Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies director Peter Jackson has weighed in on Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings” TV series.
Appearing on the THR Awards Chatter podcast recently, Jackson revealed that Amazon Studios did originally ask him to be involved with its upcoming megabudget series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.
They also apparently promised to send him scripts – then never contacted him again, effectively ‘ghosting’ him:
“They asked me if I wanted to be involved – [writer-producer Fran Walsh] and I – and I said, ‘That’s an impossible question to answer without seeing a script’. So they said, ‘As soon as we get the first couple [of] scripts, we’ll send them to you.’ And the scripts never showed up. That’s the last thing I heard, which is fine. No complaints at all.”
Jackson also emphasized he harbors no hard feelings toward Amazon’s series and is eager to watch it as a fan of the franchise:
“I’ll be watching it. I’m not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough. If somebody makes a good film or TV show, it’s something to celebrate. The one thing I am looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer.”
Amazon Studios responded to Jackson’s comments with a statement:
“In pursuing the rights for our show, we were obliged to keep the series distinct and separate from the films. We have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and The Lord of The Rings films and are thrilled that he is looking forward to watching The Rings of Power.”
The statement rings true as while both Amazon and showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have expressed their high regard for Jackson, there are legal concerns that requires keeping the Warner-owned films and the Amazon-owned series separate.
Sources for the trade also say the estate of author JRR Tolkien was against having Jackson on board. Said estate had no involvement with his films by him, and Christopher Tolkien has previously slammed the trilogy in the press. However, the estate is involved with the series.
Jackson admits a movie studio wouldn’t greenlight his original trilogy today, saying: “Probably not. Not with a director like me and a studio that would put its money on the line for three movies.”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premieres on Prime Video on September 2nd. Check out a recent behind-the-scenes featurette for it below.
Formula One is famous for people making ruthless decisions. Hamilton was about to be ditched by Ron Dennis when Brawn and Mercedes came calling in the nick of time. Daniel Ricciardo has now been sacked by Zak Brown mid way through his 2 year contract with the team. Yet the Aussie should not take it personally given the historic tales of how the ‘Piranha Club’ operates.
Damon Hill was given his marching orders by Frank Williams during the season while he was in the process of winning the drivers’ world title for the team in 1996.
Frank who founded the Williams team admitted some years later, “I probably thought at the time, almost certainly did: ‘Great, great. Thank you, Damon – we need to do better.’ And I thought the guy we chose would do better and in fact it was a serious error of judgment. For which I’m responsible.”
Damon Hill remarkably became the fourth Williams driver in 9 years who won the drivers’ title but was subsequently released the following season. Frank was indeed ruthless in pursuit of the next great ‘thing’.
Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost were all similarly sacked by Williams the year they became F1 world champions driving for the Grove based team.
Heinz Harald Frenzen from Sauber replaced world champion Damon Hill at Williams in 1997 but the German provided a huge disappointment despite Hill’s former team mate Jacques Villeuve taking the drivers’ title.
The moral of the story is – this is not the end for Daniel Ricciardo. as they say ‘Form is temporary but class is permanent.’
Mercedes 2023 regulation change demands rejeter by FIA
Daniel joined the big boy Red Bull team replacing Mark Webber in 2014 alongside 4 times world champion Sebastian Vettel. That season the Aussie dominated his 4 time world champion team mate and finished 4th in the drivers’ title. Vettel was 8th and suddenly on his way to Ferrari.
In 2015 Ricciardo was joined by Russian driver Daniel Kyat. The Red Bull car was less competitive that year and Ricciardo scored the only team’s podium in Hungary. Kvyat finished P8 in the drivers championship with Ricciardo in P9 close behind.
The following year Kvyat was dropped after 4 races and the young Max Vertsappen was drafted in from Torro Rosso. Ricciardo finished 3rd in driver’s championship with a win and 3 podiums 2 places ahead of young gun Verstappen.
2017 saw Ricciardo win a race for Red Bull together with 7 podiums but the team performance was poor as they were just third as a constructor. Verstappen again finished a place behind Ricciardo in the drivers’ title in P6.
Now having been Red Bull’s lead driver for 4 seasons Daniel Ricciardo faced his toughest year for the Milton Keynes team. Following a collision with team mate Verstappen in round 4 of the championship which saw both cars eliminated,. Ricciardo went into a spiral.
