Best songs of 2016

I have created a unique playlist with the best songs of the year 2016 in my opinion. All of them are great and cover nearly all musical tastes. I listen to plenty of music when I am writing and I love to create playlists, this contains the best songs of the year 2016. Read this in Spanish Best songs of the year

Hope you can use this playlist these Christmas to have an unforgettable holiday season. Original version Best songs of 2016

BEST SONGS OF 2016

Discover the best songs of the year according to Halcombe to have the best Christmas of your entire life. Although remember the saying goes “There is no account for taste”

                      BEST SONGS OF THE YEAR 2016

Pop, DJS, Pop-Rock

Come Jain

Better Love Hozier

We don´t talk anymore Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez

John Wayne Lady Gaga

24k magic Bruno Mars

Ocean Drive Duke Dumont

Side to Side Ariana Grande and Nicky Minaj

My Way Calvin Harris

Good to Love FKA Twigs

Goodbye Feder and Lyse

Too Good Drake and Rihanna
(no official music video I am afraid)

The Greatest SIA and Kendrick Lamar

Slumber Party Britney Spears and Tinashe

This Girl Kungs and Cooking on 3 burners

Human-Rag and bone man

Good Grief-Bastille

Rock, Hard Rock, Indie

Hardwired Metallica

The Sound The 1975

City Lights The White Stripes

Dark Necessities Red Hot Chili Peppers

Waste a moment Kings of Leon

Threat of Joy The Strokes

Casual Party Band of Horses

Jesus´s son Placebo

Heart of a dog The Kills

Take me down The Pretty Reckless

BEST SONGS OF 2016

Other

 (These songs do not entirely fit on the sections above and I will explain the reason, they are great nevertheless)

Life on the road David Brent (from comedy movie “Life on the road” this is not a proper artist as it is a character in a movie who is a musician, this song is great and the movie very funny)

Safari J. Balvin and Pharrell Williams (Latin American artists have mixed music with North American ones and this is a very catchy song, perhaps the best one of the year)

Starboy The Weeknd and Daft Punk (Canadian R&B star The Weeknd has found a great partner on French artists Daft Punk, the electronic duo help him with a brilliant sound)

Kerala Bonobo (apart from being a great song, it has a music video that it is truly original)

Ride them on down The Rolling Stones (The Rolling Stones has released an album that are blues covers from some unknown and old artists from 1950s or 1960s, these songs are great and are blues, the music video of this song is starred by actress Kristen Stewart)

You want it darker Leonard Cohen (The farewell of poet Leonard Cohen, can scarcely be better, this song is like adding music to poetry, he has died in this 2016)

Fade Kanye West (to end up the most incredible music video of 2016, wait until the end because it is something never seen before, rapper Kanye West makes this song and find in artist Teyana Taylor the perfect person to star an incredible music video. Fade)

The yuletide feeling all of us must have these days will be better if we add some great music as the songs you have discovered on this post. Have a great holiday season!! Best songs of 2016 Best songs of 2016

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales is the title of my new book. This is my first ever book in English, the second overall. Read this in Spanish The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales

I published a book in Spanish called Ser un Tusitala this year, Ser un Tusitala. This second book is special for me because English is not my first language but it is a language in which I have been working for long. 

This book is to be published in North America, in United States of America. It is divided in two parts. The first part of this book of Halcombe is about several adventures of this peerless character which takes place all around the world. Halcombe was born in Norilsk, Siberia, Eastern Russia. This is a place which was chosen as the worst in the world to live several times in a row.

Because of such a painful notion, Halcombe decides to travel the world to prove his skills. He believes he is chosen to succeed. Reality proves otherwise. This first part is written in a fun, humorous tenor. It is fictional, yet anybody can suffer the same experiences than Halcombe.

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales

The second part of this book; The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales is a wide array of different stories that create a huge compilation of essays on music, culture, history, sport, personal experiences or travel. These are articles I have been writing last four years.

