The Codex by Douglas Preston

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One of those dumb, entertaining adventure romps.

The Codex (2003) is a thriller novel by Douglas Preston …

It takes place in the Southwestern United States and Central America. …

Maxwell Broadbent, an eccentric rich man with terminal cancer, has spent his entire life collecting valuable art and treasures from around the world.

One day, he writes a letter to his three sons telling them to … find his tomb, promising that the son that finds his tomb will receive all his treasures—worth approximately $300 million. …

Tom is the only one who is not interested in the treasure at all, until he is approached by a beautiful ethnopharmacologist named Sally Colorado, who informs … that his father tried to present an ancient Mayan Codex to a museum for translation years back, only to be rejected since no one knew ancient Mayan at the time.

Years later, after ancient Mayan has been deciphered, Sally and her fiancé, Yale professor Julian Clyve, have deduced from a single surviving photograph that the Codex may contain many ancient Mayan herbal remedies that, if studied and reproduced in present times, could revolutionize medicine and cure many diseases.

Tom reluctantly agrees to help her, and they eventually recruit a witty tribal elder named Don Alfonso, accompanied by the brother trackers Pingo and Chori.

Portugal. The Man – Feel It Still

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, musicLeave a comment

Catchy tune.

But I post here for the brilliant choreography by Emma Scherer using that song.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It’s a reimagining of Bob Fosse’s choreography from the Rich Man’s Frug in the musical Sweet Charity (1969).

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch the original video by Portugal. on YouTube.

Storm Front by John Sandford

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The 7th book (2013) in the Virgil Flowers series ➙ Storm Front.

Very entertaining.

In Israel, a man clutching a backpack searches desperately for a boat.

In Minnesota, Virgil Flowers gets a message from Lucas Davenport: You’re about to get a visitor. It’s an Israeli cop, and she’s tailing a man who’s smuggled out an extraordinary relic—a copper scroll revealing startling details about the man known as King Solomon.

Wait a minute, laughs Virgil. Is this one of those Da Vinci Code deals? The secret scroll, the blockbuster revelation, the teams of murderous bad guys? Should I be boning up on my Bible verses?

He looks at the cop. She’s not laughing. As it turns out, there are very bad men chasing the relic, and they don’t care who’s in the way or what they have to do to get it. Maybe Virgil should start praying.

A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, booksLeave a comment

A Death in Cornwall is the 2024 title and 24th in the series from Daniel Silva.  

Jealous? 😀

Gabriel Allon is searching for a stolen Picasso.

I enjoy the smart, entertaining dialogue. There is a lot of dark humour.

Some of the most popular characters from past books make an appearance, including a Corsican goat. 😀

A brutal murder, a missing masterpiece, a mystery only Gabriel Allon can solve …

Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon has slipped quietly into London to attend a reception at the Courtauld Gallery celebrating the return of a stolen self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh. But when an old friend from the Devon and Cornwall Police seeks his help with a baffling murder investigation, he finds himself pursuing a powerful and dangerous new adversary.

The victim is Charlotte Blake, a celebrated professor of art history from Oxford who spends her weekends in the same seaside village where Gabriel once lived under an assumed identity. Her murder appears to be the work of a diabolical serial killer who has been terrorizing the Cornish countryside. …

Gabriel soon discovers that Professor Blake was searching for a looted Picasso worth more than a $100 million, and he takes up the chase for the painting as only he can—with six Impressionist canvases forged by his own hand and an unlikely team of operatives that includes a world-famous violinist, a beautiful master thief, and a lethal contract killer turned British spy.

Silva writes lying on the floor. With pencils. On yellow legal pads.

No outline.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet

On By Rick McIn Art and beautyLeave a comment

I’m no art enthusiast.

But one genre I totally appreciate is Impressionism. 

Impression, Sunrise (French: Impression, soleil levant) is an 1872 painting by Claude Monet first shown at what would become known as the “Exhibition of the Impressionists” in Paris in April, 1874.

The painting is credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement.

Impression, Sunrise depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet’s hometown.

