or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
Andrea: Did you hear those phrases? Shilpa says she had no idea what she was gettinginto. She had no idea what was about to happen and how it would affect herlife. The other phrase she uses is ‘cater to’. Shilpa thought that being on BigBrother would only cater to Asian audiences. She thought it would only be theAsian viewers who would be interested in her. If you cater to someone, you aremaking something especially for them. Of course the word ‘cater’ can also beused when you are cooking something – as in ‘catering’. Finally, Shilpa talksabout making it. If you make it, you’ve become famous or well-known. Let’shave a listen to that clip again.
Shilpa ShettyYou know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I onlythought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going tomake me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you knowwhen people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make ithere or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
Andrea: Since being on television in Britain, Shilpa’s career has taken off. Most recentlyshe played the part of Shikha in the film, “Life in a….Metro”. The film looks atthe lives of seven people living in Mumbai, India and explores how the world isbecoming smaller with the use of mobile phones, with less time for everythingand far too many choices. It also takes a look at how Indian culture is slowlychanging. Shilpa’s character has an extra-marital affair because she is neglectedby her husband. So have the morals we associate with Indian society begun toshift?
Shilpa ShettyThat’s what I love about the movie. It’s unpretentious. And morals have nothing to do withculture. You are talking about a film set with characters who are fallible and who are human.
We are talking about issues that actually exist in urban India. You’re living in a metropolitancity like Mumbai whether it be London, New York, we all have to deal with these issues andwe all deal with them in our way and in India we deal with them slightly differently becauseof the background that we hail from. So you talk about extra-marital affairs, yes they exist inIndia. If you’re telling me it doesn’t exist then you’re being a hypocrite because they do exist– you know, I know that. People don't talk about them but in our film, it’s been portrayed sobeautifully. In fact, my character you actually feel so bad for her your heart goes out to her.
Shilpa Shetty started her career at the age of 16 when she worked as a model,and she made her film debut at the age of 17 in a film called “Baazigar”. If youmake your debut, it means it’s the first time you’ve done something. And inShilpa’s case, she was just a teenager when she started acting.
Shilpa’s been very successful as an actress – she’s been nominated four timesfor the Filmfare Awards in India. But she also made it into the internationalspotlight when earlier this year she took part in the British reality televisionshow, Celebrity Big Brother.
The programme was surrounded by controversy when Shilpa’s housemateswere accused of bullying her and making racist remarks.
But was it always Shilpa’s plan to get exposure from Celebrity Big Brother?
Did she want the fame and did she expect she’d become a heroine? As youlisten to Shilpa talking about her experiences in the Big Brother house see ifyou can hear some of these phrases: getting into – cater to – make it.
Shilpa ShettyYou know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I onlythought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going tomake me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you knowwhen people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make ithere or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
Andrea: Did you hear those phrases? Shilpa says she had no idea what she was gettinginto. She had no idea what was about to happen and how it would affect herlife. The other phrase she uses is ‘cater to’. Shilpa thought that being on BigBrother would only cater to Asian audiences. She thought it would only be theAsian viewers who would be interested in her. If you cater to someone, you aremaking something especially for them. Of course the word ‘cater’ can also beused when you are cooking something – as in ‘catering’. Finally, Shilpa talksabout making it. If you make it, you’ve become famous or well-known. Let’shave a listen to that clip again.
Shilpa ShettyYou know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I onlythought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going tomake me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you knowwhen people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make ithere or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
Andrea: Since being on television in Britain, Shilpa’s career has taken off. Most recentlyshe played the part of Shikha in the film, “Life in a….Metro”. The film looks atthe lives of seven people living in Mumbai, India and explores how the world isbecoming smaller with the use of mobile phones, with less time for everythingand far too many choices. It also takes a look at how Indian culture is slowlychanging. Shilpa’s character has an extra-marital affair because she is neglectedby her husband. So have the morals we associate with Indian society begun toshift?
Shilpa ShettyThat’s what I love about the movie. It’s unpretentious. And morals have nothing to do withculture. You are talking about a film set with characters who are fallible and who are human.
