Latest news with #Goldilocks
Boston Globe
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Dennis Lehane says his goal with ‘Smoke' was to ‘look at chaos chaotically'
(Lehane also says audiences are 'way too smart now' for late episode reveals. He originally showed Dave starting a fire in the pilot, but that was too soon. Then he tried the third episode, but that was too long. 'It was like Goldilocks — the second episode was just right.') Advertisement The 59-year-old Boston native is best known for his literary crime novels like 'Mystic River,' 'Shutter Island,' and 'Gone Baby Gone,' and for depicting his hometown in all its complexities in 'The Given Day' and ' But Lehane, who broke into TV when he was recruited to write for 'The Wire,' has been returning to the screen more frequently of late, writing for 'Mr. Mercedes' and 'The Outsider' before developing ' Advertisement Still, Lehane isn't jumping into any old story, saying he turned down producer Kary Antholis four times for 'Blackbird.' When Antholis pitched a podcast about a serial arsonist that he'd hosted called 'Firebug,' Lehane wasn't that interested, in part because there'd previously been a poorly received HBO movie about the same man called 'Point of Origin.' 'But I loved the pathology of the real guy, John Orr, and the absolute insanity of being an arsonist who's also an arson investigator who's writing a book about an arson investigator chasing an arsonist with facts that only the real arsonist would know,' Lehane says. 'There was something so beautifully American about that.' (Note that Lehane speaks almost as profanely as his characters, so, for realism, you can periodically insert your own enthusiastic expletives.) Lehane kept one more detail from Orr's story: As a firefighter he'd once been trapped in a fire and he ran toward his own reflection, thinking it was another firefighter. 'I said, 'That's our opening, man.' That's the whole story, metaphorically speaking,' he recalls. 'Almost everything else I threw out. I just wanted to tell this story about emotional and psychological chaos, because that's the time we're living in right now.' The story is one of a white man with a grievance lifestyle, who loses himself to his own petty frustrations, something Lehane says he saw in friends growing up in Boston. 'I have friends who were angry about their life after being passed over for becoming a police officer and I'd think, 'Have you looked at your psych eval' and I'd want to say, 'You always ask everybody else to take ownership, so take ownership of who you are.'' Advertisement Lehane fleshed out the story with wholly fictional characters. Dave's unwelcome new partner, Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett), is a dogged police detective with scars and ghosts of her own, who follows her instincts but also her own rules. Greg Kinnear in "Smoke." Apple TV+ Dave's boss Harvey (Greg Kinnear), who can be a charmer or a bully, is pressuring them for results, but he has blind spots of his own. Esposito (John Leguizamo) is Dave's former partner who now makes 'tasteful porn for discerning customers,' Lehane says wryly. And, most significantly, Freddy (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) is the second arsonist Dave and Michelle are chasing. While Dave's fires are typically set in supermarkets (Orr was dubbed the Frito Bandito arsonist) in a way that allowed people to escape, Freddy's rage propels him to attack individuals who seem happy, aiming to harm. 'There's this weird part of me that creates sympathetic monsters,' Lehane says. 'Freddy commits acts of pure evil and needs to be in jail. But he's a tragic guy, the loneliest man on earth. Dave is running around with his white victimization narration that I can't stand, where he's the victim. But Freddy truly is the victim of our society. He was vomited out into the world and never had a chance.' Freddy is loosely inspired by a Washington D.C., arsonist who said that working in fast food as an adult is akin to slavery, Lehane says. 'I kept that and the fact that he's African-American, so he's a perfect counterpoint to Dave.' Advertisement Amid the show's life-and-death stakes and explorations of racism, misogyny, and injustice is plenty of humor, especially in the banter between Egerton's, Smollett's, and Kinnear's characters. 'We need humor right now,' Lehane says. 'How else are we supposed to deal with the madness we're living in, with politicians being arrested for speaking out. We're watching the death of the Republic, literally. So you laugh because you don't want to cry. That's the best you can do.' Lehane, who emphasizes his collaborative approach to creating, says Kinnear kept encouraging him during the writing to deepen Harvey. 