Gene Kelly's Energy-Filled Journey From Pittsburgh, The Steel City, to Beverly Hills

Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania in 1912, and studied economics at the University of Pittsburgh. His famous films include:

1948 The Three Musketeers (played D'Artagnan)
1951 An American in Paris
1952 Singin' in the Rain
1980 Xanadu (featuring music by Olivia Newton-John)

He was known for his energetic dancing style. At one point, he also did shows in Las Vegas.

An American in Paris was inspired by George Gershwin's orchestral composition of the same name.

Apocryphal

An apocryphal story is one which is popular but whose authenticity is doubtful.

La Rambla and Maremagnum via Rambla de Mar and Montjuic

La Rambla is a 1.2km tree-lined street that goes down from Placa de Catalunya (its Catalan name, with Plaza being used instead in Spanish) to Port Vell and then extends into Rambla de Mar, a walkway that ends in the Maremagnum shopping complex and its various eateries.

Port Vell was built/modernised as part of an urban renewal program prior to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics was held at Montjuic, famous for its castle built in 1640 where the flag of Catalonia (La Senyera) flies high. Montjuic Castle is the oldest attraction in Montjuic. In 1641 it was the site of a battle during the Catalan Revolt.

The pattern of La Senyera also features in the Coat of Arms of Spain.

Another attraction on Montjuic hill is the Communications Tower built by Santiago Calatrava (one of the turning points of his career), who also designed a lot of edifices in Valencia.

Famous Literary Prizes

The most famous literary prize of all is the Booker Prize, now known as the Man Booker Prize, following sponsorship from Man Investments. But there are many other literary prizes worthy of note:

• Guardian First Book Award: Publishers enter their nominations (since discontinued)
• Nobel Prize in Literature
• Franz Kafka Prize (presentation is held in Prague for the winner)

For specific genres, such as science fiction there are specific awards.

• Hugo Award: annual award for the best science-fiction/fantasy works (named after Hugo Gernsback)

For non-fiction, there are also prizes:

• Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. The winner is announced in November. It's motto: "All the best stories are true". How is it evaluated? Criteria includes: originality, quality of writing and the ability to communicate the subject to a wide audience.The Chair of the judges is Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal (who himself has written a number of non-fiction books, such as "Cosmic Coincidences" by Bantam, and "Our Cosmic Habitat" by Princeton University Press).

Mathematics of Meet Dave

Meet Dave is a 2008 comedy set in New York City. It features a spaceship in the form of a human, played by Eddie Murphy. It cost $55m to make and grossed $50m at the box office.

It has some great NYC locations: including the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, Times Square on the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and the 15-acre Sheep Meadow, Central Park.

Some great quotes from the movie:

"Wow. That's impressive love for the Bee Gees, man".
"Welcome to Old Navy".

Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar

In Gibraltar, there are regular scheduled flights only to the UK and Spain. The airport is only 500m from the city centre.  The main road from Spain, known as Winston Churchill Avenue, intersects the airport runway and has to be closed when a plane takes off or lands.

North of Gibraltar is the Spanish town of La Linea de la Concepcion, in the province of Cadiz in Andalucia. Its name derives from the linea that separates Spain and Gibraltar.

Campo de Gibraltar ("Countryside of Gibraltar") is a name for the region of Cadiz (not to be confused with Gibraltar) which includes La Linea de la Concepcion, Algeciras and Los Barrios.

How Big is Madrid - in relation to other European cities?

Madrid is the third largest European city, after London and Berlin. It lies on the Manzanares River. In fact, the city was founded by the Moors as a citadel overlooking the Manzanares. Its source is the Sierra de Guadarrama in the Sistema Central. The Community of Madrid (Comunidad de Madrid) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities (regions) of Spain. It is the home of Autonoma University (the nearest tube stop is Cantoblanco on the C-4 line).