All Down The Line

[Gio]

But since you brought it up...I don't suppose you have any Coccos floating around back there...

I imagine so, though my paternal grandmother was French (and my maternal was Welsh/German ) ...

Though i would venture to say all Euro/trash have some - 'all down the line' ...

[Gio]

...

This could just as easily have gone on the Lounge Thread, but then I thought of Gio's intent for this thread, and that's why I'm sharing it here.

I hadn't seen this interview yet before tonight, and I had already often been wondering what had become of Barry after all three of his younger brothers ─ first Andy, the youngest, and then Maurice, followed a few years later by his twin brother Robin ─ had come to pass away.

Barry Gibb, the last Bee Gee

When the Bee Gees put the Fever into Saturday Night, they became one of the most successful pop groups in history. Born in England but raised in Queensland, this band of brothers - Barry, Robin and Maurice - were musical geniuses.

When Robin died, eldest brother Barry became the sole surviving Bee Gee - or, as he puts it, "the last man standing". He spoke about it for the first time four months after the tragedy, coming to terms with his loss as he spoke to Rahni Sadler.

This story originally aired on the 23 September 2012.


Duration: 18 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpp3YQ3B0n0

[Christopher]

See thread about Aussie man in India walking around but wearing no clothes .
Records such as Tragedy and Staying Alive now seem like glimpses of his future .

[Gio]

The UK series (on Netflix) 'Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!' introduced me to this growing phenomenon in Britain ... Though it probably can occur anywhere in the Western world today.



No Place To Call Home (Poverty Documentary) - Real Stories

Real Stories

"Over a period of 18 months, we see two families evicted by their private landlords, trapped for over a year in a homeless hostel, and sofa-surfing with friends and family for months on end.

Throughout this ordeal, eleven-year-old Ellie and ten-year-old JJ remain cheerful and resilient, trying to see what they are going through as an adventure that they will one day look back on and laugh about – when they finally have a home they can call their own once again."

Published on Mar 7, 2019

58:50 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1IziIrfCp4

[Gio]

Been looking forward to this one ...


FAMOUS GRAVE TOUR - Viewers Special #1 (Selena, Ava Gardner, etc.)

Hollywood Graveyard
Published on Mar 11, 2019
Welcome to Hollywood Graveyard. Today, I turn the camera over to you, the Hollywood Graveyard Community, as we travel the world to visit famous and historical graves in your neck of the woods. Together we’ll cross the country, and eventually the oceans, to pay our respects to legends around the globe, like Selena, Jayne Mansfield, Ava Gardner, and many more.

Full list of stars visited today: D. W. Griffith, Gene Tierney, Howard Hughes, Selena, Greer Garson, William Hootkins, Mickey Mantle, David Koresh, Susan Hayward, Big Boss Man, Jane Addams, John Shedd, Brian Piccolo, Matt McGrory, David Brenner, Jim Croce, Nick Adams, Jayne Mansfield, Wiley Post, Leon Russell, Roy Clark, Sam Kinison, Red Prysock, Frances Bavier, Eng & Chang Bunker, Alicia Rhett, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Gram Parsons, Louis Prima, Gia Maione, Marguerite Clark, Al Copeland, Stan Rice, Mel Ott, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt.

30:13 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYGWzC7pG9Q

[Gio]

What if the future of housing means accepting that a home isn’t permanent?

"Generally speaking, you don’t want to end up at a place like Hope Gardens. The housing development, located at Meath Court in the west London borough of Ealing, is temporary accommodation for people who have found themselves without secure or long-term housing. It is, for many people, the last resort before sleeping on the street.

In London, more than 56,000 families were living in temporary accommodation in the second quarter of 2018 (roughly 2,100 of those were living in Ealing). London’s figure represents nearly 70% of England’s total, a testament of the acute housing crisis that London has been facing for years. Half-empty luxury skyscrapers seem to sprout up with increasing regularity, while government-funded public

While the residents of Hope Gardens wait for their application for long-term, secure housing to be assessed by the council, the temporary structure they’re living in is a novel way to meet the demand in London’s housing crisis. It could point to a future strategy for cities that need to tackle crises of housing, migration, and land development.

Ship shape

The idea of inhabitable shipping containers, like the ones the residents at Hope Gardens live in, generally brings a certain demographic to mind: young, gentrifying professionals who view minimalist living as a lifestyle choice rather than a function of circumstance. This is largely thanks to hip developments such as the Boxpark chain of shopping malls in London’s gentrifying neighborhoods of Shoreditch and Croydon or the quirky-luxe residential units presented at design shows, like those created by German company Containerwerk."

