Owned by the amusingly named Darren Chick, a Brit living in America, Nigel disappeared from his home in Torrance, California in 2010 and was presumed dead.
Nigel, it turns out, was found four years later in 2014 by Julia Sperling, a dog grooming parlour owner. Nobody knew where he’d been but his accent had gone. It was replaced with him: “Singing without control [and barking] like the dogs” in a Spanish accent.
Sperling handed the bird to a vet who realised ‘Larry’ – as the parrot kept calling out – had a microchip. He traced Mr Chick and returned the errant bird to its rightful owner.
You just couldn’t make it up and frankly on a day when we’re stuck with yet more Brexit woes, thank goodness for a bit of lighthearted amusement.
Halloween is a ridiculous American nightmare suggests Matthew Steeples
Halloween is something that children might enjoy but in reality it’s just another excuse for greedy retailers like Waitrose to sell the great British public a load of old tat.
Alexa Chung transitions from “fashion genius” to “fashion designer” and shares her views on Googling and airports; Matthew Steeples asks: “Who’d want to miss such important news?”
Is there nothing that the ‘Queen of Instagram’ (with her 3.1 million followers) Alexa Chung cannot master? This “phenomenon,” “starlet” and “human” (that’s her very own description of herself by the way), The Guardian today announced, is “back in a different guise” and making her “debut as a designer” at London Fashion Week. “Hasn’t she been in (or out) of fashion for years?” we hear you cry.
Alexa Chung is, of course, a “human” (aside from being many other amazing things)
God help anyone who gets in this one-time (failed) television presenter’s way. She blocked me on Twitter simply because I dared to question her relevance outside of the confines of Stephen Fry-land and now (modest as ever) “it’s no surprise to me that I’m in this position now” Chung has merged her name into one word: ALEXACHUNG to accompany her transition “from muse to founder and creative director.” One might ask: “Why?” but of course the answer’s simple for this 34-year-old: It makes life easier when one is already so well known, doesn’t it?
Naturally, when she’s not (as everyone does at breakfast) “still Googling pictures of Jane Birkin,” Chung now finds herself observing the world. She remarks: “Airports are such emotionally charged places. I travel a lot, and I people-watch. And I love that British thing of wearing your holiday outfit home but with a sensible jacket because if you are British you are never not thinking about the weather.”
Just the kind of advice we all need: Thanks, Alexa.
“With champagne wishes and caviar dreams” was the famous signoff of London born Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous host Robin Leach. Harrow High School educated, this one-time Daily Mail reporter moved to the US in 1963 with $145 in his pocket and after briefly becoming a shoe salesman founded a music publication named Go Magazine.
After selling up “at considerable profit,” Leach worked for The National Star and CNN before coming up with Lifestyles in 1984. He attributed the show’s popularity to Jimmy Carter exiting the White House and boasted: “[It was] because the Reagans brought in an aura of wealth. Jimmy Carter was too ordinary. So, when Reagan came in, it was time for a show about wealth and success… Hear this: In the course of an hour, I deliver twice as much audio information and visual images as any other show on television. I’m fast and loud on purpose. I cram 10 pounds of caviar into an eight-pound pack.”
“Sensational, not scandalous” in his approach, twice married, father of three Leach’s subjects numbered everyone from Celine Dion to Madonna and Adnan Khashoggi and Donald Trump. As a result this celebrant of wealth and capitalism became a millionaire and pretty famous himself and in 2007, in the Fergie song Glamorous featuring Ludacris, the latter rapped: “Lifestyles so rich and famous, Robin Leach’ll get jealous.” With his passing, most certainly, this much parodied “life of the party” has most definitely moved to the skies.
Grime and hip hop artist Stormzy should be saluted for using his fame to do good; the vile harpy Amanda Platell owes him an apology
Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. – better known by his stage name Stormzy – used his fifteen minutes of fame after winning the best album and the best male artist at the Brit Awards for the good of others.
Using the evening’s final performance, the grime and hip-hop artist rapped:
“Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell? What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell? You criminals, and you’ve got the cheek to call us savages, you should do some jail time, you should pay some damages, you should burn your house down and see if you can manage this.”
He added:
“MPs sniff coke, we just smoke some cannabis; So don’t get me for this, so be woke; This year I am dishing out Ls for free smoke; You tell us that we’re thugs, I try to bust a myth; But someone tell the Daily Mail that they can suck my…”
The opposite of the cowardly and self-loving members of ‘The Club’ that includes the likes of the withering old crooner Sir Elton John and his moaning titleless husband David Furnish, Stormzy has since continued to communicate his campaign in the days since. Communicating to his 1.18 million followers on Twitter, he encouraged the nation to sign a petition to take action to support the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and as of 11:50am Saturday over 130,000 people had signed a petition calling for a parliamentary debate.
