Latest news with #AtticusFinch
The Citizen
05-07-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
‘Shrewdies' to make July Quartet pay big
Confederate at 40-1, Atticus Finch at 28-1 and My Best Shot at 25-1 might be decent calls. There is almost always a surprise package among the top four finishers in the Durban July, making winning Quartet, Trifecta, Swinger and Exacta bets pay handsomely. On Saturday at Greyville, the July Quartet is predicted to have a pool of R10-million. Three days before the race, the TAB pool was already nearing R1.5-million, so there's a fair chance it will exceed the target. In 2024, all four horses at the head of the July pack were priced in double figures by the bookmakers: winner Oriental Charm at 10-1, runner-up Cousin Casey at 25-1, third-placed Royal Victory at 10-1, and fourth-placed Flag Man at 14-1. The Quartet on that occasion paid a princely R24,359.60. The year before, third-placed Bless My Stars was a 33-1 shot and fourth Do It Again 16-1; in 2022, winner Sparkling Water and second Jet Dark were both surprisingly good value at 16-1 apiece; and in 2020, fourth-placed Golden Ducat at 33-1 helped swell all dividends. This week's 129th running of Africa's greatest race sees one horse, Eight On Eighteen, dominating the betting, meaning other well-fancied runners are comparative long-shots. Second and third favourites Oriental Charm and Immediate Edge are quoted at 8-1 by Betway. But, of course, they will be included in most Quartet selections and won't be pushing out the dividend. Confederate is excellent value So, in search of the real 'roughie' – or 'shrewdie' – to make Saturday's Quartet pay, we must look to deeper reaches of the betting boards. Confederate at 40-1, Atticus Finch at 28-1 and My Best Shot at 25-1 might be decent calls. In particular, Fabian Habib-trained Confederate seems excellent value on a line of form through Fire Attack, who he beat in the SA Classic but who has since had a Grade 1 win and has attained a merit rating eight points higher than him. The gelding has never been out of the first two in nine starts and has New Zealand champion jockey Warren Kennedy – on a mission back on home turf – to help him overcome a widish draw. Every punter is on a budget of some sort, so, to keep the Quartet cost down below R1,000, say, some runners more fancied than the above three will have to be left out. It's a hard game. Suggested Quartet on the Durban July, Race 7, at Greyville on Saturday 5 July: Floating banker 11; with 1,4,6,9,10,14,16 (R840)
New Paper
03-07-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
July 5 Durban July form analysis
1 Oriental Charm Last year's winner whose preparation run in the Gold Challenge was scintillating. Gets the best draw and has a huge chance of going back-to-back. 2 Madison Valley Bounced right back to winning ways last time. He is a five-time winner and has a chance of finishing in the money. 3 On My Honour Caught the eye last time when third to Madison Valley and has the form to be competitive. Strong place chance, but others are chosen for the win. 4 Atticus Finch Is taking time for the next win but is packed with ability and class and needs to be respected. Expect a good effort. 5 The Real Prince Is an interesting runner. His form is solid and if he stays the added trip, then can go very close to getting it all right. The neat draw will help. Respect and include. 6 Selukwe Was an impressive winner of the 1,900m last time and caught the attention of many. His turn of foot is his biggest asset and if he were to win, it would be no shock at all. Good each-way claims. 7 Rainbow Lorikeet Has solid form but others might be stronger. Others are preferred for the win, but she can certainly earn. Her run in the Woolavington 2000 was eye-catching. An outsider with a place chance. 8 Pomodoro's Jet Has won his last three in fine fashion but against weaker and faces his toughest test to date. He gets a cozy draw but needs to raise his game to threaten here. Happy to ignore. 9 My Best Shot Has a sparkling record from the Eastern Cape having won 10 races from 16 starts. He clearly is good and has talent but will find it tough against these. An outsider with a small place chance. 10 Immediate Edge Interesting three-year-old who is showing huge potential for the de Kock team. He shows guts and determination in his races and could end up being anything. He is an exciting prospect and has an undeniable winning chance. 