Latest news with #JohnHughes
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Historic chapel where ‘Bread of Heaven' hymn written under threat from property developers
A Welsh village is battling to buy an historic chapel where the classic hymn Bread of Heaven was written. The Grade II-listed Capel Rhondda is on the market for £47,500, including the graveyard. The chapel in Hopkinstown, South Wales, was built in 1885 for worshippers in the mining valleys. But now the village wants to buy it to turn it into a community hub – and stop it being bought by property developers. Composer John Hughes wrote the well-known hymn Cwm Rhondda for an anniversary service at the chapel in 1907. Better known as 'Bread of Heaven', it is often sung at Welsh rugby matches, pubs and funeral services. Fund-raiser Rhian Hopkins said: 'It would be a real shame if the incredible building which was funded and built by our ancestors was lost to a property developer who may not respect the building's history'. She added: 'It was built by the community, for the community so I would like to see it remaining as part of the community. 'My worry is that although it's a Grade II-listed building, and will obviously be protected in some way, it's on the market for what is a relatively low price for a property these days. I'm concerned that it could be bought by a wealthy property developer from outside the area and has no connection to the building. 'It's at that sort of price where someone might just buy it speculatively and leave it to sit empty. There are repairs that are needed already, so things would only get worse.' She decided to set up a crowd funder in an attempt to raise the asking price for the chapel and to ensure it would remain in the community's hands. Architectural interest The chapel was Grade II-listed in 2001 for its 'architectural interest as a late 19th century chapel in a prominent location retaining its original character'. A spokesman for The Baptist Union of Wales said: 'The union is sad to have had to close the chapel and we are thankful for all that has been done there over the years. 'Until recently, it was a very active church. But unfortunately, attendance numbers have declined and the buildings have started to deteriorate. It's a decision not taken lightly. The vestry in particular is in a very poor state of repair and can't be used. 'At the end of last year we looked at different options for uses for the building but could not find anything suitable – there was no other available option than to put it on the market. It's such a shame, but the building needs some investment and we hope we will find an appropriate buyer and a new lease of life to this historic building that has served the community so well.'
The Age
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
The reach of climate change encircles the world
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. Reach of climate change Having grown up in London, I read with interest David Crowe's description of life there under climate change (' The heat is on in London and it's turned deadly ', 19/7). They have many problems with out-of-date infrastructure like buses and housing. It is encouraging that much is being done overthere, like conserving water and using more appropriate species of plants. My former home city is a case study in climate action and inaction. More could have been done sooner, but short-term political and financial interests often got priority. Now London has sweaty buses and hundreds of extra deaths in worsening heatwaves. There is also inadequate action in Australia and elsewhere. The Age on Saturday carries other relevant stories, including of Victorian farmers helping each other after a severe drought, withextra farm costs pushing up prices of lamb and beef in our supermarkets. Another article describes how the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is threatened by rising seas and coastal erosion. Many Tuvaluans want to migrate to Australia. Impacts of the climate crisis will be relevant more and more in our news, and in our lives. John Hughes, Mentone Out-of-touch Liberals The charmless and contrarian attitude of the Liberal Party is on full display with its claim that Anthony Albanese's trip to China is 'indulgent' (at least they didn't go so far as to call it a junket). It must really gall them that in a little over three years the relationship with China – our biggest trading partner by far and one with which we have a significant trade surplus – has so dramatically improved. But then it was Peter Dutton who said we must prepare for war, and although he didn't say it out loud, it seemed pretty obvious which country he was referring to. So I guess for them nothing has really changed, except that they have proven to be even more out of touch with what Australians want from their government. Brandon Mack, Deepdene Left behind Columnist Jake Niall has only scratched the surface (″ A fix to AFL's flawed fixture ″, 18/7). For a ″fair″ competition to exist there is only one way this can happen. Like virtually all other national team sport