The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales is available worldwide. Hope you love it. Do share and comment. Book of halcombe The adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales. The Adventures of Halcombe Norilsk and other gripping tales 

2nd Part 24 hours in Manhattan, New York City

24 HOURS IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY

Full Spanish Version 24 Horas en Nueva York  Original full story 24 Hours in New York City

                                           
Later on, I will be experiencing a unique event because I owned seats in the first row to see Victoria´s Secret fashion show, yet the game was longer than hoped for because of an unexpected overtime and an unexpected win from New York Knicks. Nonetheless, it made me to forget the delay.

                                   Halcombe Norilsk                                   

It did not matter at all because the afterparty that took place once the VS fashion show was over was going to be celebrated at Plaza Hotel. I had dinner with supermodels who after being on a diet during months were permitted to eat anything that night. They told some secrets of their own and we had a charm soirée.

After having dined with these incredible personalities I put on a new suit that I had bought early such morning. I lived an eternal party with the crème de la crème, heavy hitters indeed. Authorities, journalists, celebrities, writers, investors, broker-dealers, painters, baseball players, punk singers, hip-hop stars, movie stars, musicians or bloggers from Europe… Scarcely a renowned name was missed!!

Not only people form New York City attended but people all around the world were enjoying this afterparty at Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. I met spectacular people, I made contacts. What is more, I took some pictures with famous personalities that I uploaded on social media. In fact, my pictures were trending topic on the internet for five hours!!!!

Afterparty was both unbelievable and mesmerizing. Equally, I widely enjoyed the music. The artist invited was Lady Gaga who was also the main guest at Victoria´s Secret Fashion Show alongside The Strokes and Jay Z. All of them are also from New York City. They hosted both the fashion show and this event in musical terms. As a matter of fact, Lady Gaga was releasing her new album after some time with no new songs as Jay Z was doing and The Strokes were playing together again after some years of silence.

Without going any further, this hotel for instance once hosted a famous Truman Capote party that it is still remembered or it was the hotel in which The Beatles slept on their first visit to New York. Consequently, only outstanding episodes can take place on this place as a result!!!  

As New York Knicks had beaten Cleveland Cavaliers everybody (albeit some guests were from Ohio they felt great too nonetheless) was beyond happiness, especially Spike Lee who made sure drinks were available in large quantities, plenty of manhattan cocktails (of course) were pouring because we were in Manhattan after all!!.

All of a sudden, dawn arrived, my 24 hours in New York were about to perish thereby. I said my farewell to Victoria’s Secret models and to their husbands likewise. I purchased a double Caffé Americano and drank it with 3 big bagels.

I was nearly asleep and a little bit sad. I believed all the magic had already vanished. I demanded a taxi with a new mobile application having to share it with two old poor souls apparently. 

Two old grumpy men who were talking about their new project, I was too much for them. I watched through the window instead, trying to attain a last glimpse of New York City. Listening to them with sorrow, disdain and pity…

Cab driver told me we ought to stop in Little Italy before heading to JFK airport. I did not care at all. The two older fellas talked continuously. When they left the car I realized they were Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese who were discussing over the proper location to their new movie that is to be shot in New York City soon. All of a sudden, everything ended and I saw myself resting comfortably in an airplane direction Europe.

I watched Taxi Driver movie and the full Victoria´s Secret fashion show on the plane without telling anything to anybody ever (nor the person by my side on the plane) with regards to how supermodels behave once the show has finished let alone how next movie of Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro as main protagonist again is going to be like!!!! 24 hours in New York original story 24 hours in New York 

Donald Didius Julianus Trump

Ancient Roman Empire still has a legacy in our time. So relevant was that its historical imprint is still visible on our cities and other aspects of our society. Read this in Spanish. Lee esto en español Donald Trump Original Version Donald Trump

    Roman Empire and United States of America

If there is something similar between the Roman Empire and United States of America that has been the most powerful country in the world in recent history has always been that proud feeling, a constant effort to preserve, exalt its virtues and achievements in such a way that sometimes seem far-fetched.

