Latest news with #Godzilla
Toronto Sun
3 hours ago
- General
- Toronto Sun
City Gardener: The invasion of the boxwood snatchers
A Box Tree Moth with spread wings underneath a green leaf. The moth exclusively dines on the boxwood, one of the most popular garden shrubs in Ontario. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Southern Ontario has been identified as an epicentre of the deadly box tree moth – deadly to boxwood shrubs, that is This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Southern Ontario has been invaded by a monster from Japan. Okay, it's not quite Godzilla, but it's actually far more destructive: known as the box tree moth, this miniature monster can wipe out your boxwoods, and since it has no natural enemies in Canada, it's spreading unchecked across the region. It's believed that the moth first arrived in Canada around 2018 on infested shrubs from outside the country, possibly the U.S. or Europe. A native of east Asia, it exclusively dines on boxwood, which unfortunately, happens to be one of the most popular hedge and garden shrubs grown here in southern Ontario. The result has been a population explosion; if you grow boxwood hedges and haven't fallen victim yet, be on your guard. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Box tree moths have brown-edged white wings about 4 cm across. But it's their larvae, which hatch from eggs laid on the undersides of plant leaves, that are the real scourge: they're green with black heads, with a double stripe of black dots down their back. When the caterpillars are ready to pupate and turn into moths, they spin silky pupae that you can spot inside the branches. If your shrubs aren't too badly affected, and you can see caterpillars or eggs on the leaves, you can pick them off manually; but generally speaking, once you've seen them, there's no time to dawdle. These little creeps are so voracious, they've been known to strip a boxwood shrub to twigs in a matter of days, then start in on the bark and young stems. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After that, they'll head over to your neighbour's boxwoods, which is how you probably ended up with them in the first place. (The moths have been known to travel as much as 5 to 10 kilometres in search of their favourite food.) Fortunately, one of the most effective insecticides is an organic product called BTK, which you can buy at most garden centres and box stores. BTK is a foliar spray that you apply with a pressure sprayer to the entire plant. Carefully following the instructions on the box, thoroughly saturate the shrub, especially the interior and the undersides of leaves, where they pupate and lay their eggs. You'll have to repeat this process every five to seven days, until all evidence of the caterpillars is gone. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It is possible for infested shrubs to recover and grow new leaves, if you've caught the infestation in time. The thing to watch for is damaged bark and trunks. Look for bare spots, especially if the bark has been removed right round the trunk, known as 'girdling.' If that's happened, the shrub is doomed, and will need to be dug up and replaced. However, do not just dig up the dead shrubs and bundle them for collection. (Especially, don't put them in your compost pile.) Even if you've gone the BTK route, if any eggs or caterpillars survive, they could rise from the dead to terrorize the city again. The best solution is to burn them down to ash – though that's not always possible in the city. An old-fashioned but effective method is heat destruction: seal the dead plant inside a black plastic bag and leave it out in direct sunlight for a couple of days. A third solution is to bury them at least a metre deep underground. Whether you've suffered an invasion or not, when you do your regular rounds to inspect your garden, it's good to have a bottle of Safer's soap (or whichever everyday pest control you prefer) in hand to catch aphids, lily beetles and other common pests. Apparently it works on box tree caterpillars too, but only if you spot one or two at a time. Please feel free to write in with questions, to comment or to share your own city gardening adventures with Martha. Write to her at marthasgarden07@ Toronto & GTA MMA World News Sunshine Girls
SoraNews24
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Godiva Japan adds Dubai Chocolate treats to its menu for a limited time