11 Eight On Eighteen Is winning in the manner of a top horse. He is a top horse and his last victory was outstanding. The one to beat. 12 Purple Pitcher Is taking time for the next victory and is a tad off form. He is capable of a good run but has become difficult to assess and predict. Small outside place chance at best, if things go his way. 13 Okavango Is the each-way value in the race and has to be respected. He has acquitted himself well in some very tough races and has talent. Strong claims. 14 Confederate Has absolutely no stamina doubts and is a big runner. His form is solid and he has a lively chance in this. Each-way chance. 15 See It Again Is taking time to get the next win but he is packed with class and ability. He can build on his last run to Dave The King and can never be dismissed from any bets. Big run in store. 16 Gladatorian Seems to have had a sparkling preparation coming into the Durban July and if he sees out the trip, he can be very competitive. Respect and include as the value for the places. 17 Royal Victory Is running very well and is coming into the race off two excellent last runs. He ran a cracker last year and has a bright winning chance. 18 Native Ruler Is never too far off the action but there are many that are selected to finish in front of him. He finished fourth behind Eight On Eighteen last time. Others are preferred. RESERVES: 19 Litigation Showed a form return last time but is taking a long time to win again. He would be a surprise winner if he gets into the race. 20 Son Of Raj Is off form at the moment and will have to improve a lot on current form to feature in the finish. He is likely to be at huge odds and if he gets in, would be a shock winner. Happy to ignore. Comments courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
To Kill a Mockingbird: a call to compassion that's more urgent than ever
It's impossible to watch Robert Mulligan's 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee's great novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and not be moved by Gregory Peck's performance as Atticus Finch, a small-town American lawyer with an unfailing moral compass. Light years from the archetypal legal eagle, he radiates good old-fashioned decency, espousing tolerance and compassion that sadly feels almost passe amid the Sturm und Drang of the current world. 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view,' goes one of Finch's great lines, sourced from Lee's book. In perhaps the film's most memorable scene, Peck deliverers a grand courtroom monologue, declaring that 'all men are created equal', imploring the jury to 'in the name of god, believe Tom Robinson,' the black man accused raping a white woman – a crime he didn't commit. When I think about this film, my mind recalls that monologue in vivid colour – even though it's shot in monochrome. I've watched To Kill a Mockingbird several times but still have to gird my loins for the moment Finch (spoilers to follow) breaks the news to Robinson's family that he was killed while attempting to escape. Finch's wisdom gives the film (and book) its title. Earlier, around the breakfast table, he recalls that when his father gave him his first gun, he told him he could 'shoot all the bluejays you want … but remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird' because these creatures 'don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy'. Ergo, the metaphor about destroying the innocent and harmless. Peck won a best actor Oscar, but the protagonist is actually Finch's young daughter Scout (Mary Badham), whose adult self recounts the story. Her narration is everything to the book, though it's sparingly used in the film and does little beyond lacing some moments with Harper's lovely prose. Scout famously describes Maycomb – where the story takes place in 1932 – as a 'tired old town' where 'the rhythms of life are slow,' men's collars 'wilted by nine in the morning' and 'ladies bathed before noon'. In the book, Scout's reflections have a thoughtfulness and maturity beyond the ken of her childhood self. The film's relationship with time is different. Instead of an older person looking back, it's mostly a present tense narrative evoking a child's perspective – Scout's, but also that of her older brother Jem (Phillip Alford) and their friend Dill (John Megna). In both versions, this focus on the children makes it unusual. How many legal dramas spend so little time in the courtroom, and so much time following children who aren't directly related to the case? Before we learn about Robinson's plight, we're introduced to the mystery surrounding a reclusive local character named Boo Radley (Robert Duvall, in his first film performance). The children repeat terrible rumours