Author Archives: Paul Hechinger

Royal Roundup: The Case of the Anglesey Gunshot

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on November 5th, 2012

William and Kate at Trearddur Bay Lifeboat Station on the island of Anglesey in North Wales in February 2011. (Peter Byrne, PA Wire/AP Images)

Attention, all you aspiring Sherlock Holmes types out there. We’ve got a case for you.

Last week, a special operations police officer fired his gun outside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges’s Anglesey home. The officer was sitting with a colleague in an unmarked car and the gun reportedly went off accidentally.

Dracula: Bram Stoker’s Very Anglo-Irish Bloodsucker

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 31st, 2012

'Dracula' author Bram Stoker, in a photo circa 1900. (Bettmann, Corbis/AP Images)

When someone mentions Dracula, chances are you picture a dark-haired, black-caped, mysterious gent who hails from Transylvania and sounds like Bela Lugosi. Of course Dracula now belongs to the world, but did you know that he’s really ...

Great Storms of the British Isles

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 29th, 2012

Gales and high tides at Blackpool in September 2011. (John Giles, PA Wire/AP Images)

It doesn’t seem quite fair. The UK gets Skyfall. We get Hurricane Sandy.

But then again, Brits have weathered their share of perfect storms, and, seeing as the weather is stereotypically a favorite topic of the English, we here at Anglophenia thought we’d take a look at some of those instances when it’s ...

Royal Roundup: Partying With 007, Pippa, Kylie and Luxembourg

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 27th, 2012

Star-studded 'Skyfall' premiere at London's Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday. From left to right: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem (back), Camilla, Prince Charles, and Michael Wilson (back). (Rex Features via AP Images)

Giving and attending parties are what royals do, and this week they did a lot of it indeed.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall gave a formal dinner party on Wednesday night in advance of their Diamond Jubilee trip to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea next month. Aussie Kylie Minogue showed up for a ...

‘Cloud Atlas’ Author David Mitchell: If the Movie Were Structured Like the Book, ‘It Would Suck’

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 25th, 2012

David Mitchell at Symphony Space in New York last week. (Symphony Space)

British author David Mitchell says he never imagined anyone would make a movie out of his novel Cloud Atlas.

Royal Roundup: In First Book, Pippa Says, ‘One Day, I Might Be Able to Make Sense of This’

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 22nd, 2012

Pippa Middleton at Wimbledon in June. (Mike Egerton, PA Wire/AP Images)

The comments that Pippa Middleton has made about fame in her first book are making headlines, but the biggest news may be that there are apparently not going to be any author interviews.

Rupert Murdoch Calls British Hacking Victims ‘Scumbag Celebrities’

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 18th, 2012

Rupert Murdoch attending an immigration conference in Boston yesterday. (Josh Reynolds/AP Images)

Who needs News of the World when you have Twitter?

Perhaps that’s the way Rupert Murdoch looks at things, since the hacking scandal forced his company News International to close the British tabloid last year.

Top Gear Thursday: Watch Out, ‘Crash Course’ Season Two is Coming!

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 18th, 2012

The Hamster tries his hand at a variety of professions in the second season of Richard Hammond’s Crash Course, but perhaps it’s appropriate that he’s starting with a stint as a stunt (yes, the consonance was deliberate) driver on ...

‘You Must Have Guessed This Was Coming’ – The Rolling Stones Announce Anniversary Tour

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 15th, 2012

The Rolling Stones will play four concerts – two in the UK and two in the U.S. – at the end of this year.

‘Walking Dead’ Brits Andrew Lincoln and David Morrissey Ask the Big Questions

By Paul Hechinger | Posted on October 14th, 2012

Actor Andrew Lincoln with 'Walking Dead' fans yesterday at New York Comic-Con. (Charles Sykes, Invision for AMC/AP Images)

Andrew Lincoln: What’s Rick’s Breaking Point?

“There are more zombie kills in this episode than in the whole of season one,” Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln told a cheering New York Comic-Con crowd yesterday about tonight’s season three premiere.