Invictus – a review

On July 7, 2010July 4, 2010 By Rick McIn books, movies, product endorsements1 Comment

Nelson Mandela is a great hero of mine.

I can’t think of any actor better suited to play him in a Hollywood movie than Morgan Freeman. Nor any director better than Clint Eastwood.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Loved it.

Invictus is a 2009 biographical drama film based on events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted in that country following the dismantling of apartheid. …

The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation. Invictus was released in the United States on December 11, 2009.

Here’s the real Mandella with captain François Pienaar. (much bigger than actor Matt Damon, you notice)

Invictus – the poem

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

hmmm …

How do I get to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next year …

free WiFi at Starbucks starting July 1st

On July 1, 2010 By Rick McIn food, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve spent much quality time at Starbucks over the past year. I log in using my $10/month Boingo account.

No more.

… the free-for-all begins today. As of this very moment, the next US / Canadian corporately-ran Starbucks that you enter should be offering free one two-click WiFi, meaning that no password is required and no time limits will be set.

Of course, this also means that you’ll never see an open chair in any Starbucks ever again, but hey — that’s why sidewalks were created, right? …

Starbucks begins offering free two-click WiFi access in US and Canada

GigaOm offers up some tips on using Starbucks as your “office”.

The Dune Universe

On June 29, 2010June 24, 2010 By Rick McIn books, product endorsements1 Comment

240px-FrankHerbert1978-cropped — Frank Herbert

The best desert planet sci-fi novel, all would agree is Dune.

Here’s the original series of 6 novels by Frank Herbert, each IMHO weaker and more confusing than the last:

Dune (1965)
Dune Messiah (1969)
Children of Dune (1976)
God Emperor of Dune (1981)
Heretics of Dune (1984)
Chapterhouse Dune (1985)

Much later Frank’s son Brian Herbert and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson expanded the series, adding many new books. They try to make sense of Frank’s vision.

I’ve now read 6 of the dozen or more Dune books in chronological order:

• Dune: House Atreides (Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson)

• Dune: House Harkonnen (Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson)

• Dune: House Corrino (Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson)

• Paul of Dune (Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson)

• Dune (Frank Herbert)

• Dune Messiah (Frank Herbert)

Frank was a genius in conceiving Dune, I concede.

But the son’s books are far better, more accessible, than his Dad’s.

In Dune Messiah, for example, almost nothing happens … aside from a poorly unexplained nuclear explosion that seems to do no damage except render those nearest to it blind. Was Frank a mad genius? … There was something wrong with his brain, I’m thinking.

I’m not burned out yet. Next up is Winds of Dune.

Last I’ll read the 3 earliest books, the prequels, which look to be excellent.

most beautiful seatbelt TV commercial ever

On June 27, 2010June 23, 2010 By Rick McIn health & fitness, product endorsements1 Comment

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Embrace Life Public Service Announcement.

Thanks George.

best political TV ad ever

On June 26, 2010June 19, 2010 By Rick McIn government, humour, product endorsements1 Comment

Even the left wing Huffington Post loves this Republican commercial.

… Dale Peterson may have finished third in the GOP primary for Alabama Agriculture Commissioner, but he’s not done being a YouTube star. With the race heading to a runoff between Dorman Grace and John McMillan, Peterson has returned to endorse McMillan in a new ad. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Daring Fireball)

Southwest Airlines SEAT SALE

On June 22, 2010 By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Southwest Airlines announced a fare sale Tuesday to celebrate its 39th birthday.

For travel up to 450 miles, sale fares are $39 one-way. Flights between 451 and 1000 miles are on sale for $79. Fares for flights that are more than 1000 miles are $119.

details

speed bumps and speed dips

On June 22, 2010June 16, 2010 By Rick McIn government, product complaints, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve seen my share of “speed bumps” over the past few months, caught unawares by a few at too high velocity.

They’ve got many names around the world including: speed hump, road hump, speed breaker, slow child, judder bar.

My favourite: “Sleeping Policeman“.

They do slow vehicles, but there are plenty of downsides, too.

If possible, I would prefer rumble strips. Or electronic signs reminding me of my speed vis-a-vis the speed limit.

New to me was this innovation, a “speed dip”. I saw it at the excellent Navajo National Monument in the States.

It worked remarkably well. I slowed down.

The Road – Cormac McCarthy

On June 17, 2010June 13, 2010 By Rick McIn books, product endorsements4 Comments

The world will end not with a bang, but a whimper.

I just finished the audio version of Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel The Road.

It won the the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

… a boy and his father lurch across the cold, wretched, wet, corpse-strewn, ashen landscape of a post-apocalyptic world. The imagery is brutal even by Cormac McCarthy’s high standards for despair. This parable is also trenchant and terrifying, written with stripped-down urgency and fueled by the force of a universal nightmare. “The Road” would be pure misery if not for its stunning, savage beauty.

This is an exquisitely bleak incantation — pure poetic brimstone. …

NY Times book review – The Road Through Hell, Paved With Desperation

Highly recommended if you think you have the stomach for it.

Parents of young children may want to pass it by.

I don’t think this book could translate well into a movie. On the other hand, I can’t think of any actor more suited to play the father than Viggo Mortensen.