about him very early in the film, which we eventually learn are entirely unfounded. It's only at the very end that we discover the clever bookend device deployed by Lee, and retained in the film. Radley saves Scout and Jem from a potentially lethal attack by a man seeking revenge on Finch, and kills the offender in the process. The sheriff decides to spare Radley from the inevitable fallout, officially reporting that the other man fell on his knife. Atticus is surprised that Scout agrees with this decision; as she puts it, 'it would be sort of like shooting a mockingbird, wouldn't it?' We assumed, all this time, that the metaphor applied to the innocent, downtrodden Robinson. But here we see it broaden out, extending to others who are mistreated and powerless. The ending is optimistic in some senses, emphasising compassion and humanity. But it's also deeply melancholic – a rich tapestry of emotions. This terrific film has lost none of its power. To Kill a Mockingbird is streaming on Binge in Australia and available to rent in the UK and US. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Top private school offers 'healthy masculinity' workshops for parents to help them combat toxic influencers like Andrew Tate
A top private school is offering 'healthy masculinity' workshops for parents to help them combat toxic online influencers such as Andrew Tate. The Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Suffolk is running 90 minute sessions to help families talk to their sons about resisting dark messages from the web. Irfan Latif, headmaster of the 300-year-old institution, said private schools have a 'responsibility' to counter misogynistic narratives. And he advocated promoting positive male role models such as Atticus Finch, the hero of To Kill a Mockingbird, as an 'alternative' to harmful figures on social media. RHS, which charges up to £46,000 a year for boarders and is part of the elite HMC private schools group, was the alma mater of hero explorer Ernest Joyce. Mr Latif said: 'We have not had any particular issues or incidents at RHS, but as educators we have a duty to be proactive. 'The workshops are about equipping our pupils, and their parents, to navigate the pressures of modern masculinity before problems arise.' Writing in Independent School Management Plus, Mr Latif said the issue of 'toxic masculinity' poses 'significant challenges for schools'. He said this has been exacerbated by the rise of 'online influencers like Andrew Tate', who promote 'hyper-masculine' and 'misogynistic' views. Tate, who has 10 million followers on X, has previously boasted that he is 'absolutely a misogynist'. He has faced multiple allegations of offences against women – all of which he denies. Mr Latif said: 'Their messages, amplified by social media, can easily shape young minds, leading to a distorted perception of what it means to be a man in the 21st century. 'Independent schools have a unique opportunity and a responsibility to counter these narratives by fostering positive masculinity.' The parent sessions, led by the school's pastoral team and external speakers, equip parents with 'tools and language' to talk with their children about 'respect, empathy, emotional expression, consent, and peer influence'. They include scenario-based discussions, expert input, and parent-to-parent reflection. Mr Latif added: 'We recognise that what happens at home plays a crucial role in shaping boys' identities and we work closely with parents to ensure that they feel equipped to guide their sons through the pressures of modern masculinity. 'Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – many parents have said they feel more empowered to speak openly with their children and better understand the subtle social pressures boys – and girls – face today.' The workshops are part of a wider school effort to promote healthy male role models. Mr Latif believes characters such as Atticus, the lawyer from Harper Lee's 1960 novel, can offer an 'alternative perspective on male strength'. He said: 'As for Atticus Finch, I chose him intentionally as a counterpoint to the rise of figures like Andrew Tate because he represents moral courage, integrity, and quiet strength. 'He listens more than he speaks, treats everyone with dignity, and stands up for what is right even when it is unpopular or costly. 'In a world of loud influencers and toxic online echo chambers, I believe young men need these quieter, principled role models more than ever.' RHS, which has historic links to the Royal Navy, is a co-educational school for day and boarder pupils aged 11 to 18.