FIA’s crafty new tire regulations for 2023
It appeared the team blamed him for the contact in Baku with Verstappen and that loss of confidence and support was something Ricciardo never recovered from. The Aussie racer actually landed two wins for Red Bull that season to Verstappen’s 1. However the Dutchman scored 249 points at the seasons end to Ricciardo’s 170. This would not have proven to be fatal for Red Bull’s Australian driver and the team wanted him for the following year.
Yet Ricciardo was fatally wounded mentally over the blame the team laid on him for the Baku double DNF and decided his time was up at Red Bull.
With hindsight it’s easy to see the mistakes F1 drivers make in their careers, but leaving Red Bull for Alpine in 2019 was Ricciardo’s biggest mistake at that point. He had matched and beaten Verstappen and seen of the Red Bull team’s 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Baku his fault from him or not, he should’ve have been handled better by Horner and the team.
After 2 successful ears at Alpine including a P5 in the drivers’ championship in 2020, Ricciardo was lured by McLaren to replace Carlos Sainz who was on his way to Ferrari.
The rest is woeful history for the talented and likeable Australian.
When Sainz left McLaren he remarked, “their car is very difficult to drive”. Riiciardo replied, “thanks for telling me now mate” having signed for the Woking team.
Vettel job with FOM management
After a season and a half of struggling with the badly balanced McLaren F1 car, Riccardo is facing the sack. Zack Brown has decided its time for something new and signed Alpine’s academy driver Oscar Piastri.
The response over the treatment of the likeable Aussie driver half way through his contact has been remarkable.
ESPN’s Nate Saunders reported four teams have sounded Ricciardo out recently to “see where his head is at” and slammed McLaren for its treatment of the Aussie.
“It reflects very poorly on Brown and McLaren how they have treated Ricciardo over the past six months,” writes Saunders.
“Ricciardo, the only McLaren driver to have won an F1 race since 2012, has been the first to admit his performances have not been up to the standards he set at Red Bull and Renault but it feels as though he has been made as a scapegoat to deflect away from deeper problems at the team.”
Saunders isn’t alone in his praise for Ricciardo who is suffering tough times.
“Amid all the rumpus and pressure you have to commend Ricciardo on his grace and professionalism over these last few months,” tweeted Tom Gaymor.
“Says everything about him as a man, he is a class act and I hope he keeps smiling and doing it his way.”
Daniel Ricciardo is a proven Formula One winner and top driver. He finished P5 in the drivers’ championship for Alpine in 2020 before he joined what he thought was a progression to McLaren.
In just 18 months he has not ‘lost it’, Ricciardo just needs a team where he can be the heart and sole of the garage. He also needs a car not so on the very edge where it breaks away from the driver without notice.
Renault’s Alain Prost admitted the team loved having Ricciardo as their driver due to his positivity and professionalism. Further he scored Renault’s best results for almost a decade.
Surely it is a no brainer that Alpine recruits the scorned McLaren driver for next season. Because seriously the other options after they cocked up the Alonso/Piastri situation – are bleak indeed.
READ MORE: F1 teams deluded in refusing expanded F1 calendar
Police have charged a man over the terrifying rape of a woman as she was out on her morning jog in Broome.
The woman, aged in her 40s, was running on a track alongside Gubinge Road, between Jigal Drive and Sayonara Road, when she was approached by a man walking in the opposite direction on Friday.
Police allege that as the pair crossed paths, the man grabbed the victim and sexually assaulted her.
The woman fought him off and screamed for help. Several members of the community came to her aid from her, and police say the alleged rapist threatened those who had come to help.
“There was no physical altercation, but the man made verbal threats to the members of the public who tried to intervene before he ran away,” Det-Sen. Sgt Brian Beck said last week.
Police have charged a man over the terrifying rape of a woman as she was out on her morning jog in Broome. Credit: Broome Advertiser/Jane Murphy
Police on Sunday revealed Broome Detectives had executed a search warrant at a hotel at Cable Beach on Saturday and arrested a 52-year-old man — who is from Midland — who was staying there.
The accused has been charged with three counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent.
He is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy and former investment banker Carol Roth weigh in on record-high inflation and the Democrats’ taxing bill on ‘The Evening Edit.’
Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders adopted a tone more similar to that of Congressional Republicans than Democrats on Saturday when he said that the hotly debated Inflation Reduction Act will do little to reduce inflation.