Three limited-edition desserts are heaven for pistachio lovers. In 2023, a chocolate bar created by a chocolatier in Dubai went viral online, with people raving about the unique filling made with pistachio and kadayif, finely shredded phyllo dough. The combination of chocolate, kadayif and pistachio quickly became known as 'Dubai Chocolate', and now big brands around the world are producing their own versions, including Godiva, which is adding three delicious incarnations of the sweet to its menu for a limited time. ▼ Godiva is the place to be this summer, and the branch in Hibiya is particularly beautiful, with large windows and leafy views. ▼ The best seat in the house has views out to the Godzilla statue at Hibiya Tokyo Midtown. We were invited to try the new treats, two of which will be released on 20 June, and when we slipped into a comfortable booth we were immediately inspired by the giant neon sign on the wall. A trip to Godiva is a treat that really does help to elevate our everyday, especially with the new Dubai Chocolate Chocolixir on the menu. Available in two sizes — Regular (270 millilitres [9 ounces]) for 810 yen (US$5.61) and Large (350 millilitres) for 920 yen — this is an incredibly decadent drink topped with a mound of Belgian chocolate-infused whipped cream. ▼ The cream is sprinkled with roasted pistachios for crunch and flavour. Delving into the Chocolixir reveals this really is an elevated drink, with a thick, creamy and delightfully icy green body delivering deliciously nutty flavours to the taste buds. What really makes this a standout beverage, though, is the small shreds of crispy kadayif interspersed throughout, which surprise the palate with every sip, crunching like sweet slivers of baked biscuit in an exciting, satisfying way. The combination is like a drinkable Dubait chocolate, and just when you think things can't get any better, the chain has another treat to entice you — the Dubait Chocolate Parfait (1,890 yen). This spectacularly assembled parfait is like a work of art, with each layer carefully designed to complement and contrast those beside it. The flavour journey begins with a swirl of whipped cream and a scoop of pistachio ice cream topped with pistachio sauce, all nestled atop a layer of rich pistachio cream. Beneath the topping is a disc of chocolate ice cream and an airy layer that looks like a chocolate display case. There are lots of treasures to be found on this level, with cubes of gateau chocolate, beautiful rolled chocolate pieces resembling roses, and a crunchy Dubai chocolate-inspired shard. Unearthing the special gateau chocolate, with its powdered chocolate coating, will put a big smile on your dial, and its soft, gooey, rich sweetness will elevate you right up to chocolate heaven. With a delicate shard of chocolate poking out the top of the parfait, you're spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing your next mouthful. You can devour the chocolate from the get-go, or if you're like us, choose to nibble on the shard gradually, as it has a wonderful crunch that contrasts beautifully with the smooth creaminess of the parfait. Even the creamy components have different variations of richness to keep the palate excited, ranging from soft and light whipped cream to thick, chunky ice cream and incredibly airy mousse-like cream. The pistachio flavours are superb, intertwining elegantly with the Belgian chocolate for an explosion of flavours that's both refined and deeply satisfying. ▼ Every spoonful unearths hidden treasures. The deliciousness is truly extraordinary, so much so that it won't take long until you're at the bottom of the glass, where the layer of chocolate takes over, creating swirls of decadence that Dubai chocolate lovers will adore. The bottom layer is a delightful sendoff containing pistachio purin and sauce, dark chocolate mousse, and chocolate mocha sauce. Unlike the Chocolixir, which is available at all Godiva outlets, you'll have to dine in for this special parfait, which is limited to the following Godiva Cafe branches: Tokyo, Iidabashi, Nihonbashi, Minato Mirai, Omiya, Futako Tamagawa, Koshigaya Aeon Lake Town Mori, Hibiya, Diamor Osaka. Wrapping up the proceedings is the Dubai Chocolate Coronet (507 yen), which is exclusive to the Godiva Bakery head branch in Tokyo. This baked treat is the perfect answer to the question 'What if Godiva made a colonnade inspired by Dubai chocolate?' The result is an innovative coronet, featuring a glossy brioche stuffed with Dubai Chocolate ingredients. ▼ Inside is a rich pistachio cream, with roasted pistachios to finish. As you eat the coronet you'll find a tantalising surprise in the form of a whole bar of Dubai Chocolate, with kadayif pieces creating a beautiful crunch to contrast with the chewiness of the brioche and the smoothness of the cream. The Dubai Chocolate Coronet is one of the most delicious baked items we've ever had, and it's available from 4 June to 3 July, although it might disappear earlier as it's only being made in limited numbers. As for the Dubai Chocolate Chocolixir and the Dubai Chocolate Parfait, they'll be available for a limited time from 20 June, only while stocks last. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
