Personally, I’d call myself agnostic.
BUT I do admire devout atheists like Yuval Harari.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Pharaoh Key by Preston & Child
Part of the Gideon Series:
- Gideon’s Sword
- Gideon’s Corpse
- The Lost Island
- Beyond the Ice Limit
- The Pharaoh Key
Gideon Crew—brilliant scientist, master thief, intrepid adventurer—is shocked when his former employer, Eli Glinn, vanishes without a trace, and Glinn’s high-tech lab Effective Engineering Solutions shuts down seemingly overnight.
Fresh off a diagnosis that gives him only months to live, Crew is contacted by one of his former coworkers at EES, Manuel Garza, who has a bead on one final treasure hinted at in EES’s final case, the long-awaited translation of a centuries-old stone tablet of a previously undiscovered civilization: The Phaistos Disc.
What lies at the end of the trail will either save Gideon’s life—or bring it to a sudden, shocking close.
Crew once again faces incredible odds—but as Gideon has proved again and again, there’s no such thing as too great a risk when you’re living on borrowed time.
I slept in a Vienna IKEA
Jo&Joe Hostel in Vienna is housed in the 5th and 6th floors of an IKEA store at the West Train Station.
You can walk back and forth between the hostel and the 4th floor IKEA restaurant level. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Billionaires should PAY more TAXES
… six people control more wealth than the bottom half of America, and pay an average tax rate of 6%. …
You can argue the number 6% — but American billionaires pay a lower tax rate than YOU.
And that’s stupid.
Professor Galloway argues that it’s a waste of resources to have very few people hoarding so much money:
Hoarders
If I give YOU $100 dollars, you’ll spend it. The economy rolls.
If I give another $100 to a billionaire, it will get locked away in NVIDIA stock. Be less productive.
Billionaires argue that they will GIVE AWAY most of their wealth to worthy charities.
That does help — but Galloway only respects the way it’s being done by two:
- MacKenzie Scott
- Melinda French Gates
True Detective – season 4
This is hard to watch. So dark. So disturbing.
And fantastic. 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
True Detective: Night Country is the 4th instalment of True Detective, the superb TV drama series.
… set in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska, and follows the investigation behind the disappearance of eight men from a research station. The season stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro. …
… supernatural elements …
Another inspiration was Billie Eilish‘s 2019 song “Bury a Friend“, which López described as “such a dark, moody, fun, sinister little song that I thought it could absolutely work.” It was used to score Night Country‘s title sequence. …
The season was filmed in Iceland and Alaska with a budget of $60 million.
The two female leads are both badass.
Jodie Foster obviously.
Kali Reis is an American professional boxer, turned actress.
I binged the entire season on a transatlantic flight.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Visiting Bratislava, Slovakia
This man at work — Čumil — is just as much a symbol of this city as the Castle. 😀
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. Close to Vienna. Both on the beautiful Danube.
I’d cycled many days along the Danube in 2023.
The best way there is by ferry between Vienna and Bratislava.
I tried and failed to cycle to Devín Castle, from Bratislava. I would have been forced on to a narrow, busy road.
BUT here it is from the ferry.
Most of the tourists in Bratislava come from Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria. It’s mostly ignored by the rest of the world.
We visit the Old Town, admiring historic architecture including baroque palaces.
Bratislava Castle
One of the most prominent structures in the city is Bratislava Castle close to the UFO Bridge.
UFO Bridge
There’s a restaurant up in the UFO. The best vista in town.
Harkening back to the old Soviet Union days there is plenty of what I always refer to as rectal-linear architecture.
The highlight for me was Slavín. A memorial monument and military cemetery remembering thousands of Soviet Army soldiers who fell during World War II while taking over the city in April 1945 from the NAZIs.
There’s more, of course, including a super modern shopping mall.
What REALLY enticed me to go to Bratislava was the CHORS like a hotel hostel.
I was intrigued.
- world’s first NFT hostel
- capsule “apartments”
- art boutique hostel
I never did figure out the NFT angle, BUT this is one fantastic hostel. One of the best I’ve ever encountered out of hundreds.
Clean, roomy, spacious, classy. FAST internet, a rarity in this part of the world.
Not inexpensive for me. 33 euro = USD $35 / night. Plus a high city tax of about $4 / day.
BUT you can pay in Bitcoin, if you like. 😀
Zagreb Croatia – Cathedral
Zagreb, the capital, is no tourist’s favourite destination in Croatia. 😀
But the Cathedral is lovely.
Sadly it was much destroyed in an earthquake 1880.
Here it is after repairs.
And somewhat damaged in an earthquake 2020 with an epicenter 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the city centre
Four years later, it’s still under repair.
What caught my eye is the pretty scaffolding. Some kind of ultramodern top on an ancient Cathedral.
So You Shall Reap by Donna Leon
In 2023, I read MANY of the Commissario Brunetti books by American academic and crime-writer Donna Leon.
Set in Venice.
Back in Europe 2024, there was a new one available.
So Shall You Reap: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery.
Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant.
Because no official record of the man’s presence in Venice exists, Brunetti is forced to use the city’s far richer sources of information: gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim.
Curiously, he had been living in a small house on the grounds of a palazzo owned by a university professor, in which Brunetti discovers books revealing the victim’s interest in Buddhism, the revolutionary Tamil Tigers, and the last crop of Italian political terrorists, active in the 1980s.
Easy reading. A slow burn.
The personal life of Brunetti and his wife are equally as interesting as the murders.
Visiting Zadar, Croatia
Many tourists skip Zadar ➙ a mistake, I’d say.
Most of my photos are sunsets on the Adriatic coast.
I only went to Zadar as it’s the best jumping off point for Plitvice Lakes National Park.
A UNESCO World Heritage site with close to 1.5 million visitors each year.
Zadar gained its urban structure in Roman times; during the time of Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus, the town was fortified and the city walls with towers and gates were built. …
There’s an interesting sea organ.
An unusual light show called Monument to the Sun. Photovoltaic solar modules collect power during the day, producing a light show after dark.
As an important port city, a competitor to Venice, there are a lot of sunken and junky ships.
I do recommend a stopover in Zadar. Stay close to the Old City.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Keep in Mind
I found about 80% of Croatians I met as a tourist were rude. Rude by Canadian standards. There’s a good chance they weren’t intending to be rude — but it’s simply the culture here and in much of Eastern Europe.
Croatian men I found mostly macho posturing, chain smoking, or shouting into a mobile phone in public. And they all seem to have buzz cuts.
Many things do not work for the tourist in Croatia 2024. If you are promised snakes, there will be NO snakes. Also no coffee. Nor a machine. And the rental bike will be unusable. 😀
Wifi will be terrible. Use DATA instead, which is inexpensive in Europe.
Camino Ghosts by John Grisham
Third in the excellent series:
- Camino Island
- Camino Winds
- Camino Ghosts
Camino Ghosts is Grisham’s 50th novel. And as good as ever.
It combines his interests in writers, the justice system, and good winning over evil.
This is a feel good read.
AND might just get banned in Florida, increasing sales. Ron Desanctimonious doesn’t want to hear about mistreated African slaves.
… story is about Dark Isle, a sliver of a barrier island not far off the North Florida coast.
It was settled by freed slaves three hundred years ago, and their descendants lived there until 1955, when the last one was forced to leave.
That last descendant is Lovely Jackson, elderly now, who loves her birthplace and its remarkable history. But now Tidal Breeze, a huge, ruthless corporate developer, wants to build a resort and casino on the island, which Lovely knows, deep down, is rightfully hers. …
Definitely listen to the audio book. Whoopi Goldberg is the perfect reader.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 