Latest news with #FrenchCanadian
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
'Swamp People' star Junior Edwards dies after struggle with poor health
Swamp People star Junior Edwards has died, according to a Facebook post shared on 26 July by his grandson, "Lil" Willie Edwards. The cause and exact date of his death have not been confirmed, but the family shared that he had been in poor health in recent weeks. "Rest easy pawpaw," wrote Willie. "I know [you're] probably running your hoop nets or doing something crazy inside those pearly gates." He added, "You will be extremely missed pawpaw. We love you more than anything!!! Until we meet again." Ashley 'Deadeye' Jones, a fellow cast member, also paid tribute: "The world lost a legend! Mr. Junior Edwards passed away! Please be in prayer for the family! He was one of the greatest alligator hunters there is!" Edwards was a regular on the Swamp People series from 2010 to 2015, featuring alongside his son and grandson. He returned briefly in 2021 for season 12, announcing his comeback with the post: "Surprise… look who's back." The long-running History Channel series follows families in Louisiana who hunt alligators for a living, many of them descendants of French Canadian refugees. Edwards became a fan favourite for his rugged outdoor skills and memorable presence. Earlier this month, Willie had asked followers to keep Junior in their prayers, saying, "We need a miracle. Get better for us papa, we love you!!!"
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Photographer's eerie lookalike inspired a search for world's best dopplegängers
Over the last 25 years, French-Canadian photographer François Brunelle has traveled the world photographing around 250 pairs of doppelgängers. Doppelgängers, which translates from German to 'double walker,' originally meant ghostly counterparts of a living person. In folklore and literature, encountering someone who could be your twin has traditionally been viewed as a bad omen. But in modern usage, the term often describes two unrelated people who closely resemble each other. This concept is the focus of Brunelle's photography series, 'I'm Not a Lookalike!' The inspiration for the project came from his own lookalike: Mr. Bean, who is played by British actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson. After being told for years that he looked like the character, Brunelle watched an episode that included a scene he called 'awkward' to see his doppelgänger in. 'I said, 'Oh my God, it looks like me, and he's taking a bath!'' said Brunelle, who felt like he was watching himself on TV. Upon realizing he couldn't be the only lookalike, Brunelle started photographing doppelgängers together. Some of the pairs he captured didn't see the resemblance, 'which can be quite surprising (and entertaining) at times,' Brunelle admitted via email to USA TODAY. He started his project in Montréal with lookalikes he knew in Canada. As media coverage grew and word spread on social media, he received thousands of messages from people worldwide. Many of the doppelgängers he photographed know each other in real life and were made aware of their resemblance to each other after being told by others, like Ester Scholten and Agnes Loonstra. In 2013, Loonstra was approached by a man on a train in the Netherlands. He mistakenly thought she was one of his university students, Scholten, and encouraged Loonstra to reach out to her. Meanwhile, Scholten learned about this encounter from her professor. Out of curiosity, Loonstra decided to find Scholten on Facebook. Scholten shared a translation of the first message she ever received from Loonstra with USA TODAY. 'Hi Ester, probably a bit of an unexpected message, but recently I was approached on the train by a man, and he thought I was you! After some confusion, he said he was a teacher of yours and asked me if I was a girl from Arnhem. Very funny, apparently, he was so amazed by the resemblance (in his eyes) that he insisted I should google you because we seemed so alike. Haha! So here we are... Do you see the same resemblance? 🙂 maybe the ginger hair, bangs and almond-shaped eyes? 🙂' Scholten felt like she was seeing herself when she saw photos of Loonstra on Facebook. 'Even our mouths look somewhat similar. So strange!' Scholten wrote back in her messages to Loonstra. They both found their resemblance surprising because they felt their features were so distinctive that they thought they were unique. The two decided it would be fun to meet, and when they did, they realized it wasn't only their looks that were similar. 'There were a few moments during that first encounter that were almost terrifying, such as the moment we both pulled up a chair to put our feet on and the moment we laughed at the exact same time and discovered the way we laugh is so similar,' Scholten said. Loonstra was 25 and Scholten was 30 when they met on May 4, 2013. At the time, Loonstra was part of an a Capella group that had rehearsals in Scholten's hometown. People waved at her thinking she was Scholten. 'People I knew told me I had been rude for not saying anything when I passed them,' Scholten said. So Loonstra began waving back at the strangers followed by a text to Scholten to let her know. From their very first meeting, a friendship was born as they discovered they shared love for the same music, literature and what Scholten calls their "intense' love of cats. 'About half of all our WhatsApp conversations are about cats,' she said. 'We are proud crazy cat ladies.' From that love came the inspiration for a book they published together titled 'Crazy Cat Lady,' combining Loonstra's skills as an illustrator and Scholten's knack for writing. It was picked up by Workman Publishing in New York and has been released worldwide in English and translated to Spanish, German, Finnish, and even Loonstra and Scholten's native language, Dutch. Agnes also played a special role in Ester's wedding as her maid of honor. 