a day ago
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Osaka man arrested for selling colorized version of the original Godzilla from 1954
Color me surprised! Colorizing old movies has long been a controversial process, with many in the industry thinking it's an absurd notion that 'color = better.' Even in this era, where AI can make colorization more accurate and realistic than ever before, just because we can doesn't mean we should. A great example of this is the original Godzilla movie from 1954. Its starkly dark tones give it such a foreboding atmosphere and adding color to that would only serve to highlight that it's just a guy in a rubber suit breaking a bunch of models, as so well exemplified in many of the subsequent color films of the '60s. That didn't stop one man from trying though, and on 17 June, the Osaka Prefectural Police arrested a 66-year-old man for selling a colorized version of Godzilla . He had used an AI to predict the correct colors and apply them to the video, then sold the modified movie on DVD online for 2,980 yen (US$21) per disc and pulled in about 1.7 million yen ($12,000). ▼ A news report on the bust. Although many might agree he committed crimes against cinema, his legal issue was the unauthorized sale of copyrighted material. Actually, you can find lots of colorized classics of Japanese filmmaking because they've entered the public domain and can be used as anyone sees fit. ▼ Here's all of Yasuhiro Ozu's Tokyo Story , now in the public domain and in AI-generated color for no reason at all! Doing some quick math you might notice that last year was Godzilla 's 70th anniversary, which under current Japanese copyright law could normally cause it to become public domain and would mean this man's actions, though tacky, would be legal. However, this law is murky to say the least, especially for older movies such as this. The main thing to consider is who the 'author,' or ' chosakusha ' for legal purposes, of a movie is. For movies, this is especially difficult because so many people are involved in its creation. In general, there are two conditions, with the first being if the author is a company. Such a case would mean Toho had the idea to make Godzilla as a company and hired a director, writer, etc. to put their vision into action. On the other hand, if the movie was deemed the creation of key people, such as the director, producer, writer, and even the composer of the musical score if influential enough, the copyright expires 38 years after the last one of these key people passes away. Although there were some legal battles over the years, Toho originally never assumed authorship of the original Godzilla , which was probably a strategic move on their part because the copyright period of human lives plus 38 years would likely be longer than a straight 50 years from the release date. This meant authorship went to a loosely defined group of key people, the most important of whom for this situation was director Ishiro Honda because he ended up living the longest. ▼ Actually, Godzilla composer Akira Ikufube outlived Honda, but possibly for contract reasons was not included as an author. He certainly should have been though. Then, in 1971, the law changed and the period was extended to the death of the last author plus 50 years. This new law stated that regarding older movies the longest period should be applied. Here's where things get kind of kooky. ▼ We're talking Gamera-level kooky. Toho is not the author at this point so we can rule out their validity period altogether, which leaves the last death plus 38 years under the old law or plus 50 years under the new law. Since the law stated that the longer period should be applied, a three-year-old could probably tell you that 50 years is longer than 38 and should be applied. However, because the authors were still alive in 1971, no specific period could be established and, as illogical as it might sound, it couldn't definitively be said that 50 years after death is longer than 38 years after death in this case, so the old law of plus 38 continued. Another revision occurred with the TPP negotiations in 2018, during which Japan adjusted its copyright law to be more in line with other countries. Here, the period was extended again to 70 years after the death of the last surviving author with the longer period being applied, and to streamline everything this time using common sense, all works were to be automatically upgraded from 50 years after death to 70 years. But wait! Remember that Godzilla never had the 50-year law applied to it in the first place and therefore was not subject to an automatic 70-year