All posts tagged: ghosts

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton – A Sharp, Funny Look at Modern Love

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton – A Sharp, Funny Look at Modern Love

Published by skeptic

In her debut novel “Ghosts,” Dolly Alderton delivers a wickedly observant, poignant, and often hilarious portrait of navigating love, friendship, and family in your early thirties. Known for her memoir “Everything I Know About Love,” Alderton brings her sharp wit and emotional intelligence to fiction, creating a protagonist whose experiences feel startlingly real and universally relatable despite their specificity. Nina Dean has just turned thirty-two, bought her first flat in London’s Archway, and published a successful cookbook. On paper, she’s living the millennial dream. But as she downloads a dating app for the first time and watches her friends pair off and migrate to the suburbs, Nina finds herself at a crossroads that many women will recognize with a sympathetic wince. The Modern Dating Landscape: Swipes and Disappearing Acts What Alderton captures most brilliantly is the bizarre landscape of modern dating—the dictionary of new behaviors that have emerged in the age of dating apps. The term “ghosting” may be familiar to most readers, but Alderton excavates its emotional impact with unflinching clarity. When Nina meets …

City of Ghosts by Victoria E. Schwab

City of Ghosts by Victoria E. Schwab

Published by skeptic

Victoria Schwab’s City of Ghosts introduces readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead blurs into what the protagonist calls “the Veil.” In this first installment of the Cassidy Blake series, Schwab crafts a middle-grade paranormal adventure that balances genuine chills with heartfelt exploration of friendship, identity, and purpose. As someone familiar with Schwab’s more mature works (the Shades of Magic series and Vicious), I was curious to see how her distinct voice would translate to a younger audience. The answer: brilliantly. Schwab loses none of her atmospheric storytelling while creating a ghost story accessible to younger readers yet engaging enough for adults. The Story: Death Is Only the Beginning When Cassidy Blake nearly drowns in a frozen river, she’s saved by a boy named Jacob—who happens to be a ghost. The accident leaves Cassidy with the ability to see and interact with the dead, to cross the “Veil” between worlds, and with Jacob as her constant (and ghostly) best friend. Fast forward a year, and Cassidy’s paranormal scholar parents …

Why do atmospheric ‘ghosts’ glow green after red sprites?

Why do atmospheric ‘ghosts’ glow green after red sprites?

Published by skeptic

atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon. chemical: A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (bond) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made when two hydrogen atoms bond to one oxygen atom. Its chemical formula is H2O. Chemical also can be an adjective to describe properties of materials that are the result of various reactions between different compounds. cloud: A plume of molecules or particles, such as water droplets, that move under the action of an outside force, such as wind, radiation or water currents. (in atmospheric science) A mass of airborne water droplets and ice crystals that travel as a plume, usually high in Earth’s atmosphere. Its movement is driven by winds.  data: Facts and/or statistics collected together for analysis but not necessarily organized in a way that gives them meaning. For digital information (the type stored by computers), those data typically are numbers stored in a binary code, portrayed as strings of zeros and ones. density: The measure of how condensed …

Woman Ghosts Man But Will Not Tell Him Why Unless He Pays Her

Woman Ghosts Man But Will Not Tell Him Why Unless He Pays Her

Published by skeptic

After a man spent nine weeks talking “nonstop” to a woman he met, he was perplexed when she suddenly stopped answering him.  However, a week later, he was even more baffled when she contacted him to let him know that she would be willing to tell him why she stopped talking to him for a price.  The woman ghosted the man and claimed that if he paid her $200, she would tell him exactly why.  Sharing the bizarre story on the subreddit r/TwoHotTakes, the man revealed that four months ago, he met a woman in the apartment building where he leases rentals.  “It started out as teasing in the halls and some light DMs, then tuned into Snapchat, then texting and all,” the man wrote.  Look Studio / Shutterstock RELATED: Pregnant Woman Ghosts Fiancé After He Admits To Proposing For The ‘Tax Money’ However, over the nine weeks they spent talking, the man said that they had a few fights that he believed were all “red flags” of her behavior while looking back.  “I friended her …

The science of ‘weird shit’: why we believe in fate, ghosts and conspiracy theories

The science of ‘weird shit’: why we believe in fate, ghosts and conspiracy theories

