|
Slough (poem)
"Slough" is a ten-stanza poem by Sir John Betjeman, first published in his 1937 collection '' Continual Dew''. The British town of Slough was used as a dump for war surplus materials in the interwar years, and then abruptly became the home of 850 new factories just before World War II. The sudden appearance of this "Trading Estate", which was quickly widely reproduced throughout Britain, prompted the poem. Seeing the new appearance of the town, Betjeman was struck by the "menace of things to come". He later regretted the poem's harshness. The poem is not about Slough specifically, but about the desecration caused by industrialization and modernity in general, with the transformation of Slough being the epitome of these evils. Nevertheless, successive mayors of Slough have objected to the poem. The poem was published two years before the outbreak of World War II, during which Britain (including Slough itself) experienced actual air raids. Much later, in a guide to English churc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, helping to save St Pancras railway station from demolition. He began his career as a journalist and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television. Life Early life and education Betjeman was born John Betjemann. He was the son of a prosperous silverware maker of Dutch descent. His parents, Mabel (''née'' Dawson) and Ernest Betjemann, had a family firm at 34–42 Pentonville Road which manufactured the kind of ornamental household furniture and gadgets distinctive to Victorians. During the First World War the family name was changed to the less German-looking Betjeman. His father's forebears had actually come from the present day Netherlands more than a century earlier, setting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallows (band)
Gallows are an English hardcore punk band from Watford, Hertfordshire. The band was formed in 2005 after Laurent Barnard's previous band disbanded. Gallows' debut album, ''Orchestra of Wolves'', was distributed in the United States by Epitaph Records, and they were subsequently signed to Warner Bros. Records for a £1 million album contract and recorded ''Grey Britain''. The band has been particularly successful in the UK, with two songs charting on the UK Single Charts, and have been featured in magazines such as ''Kerrang!'', ''Alternative Press'' and ''Rolling Stone''. History Formation and ''Orchestra of Wolves'' (2005–2008) Gallows formed in 2005 and released their debut album ''Orchestra of Wolves'' in 2006 on In at the Deep End Records. The album received acclaim and caught the attention of Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, who released it in the US on Epitaph Records, with new tracks including a cover of Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown". In an interview Gurewitz named ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad'' (2010–2012). He also created, wrote and starred in ''Derek'' (2012–2014), and '' After Life'' (2019–2022). He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019). Gervais was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest performers in British comedy in 2003. In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups, and at No. 3 in their 2010 list. In 2010, he was included in the ''Time 100'' list of World's Most Influential People. Gervais initially worked in the music industry. He attempted a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new-wave act Seona Dancing, and managed the then-unknown band Sued ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Brent
David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary ''The Office'', portrayed by the show's co-creator, co-writer and co-director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of the series. He is the general manager of the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg paper merchants and the boss of most other characters in the series. Much of the comedy of the series centres on Brent's many idiosyncrasies, hypocrisies, self-delusions and overt self-promotion. Character Brent is presented as an employer who wholeheartedly believes that his employees love him, whereas in fact, aside from Gareth Keenan, they actually resent him. This is best noticed in the Series 1 finale, where Brent betrays his staff and accepts a promotion to higher management, saving his own skin from the inevitable downsizing that will befall the Slough branch as a consequence. Brent later fails a medical examination which makes him unable to take the positio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Office (UK TV Series)
''The Office'' is a British television mockumentary sitcom first broadcast in the UK on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme follows the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictional Wernham Hogg paper company. Gervais also starred in the series, playing the central character David Brent. Two six-episode series were made, followed by a two-part Christmas special. When it was first shown on BBC Two, ratings were relatively low, but it has since become one of the most successful of all British comedy exports. As well as being shown internationally on BBC Worldwide, channels such as BBC Prime, BBC America, and BBC Canada, the series has been sold to broadcasters in over 80 countries, including ABC1 in Australia, The Comedy Network in Canada, TVNZ in New Zealand, and the pan-Asian satellite channel Star World, based in Hong Kong. The show was shown in the United States on BBC America ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Everyday Is Like Sunday