competitions, each team plays each other team twice, once at home and once away. In this respect the AFL is a national disaster, and the AFL should have been working towards something like this when it first formed decades ago. Increasingly it is moving further and further away. This dimension of unfairness within the competition (there are many others eg, variations in the interpretation of rules between and within umpires) is why I have no interest in the game now. It is so unfair. Ian Anderson, Maldon Not wild about this AFL Wildcard rounds exist in US professional sports as part of, or entry to, the competition's final series. Many of these competitions are split into conferences, and then divisions, with division winners typically gaining automatic entry to the finals. However, you can have the situation where the runner-up in one division has a superior record to the winner of another division. Wildcard games give well-performed teams who did not win their division a chance to play in the finals. The AFL sports media has been constantly raising a proposed extension of the current finals system by a week, with 7th playing 10th, and 8th playing 9th, prior to the regular finals and persist in calling this a ″wildcard″ round. There is nothing wild about it, it's just another week of finals in a competition without conferences. Pedantry aside, extending the AFL finals series to 10th would reward inferior teams. In the past 10 years, only two teams finishing 10th have won more than 50 per cent of their games – Fremantle last year (12 wins and a draw) and Geelong in 2015 (12 wins). In the same period, four teams finished 10th winning fewer than half of their games. Do we really want teams with a losing record to be playing finals? Mark Southby, Oakleigh
Irish Times
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Rory Beggan's Monaghan season ends having scored 26 two-pointers
Beggan tops Monaghan's scoring charts from goalkeeper One of the best online resources for Gaelic football statistics at present is X account @TheNumbersGael, collated by journalist John Hughes. Hughes publishes teams' statistics for the season , unearthing interesting nuggets. For example, Brian Howard, David Byrne and Ciaran Kilkenny were the only three players to start every league and championship match (14 in total) for Dublin this year. Dessie Farrell's win percentage as manager was 69.32 per cent over 88 games; for context, predecessor Jim Gavin's was an astonishing 76.69 per cent over 133 matches. Outgoing Roscommon manager Davy Burke's record, per Hughes' research, was 40.91 per cent over 44 matches. Hughes also totted up the percentage of scores contributed by a single player. Waterford's Jason Curry leads the way with a sensational 39.15 per cent of the Déise's total in 2025, followed by Sam Mulroy of Louth (36.11 per cent), Limerick attacker James Naughton (35.07 per cent), Pat Havern of Down (33.45 per cent) and Westmeath's Luke Loughlin (33.33 per cent). READ MORE What may be the most impressive stat, however, is Rory Beggan contributing 0-59 across 13 Monaghan matches, 0-54 from placed balls. That tally, including 26 two-pointers, makes him the Farney's leading scorer and surely marks the first time a goalkeeper has ever topped a county's scoring charts. Eamonn Fitzmaurice's theory does not hold water 'Galway,' opined co-commentator Eamonn Fitzmaurice 32 minutes into yesterday's clash, 'will be happy enough, they're not playing with much explosiveness yet playing for the third week in a row, it's the second half before you really get going.' That was certainly the case on the previous evening as Donegal, noticeably flat in the first half in what was their third match in two weeks, powered on after the break, winning the second half by 1-15 to 0-5, having trailed by seven. Fitzmaurice's own Kerry also backed it up emphatically afterwards but overall, results do not fully back up his theory. For example, in 2023, just a point separated Dublin and Mayo at half-time in the quarter-final but the Dubs, who'd had two weeks off, won by 12. Also that year, a rested Kerry were three up at half-time and won the second half by nine against Tyrone; Cork vs Dery was a one-point game at the midway point before the Rebels wilted, losing by four. Monaghan were the outliers in 2023 but just about – they trailed by one at half-time against Armagh, were level at full-time and only won on penalties. Last year, of the four quarter-finalists playing three weeks on the bounce, Derry, Louth and Roscommon were all competitive in the first half and lost the second by five, eight and four points respectively, with Galway (against Dublin) the only ones to buck the trend. Seán O'Shea of Kerry kicks a two-pointer. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho Quote 'So there it is. Armagh v David Clifford. The only Kerry footballer worthy of the name ...' Columnist Joe Brolly didn't count on a Man of the Match display from Sean O'Shea ... Improving as they go along is Meath's heritage Meath, it's fair to say, have generally got better and better as this year has gone on, having toiled in Division 2 of the league. Then again, maybe it was always thus. The Royals' last win over Galway at Croke Park was the 1970 All-Ireland semi-final. Writing on these pages that morning, Paddy Downey noted Meath's 'capacity for enormous improvement in each successive game'. 