#Nina Canter

[nymeriadressage]

This girl felt sooo good today 💪🏻😍😍 rode many transitions in trot and canter to really get the hind leg working 💪🏻

25. Oktober 2020

[elcnasxltzman]

[qqueenofhades]

13 for helnik and fivan!

they are besties post pel, you cannot convince me otherwise

13. Haunted House

It has taken quite a while for this visit to be arranged, what with the plague, closed borders, Matthias and Nina's globe-hopping, and other such minor logistics, but at long and triumphantly last, in the year of our lord 2021, here they are. They have visited Fedyor and Ivan in Brighton Beach before, but it's been two years since the last one, and when they turn up on the doorstep, there are many hugs (between Fedyor and Nina) and officious throat-clearing and pointedly firm handshakes (between Ivan and Matthias). Nina suggests it first, and then Fedyor joins in, and they gang up on their fun-hating significant others until they agree to visit the Halloween festival in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The place makes its bread and butter on being a year-round The Nightmare Before Christmas, and when they park the rental car and get out, a smiling array of rainbow-colored pumpkins await, with greetings carved in a multitude of languages. "Well," Fedyor remarks dryly. "Inclusive of them."

They buy hot apple cider, visit the Pumpkin Blaze and the hayride, watch as the various Headless Horsemen canter dramatically around, and otherwise enjoy themselves. Nina walks with her hand slipped into Matthias's arm, and Fedyor and Ivan hold hands, the four of them largely coexisting in a comfortable silence, aside from snarky comments here and there. Finally, they head to the Haunted House attraction just in time for the special adults-only Super Scary Sundown Tour, and buy their tickets. "Super Scary, huh?" Ivan remarks, eyeing the fake ramshackle mansion with deep skepticism. "We will see."

They head inside, are subjected to the usual jump scares, smoke and flashing lights, plastic skeletons popping up from trunks, and actors in zombie makeup bellowing and threatening to eat their brains. It's pleasantly startling; Nina isn't all that scared, since she has faced much worse on a regular basis, but it's enjoyable to scream and leap toward Matthias, who wraps both arms around her and stares around in valiant search of something to fight on her behalf. This is how things go until almost the end, where they enter a dark room and then really get gotten by some fucking terrifying ghoul rising up from nowhere. Even Ivan is heard to utter a yelp, jumping backward against Fedyor, who takes a swing and (fortunately) misses. Matthias, for his part, screams like a small girl and almost trips over his own feet bolting for the exit. Nina hides behind Ivan, Fedyor once more attempts to punch the ghost (or rather, poor haunted-house actor just doing his job), and chaos reigns for several minutes. Then they collect themselves and do their best to walk outside like three very tough Russians who were totally unaffected by cheap American scares. Nothing to see.

"Honey," Nina calls, looking around for Matthias. "Where are you?"

"Thank you for the valiant defense, Fedya," Ivan says to Fedyor. "But maybe don't get us sued by Westchester County, yes?"

"You're welcome." Fedyor pulls Ivan's arm over his shoulders and snuggles closer. "At least one of us had a sensible response."

Ivan snorts, but gazes at Fedyor with the adoring look he always gets when his husband fucks up everyone's shit, and Nina tracks down her husband, who is standing under a tree and doing his absolute best to look casual. "So, uh," Matthias says with a cough. "That was... fun."

Laughing, Nina links her arm through his and stands on her tiptoes to kiss his furiously blushing cheek. "Don't worry," she teases (and for that matter, lies, since this is the first thing she will tell Jesper and Inej on their FaceTime call tomorrow). "Your secret is safe with me."

[spooky season fic prompts]

[thatpaintedpony]

2021 Year in Review

2021 Year in Review

2021 . . . aah 2021. What to say about the Clusterfuck of a year part 2?

2021 came in with a shitty bang, as the Northern Beaches cluster slammed borders closed once more and I had to stay home instead of going to SA for Christmas. Another year of La Nina, so it was INCREDIBLY humid and sticky for January, and just generally very wet all around. I started playing Assassin’s Creed Origins to keep out of the heat (and would continue playing it for nearly 6 months lol).

On the pony front, it was very much business as usual, getting lessons, riding Sky. We were starting to work over poles a bit which was hilarious because she is a total clutz. We also got another voucher for a photoshoot with Lexi, so I decided I had better hop on Sky bareback before that, just to make sure she wouldn’t kill me. And she was . . . fine. Totally chill about it. Because she’s the best girl.

By this point I really was not riding Bob much at all, which suited him right down to the ground, he was just hanging in the paddock getting fat. I rode him a couple of times over the summer break, and he was a shithead and reminded me why I don’t ride him much anymore. But that’s okay, he’s retired so he gets that privilege.

We were supposed to have our photoshoot on 23rd Jan, but the world’s biggest storm rolled over about 30 minutes before and absolutely belted down rain, so we went to dinner instead. Isn’t La Nina fun? Luckily we managed to get it in two days later – actual sunshine this time! The ponies were both amazing, Lexi did a phenomenal job as usual. I was SO pleased with the results, they look incredible!

End of January saw me back in the office two days a week, which turned out to be a pretty great work/life balance that allowed me time to ride and enjoy my horses and freedom and still get to see people in the office.

