cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/12033247

The world of professional wrestling has its newest superstar - a young lad from Wigan with a very familiar name!

And if fans were watching 'Dynamite Kid' Tommy Billington's debut on All Elite Wrestling - the major rival for WWF/WWE - thinking they were seeing double, it was for very reason.

Because Golborne-born Tommy has inherited the nickname from his famous uncle, the original 'Dynamite Kid' Tom Billington - who was one half of the famous ‘British Bulldogs’, alongside cousin Davey Boy Smith.

And 23-year-old Tommy quickly showed he has got to where he is on merit, with a sparkling performance in a fast-paced entertaining match against established star Dax Harwood.

Indeed, Harwood was so impressed with his opponent that, even after securing a narrow victory with a slingshot powerbomb, he left Billington alone in the ring so the live audience could show their appreciation.

Among the impressed fans watching on television was none other than Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart – ‘the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be’ – who is related to the Billington and Smith families through marriage.

And Tommy later posted a picture of him watching the bout with Bret, to gain some valuable feedback!

The organiser of a Viking festival has sought legal representation amid a row over events set to clash on the upcoming bank holiday weekend.

Two different Viking-themed festivals are due to take place on Wirral at the end of this month. The Wirral Viking Festival, to be hosted at Leasowe Castle on May 25 and 26, promises to be "an immersive, inclusive, family friendly event that celebrates the Norse heritage of the Wirral peninsula."

Meanwhile, an event described online as Wirral Viking Festivals - Brimstage Farm will be held between May 25 and May 27. That event is organised by a local re-enactment group, the Wirral Vikings, also known as Wirhalh Skip Felagr.

Solicitors for the Leasowe event's organisers described the proposed Brimstage Farm event as a "flagrant breach" of their intellectual property rights. The Brimstage event is set to include combat displays, crafts and a "viking village."

Francis Ford Coppola’s 140-minute, self-financed magnum opus received a mixed reaction at its Cannes Film Festival premiere on Thursday (16 May).

The Godfather director’s new dystopian drama, Megalopolis, stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, an architect-scientist who wants to better a fictional version of New York City called New Rome.

Journalists present at the screening reported booing from the audience after the film ended. However, the boos quickly turned to cheers when an “In Memoriam” segment proceeded to play for Coppola’s late wife Eleanor, World of Reel’s Jordan Ruimy reported.

The director and cast then received a seven-minute standing ovation.

“Thank you all so much. It is so impossible to find words to tell you how I feel,” Coppola said after the credits rolled, introducing his family members to the audience.

...

Megalopolis has divided critics, debuting on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 53 per cent at the time of writing.

New York Magazine’s Bilge Ebiri wrote that, at times, the film “feels like the fevered thoughts of a precocious child, driven and dazzled and maybe a little lost in all the possibilities of the world before him”.

At one moment during the film, an actor reportedly appeared on the Cannes stage, playing a journalist, speaking to Cesar on the screen as if he were at a press conference.

A pro-Trump New Yorker unveiled his latest piece of political performance art outside the Manhattan courtroom where Trump’s criminal trial is underway on Thursday, launching 100 pink penis-shaped balloons decorated with the faces of Trump foes like Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan. The artist, Scott Lobaido of Staten Island, told the New York Post that the “art installation” is entitled “Dicks of Hazard” to show that “these guys are a bunch of useless dicks.” Lobaido’s piece, which reportedly cost $1,500 in supplies and at least two days of labor to affix the portraits and properly weigh the balloons, was unveiled on the same day that Trump cronies Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and their posse of MAGA diehards rolled up to express their support for the candidate, who is facing 34 felony charges related to a concealed affair with a porn star that could’ve cost him the 2016 election.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/14208407

cross-posted from: https://zerobytes.monster/post/932095

Martin Neumaier, Germany’s politician, filmed himself licking public toilets of a railway station, as confirmed by the local media reports.

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) candidate for the district of Ostalb was seen putting his face inside the toilet and also licking toiletries including a brush present there, according to Times Now.

He also shared disturbing and explicit videos of himself doing sexual acts online.

In one clip, Neumaier was seen singing the Nazi-era German national anthem along with "m*********** rectally with a s** toy." Moreover, several videos of him have surfaced on social media and gone viral.

His act of licking the metal fittings of a urinal and a seated toilet received disgust by several users on social sites including German native speakers. Without describing much, Neumaier can be heard saying it was part of his "punishment” in the video.