We are talking about issues that actually exist in urban India. You’re living in a metropolitancity like Mumbai whether it be London, New York, we all have to deal with these issues andwe all deal with them in our way and in India we deal with them slightly differently becauseof the background that we hail from. So you talk about extra-marital affairs, yes they exist inIndia. If you’re telling me it doesn’t exist then you’re being a hypocrite because they do exist– you know, I know that. People don't talk about them but in our film, it’s been portrayed sobeautifully. In fact, my character you actually feel so bad for her your heart goes out to her.
Star Wars: The Exhibition
Today in Entertainment, we’re going along to a new exhibition that’s takingthe world by storm. It’s really exciting people. Yes, it’s Star Wars: TheExhibition and it’s been making its way around Europe since the beginning ofthis year.
In 1977, Star Wars first played to audiences when it opened in 32 cinemas inthe United States. Thirty years on and 6 films later, this exhibitioncommemorates or celebrates the magic behind the movies.
The exhibition has been in Portugal and now it’s come to London. I met upwith Jonathan Sands, the man behind the exhibition, to take a tour and to findout more about what there is to see.
Jonathan Sands‘The exhibition is really an interactive event for all the family. It takes you through all the sixfilms in the Star Wars saga, including all the original archive set pieces – from the models, thecostumes, the full-size space ships and weapons and that type of thing – broken down into allthe planets in about 20 different exhibition rooms detailed with films that show the making ofand how certain items were made and used in the film against green screen or on set. So itreally shows the movie-making experience of Star Wars.’
Andrea: Jonathan says that the exhibition is very interactive – there are lots of thingsyou can play with or do there. You don’t simply look at things on display. Healso uses a lot of language to do with movie making. Did you catch some of thewords? He talks about set pieces – those are the pieces built for filming in thestudio. He also talks about models and costumes. He says that you can watchthings about the making of Star Wars. He also talks about the green screen –that’s when people are filmed against a green screen and then the creatures orbackdrop are filled in later. It’s all very exciting. Let’s listen to that clip again.
Jonathan Sands‘The exhibition is really an interactive event for all the family. It takes you through all the sixfilms in the Star Wars saga, including all the original archive set pieces – from the models, thecostumes, the full-size space ships and weapons and that type of thing – broken down into allthe planets in about 20 different exhibition rooms detailed with films that show the making ofand how certain items were made and used in the film against green screen or on set. So itreally shows the movie-making experience of Star Wars.’
SFXAndrea: As you can hear, you really get the whole Star Wars experience at this exhibition -theven if like me, you’re not a huge fan. This year is the 30 birthday of the firstStar Wars film, so what is it about Princess Leia and Darth Vader that stillcaptures people’s imaginations 30 years on?
Jonathan Sands‘I think as cultural phenomenons go, I certainly don’t know any other entertainment basedfilm, music, experience, education – there’s so many elements in Star Wars that make it whatit is for me, personally but at the end of the day it is a simple story and everybody gets it.
In 1977, Star Wars first played to audiences when it opened in 32 cinemas inthe United States. Thirty years on and 6 films later, this exhibitioncommemorates or celebrates the magic behind the movies.
The exhibition has been in Portugal and now it’s come to London. I met upwith Jonathan Sands, the man behind the exhibition, to take a tour and to findout more about what there is to see.
Jonathan Sands‘The exhibition is really an interactive event for all the family. It takes you through all the sixfilms in the Star Wars saga, including all the original archive set pieces – from the models, thecostumes, the full-size space ships and weapons and that type of thing – broken down into allthe planets in about 20 different exhibition rooms detailed with films that show the making ofand how certain items were made and used in the film against green screen or on set. So itreally shows the movie-making experience of Star Wars.’
Andrea: Jonathan says that the exhibition is very interactive – there are lots of thingsyou can play with or do there. You don’t simply look at things on display. Healso uses a lot of language to do with movie making. Did you catch some of thewords? He talks about set pieces – those are the pieces built for filming in thestudio. He also talks about models and costumes. He says that you can watchthings about the making of Star Wars. He also talks about the green screen –that’s when people are filmed against a green screen and then the creatures orbackdrop are filled in later. It’s all very exciting. Let’s listen to that clip again.
Jonathan Sands‘The exhibition is really an interactive event for all the family. It takes you through all the sixfilms in the Star Wars saga, including all the original archive set pieces – from the models, thecostumes, the full-size space ships and weapons and that type of thing – broken down into allthe planets in about 20 different exhibition rooms detailed with films that show the making ofand how certain items were made and used in the film against green screen or on set. So itreally shows the movie-making experience of Star Wars.’