Elsewhere on Saturday in the Daily Mail, the acid tongued Australian harpy Amanda Platell demanded: “[Stormzy] show a scintilla of gratitude to the country that offered his mother and him so much instead of trashing it.” This self-declared “dear friend” of the paedophile Rolf Harris should be ashamed of herself; Stormzy has used his fame for the good others whilst she is simply known for taking the dirty money of the nastiest newspaper in Britain.
Sign the petition to “Call on PM to take action to build public trust in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry” by clicking here.
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The government’s cowardly response in full to the petition follows:
The Grenfell Tower fire was a truly unimaginable tragedy that should never have happened.
The Government’s highest priority remains making sure that survivors, bereaved families and the wider Grenfell community receive all the support they need.
The independent public Inquiry into the fire is an important part of the process and will help those affected get the answers they need to get to the truth of what happened.
The Prime Minister committed to considering the issue of panel members once the Chair had confirmed who had been appointed as assessors to assist the Inquiry. Section 7 of the Inquiries Act 2005 allows the Minister responsible for an inquiry to appoint further panel members during the course of an inquiry with the agreement of the Chair.
In October 2017, the Chair announced the appointment of 7 expert witnesses with backgrounds in fire safety, forensic fire analysis, fire engineering, disaster resilience and also anatomy and human identification. The expert witnesses will provide a range of technical advice and expert reports to assist the work of the Inquiry in delivering its terms of reference.
In addition, in November 2017, the Chair announced the appointment of 3 assessors with backgrounds in community engagement and social housing, local authority administration and structural engineering. The Chair also confirmed at the Inquiry’s preliminary hearing in September that he would expect the assessors to see all the evidence and sit with him when taking oral evidence. The Chair has also confirmed that he may make further appointments if needed.
Following the announcement of these appointments, the Prime Minister carefully considered the composition of the Inquiry panel in light of the diversity and expertise of advice now available to the Inquiry.
The Prime Minister wrote to the representatives of the survivors and bereaved families on 21 December 2017 and informed them of her decision not to appoint additional panel members. The Prime Minister’s decision was similarly communicated to the Inquiry on the same date.
Having regard to the terms of reference and the assistance to be provided by the assessors, and the expert witnesses, it is the Prime Minister’s view that the Inquiry panel has the necessary expertise to undertake the Inquiry as it is currently constituted. The Prime Minister is also conscious of the need for the Inquiry to complete its initial report as quickly as reasonably possible. The Prime Minister therefore considers that additional panel members should not be appointed at this stage.
In reaching this conclusion, the Prime Minister fully took into account her duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Public Sector Equality Duty – PSED).
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that those most affected by the tragedy are able to contribute fully to the Inquiry and that is why the Prime Minister welcomes the consideration being given by Sir Martin Moore-Bick to the establishment of a community advisory panel, as proposed at the December procedural hearing.
Such a panel, similar to that which has worked well for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, could play a very beneficial role in putting those most affected at the heart of the Inquiry and enabling them to ensure that their views and experiences are heard. It is for Sir Martin, as Chair of the independent Inquiry, to take this forward, in consultation with the Grenfell Tower community, and the Government hopes that he will be able to do this as soon as possible.
In line with the Inquiry Rules 2006, legal representatives of the Grenfell community core participants will receive in advance of hearings disclosure of relevant evidence; will be able to make opening and closing statements at certain hearings and can suggest lines of questioning to be pursued by Counsel to the Inquiry. They can also apply to the Chair to ask questions of a witness.
What first attracted ‘Hot Felon’ Jeremy Meeks to the daughter of the billionaire ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green?
One could argue the criminal Jeremy Meeks hit the jackpot when his mugshot went viral and a modeling career as the ‘Hot Felon’ ensued. Not only did he achieve such, but one could argue he had a double whammy next when he struck gold and acquired the daughter of the much loathed billionaire ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green as his ‘girlfriend.’
Meeks, however, if what he allegedly said to the Mail on Sunday’s Charlotte Griffiths is true, plainly thinks to the contrary given he supposedly commented:
“The third time we met, designer Philipp Plein threw a dinner for me and Chloe [Green] was there. I didn’t put her on the guest list and I still don’t know who invited her but I am happy she was there, and after that we fell in love.”