'While hardly a phenomenon, it has confounded the critics many times in the past, most noticeably in 1964 when they also played Galway in a semi-final, in 1966, when the counties met in the final and again in the following year, when the team led by Peter Darby won the Sam Maguire Cup.' Meath's levels have escalated in a similar manner this year. Downey, for the record, was the only journo to tip Meath; Mick Dunne in the Press and the Independent's John D Hickey both plumped for the Tribesmen. Number: 3 Donegal wides against Monaghan; amazingly, Michael Murphy registered them all. Monaghan's Kieran Duffy and Michael Murphy of Donegal. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Jordan Morris leaves Cavan wondering what could have been Meath's Man of the Match, Jordan Morris, was beaming as he accepted his award after the win over Galway, concluding his interview with a rousing – and loud – 'Up the Royallll!' Ironically, the sharpshooter plays his club football just across the county boundary in Cavan. Morris began his career with the Kingscourt Stars club before transferring to Nobber in Meath in his teens. Morris scored 2-6 as the club won a long-awaited Intermediate Championship title in Meath in 2019 but transferred back to the Stars, one of the giants of senior football in Cavan, in early 2022, helping them to the Senior Championship final the following year. Breffni fans had hoped the now 25-year-old would switch county allegiances too but he quickly ruled that out (and more's the pity, says this column).
Daily Mail
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Matthew Broderick's iconic Ferris Bueller's Day Off vest sells for eye-watering sum at auction
Matthew Broderick's vest from his classic 1986 high school comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off just sold for an eyewatering sum. Inasmuch as the movie was set over the course of one day, the vest was featured throughout its runtime, becoming indelibly fixed in fans' memories. Viewers who fell in love with the film will instantly remember the camel and black geometric design of the acrylic yarn garment. Ferris wears the piece all over Chicago, including during the fan favorite sequence set at Wrigley Field during a 1985 Cubs game against Montreal. The vest at some stage wound up in the hands of Emmy-winning sportscaster Darren Rovell, and ultimately went to Sotheby's New York, which put it up for auction. Although the lot was initially expected to earn between $300,000 to $600,000, the vest was ultimately sold for $279,400 after 11 bids, Sotheby's said in a news release, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Directed by John Hughes, who was famed for 1980s high school comedies like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off was an instant hit. Its rollicking plotline follows the title teenager (Matthew) playing truant from high school for a day with his girlfriend (Mia Sara) and best pal (Alan Ruck). The movie's costume designer Marilyn Vance actually initially acquired the costume piece as a cardigan, then sliced the sleeves off to create a vest. She hoped the look of the garment would give viewers a sense of Ferris' rebellious nature, his charisma and his singular personality, per Sotheby's. 'The only real expression of color in Bueller's entire wardrobe, Vance's sweater vest immediately became the character's signature piece and emblematic of his most exciting quality — the ability to blend in anywhere, while standing out just enough to get exactly what you want from the world around you,' the auction house stated. Bidding opened on the lot on June 5 and closed this Tuesday, June 24 at around 11am Pacific time when the vest finally sold for its head-spinning sum. It was bundled together as part of a package deal with several other pieces of memorabilia, including a ticket to the real Cubs game where the Wrigley Field sequence was filmed almost exactly 40 years ago in September 1985. Other items in the lot include a 1980s National League baseball with a fake Charles Feeney autograph, plus an index card with Matthew Broderick's real signature. The buyer is also receiving a 1987 VHS of the film, plus 1980s ticket stubs to see the movie at a Japanese theater and at a Showcase Cinemas location. Also in the lot is a ticket stub to a 1985 Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta game that is shown being played on a TV in the movie, plus a Ferris Bueller Bullies trading card. Sotheby's vice chairman of popular culture Ralph DeLuca said: 'Few items in film history carry the instant recognition and cultural weight of Ferris Bueller's sweater vest,' in a statement given to WWD. 'It's more than just a costume - it's a piece of 1980s Americana that embodies a character, a decade, and a universal sense of youthful rebellion.'