SFXAndrea: As you can hear, you really get the whole Star Wars experience at this exhibition -theven if like me, you’re not a huge fan. This year is the 30 birthday of the firstStar Wars film, so what is it about Princess Leia and Darth Vader that stillcaptures people’s imaginations 30 years on?
Jonathan Sands‘I think as cultural phenomenons go, I certainly don’t know any other entertainment basedfilm, music, experience, education – there’s so many elements in Star Wars that make it whatit is for me, personally but at the end of the day it is a simple story and everybody gets it.
Flatmates celebration
What is this sport Bog Snorkelling? I hear you ask. Well first you have to knowwhat a bog is. A bog is an area of land in the countryside which is always softand wet. When you walk through it your feet might get stuck and it makes asquelching noise. The particular bog in question is what's known as a peat bog.
So that's a bog. And what about the snorkelling part? Well normallysnorkelling is what you do on holiday, in the warm blue sea. Swimming withyour head underwater breathing through a plastic tube called a snorkel.
Bog Snorkelling then is a combination of those two things. And to learn moreabout it I spoke to one of the organisers and founders of the World BogSnorkelling Championships, Gordon Green.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty water.
Callum: Gordon says that they dig a trench in the bog. A trench is a kind of an oblonghole. And when they dig this trench in the bog it fills up with dirty water whichthe competitors, the people taking part in the competition have to swim through.
Listen again, this time listen out for how long the trench is and how far thecompetitors have to swim. Gordon uses the traditional measurement of a yard.
A yard is about .9 of a metre, so nearly a metre.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty waterand the trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths of this bog sothey’re swimming 120 yards.
Callum: The trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths,that's 120 yards which is about 110 metres. Gordon goes on to explain moreabout the rules.
Gordon GreenBog snorkelling is a sport where you have to breathe, through a snorkel, you can use flippersand the majority do use flippers, but you have to breathe through a snorkel and you’re notallowed to do a crawl or a breast stroke, you have to keep your arms straight in front of you ordo a dog paddle.
Callum: The competitors aren't allowed to use any traditional swimming strokes, likefront crawl or breast stroke though they can use what we call a doggy paddle, away of swimming using your arms like a dog uses its legs when swimming.
They have to breathe through a snorkel and they can wear flippers, or fins, ontheir feet.
Swimming is now not the only bog snorkelling event. If you want to you canalso try Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling. I asked Gordon to describe that.
Gordon GreenWe’ve dug a deeper trench and we have to have a special bike. What we do is fill the framefull of lead, put water in the tyres instead of air. We’ve got lead weights on the bike and theperson that’s riding it has to wear a lead belt round his waist or her waist and also lead in arucksack so we’ve got the correct buoyancy so that when you cycle under the water you canactually do that and breathe through your snorkel. They have to then cycle underwater and it’slike cycling in treacle, it’s very hard work and that’s become a very popular event as well.
Callum: So the trench for the Mountain Bike event is deeper and the contestants ride aspecial bike with lots of weight. They have to cycle through the bog,underwater, again, breathing through the snorkel!
So that's a bog. And what about the snorkelling part? Well normallysnorkelling is what you do on holiday, in the warm blue sea. Swimming withyour head underwater breathing through a plastic tube called a snorkel.
Bog Snorkelling then is a combination of those two things. And to learn moreabout it I spoke to one of the organisers and founders of the World BogSnorkelling Championships, Gordon Green.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty water.
Callum: Gordon says that they dig a trench in the bog. A trench is a kind of an oblonghole. And when they dig this trench in the bog it fills up with dirty water whichthe competitors, the people taking part in the competition have to swim through.
Listen again, this time listen out for how long the trench is and how far thecompetitors have to swim. Gordon uses the traditional measurement of a yard.
A yard is about .9 of a metre, so nearly a metre.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty waterand the trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths of this bog sothey’re swimming 120 yards.
Callum: The trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths,that's 120 yards which is about 110 metres. Gordon goes on to explain moreabout the rules.
