The John Lewis Christmas ad is now such a big annual tradition that it feels like the official start of the festive season. …
Mashable
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. This is fantastic.
“Over 108,000 children in the UK are in the care system. We’re making a longterm commitment to support the futures of young people from care.”
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands.
The main architectural symbol is Auditorio de Tenerife, not that impressive up close.
Better are the Spanish parks and plazas.
Most tourists head straight to the pool or the beach every day.
Not a beach guy, I spent only about an hour walking this edge of this one — because SHARKS. 😀
Manabu Yukawa, the physicist known as “Detective Galileo“, is speaking at a small coastal town on whether or not to approve an underwater mining operation.
The night after the tense panel discussion, one of the resort’s guests is found dead on the seashore at the base of the local cliffs. The local police at first believe it was a simple accident-that he wandered over the edge while walking on unfamiliar territory in the middle of the night. But when they discover that the victim was a former policeman and that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, they begin to suspect he was murdered, and his body tossed off the cliff to misdirect the police. …
Amazon
This time the police don’t ask Yukawa for help. But he decides to solve the crime on his own.
As always, there are subtle and surprising twists and turns.
This book was adapted into a film.
Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.
I enjoyed 3 nights in Puerto de la Cruz on the island of Tenerife.
Staying that long because of the superb hostel with ultra-modern “pods”.
My first impression of “Port of the Cross” was to be disappointed in the waterfront. It’s not nearly as developed as other tourist cities. The beaches are volcanic black stone and ash.
I ASSuME it’s because the Atlantic waves are so massive here. Much of the coastline is protective concrete.
Once finding my way around, there are lovely tourist spots, especially in the evening.
Here’s the plaza closest to my hostel.
Sunset.
One highlight is the botanical garden. Almost anything can grow here.
All in all, tourists are happy in Puerto de la Cruz. Mostly Europeans. I didn’t meet even one Canadian or American in a week on Tenerife. It could be they are in all inclusive resorts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Rick McCharles 