At the start of Feb, we went to another HDC training day, and Sky was an absolute champ as usual. We were starting to really work on our canter work, canter transitions, counter canter and a little bit of lateral work. Having a full sized arena to play around in was awesome, and she always feels so good on the surface at SIEC. And she was just totally chill with being there now, no calling or carrying on at all.

February saw me finally able to make it to SA for a week, much delayed and with many covid tests, but things seemed to be going back to “normal” such as it was. I was back  to work for the Escape room, it was raining still all the time, but lockdowns were pretty much done and we were going places and doing things again! We were starting to make plans for the big Aussie horsblr meet up at Equitana – the tickets were bought, the hotel booked . . .

End of Feb I got a tattoo of my lovely ponies!

At the start of March we went to another HDC competition with the world’s best munchkin. Once more we totally blew the canter transition in the 1A (THREE TIMES) so we got really slammed for that and got a 60% for that, and then 64% for the 1B because I rode a bit of an overly safe test, but she was cool, calm and collected so I was really happy with her!

The weather was still shit, there were more floods (of course) in March, because you know, with no Covid to cancel things, we needed something else to go wrong! These are the 2020s, after all. Sky was of course absolutely feral when I was finally able to ride again, because 2 weeks of no work along with all that green grass = nutty pony. So we once more went through a bit of a “stage” about the canter transitions. Ie. Being a complete nutcase about it! This was probably the most reoccurring theme of this year.

April we finally made it to CDI at SIEC which we had planned to do last year but which was cancelled. Got to watch some fancy ponies being fancy and do some shopping. I held off from buying too much, looking forward to the Equitana shopping but . . . well.

May arrived, and with it the start of wintery weather. Not long after the 1 year anniversary since I bought Sky, I headed off to Galston dressage for my first entirely solo outing with Sky. It’s probably getting boring to hear but she was an absolute legend. The grounds were cramped and chaotic and she was just completely chill about it. We cracked 75% in the CU prelim 1A (I think the judge was marking kindly but even so, first time I’d ever ridden a test over 70%!) and then we got 64% in the Official 1B. We got another EOC in that one because of another blown canter transition but it was totally my fault this time.

Aaand that was the last comp we went to :/

We went to another training day right before my birthday and Chris rode Sky and she was perfect and I got to hop on Lacey and do some walk to canter transitions and laterals and that was awesome. But then…

With June came Delta. All of a sudden we went from almost total freedom to complete lockdown. HDC Championships: Cancelled. Equitana: Cancelled. We managed to squeeze in one last lesson at an arena but then everything was slammed shut. For the next 6 months. We went into Sydney’s longest lockdown since the start of the pandemic.

And that was pretty much our winter. Rain, mud, and covid. We didn’t go anywhere. We didn’t do anything. We had lessons, we started working on our lateral movements, and that was it until September when I finally got my vaccine and we started to get freedom again! 24th Sky turned 7 years old. She was going super, though we were still (again?) Having trouble with our canter transitions.

At the end of October we finally got off property again for a lesson in an indoor arena at Evans Park. We worked heaps on our canter, especially counter canter and counter-bending in the canter and she was amazing, as usual, if a bit spicy! We had another lesson in a different indoor at the start of November where we started to really work on laterals, building in shoulder-in to our work to help get her back with me a bit better. We also started learning travers a little bit with mixed success, but her novice-level work was starting to get a little stronger.

Then we finally got out to another training day and we did a pony swap! Sky got ridden by 4 different people and she was so solid and well behaved. Everyone was impressed with her efforts and I got to ride everyone else’s ponies as well and feel how some genuinely advanced work feels!

We were supposed to be going to two competitions in November but BOTH were cancelled because of the truly shitty weather. The insanity of things being cancelled for weather once we finally got out of lockdown was insane.

Then halfway through November Sky tweaked her back quite badly and was off work for two weeks, and then it rained so she was off for another half a week. We’ve had a slow, careful return to work since then, just taking it a bit easy with her as she gets stronger again.

Then right before leaving for SA for Christmas, I had a bit fitter come out and try some new bits on her. We think we might have a winner with an eggbutt bomber bit but we’ll have to try it out a bit longer when I get back from holidays.

And that’s it for 2021! It’s been a bit of a boring second half of the year, again, but hopefully we’ll be back stronger and better than ever for 2022. Maybe. One day we’ll get to compete again I guess?

[bigyack-com]

Australian Open Day 3 Live Updates:Barty powers through, Djokovic advances; Dmitrov ousted - tennis

Australian Open Day 3 Live Updates: Top seed Rafael Nadal turned on the style as he launched his bid for a record-equalling 20th Major title at the Australian Open on Tuesday, but falling star Maria Sharapova hit a career low. Australia’s Nick Kyrgios also cantered into the second round, but fourth seed Daniil Medvedev had to fight his way past American Frances Tiafoe in four sets. The third day promises some exciting contests as Novak Djokovic goes up against T Ito, while Ashleigh Barty will face P Hercog. Naomi Osaka and Roger Federer will be in action as well.Follow live updates of Australian Open Day 3 Live Updates: 13:55 hrs IST

Dmitrov crashes out

Tommy Paul comes up with the biggest win of his career as he sends packing Grigor Dmitrov in a five-set thriller. Paul won the match 7-6 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 (10-8) to enter the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. 13:01 hrs IST

