AI Putin Film Puts Russian President In Nappies
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Patryk Vega has attracted the attention of Kremlin agents with his wild new ‘deepfake’ biopic that is set to be released in Britain
These first three paragraphs add more to the story.
When he is not plotting invasions or political terror, President Putin likes to watch old Soviet war films. Now he has the opportunity to watch himself in a starring role on the big screen, but it’s doubtful he will enjoy what he sees.
A new AI-assisted film that is released this month about Putin’s life features him wearing soiled adult nappies, working as a taxi driver after the collapse of the Soviet Union and cheating on his former wife.
The film, entitled Putin, is the work of Patryk Vega, a Polish director who is best known for his gory depictions of the criminal underworld. He has described it as the world’s “first deepfake” film.
If it is shown near me, I think I’ll go and see it.
There is a trailer on the internet, that looks professional.
When I was growing up in the 1960s, Polish films had an Art House following.
I particularly remember two.
Both films were by Roman Polanski.
Eurovision Boost For Record Rail Profits
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A train operator has posted record profits thanks in part to the Eurovision Song Contest and other major events.
These four paragraphs sum up the story.
Merseyrail, which operates services across Merseyside and into Cheshire and Lancashire, is one of the most intensively used rail networks in the UK.
According to its directors’ strategic report for the year ending in January 2024, some 78,000 journeys were taken on Merseyrail services on average every day.
There were 28 million passenger journeys, which the company said was a post-Covid peak. It added a profit of just under £44m was the largest in its history.
The report said Merseyrail had benefitted from the Eurovision Song Contest being held in Liverpool, as well as the Open golf tournament at Hoylake on the Wirral and a successful Grand National festival at Aintree.
Note.
- Merseyrail’s trains seem to have taken the spectators to the big events all over the city.
- The trains are also virtually brand new and very bicycle and buggy-friendly, so do they introduce new passengers to Merseyrail?
- Spectators from places around the city like Birkenhead, Chester, Crewe, Manchester, Preston, Southport, Warrington and Wigan all have good rail connections to Liverpool Lime Street, which has its own Merseyrail below-ground station.
For big events like Eurovision, the Grand National or The Open, if you have tickets for the event, a train, on the day from Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, London, Nottingham or Sheffield is very feasible.
- In addition, now that Lime Street station and the area around it has been refurbished, it is a cultural area to visit in its own right.
- I believe that Liverpool will grow as a destination to visit.
- A doubling of the Avanti train service to London will add more capacity.
- The TransPennine Express service across the country and to Scotland will be improved.
- Blackpool will be eighty minutes away.
- The Eden Project North at Morecambe will be only an hour away.
- In a few years time, the Mersey Tidal Barrage will be attracting visitors.
- Liverpool has public transport connections to both Liverpool and Manchester airports.
Liverpool will be a place to stay for the weekend and for those, who don’t have a car or prefer not to drive, they will be able to use the extensive rail network to get to other places like.
- Blackpool and Manchester with their trams.
- Liverpool’s local attractions on Merseyrail.
Liverpool will become a very successful short-stay resort city.
Beyoncé Funds Metro Service
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
Singer Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour funded an extra hour of operation of the Washington metro at a cost of $100 000, ensuring that fans could get home after bad weather delayed the start of her concert at the FedEx Field stadium.
Reading the whole article, it looks like everyone was a winner and it is to be hoped that it sets a precedent and under similar circumstances, other promoters take similar actions.
I remember a few years ago, Ipswich and Charlton in the League Cup overran badly one evening and we all got back to Ipswich station well after the last train had gone.
But Greater Anglia made sure that everybody got home, even sending a fleet of taxis to Sudbury.
How Defunct Coal Mines Could Heat UK Homes
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Mining Technology.
This is the introductory paragraph.
In a country with no operational coal mines, the UK Coal Authority has proposed to once again turn these operations to heating homes and businesses. But this time, they will not provide coal for burning. The plan, to take warm water from flooded mines, would turn an environmental problem into a community solution, and the idea is spreading.
The reason, I’m posting this is two-fold.
There was a report on this edition of Countryfile, which should be available until the end of 2022. The relevant section starts at 38.5 minutes into the program.
Charlotte Adams is featured in this report and the Countryfile program. I first came across Charlotte and her fascinating work at a lecture in 2018, which I wrote about in Can Abandoned Mines Heat Our Future?
New Private Cinema Hidden Under A London Overground Line Where Drinks, Pizza And Nachos Are Brought To Your Seat
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on MyLondon.
There has been some disquiet over the sale of railway arches by Network Rail to private equity.
Is this an example of what is going to happen?
If so, I like it.
The Location Of Sunset Studios In Broxbourne
This article on HertsLIve discloses the location of the new Sunset Studios in Broxbourne.
This is said.
Land to the west of Waltham Cross has been bought and is allocated in Broxbourne Borough’s Local Plan 2018 – 2033.
It’s just off J25 on the M25 and is thought to be land on either side of the A10 Great Cambridge Road.
James Seppala, Head of Blackstone Real Estate Europe, said: “The site is on the north-west corner of the M25-A10 junction. It’s ideal given its accessibility across Hertfordshire, into Central London, to London’s airports due to its proximity to the M25, and it has the scale for the scheme we’re planning to develop.