“Madam President, I want to take a moment to say a few words about the so-called inflation reduction that we are debating this evening,” Sanders said on the Senate floor on Saturday night. “And I say so-called, by the way, because according to the CBO, and other economic organizations that study this bill, it will, in fact, have a minimal impact on inflation.”
Sanders went on to criticize the bill by saying that it does not address childhood poverty, income inequality, or the “dysfunctional” healthcare system in the United States.
Sanders explained that the bill “turns its back on the working parents of this country and our children.”
SOARING INFLATION DRIVES MORE AMERICANS TO LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK DESPITE 5.1% INCREASE IN WAGES
Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Sanders urged Democrats to support his effort to amend the bill so that it does more to help American working families.
Conservatives complimented Sanders on social media after Republicans on Capitol Hill have pointed out in recent days that the Congressional Budget Office acknowledged that the Inflation Reduction Act will have a negligible effect on inflation.
“Bernie Sanders, of all people, is being more honest about this garbage bill than Joe Manchin is,” Heritage Foundation Communications Director John Cooper tweeted.
A man shops at a Safeway grocery store in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 16, 2022, as Americans brace for summer sticker shock as inflation continues to grow. ((Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
DEMOCRATS’ INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS ‘ECONOMIC MALPRACTICE’: ECONOMIST
A vote to move ahead on Democrats’ social spending and taxation bill passed Saturday evening, setting up floor debate followed by a marathon vote-a-rama, before a final vote on the legislation that’s expected sometime Sunday.
“What today is about is whether or not Democrats are going to stand up and fight, fight for amendments and support amendments which address some very critical needs of working families,” Sanders told Fox News Digital earlier in the day. “The amendments that I will offer probably have the support of 70 or 80 percent of the American people. We will see how much support they will be getting.”
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 28: US President Joe Biden removes his mask as he delivers remarks on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Getty Images/Getty Images)
Several other Democrats, however, are cool on Sanders’ strategy. They think it creates unnecessary risk after they negotiated for more than a year to get a reconciliation bill their entire caucus could support.
“Many of us believe that our number one goal is to make sure this gets to the finish line without any amendments creating problems for its final passage,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “I will vote no on any amendment I think compromises the bill’s signature by the president.”
Several top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have dismissed concerns and economist analysis that the Inflation Reduction Act will have a minimal effect on the record inflation that has continued to grow over the past year.
“They’re wrong..I don’t know who that list was…it’s as plain as the nose on your face,” Schumer said in response to a letter from 230 economists who warned that the bill will add to inflation.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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The dialog-optimized AI Blenderbot 3 can research information on the Internet and integrate it into conversations. Meta publishes a web demo and models of the system to collaboratively improve its security.
Blenderbot 3 is Meta’s version of Google’s Lamda, the AI chat system that recently successfully faked consciousness to a Google engineer. Blenderbot has been in the works since around 2020, with the goal of developing a chatbot with personality, empathy, and extensive knowledge of the world.
The last major update dates back to 2021, when Meta added to Blenderbot 2 the ability to research information on the Internet from reliable sources to reduce its susceptibility to nonsensical statements. Meta also integrated a long-term memory that allows the bot to store relevant information about its answers or talking partners.
Blenderbot 3 is based on Meta’s open-source language model
According to Meta, Blenderbot 3 scores 31 percent better dialog ratings than its predecessor in initial tests with human counterparts. The human testers rated Blenderbot 3 as twice as knowledgeable compared to the second version. In addition, the system is said to be factually incorrect in 47 percent fewer cases.
Blenderbot 3 in action. | Video: Goal
This progress is especially due to the upgrade of the language model: Blenderbot 3 is based on the 175 billion parameter model of Meta’s open-source language transformer OPT and is, according to Meta, about 58 times larger than Blenderbot 2.
Compared to GPT-3, Blenderbot gives more up-to-date answers 82 percent of the time and more specific answers 76 percent of the time, according to Meta. However, Blenderbot’s training data is more up-to-date than GPT-3’s.
Open-source approach for greater security
With the release of the open source model and a web demo, Meta’s primary goal is to drive data collection, discourse about, and advancement of secure conversational AI.
“Our research goal is to collect and release conversational feedback data that we and the broader AI research community can leverage over time to eventually find new ways for conversational AI systems to optimize both safety and engagingness for everyone who uses them,” Meta writes.