He also made a mustache from feces while roleplaying as the former Chancellor Adolf Hitler in one more such footage. Several censored versions of the clips continue to be shared on other social sites showcasing him, despite Elon Musk-owned X taking action.

Pope Francis wants to curb a surge in bogus “spiritual encounters”, such as the one in classic Only Fools And Horses episode The Miracle Of Peckham.

The Pontiff is urging Catholics to exercise “extreme prudence” over reported spiritual sightings. The 1986 Only Fools episode saw Del, played by Sir David Jason, make money thanks to a Virgin Mary statue “crying”.

But it happened because the church roof had a leak.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who is in charge of the church’s rules department, said it was ­“finalising a new text with clear guidelines”. The guide is due to be released tomorrow (May 17).

As well as spiritual encounters, the pope is also expected to speak about alien life forms.

The move to hold the press conference has caused ripples in the alien community, as one like this hasn't been held since February 1978.

Archive

Karim Akhtar and Solomon Laurent were walking home from a night out on Friday when they noticed a purple hue lighting up the Norfolk sky. The duo, both 22, immediately whipped out their cameras and began filming a TikTok video as they laughed in amazement and couldn't believe their luck. But just seconds later, they were left dissapointed after realising the display was a result of a lit-up Premier Inn sign glowing from one of the chain’s Norwich hotels.

The video, which has since surpassed 6 million views and garnered over 800,000 likes, captured the men in hysterics after making the discovery. It served as an extra blow to the pair, who travelled to Iceland in January in hopes to see the best of the Northern Lights, but failed because the weather was too cloudy.

No word of a lie:

Jeremy Clarkson has secured the title of the UK's sexiest man for the second consecutive year.

The 64-year-old presenter surpassed notable contenders such as Prince William, Idris Elba, and Cillian Murphy in the annual poll conducted by IllicitEncounters, that brands itself “the best online dating site for married people”.

The Clarkson's Farm star achieved an impressive score of nine out of 10 points in the survey.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man actor Tom Holland secured the second spot in the UK's sexiest man list, which coincides with his return to the West End.

Context (warning: it's the Express):

BBC fans have been left divided over the new series of Doctor Who, with some loyal viewers branding the show as "woke" and "unwatchable." The 14th season of the long-running fantasy series returned to our screens this month.

...

Following its return, fans watching at home have reacted online to the new series. One person slammed: "After the cast and crew told the old #DoctorWho fans to stop watching in favour of the 'modern audience', the current season's 2-episode premiere received the lowest overnight ratings in the show's HISTORY!!! #RIPDoctorWho."

A second person chimed in: "#RIPDoctorWho Wow. Well Dr Who is totally unwatchable now. Maybe have a Dr Who series again instead of a platform for gender politics and radical left wing ideology? Go woke go broke."

A third person also commented on X: "The Maestro was probably one of the worst things I've ever seen. No exaggeration. #RIPDoctorWho."

edit: and context for the video clip: TV Offal.

In a recent study into animal emotional intelligence, researchers found that not only do chickens express their frustrations through facial blushing and feather-fluffing, but also their fondness for their handlers and their excitement for a little treat. And for each emotional state, their combs and jowls either grow red with excitement or wane pleasantly pink with calm.

"When presented with appetizing feed such as mealworms, the hens did get a bit red but their entire face became scarlet red during negative experiences such as capture. In contrast when they were at rest, their skin appeared much lighter in color," said the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment in a recent release.

A cutting-edge new weapon which uses radio waves to blast drones out of the sky is under development for the UK’s armed forces.

The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) beams radio waves to disrupt or damage the critical electronic components of vehicles and drones used by enemy combatants, which can cause them to stop in their tracks or fall out of the sky.

It can be used across land, air and sea and has a range of up to 1km, which could be extended in the future.

...

With an estimated cost of 10p per radio wave shot, the technology is also being billed as a cost-effective alternative to traditional missiles, and could be used to take down dangerous drone swarms.

The technology can be mounted on to a variety of military vehicles, and uses a mobile power source to produce pulses of a radio frequency energy in a beam that can fire sequenced shots at a single target or be broadened to hit a series of targets.

...

“The war in Ukraine has shown us the importance of deploying uncrewed systems, but we must be able to defend against them too. As we ramp up our defence spending in the coming years, our Defence Drone Strategy will ensure we are at the forefront of this warfighting evolution.”

The Defence Blog says it's part of Project EALING "Similar in concept to the Epirus LEONIDAS system developed for the US Army".