Category Archives: New Utopia

11 May 2022, 14:21

Who is starring in Conversations with Friends and how do you recognise the cast?

After the huge success of Normal People back in 2020, Sally Rooney is back with another adaptation.

Conversations With Friends is based on the 2017 book of the same name and is described as a coming of age drama.

The story follows 21-year-old student Frances as she navigates a series of relationships, including with her ex-girlfriend turned best friend, Bobbi.

But who is in the cast of Conversations with Friends and why do you recognise them? Heres what we know

Alison Oliver is playing the main role of Frances.

She is fairly new to acting, but has previously had roles in Fame Dogs, Woggie, and Home Brewed.

Frances former lover and closest friend is played by Sasha Lane.

You might recognise her for starring as Star in American Honey, while she has also starred in Utopia, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Loki.

Actor Nick is played by Joe Alwyn who has previously starred in The Favourite, A Christmas Carol, Long Halftime Walk and Mary Queen of Scots.

You might also recognise him as Taylor Swifts boyfriend.

Jemima Kirke is playing journalist Melissa who previously starred as Hope Haddon in Sex Education.

Her other credits include Girls, Maniac and Untogether.

Sallay Garnett grew up between Maynooth, Ireland, and West Africa.

She starred as Mary Magdalene in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican in 2019 and is also known for her roles in A Girl from Mogadishu and Striking Out.

Tommy Tiernan is best known for hosting The Tommy Tiernan Show and for playing Gerry in Derry Girls.

Caoimhe Coburn Gray's credits include LOVE+ with Malaprop Theatre Company and the short film Flicker.

Kerry Fox previously played author Janet Frame in the movie An Angel at My Table directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and Television Awards.

Justine Mitchell is known for Your Bad Self (2010), Amber (2014) and Pure (2019).

See the original post here:

Conversations with Friends cast: Who is in the new drama and where have you seen them before? - Heart

Welcome to Fix It, our series examining projects we love save for one tiny change we wish we could make.

For a movie called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we sure saw a lot of madness but very little of the multiverse.

In the latest entry into the MCU, Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) fights to save America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). America has the incredible power to travel through the multiverse, only she's unable to control it.

One of the movie's most fun visual sequences occurs when one of America's uncontrolled multiverse jumps takes her and Stephen through a series of different universes. These include one where everything is animated and one where everything is just... paint. After that montage, Stephen and America find themselves on Earth-838. From there, the movie splits most of its remaining runtime between that universe and the "original" Marvel universe: Earth-616.

Instead of breaking the multiverse wide open, Multiverse of Madness limits itself. What could have been a chance for Marvel to stretch its imagination falls flat, with the exciting possibility of the multiverse reduced to two possibilities: New York, and New York... but with flowers.

We're already extremely familiar with Earth-616. We've spent over 20 movies and several TV series exploring it. So let's talk about Earth-838. It's got a few quirks separating it from Earth-616: Pizza comes in ball form, people go on red and stop on green, everyone wears dark clothing and hats, and everything is covered in flowers, suggesting this New York is some kind of eco-utopia. Oh, and in this universe, they have memory machines that broadcast your recollections to anyone who may be walking by, just in case you're looking for some handy-dandy exposition dumps.

These things certainly differentiate Earth-838 from Earth-616 visually, but we never find out enough about this universe to understand why these changes may exist, or why they matter at all. It quickly becomes clear that Earth-838 is less a new sandbox to play in it than it is an efficient way to introduce the Illuminati outside of Earth-616 and its canon. The multiverse shouldn't just be a one-way ticket to cameo town: It should be an exciting and meaningful expansion of the world.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Xochitl Gomez, and Rachel McAdams in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."Credit: Marvel Studios 2022

Even when we do learn about changes between Earth-838 and Earth-616, they're always in relation to the Avengers and their battle against Thanos. There's a disappointing lack of imagination here, and an inability to look beyond Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The multiverse is infinite, yet all the movie cares about is what superheroes are like in different universes. Even then, the differences tend to the underwhelming. You're telling me that all that separates Earth-616's Doctor Strange from his multiversal counterparts is a ponytail or a longer beard? Come on, we've seen Frog Thor and Alligator Loki we know things can get much weirder. Plus, thanks to Zombie Strange, we know the movie is capable of getting weirder.

