It’s a treat when happening upon a busker who can entertain.
Here are two musicians I enjoyed while traveling in Europe.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Karen Pirie – season 1
I visited St. Andrews, Scotland summer 2024 — and was keen to watch this drama after finding the body was found in the famed cathedral grounds.
What grabbed me first was the unlikely detective, Lauren Lyle as DS Karen Pirie.
Karen Pirie is a British crime drama television series based on the Inspector Karen Pirie series of novels by Val McDermid.
… a young detective-sergeant, Karen Pirie, is put in charge of what appears to be a twenty-five year-old cold case. An influential podcast series focuses on the case, the unsolved murder of a barmaid, and Pirie is tasked with rexamining it.
Pay attention. The plot is quite complicated with a number of side stories.
The ending has been criticized. Fairly.
The other character I quite liked was Chris Jenks as DC Jason (Mint) Murray. Pirie’s assistant.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Mind Games by Nora Roberts
Mind Games is one of the 4 books published by Nora Roberts in 2024.
The woman is a writing machine.
This is one of her typically long books. Many characters. But Roberts is such a terrific story teller that it’s easy to follow.
It’s got a paranormal element, as some of her best books include.
You could still call this a Romance novel, but it’s much, much more. Her books are uplifting for me.
Told in three parts – Tragedy, Living, and The Gift – Roberts proves that her prolific creative mind (at age-79) is still as sharp as ever.
When the tragic murder of her parents ignites twelve-year-old Thea Fox’s psychic abilities, her grandmother Lucy is not surprised because she, too, has the Sight.
Along with those abilities awakened through the tragedy is a connection to Ray Riggs, the man who murdered her parents and who dreams of killing her, too. …
I recommend the audio book as January LaVoy is such a terrific reader.
Murder in a Small Town – season 1
An excellent TV series.
Murder in a Small Town is a Canadian mystery–drama television series which premiered on Global in Canada, and Fox in the United States on September 24, 2024. …
It is based on the Alberg and Cassandra Mysteries, a series of novels by L. R. Wright.
It was filmed at Gibsons on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.
In Canada, I watched it free (ad supported) on the Global TV website — but it was a pain.
The romance is consummated half way through the first episode.
Rossif Sutherland — son of the Donald — is the small town police chief.
The gorgeous Kristin Kreuk was a gymnast in Vancouver until grade 11. She’s of Dutch and Chinese Jamaican descent.
The entire cast is good.
Mya Lowe as Corporal Edwina Yen is great. You might recognize her from Yellowjackets.
I’m impressed that the show is nuanced on subjects like racism. And sexual harassment.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
History of the Canadian National Anthem
Originally, the current Canadian National anthem was composed in French, celebrating Quebec.
The lyrics are totally … separate and distinct … in the 2 official languages.
“O Canada” (French: Ô Canada) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which French-language words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier.
The original French lyrics were translated to English in 1906. Multiple English versions ensued, with Robert Stanley Weir‘s 1908 version (which was not a translation of the French lyrics) gaining the most popularity; the Weir lyrics eventually served as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament. Weir’s English-language lyrics have been revised three times, most recently when An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) was enacted in 2018.
The French lyrics remain unaltered.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
‘Gens du pays’, written by Gilles Vigneault and Gaston Rochon for the 1975 St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations on Mount Royal, Montreal is almost a national anthem in Quebec.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Holmes, Margaret & Poe by Patterson and Sitts
A cute idea. In New York City, 3 intriguing, smart, and stylish private investigators open Holmes, Marple & Poe Investigations.
… Could they be related to Sherlock Holmes, Jane Marple, and / or Edgar Allan Poe? 😀
Holmes, Margaret & Poe: The Greatest Crime-Solving Team of the Twenty-First Century
by James Patterson (Author) , Brian Sitts (Author)
This book is popular, BUT I’d rank it far below the (very average) standard for a Patterson.
There are 3 or 4 … maybe 5 different plot threads. NONE of the detectives impressed.
It’s an easy read. Sometimes hard to follow.
Give it a miss.
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
Harlan Coben is a good writer — best known for his Myron Bolitar series.
I Will Find You (2023) is a stand alone novel. Excellent.
An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive, and must break out of prison to find out the truth.
I was hooked from the first line.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Twisters 2024
Twisters is a 2024 American disaster film.
… a standalone sequel to Twister (1996)
As a Hollywood summer blockbuster, it worked. Grossing $371 million worldwide.
I got through the thing only because the special effects are so amazing. HOW did they create that kind of video?
Some of the technology shown is based on REAL current science. The Phased Array Radar, for example.
But disrupting a tornado in real time is still not possible.
The plot is cliche. Best ignore it.
I wasn’t much convinced by any of the cast. Glen Powell was probably best. I thought he was Justin Hartley for the first part of the movie. Those two are very similar.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Another Girl by Peter Grainger
Peter Grainger STILL doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry. Yet he’s a beloved author with a cult following.
A Kings Lake Investigation, Book #5.
Sadly, his best character — D.C. Smith — has retired from the police.
But of the books NOT including D.C., I’d say this is best, so far.
On the other hand, it’s a slow moving police procedural. No car chases.
Serena Butler goes undercover to battle organized crime. And has trouble getting back out.
Prime Suspect: Tennison
Excellent British TV.
I was sorry only 1 season was produced.
Prime Suspect 1973 (also known as Prime Suspect: Tennison) is a British television detective drama series starring Stefanie Martini as the young Jane Tennison. It is a prequel to the long-running Prime Suspect series that had starred Helen Mirren. …
Set in Hackney, the series depicts 22-year-old Jane Tennison (Stefanie Martini) as she begins her career as a woman police constable (WPC) in 1973 with the Metropolitan Police Service. At a time when women were beginning to be gradually integrated into the police force, Tennison has to deal with sexism, as well as difficulties in her home life, as her family disapprove of her career choice.
Great television despite at least 2 unbelievably blatant plot holes.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 