'I see Agnes like the little sister I never had,' Scholten said. Although they don't live in the same part of the Netherlands, they try to see each other at least once a month. Loonstra reached out to Brunelle after hearing about his project from several people who sent it to her. Loonstra and Scholten were later included in a study by the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain with other doppelgängers photographed by Brunelle that confirmed they and the other lookalikes were not related. Of the 32 pairs studied, researchers found that the lookalikes share similar DNA variations, particularly concerning genes involved in forming facial features. There were also similarities in height and weight. The study's lead researcher Manel Esteller, called it 'coincidences of genetics that happen purely by chance,' and does not mean the pairs are related. Despite the study's findings, Loonstra and Scholten are still frequently asked by strangers if they are biologically related, and sometimes, to keep things simple, they just say yes. Brunelle's website features a callout for lookalikes, and he also created pages on Instagram and Facebook for the project. Brunelle plans to release a book this year featuring about 100 photos of the pairs he's photographed, along with a short story from either the subject or his perspective. He shared a few of those stories with USA TODAY. Roniel Tessler and Garrett Levenbrook | New York City, U.S., 2013 "I was born in New York, and Roniel in Washington, D.C. Roniel's friends met me at the University of Michigan four years ago and mistook me for him. They then put us in touch, and we discovered we lived near each other. We have remained good friends ever since." - Garrett Beatriz Nogueira and Bruna Soares Da Costa | Lisbon, Portugal "I work in human resources, and Beatriz is a student. We were both born in Portugal and have been friends since childhood. We first realized we were look-alikes when people started mixing us up. My own father saw a photo of Beatriz and was convinced it was me! I think we look more alike in profile than face-on. We are similar not just physically, but in personality too. And here is a fun detail, I recently discovered we're both left-handed!" - Bruna Karen Chu and Ashlee Wong | Culver City, California, U.S. , 2013 "I am a nursing student while Ashlee is a registered nurse. Most non-Asian people think all Chinese look alike, but that is far from the truth. I consider myself lucky to have met Ashlee, my 'sister' at a traditional Chinese dance performance. Although many people think we look very similar, Ashlee is definitely shorter." - Karen This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These unrelated dopplegängers will have you doing a double take Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Photographer's eerie lookalike inspired a search for world's best dopplegängers
Over the last 25 years, French-Canadian photographer François Brunelle has traveled the world photographing around 250 pairs of doppelgängers. Doppelgängers, which translates from German to 'double walker,' originally meant ghostly counterparts of a living person. In folklore and literature, encountering someone who could be your twin has traditionally been viewed as a bad omen. But in modern usage, the term often describes two unrelated people who closely resemble each other. This concept is the focus of Brunelle's photography series, 'I'm Not a Lookalike!' The inspiration for the project came from his own lookalike: Mr. Bean, who is played by British actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson. After being told for years that he looked like the character, Brunelle watched an episode that included a scene he called 'awkward' to see his doppelgänger in. 'I said, 'Oh my God, it looks like me, and he's taking a bath!'' said Brunelle, who felt like he was watching himself on TV. Upon realizing he couldn't be the only lookalike, Brunelle started photographing doppelgängers together. Some of the pairs he captured didn't see the resemblance, 'which can be quite surprising (and entertaining) at times,' Brunelle admitted via email to USA TODAY. He started his project in Montréal with lookalikes he knew in Canada. As media coverage grew and word spread on social media, he received thousands of messages from people worldwide. Many of the doppelgängers he photographed know each other in real life and were made aware of their resemblance to each other after being told by others, like Ester Scholten and Agnes Loonstra. In 2013, Loonstra was approached by a man on a train in the Netherlands. He mistakenly thought she was one of his university students, Scholten, and encouraged Loonstra to reach out to her. Meanwhile, Scholten learned about this encounter from her professor. Out of curiosity, Loonstra decided to find Scholten on Facebook. Scholten shared a translation of the first message she ever received from Loonstra with USA TODAY. 'Hi Ester, probably a bit of an unexpected message, but recently I was approached on the train by a man, and he thought I was you! After some confusion, he said he was a teacher of yours and asked me if I was a girl from Arnhem. Very funny, apparently, he was so amazed by the resemblance (in his eyes) that he insisted I should google you because we seemed so alike. Haha! So here we are... Do you see the same resemblance? 🙂 maybe the ginger hair, bangs and almond-shaped eyes? 🙂' Scholten felt like she was seeing herself when she saw photos of Loonstra on Facebook. 'Even our mouths look somewhat similar. So strange!' Scholten wrote back in her messages to Loonstra. They both found their resemblance surprising because they felt their features were so distinctive that they thought they were unique. The two decided it would be fun to meet, and when they did, they realized it wasn't only their looks that were similar. 