Roman Empire had good, bad and silly emperors. Similarly, we have seen good, bad and silly US presidents. Still, one of the strangest cases not only in Roman Empire but in human history as well may be equal to what has happened to Donald Trump recently.

                                          Didius Julianus

Didius Julianus bought Roman Empire after the death of Pertinax who was assassinated by his Praetorian Guards because he did not fulfill his promised monetary demands.

Donald Didius Julianus Trump

All of a sudden, Roman Empire was opened to public auction and Didius Julianus bought it showing off his extraordinary wealth, trying to impress the high society of his epoch in a both unbelievable and clumsy chapter of Western history.

His wife and daughter encouraged him to do so, Didius Julianus stood up and he offered 25 thousands sesterces to every soldier that were accepted by the Praetorian Guards. Everybody praised him. Who wouldn´t? He was the new Roman Emperor.

Soon thereafter and once the party ended Didius Julianus saw everything from a fearful point of view. He realised he did not have a single clue on how to rule Roman Empire, something he had never prepared for.

How was he going to lead an army with no military knowledge? Why Didius Julianus made a bid for the Empire in the first place anyway? He could have maintained a millionaire Roman lifestyle.

2 weeks after this bizarre auction took place foreign countries declared the war against Rome. Likewise, citizens get tired of Didius Julianus very soon, revolts followed, he was insulted and mocked publicly. Problems were mounting. Everybody got angry at him,

Two months after buying Roman Empire, Didius Julianus was assassinated by his guards and an experienced general was crowned new Roman Emperor.

Roman Empire no longer was as great as it was before. Last words of Didius Julianus prior to be killed were these "What Have I done wrong??"

                                                                                                                     DONALD DIDIUS JULIANUS TRUMP

Comparison to Donald Trump and United States of America could not be (in my opinion) better. Why does Donald Trump abandon his funny celebrity profile who was in every party, on every show? Why at 70 years of age he does not focus his efforts on his fifth son of only 10 years of age and enjoys life with his young third wife, his children and his multiple businesses?. Does Donald Didius Julianus Trump know where he is really heading to???

There is a theatrical play in which an elected politician spends two hours saying preposterous things and acting like a clown whereas the audience laughs continuosly.

At the end, the politician gets serious and addresses himself to the audience. "Why are all of you laughing? You have elected me, if you are laughing at me, you are making a fool of yourselves"

                                                                              

             Eating Mexican food to "Make Hispanics feel safe again"

Your vote does not matter US 2016 Election results.

"If you trump another player´s card, you beat it with a card that belongs to the group of cards that has been chosen to have the highest value in the game you are playing" Definition of Trump. Cambridge Dictionary.

Read this in Spanish lee esto en español Ser un Tusitala Original story US Elections

DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump is the new president of United States. Yet, I find very interesting what I have learned about him. According to experts he has NPD Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The problem is people do not accept this as something negative and never get cured. These people need to be recognised and feel admired and love being famous. What is more, they take advantage of people around them. Others claim Donald Trump is a sociopath. He is able to do anything in order to obtain what he is yearning for.

Bible of Donald Trump is book "The power of positive thinking" by pastor Dr Norman Vincent Peale, written in 1952. Donald Trump has had more than 3500 lawsuits in the last 30 years. Grandparents of Donald Trump came from Germany. In fact, his real surname is Drumpf I believe, his grandfather changed it to the winning one Trump. They worked in Western America helping miners with alcohol, food and women. Father of Donald Trump got rich building houses in Queens, New York taking advantage in loopholes New Deal offered. Donald Trump inherited from his dad plenty of money to invest and to live comfortably. Yet, he expanded it to have a bigger and global impact. 

2016 US ELECTIONS

US Elections

Donald Trump  

I have been following Donald Trump since he presented his candidature. No matter people laughed at him. I really think he was going to be the Republican nominee.  However, after seeing his performances at final debates against Hillary Clinton I thought nobody could vote for him. He seemed like a fish out of the water, anything but a politician. His answers and his behaviour were so weird he could not have been taken into account seriously. Nevertheless, nearly 60 million people have voted for him, this means 60 million people deemed his debate performances fine. What is more, 60 million people believe his promises. 60 million people think he should be president of United States of America. 60 million people consider his behaviour, comments and political skills at least acceptable. 