Gordon GreenBog snorkelling is a sport where you have to breathe, through a snorkel, you can use flippersand the majority do use flippers, but you have to breathe through a snorkel and you’re notallowed to do a crawl or a breast stroke, you have to keep your arms straight in front of you ordo a dog paddle.
Callum: The competitors aren't allowed to use any traditional swimming strokes, likefront crawl or breast stroke though they can use what we call a doggy paddle, away of swimming using your arms like a dog uses its legs when swimming.
They have to breathe through a snorkel and they can wear flippers, or fins, ontheir feet.
Swimming is now not the only bog snorkelling event. If you want to you canalso try Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling. I asked Gordon to describe that.
Gordon GreenWe’ve dug a deeper trench and we have to have a special bike. What we do is fill the framefull of lead, put water in the tyres instead of air. We’ve got lead weights on the bike and theperson that’s riding it has to wear a lead belt round his waist or her waist and also lead in arucksack so we’ve got the correct buoyancy so that when you cycle under the water you canactually do that and breathe through your snorkel. They have to then cycle underwater and it’slike cycling in treacle, it’s very hard work and that’s become a very popular event as well.
Callum: So the trench for the Mountain Bike event is deeper and the contestants ride aspecial bike with lots of weight. They have to cycle through the bog,underwater, again, breathing through the snorkel!
Portobello Film Festival
You may have heard of the Venice Film Festival andthe Cannes Film Festival, glamorous occasions with A-list celebrities from themovie world turning out to promote their latest projects. A festival you mightnot know is the Portobello Film Festival which is currently taking place inPortobello an area of West London. It’s had its own independent film festivalfor a number of years and to learn more about it I spoke to the festival’sdirector Jonathan Barnett. I first asked him when and how it started.
Jonathan BarnettWell it started in 1996 because even back in those days there were people making very lowbudget films often using video equipment and there wasn’t really anywhere for them to showtheir films so we thought it would be nice to provide a platform for these filmmakers. We hadthe mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we also decided not tocharge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.
Callum: It started in 1996 as a way of giving independent filmmakers somewhere toshow their films. As Jonathan said, to give them a platform. These films hedescribed as low-budget films which means they were made without verymuch money. He also talked about their policy on which films to show in thefestival. He uses the word submitted, the past participle of the verb ‘to submit’.
In this case it means to send in. People send in or submit films to the festivalorganisers hoping they will be part of the festival. Which films does Jonathansay they show and how much do the filmmakers have to pay to submit theirfilms? Listen again.
Jonathan BarnettWe had the mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we alsodecided not to charge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.
Callum: Jonathan says that they show every film that is submitted. They also decidednot to charge. So it’s free for filmmakers to submit their films and it’s also freefor people to go and see the films during the. This he describes as a ‘mad idea’
but he explains it by saying that they are not ‘rabid capitalists’ which meansthey are not doing it to make money. After hearing this I wondered just howmany films are being shown and where they do get the money from to run thefestival. Listen out for that information. How many films are being shown andhow do they manage to pay for it? He mentions some sources of funding fromdifferent organisations, but what else does he mention is a financial support?
Jonathan BarnettThis year we’re showing 700 films. The money comes in from funding, we get money frompeople like Film London and the Arts Council and also we get a lot of ‘in kind’ support fromsponsors. So we don’t have to pay for advertising, we don’t have to pay for launch parties, wedon’t have to pay for prizes.
Callum: 700 films are being shown this year and as well as receiving money fromdifferent arts and local organisations the festival gets ‘in kind’ support fromsponsors. This means that sponsors of the festival get publicity from theirinvolvement with it and therefore don’t charge for the goods and services theyprovide.
Over the first three weeks of August 700 films are being shown as part of thePortobello Film Festival. What kind of films can be seen? Are they just shortstudent films or does the festival attract big names as well? Here’s festivaldirector Jonathan Barnett.
Jonathan BarnettThe actual films we’re showing are a lot better than anything you’ll see mostly on the tele orin the multiplexes and it’s everything from student films and we also get stuff from topfilmmakers like, for instance, John Malkovich. So I think because we’re a festival that has areputation for a certain amount of integrity and also being a little bit out on a limb we attractthe big names as well as people who are just starting out. The first year of the festival we hadGuy Ritchie’s first film which was called the Hard Case, which was fantastic, it’s exactly thesame as Lock Stock and Snatch but he was kind of formulating his ideas and it was a shortfilm.