Divij shines

India’s Divij Sharan advanced to the second round of men’s doubles event at the Australian Open after beating Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa along with his New Zealand partner Artem Sitak. Divij and Sitak needed an hour and 28 minutes to win the first-round match 6-4, 7-5 against their lower-ranked opponents. The pair won 69 per cent 1st serve points and hit 27 winners to get their Australian Open campaign going. 12:13 hrs IST

Djokovic vs Nishioka in third round

Defending champion Novak Djokovic entered the third round of the Australian Open after cruising past Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito. Djokovic needed just 95 minutes to advance as he defeated Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena. He will next face another Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka. 11:30 hrs IST

Gauff books Osaka date

Teenage sensation Coco Gauff survived a three-set thriller against Sorana Cirstea at the Australian Open on Wednesday to book a third-round showdown with defending champion Naomi Osaka for the second Grand Slam in a row. 10:18 hrs IST

Results on day 3

Results on day three of the Australian Open Grand Slam at Melbourne Park on Wednesday:Men’s singles2nd roundSam Querrey (USA) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x6) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) retiredGuido Pella (ARG x22) bt Gregoire Barrere (FRA) 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3Women’s singles1st roundSara Sorribes (ESP) bt Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1Anett Kontaveit (EST x28) bt Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-0, 6-2Iga Swiatek (POL) bt Timea Babos (HUN) 6-3, 6-2Carla Suarez (ESP) bt Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x11) 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (8/6)Heather Watson (GBR) bt Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x30) bt Nina Stojanovic (SRB) 6-1, 7-5Taylor Townsend (USA) bt Jessica Pegula (USA) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)Elise Mertens (BEL x16) bt Danka Kovinic (MNE) 6-2, 6-0Women’s singles2nd roundAshleigh Barty (AUS x1) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-1, 6-4Elena Rybakina (KAZ x29) bt Greet Minnen (BEL) 6-3, 6-4Alison Riske (USA x18) bt Lin Zhu (CHN) 6-3, 6-1Julia Goerges (GER) bt Petra Martic (CRO x13) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS x25) bt Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) 6-1, 6-3Petra Kvitova (CZE x7) bt Paula Badosa (ESP) 7-5, 7-5Naomi Osaka (JPN x3) bt Zheng Saisai (CHN) 6-2, 6-4Zhang Shuai (CHN) bt Caty McNally (USA) 6-2, 6-4Sofia Kenin (USA x14) bt Ann Li (USA) 6-1, 6-3Ons Jabeur (TUN) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) bt Dayana Yastremska (UKR x23) 7-5, 7-5 8:37 hrs IST

Tsitsipas’ opponent withdraws

Stefanos Tsitsipas marches on to the third round after his German opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew. 05:00 hrs IST

Australian Open Day 3 - Order of Play

ROD LAVER ARENAP. Badosa v P. Kvitova (7)A. Barty (1) v P. HercogT. Ito v N. Djokovic (2)T. Zidansek v S. Williams (8)F. Krajinovic v R. Federer (3)MARGARET COURT ARENAN. Osaka (3) v S. ZhengC. Wozniacki v D. Yastremska (23)T. Paul v G. Dimitrov (18)J. Thompson v F. Fognini (12)M. Keys (10) v A. RusMELBOURNE ARENAJ. Goerges v P. Martic (13)C. Gauff v S. CirsteaS. Tsitsipas (6) v P. KohlschreiberH. Hurkacz (31) v J. Millman1573 ARENAC. Suarez Navarro v A. Sabalenka (11)E. Mertens (16) v D. KovinicM. Berrettini (8) v T. SandgrenM. Mmoh v R. Bautista Agut (9)COURT 3A. Li v S. Kenin (14)E. Alexandrova (25) v B. KrejcikovaB. Paire (21) v M. CilicM. Polmans v D. Lajovic (24)COURT 8A. Sharma v A. Kontaveit (28)A. Riske (18) v L. ZhuD. Schwartzman (14) v A. Davidovich FokinaN. Hibino v M. Sakkari (22)COURT 12K. Pliskova v H. WatsonM. Inglis/K. McPhee v L. Kichenok (14)/Z. Yang (14)H. Kontinen/J. Struff v A. Seppi/L. SonegoD. Sharan/A. Sitak v P. Carreno Busta/J. SousaCOURT 19S. Sorribes Tormo v V. KudermetovaD. Evans (30) v Y. NishiokaC. Garin v M. Raonic (32)Q. Wang (27) v F. Ferro Read the full article

[gayhanguangjun]

Y'all almost lost me omg I fell off the horse I tucked my head and rolled away but if my foot had been stuck in the stirrup or if she stepped on me I coulda been saying goodnight We were trail riding and he asked if we wanted to canter and I said yeah and it was faster than I ever remember cantering and next thing I knew I was airborne, first time I ever fell off a horse!!!! I fell on my lower back and I was scared I had damaged my spinal cord or something bc I couldn't breath or make sound for about 30 seconds and then I couldn't see for like a minute or two after standing up, then for like 5 minutes everything looked like the "posterize" filter it was trippy But I'm ok now I'm just dazed Anyways my horses name is Nina and she's pregnant and she's sassy but I love her

[tsaritsa]

a strange fate with wandering limbs

this story can also be found on ff.net or ao3.

