Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Karl Pilkington the 40 year old English television personality, social commentator and  actor having gained prominence with Ricky Gervais has been interviewed for The sun Newspaper in an article titled “I feel guilty about taking the role from a proper actor”. When asked “How did Ricky persuade you to appear in Derek?” Pilkington responds “He did what he always does – he got me on set by talking about the catering! My girlfriend was away and I don’t like cooking. So he said to me: “Do you want to be in this?” I replied: “Are pork chops on the menu?” He said: “Yes” and I was there in ten minutes.” The interview continues “Did you have any qualms about acting?” responding “Yes. I’m not an actor, but I didn’t want to let my friend down. I still feel guilty about taking the role from a proper actor. There’s an actor bloke I used to see down the butcher’s. I told Ricky: “He’d be brilliant as Dougie.” Ricky said: “No, it’s you. Just do it.” I suppose I just can’t get over how lucky I’ve been. I’ve got no training, but Ricky has handed me this wonderful opportunity.” How did Ricky describe Dougie’s character to you? “He just did a doodle of a little round bald head and a pair of glasses, and then he said to me: “That’s what we’re looking for!”  What was Ricky like as a director? “I have nothing to compare him to, really. So I can’t say something like: “He’s a little bit different from Spielberg.” He might be the worst director in the world for all I know, but it seems to work.  …We’re always very honest with each other. There’s no pretending. It is true that certain things that annoy him do annoy me too…”

Inspired by The Sun ow.ly/hLQZ7 Image source Rick Walker ow.ly/hLQKf

Ricky Dene Gervais the 51 year old English comedian, actor and producer who achieved mainstream success with his television series ‘The Office’, according to Jordan Zakarin for the Hollywood Reporter “…it’s safe to say that he likes to get on people’s nerves, or at the very least, push their buttons. It’s a large part of his comedy, pushing that socially acceptable envelope and insisting people learn to take the joke.” Zakarin states “A committed Atheist, Gervais often muses on his disbelief in god through the social media platform [Twitter]. That doesn’t always sit well with his followers, who instead of deciding to unfollow him, respond back with great frustration and often, attacks. …He no longer retweets the name of his opponents — he doesn’t want to give them publicity — but does respond, quite aggressively, to their attacks. One thing to know about Gervais: he doesn’t back down. Especially because refusing to do so only helps build his brand. Win-win. Here is a sampling… 30 Sep 12 “Why do you always mock the Bibble asshole!!??” I can’t believe my luck with this tweet. Hahaha 1 Oct 12 “Atheism is narcissistic” And what’s the term for believing that the same God who ignored the holocaust will help you win an award? 1 Oct 12 “stop going on about religion and tweet some jokes” Fuck you. Pay me. 4 Oct 12  The Earth is 6,000 years old. Please RT to raise ignorance and confusion amongst the gullible. 5 Oct 12 “so what do you think being dead feels like?” You know what it felt like for the billions of years before you were born? Exactly like that. 5 Oct 12 Opinions don’t affect facts. But facts should affect opinions, and do, if you’re rational. 5 Oct 12  Complaining about what someone tweets about is like calling up the numbers in classified ads and shouting “But I don’t want piano lessons!” 5 Oct 12 I love how people walk round with crucifixes, skullcaps, pointy hats, funny beards and then say “you shoud keep your atheism to yourself.” 5 Oct 12 I get many tweets from Christians saying I should keep my beliefs to myself, but I never see them tweeting that to other Christians. Weird”

Inspired by Jordan Zakarin ow.ly/exFQg image source Thomas Atilla Lewis ow.ly/exFBj

Peter Ware Higgs the 83 year old English theoretical physicist and emeritus professor best known for his proposal of broken symmetry in electroweak theory, explaining the origin of mass of elementary particles. His so-called Higgs mechanism predicts the existence of a new particle, the Higgs boson (referred to as the God particle). Higgs has been interviewed by Olivier Dessibourg for LE TEMPS following the CERN announced that experiments had seen strong indications for the presence of a new particle, which could be the Higgs boson. In the interview Higgs states “I was deeply moved. Let’s say it was very emotional moment. Especially near the end… I connected with what was happening to me, and I felt emotionally involved, even though I’d carefully stood apart from all of this for a while. At first, I wasn’t sure this particle would be found during my lifetime. But as experiences gradually went on, first at the LEP [a previous accelerator at the CERN], then at the Fermilab in the United States, the expectation became increasingly realistic. …The most interesting thing now is going to be testing the theories that go beyond the “standard model” for describing the Universe, like “supersymmetry.” Because with the discovery of this new boson, this model is essentially complete.”

Inspired by Olivier Dessibourg ow.ly/c4VrH image source Gert-Martin Greuel ow.ly/c4Vkv

Chris Thomas the English Senior Consultant at Museum of London Archaeology and heads up the MetroMOLA regional service is leading an excavation of the former Shakespearian Curtain Theatre’s footings unearthed in East London. The Curtain Theatre is one of oldest theatre spaces in London, opening in 1577 and hosting two premieres of Shakespeare’s significant works – Romeo & Juliet and Henry V, until the opening of the Globe Theatre on the Bankside of the Thames. The Curtain was dismantled in the early 17th century, leaving its exact whereabouts unclear. Although the Curtain was known to be in the approximate area as it was named after the road it fronted. Thomas states “This is a fantastic site which gives us unique insight into early Shakespearean theatres. On other Tudor theatres we’ve found quantities of little pottery money boxes, which the punters put the price of admission into on the way in, which were then smashed at the back of the theatre to get the takings – I’m sure some from the Curtain are still there, just waiting for us to find them.” Excavation so far has located two sections of exterior wall which will be critical for determining the theatre’s dimensions.  As the location is further cleared for redevelopment, confidence is high that other artifacts will be revealed.

Inspired by The Guardian ow.ly/bJjQK image source MetroMOLA ow.ly/bJjMf

Patrick Hewes Stewart the 70 year old English actor and recipient of an OBE allowing him the title of Sir, has announced his desire for assisted euthanasia when his time arrives. Stewart has become a patron of the lobby group ‘Dignity in Dying’ to assist their campaign for legislative changes to enable assisted euthanasia. Stewart states that having no choice in your birth does not prevent you from having a choice in the manner of your death, which current legislation forces some to take their lives in unfortunate often ghastly circumstances. The issue of assisted suicide has received significant debate in the UK with a recent airing of a BBC documentary that has been criticized by a counter lobby group ‘Care not Killing’.

Inspired by France24 ow.ly/4Dejg image source David Shankbone ow.ly/4Ded1