I cycled the last sections of the traditional Camino de Santiago in 2022.
To my thinking, cycling is even better than walking.
I rented a touring bike. VERY convenient.
If interested, check out the best guidebook:
Cicerone – Cycling the Camino de Santiago: a complete planning guide
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Another great book from one of my favourite authors.
Hang On St. Christopher (2025) is the 8th novel in Adrian McKinty’s critically acclaimed Sean Duffy mystery series, released on March 4, 2025.
Despite the previous book, The Detective Up Late, being heavily promoted as Duffy’s final case, this instalment welcomes the street-worn detective back for another dangerous assignment.
I watched Eleventh Hour — not to be confused with the 2008 American remake — because it starred Patrick Stewart.
He’s great.
The concept is great.
The execution terrible. Cinematography worse, even by 2006 production standards.
Patrick Stewart is a Special Science Advisor, who troubleshoots threats stemming from or targeting “scientific endeavour.”
He is joined by Rachel Young, played by Ashley Jensen, a Special Branch operative who acts primarily as his bodyguard, as Hood has made powerful enemies through his work.
Dana Stabenow is an award winning author who sets books in her home state of Alaska.
Less Than a Treason (2017) is just one of many in her Kate Shugak series.
I enjoyed it.
The book opens four months after the dramatic cliffhanger of the previous novel, Bad Blood, where Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak was shot in the chest and nearly died,
Kate’s self-imposed isolation is shattered when a group of wilderness hikers stumbles near her territory. One hiker tumbles down a ridge and lands on a scattered heap of human bones. Realizing it is time to return to society, Kate packs up the remains, escorts the hikers back, and re-enters the town of Niniltna—shocking locals who assumed she was dead.
Once back, Kate is drawn into a complex web of corporate crime involving a lucrative secret gold mine: [1]
Nora Roberts is a great story teller — but I can’t recommend her most recent book.
The ROMANCE is classic Nora Roberts. Very good.
But the main plot about a debut author chased by an extremely stupid stalker is … weak.
Review – Nora Roberts’ The Final Target Review: Worth the Hype?
The audio book reader is excellent, as usual ➙ January LaVoy.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Wow. Original. Interesting. Uplifting
What a great movie.
The Life of Chuck is a 2024 fantasy-drama film written, directed, and edited by horror auteur Mike Flanagan.
Moving away from his signature macabre horror style, Flanagan delivers a life-affirming, emotionally resonant adaptation of Stephen King’s 2020 novella of the same name.
The film took home the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The movie explores the life of an ordinary accountant named Charles “Chuck” Krantz through an unconventional reverse three-act structure:
The underlying thesis reveals that the global “apocalypse” in Act III is actually the fading consciousness and brain decay of Chuck himself as he lies dying in a hospital bed.
The film acts as a metaphor for the Walt Whitman philosophy that every single human “contains multitudes” and holds an entire pocket universe within their mind.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
In May 2026, I ended up buying a refurbished Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 256GB – Cosmic Orange – Unlocked for CAD $1549.
After a couple of months using it as my primary camera, I’m very happy.
My old Sony point and shoot hasn’t been out of the box.
Max is the larger size, longer battery life.
17 Pro Max will now be my main camera.
My old 16 Pro will have the mobile plan, audio books, podcasts, navigation apps, and everything else. The 16 Pro replaces my dying iPhone SE Mini.
I was convinced to go 17 Pro rather than the cheaper, similar 16 Pro because of this Tyler Stalman review. One of the gurus, Tyler is from Calgary.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. The improved selfie camera in the 17 is the biggest upgrade from the 16.
I went with the Flolab Surtect iPhone 17 Pro Max case based on this review.
I’ll be changing my workflow, as well, with this camera following Tyler Stalman’s advice.
Due to Trump’s idiotic war, I decided to stay closer to home this Spring.
Made a PLAN … that didn’t exactly work out. 😀
The Skiing was excellent. My best year ever. 12 days at Sunshine.
Hiking great. 17 days in the tent, walking deserts in California and Nevada.
NEXT is visiting friends in Kelowna and Vernon. Most probably cycling back to Calgary on the Great Trans Canada Trail.
Check out my GEAR for the trip. Everything but the kitchen sink. 😀
I saw Disclosure Day in the theatre.
Silly. But entertaining.
Rotten Tomatoes, critical approval rating of around 82%.
It could have been better if not so complicated.
I enjoy some of the small touches, however. For example, Emily Blunt’s character (Margaret Fairchild) has a musician boyfriend named Jackson, who is played by Wyatt Russell. That character is funny and believable.
Colin Firth makes a good bad guy.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
An insane, over-the-top comedy.
Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg.
Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, an elite police officer who is reassigned to a West Country village and investigates a series of gruesome deaths. Nick Frost co-stars as Police Constable Danny Butterman, Angel’s partner. …
Wright and Pegg spent eighteen months writing the script.
The first draft took eight months to develop, and after watching 138 cop-related films for dialogue and plot ideas
Influenced by American movies like Raising Arizona ,Bad Boys, & Point Break, the cinematography in Hot Fuzz (2007), shot by Jess Hall, parodies Hollywood action movies by applying a blockbuster visual style to a sleepy English village.
High-contrast lighting, wide-angle lenses, and rapid-fire editing.
The film features over 5,500 edits. Fast cuts connect quick “insert shots” (close-ups of objects like a gun, a pen, or a badge) with wide shots. This turns mundane chores into high-intensity action.
Director Edgar Wright frequently cuts to extreme close-ups of eyes, boots, and weapons to build dramatic tension.
The “Whip Pan”: The camera rapidly swings to the side. This creates a blur effect.
The “Crash Zoom”: The camera violently zooms into a character’s face during moments of sudden realization. It is a classic 1970s and 1980s cop-movie trope used for comedic effect.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 