Seize the Night by Dean Koontz

On By Rick McIn uncategorizedLeave a comment

Mixed review.  

An entertaining, funny horror story.

Seize the Night (1998) is the second in the Moonlight Bay Trilogy, involving Christopher Snow, who suffers from the rare (but real) disease called XP (xeroderma pigmentosum).

Actually, the 3rd book never got finished.

Fascinating characters, include Chris’ rich surfer bum friend Bobby Halloway. A smart dog. And a smarter cat.

It’s a great premise. The world is slowly changing due to an accidentally released virus developed by the U.S. military.

BUT … the plot bogs down in an endless and seemingly pointless series of adventures in an abandoned military base. They are suppose to be searching for kidnapped children — but seem to wander randomly.

The plot I’d give 2/10.

The entertaining banter and pop references kept me going.

I’m inspired by the Olympics

On By Rick McIn sport - amateurLeave a comment

YES the IOC was too gutless to call out the totalitarian state of China for their horrific human rights record.

But I’m still happy the athletes got to compete.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Smart. Well written. A psychological thriller where everyone has secrets.

And it’s a modern book with a plot shaped by pandemic. The police using social media to track suspects.

Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.

56 days later detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.

… What happened?

documentary – The Alpinist

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

Marc-André Leclerc died in Alaska age-25.

His death seemed inevitable.

When Alex Honnold thinks you’re crazy, you’re crazy.

Before his death, many of the top climbers would rank him best on mixed rock and ice.

Born in Nanaimo, he gravitated to becoming a dirtbag in Squamish with his girlfriend Brette Harrington, also a badass rock climber, and alpinist.

In 2015, Leclerc completed his first solo ascent of The Corkscrew on Cerro Torre. In winter. That’s one of the the toughest solo climbs ever. Yet nobody in the climbing world had ever heard of him.

Marc’s earlier solo climb of the Emperor Face of Mount Robson might have been even tougher. But he found it relaxing.

Marc didn’t care about fame or social media. Or money.

During the filming of this documentary, he got bored and took off. Climbing around the world.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Escape by David Baldacci

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3rd in the enjoyable John Puller series.

Baldacci’s best series for me, so far.

John Puller’s older brother, Robert, was convicted of treason.

His inexplicable escape from prison makes him the most wanted criminal in the country. Some in the government believe that John Puller represents their best chance at capturing Robert alive, and so Puller must bring in his brother to face justice.

But Puller quickly discovers that his brother is pursued by others who don’t want him to survive. Puller is in turn pushed into an uneasy, fraught partnership with another agent, who may have an agenda of her own. …

davidbaldacci.com

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Queens of Mystery – seasons 1-2

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Queens of Mystery is a British comedy-drama murder-mystery series …

Matilda Stone is a young detective who has been assigned to the constabulary in her fictional hometown village of Wildemarsh, England, where she is reunited with her three crime-writing aunts …

“very tongue-in-cheek and cartoonish” …

It’s something of a parody.

I like the odd and interesting cinematography, as well.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I enjoyed season 2, as well. Perhaps not quite as much.

A few of the ongoing stories were resolved.

But Matilda has yet to find out why her mother disappeared. We’ll have to wait on season 3.

HERE AND GONE by Haylen Beck

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Wow.

This is intense.

Audra just wants to reach California. She’s finally found the strength to flee her abusive husband and make a fresh start for her two children.

With little Sean and Louise in tow, she has carefully made her way across the country, taking back roads and avoiding attention. 
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So when an unsettling local sheriff pulls her over in the middle of the Arizona desert, Audra works to hide her nerves and keep calm. She has to. But then he pulls a bag of drugs she’s never seen before out of her trunk, and nervousness turns into panic. She thinks the worst has happened. …

haylenbeck.com

It gets worse. Much worse.

Should I get the Vaccine?

On By Rick McIn health & fitnessLeave a comment

The Shingles vaccine.

Two zoster vaccines have been approved for use in people over 50 years old.

Shingrix (GSK) is a recombinant subunit vaccine which has been used in many countries since 2017.

Zostavax (Merck) is an attenuated vaccine which consists of a larger-than-normal dose of chickenpox vaccine. …

Shingrix is 2 shots at least 2 month apart. Zostavax only one.

In Canada the cost of Shingrix is about CA$300 for the two doses.

I’ll ask my doctor before making a final decision.

Why Travel?

On By Rick McIn education, happiness, human rights, philosophy, travelLeave a comment

I took a gap year between High School and University.

SUPER happy I did.

It opened my eyes to the bigger world. Other cultures. Other ways of thinking.

Niklas Christl didn’t know what to do when he graduated High School. Here he documents what happened on his gap year — and how it changed his life.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.