Colorful panels and murals make Hope Gardens more cheerful than other types of public housing.

"While they are bright, colorful, and modern-looking, compared to the austere style of much of Britain’s public housing, the tenant-ready units at Hope Gardens are not what one might call “hip.” The containers are built for purpose—meaning they are built to be lived in, not converted from old containers—their fittings are basic and designed to be easily swapped in and out in case of damage or repairs. The focus is on modularity, easy transportability, and speed of both setup and dismantling. The studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom units—which range from 12 to 36 square meters—come equipped with simple beds, a couch, a wardrobe table, and basic kitchen appliances as well as standard utilities.

Hope Gardens was developed by QED Properties, a sustainable urban developer, in partnership with ISO Spaces, a company that specializes in converting shipping containers. It can accommodate roughly 216 such tenants, or roughly 60 families.

The Hope Gardens development was built and assembled in 24 weeks; its residents first arrived in December 2017. It was built on what’s called a “meanwhile site,” or land that’s been earmarked for future development, but its ultimate use has not been finalized. The units will be inhabited on their current site for seven years after installation, then moved elsewhere when the land they’re situated on is ready to be used for its intended purpose.

In the UK, local government councils are responsible for housing people, in their boroughs, who say they are at risk of homelessness. While their application is assessed, these tenants are generally placed in temporary accommodation and charged rent according to their ability to pay (often with the help of government benefits) until they can be permanently housed.

Like other temporary accommodation setups, people arrive at Hope Gardens from a range of circumstances. Some have been living in private rented accommodation that, for one reason or another (often a rent hike), they can no longer live in. Government statistics (pdf) say that in 2017-2018, 31% of Londoners who were at risk of homelessness said the end of a private tenancy agreement was the cause. In Ealing, the figure in 2018 was 59%. Few can afford to re-enter London’s private rental sector.

Others may have been living in other temporary accommodation setups that offer little privacy or security or may have found themselves with nowhere to go after a relationship ended. In a testament to how acute London’s housing shortage is, Ealing council says the average stay in temporary accommodation in the borough is four years. Tenants range from single individuals to families or parents with their children. All hope to be placed in a secure, long-term housing option.

While few people would want to be in such a situation, Peter Mason, cabinet member for housing, planning & transformation at Ealing Council, says that the setup at Hope Gardens is better than many alternatives the council can offer, such as placing residents outside of London, far away from their communities or support networks.

“We can’t pretend that anyone entering into temporary accommodation is anything but going through a difficult period of their lives,” Mason told Quartz. “But what these modular homes allow us to do is to give people some stability in their lives very quickly rather than having to pick a family up from the community that they know.”

Housing people at Hope Gardens costs the council slightly less than a typical hostel or B&B accommodation setup. But the council says they don’t see this marginal cost saving as the reason for creating them. “Giving tenants more privacy and control over their lives,” is the priority, Mason says; residents routinely report that simply having a front door is major perk of the setup, compared to bed-sit style hostels or bed and breakfasts, where bathroom and kitchen facilities are shared."

About 60 families can live in the modular housing at Hope Gardens.

"That’s not to say that tenants haven’t reported downsides. Temperature control seems to be an issue; though the units contain radiators, some residents have complained they are too cold in the winter, and scorching in the summer, both thanks to structures’ metal exterior. A rep from the council said since the complaints, “no changes have been made and after investigation, [the units] have not found to be wanting.” All in all, though, the bright and clean units are nicer than what many a would-be London tenant has likely come across in their search for affordable housing.

Some critics take issue with building housing on “meanwhile sites.” It is a symptom of a broken system, they say, not a solution to be celebrated. Anna Minton, an academic and author whose work is focused on London’s housing crisis, notes that meanwhile sites are very much known to be part of the “hipsterization around the corner” transition where “a site which is earmarked for a big development or a luxury apartment block will take on a more temporary use while it’s empty which satisfies the area as well.” In other words, making use of meanwhile sites for temporary accommodation may seem innovative, but it is really a symptom of a system that prioritizes speculative investment over the needs of current residents. (It should be noted that the slated purpose of the Hope Gardens site is a public park, not luxury flats).

She adds that in a country that already has homes with the smallest average floor area in Europe, according to Cambridge University researchers, she’s wary of solutions that are predicated on having people live in ever-smaller units. “While the aims of the people behind it are laudable, it’s sort of trying to find ways of sneaking in good social outcomes within existing socio-economic structures which are broken.”