My desire for weirdness and more glimpses of the multiverse no doubt stems from the recent release of Everything Everywhere All At Once, which delves into the concept of the multiverse in a far more satisfying way than Multiverse of Madness. In Everything Everywhere All At Once, action plays out across multiple universes, not just two. Every universe has a distinct feel to it and its own arc. Many are delightfully outlandish: In one universe, people have hot dog fingers. In another, sentient rocks with googly eyes carry out a heartfelt conversation.

Throughout Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I kept wishing it would engage with the true potential of the multiverse in even one-tenth of the same way that Everything Everywhere All At Once does. Relegating the sheer awesomeness of infinite universes to a quick montage early on simply isn't enough. If anything, it feels like the movie is just ticking a cursory box to say, "see, there are more universes" before jumping back into its main plot, designed to keep Phase 4 on track.

If done right, the multiverse would have opened up the world of Marvel. Instead, its squandered potential reminds us just how narrow the focus of the MCU is.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theaters.

More here:

'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' pales in comparison to 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' - Mashable

For 20 years in New England, Tom Brady was the ultimate team-first guy. He constantly signed cap-friendly deals that allowed the Patriots dynasty to roll on.

Guess what, nice guys dont always finish last, because Tommy Boy, your ship (more accurately, probably a yacht) has come in!

Fox Sports announced Tuesday that when Tom Brady retires he is going to become their lead NFL analyst, inking a 10-year, $375 million deal. Fun stat, Tom Brady has earned $333 million on the field in his 22-year career. Thats a helluva retirement job.

Here are some other staggering quick outs about Bradys move to the booth.

$37.5 million annually is more than Tom Brady has made in any season of his 23-year career, save for 2021 when he made $39 million. Hes due $30 million in 2022, so the Fox gig would technically be a promotion. If there is such a thing as a promotion from being Tom Brady on a football field.

The quick, lazy comparison made by many on Tuesday was you know, Joe Montana tried to broadcast, and he wasnt very good, why does Fox think that Bradys worth this money? Because it doesnt matter if hes good. CBS paid Tony Romo $18 million, and we know hes not good. ESPN backed up a similarly sized Brinks truck to Troy Aikmans doorstep, and though hes come a long way during his career at Fox, nobody is speaking his name in the same sentence as John Madden or Merlin Olsen. The money doesnt matter because Fox needs a splash. People are going to watch football games regardless of the broadcast team, but whether hes good, bad or bad or Collinsworth, Tom Brady the announcer is going to be water cooler conversation. (Dated reference, I guess the discourse would happen now on Twitter? People bottle their own water and tote it around these days from what Ive seen.) The last word on performance goes to Nick Fitzy Stevens.

If we get vanilla presser deferential TB12? Meh.

If we get Im the baddest motherfker on the planet Brady? Hell be great.

What do you think if youre Tony Romo? What do you think if youre Troy Aikman? Here people thought your deals were totally off the Richter scale and Tom Brady gets $20 million more. And he doesnt get it now, its bread on a windowsill, his, whenever he wants it. What about the Mannings? You have a year of the Manning-cast, you work from home, people think Eli is nerdly funny. And now the countdown is on until Tom Brady not only moves into your neighborhood, but hes apparently bulldozing your McMansions and building his own pliability utopia on top of them.

What does this mean for the duration of Tom Bradys playing career? Most pundits seem to think that this meant Brady would play one more season and move up to the booth. That may be. This is a fascinating turn of events for Brady. I never saw this for him. I saw a Michael Jordan-style post career. Clothing line, maybe eventually ownership, but definitely not coaching and any regular gig that would weigh him down. You know, like broadcasting the 4:25 p.m. game every week. But I guess he has $375 million reasons to say why not.

My initial reaction was I guess this puts an end to the Brady to Miami for an ownership stake hypothesis. Some have agreed: Jeff Darlington and Rich Eisen came to a similar conclusion. While others compared him to Dwyane Wade in that Wade is apparently an analyst somewhere and also apparently owns a piece of the Utah Jazz. The fact that I wasnt totally aware of either fact makes me think that comparing Tom Brady to Mr. Wade might be akin to apples and oranges. I want the Brady to Miami thing to go away. Maybe when hes retired, if he wants a stake of the team and that isnt seen as a conflict of interest, fine. (How could it not be, youre literally meeting with coaches and players on your opponent on a weekly basis under the guise of broadcast preparation. That feels like something the NFL would like to avoid.) Just like Stanley would do anything to take points away from Dwight during Beach Day, Ill do anything to keep TB12 out of South Beach.