Callum: Jonathan believes there is a very high quality of films from new studentfilmmakers to established and well-known artists such a John Malkovich. Healso mentioned the British director Guy Ritchie who had international successwith the films Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. In thefestival’s first year Ritchie submitted a short film called Hard Case whichJonathan said was fantastic, and it showed Ritchie formulating or developingthe ideas that he would later use in those mainstream films. The PortobelloFilm Festival runs until the 21 of August and as well as films there are otherarts events as well. Jonathan wants the festival to be more than just for film.
Jonathan BarnettYes, what we want it to be is, we want it to be a bit like a kind of cross between Glastonburyand Edinburgh, but for free and set in Portobello Road.
Jonathan BarnettWell it started in 1996 because even back in those days there were people making very lowbudget films often using video equipment and there wasn’t really anywhere for them to showtheir films so we thought it would be nice to provide a platform for these filmmakers. We hadthe mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we also decided not tocharge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.
Callum: It started in 1996 as a way of giving independent filmmakers somewhere toshow their films. As Jonathan said, to give them a platform. These films hedescribed as low-budget films which means they were made without verymuch money. He also talked about their policy on which films to show in thefestival. He uses the word submitted, the past participle of the verb ‘to submit’.
In this case it means to send in. People send in or submit films to the festivalorganisers hoping they will be part of the festival. Which films does Jonathansay they show and how much do the filmmakers have to pay to submit theirfilms? Listen again.
Jonathan BarnettWe had the mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we alsodecided not to charge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.
Callum: Jonathan says that they show every film that is submitted. They also decidednot to charge. So it’s free for filmmakers to submit their films and it’s also freefor people to go and see the films during the. This he describes as a ‘mad idea’
but he explains it by saying that they are not ‘rabid capitalists’ which meansthey are not doing it to make money. After hearing this I wondered just howmany films are being shown and where they do get the money from to run thefestival. Listen out for that information. How many films are being shown andhow do they manage to pay for it? He mentions some sources of funding fromdifferent organisations, but what else does he mention is a financial support?
Jonathan BarnettThis year we’re showing 700 films. The money comes in from funding, we get money frompeople like Film London and the Arts Council and also we get a lot of ‘in kind’ support fromsponsors. So we don’t have to pay for advertising, we don’t have to pay for launch parties, wedon’t have to pay for prizes.
Callum: 700 films are being shown this year and as well as receiving money fromdifferent arts and local organisations the festival gets ‘in kind’ support fromsponsors. This means that sponsors of the festival get publicity from theirinvolvement with it and therefore don’t charge for the goods and services theyprovide.
Over the first three weeks of August 700 films are being shown as part of thePortobello Film Festival. What kind of films can be seen? Are they just shortstudent films or does the festival attract big names as well? Here’s festivaldirector Jonathan Barnett.
Jonathan BarnettThe actual films we’re showing are a lot better than anything you’ll see mostly on the tele orin the multiplexes and it’s everything from student films and we also get stuff from topfilmmakers like, for instance, John Malkovich. So I think because we’re a festival that has areputation for a certain amount of integrity and also being a little bit out on a limb we attractthe big names as well as people who are just starting out. The first year of the festival we hadGuy Ritchie’s first film which was called the Hard Case, which was fantastic, it’s exactly thesame as Lock Stock and Snatch but he was kind of formulating his ideas and it was a shortfilm.
Callum: Jonathan believes there is a very high quality of films from new studentfilmmakers to established and well-known artists such a John Malkovich. Healso mentioned the British director Guy Ritchie who had international successwith the films Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. In thefestival’s first year Ritchie submitted a short film called Hard Case whichJonathan said was fantastic, and it showed Ritchie formulating or developingthe ideas that he would later use in those mainstream films. The PortobelloFilm Festival runs until the 21 of August and as well as films there are otherarts events as well. Jonathan wants the festival to be more than just for film.
Jonathan BarnettYes, what we want it to be is, we want it to be a bit like a kind of cross between Glastonburyand Edinburgh, but for free and set in Portobello Road.
Joanna Lumley
Today in Entertainment, we meet well-known British actress, Joanna Lumley,who is best known as Patsy in the television comedy series, AbsolutelyFabulous. It’s also known as Ab Fab – shortened forms of the words‘Absolutely’ – Ab and ‘Fabulous’ – Fab.