NEXT CHAPTER

On June 19th, Riza Hawkeye falls asleep at approximately 11.28pm. On June 20th, she doesn't wake up.

I came across a prompt that simply said ‘imagine one half of your otp dies’ and this is the result. This is easily one of the most difficult things I’ve written simply because I’ve killed Riza and she doesn’t deserve this. Each chapter will focus on one character in particular in the aftermath of her death and the lead-up to her funeral. I don’t know if I’ll write from Mustang’s perspective yet.

Title taken from Kimbra’s song Wandering Limbs.

warnings: major character death, a lot of sad feelings, mentions of suicide

Winry is putting the finishing touches on a cake for the new family that moved a few kilometres away when Edward answers the phone. Almost ten minutes pass before he walks into the kitchen, the colour completely gone from his face. 

“Captain Hawkeye’s dead,” he says finally, and Winry drops her piping bag onto the ground, lilac buttercream frosting flying everywhere.

“What?” she asks, moving from behind the kitchen bench to where he's sat down on the couch. “What do you mean she's dead?”

“They found her in bed,” he answers hoarsely, hardly noticing that she's taken his hand in hers and is gripping his fingers tightly. “She didn't turn up for work so they went to check on her and they just...found her.”

She sits there for a while with him, trying to process what seemed impossible – Captain Hawkeye was a person that simply could not die. Did not die. 

Was dead. 

“I should go to East,” Ed says eventually, sniffing and rubbing at his eyes. “The General- fuck, the General...”

“He didn't tell you?”

Ed shakes his head. “No, it was Lieutenant Fuery. I never even thought- fuck, I need to organise a ticket right now-”

“I’m coming with you,” Winry says softly, squeezing her husband’s hand. “You’re not doing this alone-”

“Who’s going to take care of Oscar and Nina-”

“I’ll call Keira, I’ve sat for her kids before, it’ll be fine-”

“The funeral's not until Thursday-”

“It doesn't matter when the funeral is, I’m coming with you to East and you're not saying no.” Winry interrupts firmly, fixing her husband with a stern expression. 

He stares at her, before his faces softens. “Thank you, Winry,” he says quietly, kissing her forehead gently and squeezing her hands briefly before letting go. 

She follows him onto the porch, where the tack and saddle are stored and watches as he prepares the horse. 

“Do you want me to call Al?” she asks as he settles himself into the saddle. 

A stricken look crosses Ed's face. "Fuck, I don't know if Lieutenant Fuery knew where to contact him. I...” he trails off, looking in the direction of the train station in the distance. “Can you call him? Tell him I’ll call him tonight if he's available.”

Winry nods, and strokes the mare’s neck. “Be safe,” she says softly, and watches as he canters down the lane. 

“Mummy?”

She turns with a practiced smile for her son. “What is it, Oscar?”

“Where’s daddy going?” Winry notices that his hands are covered in lilac buttercream. 

“The train station,” Winry replies, picking the boy up and walking back inside towards the kitchen. “Your dad and I have to go to East City this week.”

“Why?”

“Something very sad has happened,” she explains, setting him down by the kitchen bench and grabbing a wet cloth from the sink to wipe up the buttercream mess on the floor. “I don't think you remember her, but your father and I just found out a friend of ours has died. We're going to her funeral.”

“Is she on the board?”

Winry pauses in her cleaning up. “I think so,” she answers. “She has blonde hair like yours and she's wearing a blue uniform.”

Oscar walks out of the room for a few minutes before returning with a photograph of General Mustang and Captain Hawkeye, Ed's crudely drawn moustache still prominent. “Is it this lady?” he asks, pointing a buttercream covered finger at the picture. 

Winry wills herself not to break down in tears just yet. "Yes, that's her," she replies unevenly. 

Oscar looks at her for a moment before tugging on her apron. “Sit down,” he commands imperiously and Winry can't help but laugh a little. But she does as she's told and Oscar settles himself down in her lap and pats on her arms that naturally curl around him in a reassuring fashion. “She’s very pretty,” he says, cocking his head to the side to see the picture better. “But her hair looks different to mine. It looks more like daddy’s.”

Winry presses a soft kiss into her son’s hair.

“When will you and daddy leave?” Oscar asks. 

“Tomorrow, probably,” she answers, feeling her eyes prickling and her throat beginning to close up. “You and Nina will go spend some time with Mrs McKinnon, okay?”

“Okay!” he says brightly and it is then that Winry breaks down, trembling and sobbing into her son’s hair. Oscar is a little confused, but strokes her hair softly and tries to sing the lullabies that she sings to him when the thunderstorms get too loud. 