'He'd say, 'I don't feel Harvey yet,'' Lehane recalls. 'When I came up with his character's daughter, that's when we found him.' He views Egerton, who also starred in 'Black Bird,' as a 'creative partner. We push each other. We're a dangerous combination.' He points to a sex scene that might evoke (nervous) laughter if it didn't quickly become so shocking. Lehane says Egerton called one weekend and said the kinky scene 'needs a bit more. I said, 'More? Dave lights somebody's belly on fire. What the…'' Inspired, they went 'so far beyond the pale that we had to dial it back,' but the final result, with Dave dancing self-indulgently above his bound partner, captures something essential about the character. 'When we were trying to pick the song, Taron said, 'Since I was a little boy, my dream was to dance to David Bowie on screen.'' The song choice, 'Heroes,' further enhances Dave's delusions. Lehane says that his team really dove into how 'whacked out this story was.' 'People rarely embrace tonally wild shows, but we just decided to go for broke,' he adds. 'We're looking at chaos chaotically.' Advertisement It all started with that sex scene, when his producing partner's research uncovered the idea of 'streaking' or setting someone (safely) on fire. 'I said, 'No way,' but that's when the show really came into its own,' Lehane says. ''Seinfeld' became 'Seinfeld' with 'The Pony Remark' episode [where Jerry mentions hating anyone who had a pony and his cousin, who proudly had one, gets angry and soon dies]. We feel like 'Smoke' really becomes 'Smoke' with the streaking scene.'
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
Man avoiding angry wife breaks into random home for dinner and bath, FL cops say
A man desperate to avoid his angry wife made matters worse when he sneaked into a random home for dinner and a bath, according to investigators in Florida. The intrusion happened June 9 in Davenport and resulted in the man being charged with burglary, according to a June 15 Polk County Sheriff's Office news release. Investigators likened it to the 'Polk County version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.' 'The homeowner wasn't going to be around for a while, so he asked his neighbor to bear the responsibility of watching over the house. That neighbor did a fantastic job too,' the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook. 'One night, the neighbor saw lights going on and off within the house, so he called the homeowner, who in turn contacted the PCSO. ... Deputies went to the residence and found (a man) inside, cooking, and he had just finished filling the tub for a bath. We assume the bath temperature was not too hot, nor too cold, but juuuuust right.' When questioned, the 44-year-old man conceded 'not only did he not have permission to be there, he also had no idea who owned the house,' the sheriff's office said. '(He) told deputies that he had gotten in a fight with his wife, and he didn't want to go home, so he chose to (enter) someone else's home instead,' the sheriff's office said. The man, who had no criminal history, reported he had been staying at the home four days, officials said. He was charged with felony unarmed burglary, misdemeanor petit theft, first offense, and domestic battery, jail records show. Details of what led the man to that particular home were not released. Davenport is about a 45-mile drive southwest from downtown Orlando.
Epoch Times
11-06-2025
- Epoch Times
Your Passport to Paradise: Financial Prep for Retiring Abroad
Retirement doesn't mean staying put. For many retirees, it means something far more adventurous: moving abroad. One-third (34 percent) of Americans would like to settle in another country if they were allowed to do so, according to Retiring internationally can be a dream come true—whether you want to save money, enjoy warmer weather, or experience a new culture. But only if you've done your homework and laid the financial groundwork. 1. The Global Goldilocks: Choosing Your Destination With Financial Acumen The world is huge and diverse, and not every country offers the same opportunities for retirees. Even though a particular location may be inviting, a financially sound international retirement requires an informed choice. In some countries, retirees can access affordable, high-quality healthcare through generous visa programs. Some places, however, have prohibitive living costs or bureaucratic hassles.
