Enola Holmes 2

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

For once, the sequel is better.

Cheesy. But enjoyable.

Some of the editing reminds me of the (much superior) Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock TV series.

Inspired by the book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer — this film instead takes real-life inspiration from the 1888 matchgirls’ strike. Following the strike’s success, the Union of Women Matchmakers (later the Matchmakers’ Union) was formed later in 1888. On its creation, it was the largest union of women and girls in the country, and inspired a wave of collective organizing among industrial workers.

Again, Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) is the highlight.

A mystery / comedy.

Enola opens her own detective agency, but struggles to get clients unlike her famous detective brother Sherlock Holmes.

A factory girl named Bessie asks Enola to help find her missing sister Sarah Chapman. Bessie takes Enola to the match factory, which is experiencing a deadly typhus epidemic …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Outrage by John Sandford & Michelle Cook

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Though it got mixed reviews, this book kept me going.

16-year-old Shay Renby arrives in Hollywood with $58 and a handmade knife. She’s got to find her brother before Singular does….

Odin’s a brilliant hacker but a bit of a loose cannon. He and a group of radical animal rights activists hit a Singular Corporation research lab. The raid was a disaster, but Odin escaped with a set of highly encrypted flash drives and a post-surgical dog.

When Shay gets a frantic 3 a.m. phone call from Odin — talking about evidence of unspeakable experiments, and a ruthless corporation, and how he must hide — she’s concerned.

When she gets a menacing visit from Singular’s security team, she knows: her brother’s a dead man walking.

What Singular doesn’t know — yet — is that 16-year-old Shay is every bit as ruthless as their security force, and she will burn Singular to the ground, if that’s what it takes to save her brother…

Luther: The Fallen Sun

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

I am a big fan of the Luther TV series.

SO was keen to see the movie continuation.

Luther: The Fallen Sun is a 2023 crime thriller film ..

… stars Idris Elba (who also serves as a producer on the film), reprising his role as police detective John Luther …

Dermot Crowley as Martin Schenk, the retired former head of the SSCU and Luther’s former boss is excellent.

Even better is Andy Serkis as David Robey, a wealthy and psychopathic millionaire turned high body count serial killer, who uses surveillance technology to manipulate and kill civilians.

Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 100 critics’ reviews are positive.

The plot does have glaring holes, BUT I’d recommend it for any fans of Idris Elba. He’s a very good, and very interesting, actor.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

One of  Robert A. Heinlein‘s most influential novels.

The book that coined the term grok. I use it all the time.

Jubal Harshaw, a famous author, physician and lawyer, is the most entertaining character.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein (1961)

Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians, brings light to all the silly, stupid conventions of Earth.

Heinlein named his main character “Smith” because he was disappointed in the unpronounceable names assigned to extraterrestrials in most science fiction.

The given names of the chief characters have great importance to the plot. They were carefully selected: Jubal means ‘the father of all, ‘ Michael stands for ‘Who is like God?’

It’s a philosophical and thought providing read.

Plenty of sex to keep the teenage male audience absorbed.

Stranger is one of many books which pose provocative situations, challenging conventional social mores.

The importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government.

The free love and commune living aspects led to the book’s exclusion from school reading lists in the USA.

I still like the book — though this review is not wrong:

 The New York Times, Orville Prescott received the novel caustically, describing it as a “disastrous mishmash of science fiction, laborious humor, dreary social satire, and cheap eroticism”; he characterized Stranger in a Strange Land as “puerile and ludicrous”, saying “when a non-stop orgy is combined with a lot of preposterous chatter, it becomes unendurable, an affront to the patience and intelligence of readers”.

Bill Gates liked it too,

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Still using the Komoot app for Cycling

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travelLeave a comment

For 2024 I’m still using a paid version of Komoot for Bike Touring / Bikepacking.

Other sports included are Running, Hiking, Mountain Biking and Road Cycling.

Currently I’m still using a paid version of AllTrails for Hiking.

Komoot uses OpenStreetMap.

It has an Apple Watch app assistant.

Click PLAY or see how it works on YouTube.

A Tourist in Seattle

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

I do like being a tourist close to Pike Place Market in Seattle.

The original Starbucks opened here in 1971.

Downtown Seattle is a little grungy. That makes it more interesting.

I normally stay at a Green Tortoise Hostel right by the Market.

One night they offered all you can eat Mexican.

Next night, Green Tortoise offered all you can drink local wine.

Ivar’s is a Washington State institution.

I had several meals there looking over the port.

Clam Chowder in a sour dough bread bowl

AND here’s where you drop off your gum when finished chewing. 😀

Dream Town by David Baldacci

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

#3 in the Aloysius Archer series.

Quite good.

It’s the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with an old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan, when their evening is interrupted by an acquaintance of Callahan’s: Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter in dire straits.
 
After a series of increasingly chilling events—mysterious phone calls, the same blue car loitering outside her house, and a bloody knife left in her sink—Eleanor fears that her life is in danger, and she wants to hire Archer to look into the matter.  …

Amazon

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Visiting Dave & Lisa in Idaho

On By Rick McIn cycling, friends, gymnastics, travelLeave a comment

Once again I had a terrific time in Coeur d’Alene.

Our first day, we joined in the FUN at Dave’s gourmet restaurant, Candle in the Woods.

Chef David

An amazing, unforgettable meal.

baked onion

Timing of this visit was to volunteer at my favourite Gymnastics competition in the world — the Great West Gym Fest.

It’s so well organized I didn’t really have much to do.

I DID help with the set-up and take-down of the Gym. And made a few VIDEOS of the competition, including this one.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

A few photos from the competition.

staring down the judges
Jeremy Mosier and Jim McLuskey

VIPs get to check out the resort penthouse. And balcony hot tub.

We did get out for one hike in Farragut State Park.

Delaney took me climbing. AND I was not bad … aside from then time I fell from the top risking concussion. 😀

Late February the weather was … mixed. We had some wind, some snow. Some sun.

I did get to try Dave’s Fat Bike out on their property.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Husband by Dean Koontz

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

The Husband (2006) by Dean Koontz is one intense book.

Mitch Rafferty, owner of a small landscaping business, receives a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped his wife Holly. The caller demands that Mitch pay two million dollars or Holly will be killed, and if he informs the police, Holly will be tortured and left to die. …

On arriving home, Mitch finds his house staged to look like he had killed his wife. He finds blood smeared over his clothes in the closet and splattered on the kitchen walls. …

As instructed, Mitch visits his brother Anson …. During this time, Anson receives a call from the kidnappers …. Anson, who had helped his siblings throughout their childhood cope with their parents, offers to give Mitch the two million dollar ransom amount. …

Nothing goes as planned.

Twists and turns.