Forbes
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Patterson Hood On New Solo Album Exploding Trees And Airplane Screams
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - MARCH 28: Patterson Hood performs at Saturn Birmingham on March 28, 2025 in ... More Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images) Over the course of the last 25 years, few songwriters have examined the human condition in quite the way Patterson Hood has, drilling down on the American experience over the course of 14 Drive-By Truckers studio albums and four solo records. Working with Decemberists multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk on his latest solo release Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, now available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via ATO Records, Hood takes an autobiographical approach, working backwards from 1996 as he examines ideas like youth, growth and lessons learned. Incorporating instrumentation like strings, woodwinds and upright bass, alongside his own work on piano, Hood succeeds in crafting a compelling album which also functions as a departure from the Truckers' sonic palette. While the songs were written during different periods, they're nevertheless connected by a narrative thread, with the body of work emerging as one of Hood's most focused studio efforts. 'Maybe a theme to me that may not need to be one for anybody else - everyone is going to hear it as their own thing - but is how it all ties together,' Hood explained during a recent conversation. 'To me, it's the connectivity between that kid and that grownup that you end up becoming, you know? And maybe the secret to a happier life is if you can have a positive connectivity with that. And not have aspects of your childhood that you're trapped by that you can't overcome,' he said. 'I think all of that somehow ties in there.' In the midst of a solo run taking him through late May (ahead of a Drive-By Truckers spring and summer tour kicking off May 29 in San Antonio), I spoke with Patterson Hood about the creative process behind Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, Pinocchio, Atticus Finch, optimism and the importance of working outside of one's comfort zone. A transcript of our phone conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below. Jim Ryan: I know some of these songs have been around in various forms for a bit. At what point did you start thinking maybe there was an album there? Patterson Hood: Probably during lockdown. When that all first happened, I thought, 'Oh, now I'm being forced to take a three month break I hadn't planned. Perhaps I'll write some songs? Maybe I'll do something creative. I'll work on that book I keep talking about but not writing. Maybe I'll start writing the next record!' Or whatever. And then that's not at all what happened. It became apparent pretty early that it was gonna be at least a year. Maybe longer. And I was in an extremely vulnerable spot financially going into that - as was the band itself. Because we had basically taken most of the year before off - because we had a brand new record that came out right before lockdown - like a few weeks before. So, we had like 15 months of touring [planned]. And we had all our eggs in that basket. So, I was extremely stressed out and I got extremely depressed - as depressed as I can remember ever being. I couldn't write. Everything I tried to write was so bitter. It was almost like kid songs: silly or so bitter it was just intolerable. And I would never want to listen to it ever. But I wanted to do something creative. I needed an outlet. So, I'd sit in my room and I had this stack of songs that were mostly unfinished. A few of them were finished but, to me, just didn't sound like Truckers songs. That band can play anything. They'd kill it. It'd be great. And then it would never get played at a show. Because the rooms we play and the crowd that's there, they're there for a certain experience. And those songs would've just gotten lost. So, these were songs that were kind of in a pile to not have that happen to. So, that became what I worked on. I set up a little home recording - a little four track thing - and I four-tracked that stack of songs (and a handful of songs that aren't on the record too). But that became, basically, the blueprint. 'Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,' the fourth solo studio album from Patterson Hood, is now ... More available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via ATO Records Ryan: Well, I know Chris Funk made you play piano on this. What was it like working on the album with him? Hood: That was the other thing! The other reason for that stack of songs is I pretty much decided that I wanted to make a record with Chris. We've now been friends for about 10 years. But we met basically when I was looking into moving to Portland with my family. We moved cross-country about 10 years ago. So, I met him at the beginning of that process. He's one of those people. When we played together, it was that kind of chemistry - and yet, very, very different than the way it manifests with the people that I play with in my band. It was its own thing. So, I wanted to explore it. I kind of had that stack of songs earmarked as maybe potential songs for this project that I would want to do with him. So, he was part of it from the very ground up. And then the piano thing happened. Since I wasn't on the road, and I had access to a piano and stuff at my house, I kind of started working with the piano a bit - just to try to open my head up as a writer, you