A musical masterpiece.
Life In A Northern Town is the debut single by British band The Dream Academy, released in March 1985.
The single reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986 and reached No. 15 on the UK charts.
… written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake, who died in 1974. Overdose of prescription drugs.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Nobody Walks (2015) is a completely independent novel even though its MI5 is the same as the one in Herron’s Slough House series. Jackson Lamb is mentioned.
Like the rest, the audio book is narrated by the excellent Gerard Doyle.
The suspicious death of his son brings an undercover spook Tom Bettany for MI-5’s Special Ops out of retirement with a vengeance.
Maybe it’s the guilt he feels about losing touch with Liam that’s gnawing at him, or maybe he’s actually put his finger on a labyrinthine plot, but either way he’ll get to the bottom of the tragedy, no matter whose feathers he has to ruffle.
But more than a few people are interested to hear Bettany is back in town, from incarcerated mob bosses to those in the highest echelons of MI5.
He might have thought he’d left it all behind when he first skipped town, but nobody ever really walks away.
Amazon
You don’t need to like nor know anything about Chess to enjoy this TV series.
It’s 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
On October 28, 2020, it was the most watched series of the day on Netflix.
The Queen’s Gambit is an American drama television miniseries based on Walter Tevis‘s 1983 novel of the same name.
I read the book, as well. Excellent.
Though written long ago, it still feels contemporary.
Themes of adoption, feminism, chess, drug addiction and alcoholism.
Bruce Pandolfini, a US chess master, consulted on the chess positions prior to the book’s publication.
… a fictional story that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy named Beth Harmon from the age of eight to twenty-two during her quest to become the world’s greatest chess player while struggling with emotional issues, with drug and alcohol dependency. The story begins in the mid-1950s and proceeds into the 1960s.
The Queen’s Gambit is sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years—for the pure pleasure and skill of it.
— Michael Ondaatje (cover of Vintage paperback edition, 2003)
All the acting is good in the TV show.
I probably enjoyed Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Benny Watts best.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Everyone agrees the USA is a disaster when it comes to FIXING their immigration laws.
Trump shot down the most recent border bill effort.
ReTrumplicans want the disaster to continue at least as long as the 2024 election. They really don’t have many REAL issues to campaign on.
Freakonomics posted a 3 part audiocast series. Well worth listening to.
Listen to Freakonomics episode 580:
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or listen to part 2 on YouTube. Episode 581.
I’ve always felt Canada is one of the best nations in handling immigration.
We welcome those who can fill necessary jobs.
The USA still uses a lottery. And mostly fills their quota with families.
Click PLAY or watch part 3 on YouTube. Episode 582 — Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?
Canada recently reduced their immigration target numbers. Not good for the economy. But there simply isn’t enough affordable accommodation for new citizens or foreign students.
Finally, the ReTrumplican GOP in 2024 is anti-immigrant. The opposite of Ronald Reagan.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
For the 4th year in a row, I stayed at the Samesun Hostel in Banff.
Alternated days of winter hiking and downhill skiing.
I skied one day with Kelly from Canmore. Two days with Rocco.
Click PLAY or watch Rocco on YouTube. Footage from my new Insta360 Ace Pro action camera.
April 1, 2024 conditions were PERFECT for me.
I opined that this was the best ski day at Sunshine for 10,000 years. 😀
Kelly introduced me to happy hour at Hello Sunshine Banff Sushi. Fantastic.
I’ll be posting 2024 hiking videos on BestHike.com.
Here’s a hike from the past that gives a good idea what it’s like to get on the trails in the Spring.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
MORE videos from Banff.
related – Spring Hiking/Skiing Banff 2023
I’m already looking forward to 2025 in Banff.
International Fact-Checking Day was introduced at a conference for journalists and fact-checkers at the London School of Economics in June 2014.
… officially created in 2016 and first celebrated on April 2, 2017. …
It rose in importance after the 2016 elections, which brought fake news, as well as accusations of it, to the forefront of media issues. …
The invention of the Internet ➙ and Social Media made it much easier to circulate disinformation and misinformation.
What that means for YOU and ME is that we need check everything with sources we trust.
Click PLAY or watch FAKE NEWS on YouTube. 😀
A (2016) video purportedly showing the presidential candidate saying that his campaign had been an April Fool’s Day prank all along was actually created for a comedy TV show.
Snopes
Kelly — a BIG Sushi fan — lives in Canmore.
His favourite restaurant in Banff is Hello Sunshine Sushi during Happy Hour.
50% off many Sushi platters.
As well as beer and other menu item specials.
I’m hoping to go 3 times this week. 😀
Kelly introduced me to Hello Sunshine after a GREAT day skiing powder at … Sunshine.
Every tourist enjoys Vancouver Island. Much to do. Much to see.
Here’s a good starting point for someone planning to visit our area, north of Nanaimo.
Will Ferguson is a Calgary based humorist and writer.
He and his older brother, Ian Ferguson, another funny writer, published this book in 2023.
The brothers were working together remotely during the pandemic on what would become their first fiction co-write, a comedic mystery featuring a sleuthing has-been actress named Miranda Abbott. …
Their heroine is a delusional actor whose fame has mostly faded. When she is recognized, it’s for playing the “crime-solving, karate-chopping” Pastor Fran, the titular character in a 1980s TV show called Pastor Fran Investigates. …
… part of the dynamic during those over-the-phone work sessions was simply to make each other laugh. …
Calgary Herald review
Out of work. Out of money. Miranda Abbott somehow lands a tiny role in an amateur theatrical production Murder Mystery called Death is the Dickens.
The book is amusing. A light read.
Rick McCharles 