Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

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The 3rd novel (2024) by an excellent author, Alex Michaelides.

This is a murder mystery — and also literature. The writing is excellent.

That said, for me the story wasn’t all that compelling. I really didn’t care about any of the characters.

This is a tale of murder.

Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex-movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story …

It had all the necessary ingredients for a press sensation: a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight.

Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge.

What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

On By Rick McIn books, philosophyLeave a comment

Though I’ve never been much of a fan of poetry, one that frequently comes to mind is Ozymandias.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart.[d] Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

— Percy Shelley, “Ozymandias”, 1819 edition

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Murder, Interrupted book 1 by James Patterson

On By Rick McIn books, TVLeave a comment

Murder, Interrupted book 1 is two true crime thrillers, as written by the famed author.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

In the first, a rich — but criminal — accountant hires an incompetent hit man to kill his wife.

In the second, a single mother tirelessly cares for her wheelchair-bound, chronically ill daughter. But when the teenaged Gypsy Rose realizes she isn’t actually sick and Dee Dee has lied all these years, Gypsy Rose exacts her revenge .

These two stories made up the first two episodes of Discovery’s Murder is Forever TV series

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I read the second book in the series, as well:

Home Sweet Murder.

Gideon’s Corpse by Preston and Child

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Not being much of a fan of thrillers, I have to admit this one is not bad.

  1. Gideon’s Sword
  2. Gideon’s Corpse
  3. The Lost Island
  4. Beyond the Ice Limit
  5. The Pharaoh Key

The plot is insane, at times. But it’s certainly never boring.

Gideon is an art thief and nuclear researcher turned government agent — who only has 11 months to live.

Gideon’s Corpse (2012) is a thriller by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

… a sequel to Gideon’s Sword.

The plot focuses on a nuclear scare, the federal reaction, and Gideon’s attempts to unravel the mystery.

My NEW DJI Mini 4 Pro Drone

On By Rick McIn photos, travel, video1 Comment

I’ve been really enjoying flying drones.

Mine was the dumbest — and least expensive — in the DJI line-up, the Mini SE drone.

Getting ready for hiking / cycling 2024, I upgraded to a DJI Mini 4 Pro. (My old drone broke in Idaho.)

Click PLAY or watch samples on YouTube.

I now have the DJI RC-N2 controller with the built-in screen. And no longer need to hook up my phone.

I got the full Fly More Kit which includes 3 batteries, charging hub, carrying case, and extras.

Not inexpensive at CAD $1500 including tax.

Of course buying a warranty is essential. I paid CAD $170 (USD $125) / 2 years. I can replace the drone carcass up to 3 times. But IF I lose the drone, no warranty coverage.

I bought some accessories, as well:

I could have gone for the less expensive Mini 2, or Mini 3, but decided on the 4 for these features:

  • 360 degree obstacle avoidance
  • better low light video
  • it has a built-in light, so I can see the drone in the sky at dusk or dawn
  • vertical video in 4K
  • more Quickshot options

Most importantly, super powerful Activetrack options. The drone will follow-me wherever I go, avoiding obstacles so I need not manually watch it every second. This is ideal for cycling.

Summing Up

I’ll shoot video in 2024 with drone, iPhone, and Ace Pro Action Camera

My guru is DC Rainmaker.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

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This is only the 3rd novel by Julie Otsuka.

Short. In fact, I’d call it two novellas not particularly related to one another.

The 1st a very original and wonderful tale about the people who use a local community pool.

Swimmers.

Almost magic realism.

“In our ‘real lives,’” Otsuka writes, “we are overeaters, underachievers, dog walkers, cross-dressers, compulsive knitters (Just one more row), secret hoarders, minor poets, trailing spouses, twins, vegans, ‘Mom,’… .”

But once in the water, swimmers are only “one of three things: fast-lane people, medium-lane people or the slow.”

L.A. Times review

It reminded me of my days in the Brainsport Running Club.

Once having changed out of work clothes, people group into entirely new castes based on running ability.

The second half of the book — “Belavista” — finds Alice in a long-term memory residence by this name.

While very insightful into life (prison?) in a care facility, I did not enjoy Belavista as much as the first half.

Otsuka is obviously an excellent writer.

I’ll be reading her two earlier books, as well.

Now You See Me 1 & 2 (films)

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How did I miss this FUN movie?

The plot is nonsense, of course. But simply enjoy the ride.

Now You See Me is the first installment in the Now You See Me series.

The film features an ensemble cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman.

The plot follows an FBI agent and an Interpol detective who track and attempt to bring to justice a team of magicians who pull off bank heists and robberies during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Enjoying that, I streamed Now You See Me 2, as well.

Entertaining. But nearly as good as the first.

Now You See Me 3 is in the works.

HOW I Edit My Photos

On By Rick McIn Apple, photos, videoLeave a comment

My main interest is VIDEO.

But I end up taking and posting quite a few photos online, as well.

Of my current cameras, I find my iPhone 13 best for photos. Quick. Easy.

I copy those over to the PHOTOS APP on my Mac.

Here’s an unedited photo.

Quite good, as is.

In the free APPLE PHOTOS APP, I most often consider adjusting these settings:

  • Auto Enhance Magic Wand
  • White Balance ➙ Auto
  • Curves ➙ Auto
  • Levels ➙ Auto
  • Vignette ➙ Radius up to 100%
  • Vignette ➙ raise Strength
  • Adjust Light
  • Adjust Color

For this photo that took about 45 seconds.

I like both the original and edit. But like the edit slightly better. Especially Vignette.

Also, it’s brighter. And you can see the couple more clearly.

The Method by James Patterson, Michael B. Silver

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Bit of a silly novela. BUT very memorable.

It’s only available as an Audible original.

James Patterson leads you into the darkest recesses of the mind with this chilling, immersive audio thriller. We meet Brent Quill, a frustrated actor trying to take his game to the next level.

When he learns about the intensive Method acting process, he dives in deep—and immediately lands the lead role in a TV series about a brutal serial killer.

But when the Method’s controversial techniques start to take over Brent’s psyche, the lines between real life and acting begin to blur dangerously. How far will Brent go to “become” the character?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.