Published by skeptic

Psychologist Chris French has spent decades studying paranormal claims and mysterious experiences, from seemingly-impossible coincidences to paintings that purportedly predict the future. Ian Sample sits down with French to explore why so many of us end up believing in, what he terms, ‘weird shit’, and what we can learn from understanding why we’re drawn to mysterious and mystic phenomena Continue reading… Source link

Belgium still struggling with its colonial ghosts – POLITICO

Belgium still struggling with its colonial ghosts – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

In 2022, those working on the report failed to find consensus on the notion of apologies to be made to the former colonies. Some claimed this would have led to financial reparations, even though one of the political recommendations states that the “recognition of Belgium’s role is sincere and necessary. It does not, however, imply any legal liability, and therefore cannot give rise to any financial reparation.” Other recommendations — there are 128 in total — include the establishment of a Remembrance Day, the creation of a knowledge center, and facilitating easier visa procedures for scholars in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. “There were also practical things that could change the way in which the colonial past is represented in the public sphere, how the colonial collections are handled or change the way Congolese historians struggle to get visas to access archival collections in Belgium … and they just swept all of it off the table,” said Van Beurden. ‘Belgo-Belge issue‘ It’s not the first time Belgium has set up a …

‘Ghosts’ Star Danielle Pinnock Teases Her Character’s Love Interest (Exclusive)

‘Ghosts’ Star Danielle Pinnock Teases Her Character’s Love Interest (Exclusive)

Published by Sam

Danielle Pinnock is ecstatic about Ghosts getting picked up for a fourth season. But even more so, she loves the idea of her character getting a love interest. Well, possibly. The hilarious 35-year-old actress spoke to ET on the red carpet at the 55th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday from the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, and she couldn’t be happier about the CBS sitcom getting the green light for a fourth season, especially because she’s so enthralled with her character, Alberta Haynes. “First of all, playing Alberta, who is a 1920 prohibition era jazz singing ghost is an honor,” she said. “She is Black history. She is a hot mess with a heart of gold. But I will say for this season — as a tease — she may or may not be getting a love interest [laughs]. You know, it’s been a hundred years. So, we’re going to dust off the cobwebs for sure.” Getty Attending Saturday’s shindig is truly a special, full-circle moment for Pinnock, who shared exactly why attending is a …

‘Ghosts’ and ‘Fire Country’ Renewed at CBS for 2024-25

‘Ghosts’ and ‘Fire Country’ Renewed at CBS for 2024-25

Published by Sam

CBS is firming up more of its lineup for next season. The network has renewed its comedy Ghosts and drama Fire Country for 2024-25, picking up a fourth season of the former and a third of the latter. The two shows join the previously renewed Tracker on CBS’ roster for next season. “Ghosts and Fire Country are proven viewer favorites on both broadcast and streaming thanks to exceptional storytelling, talented actors and an ever-growing fan base,” CBS Entertainment presiden Amy Reisenbach said in a statement. “We are elated to keep the momentum going and bring them back to CBS next season.” Ghosts, from CBS Studios in association with Lionsgate Television and BBC Studios’ Los Angeles production arm, is the network’s second most watched comedy behind Young Sheldon. It’s averaging 10.2 million viewers over seven days and across all platforms, a small uptick over last season. Nielsen’s seven-day linear ratings have the show at 8.68 million viewers, with streaming on Paramount+ and CBS apps accounting for the remaining 1.52 million. Fire Country has grown its audience …

Ghosts of EU’s rightward future haunt nature law fight  – POLITICO

Ghosts of EU’s rightward future haunt nature law fight  – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

Its survival, however, was only thanks to a handful of rebel conservatives, acknowledged French MEP Pascal Canfin of the centrist Renew Europe group, which is split over the bill.  “If we have won the battle for the nature restoration law, it is because part of the right was able to resist the alliance with the anti-ecological populism of the far right,” said Canfin, who also serves as the chair of Parliament’s environment committee.  The EPP has tried to sink Green Deal legislation before, most notably in the previous parliamentary vote on the Nature Restoration Law in July.  But this time around, the group did not file its own motion for rejection, instead backing the ECR’s push — a sign that the EU’s center-right family is flirting with the option of a right-wing coalition.  Left-wing parties were quick to criticize the EPP’s support for the ECR — a major shift given that the center right in recent years largely worked with the Socialists, Renew and the Greens to pass numerous Green Deal laws. “The EPP must show …