Donald Trump 

USA Elections 

             YOUR VOTE DOES NOT MATTER

I really think the whole United States election system does not make any sense at all insofar as if the candidates are to be the utter representation of the entire country the one who obtains popular vote overall has to rule the nation. It is as simple as that. 

Furthermore, there are already politicians who represent states thereby not only US elections are a failure it ends up being the decision of five or six secondary states.

It does not matter if you vote in Texas or New York, two of the most important states, however candidate is chosen, however mistakes are being made, Texas is going to vote for a Republican candidate and New York is going to vote for a Democrat one. 

Since the complete number of votes does not matter you should move to Ohio or Florida to have a real impact in US elections. If they do not change this the result will always be overshadowed in my opinion. 

In fact, I do not believe there are many countries in the world that follow this United States pattern. Is a simple as to realize that if you are going to rule a country you must have the majority of votes of that country. 

If you win a state with 51% of the votes is the same as winning it with 95% of the votes. In my opinion, this cannot be maintained.

I do not believe they are going to change this because they love their traditions, it is like voting on Tuesday (there is a story of mine here on Niume explaining why United States vote in Tuesday) or the long and gruelling pathway a candidate must endure. This strange political system will continue. 

US Election results 2012

          HILLARY CLINTON

Hillary Clinton won popular vote, she had more people voting for her than Donald Trump had for him. What is more, she had more votes than Kennedy and Nixon when they won US presidency. Yet, perhaps her political career may have ended once she lost against Barack Obama in 2008.

She could be more than happy having worked as secretary of state, a position she could still be having with perhaps a new Democrat US president. However, the title "First woman president" is so attractive she ran again.

What Democrats did was not only ugly was also their key failure. They were given double delegates to Hillary Clinton when debates had not been started yet while Bernie Sanders was winning states and rendering great debate performances.

What is more, Barack Obama stopped Joe Biden from presenting his candidature because it was the time of a woman as president and the proper time for Hillary Clinton.

Someone thinks Donald Trump would have beaten Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders?. Enemies of Bill and Hillary Clinton had counted on different issues to attack her. Yet, Bernie Sanders has no scandals attached to his persona.

Given the experience of Donald Trump, all his scandals and the political acumen of Bernie Sanders, he would be now United States president and perhaps Hillary Clinton could still be secretary of State.

Finally, what is to happen with Hillary Clinton´s political career?. Watch this video. By the way, the other day Leonard Cohen passed away...

Donald Trump (Final Result Hillary Clinton, 64 million 223, 958 votes. Donald Trump 62 million 206, 395 votes)

24 crazy hours in Manhattan, New York City

(This is what would have happened to me had I spent 24 hours in Manhattan, New York City.)

 24 HOURS IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY.

24 hours in any city might be an amount of limited time but when you are going to the city known as “The city that never sleeps” one must be even more careful and with the security of having everything under control. (Lee esto en español 24 horas en Manhattan Nueva York Original Story 24 Hours in New York)

This is the reason that whilst I was going to New York I chose to watch plenty of movies and television serials set on this place during the flight from Europe to JFK airport. The problem is that the last movie I watched was "The Terminal" starred by Tom Hanks. This is why I grabbed my passport and hid it strongly. I did not want anybody to steal it!!!!

It was such a shame I was not able to watch my favorite movie, Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro as main protagonist. Yet, I watched episodes of television series “Sex on The City” and “Gossip Girl” which gave me plenty of ideas of what could have been taking place in New York throughout my 24 hours journey.

I was going to stay at The Plaza, A Fairmont Managed Hotel that belongs to Accor. A deluxe hotel. Majestic and historical likewise. Situated closed to 5th Avenue on the southern entrance of Central Park.