[initiumseries]

I’m not American so idk how ratings work but idk if it’s gonna get cancelled. Frankly it should bc Ninas the only one promoting it and it’s not going to win awards any time soon so they might as well move on. But it got a 1.2 18-49 for the pilot and the second episode got 1.0. What does that mean? Is it good or bad? The reviews were awful though. One mentioned how they use trauma as humour like her dad didnt want kids and didn’t let her do ballet bc he didn’t want her to be a stripper. 3/3

“Okay so I watched the fam pilot, and tbh I couldn’t really get through it. Every joke was a rip off or was just stupid, e.g “my fiancé” “I didn’t know you speak French”. The only character that was interesting was the little sister, tbh it should have cantered around her and not Clem (ninas character, I hate that name). The premise doesn’t make sense bc she leaves her dad bc she doesn’t like him but what’s stopping her from going to her mom, other than she doesn’t want to move state. Idk if they’re going to mention mother more or not. The laugh track was frankly annoying bc it was loud and obnoxious. Also, I have a theory that whoever’s marketing this show has clicked on that Nina isn’t going to bring in fans which is why they’re resorting to using her dad (Gary Cole) in the trailers. A lot of the comments I’ve seen have mentioned him so idk if they’re going to add more episodes with him or they’re just getting the ratings so it doesn’t get cancelled. I’m not American so idk how ratings work but idk if it’s gonna get cancelled. Frankly it should bc Ninas the only one promoting it and it’s not going to win awards any time soon so they might as well move on. But it got a 1.2 18-49 for the pilot and the second episode got 1.0. What does that mean? Is it good or bad? The reviews were awful though. One mentioned how they use trauma as humour like her dad didnt want kids and didn’t let her do ballet bc he didn’t want her to be a stripper. 3/3 “.

Wow...uhhh...there’s a LOT to unpack here lol. I’m not sure how ballet = stripping for these people but okay. Sounds like a man wrote that. Yea this all sounds like your typical lazy, sexist, gonna be racist eventually I’m sure, “comedy”. I’m not American either but Charmed clocked around a 0.37 or something also so I’m not sure what any of that means rating wise. I don’t really understand that system but I guess, juxtaposed against this, a 1.0 is poor but not horrid? Who knows, maybe someone can fill us in. Anyway all of this sounds really cringy and terrible and thank you for taking one for the team and watching this trash heap. It sounds like it probably won’t last too long, Gary Cole or not. 

[a-million-neon-rainbows]

Eight Years of Game of Thrones Audition Secrets with Casting Director Nina Gold

From unexpected dance moves to heartbreaking re-casts and the ones that got away.

by JOANNA ROBINSON

Nina Gold...casting director. An industry veteran and three-time Emmy winner (two of them for Thrones), Gold has considered actors for roles as varied as a Dothraki and a White Walker. She’s also handpicked actors like Sophie Turnerand Kit Harington and turned them into stars. With the show’s seventh season approaching, and even more actors preparing to enter the spotlight after Gold chose them, the casting director got on the phone to look back at the decisions she’s made . . . and, yes, a few regrets.

THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY

“I auditioned for Game of Thrones seven times!” Outlander heartthrob Sam Heughan told Vulture in 2014. “I’m sure that’s an exaggeration,” Gold laughs now. But Heughan has total recall: “I auditioned for Renly, Loras, some of the members of the Night’s Watch. And I’d always get so close! I’d be like, ‘Guys, just give me a sword!’”

O.K., Gold didn’t spot Sam as the kilted diamond in the rough he was. But what about someone like Gillian Anderson? “She is about one of my favorite actresses,” Gold says. But for Anderson, the feeling wasn’t entirely mutual. “My 18-year-old cannot believe that I would turn down Game Of Thrones or Downton—things she loves to watch,” Anderson told The Daily Mail in 2013. “But if I am going to be spending that amount of time working on something, I would rather be working with a director like Martin Scorsese.”

GET THEM WHILE THEY’RE YOUNG

Thrones has a reputation for casting incredible young performers. Without the likes of Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Jack Gleeson, and more, the show about Stark and Lannister children could never have gotten off the ground. You can see Williams and Turner auditioning in the clip above, in a scene George R.R. Martin himself has said he regrets cutting from the show. Gold says casting the original kids was a process that took “a long time” and that she “looked all over the place.” The casting director has since refined her technique for finding young talent, and cites The Television Workshop—a “great young actor’s workshop in Nottingham”—as a solid source for picks like Season 6 scene-stealer Bella Ramsey (a.k.a. Lyanna Mormont).

SOMETIMES THERE’S NO AUDITION AT ALL

Dig all you like: you’ll never find footage of either Sean Bean or Peter Dinklageauditioning for Game of Thrones, because they never had to. Bean and Dinklage were the first and only picks for the roles of Ned Stark and Tyrion Lannister. “We didhave a nice lunch with Sean Bean,” Gold recalls. Some of the bigger names who are joining the series nowadays also don’t have to audition. Thrones once boasted a cast of largely unknowns, but Gold has started to pepper more famous names like Jonathan Pryce, Ian McShane, Max von Sydow, and Jim Broadbent into the mix.

“We’ve got to the place where it doesn't unbalance it—the other actors have become stars in their own right—and we haven't overdone it,” Gold explains. “It’s quite a subtle smattering. We’re not casting them because they’re names or they’re not names, we’ve just been casting them because they seem like they’d be really great in the part. And when you say, ‘What about Max von Sydow?’ and [showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] really respond to it, once you start thinking about it, it’s just kind of irresistible.”

HOW DO YOU CAST WHEN THERE’S NO DIALOGUE?