Geek Tyrant
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
The JAWS Sequel That Almost Became a Ridiculous Comedy Called JAWS 3, PEOPLE 0 — GeekTyrant
The Jaws franchise took a nosedive after Steven Spielberg's original masterpiece. Jaws 2 played it safe. Jaws 3-D tried a gimmick, and Jaws: The Revenge ... well, that one had a shark hunting a specific family out of spite. But in an alternate timeline, the third Jaws movie could've gone completely off the rails! It almost became a full-blown comedy. Right after Jaws 2 , producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown were looking for a fresh angle. Audiences were already saturated with knockoffs with films like Grizzly , Orca , Tentacles , and so on. Horror was inching into satire territory, and Zanuck and Brown had just seen Universal score big with National Lampoon's Animal House . So they thought, why not lean into that energy? Enter Matty Simmons of National Lampoon. In the 2023 documentary Sharksploitation , Simmons recalled the surreal moment this all started: 'I was over at Universal. My next-door neighbors were Dick Zanuck and David Brown. First thing [Brown] said to me was, 'Dick and I would love to make a movie with you guys.' So, out of the blue — I just started kidding around — I just said, 'Jaws 3, People Nothing.' 'I said, 'Peter Benchley walks out of his house in a bathing suit, jumps into his pool, and disappears. And the next thing we see a fin floating around in the pool.' ... He said, 'I love it, I love it, I'll call you tomorrow. We're going to make this movie.'' That joke pitch turned into actual momentum. Writers Tod Carroll and a then-unknown John Hughes were brought on to write the script. Joe Dante, hot off his Piranha spoof, was offered the director's chair, thanks in part to Steven Spielberg himself stepping in to stop Universal from suing over Piranha. As Dante explained: 'Universal was very concerned and annoyed that Roger was putting out his rip-off of Jaws the same year that Jaws 2 was coming out, and so, they apparently threatened an injunction. 'I discovered much later that Spielberg had stepped in ... and said, 'No, you don't get it, this is a spoof, this isn't really a rip-off,' although it is a rip-off. And we basically got away with it, I guess is the phrase. And because of that, I was offered Jaws 3, People 0.' Sets were under construction, mechanical sharks were being built. Bo Derek was even circling the cast. It was happening… until it wasn't. The project fell apart. No one's totally sure why. Some point to Spielberg, others to the producers losing their nerve. But Dante believes it came down to creative differences between the Lampoon crew and the Jaws producers: 'The National Lampoon people wanted to make an R-rated comedy, like Animal House. And the more conservative Zanuck and Brown team wanted to make a PG and have it be a wide-release family picture ... ' I think the project died because they just couldn't agree on what movie they were making. And you can't go into a movie with two entities as powerful as National Lampoon was at that time and Zanuck and Brown and have them fighting constantly through the entire movie. It's just a bad idea, and I think they just pulled the plug.' Simmons put it even more bluntly: 'They had to choose between me and Spielberg, and I suspect they made the right choice.' Looking back, Jaws 3, People 0 feels like one of those legendary 'what-if' projects, something that might have bombed spectacularly or become a cult classic. The horror genre eventually embraced self-parody, but in 1983, this kind of meta-comedy was still uncharted waters. Would it have worked? Who knows. But a Jaws spoof written by John Hughes, directed by Joe Dante, and produced by the Animal House team is something we'd absolutely pay to see. If Universal ever wants to revive Jaws with a fresh angle, maybe it's time to bring back the one idea that was just too wild for 1983: a sequel that bites back with a smile.
