Friday Hoyden – The cracking Ruth Jones

by tigtog on March 12, 2010

in entertainment, work and family

Ruth Jones in costume as Nessa (Gavin & Stacey)

Ruth Jones in costume as Nessa (Gavin & Stacey)

Oh, what’s occurring?

I first remember noticing Ruth Jones as a performer in the darkly grotesque comedy Nighty Night, penned by the brilliantly odd Julia Davis, where Jones played a much put-upon and not terribly bright assistant to Davis’ manipulative monster Jill.

Jones stole every scene she was in, so I was glad to see her pop up a few years later as long-suffering barmaid Myfanwy in Little Britain, forever unable to get Dafydd to accept that he’s not in fact the only gay in the village at all.

She recently popped up on my radar again as one of the principal characters in the British hit comedy Gavin & Stacey (playing Stacey’s best friend Nessa), but it wasn’t until I researched her for this post that I realised she’s actually a co-writer/creator of the show.

Ruth Jones as Linda with Julia Davis as Jill (Nighty Night)

Ruth Jones as Linda with Julia Davis as Jill (Nighty Night)

Matt Lucas (Dafydd) with Ruth Jones (Myfanwy) - [Little Britain]

Matt Lucas (Dafydd) with Ruth Jones (Myfanwy) - (Little Britain)


Jones and acting friend James Corden (who plays Gavin’s best friend Smithy) came up with the concept for a one-hour special about a wedding, and when they pitched it to the BBC it was suggested that they turn it into a 6 episode series showing how the couple met and ended up walking down the aisle. They haven’t looked back for the last three years, so hugely successful has the show been. Corden in particular has enjoyed the high life in London, while Jones is more grounded in Wales where she and her husband have a production company which aims to promote Welsh culture and talent.

James Corden and Ruth Jones
James Corden and Ruth Jones

James Corden and Ruth Jones


I largely started watching it because it was at least partly about the cultural divide between England and Wales, and my husband is Welsh, plus it had Rob Brydon, Alison Steadman and Julia Davis as part of the ensemble cast – who could resist? [click to continue reading this post…]

{ 2 comments }

Thursday Cheezburger – Surprise!

by Lauredhel on March 11, 2010

in fun & hobbies

Today’s Cheezburger theme is… Surprise!

supine man with can playing biting his throat. Capped ...and so Jason learned too late that cats are carnivores...

cat with cardboard ruff drawn with mane and ears, capped Teh lions will nevur see it commin

Post your own favourite surprise-themed Cheez here, and wait for admin image magic to make it appear.

Please post a link to a FULL webpage, rather than a direct link to an image only – that is, no URLs with .jpg, .png, .gif (etc) on the end. This makes our admin image magic quicker and easier. Just copy and paste what’s in your URL bar, and we’ll go fetch the embed code. **If you post the embed code, it will be automatically stripped out.** Thanks!

{ 9 comments }

Femmostroppo Reader – March 10, 2010

by tigtog on March 11, 2010

in blogging

Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

  • The New Jim Crow
  • – “The mass incarceration of African Americans over the past 30 years is primarily related to the War on Drugs — a convenient cover for a program essentially targeted at the black community. The talking points all came back to the supposed rates of drug-related violence, but that doesn’t exactly compute with historical fact:”

  • Will you pay us to lie to you?
  • – “Take the new US plan to encourage tourists wary of the country’s Bush-era hostility towards visitors (you know, where they fingerprint incoming foreigners like criminals) to come and visit again:”

  • It’s time for action: 10 things you can do to stop the filter
  • – “There has been a lot of talk in the media and on Twitter over the past week about protests, rallies and other events to stop the Government’s mandatory Internet filter from ever becoming law. Electronic Frontiers Australia remains sceptical of the value and impact of those sorts of events. Rather, the most effective strategy is to apply pressure on our elected representatives, so that they know Australians are opposed to the filter and this issue will cost them votes, as well as the media, so that they give this issue the mainstream media coverage it deserves.”

  • It’s just a game
  • – “That’s not all… Roebuck witters on to say that all the great sportsmen have wonderful, supportive wives at home. That may well be the case. But given his thundering misogyny, I’m willing to bet that if one of these great sportsmen and his wife had decided to bring that marriage to an end, then suddenly, the man’s “special contribution” would be all that mattered, and the wife’s on-going support that enabled the career would count for nothing.”

  • Despair
  • – “There are moments/days where I read something so horrifying that I just utterly despair of society, of who we are, what we do, the people we produce, of the possibility of change and equality, of ‘humanity’.

    Today’s story about a man in a wheelchair who was beaten (beaten doesn’t quite get at the brutality of the attack) with metal bars, punched, kiched, ’stomped on’ by two teenage boys.”

  • Attacks on Detainee Lawyers Split Conservatives – NYTimes.com
  • – “Many conservatives, including members of the Federalist Society, the quarter-century-old policy group devoted to conservative and libertarian legal ideals, have vehemently criticized Ms. Cheney’s video, and say it violates the American legal principle that even unpopular defendants deserve a lawyer.”

