It’s a pleasure to watch this sitcom set in Newfoundland in the late 1980s.
It’s based on the school days of comedian Mark Critch — one of Canada’s top funny men today.
Malcolm McDowell is great as Patrick “Pop” Critch, Mark’s grandfather. Who shares a room with the teenager.
The whole cast is very good.
It’s FREE to watch on CBC Gem online, with a FREE subscription.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Cute title. I ASSuME it’s yet another British Cozy Mystery.
I asked Perplexity AI to generate some possible Cozy Mystery titles:
But this book is actually by an Australian comedian. A black comedy.
I enjoyed the humour far more than the murder mystery.
He speaks directly to the reader, as well, which I found very entertaining.
Of course a group of possible suspects are all stuck in one place, like Agatha Christie.
Oddly, they are Aussies all trapped due to a snow storm.
I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
Who was it?
Let’s get started.
EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE
My brother
My stepsister
My wife
My father
My mother
My sister-in-law
My uncle
My stepfather
My aunt
Me
Jeffrey Eugenides has only written 3 novels. But Middlesex (2002) won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
It’s excellent.
He teaches now at Princeton.
I’ve tried a few times to get through The Marriage Plot. (2011)
25% of the book on my last attempt.
It’s well written and poses interesting philosophical discussion points from the perspective of literature.
But I was turned off by the main story line — a (love?) triangle between three college friends from Brown University.
Brown is the author’s alma mater.
It’s praised for “texture and pain” of lived experience.
But I found those torturous life experiences to be torture to read.
Once again, there are no characters to cheer for in this book.
Long before I started this blog (weblog or online diary) — I was a list maker.
For example, I had a long, long list of books I’d read.
One day I drew up a list of favourite authors.
At some point I noticed that this list, and my full list, had very few female writers. (Dervla Murphy was a conspicuous exception.)
I had grown up with some kind of white man born in Canada 1957 bias towards male writers. Subconscious.
Since then I’ve made every effort to pay attention to female writers. And they now make up 50% of my books.
Even an old dog can learn.
Here’s that old list.
GREAT. But not as fantastic as I had hoped.
Watch it just for the cinematography. I sat in the 2nd row in IMAX so the images filled my vision.
YES a bit blurry, but it feels more like I was actually riding a sand worm. 😀
Dune (1965) is one of my favourite books. I read it for the 4th or 5th time in advance of seeing part 2 of the Denis Villeneuve adaptation.
The best character in Dune 2 is not my (alleged girlfriend) Zendaya, but Feyd-Rautha, Baron Harkonnen’s younger nephew. Perfectly played by Austin Butler.
What a transformation from Elvis to the epitome of evil.
Chalamet was inspired by Austin’s commitment to the role.
Casting is all good, however.
Javier Bardem as Stilgar, is better than in the book. And he’s great in the book. 😀
Stilgar given a larger leadership role on Arrakis in future books. So he’ll likely be back in the 3rd film.
As nearly all books were in 1965, the roles played by women are quite cliche. Powerful — but mainly in devious, backroom scheming.
In this movie, Zendaya is more independent than in the book. And she rides off into the sand at the end. Alone.
In the book she meekly follows Paul as his concubine.
Of course no film can include EVERYTHING in the book.
For the most part, I liked the changes.
It was better — for example — that Chani didn’t get pregnant. That’s quite confused in the books anyway.
In the Lynch, Paul’s sister Alia was one of the most interesting characters. She’s only hinted at in the Villeneuve – part 2. I suspect she’ll be central to the 3rd movie in the series.
I quite liked the 1984 David Lynch adaptation, by the way.
Because the timeline of the Villeneuve is accelerated, Alia isn’t born yet when part 2 ends.
I do wish Thufir Hawat had been back for part 2.
Mainly I felt the first half of the long movie was near perfect. The second half less believable.
It may be that there was no perfect way to explain the beginnings of Paul conquering the galaxy with fanatic super fighters.
