Alan Alexander Milne
(18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956)
Best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children’s poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.
Milne served in both World Wars, as a lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the First World War and as a captain in the Home Guard in the Second World War.
Wonka (2023)
Wonka is a 2023 musical fantasy film directed by Paul King, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby based on a story by King.
It tells the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, featuring his early days as a chocolatier.
The film stars Timothée Chalamet as Wonka, with Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Olivia Colman, and Hugh Grant.
Initially Timothée Chalamet, comes across as a rather minor character, without the charisma for the role. But he eventually wins you over. The singing may not be great, but there are plenty of songs by lots of characters. Overall better than the previous 2005 effort, and one I would watch before the 1971 original.
On this day in 1886, Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 musical fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and written by John August, based on the 1964 British novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.
The film stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, alongside David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy, and Christopher Lee.
The storyline follows Charlie as he wins a contest along with four other children and is led by Wonka on a tour of his chocolate factory.
Essentially a remake of the 1971 original. They do change the ending to make it clear that nobody dies at the end. But is just lessens the impact of the film. Depp has a strangely immobile face, unlike Wilder, almost into the uncanny valley.
But for all the effects and big production, it’s not as good a the original.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart from a screenplay by Roald Dahl, based on his 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
It stars Gene Wilder as Candymaker Willy Wonka. The film tells the story of a poor child named Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) who, upon finding a Golden Ticket in a chocolate bar, wins the chance to visit Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory along with four other children from around the world.
I didn’t know Tim Brooke-Taylor was in this ..
Obviously a genius before his time, inventing a self-aware artificial intelligence that can answer the big questions of the time (although it’s not Deep Thought).
Willy Wonka is more interested in genetic engineering, creating chocolate for everything. Like all Dahl’s works, it’s fun and disturbing. Contains life affirming messages and child murder.
It’s day-glow with a 1970’s look. You can see why it remains a classic.
On this day in 1926 John Logie Baird first demonstrated the television.
(Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922)
On this day in 1890, Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
On November 14, 1889, she boarded the Augusta Victoria, a steamer of the Hamburg America Line, and began her 24,898 mile (40,070 kilometer) journey.
During her travels around the world, Bly went through England, France (where she met Jules Verne in Amiens), Brindisi, the Suez Canal, Colombo (in Ceylon), the Straits Settlements of Penang and Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
The AI Image creator, Playground AI has gotten better. Since the first images I created in May 2023 they are more detailed and vivid.
The Changeling
The Fey #2
Kristine Kathryn Rusch (1996)
Blue Isle has maintained an uneasy peace since the invasion of the Fey, but the marriage between the Islander prince, Nicholas, and the Fey king’s granddaughter, Jewel, has not truly united their peoples. The birth of their first son deepens the unrest when he proves to be an empty husk of a child. Neither suspect that the child is a changeling.
On this day in 1946, the USA created the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.