extension. In the end, it will remain unchanged and still become public domain on New Year's Day 2032. If you could understand all that, then I'd feel really proud of myself for having explained it, because I had to reread this stuff about 20 times and draw a diagram to figure it out myself. I think at this point it's easy to see that the copyright status of the original Godzilla film is really, really convoluted. Police said they intend to look into other colorized movies for sale online like Seven Samurai , but need some time to untangle which ones still actually have copyrights on them first. So, if you're planning on colorizing or in any way reproducing classic Japanese movies in Japan, you're probably best not to unless you're really sure it's OK. And I'm sure you're not sure it's OK because no one is, including many of the filmmakers and lawmakers themselves. It's all best left alone anyway. Instead, we should be using AI to right some cinematic wrongs of the past, like altering the X-Men movies so the characters all have accurate uniforms rather than those bland black vinyl things where you can barely even see them while they're fighting. Someone at Fox or Disney or whatever needs to step up and give Cyclops back his blue and yellow suit with lots of tiny pouches like God (Jim Lee) intended. Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, Copyright Act, Copyright Research and Information Center, Loyola Marymount University Images: ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Geek Culture
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
First Godzilla LEGO Ideas Set Roars To Life
The third round of LEGO's Ideas selection has concluded, with two new fan-made designs officially chosen to be made into real sets: A hulking Godzilla build and a Rocket based on the classic 1950 Tintin comic series, Destination Moon . Announced via a LEGO Ideas blog post, the two sets were chosen out of 54 qualifying product ideas, with the Godzilla build originally submitted by Matthew Esposito (aka MattE720) in December 2023, while the Tintin Rocket set was submitted by Alexis Dos Santos (aka TKEL86). This will mark the first ever Godzilla set released by LEGO, an while its exact design, part count, pricing and release date has not been announced yet, fans can get a decent idea of what the final set might look like based on the original fan-made design, which will serve as the basis for the official build. According to MattE720, his design was based on recent films like Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire , and considering that the LEGO Ideas line is primarily targeted at adult collectors, the final design should be appropriately large in scale, befitting of the King of the Monsters himself. The Tintin rocket, on the other hand, features a faithful recreation of the iconic ship that appeared in the Destination Moon comic series, the sixteenth volume of The Adventures of Tintin , which was serialised weekly from March to September 1950 and April to October 1952 in Belgium's Tintin magazine. These two approved sets mark the newest additions to the LEGO Ideas co-creation platform, which began in 2008 as LEGO Cuusoo and eventually relaunched as LEGO Ideas in 2014. Each set in the line begins as a fan submission, and upon reaching 10,000 supporters on LEGO's website, it enters the review stage, an extensive process to gain the final approval to be turned into an official set. The LEGO Ideas Review Board is already hard at work on the next round of fan design reviews, a new batch of 57 product ideas that amassed 10,000 supporters each, with the final results due in September this year. Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. Godzilla LEGO LEGO Godzilla lego ideas
2 days ago
- Entertainment
Osaka Man Arrested for Selling Colorized "Godzilla" Film from 1954
Newsfrom Japan Osaka, June 18 (Jiji Press)--Police in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, have arrested a 66-year-old man for alleged copyright infringement by selling a colorized copy of the first "Godzilla" film without permission. Ippei Miyamoto, a part-time worker in the Osaka city of Toyonaka, has admitted to the allegation, according to investigative sources. Miyamoto is suspected of selling a DVD copy of the 1954 film, copyrighted by Toho Co., for 2,980 yen in mid-November last year. According to police sources, he allegedly used image conversion software to colorize old black-and-white films and created pirated DVDs, which he sold on flea market websites and his own website. While the copyright protection period for films is currently 70 years after release, Japan's former copyright law, replaced in 1971, set the period at 38 years after the creator's death. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