The future is modular

Modular, responsive structures can help shape a future defined by a less permanent attitude toward housing.

That said, councils are not tasked with fixing the housing crisis that everyone agrees the city is mired in—they’re supposed to help prevent people from ending up on the streets. There is an argument to be made that modular, responsive structures can help shape a future defined by a less permanent attitude toward housing is the kind we need to meet the needs of the changing city and world.

Ross Gilbert is the managing director of QED Properties, the developer of Hope Gardens, as well as two other similar developments in Ealing and one in Brighton, UK. He describes the built environment in London as “slow and unresponsive,” meaning it takes ages to make change and get projects off the ground, adding “it’s very inaccessible for small developers and self builders.”

Hope Gardens was assembled in 24 weeks.

"That means the new stability when it comes to housing, he says, may just be adaptability.

“Access over ownership is very much what we’re really interested in,” Gilbert said. “How you can provide a housing solution that is about access—not just for the most vulnerable, but also for younger professionals, key workers? There are huge number of groups that would benefit from an increase of housing of this kind.”

He describes a situation where “a common language or a network of construction” means that shipping container units like those at Hope Gardens can be plugged in to various places around the world and added onto or subtracted from based one’s stage of life.

“How far away are we from, rather than moving house, you actually move your house?” Gilbert says. “We have this global infrastructure of transport networks that moves hundreds of millions of these things round every year. Having a much more flexible and dynamic built environment has got to be the future.”


By Rosie Spinks in LondonFebruary 27, 2019
Source: qz.com

[Gio]

Growing up can be a challenge even in paradise ...


New Zealand's Teenage Offenders and their Journey to Stay out of Juvenile Detention

VICE Asia

"In New Zealand’s rural Taranaki region, adolescent boys growing up in poverty often end up turning to crime, some racking up criminal convictions before they hit 16. Most young offenders find themselves locked up—but a lucky few get a chance to avoid juvenile detention by participating in START Taranaki, an early intervention program designed to give them a second lease on life. Through individualized counseling, spending time in the wilderness of the Taranaki bush, and taking a guided transition back to their communities, START works to make sure kids don’t wind up back in court once they leave the program.

VICE tagged along as one group of boys went through START, hearing what got them in trouble, how they handled the intensive program, and if it'll be enough to get them to change their ways."

Published on Oct 3, 2018

23:29 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1TKnHezfiM

[Gio]

It's becoming the norm ...


Mongolia: A toxic warning to the world

BBC News
Published on Mar 24, 2019

All over the world cities are grappling with apocalyptic air pollution but the small capital of Mongolia is suffering from some of the worst in the world.

And the problem is intrinsically linked to climate change.

The country has already warmed by 2.2 degrees, forcing thousands of people to abandon the countryside and the traditional herding lifestyle every year for the smog-choked city where 90% of children are breathing toxic air every day.

Population Reporter Stephanie Hegarty finds out why.

8:13 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmFAJivap1w

[Gio]

Working hard for Kim's money ...

North Korea - All the dictator's men | DW Documentary

North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world, but its leader Kim Jong Un has still found the money he needs to finance a nuclear weapons program, despite the country's fundamental poverty and international economic sanctions.

This documentary looks at how, and introduces the men who have helped Kim Jong Un keep his dreams of reaching nuclear power status alive. North Korea has not reined in its nuclear program, despite a number of UN resolutions that have tried to force it to do so. So how has the isolated country kept the program going despite sanctions? Every year Pyongyang sends millions of North Korean workers abroad, selling their services to over 40 countries around the world. And their salaries flow directly into Kim’s treasury. The only ones who know exactly how the system works are the men who have helped the North Korean government carry through the program for years. A film team spent years researching these men and their secrets - from bankers and diplomats to the laborers and specialists who worked abroad and whose wages flowed into the regime's coffers. Come and meet all the dictator’s men.

DW Documentary




Video no longer available

[Gio]

The latest ...

FAMOUS GRAVE TOUR - Viewers Special #2 (James Dean, Katharine Hepburn, etc.)

Hollywood Graveyard

Welcome to Hollywood Graveyard. Today, I turn the camera over to you, the Hollywood Graveyard Community, as we travel the world to visit famous and historical graves in your neck of the woods. Together we’ll cross the country, and eventually the oceans, to pay our respects to legends around the globe, like James Dean, Katharine Hepburn, Bruce Lee, and many more.