"Everyday Is Like Sunday" is the third track of Morrissey's debut solo album, ''Viva Hate'', and the second single to be released by the artist. Co-written by Morrissey and former Smiths producer Stephen Street, the song was Morrissey's second release after the Smiths break-up. Morrissey was inspired lyrically by the Mid-Wales coastal town of Borth and Nevil Shute's '' On the Beach'' to lament the drudgery of a seaside town. Street, who had originally sought to contribute his musical ideas to Morrissey to use for Smiths B-sides, also contributed bass guitar, which he contends was inspired by Echo & the Bunnymen. "Everyday Is Like Sunday" was featured on Morrissey's debut album, ''Viva Hate'', and the compilation album ''Bona Drag''. Upon release, the single, featuring the B-sides "Disappointed", "Will Never Marry", and " Sister I'm a Poet", saw commercial and critical success, reaching number nine in the UK and garnering rave reviews for its evocative lyrics and bombastic mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then, he has pursued a successful solo career. Morrissey's music is characterised by his baritone voice and distinctive lyrics with recurring themes of emotional isolation, sexual longing, self-deprecating and dark humour, and anti-establishment stances. Born to working-class Irish immigrants in Davyhulme, Lancashire, Morrissey grew up in nearby Manchester. As a child, he developed a love of literature, kitchen sink realism, and 1960s pop music. In the late 1970s, he fronted punk rock band the Nosebleeds with little success before beginning a career in music journalism and writing several books on music and film in the early 1980s. He formed the Smiths with Johnny Marr in 1982 and the band soon attracted national recognition for their epo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orchestra Of Wolves
''Orchestra of Wolves'' is the debut album by English hardcore punk band Gallows. It was produced by Banks of fellow Hertfordshire band Haunts and released by In at the Deep End Records on 25 September 2006. A limited edition was re-issued in the United Kingdom in June 2007 with a bonus disc featuring live session tracks, two new songs and two covers. It was also re-issued in North America by Epitaph Records on July 10, 2007, with four bonus tracks ("Sick of Feeling Sick", "Black Heart Queen", "Nervous Breakdown", and "Staring at the Rude Bois"). Before the recording of this album began, guitarist Paul Laventure left the band. As a result, the album was recorded as a four-piece with Laurent Barnard, the band's main songwriter, recording all of the guitar parts himself. Track listing #"Kill the Rhythm" 2:40 #"Come Friendly Bombs" 3:32 #"Abandon Ship" 3:12 #"In the Belly of a Shark" 2:42 #"Six Years" 4:06 #"Rolling with the Punches" 3:36 #"Last Fight for the Living Dead" 1:00 #"J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian McMillan (poet)
Ian McMillan (born 21 January 1956) is an English poet, journalist, playwright, and broadcaster. He is known for his strong and distinctive Yorkshire accent and his incisive, friendly interview style on programmes such as BBC Radio 3's ''The Verb''. He lives in Darfield, the village of his birth. Background McMillan was born in Darfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, son of John McMillan, a naval officer, and Olive Wood, a shop clerk. McMillan married on 21 July 1979. His son Andrew McMillan is a poet who won the Guardian First Book Award 2015 for his debut poetry book ''Physical''. McMillan attended Low Valley Junior School and Wath Grammar School,Ian McMillan 'Taking Myself Home' at Charnwood Arts Archived fro [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candida Lycett Green
Candida Rose Lycett Green (née Betjeman; 22 September 194219 August 2014) was a British author who wrote sixteen books including ''English Cottages'', ''Goodbye London'', ''The Perfect English House'', ''Over the Hills and Far Away'' and ''The Dangerous Edge of Things''. Her television documentaries included ''The Englishwoman and the Horse'', and ''The Front Garden''. ''Unwrecked England'', based on a regular column of the same name she wrote for ''The Oldie'' from 1992, was published in 2009. Green has been described as "the finest writer of our time on the English countryside". She edited and introduced the letters and prose of her father John Betjeman which were published in three volumes. She was a commissioner of English Heritage for nine years and her proudest achievement was the role she played in the regeneration of Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, Stoke-On-Trent. She was a member of the Performing Rights Society through her writing of lyrics for songs and was a Contrib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940 (a battle for daylight air superiority between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force over the United Kingdom). By September 1940, the Luftwaffe had lost the Battle of Britain and the German air fleets () were ordered to attack London, to draw RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation.Price 1990, p. 12. Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. Most notable was a large dayligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_posing.jpg "Click for more on -> Gallows (band)")