Initial analysis of the web demo showed that 0.16 percent of Blenderbot 3 responses were flagged as unfriendly or inappropriate. The “ideal” 0 percent would likely require user-level customization, Meta’s research team suspects. It would be a difficult balance between security and willingness to engage in dialogue – the bot might try to change the subject on sensitive topics, for example.
Long-term goal: Language as the main interface for computers and useful virtual assistants
Meta refers to Blenderbot 3 as a “significant advance” over chatbots currently available to the public. However, the system is “certainly not at a human level” and occasionally gives incorrect, inconsistent, off-topic, or otherwise unsatisfactory answers, the researchers said.
Through interactions with the demo, Meta hopes to continue to improve the model and provide updated model snapshots to the AI community. The team’s goal is to one day “AI-powered computers that everyone can chat with in genuinely helpful and interesting ways.”
Head here for the Blenderbot 3 web demo, which is currently only available from the US The code, datasets, and smaller models are freely available from Parlai.
The most powerful 175-billion model, as with OPT, is only available to select individuals and institutions from the research community upon request.
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Actor Anne Heche has been hospitalized after a crash in which her car smashed into a house and flames erupted, according to a friend.
Key points:
Police say Anne Heche’s speeding car ran off the road and into a Los Angeles house
It started a blaze that took fire crews more than an hour to put out
She was rescued with critical injuries, according to fire crews
“Anne is currently in a stable condition. Her family and friends ask for your thoughts and prayers and to respect her privacy during this difficult time,” Heather Duffy Boylston, Heche’s friend and podcast partner, said in a statement.
Earlier reports suggested Heche was in hospital in a critical condition.
Heche’s speeding car came to a T-shaped intersection and ran off the road and into the house in the Mar Vista section of Los Angeles’ westside shortly before 11am Friday, Los Angeles police officer Tony Im said.
The car came to a stop inside the two-storey house and started a fire that took nearly 60 firefighters more than an hour to put out, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
The LAFD reported that the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was rescued after being critically injured in the crash.
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Television news video showed a blue Mini Cooper Clubman, badly damaged and burned, being towed out of the home, with a woman sitting up on a stretcher and struggling as firefighters put her in an ambulance.
No other injuries were reported, and no arrests have been made. Police are investigating.
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A native of Ohio, Heche first came to prominence on the US soap opera Another World from 1987 to 1991.
She won a Daytime Emmy Award for the role.
In the late 1990s, she became one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, a constant on magazine covers and in big-budget films.
She co-starred with Johnny Depp in 1997’s Donnie Brasco; with Tommy Lee Jones in 1997’s Volcano; with Harrison Ford in 1998’s Six Days, Seven Nights; with Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix in 1998’s Return to Paradise, and with an ensemble cast in the original 1997 I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000 heightened her fame and brought immense public scrutiny.
Anne Heche (right) had a high-profile relationship with Ellen Degeneres in the late 1990s. (AFP: Hector Mata)
In the fall of 2000, soon after the two broke up, Heche was hospitalized after knocking on the door of a stranger in a rural area near Fresno, California.
Authorities said she had appeared shaken and disoriented, speaking incoherently to the residents.
In a memoir released the following year, Call Me Crazy, Heche talked about her lifelong struggles with mental health and a childhood of abuse.
She was married to camera operator Coleman Laffoon from 2001 to 2009.
The two had a son together.
She had another son during a relationship with actor James Tupper, her co-star on the TV series Men In Trees.
He has worked consistently in smaller films, on Broadway, and TV shows in the past two decades.
She recently had recurring roles on the network series Chicago PD and All Rise, and in 2020 was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars.
Better Together, the podcast hosted by Heche and Duffy Boylston, is described online as a celebration of friendship.
If you wanted to know just how much Josh Kennedy means to West Coast, just ask every one of his 43 teammates.
Ahead of his final match for the Eagles against Adelaide at Optus Stadium, the Sunday Times has compiled the ultimate tribute to the West Coast premiership star and all-time leading goalkicker.
DON’T MISS YOUR FREE ‘FAREWELL JK’ POSTER WITH TEAMMATES’ TRIBUTES, ONLY IN THE SUNDAY TIMES
From Shannon Hurn, the man West Coast selected nine picks after Kennedy went to Carlton in the 2005 national draft, to mid-season selection Jai Culley, all 43 current Eagles have penned a tribute to their retiring teammate.
And while there was little doubt, the players have confirmed they have big shoes to collectively fill.