Joanna Lumley also recently had a flower named after her - a fuchsia. So fromnow on, people will have Joanna Lumleys growing in their gardens!
Joanna started her career in the 1970’s. Her first acting role was as a Bond girl.
Yes, she played one of the women in a James Bond film.
Since then she’s been in lots of films and television series and in 1995, Joannawas awarded an OBE. An OBE is an Order of the British Empire. It’s given bythe Queen of England and is a very prestigious award that recognises people’scontribution to British society – be it as an actress or for charity work.
But, Joanna didn’t always live in Britain. Have a listen to what she says abouther childhood. Can you hear where she was born and grew up?
I was born in India in Kashmir in Srinagar. And um, I was born the year beforePartition so I don’t remember it, because I was born in ‘46 and by ‘47 all theBritish had to leave India. But, my father was with the Ghurkha regiment. Bothmy parents had been brought up in India. So Britain was always called ‘home’
but we didn’t have a home here. And so after India we went out to Malaya andMalaya is really my first sense of where home was. I felt I was, I thought I wasMalayan, I thought I belonged there.
Did you manage to hear where Joanna was born? Yes, that’s correct she wasborn in India. She talks about being born in ’46. What she means is 1946.
Sometimes in English people shorten the year – for instance, the 1960s areoften talked about as ‘the 60s,’ the 1970s – ‘the 70s’ and so on. Anyway,Joanna was born the year before Partition. That’s when India gainedindependence from Britain and Pakistan was created.
Joanna’s father was in the military. Both Joanna’s mother and father had beenbrought up in India. If you are brought up somewhere, you’ve grown up there.
Britain was always talked about as home but really, Joanna only felt at homewhen they moved from India to Malaya, now known as Malaysia. That was herfirst sense, her first feeling of home. Let’s take a listen to that clip again.
J.Lumley: I was born in India in Kashmir in Srinagar. And um, I was born the year beforePartition so I don’t remember it, because I was born in ‘46 and by ‘47 all theBritish had to leave India. But, my father was with the Ghurkha regiment. Bothmy parents had been brought up in India. So Britain was always called ‘home’
but we didn’t have a home here. And so after India we went out to Malaya andMalaya is really my first sense of where home was. I felt I was, I thought I wasMalayan, I thought I belonged there.
Andrea: So Joanna spent her childhood outside England. However, even as a young girlshe knew she wanted to be an actress. She even auditioned for RADA which isthe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art here in London. It’s one of the best dramaschools in the world. But unfortunately Joanna’s audition didn’t go too well.
J.Lumley: When I was at school I auditioned for RADA. I did a fearful audition. So I justran away from acting at that point. I just can bear people saying ‘no’ or ‘you’rebad’. And eventually when I get to read critics who have written aboutperformances I have done, if there are bad ones I rip them up so that they don’texist in my mind. Of course they do but in history I look back and it says ‘aglorious, lambent performance - gleaming, shining’ and you go, well just savethat one’.
Andrea: Joanna uses lots of very colourful language in that clip. There are lots ofadjectives. Her audition didn’t go very well – she says it was fearful, it wasdreadful. She also talks about ripping up bad reviews of her performances sothat she only remembers the good ones. Some of the words she’d like to heardescribe her acting are – ‘glorious’, ‘lambent’ which means glowing,‘gleaming’ and ‘shining’. They are all what we’d call superlatives - adjectivesthat describe something in the highest of terms. That’s the kind of actressJoanna Lumley hopes she’ll always be remembered as.
Joanna Lumley also recently had a flower named after her - a fuchsia. So fromnow on, people will have Joanna Lumleys growing in their gardens!
Joanna started her career in the 1970’s. Her first acting role was as a Bond girl.
Yes, she played one of the women in a James Bond film.
Since then she’s been in lots of films and television series and in 1995, Joannawas awarded an OBE. An OBE is an Order of the British Empire. It’s given bythe Queen of England and is a very prestigious award that recognises people’scontribution to British society – be it as an actress or for charity work.
But, Joanna didn’t always live in Britain. Have a listen to what she says abouther childhood. Can you hear where she was born and grew up?