  • Op-Ed Contributor – P.S.A. prostate screening is inaccurate and a waste of money. – NYTimes.com
  • – “I never dreamed that my discovery four decades ago would lead to such a profit-driven public health disaster. The medical community must confront reality and stop the inappropriate use of P.S.A. screening. Doing so would save billions of dollars and rescue millions of men from unnecessary, debilitating treatments.”

  • Book review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  • – “Are you a scientist? If you’re not, I recommend that you read Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks because it’s a jolly decent popular science book.

    But if you are, I urge you to read it, because it is not really a popular science book at all. “

Disclaimer/SotBO: a link here is not necessarily an endorsement of all opinions of the post author(s) either in the particular post or of their writing in general.

{ 3 comments }

No “allegedly” about it

by tigtog on March 11, 2010

in media

Screenshot from the Brisbane Times

Screenshot

While I realise that the lawyers tell you to stick an “allegedly” into sentences describing a crime, Marissa Callegeros, you got it very wrong this time.

Parents and teachers at a Brisbane Catholic boys school where a student was allegedly stabbed to death last month have denied suggestions of a culture of bullying at the college.

Elliott Fletcher is dead. He was stabbed and that stabbing caused his death. There is no “allegedly” that accurately fits into that statement.

I know that the intent is to be circumspect about the guilt of the other student who has been charged with the murder of Elliott, but the “allegedly” belongs somewhere in that collection of phrases a few paragraphs down the column, not in the sentences that describe Elliott’s death.

This is not just sloppy, it’s highly insensitive to the Fletcher family who know very well that Elliott is not just “allegedly” dead. Does the Brisbane Times not employ sub-editors any more?

{ 8 comments }

Crazy Bromains 2: This Time It’s Personal.

March 10, 2010

[cross-posted to Shakesville]
Hey everyone, I’m Napalmnacey. I’ve blogged for years informally at my LJ, logansrogue, and now I’m contributing at Hoyden! I’m an artist, musician and singer, and I’m working on my first novel. I write and draw comics and I am a die-hard Doctor Who fangirl. I’m into Ancient Egypt and other ancient civilisations [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

Today I has been mostly looking at telescopes. Big Telescopes.

March 10, 2010

I now have a few extra places I want to see that I’ve added to my bucket list.

2 comments Read the full article →

Femmostroppo Reader – March 8, 2010

March 8, 2010

Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

Self esteem is revolutionary
– “When I find myself in these moments where I compare myself to others and despair at the ways I am lacking, I try to remember this. [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Oscars!

March 8, 2010

Oscar spoilers below, for those waiting for the delayed telecast!

10 comments Read the full article →

International Women’s Day Open Thread

March 8, 2010

What, if anything, does IWD mean to you?

What one thing would you like to see different for women by next year’s IWD?

20 comments Read the full article →

Snippets of awesome

March 7, 2010

Despite February being a short month, Fuckpoliteness has a huge and FABULOUS Down Under Feminists Carnival up! This is our 22nd carnival and still going strong. Go and check out what local feminists have had to say about Tony Abbott, Muslim feminism, reproductive justice, blended families, child support, living with mental illness, education for disabled [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Femmostroppo Reader – March 6, 2010

March 6, 2010

Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

22nd Down Under Feminists Carnival
– Bumper effort from carnival-wrangler Fuckpoliteness
Rape Myths Lead to No Justice for Sexual Assault Victims on College Campuses
– “The idea that there are hoards of [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

“One-time bad decisions” that rapists keep on repeating

March 6, 2010

So what do you do if you decide that this person in your social circle is, on the balance of probabilities, a likely undetected serial sexual predator?

8 comments Read the full article →

Otterday! And Open Thread

March 6, 2010

Today’s otter was captured by rospix in Wales (check out the rest of the pictures!), and comes via the BBC Wales Nature blog.

Please feel free to use this thread to natter about anything your heart desires. Is there anything great happening in your life? Anything you want to get off your chest? Reading a great [...]

23 comments Read the full article →

WA Government to apologise for abusive, illegal adoption system

March 5, 2010

The West Australian today reports that the WA government may become the first State government to publicly acknowledge and fully apologise to all mothers and children forced into adoptions, and harmed by illegal adoption practices.
For decades in the mid twentieth century, State hospital and welfare systems engaged in abusive adoption practices, including getting unmarried [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

RIP Jon Swift, blogger merveilleux

March 4, 2010

Condolences to his family and to everyone else who knew and loved him. He was a delight to read and must have been even more of a delight to know.

0 comments Read the full article →

Thursday Cheezburger: Fairytale Kittehs!

March 4, 2010

And today’s LOLcat theme is: Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes!

Post your own favourite Fairytale Cheez here, and wait for admin image magic to make it appear.
Please post a link to a FULL webpage, rather than a direct link to an image only – that is, no URLs with .jpg, .png, .gif (etc) on the end. [...]

4 comments Read the full article →
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