There was not time to lose. After leaving my luggage in the beforementioned hotel I was buying clothes on Fifth Avenue to look stylish during the party I was going to attend later that day.

After two hours of shopping clothes on Fifth Avenue. Not only did I have quality clothes to wear. I was also getting the mood of this city. In order to feel even more integrated, I ran across Central Park, stopping to have some refreshments as the picture may prove (street wear though).

 24 HOURS IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY 

New York City, Manhattan

Once a hot shower had finished I went back to the street so that taking a ferry. I had a pleasant trip across the coast of Manhattan passing by Statue of Liberty. A panoramic vision of Manhattan on the ferry with the big Statue of Liberty as solely witness made me feel so special that it is something I will always remember. Instead of going back to the place from where I took the ferry I decided to stop on South Ferry, from whence ships go to Staten Island.

I was in the southern part of Manhattan. I started walking direction Plaza Hotel. As a result, I had travelled the whole isle of Manhattan (more or less). First, I had been running to the north through Central Park, secondly, travelling by ferry. Finally, I was going to walk the streets like other New Yorker, looking everything carefully and stopping deliberately in some key spots. I visited National September, 11 memorial place leaving some flowers to pay my personal homage. I took pictures on Broadway, Wall Street and United Nations Building and I also went to last floor of Empire State Building. Seeing the impressive skyline made me scream passionately: New York is mine!!!

When I was in Times Square I ate something quickly, hot dog, soda and French fries while a musician was singing for live television. I did not lose a second because I got tickets to see New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden against Cleveland Cavaliers. I was going to be able to devise an official NBA basketball game!!! 24 Horas en Nueva York To be continued 24 Hours in New York City

 24 HOURS IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY

Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton Real and SNL Debates

"Whoever wins this election, the outcome will be historic, we will either have the first female president or the first president who started a Twitter war with Cher"

"Donald Trump really is as healthy as a horse. You know, the one Vladimir Putin rides around on"

"Donald Trump Looks at the statue of Liberty and sees a 4 maybe a 5 if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair"

"Donald Trump if at any time you don't like what I am saying feel free to say wrong"

These Funny Jokes about Donald Trump belong to Hillary Clinton who
conveyed them in a charity event in New York City with Donald Trump on it as well.

Donald Trump with Hillary and Bill Clinton on his last wedding

Probably you have already heard about 2016 United States elections, yet the best you can do is to watch SNL, Saturday Night Live parodies. Imitators are great, actress Kate McKinnon is so good at her impersonation she recently won an Emmy Award beating professional actresses from movies and television series. Likewise, famous actor Alec Baldwin renders a great Donald Trump impersonation, everything is witty and overlaid with neutral dexterity (Follow the link if you want to read an analysis of United States presidential race in Spanish)  Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton 

DONALD TRUMP

But before that you can see the famous video whose impact has changed this 2016 United States presidency race where Donald Trump and Billy Bush (member of Bush family) talk about television actress Arianne Tucker in a very scarce presidential way....

Donald Trump Billy Bush Arianne Tucker

Donald Trump Billy Bush Arianne Tucker

Donald Trump Arianne Tucker Billy Bush

Similarly, you can see now a funny and strange video where singer Mary J Blige dedicates some lines to Hillary Clinton

HILLARY CLINTON

Mary J Blige Hillary Clinton

                                         

Hillary Clinton Mary J Blige Donald Trump

One last thing before SNL parodies, a special version of Beyonce hit Lemonade, Melaniade

MELANIADE SNL

You can watch the SNL Saturday Night Videos videos with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Really, really great.

SNL US DEBATES HILLARY CLINTON VS DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump explains himself. This SNL video is especially jocular

Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump 2nd Debate

Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton 3rd Debate

Now you can watch the real debates Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton

REAL 2016 DEBATES 1st one Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton

2ND REAL DEBATE Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton

3RD DEBATE Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton

Guess Denim

Guess newest fashion campaign of this 2016 autumn is starred by supermodels Gigi Hadid and Megan Wiliams with this impressive picture where we can see these two supermodels clad entirely in denim clothes.