I was born in India in Kashmir in Srinagar. And um, I was born the year beforePartition so I don’t remember it, because I was born in ‘46 and by ‘47 all theBritish had to leave India. But, my father was with the Ghurkha regiment. Bothmy parents had been brought up in India. So Britain was always called ‘home’
but we didn’t have a home here. And so after India we went out to Malaya andMalaya is really my first sense of where home was. I felt I was, I thought I wasMalayan, I thought I belonged there.
Did you manage to hear where Joanna was born? Yes, that’s correct she wasborn in India. She talks about being born in ’46. What she means is 1946.
Sometimes in English people shorten the year – for instance, the 1960s areoften talked about as ‘the 60s,’ the 1970s – ‘the 70s’ and so on. Anyway,Joanna was born the year before Partition. That’s when India gainedindependence from Britain and Pakistan was created.
Joanna’s father was in the military. Both Joanna’s mother and father had beenbrought up in India. If you are brought up somewhere, you’ve grown up there.
Britain was always talked about as home but really, Joanna only felt at homewhen they moved from India to Malaya, now known as Malaysia. That was herfirst sense, her first feeling of home. Let’s take a listen to that clip again.
J.Lumley: I was born in India in Kashmir in Srinagar. And um, I was born the year beforePartition so I don’t remember it, because I was born in ‘46 and by ‘47 all theBritish had to leave India. But, my father was with the Ghurkha regiment. Bothmy parents had been brought up in India. So Britain was always called ‘home’
but we didn’t have a home here. And so after India we went out to Malaya andMalaya is really my first sense of where home was. I felt I was, I thought I wasMalayan, I thought I belonged there.
Andrea: So Joanna spent her childhood outside England. However, even as a young girlshe knew she wanted to be an actress. She even auditioned for RADA which isthe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art here in London. It’s one of the best dramaschools in the world. But unfortunately Joanna’s audition didn’t go too well.
J.Lumley: When I was at school I auditioned for RADA. I did a fearful audition. So I justran away from acting at that point. I just can bear people saying ‘no’ or ‘you’rebad’. And eventually when I get to read critics who have written aboutperformances I have done, if there are bad ones I rip them up so that they don’texist in my mind. Of course they do but in history I look back and it says ‘aglorious, lambent performance - gleaming, shining’ and you go, well just savethat one’.
Andrea: Joanna uses lots of very colourful language in that clip. There are lots ofadjectives. Her audition didn’t go very well – she says it was fearful, it wasdreadful. She also talks about ripping up bad reviews of her performances sothat she only remembers the good ones. Some of the words she’d like to heardescribe her acting are – ‘glorious’, ‘lambent’ which means glowing,‘gleaming’ and ‘shining’. They are all what we’d call superlatives - adjectivesthat describe something in the highest of terms. That’s the kind of actressJoanna Lumley hopes she’ll always be remembered as.
Bog Snorkelling
What is this sport Bog Snorkelling? I hear you ask. Well first you have to knowwhat a bog is. A bog is an area of land in the countryside which is always softand wet. When you walk through it your feet might get stuck and it makes asquelching noise. The particular bog in question is what's known as a peat bog.
So that's a bog. And what about the snorkelling part? Well normallysnorkelling is what you do on holiday, in the warm blue sea. Swimming withyour head underwater breathing through a plastic tube called a snorkel.
Bog Snorkelling then is a combination of those two things. And to learn moreabout it I spoke to one of the organisers and founders of the World BogSnorkelling Championships, Gordon Green.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty water.
Callum: Gordon says that they dig a trench in the bog. A trench is a kind of an oblonghole. And when they dig this trench in the bog it fills up with dirty water whichthe competitors, the people taking part in the competition have to swim through.
Listen again, this time listen out for how long the trench is and how far thecompetitors have to swim. Gordon uses the traditional measurement of a yard.
A yard is about .9 of a metre, so nearly a metre.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty waterand the trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths of this bog sothey’re swimming 120 yards.
Callum: The trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths,that's 120 yards which is about 110 metres. Gordon goes on to explain moreabout the rules.
Gordon GreenBog snorkelling is a sport where you have to breathe, through a snorkel, you can use flippersand the majority do use flippers, but you have to breathe through a snorkel and you’re notallowed to do a crawl or a breast stroke, you have to keep your arms straight in front of you ordo a dog paddle.