Brady will be fine in the booth. Hes a hard worker, hes a capable speaker who understands the game. If he cuts loose, hell be great. If he tries to play it safe, hell get crushed. There will be no neutrality on Bradys broadcasting performance. I would imagine that after 22 years of gridiron dominance there are some trolls out there sharpening their knives to take him down a peg or two in something hes new at. Brady will be a must see, when and if he ever ascends to the booth. As we know with Tom Brady, things can change quickly.

More articles from the BDN

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Don't listen to the trolls. Tom Brady will be fine in the broadcast booth. - Bangor Daily News

Special to Seacoastonline| Portsmouth Herald

KITTERY, Maine Seacoast Maritime Charters, in conjunction with Star Island Corporation,announces a new offering for area residents and guests.

For the 2022 season, guests are now welcome to ride the mail boat to Star Island at the Isles of Shoals. Subject to availability and by prior reservation only, members of the public may ride the M/V Utopia and the M/V Shining Star on scheduled daily runs to supply the Oceanic Hotel on the historic island, considered by many to be the unofficial capital of the Isles of Shoals.

Star Island supports a population of up to 400people in the summer. Little-changed since its heyday in earlier centuries,Star Island is known for its sustainability program and for having the largest off-grid solar power array in New England. These leisurely informal trips provide an insiders view into the comings and goings of island life, and are a fascinating and unique way to experience the Isles of Shoals.

On a typical trip, guests will ride out with mail, food, freight and whatever else is headed out to the island that day- along with commuting island staff, hotel guests and volunteers. Some trips include a stop at the local lobster wharf to pick up the evenings meal.

In summer, coastal weather is generally calmest on the morning trips. On the way, out we typically see seals, porpoises and the occasional whalein addition to gannets, loons and a variety of other birds, including bald eagles. We will most often pass close to working fishermen and commercial traffic navigating the Piscataqua River. The run to the Isles of Shoals takes about an hour. Guests are welcome to engage in conversation with the crew, help navigate the boat or simply enjoy the ocean breezes and the sunshine sparkling on the water.

Once at the island, visitors have the opportunity for a 45 minute walk ashore (morning trips only), a self-guided tour of beautiful Star Island (dont miss a peak into the historic stone chapel) while the vessel is unloaded and readied for the return trip.

On the return trip back to America (as the original Isles of Shoalers would say) the passenger list could include island staff and guests as well as mail, luggage, recycling, empty fuel tanks and the occasional surprise. We have hauled everything from pianos to palm trees and many things in between.

Our regular morning trips run from late June to September, leaving Portsmouth at 7:30 a.m., and returning before 11 a.m., on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Every Tuesday afternoon in summer there is an expanded trip which includes a guided stopover at Appledore Island (or an afternoon at Star Island) and a tour of the grey seal colony on neighboring Duck Island. This trip departs Portsmouth at 1:20 p.m., returning to the dock at around 6 p.m.

Other Mail Run trips are available throughout the season from April to October andthere is often room for guests. These trips sometimes have a quick turnaround, and do not always allow for island walks. Guests are welcome on all of these runs, space permitting. Call for off-season availability.

Call Seacoast Maritime Charters to learn about available trips and to reserve a space at 207-337-0446. Last minute reservations are encouraged, as long as there is room on the boat.

The service helps to support the non-profit Star Island Corporation, which maintains the island and offers it to the public for visits like these.

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Star Island Mail Boat now welcoming passengers to Isles of Shoals - Seacoastonline.com

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With the worlds biggest cruise ship having recently set sail with passengers for the very first time heres what those waiting to board Wonder of the Seas can expect.

Having reported a few months ago that the ship was due to launch back in March, it has since completed its maiden voyage sailing around both the Eastern and Western sides of the Caribbean on 7-night cruises.

And, with Wonder of The Seas having recently arrived in Europe with the ship set to sail in the Mediterranean throughout the summer months many will be wondering what it is actually like on board this monster-sized vessel.

Well, you are in luck as throughout this article we will take a look at what the ship offers when it comes to places to wine and dine, relax, keep fit as well as the variety of entertainment choices on offer to passengers.

