Tagged billionaire John Goodman allowed to fly to Texas to visit his mother
The case of John Goodman is what the media would term “a gift that keeps on giving”. The “polo king” billionaire, whose reckless driving resulted in a student’s death in 2010, is in the news again this week and this time it’s for getting permission to fly by private jet to visit his ailing mother who is dying of cancer. (more…)
This twice married 91-year old Georgetown, Washington, D.C. socialite and journalist was born in Dusseldorf and died as a result of “strangulation and blunt force injuries” in her own bathroom in August 2011. (more…)
Stuart Hall’s sentence doubled
Today, paedophile and former broadcaster Stuart Hall’s sentence was doubled to 30 months by judges at the Court of Appeal. We salute those who questioned his original sentence (more…)
Stuart Hall’s sentence doubled
Today, paedophile and former broadcaster Stuart Hall’s sentence was doubled to 30 months by judges at the Court of Appeal. We salute those who questioned his original sentence (more…)
Rachel Elnaugh shares some rather strange views on Stuart Hall’s sentence on Twitter
As it is reported that jailed paedophile Stuart Hall is facing another seventeen allegations of sexual abuse, The Steeple Times was surprised to receive a series of tweets from the former Dragons’ Den panelist Rachel Elnaugh stating her surprise at the sentence he’d received.
Yesterday’s terrible events in Woolwich should not encourage the rise of the BNP
The murder of a soldier in Woolwich yesterday was a terrible thing but it must be remembered that it was a “murder” rather than an “act of terrorism”.
William Roache, better known as “Coronation Street’s” Ken Barlow is arrested over allegation of the rape of an under-age girl
Recently, we reported on remarks given by Coronation Street actor William Roache MBE to a New Zealand television programme about people who have committed child sex crimes. Roache bizarrely said that the public should be “totally forgiving” of such individuals. This morning, he was arrested over an allegation that he raped an under-age girl in Lancashire between April and July 1967.
Mr Roache is the grandson of a Freemason who was interested in hypnotism, theosophy and esotericism. He is himself a vegetarian and spiritualist and was photographed participating in Druid rituals in the 1970s.
The actor gained the nickname “Cock Roache” after openly admitted to having slept with over 1,000 women and also happens to sit on the board of Oystons Estate Agency with the television presenter Stuart Hall OBE. Mr Hall is currently awaiting trial on three counts of indecent assault between 1967 and 1986 whilst the company’s founder, Owen Oyston, was jailed for six years in 1996 after having been convicted of rape.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police commented:
“We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge they will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity”.
Currently two other Coronation Street actors, Michael Le Vell, who plays Kevin Webster, and Andrew Lancel, who played Frank Foster, are awaiting trial on child sex charges. Le Vell, also known as Michael Turner, will go on trial at Manchester crown court on 2nd September 2013 whilst Lancel, also known as Andrew Watkinson, will see his trial commence at Liverpool crown court on 3rd June 2013.
They do say the truth is often stranger than fiction and it does indeed seem like the lives of these Coronation Street actors are more dramatic off screen than they are on it.
This billionaire former president of the Bank of Moscow lives in exile in London and is on the Interpol Red Notices wanted list as a suspect in a £136 million (13 billion rouble) fraud. (more…)
The Steeple Times asks the chef, author and BBC America “Chef Race: U.K. vs. U.S.” contestant Phoebe Lapine: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?
Food. Friends. Fun.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Be the heroine of your own life, not the victim.” The quote is courtesy of the late but brilliant Nora Ephron.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?
Had to Google that one. Um, onesies (or as we call them in America, “footie pajamas”)… Just kidding, those are timeless.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
Horses: I can’t seem to find space for one in my New York City apartment.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
An iron and a bottomless stomach. Or an invisibility cloak.
Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?
Greed is not good. Sorry, Gordo.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“No.”
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
I feed a revolving door of twenty-something’s who don’t think they’re capable of roasting a chicken. If only someone had taught them what it takes to prepare real food when they were young. My causes include culinary education for kids and also pediatric cancer research via The Valerie Fund.
The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
You don’t need to shout for the person on the other end to hear you. It’s an iPhone, not a tin can on a string.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Julia Child, Jamie Oliver, Ruth Reichl and Nora Ephron for the first half. Just me and ten clones of Ryan Gosling for the second.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
Sole meunière, frites, haricots vert, strong strong strong French mustard and a vat of mayonnaise. Warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I’d eat it on a hillside in Provence surrounded by horses. So, I guess, there should be a bucket of apples too.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, right?