“Oh, Hodor, poor Hodor,” Gold murmurs when the subject of Kristian Nairn’sgentle giant comes up. “Hodor should be the most impossible part to cast.” While searching for the trusty Stark servant, Gold recalled Nairn from his audition for Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz. (Another Thrones star, Rory McCann, eventually got that monosyllabic part.) Nairn says that Gold asked for tape with only “fifteen minute’s notice.” The Irish actor crashed a friend’s 40th birthday party in order to borrow a child for the tape, and got around the challenges of a largely dialogue-free audition by cantering around someone’s yard with the young boy, shouting Hodor with as much inflection as he could muster. As for Sam Coleman, the teenaged actor who played Hodor in Season 6, Gold says finding him was just “an incredible stroke of luck. He somehow walked through the door. And you thought, my God, this is the most lucky day of all time.”

Read more at source

[viralhottopics]

‘Unfit’ council home payouts and legal fees hit 35m in five years – BBC News

Image copyright Dan Kitwood

Image caption A growing number of claims are being brought by tenants against local councils because of poor housing conditions

Councils in England have paid out more than 35m in compensation and legal fees in the past five years to tenants living in “unfit” council homes.

Nearly 11,000 disrepair claims have been brought against councils for issues such as damp, leaks and damage.

Since 2011/12 there has been a 68% increase in the number of disrepair claims brought against councils.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils were doing a “great job in difficult circumstances”.

Anne Asquith took Leeds City Council to court claiming the authority had failed to adequately maintain the home she was renting from them.

She said: “The damp in this house is ridiculous, we’ve got holes in the walls upstairs in the bathroom and we’ve got kitchen units falling off the wall.

“I’ve got two children both who have developed breathing problems because they’ve had to live in such a damp house.”

Image copyright BBC News

Image caption Anne Asquith says her son has developed breathing problems because of the damp that exists in her council home

Image copyright BBC News

Image caption An investigation by BBC Yorkshire found tenants living in council homes in Leeds with rising damp and other major disrepair issues

Leeds City Council said that in the year 2015/16 it resolved 440 claims for disrepair, primarily relating to damp, which equated to less than 1% of its total stock.

A spokesperson said: “The age and character of the council’s homes does make it difficult to avoid damp but we have invested more than 76m over the last five years in measures specifically designed to tackle the issue.

“However, from time to time there are instances of damp disrepair and when this does occur, the council endeavours to respond effectively and efficiently to repair requests from its tenants.”

Anyone who rents a home in England can bring a claim against their landlord if they believe they have failed to undertake basic repairs to key aspects of the property, such as the exterior walls, roof or electrics and plumbing.

When a tenant rents a property directly from a local council, the authority is responsible for carrying out these basic repairs.

@-webkit-keyframes spinnerRotate { from{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);} to{-webkit-transform:rotate(360deg);} } @-moz-keyframes spinnerRotate { from{-moz-transform:rotate(0deg);} to{-moz-transform:rotate(360deg);} } @-ms-keyframes spinnerRotate { from{-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);} to{-ms-transform:rotate(360deg);} } .bbc-news-visual-journalism-loading-spinner { display: block; margin: 10px auto; width: 33px; height: 33px; max-width: 33px; -webkit-animation-name: spinnerRotate; -webkit-animation-duration: 5s; -webkit-animation-iteration-count: infinite; -webkit-animation-timing-function: linear; -moz-animation-name: spinnerRotate; -moz-animation-duration: 5s; -moz-animation-iteration-count: infinite; -moz-animation-timing-function: linear; -ms-animation-name: spinnerRotate; -ms-animation-duration: 5s; -ms-animation-iteration-count: infinite; -ms-animation-timing-function: linear; background-image: url('data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhIQAhALMAAMPDw/Dw8BAQECAgIICAgHBwcKCgoDAwMFBQULCwsGBgYEBAQODg4JCQkAAAAP///yH/C1hNUCBEYXRhWE1QPD94cGFja2V0IGJlZ2luPSLvu78iIGlkPSJXNU0wTXBDZWhpSHpyZVN6TlRjemtjOWQiPz4gPHg6eG1wbWV0YSB4bWxuczp4PSJhZG9iZTpuczptZXRhLyIgeDp4bXB0az0iQWRvYmUgWE1QIENvcmUgNS4zLWMwMTEgNjYuMTQ1NjYxLCAyMDEyLzAyLzA2LTE0OjU2OjI3ICAgICAgICAiPiA8cmRmOlJERiB4bWxuczpyZGY9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzE5OTkvMDIvMjItcmRmLXN5bnRheC1ucyMiPiA8cmRmOkRlc2NyaXB0aW9uIHJkZjphYm91dD0iIiB4bWxuczp4bXA9Imh0dHA6Ly9ucy5hZG9iZS5jb20veGFwLzEuMC8iIHhtbG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0iaHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1wOkNyZWF0b3JUb29sPSJBZG9iZSBQaG90b3Nob3AgQ1M2IChNYWNpbnRvc2gpIiB4bXBNTTpJbnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOjFFOTcwNTgzMDlCMjExRTQ4MDU3RThBRkIxMjYyOEYyIiB4bXBNTTpEb2N1bWVudElEPSJ4bXAuZGlkOjFFOTcwNTg0MDlCMjExRTQ4MDU3RThBRkIxMjYyOEYyIj4gPHhtcE1NOkRlcml2ZWRGcm9tIHN0UmVmOmluc3RhbmNlSUQ9InhtcC5paWQ6MUU5NzA1ODEwOUIyMTFFNDgwNTdFOEFGQjEyNjI4RjIiIHN0UmVmOmRvY3VtZW50SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6MUU5NzA1ODIwOUIyMTFFNDgwNTdFOEFGQjEyNjI4RjIiLz4gPC9yZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24+IDwvcmRmOlJERj4gPC94OnhtcG1ldGE+IDw/eHBhY2tldCBlbmQ9InIiPz4B//79/Pv6+fj39vX08/Lx8O/u7ezr6uno5+bl5OPi4eDf3t3c29rZ2NfW1dTT0tHQz87NzMvKycjHxsXEw8LBwL++vby7urm4t7a1tLOysbCvrq2sq6qpqKempaSjoqGgn56dnJuamZiXlpWUk5KRkI+OjYyLiomIh4aFhIOCgYB/fn18e3p5eHd2dXRzcnFwb25tbGtqaWhnZmVkY2JhYF9eXVxbWllYV1ZVVFNSUVBPTk1MS0pJSEdGRURDQkFAPz49PDs6OTg3NjU0MzIxMC8uLSwrKikoJyYlJCMiISAfHh0cGxoZGBcWFRQTEhEQDw4NDAsKCQgHBgUEAwIBAAAh+QQAAAAAACwAAAAAIQAhAAAE0vDJSScguOrNE3IgyI0bMIQoqUoF6q5jcLigsCzwJrtCAeSjDwoRAI4aLoNxxBCglEtJoFGUKFCEqCRxKkidoIP20aoVDaifFvB8XEGDseQEUjzoDq+87IijEnIPCSlpgWwhDIVyhyKKY4wOD3+BgyF3IXpjfHFvfYF4dmghalGQSgFgDmJaM2ZWWFEEKHYSTW1AojUMFEi3K7kgDRpCIUQkAcQgCDqtIT2kFgWpYVUaOzQ2NwvTIQfVHHw04iCZKibjNAPQMB7oDgiAixjzBOsbEQA7'); }