Published on Mar 30, 2019

35:31 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTrENS6NedA

[Gio]

Imagine and listen ...

New nuclear weapons in Europe - The return of the Cold War? | DW Documentary

DW Documentary
Published on Apr 2, 2019

Nuclear rearmament is back in full swing and the INF treaty between the USA and Russia has been suspended. East and West seem to be on a collision course again.

Are we looking at a return to a scenario such as the balance of terror in the 1980s? In the 1980s, millions of people in Europe took to the streets to demonstrate against the nuclear arms race. After the Cold War ended, thousands of nuclear weapons were pulled out of Europe. Since then, however, the political situation has worsened dramatically, and a new nuclear arms race between the USA and Russia is already in full swing. Many experts think nuclear conflict is more likely now than it was during the Cold War and are talking about a second nuclear age. Both the Russians and the Americans have apparently been breaking the INF treaty signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, which was designed to prevent nuclear escalation. The deployment of nuclear weapons has once more become a possibility, and that could have fatal consequences for Europe. The modernization of US nuclear bombs on European soil, the debate about the development of a separate European deterrent and constant military maneuvers on both sides of NATO's eastern border in the Baltic States are exacerbating the situation considerably.

42:25 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtdvNx51JVs

[Gio]

Will share this here ...

Portugal's Heartland

Rick Steves' Europe
Published on Apr 10, 2019

Portugal has an oversized history, fascinating culture, and boatloads of sardines. Saving the capital city of Lisbon for another episode, we'll dance on the beach at Nazaré, marvel at a medieval abbey in Batalha, visit a royal library and revel with university students in Coimbra, savor port wine with the people who made it along the Douro River, and get to know Portugal's gritty and fascinating second city, Porto.

25:01 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IvZOZtjMYM

[Gio]

The latest ...

FAMOUS GRAVE TOUR - Viewers Special #3 (Greta Garbo, Jim Morrison, etc.)

Hollywood Graveyard
Published on Apr 13, 2019

Welcome to Hollywood Graveyard. Today, I turn the camera over to you, the Hollywood Graveyard Community, as we travel the world to visit famous and historical graves in your neck of the woods. Together we’ll cross the country, and the oceans, to pay our respects to legends around the globe, like Marlene Dietrich, Jim Morrison, Greta Garbo, and many more.

19:33 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fb5nugcRHU

[Gio]

Growing nationalism and a ongoing threat from Russia ...


Georgia between Europe and Stalin | DW Documentary

Writer Davit Gabunia travels through his native Georgia to visit the grave of his cousin, who was killed in the war against Russia in 2008. He gives us a profound and moving picture of how his country ticks.

On his journey, Davit talks to demonstrators in the capital Tbilisi, the curator of the bizarre Stalin Museum and with a convinced Stalinist who would like to see the statue of the Soviet dictator returned to its plinth in the city from the industrial wasteland where it was dumped. He also visits places that have a great personal meaning for him. Davit’s cousin Shalva died in the Georgian-Russian War of 2008 and he visits the grave in his hometown of Poti on the Black Sea for the first time. For ten years, he didn't dare come back here. Born in 1982, the writer looks at the conflict in his home country through the lens of the so-called "administrative frontier” between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia has occupied South Ossetia, which is internationally recognized as part of Georgia, ten years. Davit meets an old farmer's wife and learns how the conflict here affects her everyday life. There’s lots of material for Davit's black notebook, where he meticulously notes down everything that happens during the journey and so creates a panorama of contemporary Georgia.

DW Documentary
Published on Apr 13, 2019

25:55 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw1bz_hi9kY

[Gio]

A hike in Central/Fun/Park with ...

Kevin Nealon & SNL's Colin Jost ...

During a 'wandering hike' in Central Park, SNL's Colin Jost chats with Kevin Nealon about life on SNL, Staten Island, his bout with Michael Che on WWE, being messy and easily distracted, the idea of being a waiter, pitching ideas to SNL hosts, Weekend Update, Michael Che, deadlines, being forgetful, being in a relationship with a movie star, stand up, performing drunk, unhealthy eating habits, anxiety, his mother whom is a hero, sleeping habits at 30 Rock, Harvard merch, comedy writers from Harvard, his constant state of being in fear, his favorite hosts, the SNL after-parties, plus more....

Kevin Nealon
Published on Apr 18, 2019

19:49 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_AUxtMChmQ