It is a view to live long in the memory. Far below the Hollywood Hills, stretching out to the hazy horizon, lies the vast sprawl of Los Angeles. The tall buildings of Downtown shimmer in the distance. Ten million souls reside here, but there’s an extraordinary sense of peace from this verdant vantage. And directly behind, at an even loftier summit, the famous Hollywood sign surveys everything.
Forty years ago this month, Pet Shop Boys released their debut single. West End Girls disappeared without trace. The synth-pop song produced by Bobby Orlando just didn’t connect with buyers of seven-inch singles.
If, six months ago, you had told Brazilian native Caio Benicio that he would be entering the Irish political fray, he would have been bemused. Life then was all about working 10- to 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, as a self-employed food delivery rider. There was no time to contemplate the political landscape of his adopted home country, never mind stand as a Fianna Fáil candidate in June’s local elections.