… the term “Impressionism” was not new. It had been used for some time to describe the effect of paintings from the Barbizon School. Both associated with the school, Daubigny and Manet had been known to use the term to describe their own works.

Apparently he painted this in one sitting. Giving us an impression of the moment.



Penticton – Adventure Racing Worlds 2025

On By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, sport - amateur, travelLeave a comment

Adventure Racing World Championships

Sept. 22 – Oct. 6, 2025

Penticton, BC, Canada

I’d love to attend my first A.R. Worlds — but will probably be in Asia at that time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

By coincidence, I was 1st to watch this VIDEO. Just happened to be online when it popped up.

The Moor by Laurie R. King

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Too slow burn for me.

This is probably my last book in the series.

WHY does Mary have to fall off a horse 5 times in one chapter?

In a long, slow book I can’t recall Sherlock or Mary coming up with even one brilliant deduction.

Good writing — but mainly for putting me to sleep. 😀

The Moor (1998) is the fourth book in Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King.

I was surprised that Mary Russell is already the wife of Sherlock Holmes!

What’s the age gap? Forty years?

The events in the book take place between September and November 1923.

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes investigate strange goings-on on Dartmoor. Reprising the setting and some of the plotlines of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes and Russell come to the aid of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.

Baring-Gould is a real person who inspired this book. He wrote “Onward, Christian Soldiers” and hundreds of other publications. Something of an investigator like Holmes.

The audio book is posted on YouTube. You can listen free.



Viewpoint – season 1

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

I can’t particularly recommend this TV show — but, for some reason, I got hooked.

The ending is excellent.

Viewpoint is a British police procedural drama thriller television miniseries …

Surveillance detective DC Martin Young (Noel Clarke) sets up his observation post in the home of single mum and secret voyeur Zoe Sterling (Alexandra Roach).

Zoe’s windows command a panoramic view of Westbury Square, and more importantly provide a direct sightline into the home of missing primary-school teacher Gemma Hillman (Amy Wren) and her boyfriend – and prime suspect in her disappearance – Greg Sullivan (Fehinti Balogun).

While being aired, the star — Noel Anthony Clarke — was accused by over 20 women of sexual harassment and intimidation. Even more women came forward later. Police found that the information did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation.

He’s sued The Guardian for defamation.

Slough House by Mick Herron

On By Rick McIn books, TVLeave a comment

Slough House (2021) by Mick Herron is terrific.

I never tire of the hilarious dialogue.

Jackson Lamb is one of the great characters of fiction, all time.

… an unsparing look at the corrupt web of media, global finance, spycraft, and politics that power our modern world.

“This is a darker, scarier Herron. The gags are still there but the satire’s more biting.

The privatization of a secret service op and the manipulation of news is relevant and horribly credible.”—Ann Cleeves, author of the Vera Stanhope series

At Slough House—MI5’s London depository for demoted spies—Brexit has taken a toll. The “slow horses” have been pushed further into the cold, Slough House has been erased from official records, and its members are dying in unusual circumstances, at an unusual clip. No wonder Jackson Lamb’s crew is feeling paranoid. But are they actually targets?

With a new populist movement taking hold of London’s streets and the old order ensuring that everything’s for sale to the highest bidder, the world’s a dangerous place for those deemed surplus. Jackson Lamb and the slow horses are in a fight for their lives …

Season 4 of Slow Horses is underway as I post, one of the best TV shows today.

Books and television are both excellent.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Heart to Home MEAL Delivery

On By Rick McIn foodLeave a comment

My parents — in their ’90s — still live independently in their own home. And want to keep it that way as long as possible.

Currently they are using a Canadian company called Heart to Home for a few dinners each week.

For example, one of my Mom’s favourites is Orange Chicken. CAD $9.15 delivered free.

That’s just one of 125 lunch / dinner options.

Good value. Little clean-up.

Meals can be put in the microwave — or in the oven for about 30min. So far they’ve only used the oven.

They are delivered with very little seasoning. You must add to taste. (For me ➙ a lot of horseradish and blue cheese. 😀 )

Heart to Home currently offers free* delivery in most of Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba. 

We order meals on Wednesday online or by phone. They are delivered Friday.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.