Accompanying the article on the Mail Online’s site yesterday was a video of Meeks arriving at an awards ceremony in Monaco with Miss Green and her mother, the pugnacious Lady ‘Don’t Call Me Tina’ Green. In it, whilst Meeks looks at ease in front of the cameras, both Greens career before the flashbulbs and seem nothing but sozzled and out of their depth.
Of this ‘arrangement,’ one can only echo the words of Mrs Merton and ask: “Jeremy, what first attracted you to the daughter of the billionaire Philip Green?”
Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.
East London based Benjamin Lipari was born in Italy, grew up in Australia and is described as a “digital comms guru.” Aside from working in marketing for a bank, he has 16,500 followers on Instagram, loves jazz and cocktails and blogs about menswear and travel.
Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond
On Monday, the Daily Mail’s Sebastian Shakespeare revealed that Lord Sugar – of The Apprentice fame, in case you didn’t already know – is trying to sell his motor yacht, the ‘Lady A’, for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million).
The 181-foot long gin palace accommodates 12 guests in 6 cabins and has a crew of 15. Built in Japan in 1986 for the subsequently disgraced and now dead Australian tycoon Alan Bond (1938 – 2015), the vessel passed through various other hands before being bought by Lord Sugar in 2015. Originally known as ‘Southern Cross III’, the boat was renamed ‘Indian Princess’ during supposed ownership by the brewing tycoon and ‘King of Good Times’ Vijay Mallya and ‘Emihar Chios’ whilst owned by the Greek shipping tycoon Harry N. Vafias.
Totally refitted over 10 months in 2016 by Burgess Marine and then renamed in honour of Lord Sugar’s wife since 1968, Lady Sugar (originally Ann), the ‘Lady A’ is described as a “unique market opportunity” and “one of the most distinctive yachts on the water” by brokers Edmiston.
Harrow and Cambridge educated Old Masters expert Bendor Grosvenor describes himself as an “occasional ranter” to his 12,000 followers on Twitter. Aside from being amongst the team on the popular BBC One art programme Fake or Fortune?, Grosvenor has co-written a book titled Crap MPs: The 40 Worst Members of Parliament in History and another called Warts and All: The Portrait Miniatures of Samuel Cooper. He edits the extremely informative Arts History News blog, is of British-Swiss heritage and is fourth in line to the Marquessate of Westminster.
‘Trumpsexual’ paedophile apologist Milo Yiannopoulos stands on a radiator as Simon & Schuster reject his £7.6 million lawsuit
On Saturday, Milo Yiannopoulos shared a picture of himself standing on top of a radiator on Facebook. Whether he simply wanted to warm his shoes or actually believed such a move would create awareness about his recently released rant, a book named Dangerous, he again made himself appear as nothing but an idiot.
Yiannopoulos – a self-confessed “coalburner” due to his liking for “black guys for my love life, straight white males as employees, and girls as drinking buddies” – had received news Friday that his former publisher, Simon & Schuster, were “firing back at his £7.6 million ($10 million, €8.5 million or درهم36.7 million) lawsuit” for dropping publication of his work and urging a court to “throw out his meritless publicity stunt.”
In documents submitted to a court in New York, Simon & Schuster argued: “A publisher shall not be obligated to accept or publish the Work if it is in sole good faith judgment the Work is not acceptable to it.” They added:
“Yiannopoulos accepted [an advance] payment without protest, thereby sealing the accord and satisfaction and barring this lawsuit as a matter of centuries-old law… That should have been the end of this contractual matter. Instead, Yiannopoulos waited approximately five months to file this lawsuit, in a naked attempt to drum up publicity for the publication of his book, released days earlier, amidst baseless public statements that Defendant attempted to censor and silence him.”
In response, Yiannopoulos – whose suggestion that abuse of 13 year olds is not paedophilia caused outrage earlier this year – told The Hollywood Reporter:
“[Here in Simon & Schuster is] a client doomed to failure… I’ve hired Jeffrey Weingart and Stephen Meister. Stephen has represented Daddy himself – that’s my pet name for the president, in case you didn’t know – and we all know daddy picks winners.”
As with Trump and his ever-revolving set of staff, we’ll see about that but separately Saturday, this self-obsessed bore shared news by email of a “quick meet and great” in Florida. Yiannopoulos announced: “I will be in a makeshift swimming pool in the back of a pick up truck on a beach chair with my squad.” Charming.