CNBC
09-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Nvidia CEO says the UK is in a 'Goldilocks' moment: 'I'm going to invest here'
LONDON — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang poured praise on the U.K. on Monday, promising to boost investment in the country's artificial intelligence sector with his multitrillion-dollar semiconductor company. "The U.K. is in a Goldilocks circumstance," Huang said, speaking on a panel with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Investment Minister Poppy Gustafsson. "The U.K. is in a Goldilocks circumstance," Huang said, speaking on a panel with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Investment Minister Poppy Gustafsson. "You can't do machine learning without a machine — and so the ability to build these AI supercomputers here in the U.K. will naturally attract more startups." The Nvidia boss went on to say, "I think it's just such an incredible, incredible place to invest. I'm going to invest here." Huang also stressed that Britain "has one of the richest AI communities anywhere on the planet," along with "amazing startups" such as DeepMind, Wayve, and Synthesia, ElevenLabs. "The ecosystem is really perfect for take-off — it's just missing one thing," he said, referring to a lack of homegrown, sovereign U.K. AI infrastructure. Earlier on Monday, Nvidia announced a new U.K. sovereign AI industry forum, as well as commitments from cloud vendors Nscale and Nebius to deploy new facilities in the country with thousands of the semiconductor giant's Blackwell GPU chips. The U.K. has been touting its potential as a global AI player in recent months, amid Keir Starmer's efforts to lead his Labour government with a growth-focused agenda. In January, Starmer unveiled a bold plan to boost the domestic U.K. AI sector, promising to relax planning rules around new data center developments and increase British computing power by twenty-fold by 2030.
The Advertiser
02-06-2025
- Climate
- The Advertiser
No perfect season in a land of opportunity, but farmers can bank on each other
Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by The Land editor Samantha Townsend. In that famous children's fairytale about the three bears it seemed Goldilocks was the only one to find a perfect bed. But here in NSW right now there aren't any 'just right' conditions as farmers struggle to balance the feed budget and their emotional well-being, all thanks to the inclement weather. Where there are producers getting way too much rain, there are others who aren't getting any at all. It doesn't seem fair that producers are mostly left to fend for themselves. We can debate the pros and cons of whether this is climate change or just a vigorous cycle but the fact remains we are witnessing the harsh reality of agricultural production in NSW. As every farmer knows, Dorethea Mackella's iconic poem My Country famously references drought and flooding rains and her words capture the harsh reality of where we live. But what are we, as farmers, doing about this conundrum? Nobody can afford to do nothing, hoping for just a few sunny days or, on the flip side, praying for rain. Are we burying silage in the good times? Are we drying off cows when the autumn turns sour? Perhaps we need to wean early or destock. Is it better to sell and cop the loss or hang on for something better? Sure, we as farmers are doing all that and more but sometimes it's not enough when Mother Nature throws a temper tantrum, the likes of which we have just seen. Australia is not the land of milk and honey, we know that. It's the land of dust and floods. However, there are tremendous opportunities in the shoulder seasons and these silver lining moments need to be taken with positive action to mitigate the good years with the bad. There's another thing that can't be bought with government handouts and it's called mateship. While there are high requirements for cattle agistment extend right across the state, from the drought-stricken south to the mud-bogged North Coast, there are those putting up their hand to help. There's country resilience and farmers helping each other, while on the ground volunteers across multiple agencies do the heavy lifting in times of crisis. We live in a good country and we can be proud of her worth. We just need to grab it with both hands. Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by The Land editor Samantha Townsend. In that famous children's fairytale about the three bears it seemed Goldilocks was the only one to find a perfect bed. But here in NSW right now there aren't any 'just right' conditions as farmers struggle to balance the feed budget and their emotional well-being, all thanks to the inclement weather. Where there are producers getting way too much rain, there are others who aren't getting any at all. It doesn't seem fair that producers are mostly left to fend for themselves. We can debate the pros and cons of whether this is climate change or just a vigorous cycle but the fact remains we are witnessing the harsh reality of agricultural production in NSW. As every farmer knows, Dorethea Mackella's iconic poem My Country famously references drought and flooding rains and her words capture the harsh reality of where we live. But what are we, as farmers, doing about this conundrum? Nobody can afford to do nothing, hoping for just a few sunny days or, on the flip side, praying for rain. Are we burying silage in the good times? Are we drying off cows when the autumn turns sour? Perhaps we need to wean early or destock. Is it