1.This may or may not be creepy; it’s really your call, but director Woody Allen says his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn worked out because it was “paternal”.
Readers may remember that Soon-Yi is the adopted daughter of Woody’s ex, Mia Farrow.
So, not his daughter, but the legal daughter of his ex, who accuses Woody of sexually abusing at least one of her other children, a daughter, Dylan Farrow (Woody denies this; Dylan says its true.)
In a new interview with US radio station NPR, Woody, now 79, said of Soon-Yi: “I’m 35 years older, and somehow, through no fault of mine or hers, the dynamic worked. I was paternal. She responded to someone paternal. I liked her youth and energy. She deferred to me, and I was happy to give her an enormous amount of decision making just as a gift and let her take charge of so many things. She flourished.”
Asked whether the accusations of child abuse had affected his career, Woody said: “I would say no. Not for a second. It has no meaning in the way I make movies, too. I never see any evidence of anything in my private life resonating in film.”
Woody is best known for films in which extremely young women fall in love with older men, played by himself.
2.Meanwhile, Woody’s ex, Mia Farrow, was under fire overnight for Tweeting out the work address of the unkind dentist who shot a lion called Cecil.
The dentist’s work address was already well-known because it’s on the internet, but critics nevertheless criticized @MiaFarrow for inciting a mob.
Walter Palmer, who shot Cecil with a bow-and-arrow and then a gun in Zimbabwe before skinning the poor soul and taking his head as a trophy, hasn’t been at work for days.
Police in his hometown are investigating death threats made against him.
The BBC reports that US officials have launched an investigation into the killing of the lion, but “have been unable to reach the American involved.”
“The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is deeply concerned about the death of Cecil the lion,” the report says, adding: Director Dan Ashe said they will “go where facts lead” but efforts to reach Walter Palmer have been unsuccessful.
3.Lego has released a new figure, and he’s an old man in a little wheelchair.
The move is designed to make Lego more inclusive, although a group called Toys Like Me, which lobbies toy makers to make their toys more inclusive, isn’t impressed.
“The good news: Lego finally have a wheelchair using figure,” the group said on their page.
“The bad news: It’s an elderly man with grey hair and a boring grey Zzzzzz….whoops sorry nodded off then….where was I? Oh yes, a snoringly boringly grey wheelchair with wheels that don’t appear to move.”
Parents of children with disabilities use the Facebook page to post pictures of toys they have modified, including a doll with a nose tube.
They are currently celebrating a Mr Potato Head with a Cochlear implant.
“LIKE him, mash him SHARE him!” the page says, “Send him rolling round the world. Help him SPROUT OUT in every country and tell the global toy industry they need to include the 150 million deaf and disabled kids worldwide.”
4.How do you speak Australian?
That’s the question being asked on a new video produced by Yahoo Travel, and it’s … very odd indeed.
The video starts with the journalist saying: “Australians speak English …”
As an Australian might say: “Well, no s*&t, Sherlock.”
The presenter then explains that Australians are “lazy” talks who turn a present into a “pressie” and a BBQ into a “barbie”.
Also, if you’re sick, you go to the “docta”
All fine, but apparently we also say: “Give it a bit of Vegemite” which means put a bit of effort in.
We do?!
“Flat out like a lizard drinking” apparently means “you’re bludging.”
She promises more, saying: in the next episode, she’ll hop on the back of a “hog” (Harley?) to make sure it’s not alla bout kangaroos and koala bears (they’re not bears.)