Its not the first time that one of Royal Caribbeans fleet has earned the title of the worlds biggest cruise ship with its Symphony of the Seas having previously held it.

In fact, with Wonder of the Seas now in operation the company now owns the worlds five largest ships with each of them able to accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers at any one time.

So, how big exactly is Wonder of the Seas?

Measuring in at a mammoth 1,118 feet (362m) in length and weighing in at 236,857 tonnes Wonder of the Seas spans across 18 decks, making it possible to play host to a maximum capacity of 6,988 passengers.

And, this number does not even include crew members with the ship also having enough space to accommodate up to 2,300 cruise ship staff.

Royal Caribbeans newest addition Wonder of the Seas features a brand new neighborhood on board, which spans over two of the ships decks.

Named the Suite Neighborhood, passengers are able to stay at one of its 188 suites on offer, as well as sit back and relax at one of the neighborhoods bars and restaurants or soak up the atmosphere at its freshly designed sun deck and infinity-style plunge pool.

The ship also offers seven other neighborhoods to visit on board with each providing their own unique options for drinking and dining in along with a variety of entertainment to enjoy.

With nearly 3000 cabins on board Wonder of the Seas 2,867 to be precise there are a selection of different rooms that can be booked by cruise-goers.

This includes the following staterooms:

All rooms offer occupants the chance to connect to WiFi, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of the ships room service options and spa-like services.

With 20 different restaurants to choose from, you are certainly not going to find it a difficult task to find somewhere to eat or drink when on board Wonder of the Seas with the ship offering all types of cuisine.

Whether youre looking to eat at one of the vessels upmarket eateries, or wanting to grab a quick and easy snack on the go you are not going to be lost for choice for what this ship has to offer.

Those on board can even check out a new addition to the selection of Royal Caribbeans dining options the Mason Jar which offers some of the best when it comes to Americas southern delicacies.

Due to its huge size, Wonder of the Seas is able to offer passengers the opportunity to choose from a selection of swimming pools on board.

This includes the ships huge pool deck which boasts a number of slides, as well as a variety of sun loungers and beds to soak up the sun.

For anyone who is fortunate enough to spend time sailing into the sunset on Wonder of the Seas there is certainly a wide variety of entertainment options for cruise passengers to enjoy.

This includes:

And this is just a taste of what you can expect with the ship also boasting its Central Park, which features in excess of 10,000 plants.

You can check out what else Royal Caribbeans new monster cruise ship Wonder of the Seas has to offer by clicking here.

A few weeks ago we reported that Royal Caribbean had begun constructing the next addition to its fleet of cruise liners with Utopia of the Seas set to sail in 2024.

Once built and in operation the ship will take over from Wonder of the Seas as being the worlds largest cruise liner.

Read more:

Travel Insurance That Covers Covid-19 In 2022

Royal Caribbean Cruises Welcome Back Self-Service Buffets

The Worlds Largest Cruise Ship Is Set To Sail in 2024

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This Is What To Expect On Board The World's Biggest Cruise Ship - Travel Off Path

Shared Planet is the kind of bizarrely beautiful and intricate creation that Hieronymus Bosch would have made if he was born in the 21st century and knew how to use Blender. And while that 15th century artist warned his audience of the perils of sexual excess, Zongbo Jiangs Shared Planet deals with contemporary issues with equal outlandishness but a much more positive outlook. Inspired by the BBCs documentary The Year Earth Changed, Zongbos 3D utopia highlights the miraculous flourishing of nature which occurred due to the lower human activity during the pandemic.

I consider myself an earthling and my practice to be visual activism, Zongbo tells Its Nice That. Focusing on issues such as mental health, animal rights and the environment, I endeavour to offer an alternative digital representation of the dilemmas within these areas, to open and continue the conversation of how we can improve the way we all live on this planet as earthlings.

In the midst of the current climate crisis with its dominant narrative of impending doom, Zongbos visual activism provides a welcome glimpse of hope. He tells us that his creative practice revolves around Wired magazines founder Kevin Kellys concept of Protopia which refers to a state that is better today than yesterday. Zongbos vision of a world in which humans and nature live in blissful harmony takes this concept to new heights: I wanted to create this space that was fun and enticing, to build this idea of hope and change that we can achieve if we recognise our past mistakes, he explains. Accompanied by the soothing sounds of birds chirruping and rain falling conceived by talented sound-designer Menex, Shared Planet invites you to wade through lush water reeds to discover crystal pools inhabited by strange and beautiful creatures, their anatomies morphing mesmerisingly between animal, plant and human forms.

