Landman – season 1

On By Rick McIn TV1 Comment

I got hooked on the first season.

It includes some excellent dialogue. Kudos to the writers.

Always been a fan of Billy Bob Thornton.

Cast is great. Paulina Chávez is very believable in her role. Jacob Lofland, too, as her love interest.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a memorable cameo as himself in episode 9 where he shared a powerful, emotional monologue about how his early oil and gas ventures. His genuine emotion, including tears, made the scene incredibly impactful, with many feeling he stole the show from the main cast.

I understand there’s some truth to the depressing environment of the PetroToxin industry down there.

Landman is set within the world of oilfields in West Texas, where “roughnecks and wildcat billionaires are fueling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics.”

The lead character, Tommy Norris (Thornton), can be abrasive, as is the out-of-town lawyer Rebecca Falcone investigating a fatal accident early in the season.

Rotten Tomatoes approval 78% based on 37 critic reviews. That sounds about right.

I can see why some wouldn’t like this show. The only positive role model for women is Paulina Chávez.

On the other hand, the men are pretty much all disreputable and/or immoral, as well.

Colm Feore as Nathan, an oil company attorney, is about the only man you can cheer for — aside from Billy Bob Thornton.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Visiting Vancouver Before Christmas

On By Rick McIn food, friends, travel1 Comment

Returning from 4 months in Asia, I landed for 3 nights in Vancouver.

Ron and Kate hosting. As usual … 😀

Kate had organized a surprise birthday weekend celebration for Rocco.

I jumped out of a Lonsdale Quay coffee shop to surprise him and Maureen.

We enjoyed a meal at the lively JÄGERHOF restaurant near the Quay. Schnitzel, spaetzle, and bratwurst in a cozy, alpine-themed setting.

Though I was quite jet lagged, and just getting over a cold, we still packed the weekend with laughs, golf, great food, Christmas celebration, …

Ron played around with A.I. photo editing app Nano Banana. Some hilarious results.

George Clooney hitting on Kate. 😀

December is BUSY month at Chez Shewchuk. All the important people have birthdays — AND Christmas, New Years.

Thanks to all.

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

An excellent first novel.

I’d never heard of Allen Eskens until this book was recommended to me.

He has a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from Hamline University. 

The Life We Bury (2014) won awards.

First it was rejected by 150 agents.

… a mystery/coming-of-age novel about college student Joe Talbert, who, for a class assignment, interviews Carl Iverson, a dying, incarcerated Vietnam vet convicted of murder

… only to uncover a complex, decades-old crime, all while juggling his own volatile family life and guilt over his autistic brother, Jeremy, leading to shocking truths about justice, lies, and heroism. …

AI

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Eskens is an interesting guy.

The Last Frontier (2025 TV series)

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

The Last Frontier is worth watching — but not for the plot which is absurd.

Dominic Cooper as Levi Taylor ‘Havlock’ Hartman, a CIA asset who escapes from custody, would have died for sure 4 times? 5 times?

Falling hundreds of feet from a cliff, for example.

I mainly watched for the Alaska scenery.

Jason Clarke as Frank Remnick is good.

Haley Bennett as Sidney Scofield is not so much good, as mysterious. Which makes sense for this role.

Some of the side stories are interesting.

The excessively sentimental drama Frank’s family is going through is one of the weaker aspects for me.

Apple TV+ Thriller “The Last Frontier” Gets Snowed Under In Pulpy Action and Cheap Melodrama

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar 

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

A Guardian and a Thief (2025) by Megha Majumdar is getting a lot of hype.

Enjoying many Indian authors in the past, I gave it a go.

Good, not great, is my review.

It’s climate change dystopia.

In a near-future Kolkata (Calcutta), Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America.

But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen.

Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom.

I was a Teenage Milkman

On By Rick McIn about RickLeave a comment

My first full-time job out of High School was milkman. I started at age-17 … when the minimum age to drive a milk truck for Palm Dairies was 25. 😀

In 1975-76 I was saving money to join pals on a gap year trip to Europe.

Great job. 4-days / week. Good pay.

We laughed at the letter carriers who worked 5 days / week. We laughed from our heated trucks.

I only had one fender bender accident over many months. Palm Dairies did the repair. Insurance company not notified.

At that time we were still doing home delivery of glass bottles. Using milk chutes. Accepting cash or milk tokens.

Drivers understood that there was no real reason to continue home delivery — other than inertia. Old folks still believed the milk was fresher if delivered direct to the house. It wasn’t.

… perhaps the single biggest detriment to the milkman was the proliferation of refrigeration in households. Refrigerators were first introduced in the 1910s, and just 30 years later, more than half of American homes had one.

By the 1960s, just about every home had a fridge, and families were able to store perishable items, including milk, easily and reliably — all but eliminating the need for daily deliveries. 

What Ever Happened to the Milkman?

Wrapping up 4 Months in S.E. Asia

On By Rick McIn anti-smoking, cycling, gymnastics, hiking, travel1 Comment

I did make the best of the past 4 months in Asia — but not likely to return.

