Ninety years ago, Allied commanders launched the World War I offensive lastingly remembered as the Battle of the Somme. At 7.30am on 1 July 1916, officers blew their whistles to signal the start of the attack. As 11 British divisions clambered out of their trenches and walked slowly towards the enemy lines, German machine guns opened fire, causing wholesale carnage. The first day of that battle was the bloodiest in the whole history of the British Army. By the end of the day, the British had suffered 60,000 casualties; almost 20,000 were dead, including 60% of all the officers involved. [More]
Category: Old Main News
Lesley writes: On July 1st, I attended what is, I suspect, a mostly unknown and unheralded opera called Leithian, the tale of Beren and Lúthien. It was held at the Liederkranz Hall, a small venue near Central Park on E. 87th in New York City. The composer and Metropolitan Opera singer, Adam Klein, also performed the lead role of Beren. Approximately 20 musicians and singers contributed, some singers trading off to play instruments from time to time. [More]
It is a very slow holiday weekend in North America, with Canada Day & the Fourth of July only days apart. The studios are reluctant to release anything this time of year, let alone anything that may potentially be a big seller. This week we are thrown two box office bombs in the form of Johnny Depp’s ‘The Libertine’ and former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan’s ‘The Matador’. [More]
Folks from Billy’s Loons Charities write: We would like to announce an auction of a beautiful Caricature of Billy Boyd, drawn by So Cal Art Studios at the 2006 ORC in Pasadena. The So Cal Art Studios donated this 16″ by 20″ framed art to Billy’s Loons Charities(BLC) and Billy Boyd signed it for this Auction at ORC. All proceeds will be donated to the Scottish Youth Theatre, where Billy Boyd is a patron and BLC is a sponsor. Many thanks to So Cal Art Studios and Billy Boyd! [More]
Orlando Bloom was a guest on ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ last week. He was there to promote ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’. They spoke a bit about soccer, Johnny and Orlando getting drunk, and showed a great clip from the new film. Take a look! (41MB MOV)[More]
What makes Orlando Bloom happy about reprising the role of Will Turner in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”? “Don’t you think he’s a bit more pirate and a bit less of a stick in the mud?” the actor wondered rhetorically. “I hope you do, because that was kind of the intention. There is a dark side to Will that I think sort of evolves a little bit because he starts to assume this pirate thing. It’s like, ‘Who is this pirate?’ ” And this time, he added, the footwear is much better. “I get a pair of boots instead of those little shoes and stockings – which weren’t cool at all.” For Bloom, a return to a hit franchise is familiar. His career was launched as Legolas, the archer in the Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. But “Pirates,” he pointed out, was never intended as a trilogy; the original movie had lowly origins, inspired not by a Tolkien classic but by the Disneyland amusement-park ride. [More]