Nine Perfect Strangers – season 1

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

Nine Perfect Strangers is a  miniseries based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty. 

I couldn’t get into the book.

But the TV series appealed.

Nicole Kidman? Making fun of a health and wellness resort?

What’s not to like?

Melissa McCarthy as struggling romance novelist Frances Welty, is funny and interesting, as usual.

All of the cast is good. I didn’t particularly relate to any one more than the rest.

Turns out the secret of this resort is micro-dosing. And it just might work. … Or not.

For me it was 20% too weird. But I loved the ending. And it’s rare for a miniseries to have a terrific ending.

David E. Kelley pitched the series alongside Kidman. Hulu instantly gave it the green light.

It was actually filmed in Australia during the pandemic.

A second season is planned.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Tear It Down by Nick Petrie

On By Rick McIn uncategorizedLeave a comment

Tear It Down is the 4th book in the Peter Ash series. And the weakest, so far.

Lots of action. But the plot is simply too impossible, even for me.

Iraq war veteran Peter Ash is restless in the home he shares with June Cassidy in Washington State.

June knows Peter needs to be on the move, so she sends him to Memphis to help her friend Wanda Wyatt, a photographer and war correspondent who’s been receiving peculiar threats. When Peter arrives in Memphis, however, he finds the situation has gone downhill fast–someone has just driven a dump truck into Wanda’s living room. But neither Wanda nor Peter can figure out why.

At the same time, a young homeless street musician finds himself roped into a plan to rob a jewelry store. The heist doesn’t go as planned, and the young man finds himself holding a sack full of Rolexes and running for his life. When his getaway car breaks down, he steals a new one at gunpoint–Peter’s 1968 green Chevrolet pickup truck. 

Peter likes the skinny kid’s smarts and attitude, but he soon discovers that the desperate musician is in far worse trouble than he knows. And Wanda’s troubles are only beginning. Peter finds himself stuck between Memphis gangsters–looking for Rolexes and revenge–and a Mississippi ex-con and his hog-butcher brother looking for a valuable piece of family history that goes all the way back to the Civil War.

DREAM Bike = Priority 600x

On By Rick McIn cycling, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

UPDATE ➙ similar bike is Boreal Pinion.

My current touring bike is a Trek Checkpoint customized for my good self. And I love it.

IF I was to upgrade, it would be to the somewhat more expensive Priority 600x.

In fact, my guru — Ryan Duzer — switched from a Checkpoint to the Priority. That’s Ryan in the photo.

One of the designers, some call this bike the Duzer Cruiser.

I think I’d prefer the no maintenance belt drive pinion system. And the nearly unbreakable Gates Carbon Drive. AND the suspension looks pretty good on this tough bike.

The supply chain problems of pandemic is over. You can get a 600x stock in the USA, as I post, within 5 days.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Good Detective by John McMahon

On By Rick McIn books1 Comment

Great debut murder mystery 2021. John McMahon is already being listed with the best.

A complicated and fascinating plot.

P.T. Marsh was a good detective.

Then his wife and son were killed in an accident.

Months later he’s not so good — drinking, blacking out.

Late one night he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend.

When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before.

He could swear the guy was alive when he left, but can he be sure?

What’s certain is that his fingerprints are all over the crime scene.

johnmcmahonbooks.com

Remember the Tom Lehrer Songs?

On By Rick McIn human rights, musicLeave a comment

Tom Lehrer only recorded 37 songs. Performed only about 100 times.

The songs were FUNNY. Way ahead of his time.

In fact, Tom preferred teaching mathematics, lecturing at Harvard University and later at other schools.

His songs were intended to amuse himself and friends. Left leaning, he enjoying making fun of both left and right.

He paid $15 (equivalent to $152 in 2021) for some studio time in 1953 to record Songs by Tom Lehrer. The initial pressing was 400 copies. Radio stations would not air his songs because of his controversial subjects, so he sold the album on campus at Harvard for $3, equivalent to $30 in 2021.

Tom’s still with us. Now age-94. Born 1928 to a secular Jewish family, growing up in Manhattan.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Not bad. This book is intriguing to start. But doesn’t maintain that throughout.

On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner.

Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves.

Ted talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the artistic free spirit—a contrast that once inflamed their passion, but has now become a cliché.

But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse. . .

Peter-Swanson.com

Can I STILL Run 10km in 1 hour? 😀

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, travelLeave a comment

At one point I claimed I could do a 10k race in one hour any time. Without training.

That MIGHT have been true … at one point.

I did work up to it in 2019.

Day two 2023 I felt pretty good. Running steadily, made 8km in an hour. About 7.5 minutes / km.

My goal is 6 minutes / km.

A few days later I ran much better. I was well below 6 minutes / km to start — but couldn’t keep up the pace.

Ended up 6min and 45sec / km.

Next day I switched to Strava, an app much more accurate than Apple Watch Workouts if you make U-turns. (Apple Watch is ideal for checking pace on the fly, however.)

Ran better. 6min and 11sec / km.

On Feb 3rd I psyched up to make my goal. And pulled it off. Started slow. Sprinted the end … to make it. Barely. 😀

In real life I never have to run an hour. This was base training. I’ll switch to sprints and hills now as I find those help more for my cycling and hiking.

Click PLAY or get a glimpse of running in Bermuda on YouTube.

Lane by Peter Grainger

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Peter Grainger is my favourite writer — who doesn’t yet have a Wikipedia page. 😀

He’s so unknown that he had time to reply to me on one of my comments on his books!

Grainger started by independently publishing for Kindle.

Lane is his 2017 short book introducing Willows and Lane.

Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored.

Summer Lane is a mysterious new neighbour.

An incident throws them together in a hostage situation and car chase.

It’s Grainger, so it’s good.

St. Regis Bermuda Resort

On By Rick McIn travel2 Comments

IF I had Musk money to waste, I’d definitely hang out at the NEW St. Regis Bermuda Resort.

About CAD $860 / night in February. The place is mostly deserted in winter.

There are units for sale, as well.

I love the location in St. Georges, my favourite part of Bermuda.

That’s Fort St. Catherine in front. A coastal artillery installation used by Royal Artillery units from 1612 into the 20th century. Today it houses a museum.

In the distance is my favourite beach in Bermuda — Tobacco Bay.

Five Forts Golf Course is somewhat new. It used to be the government run St. George Golf Course designed by Robert Trent Jones.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver is an excellent short book.

Special agent Kathryn Dance—a brilliant interrogator and body language expert and her partners at the California Bureau of Investigation hunt down escaped killer Daniel Pell, a self-styled Charles Manson.

Both Dance and Pell are fascinating characters.

Jeffery Deaver creates plots with so many twists and turns they could “hide behind a spiral staircase” (People), and The Sleeping Doll has Deaver’s trademark twists in spades. It is guaranteed to keep readers guessing right up to the breathless end.

Click PLAY or watch an interview on YouTube.