Galleria Centre, Scottsdale
July 23rd, 2026

There have certainly been bigger nautical disasters than HMS Titanic. The wartime sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff resulted in the loss of over nine thousand lives, roughly six times as many. But none has made such an indelible mark on pop culture. Purely in the cinema, there have been dozens of films based on or inspired by it. The first came out less than a month after Titanic sank, and starred actress Dorothy Gibson, who was actually a survivor of the event. Most famously, of course, is James Cameron’s Titanic, which remains the second-biggest movie worldwide, almost thirty years after its release. Tapping into this interest, an exhibition recently opened in Scottsdale, promising to “tell the story of the RMS Titanic like never before.” So, does it?

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It seems to have snuck up on me without warning this year, in an “Oh, shit – it’s this weekend?” kind of way. I have therefore missed out on all the drama, which – and stop me if you’ve heard this before – largely revolves around the inclusion of Israel. As a result, a number of countries have withdrawn. We lost Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and one of the event’s “Big 5” (countries which pay the most, so get to bypass the semi-finals) in Spain. Mind you, I was more upset by losing Slovenia, since I won’t get to use my annual meme. Or maybe I just did…

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Last week, we were in Spain: first time ever for Chris, first time for me in about forty years. I’m not going to do a fully-fledged coherent article on the topic, but here’s a set of notes on various elements of the trip.

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Abba Arena, London
June 5, 2025

My love of Abba has been previously documented. So when staying in London for the first time in a number of years, there was one item essential on the to-do list. Attend the Abba Voyage show, recreating the band in their late seventies prime. It was an ambitious endeavour, utilizing motion capture, work by Industrial Light and Magic, and digital projection in a three thousand capacity, custom-built venue, taking six years from concept to opening, and at a total cost estimated to be $175 million. That’s a lot of effort, but has paid off. Since opening in May 2022, the show has played seven times a week at 99% capacity. At an average ticket price of close to three figures… Well, do the math.

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I’m making a strenuous effort to avoid spoilers this year, or even discussions which might end up giving any indication of the winner. So, no browsing the Eurovision subreddit, or checking the betting odds, and I’ve avoided Googling the show too much, so that my news feed doesn’t include any hints as to the outcome. Whether I will be able to sustain this, until the point when we will be able to catch up on the show – either very late Saturday night Arizona time, or some point on Sunday – remains to be seen. I may have to go completely dark on social media once it starts, just to be sure. I know too many people who are fans of the show on some level to take the risk…

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