News about Herman Melville

It was half a century ago that David Hawson decided he would rather have a hedge than a fence. But little did he know that his few yew saplings would one day grow into an award-winning topiary menagerie. Little by little, Mr Hawson has turned his humble garden boundary into an exquisitely-trimmed parade of birds, fish and assorted other animals. Now his garden masterpiece, in the Aberdeenshire village of Monymusk, has won a national topiary competition.

Connor's mum, Sara, calls her son LB, short for Laughing Boy. Also London Buses, which her fun, funny child cuddled as others kids cuddle teddies. He hated shops, loud noise and darkness. He was 'quirky', says Sara, an Oxford academic, smiling through tears. Autistic, epileptic, Connor saw things in his own way. He could be a 'handful', but he was easy to love. Notice the past tense. Aged 18, Connor left his special school, where he was safe and happy, and moved into the next phase of 'care': an Assessment and Treatment Unit run by Southern Health. He was never assessed. He was 'treated' with sedatives. Reports of his seizures were ignored. Locked in a bathroom, while his supervisor ordered groceries on-line, he drowned.

In the 1980s, their love affair captured the country, and we rejoiced as their lips finally met. No, not Charles and Diana, silly, but Nescafe's Gold Blend couple. Their love in the ad breaks was a soap opera, and when a new instalment was announced, only a few people took advantage of the ad break to put the kettle on. However, one thing is certain: the excitement surrounding it won't be present any more. Advertising is a dying art form, and no one could be excited about the dreadful, infantile, irritating drivel that adorns our screens these days.

Stranded on a desert island, British TV presenter and author Neil Oliver will have the opportunity to revisit Herman Melville's 'unrivalled masterpiece' Moby-Dick.

Cillian Murphy's latest role as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" has received a lot of buzz and critical acclaim, with some predicting that his intimate, complicated portrayal of the man behind the atomic bomb would gain him an Academy Award. Despite the fact that Murphy is unquestionably brilliant in the biographical epic, the Irish actor has spent more than 25 years of preparation for the role in film, television, and theatre. Murphy, as many actors, began his acting career on stage. He made his stage debut in Enda Walsh's "Disco Pigs" in 1996, which was later turned into a full film starring Murphy in 2001. By the early 2000s, the actor appeared in numerous films, but his role as Jim in the post-apocalyptic horror film "28 Days Later" launched him into Hollywood. In 2005, he appeared in "Batman Begins" and began what would be a decades-long friendship with Christopher Nolan. "I was a Chris Nolan fan." I was insomnia when I first saw him for the first time because, 'I'd seen 'Memento,' I'd watched 'Insomnia,' I'd been there.' And on the basis of being a fan, I met him for 'Batman Begins'. Murphy told Rolling Stone in 2023, "it seems strange" that I've appeared in six of his films.

After a massive whale sank their ship and forced them to spend ten hours on the Pacific Ocean waiting for someone to rescue them, a sailboat crew is lucky to be alive. The five friends, led by Rick Rodriguez, were planning to sail about 3,500 miles from the Galapagos Islands to French Polynesia in three weeks. Rick Rodriguez's lunch of vegetarian pizza was interrupted by a noise on the afternoon of March 13, coincidentally day 13 of their journey. 'It's second pizza came out of the oven, and I was dipping a slice into some ranch dressing,' Rodriguez said. The back half of the ship was lowered violently to starboard,' explains the captain.'

Staff at Queen Mary University of London have been sent a reading list to help them learn about equality, diversity, and integration. It includes classic school texts, including Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (pictured) and Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. The list also includes a 'content warning' from the human resource department's warning: "Some of the following books and resources may contain text and refer to controversial topics that may be triggering for some individuals.' If you're unhappy with something, please suspend your activity; it's important that you look after your own health.'