While the scene is idyllic and the message hopeful, each tiny detail and character which Zongbo designed has meaning and relates to careful research and a re-imagination of data he gathered for the project. There are four main protagonists in his story of ecological regeneration Wildlife, Air, Noise and Water. Each character is based on areas of the environment or nature that benefited from humans being stuck in lockdown, says the artist.

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Zongbo Jiang's bizarrely beautiful 3D world offers a hopeful perspective on the climate crisis - It's Nice That

Moon Knight Episode 6 has come up to an explosive and convoluting conclusion. Oscar Isaac has given us probably the best show in MCU that doesnt directly connect to the larger shared superhero universe. The Ennead, the Egyptian Pantheon of Gods, are heavily featured in Moon Knight. But two Gods among them have a rivalry that runs deep. Khonshu and Ammit do not see eye to eye. Both have a strong sense of justice but hate each others approach in passing judgment. Moon Knight Episode 6 sees that rivalry develop into a fist trading climax. But ever wonder why Khonshu hates Ammit so much?

SPOILER ALERT: MAJOR Spoilers For Moon Knight Episode 6 Up Ahead.

This Moon Knight Theory claims to know the answer. Khonshu hates Ammit not because of their difference in approach to dishing out justice. It is the way how Ammit intends to create an ideal world.

The crocodile faced deity Ammit has but one goal. She sees humanity as flawed and wants to show them the way to a utopian parallel. But to do so requires sacrifice. Ammit wants to root out all flawed human beings. And by flaws, we mean people who are prone to walk the path of evil. Ammit uses the scales of justice to measure a persons potential worth and if the scales do not tilt in the persons savor, she devours the soul. Arthur Harrow would have us believe that Ammit only devours unworthy souls, the souls of sinners that will doom the people around them.

But what if theres more to it than that? What if the real reason Khonshu hates Ammit is because Ammit is a liar who doesnt care about how good or bad a soul is. All she cares about is

This new Moon Knight theory gives the perfect explanation why Khonshu hates Ammit. The show would have you believe that Khonshu hates ammit because Ammit judges a person before he or she has committed a crime, thereby taking their choice. But there could be more to it than that.

Ammit wants to create a world where there is no evil and no potential for evil. But that does not happen with a simple enough plan like hers. Megalomaniacs like Ammit always have a selfish way of achieving their objective. When Ammit judges a soul, she may not be even looking at the persons future. She is most likely looking at how complacent and docile this person is. If the person she is judging has too strong a will, then he or she will resist Ammits authority. Only weak willed people will never speak up against her rule in her new utopia. Ammit is not judging worthiness. She is merely sparing people who are weak enough to kneel to her.

Moon Knight episode 6 proves this theory true. Arthur Harrow, whose scales are unbalanced, is still chosen by Ammit to be her Avatar and his death is delayed. That is because Harrow willingly submits to Ammit, and this becoming worthy of the new world order she is set out to create.

Many of humanitys greatest innovations came out of the most despicable things. When humanity was given a choice, they made strides. From gunpowder to nuclear weapons, almost every human innovation started out as a weapon of despair. If evil didnt exist, there would be no adversity for humanity to overcome. Without a sense of purpose, humanity ceases to exist.

Khonshu even chose a sinner like Marc as his Avatar. If Ammit would have had her way, Marc would have ended up in the Duat long before he became Moon Knight. Khonshu has walked the Earth for thousands of years and knows humanity better than Ammit. He knows mankind only overcomes if it meets an opposing force and it is given a choice to do so. Thats why Khonshu hates Ammit and her ways.

They are petty and selfish.

More here:

Moon Knight Theory: Real Reason Khonshu Hates Ammit - FandomWire

When the Duke and Duchess of York visited Tasmaniain 1927they were greeted in Hobart by a huge street arch made from apples that proudly read:"Welcome to Apple Land".

For about 100 years, Tasmania heavily marketed itself to the world as the "Apple Isle" an idyllic English farming Utopia to grow its apple exports and attract new residents.