Fellow forward Jack Darling said his career had benefited from having the 716-goal spearhead alongside him.
“The big show. Been amazing sharing the 50 with you. Thanks for everything. You mean so much to so many people and thanks for taking the number one defender,” he wrote.
Josh Kennedy after announcing his retirement this week. Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images via AFL Photos
The heir to Kennedy’s glittering throne Oscar Allen said Kennedy has had a substantial impact on his career on and off the field.
“Thank you for helping me understand what is required to be an AFL footballer but more importantly how to grow up into a man. You’re a champion and can’t wait to tell my kids I played with JK. Love ya mate,” he said.
Premiership teammate and captain Hurn wrote: “Such a great player for the club. Always did your best and made your teammates better. Privilege to play with.”
Andrew Gaff said Kennedy was one of the best players to represent the West Coast.
“I’ve never seen someone play through so much pain and discomfort to then always produce on the big stage. Congrats on an amazing career, enjoy retirement and thanks for making my foot skills look better than they are!”
The ultimate tribute will be available in The Sunday Times’ 12-page liftout celebrating Kennedy’s stunning career.
DON’T MISS YOUR FREE ‘FAREWELL JK’ POSTER WITH TEAMMATES’ TRIBUTES, ONLY IN THE SUNDAY TIMES
A former mortgage broker on a mission to review every pie shop in Australia has taken his pastry pilgrimage to the farthest reaches of North Queensland — and delivered a verdict on the age-old tomato sauce debate.
Shaun Pyne ran a successful finance business for more than 20 years before selling up and hitting the road to realize his life’s ambition of visiting every pie vendor and bakery in Australia, bar none.
Over the intervening years, his Pyney’s Pie Reviews person has developed a huge social media following and raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity along the way.
Shaun Pyne made it to the northernmost tip of Australia during his tour of Cape York.(Supplied)
Five secrets to a perfect foot
Mr Pyne is halfway through a schooner of beer at the Peninsula Hotel in Laura — a Cape York town famed for its Quinkan Aboriginal rock art, but not its pastries — when he gets a call from the ABC.
The baked-good gourmand already has a few weeks’ travel under his belt on this leg of his Australian tour, with a loaded caravan and an insatiable appetite for adventure, great yarns and the perfect meat-to-crust ratio.
And it turns out, he has distilled the foot assessment criteria down to a fine science.
“The five categories that I do my scoring on are value for money, meat ratio, flavour, pastry and temperature,” he explains.
“They get scored out of 10 … and they’re all equally important.
“If you have a hot pie, it’s going to burn your taste buds … if the pastry falls apart while you’re driving that’s going to be a massive issue.
“For me, a real pie, you’ve got to be able to eat in your car – so it’s got to stay stable.”
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Given the price of fuel and the clicks clocked up by his nationwide mission, value for money is obviously going to be a major factor in any foot’s overall score.
“Look, the cost of living is expensive, the meat prices have gone up and yes, pies have gone up,” Mr Pyne says.
“At the end of the day, that’s life.
“But I’ve visited so many bakeries, with the cheapest being $4.10 to the dearest being $8.50.
“But even the $8.50 one, it’s massive, it’s a big pie and it’s great value for money.”
Shaun Pyne travels across Australia in a caravan to try every foot he can.(Supplied: Pyney’s Pie Reviews)
Can Australia really claim the meat pie?
Historical evidence of meat pies can trace their origin back to the Neolithic period of about 6,000 BC, and more recently they were staple dishes sold by street vendors as convenience food to the poor in Medieval Britain.
The dish features throughout British literature and nursery rhymes – take the philandering “Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie” for example, or the ditty about baked blackbirds that now lends its name to Australia’s biggest pie brand, Four’N Twenty.
But even the most parochial Brit must admit the tradition has taken flight since the pie arrived on a new continent with the First Fleet.
Mr Pyne’s recent discovery of a crocodile pie in Port Douglas and a crayfish pie at Bamaga certainly lends evidence to that claim.
Medieval pie bakers didn’t have to worry about the taste of their pastry – it wasn’t for eating.(Image: The Bodleian Library, Oxford/Public Domain)
The ‘dog’s eye and dead horse’ debate
Not every Aussie pie tradition gets the thumbs up from this crust crusader.
Whatever you do, don’t mention the dead horse.
“We’ve had a couple of huge heated debates,” he warns.
