FanFare

In her midthirties and newly free from a terrible relationship, Tabitha Lasley quit her job at a London magazine, packed her bags, and poured her savings into a six-month lease on an apartment in Aberdeen, Scotland. She decided to make good on a long-deferred idea for a book about oil rigs and the men who work on them. Why oil rigs? She wanted to see what men were like with no women around. [more inside]
posted by latkes on Jun 22, 2024 - 0 comments

This is the weighty (literally, it's 400-plus pages) memoir of the two years that Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) worked on the Alberta oil sands to pay off her college loans. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan on Sep 15, 2022 - 10 comments

The Chinese delegation is making plans for oil extraction directly with the Greenlanders. Birgitte Nyborg's change of attitude has left her without many political friends, and she is now also called to a meeting with the US Secretary of State, who demands that Nyborg intervene against China's actions in Greenland. Rumors about Katrine Fønsmark's leadership style are starting to swirl in the media, and she makes a drastic decision to stop it. [IMDB] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Jun 24, 2022 - 0 comments

In the negotiations with Greenland regarding the distribution of oil revenues, Asger Holm Kirkegaard must play Birgitte Nyborg on the field, but the meeting far from goes as planned. Fønsmark has found decisive evidence that Nyborg lied to the Foreign Policy Committee, and is trying with all her might to hold Nyborg responsible for her breach of the Ministerial Accountability Act. In her eagerness to achieve her journalistic goal, Fønsmark creates conflicts internally on TV1. [IMDB] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Jun 24, 2022 - 0 comments

After her statements in the Foreign Policy Committee, Birgitte Nyborg is threatened by a vote of no confidence, and when one of the Greenlandic members of parliament goes against her, the government's majority begins to crumble. Nyborg now has two options: Either she must resign and stand by her ideals. Or she and the government must change policies and suddenly advocate for the exploitation of oil. Moreover, she discovers that her son Magnus has suddenly become an additional political burden for her. [IMDB] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Jun 24, 2022 - 0 comments

Birgitte Nyborg receives crucial information about the Russian owners of the company which drills for oil in Greenland. Asger Holm Kirkegaard, who is now on Greenlandic soil, tries to help his minister at the same time as he tries to keep Hans Eliassen in check. Nyborg is called in front of the Foreign Policy Committee, and to help a close ally, Nyborg decides to use a daring tactic, which, however, turns out to have greater consequences than she had imagined. [IMDB] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Jun 24, 2022 - 0 comments

Birgitte Nyborg is taking on a new role as Denmark's foreign minister while Katrine Fønsmark returns to journalism, landing a managing post at her former TV workplace. [IMDB] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Jun 24, 2022 - 3 comments

Mac (Peter Riegert), an ambitious mid-level executive at a Texas oil company is selected — mainly because his name seems Scottish — by his eccentric boss (Burt Lancaster) to travel to Scotland on a two-pronged mission: 1) to negotiate the purchase of Ferness, a remote fishing village with a beautiful beach that happens to be the perfect location for building a refinery to process North Sea petroleum, and 2) to keep his eyes peeled for anything unusual happening in the night sky. [more inside]
posted by theory on Apr 11, 2021 - 10 comments

A monster movie from South Korea, in which a petroleum-eating monster awakened from the Middle East attacks Seoul. Whatever geopolitical metaphor is intended by this is obscured by the fact that, oh Gamera, we have another little kid protagonist. Yongary's death scene is rather protracted. Ah, another little kid monster movie! And not a Kenny kid either, this is a full-on obnoxious lil brat along the lines of Time Of The Apes' Johnny, or that kid from Godzilla Vs. Megalon. When we meet this kid, he's aiming his superscience itch ray at relatives driving by in their car! There's a lot of other crazy on display here too. Episode 1109 is on YouTube. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jun 7, 2017 - 14 comments

Russia fires cruise missiles at targets in Syria and Iran, and the U.S. suspends their rebel training program. FIFA's ethics committee suspends Sepp Blatter for 90 days, and all his replacements are either being investigated themselves or might be soon. The U.S. asks Toyota how come so many of their trucks have gotten in the hands of ISIS. And Now: John McCain's Favorite Joke. Main story: North Dakota's oil rush, and the environmental and human cost to the state. LWT produced a video appeal to North Dakota to hold oil companies to greater account for their malfeasence, and paid for a billboard in the state saying "Be Angry. (Please.)" YouTube (20m) [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Oct 12, 2015 - 18 comments

ISIS gains an ally in Boko Haram. Ireland accidentally legalizes a number of psychoactive drugs for a day. Brazil prepares to investigate politicians taking bribes from oil companies. And Now: Newscasters Who Don't Know About You. Main story: NCAA is a billion dollar industry, but with many problems with how it treats its players (YouTube 21m). Last Week Tonight introduces the hashtag #soybeanwind and ends with an ad for their more realistic NCAA simulator video game.
posted by JHarris on Mar 16, 2015 - 6 comments

Keen and Ressler go to Uzbekistan to negotiate for a captured CIA agent, but encounter meddling all around. Meanwhile, a DC detective investigates the disappearance of the harbormaster.
posted by Small Dollar on Feb 13, 2015 - 6 comments

The Man of Steel has a new love interest and a new nemesis. [more inside]
posted by Ik ben afgesneden on Jan 25, 2015 - 8 comments