“Highways England are expanding the motorway junction currently which is helpful as well.
This Google Map shows the location.
Note.
- The M25 runs across the bottom of the map.
- The A10 runs North-South between the two roundabouts.
- Newsprinters Broxbourne sits on a forty-acre site and is the largest newspaper printing site in the world.
I would expect that the brown agricultural site is where Sunset Studios will be located.
I have one big question.
Is It The Right Place For The Studios?
I know nothing about making films, but from what has been said, this development will produce up to 4,500 jobs.
How are all these people going to get in to work every day?
The site may have a good road network, but it doesn’t have a nearby rail connection.
But in my quote from Herts Live, this is said.
It’s just off J25 on the M25 and is thought to be land on either side of the A10 Great Cambridge Road.
Does that mean it includes the Newsprinter site as well?
This Google Map shows that site.
The site seems to be closed in by roads and on the Eastern side by the Cheshunt branch of the London Overground.
- It is a double-track railway.
- It runs between London Liverpool Street and Cheshunt stations.
- It only runs two trains per hour (tph) at present, but it has been designed to handle upwards of four tph.
- The trains on the route are new eight-car Class 710 trains, each of which can hold up to 1,300 passengers.
Could Sunset Studios be thinking about a rail-connected studio complex?
- Liverpool Street will be well-connected through Crossrail to much of London including Heathrow and Canary Wharf.
- Cheshunt is connected to Cambridge and Stansted.
- There are fifteen stations between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt, which must surely mean easy access to the complex for a massive number of potential employees.
A station at the complex, would certainly seem a possible move to cut the amount of road traffic travelling to and from the complex.
Riding Past The Sunset Studios Site On The London Overground
I took these pictures of the area around the Sunset Studios site from a train going North to Cheshunt.
Note, that when the line was reopened in 1960, British Rail left wide margins and from my pictures and the Google Map indicates that building a station on this stretch of line wouldn’t be the most challenging of tasks.
Will The Return Of Strictly Cause The Number Of Cases Of The Covids To Drop?
The phrase Bread and Circuses, was apparently first used by Juvenal, who was a Roman poet
During the covids, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose and others have delivered the bread.
And now the BBC is bringing on the circuses with the start of the new series of Strictly from tomorrow.
If the rate does drop, the Government should buy up the latest James Bond film and show it on a Friday night.
Having A Bath – Steptoe Style
One the funniest episodes of the 1960s TV series; Steptoe and Son, is when the father has a bath.
In this episode, amongst other things, he washes his clothes in the bath, whilst washing himself.
I had a mask that needed a quick wash, and as my washing machine has died, I thought why not?
So armed with some Fairy Liquid, the mask joined me for a wash.
Incidentally, I like to have a hot bath every day, as I have very dry eyes, that always get bunged up with sleep. An optician in Vision Express suggested the bath to improve my eyesight and it seems to help.
Will There Be A Sports And Arts Bounceback As There Was After World War II?
This may be optimism, but after World War II, all sports had massive attendances, and I wonder if the same thing will happen, when we get a 100 % reliable vaccine against the covids?
There was even a great desire for fun during the war, as this news item on British Pathe, which is entitled Wartime Derby at Newmarket 1941 shows.
There are several horse racing videos of this period on YouTube.
Perhaps, the proximity of Newmarket to the major fighter base at Duxford, meant that the Luftwaffe didn’t feel safe to attack Newmarket in daylight? Or their intelligent was bad.
The Proposed MSG Sphere At Stratford
I have been reading about the proposed MSG Sphere at Stratford in East London.
Note.
- The railway lines to the left of the sphere are platforms 11 and 12 of Stratford station on the West Anglia Main Line.
- The Great Eastern Main Line goes off to the right.
This article in the Guardian gives a good outline of the building and its promoters and backing.
But it won’t be plain sailing to get planning permission, as this paragraph explains.
Worries have already been voiced by local residents. A petition launched four months ago argues that the building will block sunlight, create light pollution and increase traffic in the area. Others have opposed MSG, whose executive chair, James Dolan, has donated funds to Donald Trump, and was on the board of the Weinstein Company from 2015-16. Beverley Whitrick, strategic director of the Music Venue Trust, has argued< that some audiences would feel uncomfortable in a venue from a Trump backer.
Protestors also believe the site should be used for housing, as Newham has over 25,000 households on the housing waiting list.
This Google Map shows the site.
Note.
- The site was used as a coach park during the 2912 Olympics.
- The Channel Tunnel Rail Link runs across the Northern edge of the site.
- The Great Eastern Main Line runs along the South-Eastern edge of the site.
As the sphere will be five hundred feet across, it must almost fill the site.
And then there’s this article in The Telegraph, which is entitled Crossrail Objects To Plan For London Mega-Venue.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Crossrail’s operator is seeking to block plans for a “second O2” in London, over concerns flashing lights from the proposed entertainment venue could cause crashes, with trains travelling at up to 80mph.
Crossrail have a serious point.
The Anonymous Widower 