Cirque du Soleil OVO – my review

On September 11, 2011September 9, 2011 By Rick McIn Cirque du Soleil, travelLeave a comment

I saw the Calgary Premiere last week. Highly recommended. Everyone I spoke with liked it.

… I was going to write a review … but Heath McCoy in the Calgary Herald pretty much nailed it:

… as in most Cirque shows, the storytelling plays a distant second to the spectacle, and, happily, the latter aspect of OVO is grand.

The staging, with its vibrant ecosystem, complete with giant-sized webs, cocoons and a monolithic egg (a thematic symbol of the bugs’ life cycle, ovo means egg in Portuguese) is spectacular.

The dazzling costumes — an inspired hybrid of superhero spandex and historical suits of armour — are suitably outlandish.

And the stunts — played out to the Brazilian electro-pop sounds of a cockroach band, which run the gamut between romantic and sizzling — are nothing short of stunning. …

Magnifique! Cirque du Soleil’s OVO must be seen to be believed

Click PLAY or watch the Calgary preview on YouTube.

OVO IN CALGARY …

Overall … the highlight of this show are the costumes. (That caterpillar is enough to give you nightmares.)

The weakest element, as usual, are the clowns. … Though I somewhat liked Flippo. He grew on me as the show progressed.

I’m flying to Tokyo on Sept. 22nd, hoping to see the Cirque show there called ZED. I’m assisting at Cirque auditions in Tokyo Oct. 18th and 22nd.

hotel room safe combo = 0 0 0 0 0 0

On September 10, 2011September 8, 2011 By Rick McIn product complaints, travelLeave a comment

Do you trust your valuables to those hotel safes?

Best watch this video.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Gadling)

Ajaccio, Corsica – Saturday night

On September 2, 2011August 30, 2011 By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

After 6 nights in the mountains of Corsica this past July, I returned to French civilization.

Here’s what I saw in Ajaccio.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Rick McCharles – outstanding in his field

On August 21, 2011August 20, 2011 By Rick McIn philosophy, travel1 Comment

I’m pretty much the very best in the world in my field. 🙂

I’m finishing up Idaho Expedition Race. Flying to Vancouver Thursday for the BC Gymnastics Congress. From there back to Calgary the following week. I’ve got to stay one step ahead of the competition in my field.

… What is it I do, again?

Expedition Idaho Race VIDEO

On August 20, 2011 By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, travelLeave a comment

Here’s a terrific short video showing what a week long Adventure Race is like. Top teams sleep only 2-4hrs a day on average.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

All 13 teams made it to the finish. They bike a “victory lap” (3-5hrs) up a mountain to finish at the Booze and Blues fest (PDF) in Kellogg Idaho.

expeditionidahorace.com

city so nice, they named it Nice

On August 17, 2011August 14, 2011 By Rick McIn photos, travelLeave a comment

I spent a number of days in Nice, France only because it was the jumping off point to catch the ferry to Corsica.

Must admit, it’s a very pleasant tourist town with much to do and see.

There are plenty of unconvincing homeless people in Nice, preying on the good natured tourists on holiday. This corner in the old town would be my spot, if I became one of them.

more Nice photos

our OPERATIONS HQ in Kellogg

On August 17, 2011August 16, 2011 By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, travelLeave a comment

At the Expedition Idaho Race.

travel the world in 1min

On August 13, 2011August 8, 2011 By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

Gizmodo:

Rick (not me), Tim and Andrew, three ordinary guys, decided to take a trip of a lifetime: 11 countries in 44 days. 18 flights and 38,000 miles later they have three 1-minute videos showing what life is like around the world. …

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.

That’s called Move.

They broke down their trip into three parts: Move, which shows them walking around, Eat, which shows the delectable food they ate, and Learn, which shows all the amazing things they did.

Click on the links above to see the other two movies.

Lausanne, Switzerland

On August 10, 2011August 5, 2011 By Rick McIn gymnastics, photos, travel1 Comment

My laptop returned, I’ve finally been able to post 100 photos from 9+ days in Lausanne for the World Gymnaestrada.

I tented for about $25 / night at Camping Vidy.

Aside from Gymnaestrada, the biggest highlight is the Olympic Museum. Very well done.

It’s a real city of fitness opportunities.

The Metropolitan Area of Lausanne-Geneva is over 1.2 million inhabitants. The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee are located in Lausanne – the IOC officially recognises the city as the Capitale Olympique …

Fond memories …