海角大神

Sweet Olympics moment

Missing the Olympics already? Relive a small but sweet moment: When American Abbey D鈥橝gostino and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand were competing in the women鈥檚 5,000-meter event, D鈥橝gostino ran into Hamblin. D鈥橝gostino came back up first but took a moment to help her opponent and see if she was all right, exemplifying the message of the Games. See it happen at .

Winning movie

In 2000, a group of Welsh inhabitants of a former mining village decided to pool their resources and breed a racehorse. When the horse began doing well in races, they found themselves on an unexpected journey. The documentary , directed by Louise Osmond, tells this story and it鈥檚 now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Dazzling Himalayas

Travel virtually to the Himalayas with the new app , which uses Google Maps to allow you to see the vistas as a yeti known as Verne. Kids can learn from the app, but adults will appreciate the dazzling visuals, too. It鈥檚 available through Google Play (there鈥檚 no iOS version yet) free of charge.聽聽聽

Captivating songs

Singer/songwriter Lisa Hannigan first caught our attention as the beguiling duet partner of Irish heartthrob Damien Rice a decade ago. While Rice鈥檚 profile has dimmed, Hannigan is a rising star in Britain, and her gorgeous new album, , should continue her ascent. A fortuitous teaming with The National鈥檚 Aaron Dessner has taken her songwriting to new places, and the resulting 11 songs are captivating, sombre, and otherworldly beautiful.

Thoughtful banter

What better tonic for the dog days of summer than a respite with detective Alan Banks? Peter Robinson鈥檚 novel finds the detective in charge for the first time as superintendent. Robinson keeps the story and plot moving, but it鈥檚 Banks鈥檚 eclectic musings and thoughtful banter that make the novel a delight. Along the way, the author tackles everything from the unreliability of memory to ethnic profiling. This is pop fiction the way it should be: entertaining and brainy.