The knife fight between Paul and Feyd-Rautha’s is the climax of the film. And it was well done.
See it.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – Lynch doesn’t like the final cut of his version of Dune.
Tana French is widely considered one of the best murder mystery writers working today.
A skillful wordsmith, many of her novels are slow burn.
Too slow for me, at times.
But this one works.
“The Hunter” is sequel to “The Searcher” (2020).
Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago police detective who bought a derelict cottage in the west of Ireland precisely so he would never again have to chase down criminals or use his service weapon.
And things are quiet until the return of Johnny Reddy, the absentee father of Trey, Cal’s now-15-year-old protégée and de facto child.
Johnny is a grifter. Gift of the gab but it’s all bullshit.
This time Johnny proposes a con to fleece a rich British nob named Cillian Rushborough.
He convinces his former neighbours to salt their river with gold — in order to convince the Brit to buy mining rights in their rural properties.
If interested, definitely get the audio book to enjoy the Irish lilt and local slang.
A musical masterpiece.
Life In A Northern Town is the debut single by British band The Dream Academy, released in March 1985.
The single reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1986 and reached No. 15 on the UK charts.
… written as an elegy to British folk musician Nick Drake, who died in 1974. Overdose of prescription drugs.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Nobody Walks (2015) is a completely independent novel even though its MI5 is the same as the one in Herron’s Slough House series. Jackson Lamb is mentioned.
Like the rest, the audio book is narrated by the excellent Gerard Doyle.
The suspicious death of his son brings an undercover spook Tom Bettany for MI-5’s Special Ops out of retirement with a vengeance.
Maybe it’s the guilt he feels about losing touch with Liam that’s gnawing at him, or maybe he’s actually put his finger on a labyrinthine plot, but either way he’ll get to the bottom of the tragedy, no matter whose feathers he has to ruffle.
But more than a few people are interested to hear Bettany is back in town, from incarcerated mob bosses to those in the highest echelons of MI5.
He might have thought he’d left it all behind when he first skipped town, but nobody ever really walks away.
Amazon
You don’t need to like nor know anything about Chess to enjoy this TV series.
It’s 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
On October 28, 2020, it was the most watched series of the day on Netflix.
The Queen’s Gambit is an American drama television miniseries based on Walter Tevis‘s 1983 novel of the same name.
I read the book, as well. Excellent.
Though written long ago, it still feels contemporary.
Themes of adoption, feminism, chess, drug addiction and alcoholism.
Bruce Pandolfini, a US chess master, consulted on the chess positions prior to the book’s publication.
… a fictional story that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy named Beth Harmon from the age of eight to twenty-two during her quest to become the world’s greatest chess player while struggling with emotional issues, with drug and alcohol dependency. The story begins in the mid-1950s and proceeds into the 1960s.
The Queen’s Gambit is sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years—for the pure pleasure and skill of it.
— Michael Ondaatje (cover of Vintage paperback edition, 2003)
All the acting is good in the TV show.
I probably enjoyed Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Benny Watts best.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Everyone agrees the USA is a disaster when it comes to FIXING their immigration laws.
Trump shot down the most recent border bill effort.
ReTrumplicans want the disaster to continue at least as long as the 2024 election. They really don’t have many REAL issues to campaign on.
Freakonomics posted a 3 part audiocast series. Well worth listening to.
Listen to Freakonomics episode 580:
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or listen to part 2 on YouTube. Episode 581.
I’ve always felt Canada is one of the best nations in handling immigration.
We welcome those who can fill necessary jobs.
The USA still uses a lottery. And mostly fills their quota with families.
Click PLAY or watch part 3 on YouTube. Episode 582 — Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?
Canada recently reduced their immigration target numbers. Not good for the economy. But there simply isn’t enough affordable accommodation for new citizens or foreign students.
Finally, the ReTrumplican GOP in 2024 is anti-immigrant. The opposite of Ronald Reagan.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 