I traveled Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, and Taiwan (which is actually in Asia, not S.E. Asia).

S.E. Asia is ideal for young party animals without much money — who want to ride a crappy rented motorcycle in a thong bikini while drinking cheap beer on the way to the beach.

It’s not great for me as multi-day hiking and cycling cultures are near non-existent.

MOST of the outdoor activities are water related. 🐟

I believe the ocean should be avoided due to box jellyfish and sea monsters.

I’d only gone to S.E. Asia because two Gymnastics competitions were scheduled there. Both excellent. I was happy to be at both with a media credential.

  • World Championships 2025 Jakarta
  • World Jr Championships 2025 Manila

BEST of my Holiday

If offered a private jet to fly back to just one destination ➙ perhaps the Gili Islands, Indonesia.

Click PLAY or watch Vietnam highlights on YouTube.

Problems for the Tourist in S.E. Asia

I hate personal motor vehicles. But it’s literally the only way to get around.

S.E. Asian cities are polluted, littered, and mostly should be avoided.

Even in Manila, public transit is too lined-up to be time efficient.

Super keen to finally get to Taiwan, ultimately I was disappointed as a tourist.

I got used to the heat and humidity of S.E. Asia. NOT my favourite climate, however.

On the upside, I saw very few mosquitoes. Only one cockroach. Second hand smoke is not nearly as bad as Europe.

MANY rats. Most in public parks eating garbage litter and around outdoor street food kiosks.

Many would list food as a highlight of S.E. Asia. Personally, I quickly tired of rice based meals. Most of my cravings were for western comfort foods. Toast, in particular. I ended up in McDonalds often as it’s clean, fast, and you can pay by credit card in a machine.

One pet peeve is trying to check-out of any grocery or convenience store. I can’t recall Canada EVER being so slow. Philippines has dozens of people in a grocery store doing something, but still makes customers. spend 20 minutes in a check-out line.

Cash based economies seem so backwards to me now.

S.E. Asia, in general is super inefficient. I do love Singapore, however, exactly the opposite. Everything is fast and well organized.

Many things are closed. Nobody knows why. Nobody knows if and when they will ever reopen.

What Asian nations will I likely visit in coming years?

Mongolia. I’m planning an adventure there in the next year or two.

Pakistan too.

Oman.

Nepal, of course.

I’ve only been to South Korea once. Would love to get back.

Remain: A Supernatural Love Story

On By Rick McIn books, moviesLeave a comment

Remain (film) will be released 2026, written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. 

He wanted a change from his usual genre, this time a love story.

New York architect Tate Donovan heads to Cape Cod to design a summer home for his best friend, seeking a fresh start after being treated for acute depression.

Still mourning his sister’s death, he meets Wren, a young woman who disrupts his carefully ordered world.

I lust for dead people, might be the tag line. 😀

Unique in this project is how the story was written.

It was developed simultaneously with author Nicholas Sparks, who separately wrote the novel version of the same story.

The book — Remain: A Supernatural Love Story — published 2025 — I found an OK read. Good, not great.

Visiting Clark, Philippines

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travelLeave a comment

The only reason I flew to Clark was for a joiner hiking tour to Mt. Pinatubo.

I’d booked a month in advance. Sent in my passport. Sent in a doctor’s confirmation of health. AND still wasn’t allowed to join the group.

Nobody can tell me why.

It’s yet one more example of inefficiency in most of the S.E. Asian nations. (Singapore a HUGE exception.)

On the upside, the Facebook only group who couldn’t get me on Pinatubo, offered an alternative next day. And I did enjoy my hike to the Aw Sen waterfall with Filipino young people.

Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone serves as a hub for business, industry, aviation, education, and tourism in the Philippines, as well as a center for leisure, fitness, entertainment, and gaming.

You know the name because Clark Air Base grew into the largest U.S. military installation outside America.

Controversial with citizens, the U.S. returned the base to the Philippines after the terrible 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

I did a recommended walking tour around the Clark Parade Grounds.

Nice — but short.

Clark Museum was interesting. Tourist Information and the 4D Video attraction both inexplicably closed, as are so many things in the Philippines.

Rented a mountain bike and did about 30km of touring green spaces.

This no nonsense character was selling used golf balls.

Cycles and Brew had an all day breakfast deal with good coffee.

One thing that is very impressive in the Philippines is shopping malls.

I hung out quite a bit at SM Clark Mall.

They LOVE celebrating Christmas in the Philippines, starting in September !

Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Pray for Silence (2010) is 2nd in the series of books about Kate Burkholder by Linda Castillo.

Another good crime thriller / murder mystery set in Amish country.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must confront a dark evil to solve the mysterious murders of an entire Amish family.

The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life―until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm.

… few clues, no motive, and no suspect.

Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English―and each other―but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.

I enjoyed the book — but the strained relationship between John Tomasetti and Kate is WAY too much.