But the export industry collapsed almost overnight in the 1970s when Tasmania was squeezed out of the European market.

The Apple Isletitle sticks 50 years on, despite the state exporting only eight per cent of Australia'sapples last season and making up only 16 per cent of the domestic market.

So, can itkeep its Apple Isle title?

When University of Tasmania history and classics PhD candidate Carla Baker visited Tasmania in the 1990s, her first question was:"Where are all the apples?"

And since moving to the state a decade ago, it isa question that has turned into a thesisfocusing on apples in the north of the state.

MsBaker is looking into when the Apple Isle title came about, and how the industrycollapsed.

"Tasmanian apples were a very big part of the empire marketing board campaign in the 1920s and 1930s," Ms Baker says.

Apples were part of the ecological colonisation of Tasmania, by making it look like Britain.

"Apples were a very English kind of landscape."

She will look into areas like Lilydale, in the state's north-east, that once had hundreds of hectares of apples, but today has none

Captain William Bligh planted Tasmania's first apple trees in 1788on Bruny Island at Adventure Bay.

Up north, the first site was at York Town in the Tamar Valley.

The climate was agreeableand the apples stored well. When steamships got refrigeration in the 1890s the industry took off.

"That's when the real overseas market came to the fore, with frozen meat and then dairy and fruit being able to go," Ms Bakersaid.

"It changed the apple industry."

The Launceston apple exhibition of 1914 also sold Tasmanian apples to the world, with the advantage of being able to export into opposite seasons in Europe and South Africa.

It was not without challenges, with codling moth introduced in the 1870s threatening the industry.

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Third-generation orchardist Andrew Griggs says the heyday for apples wasfrom the 1940s to the 1960s, before England joined the European Unionin the 1970s.

"Nobody had worked out how to store apples so we could come in with fresh,new-season apples when they didn't have any," he says.

"There was picking of a daytime and packing of an evening and stackingonto trucks early the next morning, and we had boats coming into Port Huon and Hobart as well as up north."

The government implemented a tree-pull scheme in the 1970sto get families out of the industry,and apple production in the state halved in just three yearsafter peaking in the previous decade at seven million cases of export apples.

Mr Griggs said his family's orchard at Lucaston in the Huon Valleyshifted its focus from Europe to South-East Asia and the domestic market.

"Other countries were starting to produce more and more apples and our costs started to increase," he says.

"It became harder to get a price that was needed."

The introduction of controlled-atmosphere storage meant other countries could store apples longerand it was no longer a benefit to be counter-seasonal.

Labour costs went upand packing requirements pricedsome growers out.

Mr Griggs' father went overseas in the 1990s and saw that other apple growers were also producing cherriesand he started to try it out in 1996.

"All of a sudden we had something we could export again," he says.

It's estimated that in the 1960s there were 4,000 apple-growing families in Tasmania. Now there are about 20.

More restructures of the industry are expected this yearand almost no Tasmanian growers export overseas.

"Last year was an absolute disaster;we had a big crop and low sales and a huge amountof apples left over at the end of the season," Mr Griggs said.

"In Tasmania we've always got this disadvantage of freight costs across Bass Strait andwe're always going to be $90 a bin worse off than somebody growing them in Victoria."

Mr Griggs says some smaller growers have told him it isbecoming too hard and too marginal to grow apples.

"We're in the same category," he says.

"We're going to be taking out some less productive blocks and replanting cherries.

"Over time we will have more cherries than apples."

A good season two years ago was due to 30 per cent less crop being available, and Tasmania filledthe gaps.

"That tells youif we were growing 30 per cent less, growers could make a living," Mr Griggs said.

Tasmania is still growing apples, just on a small scale compared to local and interstate marketsand has pivoted to ciders, juices andspecial varieties.

"The Apple Isle is much more a term we don't refer to ourselves as," Ms Baker says. "I think it's more an imagined title.

"I like it.I think it's a nod to our heritage and the importance of the agricultural economy down here still.

"The connotations it brings aren't about apples ... it's about culinary tourism, it's shorthand for a foodie's paradise."

Ms Baker says the title can stay, but people perhaps should not take it literally.

"It's indicating a food and purity notion rather than specifically apples, as it was back in the day," she said.