GUESS

Guess Megan Williams Gigi Hadid

Read my stories

History of Literature: Lesbian and Gay Criticism

Lesbian and Gay criticism became a distinct field only in 1990s, there was nothing about it until then. There is a MA course called "Sexual dissidence and cultural change" in Sussex. Books about gay writers or by gay critics are not necessarily part of lesbian and gay studies as are no relevant to gay people only. What is the purpose as a result? Lesbian and gay studies do for sex and sexuality what women´s studies do for gender. Sexual orientation is a fundamental category of analysis and understanding. Social and political aims are; an oppositional design, resistance to homophobia and heterosexism. The difference with Lesbian feminism is the difference of emphasis. Lesbian feminism has its origins from within feminism that emerged in 1980s, annex of feminist criticism. Feminism is so important that derived from it. The key idea is to universalise the experience of white, middle-class urban heterosexual women. 

History of Literature

This kind of critique excludes the voices and experiences of black women "Ain´t am woman, black women and feminist" is a recurrent quote from many Lesbian angry women. What has never been is an overview of lesbian feminist criticism. "The madwoman in the Attic" by Gibert and Gubar only contains a single passionate reference to lesbianism, classic feminism had marginalised lesbianism but lesbianism is the most complete form of feminism according to many. Lesbianism is central to feminism, since lesbianism turns away from various forms of allusion with patriarchal exploitation and instead consists of relationships. Adrienne Rich  creates the term "Lesbian continuum" with her book "Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence". It is explained therein a wide variety of female behaviour, running, for instance, from informal mutual networks through supportive female friendship, sexual relationships and the different ways women bond together.

Bob Dylan

Before telling of the modern covers of Bob Dylan´s songs I have selected and taking advantage of the popularity of this artist these days as he has just received the Nobel Prize for literature although he is a musician. You can read a small review I penned about a Bob Dylan concert I attended to no long ago. This concert took place in the Spanish city of Zaragoza last summer (July 2015) it was the first time I saw him live and perhaps the last time. The concert ticket is the image of this post something I keep because I have always been a big fan of his music and legendary figure although what Bob Dylan produces is known henceforth as music/literature!! BOB DYLAN

BOB DYLAN

"It was unknown to me that Bob Dylan tends to play the same setlist every night. Worse still, Bob Dylan tends to omit his classic songs from it as a matter of fact. At 74, he is not in a good condition to play as he would be in the past. In the concert I saw of Bob Dylan in the city of Zaragoza he did not even say hello to his audience let alone said a farewell to his devotees to whom he was entertaining for 2 hours with a pause of 20 minutes. Long are the days when he played the guitar, now he hides himself behind the piano or sings yet so poor is his state that one who is not a big fan of Bob Dylan may be a little bit disappointed. However, it you have never seen a concert of Bob Dylan you should be happy (this is what happened to me) as you are seeing a musical legend, nonetheless, if someone has 20 classic songs that are amongst the best 200 best songs ever written and only one is sung, (Blowing in the wind, in a rare, bizarre and strange version) the joy cannot be fully attained, as a result, I am to include some versions of some of his classic songs in order to create an unforgettable post because after all, however his age however his physical state, the genius of Bob Dylan is still alive!!" 

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan plays somewhere in the region of One hundred concerts per year, he launched the Never ending tour and he may be round your corner ready to play another concert, yet only here will you find some modern covers of classic songs of Bob Dylan that are fabulous in the sense that musical skills of great bands are added to the unique lyrics of Bob Dylan, new Nobel laureate. These versions are very good. If you want to see the videos of these performances follow the link Bob Dylan

The Rolling Stones-Like a Rolling Stone

U2-All along the watchtower

Guns and Roses-Knockin' on Heaven´s Door

My Chemical Romance-Desolation Row

The War on Drugs-Tangled up in blue

The Lumineers-Subterranean Homesick blues

Joan Baez-Forever Young

Blowing in the wind-Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood alongside Bob Dylan (Live Aid 1985)