Click to see content: disrepair_claims_130217

BBC News sent Freedom of Information requests to all 325 councils in England and 86% responded, with the data showing that the number of disrepair claims being made has been steadily increasing.

In total 10,930 disrepair claims have been brought against local authorities since 2011/12.

About one in every 20 homes in England is still rented directly from a local council, with the latest government figures showing there are 1.6m council properties still in existence.

However, half of the councils that responded to the BBC’s request for information said they had transferred their housing stock to a housing association or arms-length company.

Seventy-five local authorities disclosed they had paid out money to deal with disrepair claims totalling 35.4m.

Southwark and Lambeth Councils paid out the most in compensation and legal costs since 2011/12, with both authorities paying out more than 10m each.

@-webkit-keyframes spinnerRotate { from{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);} to{-webkit-transform:rotate(360deg);} } @-moz-keyframes spinnerRotate { from{-moz-transform:rotate(0deg);} to{-moz-transform:rotate(360deg);} } @-ms-keyframes spinnerRotate { from{-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);} to{-ms-transform:rotate(360deg);} } .bbc-news-visual-journalism-loading-spinner { display: block; margin: 10px auto; width: 33px; height: 33px; max-width: 33px; -webkit-animation-name: spinnerRotate; -webkit-animation-duration: 5s; -webkit-animation-iteration-count: infinite; -webkit-animation-timing-function: linear; -moz-animation-name: spinnerRotate; -moz-animation-duration: 5s; -moz-animation-iteration-count: infinite; -moz-animation-timing-function: linear; -ms-animation-name: spinnerRotate; -ms-animation-duration: 5s; -ms-animation-iteration-count: infinite; -ms-animation-timing-function: linear; background-image: url('data:image/gif;base64,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'); }

Click to see content: disrepair_councils_130217

Councils often find themselves paying out more in legal fees than they do in compensation, as local authorities are often told they have to pay the legal costs of both parties should they lose the case.

For example, Birmingham City Council paid out 200,000 in compensation to tenants over the last five years but spent an additional 1.5m on legal costs.

Nina Patel, from Jackson Canter Solicitors, rejects the idea that lawyers are cashing in on the problem.

“This is not about money and profit, it’s about the condition of the properties being rented out by councils,” she said.

“Councils are very quick to charge rents and evict our clients if they fall behind with their payments, so equally why can’t these tenants go and get legal advice if the repairs they are asking to be done aren’t being carried out?”

Image copyright BBC News

Image caption Lawyer Nina Patel says more council tenants are now becoming aware of their rights and how they can claim compensation

Local authorities across England have faced sustained cuts to their overall budgets in recent years.

However, the latest local government budget data shows that the amount earmarked for maintaining and repairing council properties has remained relatively stable at about 1.7bn a year.

Councillor Martin Tett, LGA housing spokesman, said: “The number of ‘non-decent’ council homes has plummeted in the last 20 years from 746,000 in 2006 to 80,000 in 2016.

“This is a 90% drop and shows councils are doing a great job in difficult circumstances to ensure homes are at a decent standard.”

He added: “Councils desperately need the powers and access to funding to improve existing housing stock, replace homes and reinvest in building more of the genuine affordable homes our communities desperately need.”

