Birthday Party in LISBON

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel2 Comments

I’m 64-years-young on November 2nd.

I’ll be celebrating in Lisbon, Portugal. You know — the most vaccinated nation in the world? 😇

No quarantine. No covid test. BLAST. Connecting in Montreal, I was one of about 10 connecting passengers informed that we did need a Covid test before getting on the plane. I got a 20 minute test at the airport for $150. Very confusing as Portugal allows vaccinated passengers to arrive without a test on TAP airlines and others. I blame Air Transat for poor communication.

I’ll be hiking famed Fisherman’s Trail. And Seven Hanging Valleys.

Renting a touring bicycle from BikeIberia.

BUT if anyone asks, I’m there mainly looking to get some dental work done. North American dentists are the most overpaid in the world.

searching for a dentist

As usual, I’m flying to Europe on Air Transat. Cheapest by far — BUT they don’t have many flights / week.

As it happens, I celebrated my 53rd birthday in Porto, Portugal. So this is something of a re-do.

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

My favourite post-apocalyptic novel is The Road (2006) by Cormac McCarthy. It won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Dog Stars (2012) is not as good. But similar. And it’s well written. I do recommend the book.

Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows.

His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope.

In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and pretend that things are the way they used to be.

But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life–something like his old life–exists beyond the airport.

Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return–not enough fuel to get him home–following the trail of the static-broken voice on the radio. But what he encounters and what he must face–in the people he meets, and in himself–is both better and worse than anything he could have hoped for.

peterheller.net

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Dune on IMAX

On By Rick McIn books, moviesLeave a comment

I’ve always been a big fan of the original Dune published 1965.

Such a fan that I even loved the 1984 film adaptation by David Lynch. Recall Sting was Feyd-Rautha, Baron Harkonnen’s younger nephew. It was widely panned.

I booked an IMAX ticket online. Sat in the second row so the screen would fill my vision. I wanted to be engulfed by sand.

And I was not disappointed.

Denis Villeneuve was the right person to remake this story.

Dune is BIG. Dark. Gritty. Dusty. Beautiful.

I hiked that area of Jordan. Fond memories.

Though the cast was all excellent, Timothée Chalamet makes this film. He’s perfect as Paul Atreides. In contrast, Kyle MacLachlan was not believable in the 1984 version.  

Villeneuve stated that Chalamet was his first and only choice to play the role.

Stellan Skarsgård was intimidating as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. He reminded me of Marlon Brando when he reached 300 lbs.

 Zendaya as Chani is excellent too, but doesn’t have much screen time. She’ll be a central character in Dune part 2.

The only casting I’d question is Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet-Kynes. Not sure that worked.

Great soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon 

On By Rick McIn friends, gymnastics, travelLeave a comment

I lived in the ‘toon for 10 years. After pandemic delays, I finally got back to visit my longtime friends there.

The big skies at dawn and dusk have a unique prairie beauty.

I been hangin’ around grain elevators
I been learnin’ ’bout food
I been talkin’ to soil farmers
I been workin’ on land

Warren took me disc golfing. NOW I’m planning to buy some discs of my own.

Gary Clark Jr – Come Together [Justice League]

On By Rick McIn movies, musicLeave a comment

I believe John Lennon would approve of this version. The song is the opening track on the Beatles 1969 album Abbey Road.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Great song. But I like this fan remix even better.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Hell or High Water by Peter Heller

On By Rick McIn books, kayakingLeave a comment

Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet is likely the deepest canyon in the world. And at 504.6 kilometres (313.5 mi) is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon.

In 2002 a group of the best kayakers in the world led by Scott Lindgren set out to “paddle” the gorge.

That’s nearly impossible. But they did accomplish some first descents. And surprisingly none of the party died.

It was the most dangerous water they’d ever tried.

This is one intense book.

Peter Heller was assigned to cover the expedition for Outside and, despite having completely worn out the cartilage in one hip, he decided to go for it.

… Heller is unflinchingly honest about the hostility he faced from Lindgren and his companions, who openly attack the journalist for “getting rich” from their story, as well as the resentment that begins to well inside him at their condescension.

Meanwhile, the locals hired to carry the equipment realize they have the upper hand and start extorting more money for their services.

The drama on shore, however, is easily matched—sometimes surpassed—by the action on the river, which includes a few chilling brushes with death.

Heller nimbly blends the history of the region into his gripping modern trek, as the crew lives up to the legacy of the great explorers before them. …

Amazon

China plans to build the world’s largest hydroelectric project there.

Killing Eve – season 1

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Everyone loves Killing Eve. Surprising. Funny. Never boring.

I’ve always like Sandra Oh and she’s very good in this. Vulnerable. Conflicted.

But it’s Jodie Comer as the weird psychopathic assassin who steals every scene.

Stumbling, uncertain Sandra Oh taking on a super villain seems unfair. But they have some kind of mutual obsession.

All the other actors are good too.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

The Shadow by Patterson & Sitts

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The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in 1930s pulp novels and later in a variety of media. …

The introductory line from the radio adaptation of The Shadow – “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” – spoken by actor Frank Readick, has earned a place in the American idiom.

Click PLAY or listen on YouTube.

A good idea. The Shadow is reawakened in 2087 New York City dystopia.

Only two people know that 1930s society man Lamont Cranston has a secret identity as the Shadow, a crusader for justice. One is his greatest love, Margo Lane, and the other is fiercest enemy, Shiwan Khan. When Khan ambushes the couple, they must risk everything for the slimmest chance of survival . . . in the future.
     
A century and a half later, Lamont awakens in a world both unknown and disturbingly familiar. The first person he meets is Maddy Gomes, a teenager with her own mysterious secrets, including a knowledge of the legend of the Shadow. …

Amazon

Still, I’m quite lukewarm on this book as I am with a lot of Patterson.

Can’t particularly recommend it.

Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz

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Christopher Snow is different from all the other residents of Moonlight Bay, different from anyone you’ve ever met. For Christopher Snow has made his peace with a very rare genetic disorder shared by only one thousand other Americans, a disorder that leaves him dangerously vulnerable to light.

His life is filled with the fascinating rituals of one who must embrace the dark. He knows the night as no one else ever will, ever can—the mystery, the beauty, the many terrors, and the eerie, silken rhythms of the night—for it is only at night that he is free. …

Amazon

Quite good.

Koontz does have a knack for coming up with interesting and original characters.