Read the rest here:

Is Tasmania still the Apple Isle? Growers crunch the numbers as domestic and export markets shrivel - ABC News

Maureen Shea ready to begin "Take Back" this Saturday in New York homecoming fight

PhilBoxing.comSat, 07 May 2022

NEW YORK Maureen Shea insists that her homecoming fight this Saturday is not a comeback; its a take back.

The Bronx native Shea (29-2-1, 13 knockouts) will face Calista Silgado (19-13-3, 14 KOs) at Carnesecca Arena at St. Johns University in the Jamaica section of Queens, N.Y.

The eight round junior featherweight bout will be part of the Borough Boxing card promoted by Joe DeGuardias Star Boxing.

Shes been in there with a lot of top fighters. Shes a strong girl, shes definitely durable and the experience is there so I expect a good fight. Im not looking for the knockout, if it comes it comes. But Im looking to put on a boxing clinic, said Shea of Silgado, a native of Santiago de Tolu, Colombia who has fought eight times for a world title.

The fight will be Sheas first in her hometown since 2010, and The Real Million Dollar Baby is excited to return home to begin her campaign to become world champion once more.

Im looking at myself and Ive definitely evolved as a woman and as a fighter, said Shea. I know my why, I know why Im doing this now.

Shea has been one of the most accomplished female boxers over the past couple of decades, and has not lost in over a decade. She has won a pair of world titles and become a fan favorite through her thrilling fights, both in the United States and her mothers home country of Mexico.

Still, there is plenty of unfinished business remaining for Shea, who was unjustly denied her world title opportunity last year by the WBA after she was passed over for a shot at the vacant bantamweight title despite being the no. 2 ranked contender.

Instead, the no. 8 and 9 ranked contenders fought for the vacant belt. Shea was also ranked no. 2 by the IBF at junior featherweight, but was dropped altogether from the IBF rankings.

Shea believes that the landmark womens fight this past weekend between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano which sold out Madison Square Garden is indicative of what the sport is capable of if the right fights are made.

Im not doing this just for myself, Im also doing this for a lot of women who get passed up, said Shea. After what happened last weekend, eyes are now on womens boxing more than ever before. Im looking forward to putting on a great performance. The fans deserve those big fights. Theyre getting these girls who are fighting for world titles that are mediocre fighters. Its unfair to the fans. What happened last weekend, I want to happen now for my weight class.

Shea is now based in Boca Raton, Fla., where she is trained by boxing coach Derik Santos and strength and conditioning coach Phil Daru.

Carnesecca Arena is located at 80-00 Utopia Pkwy in Jamaica, N.Y. Doors open at 7 p.m.

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Maureen Shea ready to begin "Take Back" this Saturday in New York homecoming fight - PhilBoxing.com

ON a hot summer's day, a delicious Dairy Queen ice cream always helps beat the hot sun.

However, Shelby, a Dairy Queen employee, explains that you don't always have to order off the main menu.

1

There are secret menu items that many people don't know about.

In her TikTok video, Shelby explains that you can still order an old menu item, like the triple chocolate utopia.

If you are unfamiliar with the triple chocolate utopia, it is a creamy vanilla soft serve that is topped with cocoa fudge, brownies and chocolate chunks.

Dairy Queen customers are still able to order this item because all the franchises still carry the ingredients needed to make the sweet treat.

However, since it was on the old menu, you might have to explain to the Dairy Queen employee how to make it.

You can also order the blizzard version of the dessert, which is known as the chocolate brownie extreme.

Another secret menu item is the Smore's galore.

It is a three-layer parfait with marshmallow, fudge and crushed graham crackers, topped with soft serve and more hot fudge.

If you do decide to order the Smore's galore, you should know that not every Dairy Queen carries crushed graham crackers.

Along with these secret menu items, you should also try Dairy Queen's new menu items, Cheesy Dude Sandwich and cheesy steak fingers.

These items are available now until June 12 or while supplies last.

The Cheesy Dude Sandwich is a crunchy, crispy-fried chicken patty that is infused with pepper jack cheese and topped with lettuce, tomatoes, salad dressing and more pepper jack cheese, served on a warm, toasted bun.

The cheesy steak fingers are filled with pepper jack cheese, and they can be ordered in four or six pieces.

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I work at Dairy Queen and here are two secret menu items you need to try... - The US Sun