Additional reporting by Anna Crossley and Nicola Hudson

Related Topics

Leeds

Read more: http://bbc.in/2lMUdx6

from ‘Unfit’ council home payouts and legal fees hit 35m in five years – BBC News

[fuglyhorsehypocrite-blog1]

It’s Brokering—No Matter WHO Is Doing It

Today’s posting is NOT directed at the people who are featured by http://www.meadowlarkfarm.biz .  Quite frankly, we like their site.  We see it as a valuable service they are providing to match people who want a particular type of horse to people who want to find a new home for that same kind of horse.  The fact they do it as a free service is really nice.  Other sites charge for photo ads but apparently here its totally free.  Later, if they decide to make a buck by charging for premium ads or video clips or highlighted ad, that quite frankly would be okay too.

However, we do have a problem with the hypocrisy of THIS site being granted the status of “Miss Fugly Approved” while others are slammed for pretty much doing the same thing.  It’s a problem.  And this is why:

1.  The mares are being “sold” by their owners.  Yet, Miss Fulgy doesn’t see this as a problem because they are registered TB broodmares.  But time and time again, people on other online equine classifieds as well as on CL are slammed for selling their horses.  Why is it ok for these TB broodmares owners to sell them (many do not have prices listed—-we saw one for $1000) but it is not okay for other people to sell their horses?  We want an explanation

2.  Why are TB broodmares more “worthy” of getting homes than let’s say horses standing on a feed lot?  A few of these mares are listed as “breeding sound” and are coming from breeders.  WHAT?   WHAT?  Did we just read this correctly?  Miss Fugly is promoting a site that has breeders, SELLING their stock and hawking some of these mares as breeders.   We are sorry but this is damn wrong.  If these people are allowed to breed their horses, sell them, and even promote them as broodmares (in our opinion when someone states “breeding sound” it’s suggesting to the new owner to buy the horse to breed) then EVERY OTHER PERSON WHO HAS A HORSE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO SELL THE HORSE TOO!

3. This site can offer a service of hooking sellers up with buyers but an organization like _________ Feed Lot Horses is the devil incarnate because????  We are sure there is some big fat bogus reason that Miss Fugly will give and all the sheep will nod their pathetic little rabid heads in agreement as if to say “oh yes oh yeah, you are so right”  But this is our read on it:  the owner of the FL horse is a bad man.  He sells horses for slaughter so he can make money. Therefore, anyone who facilitates putting money in his pocket is a bad person too, especially if they make a buck or two on the sale.    Well BOO HOO, Miss Fugly and the rabid sheep, in AMERICA which is where these FL are, we have this little thing called “free enterprise” and part of the joys of living in our country is you are allowed to make money.  HOLY BATTURDS, Batman.  It gets better, sidekicks.  Even if you don’t like how someone is making their money, as long as they aren’t breaking the law, they still have the right to make a living.  We don’t like that tobacco companies are allowed to sell cancer sticks but that doesn’t mean we can stop them from making their money.  We don’t like that Vodka is sold to people with alcoholism—-but again, just because we don’t like it, doesn’t mean we can stop them from doing it.  We may not like the end result of where the horses are going (and we are neither supporting nor opposing slaughter at this time) but at this time, what the FL owner is doing is not illegal and he has the right to make a living.

4.  How about this for hypocrisy?  We have Miss Fugly who is screaming about overcrowding and responsible horse ownership yet she is singing the praises of a site that from scanning the ads are selling their horses AND promoting the years of breeding left on these mares.  Please remember, while we see NOTHING wrong with selling a horse, the hypocrisy is that Miss Fugly is actually perfectly fine with these owners getting rid of their horse and making a profit.  We are damn sure she’s going to say in her defense “well, their ad clearly says to a good home only” and when one of those mares ends up a few years down the road on a feed lot, nearly dead from being overbred, she will be the first one in line pointing the finger and screaming her infamous “asshat”.

Normally, as most of our regular readers know, we usually do not post names, etc.    However, THIS is quite interesting so we just had to point it out.  It’s the icing on the hypocrisy cupcake.  This is from the “links & stuff” from the TB site.  Please make careful note of the very last site they provide you a link to:

Links and Stuff There are so many people out there doing great things! For a wonderful success story about reschooling an older mare, be sure to read

Nina’s Story

.  Barbara Brant was kind of enough to contact me about her blog, and I am pleased to include it here. This project would never have gotten started without the support and encouragement from my friends at

CANTER

, the Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Horses. Gail Vacca is helping many thoroughbreds in Illinois at the

Illinois Equine Humane Center

.   Although I know him by reputation only, Joe at

Thoroughbred Friends

in California has been doing such great work placing OTTBs over the years!  

Fugly Horse of the Day

, although sometimes controversial, has done great work helping horses.  Her blog changed my mind about breeding and selling horses, opening my eyes to the darker side of the horse industry.  Thank you for featuring this site!Well, isn’t that convenient?  Would we be considered out of line to ask if perhaps this whole thing was planned between the owner of the Tb site and Miss Fugly??? On that note, we take back what we said before about really liking the site.  It’s just another rabid sheep in wolf’s clothing and they are far more dangerous than any lone hunter. ”Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” — Matthew 7:15