know? Sometimes, I feel limited by what I know how to do on guitar. It's so easy to fall into the same patterns guitar-wise. So, with piano, it was like, 'Well, I don't really know how to play it. So, whatever happens is gonna be pretty elemental to what I'm trying to get across.' Because I'm not good enough to do anything beyond the elemental on piano. I'm a pretty elemental guitar player too. I tend to gravitate towards that. I've got all of these wonderful people around me that do all of the other stuff. That's not really what I hear in my head. I do the thing I do. And they all make it magic. So, that was the plan was that I'd bring in someone who actually knows how to play the damn thing when it came time to make the record. Then, fortunately, about six months out, Funk informed me that, no, actually, I was going to play it on the record. I'm like, 'Um, you know I don't know how to play piano…' And he was like, 'I know! So, maybe you need to practice. My job is to keep you out of your comfort zone.' I was like, 'OK! Well, you're doing a bang up job, buddy!' BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - MARCH 28: Patterson Hood performs at Saturn Birmingham on March 28, 2025 in ... More Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images) Ryan: It's kind of wild the way these songs do sort of maintain a narrative thread - even though they were written at different periods. How did the storytelling kind of come together in this body of work? Hood: I had no idea that it told a story until we were in the mixing stages. I was working on sequencing like, 'Holy s–t. This is probably the tightest narrative that I've written.' I had no idea it was that. It didn't even occur to me. I knew that a lot of the songs dealt with my childhood stuff. But I didn't really make the connection until I was putting it all together. And it's weird because it tells the story in backwards form. It's chronologically backwards - not completely, it jumps around a little bit. But 'Exploding Trees' is literally the last thing on the calendar that happened in the story arc of the things that happened on this record. And 'Pinocchio' would definitely be first. Because I was 6 years old and possibly, somewhere, maybe a little bit on the spectrum? We didn't know about those things then. ADHD wasn't talked about either. I learn about that stuff now that I have kids, you know? 'Pinocchio' kind of deals with that. Because that was my first obsession as a kid. I can obsess on something like crazy. That might be the most personal song I've ever written. It really might be. And it had to be the last song on the record. In those days, you didn't own a movie. You didn't get to watch it on a DVD or even VHS. You had to talk some grownup into taking you to the movies. I talked my grandmother and my great uncle into taking me like 10 times in the two weeks it was playing around town. I memorized it. And I would act it out in my grandmother's backyard for the other kids in the neighborhood - who did not think it was cool. (Laughs) They did not like it! It did not help my social status in the neighborhood one bit. But that song is about who I am now. I'm 61. And so many aspects of my life are still so related to that weird kid and his weird obsessions. Now, I'm seeing it with my own kids who are growing up before my very eyes really quickly. Ryan: Who composed the strings and more orchestral flourishes? Hood: I think it was a lot of both of us. We talked. We would always go play, usually up in Seattle and other places in the northwest. Right around Christmas every year, I'd do a few solo shows up there and he would always go with me. So, we talked a lot on the last couple of those trips about this record and what we wanted it to do and how we wanted it to sound. He knew I wanted it to be more differentiated from what the Truckers do than the previous solo records had been. I wanted it to definitely be its own thing - while still being me. I'm part of the Truckers - and they're part of me. It's all a kinship for sure. But the strings is Kyleen King. Funk called in Kyleen. And she came over and just absolutely blew my mind. I couldn't believe how great it was, what she did. She opened the songs up and took them so many places that I didn't realize were there. Drive-By Truckers singer/guitarist Patterson Hood celebrates the release of his latest solo album ... More 'Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,' now available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via ATO Records Ryan: In closing the record with 'Pinocchio,' it felt to me like you did so in an optimistic fashion. A few lyrics jumped out: 'Getting closer to hitting those goals.' 'Wishes coming true.' Those seem, at least on the surface, to be fairly positive. Especially during times like these, how important was it to do that? Hood: Yep. That kid lived to tell the tale, you know? And a lot of my dreams have come true. Maybe not exactly the way I dreamed them. We could dig real deep and get super Freudian. I could tell you how much the blue fairy in the [Pinocchio] movie looked like my grandmother who raised me and who was very much my mother figure. Because I kind of had teen parents. So, my grandmother was very much that figure. And the blue fairy in the movie? That didn't even dawn on me until I was doing press for this record. It was like, 'Wow!' My great uncle, who also raised me as a kid - he kept me every weekend from the time I was an infant to the time I was a teenager busy drinking and chasing girls, not staying out at the farm anymore. But he was very Geppetto-esque. He