better to sell and cop the loss or hang on for something better? Sure, we as farmers are doing all that and more but sometimes it's not enough when Mother Nature throws a temper tantrum, the likes of which we have just seen. Australia is not the land of milk and honey, we know that. It's the land of dust and floods. However, there are tremendous opportunities in the shoulder seasons and these silver lining moments need to be taken with positive action to mitigate the good years with the bad. There's another thing that can't be bought with government handouts and it's called mateship. While there are high requirements for cattle agistment extend right across the state, from the drought-stricken south to the mud-bogged North Coast, there are those putting up their hand to help. There's country resilience and farmers helping each other, while on the ground volunteers across multiple agencies do the heavy lifting in times of crisis. We live in a good country and we can be proud of her worth. We just need to grab it with both hands. Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by The Land editor Samantha Townsend. In that famous children's fairytale about the three bears it seemed Goldilocks was the only one to find a perfect bed. But here in NSW right now there aren't any 'just right' conditions as farmers struggle to balance the feed budget and their emotional well-being, all thanks to the inclement weather. Where there are producers getting way too much rain, there are others who aren't getting any at all. It doesn't seem fair that producers are mostly left to fend for themselves. We can debate the pros and cons of whether this is climate change or just a vigorous cycle but the fact remains we are witnessing the harsh reality of agricultural production in NSW. As every farmer knows, Dorethea Mackella's iconic poem My Country famously references drought and flooding rains and her words capture the harsh reality of where we live. But what are we, as farmers, doing about this conundrum? Nobody can afford to do nothing, hoping for just a few sunny days or, on the flip side, praying for rain. Are we burying silage in the good times? Are we drying off cows when the autumn turns sour? Perhaps we need to wean early or destock. Is it better to sell and cop the loss or hang on for something better? Sure, we as farmers are doing all that and more but sometimes it's not enough when Mother Nature throws a temper tantrum, the likes of which we have just seen. Australia is not the land of milk and honey, we know that. It's the land of dust and floods. However, there are tremendous opportunities in the shoulder seasons and these silver lining moments need to be taken with positive action to mitigate the good years with the bad. There's another thing that can't be bought with government handouts and it's called mateship. While there are high requirements for cattle agistment extend right across the state, from the drought-stricken south to the mud-bogged North Coast, there are those putting up their hand to help. There's country resilience and farmers helping each other, while on the ground volunteers across multiple agencies do the heavy lifting in times of crisis. We live in a good country and we can be proud of her worth. We just need to grab it with both hands. Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by The Land editor Samantha Townsend. In that famous children's fairytale about the three bears it seemed Goldilocks was the only one to find a perfect bed. But here in NSW right now there aren't any 'just right' conditions as farmers struggle to balance the feed budget and their emotional well-being, all thanks to the inclement weather. Where there are producers getting way too much rain, there are others who aren't getting any at all. It doesn't seem fair that producers are mostly left to fend for themselves. We can debate the pros and cons of whether this is climate change or just a vigorous cycle but the fact remains we are witnessing the harsh reality of agricultural production in NSW. As every farmer knows, Dorethea Mackella's iconic poem My Country famously references drought and flooding rains and her words capture the harsh reality of where we live. But what are we, as farmers, doing about this conundrum? Nobody can afford to do nothing, hoping for just a few sunny days or, on the flip side, praying for rain. Are we burying silage in the good times? Are we drying off cows when the autumn turns sour? Perhaps we need to wean early or destock. Is it better to sell and cop the loss or hang on for something better? Sure, we as farmers are doing all that and more but sometimes it's not enough when Mother Nature throws a temper tantrum, the likes of which we have just seen. Australia is not the land of milk and honey, we know that. It's the land of dust and floods. However, there are tremendous opportunities in the shoulder seasons and these silver lining moments need to be taken with positive action to mitigate the good years with the bad. There's another thing that can't be bought with government handouts and it's called mateship. While there are high requirements for cattle agistment extend right across the state, from the drought-stricken south to the mud-bogged North Coast, there are those putting up their hand to help. There's country resilience and farmers helping each other, while on the ground volunteers across multiple agencies do the heavy lifting in times of crisis. We live in a good country and we can be proud of her worth. We just need to grab it with both hands.
