The Atmosphere’s Electric

Talking 'Bout Their G-G-Generation

Brazil's national electricity grid had to provide extra energy to avoid a nationwide blackout Friday when the final chapter of the hit soap opera "Tropical Paradise" aired. TV Globo said about 90 per cent of television viewers in the country of 186 million people tuned in for the final chapter to learn who murdered the scheming villain Tais and to find out if Bebel, the Pygmalion-like prostitute, would live happily ever after. Prime-time soap operas known are telenovelas, with average runs of 200 episodes, are hugely popular in Brazil.

FOOTNOTE: That’s telly vision.

Trivia Pur$uit

Volvo employees have been confronted with a shock element of globalisation at their Swedish assembly plant - big hairy spiders that apparently arrived with shipments of truck cabins from Brazil. The cabins are sprayed with water before assembly work goes ahead.