“To me, a good Australian pie does not need any sauce whatsoever.
“The only time I put sauce on my feet is when I go to the cricket or the footy.
“The flavors should be just riddled through the pie.
“By putting tomato sauce or some other sauce on, you’re taking away from the aroma and the actual true flavor of the pie.
“Square pie, round pie, oval pie — that’s been a separate debate.”
Mr Pyne falls into the square pie camp but acknowledges rules are made to be broken when it comes to this beloved foodstuff.
Shaun Pyne gets a taste for tropical rock lobster pies at Bernie’s Kai Kai Bar in Bamaga.(Supplied)
A controversy erupted from the recent 2022 Australia Best Pie and Pastie Competition, which he helped judge, after the top award went to a pie that had no meat.
My Pyne said the creamy mushroom and truffle creation was a revelation.
“There was no meat in there … but you know what, I had the privilege of tasting that pie on Wednesday and it was absolutely stunning, beautiful,” he says.
“They’ve come under fire a little bit because the judges did award that best pie… but it is Australia’s best pie competition – it’s not Australia’s best meat pie.
“To be honest, I think the judges got it right.
“This was a beautiful, beautiful foot.”
Shaun Pyne just cannot get enough of the humble meat pie.(Supplied)
h]
Creativity lies just under the lid
That fungal triumph was nowhere near the strangest meal to pass his lips.
“I’ve had a camel pie [at Birdsville] which was awesome,” he says.
“Roberta from Blackbutt Bakery, she was my first ever perfect score.
“She sells a Big Mac pie and it literally tastes exactly like a Big Mac.
“Whittlesea Bakery in Melbourne, it was another of my perfect scores – it was a slow-cooked brisket, camembert cheese and caramelised onion.”
The remoteness of the Cape meant feet were few and far between during Mr Pyne’s most recent northern journey, but he made up for it by hitting every bakery from the Atherton Tablelands to Innisfail at least once on the way back down.
“My mantra has always been, don’t go to Bali, go to Broken Hill,” he says.
“Get out and see this great country.
“Get out and see North Queensland.
“There’s so much to see up here and I can’t wait to get into the bakeries.”
Early Australian convicts were allotted rations, including salted meat, flour and butter, that could be used to make a pie.(Image: State Library of NSW)
Pyney’s great lifestyle shift
So how does a mortgage broker become a roving gastronomist of the pie variety?
It all started as a bit of nonsense between two mates on the long and dusty trip to the Birdsville Big Red Bash in 2019.
“One of my mates said, ‘I’m gonna have a schooner at every pub ’cause my missus normally drives, blah blah blah,” Mr Pyne explains.
“And I said, look, if you do that I’ll have a walk at every town we stop at while you have your beer.
“So he had plenty of beers and I had plenty of pies, and I just started blogging about it at the end of 2019.”
A couple of horses show interest in Shaun Pyne’s breakfast as his pie review tour takes him to Mareeba(Supplied)
Covid-19 put Mr Pyne and his wife’s travel plans on ice, but a three-and-a-half month trip around the NT last year brought the social media reviews back to the fore.
Selling the family mortgage brokering business helped make it all possible, and writing pie reviews was as good excuse as any to get out and see Australia.
It also helps pay some of the bills.
“It’s a labor of love, mate,” Mr Pyne says.
“We’re lucky, we’ve got older kids and we’ve done very well out of our business.
“And I’ve got merchandise that I sell, so pie bikinis, pie boardshorts, T-shirts, that sort of stuff.
“I’ve got great partners that have sponsored me behind the scenes, which is awesome.
“But we were going to travel anyway, and this is just a great way to get out there and help people.
“Unfortunately it’s a dying profession, so if I can do my little bit to raise tourism, to get people out there spending money in these little communities, it obviously helps them.”
Sometimes on foot cooked in a caravan’s travel oven was the best Pyney could muster during his Cape York trip.
(Supplied)
All things in moderation
Mr Pyne is probably Australia’s best-known pie aficionado behind the late and great Shane Warne, whose fans mourned his passing earlier this year by laying offerings of meat pies, cigarettes, beer and baked beans alongside the flowers at the foot of his statue at the CGM.
Warnie’s shock death in Thailand gave Mr Pyne enough of a fright about his own diet to go see his own GP.
“It’s funny, because obviously with Shane Warne earlier this year, I went straight in,” he says.
“Since Christmas, I’ve lost 14kg, so I’ve been on a diet myself.