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
Campari soda.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
My own. I love feeding my friends and having a ball and going to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. Plus, I never have to put on shoes.
Who is the most positive person you know?
Debbie Phillips: Every woman’s spiritual mother.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Trashy magazines.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
A heart shaped spoon.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
I can’t think of an answer that’s not vaguely sexual.
Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I’m very social, but also I’m a closet introvert. I need a lot of “me” time to recharge.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
I wish I had one. On the ledge of my sleeping loft I have a candle, an empty water glass and a novel.
Phoebe Lapine is a chef, author and food personality. The daughter of Tony Award winning American stage director and librettist James Lapine, she is a co-founder of the blog Big Girls Small Kitchen and co-author of the cookbook In the Small Kitchen: 100 Recipes From Our Year of Cooking in the Real World.
Phoebe Lapine’s website can be viewed at: http://phoebelapine.com and she shares her recipes at: http://feedmephoebe.com
Follow Phoebe Lapine on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/PhoebeLapine
Sarah Tucker shares the latest of her “playground politics” experiences
My son started at a new school a few weeks back. Five foot eleven, half of him at 13 he is now taller than me.
He was a bit nervous, I cried in the car after I dropped him off and he refused to hug me in public, but that’s normal and natural – the crying and the non-hugging. Seems only yesterday he was three foot nothing and starting infant school. This time is so precious, still even in the teenage years which many parents dread, it’s the last chance to have any semblance of nurturing. I feel I can tell you that.
The other stuff, the negative stuff, well, I’ll leave that to fiction. Because you should never wash dirty linen in public or so the saying goes although it’s become the sure fire way of getting the 1/2 hour of fame. If it’s to sell a book, film or make more money then it has a purpose: a potentially positive end result where others learn from your mistake and you learn from your mistake and it’s not just a matter of ogling you as a loser. If you are doing it because you want to be famous for fame itself, then it has none.
Jeremy Kyle and all the chat shows get the common man to be open and honest about themselves. Celebrities rarely, if ever, are honest, because they realise or fear that the masses wouldn’t like them if they were. Real people don’t have publicists to guide them through the media mire, and lay themselves open to ridicule by laying themselves open.
So, when I was asked on ITV1’s Lorraine show a few weeks ago to talk about playground politics I was excited. Here was an opportunity to talk about an issue that is relevant not just in this country but globally, the bullying that goes on between mothers. A subject I know a lot about. I have the stats, done the research, written the book, devised the app (Mummy Mafia), rehearsed the stage play but no, they wanted me to talk about my own ‘personal journey’ dealing with playground politics. Nope. Not going to do it. I’ll talk about how to deal with it, Ill talk about the book and the numerous funny, sad, ridiculous anecdotes but as my son is still at school (albeit he’s moved to a new one), there are repercussions.
The TV wanted a ‘victim’ and I wasn’t going to be it, even one that had recovered. In the end, they chose a woman who was prepared to talk about her experience of it.
That week, I saw the mothers from my old school at my son’s school’s superb production of The Hobbit – the production is so good it made the Evening Standard and BBC London News, my son plays a wonderfully dark Gollum) and had a coffee morning with the new mums, who were the usual suspects of the previous playgrounds, I will say no more. Not until my son has left for college or university will I talk directly, but until then the books will always be fictionalised, the interviews about the experience of others and all linen will be washed but under the guise of creative imagination.
Sarah Tucker is an award winning travel journalist, novelist, producer and broadcaster. She has edited, produced and presented her own radio and TV series as well as presenting reports for BBC Holiday Programme and anchored I Want That House on ITV. She is the author of best selling novels The Playground Mafia (short listed for the Good Housekeeping book of the year 2007) The Battle for Big School, The Last Year of Being Single, and The Control Freak Chronicles.
For more information about Sarah Tucker, go to: http://www.sarahtucker.info
Buy The Playground Mafia on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Playground-Mafia-Sarah-Tucker/dp/0099498456/ref=sr_1_7/202-9265101-5575054?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193856472&sr=1-7
Follow Sarah Tucker on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/madasatucker