Atypicap Capsule Hostel, Canary Islands

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, travel2 Comments

Atypicap Capsule Hostel is the first capsule establishment in the Canary Islands.

I’ve stayed in a few airport Capsule hotels — but this is the best hostel version I’ve ever seen. ALL hostels should offer these capsules. Singles and doubles.

Cost for my single in 2022 was $26.15 / night (25.24 EU).

Shared leisure areas, kitchen, bathrooms for individual use, and a Chill-Out Terrace on the roof with bar service.

Electronic door-opening and closing with card. Lockers.

Equipped with USB connections and Bluetooth, air ventilation, 26-inch screen with headphone connection where you can download the multimedia content on your device (mobile, tablet or laptop), wifi, a 15x12x12 cm safe, adjustable led lights for reading, luminous alarm clock, vanity mirror, digital thermometer, power outlet, cloth hangers, smoke detector, and ‘do not disturb’ option.

Details.

Under Currents by Nora Roberts

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

I hate to admit it, but Romance writer Nora Roberts is a storyteller of the quality of Stephen King or Jeffrey Archer.

And she’s so prolific! Sometimes writing 3 books simultaneously.

Under Currents (2019) is very good. A family story looking at domestic abuse from many different angles.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Devil’s Hour – season 1

On By Rick McIn TV1 Comment

Better than a Hollywood film.

This series is an example of the golden age of streaming television.

The Devil’s Hour is a British drama thriller … on Amazon Prime Video.

The Devil’s Hour tells the story of Lucy who wakes up by terrifying visions every night at exactly 3:33 AM, in the middle of the so-called devil’s hour between 3 AM and 4 AM.

Her eight-year-old son is withdrawn and emotionless.

Her mother speaks to empty chairs.

Her house is haunted by the echoes of a life that isn’t her own.

When Lucy’s name is inexplicably connected to a string of brutal murders in the area, the answers that have evaded her all these years will finally come into focus …

Cast and acting all fantastic.

Best of the best?

Perhaps Benjamin Chivers as Isaac.

Some critics complain the story is too complicated. And too slow to be resolved. Fair points.

Personally, I’m really hoping it’s renewed for season 2.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

On By Rick McIn books, climate change, things getting worseLeave a comment

I’d put Blake Crouch in a group of speculative fiction writers including Michael Crichton and Robert Sawyer.

Crichton doomsday. Sawyer looking at the potential upsides of ever changing technology.

Personally, I was super psyched by  Jennifer Doudna, one of the co-creators of CRISPR, an astonishing new technology. Precisely editing DNA.

BUT it turns out Doudna had nightmares about someone like Hitler getting hold of CRISPR.

This book is set a few years from now in a dystopian future. Climate change flooded New York. Wildfires have devastated many parts of the world.

Lead character, Logan Ramsey, is the adult son of a defamed scientist whose CRISPR-like technology caused millions of people to die.  His Mom was trying to change DNA for the better — but the unintended side effects were catastrophic. Famine.

In hiding, his Mom decides to hack her own children — Logan and his sister.

Logan becomes an “upgraded” version of himself: he can focus better, read faster, and operate on a lot less sleep. But his upgrade comes at a cost.

Ultimately the book is a look at whether or not our species will survive on Earth.

And should we try to improve our odds by changing our DNA?

Read the TIME interview.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

British Music Experience, Liverpool

On By Rick McIn music, travelLeave a comment

Of many exhibitions and museums I visited in the hometown of the Beatles, best for me was British Music Experience.

Born 1957, it was like walking through a timeline of my life:

Beatles ➙ Petula Clark ➙ Stones ➙ Kinks ➙ The Who ➙ Pink Floyd ➙ Led Zeppelin ➙ Queen ➙ The Police ➙ UB40 ➙ The Clash ➙ The Smiths ➙ Arctic Monkeys ➙ Coldplay ➙ Amy Winehouse ➙ Adele ➙ Ed Sheeran … to name a few artists who had great influence on me.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I got closer to a hologram than ever before. Local boy Boy George.

The history of popular music in the UK is told through a narrative divided up into galleries with common components. …

There is an interactive timeline in each of the galleries. …

Wikipedia

Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.

Liverpool PHOTOS

On By Rick McIn photos, travelLeave a comment

Liverpool was once one of the wealthiest cities in the world.

A major shipping port — including being implicated in the slave trade.

Over time, many warehouses were abandoned. The citizens impoverished. Thatcher and the Conservative government were seen as being indifferent to the industrial decline in Merseyside.

The Beatles started a thriving music scene.

And in 2022 Liverpool is one of the most popular tourists cities. There’s much to do and see.

Click any of my photos below for a larger version. They may take a while to load as they are high resolution.

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Another of the super popular recent psychological thrillers, I wasn’t 100% sold on this one.

Loved the first part of the book where three interconnected, interesting stories roll out.

It’s extremely well written.

Some fascinating characters.

A murder mystery.

Adults scarred by childhood trauma. Themes of closure, marital disillusionment, familial solidarity, extortion, and historical crimes.

But by the end of the book I grew bored of waiting around for the resolution.

Meh.

BRILLIANT ending, however. That almost redeems the storytelling for me.

Liverpudlian Scouse, Please

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

Scouse (/skaʊs/; formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English is an accent and dialect of English associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside.  …

Scouse is also a general term for this pan-ethnic community or Liverpudlians in general. The accent is named after scouse, a stew eaten by sailors and locals. …

You can’t be called a “scouser” unless you eat this stew — every day, I assume. 😀

Lunya restaurant was recommended. Their version has a Catalan twist.

The Stranger Diaries by Ellie Griffiths

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A memorable book.

The Stranger Diaries is a 2018 murder mystery thriller by British crime novelist Domenica de Rosa, writing under the penname of Elly Griffiths.  …

The novel is primarily told through the viewpoints of English teacher Clare Cassidy, Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, and Clare’s daughter Georgia “Georgie“.

Interspersed throughout the novel are portions of the short story “The Stranger”, written by fictional author R. M. Holland, a long deceased author that Clare is researching.

The Stranger Diaries won the 2020 Edgar Award for Best Novel and is the first in a series centered upon DS Harbinder Kaur. …

The short story is set around Halloween.

And before Halloween in the present things start mirroring the tale.

Murders.

In Liverpool, while listening to the audio book. I came across this scene …

Cast Iron by Peter May

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

This was supposed to be the final book in the series featuring Enzo Macleod, a half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo MacLeod who in lives in Toulouse, working as a university professor. In French.

Series: Enzo Macleod / the Enzo Files

Book Number: 6

Read this book for: French setting – rural and urban, good pacing, cold cases, personal/relationship drama, tense thriller, highly readable page-turner

Quick Review: The final instalment (published 2017) of this engaging series, satisfyingly weaving many of the ongoing threads together to create a page-turning last novel.

I was sorry to see Enzo solve the last of his cold cases.

And reviews are good for Cast Iron. It ties the whole series together.

All the books are excellent. The story would make a good TV series.

Happily, Enzo is back in a 2021 book called The Night Gate. BUT it’s not yet available in audio as I hit PUBLISH.

Book #1 is Dry Bones. (Also published as Extraordinary People.)

I recommend it.