never married. He didn't have kids of his own. He very much raised me and was very much a father figure to me. To get even more Freudian, Pinocchio runs off and goes to pleasure island. And that's just now occurring to me. And that's the thing I love so much about songs and songwriting. Because I didn't think about any of that s–t when I wrote that song. None of that! None of that was in my conscious mind. And here it is, maybe seven or eight years after I wrote the song, that occurred to me right this minute talking to you. It's truly like that. And that's one of the books I want to write. That exact thing is the essence of one of the books I keep saying I'm gonna write, that I never write, that, hopefully, I will yet: A book about songs called Heathen Songs. And it basically takes my life from the first song I ever wrote when I was 8 until some cut off point - which probably should be 'Pinocchio' honestly. That would actually tie it up. See, I'm finishing my book right now while I talk to you. I'm multitasking! Which my wife says I can't do (and she's right)! Ryan: My favorite track on the album is 'At Safe Distance.' And that's one where those sort of baroque pop elements really, really come together. The upright bass. That one, to me, in particular, really had a cinematic feel. With that story and those elements, I felt like I was watching it as much as hearing it. What were you sort of going for there in that story of return? Hood: I wrote that song within the first few weeks after moving to Portland [in 2015]. Which was also exactly the timeframe when the church shooting happened in Charleston, South Carolina (ironically enough, since I'm sitting in Charleston at this moment talking to you). But that happened on the drive to Portland when we were in the process of moving out there. And that led to me doing the New York Times op-ed that I did about the Confederate flag and all of that bulls–t. And I was writing the [Drive-By Truckers'] American Band album. In the midst of all of that, Harper Lee put out the other book [Go Set a Watchman]. Which she wrote first - but it happens after To Kill a Mockingbird. Like a couple of decades later. The book hadn't quite come out. But the New York Times did an early review. And it broke the revelations that Atticus Finch wasn't all that heroic in that book. He was more the way we think of a southern man of his time than the way Atticus was in To Kill a Mockingbird. Southerners all over the world had their hearts broken upon reading that, you know? Including me. And I was probably extra emotional anyway having just moved across the country with my family and gone through all of that. The political climate of that moment. And everything that was happening. It was a lot. And then I read that. And it really, really upset me - on way too deep of a level for something like that to rationally do. And I couldn't quit thinking about it for a couple of days. And then I woke up like day three or something with this very different perspective about it - and how maybe it was important for that book to come out now. It's like, in the 1930s, Atticus Finch was able to take this moral stand that was on the right side of history and the right side of where things should be. Because he saw this horrific thing happening to an obviously innocent person. And he was able to take that stand. And that's the Atticus Finch we all knew and loved. But, at a little closer inspection, that doesn't mean he wants those people to be in the same schools. He's not quite ready to break the covenant of the way he was brought up through generations to think about race. It's one thing to defend somebody from this heinous crime they obviously didn't do - but that don't mean you quite accept them as equals. That was upsetting to me also - but it made the whole thing make sense. Because I could see so much of that in people I've known and loved. And that's why I wrote the song. Ryan: Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams obviously doesn't sound like a Drive-By Truckers album. You worked outside your comfort zone tackling piano. How important, even this far along, is it to continually find ways like that to push the music forward, try new things and keep this stuff interesting? Hood: Well, I mean, I'm a lifer. I will never retire. I don't see the Truckers ever… I guess there will come a day when we physically can't do this show. But, I think, as long as we have our health, we're going to be out here doing what we do. We might take a different pace. We may take more time off. It would be nice at some point to do that. But I don't have any hobbies. I don't play golf. What the f–k would I do? I would go crazy! I mean, during lockdown, I wanted to jump off a bridge pretty much every day. Because I didn't have my life. I like to play in a rock and roll band. I like to make music and art. I like to go to restaurants. I like to go to movies and shows. That's pretty much it. I love my family and I like to do those things with them as much as possible. But I want to keep doing this thing. And, so, therefore, it is important. I'm really proud of the songs on this record. But, this year, I want to start writing what will become part of the next Drive-By Truckers record. And I'm excited about that. And, having taken the time to do this, that makes me even more fired up about the next time I go in with the band. And I can't wait to see what the band does! They are not limited in what they can do. They can do all kinds of s–t. So, we might all do some things to push each other out of our comfort zone for this next one too.
