Alpha (2018 film)

On March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

Wow. I recommend this film for the story and special effects. Inspiring cinematography.

Alpha (2018) is a … prehistorical adventure film …
… a young hunter who encounters and befriends an injured wolf during the last ice age …
… Europe 20,000 years ago, a small tribe of hunter-gatherers prepare for a hunting expedition for the coming winter’s food. …
The hunters eventually reach a herd of steppe bison, which they attempt to stampede off a cliff …
Filming took place in Drumheller, Burnaby, and Vancouver …and in Iceland. …
Rotten Tomatoes, Alpha holds an approval rating of 80% …

The dog was the first species to be domesticated, by hunter–gatherers over 15,000 years ago, before the development of agriculture.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Pandemic must be Over … 😶

On February 28, 2022 By Rick McIn McCharles familyLeave a comment

My brother Rob and his wife Yvonne actually drove across the border for long delayed holidays in California and Arizona.

My brother Randy and his girlfriend Val drove Calgary to Parksville to take up residence in their house for a couple of months.

The nuclear family was briefly back together.

Walk the Beach at Dawn

On February 28, 2022February 28, 2022 By Rick McIn happiness, health & fitness, videoLeave a comment

For the two pandemic years I’ve been working out of my unheated garage world headquarters in Parksville, B.C., I’ve been heading down to the ocean almost evert day at dawn.

Sound boring?

Actually, every dawn has been different. The tides. The weather. The seasons. But I only once saw a bear.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Turn a Blind Eye by Jeffrey Archer

On February 27, 2022February 26, 2022 By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Jeffrey Archer is now in his 80s.

His current series features police officer William Warwick, late 1980’s London.

Nothing Ventured (2019)
Hidden in Plain Sight (2020)
Turn a Blind Eye (2021)
Over My Dead Body (Oct 2021)

In this one, Warwick is moved from Drugs section to investigating crooked cops.

Archer is a good story teller. Good vs Evil.

Plots that are simple to follow.

Protagonists you can cheer for unreservedly.

Doc Martin seasons 6-7

On February 26, 2022February 26, 2022 By Rick McIn humour, TVLeave a comment

Doc Martin is still keeping me amused.

Doc and Louisa finally get married. And then, unsurprisingly, separate.

Doc is hopeless.

Eventually … they go to couples therapy.

Over the last few seasons, Jessica Ransom, as Doc’s harried receptionist Morwenna Newcross, has become my favourite character.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson

On February 25, 2022February 28, 2022 By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Ragnar Jónasson is the acclaimed Icelandic author of crime fiction. The Dark Iceland series is set in and around Siglufjörður, featuring Detective Ari Thor.

Iceland is the most literary nation on earth. According to the BBC, one in ten Icelanders will publish a book. Crime fiction is particularly popular.

Ragnar Jónasson started as the guy who translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic. 😀

His debut novel, Snowblind (2010) introduces Ari, a rookie cop from Reykjavik, arriving in an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.

Ragnar spent many summers as a kid in Siglufjörður. He writes what he knows.

Surprisingly, the author did not do his own translation to English. His translator is British though Ragnar did edit the English editions, as well.

When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge …

An intriguing plot for sure.

BUT I felt the translation I read was not particularly well written. Too simplistic. Key points repeated too often.

Jumping forward and backward in time didn’t work for me. It was confusing, not engaging.

Bloodlands – season 1

On February 24, 2022February 22, 2022 By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Bloodlands is a police procedural set in Ireland.

Intense with unexpected twists and turns.

Veteran detective Tom Brannick is still looking for his wife who disappeared 20 years earlier. Her possible assassin, code-named Goliath, might be back.

It’s well done. But too dark for me to continue to season 2.

Also, there’s no character I particularly like.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Billie Eilish – You Should See Me In a Crown

On February 23, 2022February 22, 2022 By Rick McIn musicLeave a comment

Great song.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. The spider video.

My Spigen MagSafe wallet

On February 22, 2022February 19, 2022 By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

A new upgrade to my life is this lightweight minimalist wallet.

Spigen Smart Fold Magnetic Wallet Card Holder

It carries only 2 cards (driver’s licence & credit) along with some emergency cash.

I don’t attach it to a phone. Instead I keep it in a a dedicated zippered card pocket which most of my pants and shorts feature.

What I like best is using it as a phone kickstand.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Never by Ken Follett

On February 21, 2022February 21, 2022 By Rick McIn bad news, books, ethics, firearms, GOP USA, government, Islam, things getting worseLeave a comment

As a teenager I loved Follett’s World War II thriller, “Eye of the Needle” (1974).

Follett got even more famous writing historical fiction: Kingsbridge Series ➙ Century Trilogy.

In 2021 he published a geopolitical thriller — Never. Quite a departure.

Never is set in today’s world.

The sprawling saga is a fictionalized story of our world stumbling towards a nuclear war that nobody wants.

It begins in the Sahara Desert. Islamic terrorists, drugs and human trafficking.

The American President Pauline Green is a 4′ 11″ Republican. A former gymnast. Of course she’s challenged on the right by a Trumpy populist. Top of the American agenda is a revolt in North Korea. Rebel military have seized the nuclear weapons.

A high-ranking Chinese Intelligence official offers insight into the mindset of that superpower.

This book is terrifying as you can see how a nuclear war could start. In fact, I’m affected enough to no longer want to travel to Taiwan or Korea for hiking. They are both too close to nuclear attack.