'There were a few moments during that first encounter that were almost terrifying, such as the moment we both pulled up a chair to put our feet on and the moment we laughed at the exact same time and discovered the way we laugh is so similar,' Scholten said. Loonstra was 25 and Scholten was 30 when they met on May 4, 2013. At the time, Loonstra was part of an a Capella group that had rehearsals in Scholten's hometown. People waved at her thinking she was Scholten. 'People I knew told me I had been rude for not saying anything when I passed them,' Scholten said. So Loonstra began waving back at the strangers followed by a text to Scholten to let her know. From their very first meeting, a friendship was born as they discovered they shared love for the same music, literature and what Scholten calls their "intense' love of cats. 'About half of all our WhatsApp conversations are about cats,' she said. 'We are proud crazy cat ladies.' From that love came the inspiration for a book they published together titled 'Crazy Cat Lady,' combining Loonstra's skills as an illustrator and Scholten's knack for writing. It was picked up by Workman Publishing in New York and has been released worldwide in English and translated to Spanish, German, Finnish, and even Loonstra and Scholten's native language, Dutch. Agnes also played a special role in Ester's wedding as her maid of honor. 'I see Agnes like the little sister I never had,' Scholten said. Although they don't live in the same part of the Netherlands, they try to see each other at least once a month. Loonstra reached out to Brunelle after hearing about his project from several people who sent it to her. Loonstra and Scholten were later included in a study by the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain with other doppelgängers photographed by Brunelle that confirmed they and the other lookalikes were not related. Of the 32 pairs studied, researchers found that the lookalikes share similar DNA variations, particularly concerning genes involved in forming facial features. There were also similarities in height and weight. The study's lead researcher Manel Esteller, called it 'coincidences of genetics that happen purely by chance,' and does not mean the pairs are related. Despite the study's findings, Loonstra and Scholten are still frequently asked by strangers if they are biologically related, and sometimes, to keep things simple, they just say yes. Brunelle's website features a callout for lookalikes, and he also created pages on Instagram and Facebook for the project. Brunelle plans to release a book this year featuring about 100 photos of the pairs he's photographed, along with a short story from either the subject or his perspective. He shared a few of those stories with USA TODAY. Roniel Tessler and Garrett Levenbrook | New York City, U.S., 2013 "I was born in New York, and Roniel in Washington, D.C. Roniel's friends met me at the University of Michigan four years ago and mistook me for him. They then put us in touch, and we discovered we lived near each other. We have remained good friends ever since." - Garrett Beatriz Nogueira and Bruna Soares Da Costa | Lisbon, Portugal "I work in human resources, and Beatriz is a student. We were both born in Portugal and have been friends since childhood. We first realized we were look-alikes when people started mixing us up. My own father saw a photo of Beatriz and was convinced it was me! I think we look more alike in profile than face-on. We are similar not just physically, but in personality too. And here is a fun detail, I recently discovered we're both left-handed!" - Bruna Karen Chu and Ashlee Wong | Culver City, California, U.S. , 2013 "I am a nursing student while Ashlee is a registered nurse. Most non-Asian people think all Chinese look alike, but that is far from the truth. I consider myself lucky to have met Ashlee, my 'sister' at a traditional Chinese dance performance. Although many people think we look very similar, Ashlee is definitely shorter." - Karen This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These unrelated dopplegängers will have you doing a double take
Extra.ie
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
New James Bond star
Fans of James Bond have been waiting a long time to find out who will be the star of the 26th Bond movie due to begin filming in the next few months. Now that the director Denis Villeneuve has been chosen, the big question on everyone's lips is who is going to take over the role from Daniel Craig as the next Bond, and, while movie bosses hope to start work on the film in the next few months, it's thought the 26th Bond movie will not hit our cinema screens until at least 2027. A long time to wait for Die Hard Bond fans Amazon bought MGM Studios in 2022 and it's believed this acquisition gave the company distribution rights to the 007 franchise but not creative control. Director Denis Villeneuve. Pic:for Kering The studio announced via press release last Wednesday that Denis Villeneuve – best known for directing Warner Bros. 'two-part Dune adaptation' – has signed on to direct the, as yet, untitled film. The French Canadian film-maker, who is 57, reportedly beat off four European directors, Edward Berger, Edgar Wright, Jonathon Nolan and Paul King, to land the coveted job. But who is going to star in the leading role of 007 Superspy? Bond has traditionally been seen as suave, sophisticated and of course, handsome, and there are a number of actors who have been in the running for the role over the past few months, but that list has reportedly now been narrowed down to three finalists, and the man who had been the hot favourite to take the role, Henry Cavill, has apparantly not made this latest list. Jacob Elordi. Pic: David M. Benett/for TAG Heuer It seems the 42 year old Superman star is not in the top three Bond hopefuls, neither is second favourite, 35 year old Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and instead three young actors seem to be the chosen ones. Although no decision has been made as yet, its believed studio bosses want to cast a younger actor this time, someone who is under 30 years of age. So according to Variety Magazine – these are the three most likely to star as the next Superspy. 