“My heart was all good, check-up was all good.
“I go to the gym every day, I work out every day.
“I do smash feet, but I do [social media] content on different days.”
A can of beer and a meat pie are seen amid floral tributes for Shane Warne left at the MCG on March 5, 2022.(ABC News: Danny Morgan)
and]
You can call them meat pies, dog’s eyes, maggot bags or rat coffins.
As long as the meat ratio is right, it doesn’t send you broke or skin your tongue, the flavor is spot-on and the pastry is flaky and structurally sound, what you call them matters very little.
It’s a purrfect ending to the tale of Boka, the stolen bodega cat.
A mysterious intermediary returned the feline to the Green Olives Deli & Grill in Park Slope a week after a catnapper grabbed the gray kitty outside the Seventh Avenue shop.
Abdulmajeed Albahri, one of three owners of the bodega, said he was reunited with Boka at 5 am Saturday when he arrived an hour before the store opened for the day.
“He was waiting exactly in front of the doors,” Albahri said, adding he spent the next hour playing with the cat and giving him treats.
Video posted to the cat’s KediBoka Instagram account shows the kitty looking up expectantly as his owner opened the deli door to see him.
But how Boka came back is still not clear.
He went missing on July 29 when video captured a man dressed in khakis, a white shirt and a light blue hat lingering outside the store. He is seen scooping up the cat and spiriting him off.
Appeals to get Boka back, along with photos of the fiend, were posted to TikTok and Instagram. The cat’s disappearance also garnered wide media attention.
A stolen cat was returned to a warehouse in Park Slope. stefano giovanniAbdulmajeed Albahri was reunited with Boka one hour before the bodega opened for business on Saturday. stefano giovanni
The spotlight paid off.
“There was someone who came to the store yesterday and he told me he has news about the cat,” Albahri said Saturday. “He told me he was trying to convince the guy to return the cat.”
Albahri said the Good Samaritan did not provide many details and he didn’t get the man’s name.
“I told him it’s OK for now. I just need my cat back,” he said.
Boka went missing on July 29 after video saw a man taking the cat from the bodega. Albahri said someone had come in and said they were trying to convince the person who had stolen the cat to return it. stefano giovanni
By 7:30 pm Friday, the cat was once again at the deli home where he has lived since January and looked none the worse, Albahri said.
His fans even came to visit after Albahri posted the news on Boka’s Instagram page.
Albahri said Boka brings life to the store because he’s such an active cat, if not somewhat finicky.
“The cat food we sell in the store, sometimes he doesn’t like it,” he said.
Although a complaint had been filed with the NYPD about Boka’s disappearance, police said they did not have any updates Saturday on his return or an arrest.
Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew has admitted he is unsure where star forward Izak Rankine will be playing his football from 2023.
It was originally reported by Chief Sports Reporter at SEN Sam Edmund that the 22-year-old was comfortable in Queensland and was close to recommitting to the club in the wake of buying a new house on the Gold Coast, however, a $4 million deal over five years from Adelaide has thrown a spanner in the works.
Taken with pick number 3 in the 2018 draft from West Adelaide, the return-home factor was always of concern for Stuart Dew and his men, and after 47 games and 55 goals, it may have eventuated sooner than previously hoped.
Speaking in the post-match press conference after the Suns’ seven-point defeat at the hands of Hawthorn, Dew was pragmatic about the future of Rankine.
“He’s obviously got a decision to make, like a lot of guys out of contract at this time of year. There’s a big incentive for him to stay, there’s also a big incentive for him to leave as well,” he said.
“What we’re confident on is that Gold Coast is a great spot for Izak (Rankine( to play his footy and live his life, we’re really clear on that and he knows that.
“But again he’s 22, he’s going to have a decision to make, not unlike (Luke) Jackson at Melbourne and different players around the league so he’s focused on finishing the year, and that’s what’s most important to all of us.
“Our job and the players’ jobs are to be professional and finish the year off, but we still firmly believe that we are the best place for him to play his footy.”
Rankine received a similar offer from Essendon that was centered around his involvement in Dreamtime at the ‘G and The Long Walk, which he later rejected.
The Suns and Rankine face the red-hot Geelong at Metricon Stadium next round.
Stuart Dew and Izak Rankine are still having conversations concerning his future as the Crows have made a BIG offer. pic.twitter.com/NBuf9hDl2o