Callum: The competitors aren't allowed to use any traditional swimming strokes, likefront crawl or breast stroke though they can use what we call a doggy paddle, away of swimming using your arms like a dog uses its legs when swimming.
They have to breathe through a snorkel and they can wear flippers, or fins, ontheir feet.
Swimming is now not the only bog snorkelling event. If you want to you canalso try Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling. I asked Gordon to describe that.
Gordon GreenWe’ve dug a deeper trench and we have to have a special bike. What we do is fill the framefull of lead, put water in the tyres instead of air. We’ve got lead weights on the bike and theperson that’s riding it has to wear a lead belt round his waist or her waist and also lead in arucksack so we’ve got the correct buoyancy so that when you cycle under the water you canactually do that and breathe through your snorkel. They have to then cycle underwater and it’slike cycling in treacle, it’s very hard work and that’s become a very popular event as well.
Callum: So the trench for the Mountain Bike event is deeper and the contestants ride aspecial bike with lots of weight. They have to cycle through the bog,underwater, again, breathing through the snorkel!
I then asked Gordon how it started, where did the idea come from to get peopleto swim through dirty water in a field and how long has it been going.
Gordon GreenWell it started like all these things do late a night in a pub when we’d all been drinking andwe were wanting to raise some money for a charity at the time and someone said that theydidn’t have anything in their garden but a bog and then someone else said well let’s swim in itand that’s how it came along.
So that's a bog. And what about the snorkelling part? Well normallysnorkelling is what you do on holiday, in the warm blue sea. Swimming withyour head underwater breathing through a plastic tube called a snorkel.
Bog Snorkelling then is a combination of those two things. And to learn moreabout it I spoke to one of the organisers and founders of the World BogSnorkelling Championships, Gordon Green.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty water.
Callum: Gordon says that they dig a trench in the bog. A trench is a kind of an oblonghole. And when they dig this trench in the bog it fills up with dirty water whichthe competitors, the people taking part in the competition have to swim through.
Listen again, this time listen out for how long the trench is and how far thecompetitors have to swim. Gordon uses the traditional measurement of a yard.
A yard is about .9 of a metre, so nearly a metre.
Gordon GreenWhat we’ve done is we’ve dug a trench in the peat bog so that it fills with a nice dirty waterand the trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths of this bog sothey’re swimming 120 yards.
Callum: The trench is 60 yards long and the competitors have to swim two lengths,that's 120 yards which is about 110 metres. Gordon goes on to explain moreabout the rules.
Gordon GreenBog snorkelling is a sport where you have to breathe, through a snorkel, you can use flippersand the majority do use flippers, but you have to breathe through a snorkel and you’re notallowed to do a crawl or a breast stroke, you have to keep your arms straight in front of you ordo a dog paddle.
Callum: The competitors aren't allowed to use any traditional swimming strokes, likefront crawl or breast stroke though they can use what we call a doggy paddle, away of swimming using your arms like a dog uses its legs when swimming.
They have to breathe through a snorkel and they can wear flippers, or fins, ontheir feet.
Swimming is now not the only bog snorkelling event. If you want to you canalso try Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling. I asked Gordon to describe that.
Gordon GreenWe’ve dug a deeper trench and we have to have a special bike. What we do is fill the framefull of lead, put water in the tyres instead of air. We’ve got lead weights on the bike and theperson that’s riding it has to wear a lead belt round his waist or her waist and also lead in arucksack so we’ve got the correct buoyancy so that when you cycle under the water you canactually do that and breathe through your snorkel. They have to then cycle underwater and it’slike cycling in treacle, it’s very hard work and that’s become a very popular event as well.
Callum: So the trench for the Mountain Bike event is deeper and the contestants ride aspecial bike with lots of weight. They have to cycle through the bog,underwater, again, breathing through the snorkel!
I then asked Gordon how it started, where did the idea come from to get peopleto swim through dirty water in a field and how long has it been going.
Gordon GreenWell it started like all these things do late a night in a pub when we’d all been drinking andwe were wanting to raise some money for a charity at the time and someone said that theydidn’t have anything in their garden but a bog and then someone else said well let’s swim in itand that’s how it came along.
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