'Saltburn' star Jacob Elordi, Tom Holland, best known as 'Spiderman' and Harris Dickinson who starred in 'Babygirl' opposite Nicole Kidman. Tom Holland. Pic:But is casting a younger man a good idea, given the iconic character they are emulating was seen as a man who has 'been there – done that' – a sophisticated man about town. The youngest actor to play James Bond was George Lazenby who was 29 years old when he starred in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' in 1969, the sixth movie in the series. And while Sean Connery was the first actor to portray Bond, he was all of 32 years of age when he debuted in 'Dr. No' in October 1962. Harris Dickinson. Pic:The last Bond movie was 'No Time to Die', starring Daniel Craig in 2021, and in that movie we see the superspy finally meet his end, prompting speculation about how movie bosses at Amazon will bring him back to life in the new film. So far the new owners of the Bond Franchise, are remaining tight lipped about who will be the next 007 star, but, according to latest reports in the industry, these three young actors, who may not be as well known as others who were thought to have been in the running, may soon become household names if the role of Bond is added to their CV.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
This Canada Day, taste your Canadian pride
Canada Day is coming up, and never in recent memory (or perhaps back in 1867 when the nation officially became a new federation with its own constitution) has this country seen such a massive surge in national pride. We're practically shouting it out from the rooftops and encouraging everyone to think Canadian, buy Canadian — cook Canadian. And enjoy the foods reflective of everything that is great about our country. As Canadians, we enjoy foods that pay homage to the places where we live, be it poutine in Quebec or lobster from the Atlantic provinces. There's Montreal's smoked meat, Ontario's butter tarts, Alberta's beef, and, of course, maple syrup. And let's not forget our beer! It wouldn't be Canada Day without quaffing a cold one (even a non-alcoholic one) and a barbecue. We have wheat that is one of the most coveted food products across the globe, and 80% of Canada's mustard seeds grown out west supplies to the rest of the world. Of course, the earliest cuisines can be traced to First Nations, the Indigenous along with the English, French and Scottish settlers. Research shows Canadian cuisine has historically been shaped by Indigenous influences which have remained a constant in Canada's food identity. Foods we celebrate to this day. And Canadians love to celebrate with dishes reflective of the country's great bounty — dishes like the famous French-Canadian Tourtiere pie filled with rib-hugging pork, veal and special spices, a dish that's been around since the 1600s and one of the most popular in the Canadian food repertoire. We've got an awesome selection of award-winning wines and spirits — vodka made from our icebergs, ice wines made from grapes in Southern Ontario and British Columbia — and some of the greatest, award-winning cheeses in the world. For those with a sweet tooth we have sugar pies and butter tarts and Nanaimo bars and some of Canada's most famous ice cream companies — Chapman's and Kawartha Dairy, deeply entrenched in pure Canadian products. But what exactly is Canadian cuisine? Truth be told, there really is no one food that defines the nation. This country is huge and each region has its own identity with various dishes identified with ingredients particular to that region. Throughout the decades, the cuisine has evolved and incorporated to reflect the multicultural fabric that envelops this great country, exhibiting the diversity of everyone who lives and cooks here. Every new resident from the of hundreds of countries that call Canada home has brought along customs and culinary heritage, firmly entrenching the diverse dishes into the soul of the nation. So, along with the Nanaimo bars and bacon, you'll find pierogies and beef patties and curried dishes. You'll find onion dip next to hummus, and falafel next to sandwich wraps. Pizza and veal cutlet sandwiches are firmly entrenched as the snack of choice after a late-nigh hockey game among friends. Portuguese custard tart next to a Tim Hortons maple-flavoured doughnut. There are thousands of more dishes that fall under the Canadian label. In fact, from far and wide, the multicultural mosaic of the nation has certainly inspired global flavours to infuse traditional Canadian meals. International flavours and spices, such as za'atar, turmeric and togarashi sit shoulder-to-shoulder next to salt, pepper and garlic powder. We have amazing Canadian success stories, like that of the Hadhad family, luxury chocolate makers from Syria who had to flee their home after their chocolate factory was bombed during the Syrian civil war. The Hadhads came to Canada as refugees, bringing with a wealth of chocolate knowledge, and opening up a chocolate factory to great success in their new home in Antigonish, N.S. Today, Peace by Chocolate, a name given to the company by the family to reflect their hopes for the future, is considered one of the most successful confectionary companies world-wide. There are so many other food stories like this, making one realize just how unique Canada is in the food world, and oh so flavourful. What makes us so proud to be Canadian. And something to celebrate this Canada Day.
