Circle of Days by Ken Follett

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

I’m a huge fan of author Ken Follett‘s historical fiction. Especially his Kingsbridge series, starting with The Pillars of the Earth (1989).

I was excited to see he published a 2025 book set in the Neolithic period when the Stonehenge was created.

Circle of Days is set in prehistory 2500 BCE, where people are divided into tribes, their names in accordance to their roles such as miners, herders, woodlanders, and farmers.

The people meet each season at the wooden Monument for religious rites and festivities, led by priestesses.

The technology behind Stonehenge is fascinating.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Follett is a terrific storyteller. Good v Evil. Characters whom you can cheer and despise.

It’s worth reading, for sure.

BUT I can’t call this book the equal of any of his his Kingsbridge series.

I was somewhat disappointed. There’s no need for him to write a sequel.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.


Leonard Cohen – In Flander’s Fields

On By Rick McIn government, philosophy6 Comments

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

– John McCrae, 1915

Though thankfully I was never in a war, this is an important day for me. I remember.

Lest we forget – CBC

Remembrance Day (Australia, Canada, Colombia, UK and Ireland), also known as Poppy Day (South Africa and Malta), and Armistice Day (UK, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries; and the original name of the holiday internationally) is a day to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in World War I and other wars. It is observed on November 11 to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918.

Remembrance Day – wikipedia

John Candy: I Like Me

On By Rick McIn humour, movies, TVLeave a comment

John Candy was born 1950, seven years before me.

Like pretty much every Canadian, I was a huge fan of SCTV, the low budget, super hilarious, Canadian television sketch comedy show about a fictional TV station.

Many of those comics went on to have great careers, including John Candy.

John Candy: I Like Me is the 2025 documentary on Prime about his all too short life. He died age-43 while filming a movie in Mexico.

I saw most of his TV bits and films, but — looking back — it’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) that I remember best.

Some feel that Uncle Buck (1989) was even better at portraying John the man.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My Favourite Hostel in S.E. Asia

On By Rick McIn travel1 Comment

So far, after a couple of months, dozens of good hostels, best for me has been Meander 1948 in Taipei.

Turns out Taiwan’s in East Asian, not S.E. Asia — but BEST on my S.E. Asia trip 2025. 😀

BEST is the superb location, walking distance from Taipei Main Station, the biggest transportation hub in the country.

There are 100 restaurants within a 10-minute walk. And you get a voucher / day for any 8 of those restaurants ➙ much better than the free breakfast buffet at most hostels.

Most hostels don’t have enough common area. Meander 1948 is better. I can work on my laptop anytime I want.

Excellent staff. Special events scheduled for any guest who wants to sign-up.

For example, I joined in the Thursday hiking trip. Perfect for me.

Super clean and efficient. Hot showers with good water pressure.

Very large and quiet pod-style dorm beds.

FREE coffee 24 hours / day!

There are several Meander hostels. This one is designated 1948 because it’s housed in an historical building from 1948.

This is not the least expensive hostel, by any means. Over 7 nights I paid an average of USD $28 / night. High for S.E. Asia. Location, location, location saved me time and money getting to where I wanted to go with a (fairly expensive) transit pass.

Of course I prefer hostels over 4 star hotels.

Visiting Jiufen, Taiwan

On By Rick McIn food, hiking, travelLeave a comment

Almost every tourist itinerary includes Jiufen.

It’s a tiny seaside town outside Taipei City. 45 minute bus ride.

I went, actually, for the Teapot Mountain Trail — but Jufien was terrific, as well.

Jiufen Old Street is the main attraction, a narrow, winding alleyway with shops, teahouses, and restaurants that offer tourists something of a view of traditional Taiwanese life.

It was positively packed when I arrived at dusk.

Happily, I found a restaurant balcony providing a view of the chaos below. 😀

The lanterns are evocative.

There is an incredible variety of foods to try in the night market.

Old street closes early when the ice-cream mini-trucks arrive. Actually, small garbage trucks play music, trying to get tourists to get out of the way.

I stayed just above the impressive Jiufen Zhaoling Temple.

Definitely an excellent stop.

Harlan Coben’s Lazarus

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Excellent TV.

I liked it — though there are some bad reviews.

This psychological drama on Amazon Prime has a male protagonist. (Most of this genre are based on women. )

The limited series is not based on any of his books.

Lazarus is a horror-thriller television miniseries …

A forensic psychiatrist (Sam Claflin) investigates cold case murders after returning to his family home following the death of his father (Bill Nighy).

David Fynn is very good as Seth McGovern. Believable.

I do recommend it.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon & Harlan Coben

On By Rick McIn books1 Comment

I’ve been a big Reese Witherspoon fan since Legally Blonde (2001).

(She keeps me watching The Morning Show, for example.)

In 2017, Witherspoon started Reese’s Book Club. Quite influential.

When she finally got around to writing her own novel, she reached out first to Harlan Coben (not James Patterson 😀).

A good call. Coben is a master of the plot twist.

Gone Before Goodbye (2025) is best on audio as Reese is the voice of Army combat surgeon Maggie McCabe.

Upside down after a devastating series of tragedies leads to her medical license being revoked, Maggie has lost her purpose, but not her nerve or her passion.

At her lowest point, she is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy, as well as absolute discretion. …

Needing the money, she reluctantly flies to Russia to do plastic surgery on a reclusive Oligarch.

It’s a fast paced thriller.

Try not to pay too much attention to the plot. 😀

Porkchop is easily the most interesting character.

I did find the emerging medical technology and technical details of trauma surgery quite interesting. They certainly had good researchers.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Below the Belt by Stuart Woods

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

One of the better books in the long, long series. An unusually strong premise.

Below the Belt (2017) is in a series of guilty pleasure reads. We enjoy the life of the rich and powerful vicariously.

An impressive gentleman, Nelson Knott, launches a 3rd political party in the USA.

But he’s hiding some secrets. Backed by dirty scoundrels.

Somehow Stone Barrington finds himself in the middle of it.

Former Russian CIA mole Ed Rawls, a hilarious old curmudgeon, happens to live near Stone. He entrusts Stone to hang on to the locked case that has dirt on Knott.

What will Knott’s thugs do to get the case back?

101-story Skyscraper in Taipei

On By Rick McIn travel1 Comment

Taipei 101 is a 508 m (1,667 ft), 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. …

It was officially classified as the world’s tallest building from its opening on 31 December 2004, until it was dethroned by the Burj Khalifa.

Now the 11th tallest building in the world, I wasn’t all that keen to pay the ticket price — but I’m glad I did.

The elevator is the world’s fastest: 5th to 89th floor in 37 seconds up to 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph).

That was cool.

The vistas are positively scary. It feels you are above the clouds and totally removed from the earth. I went at sunset — as did all these folks.

Apparently it’s built to survive the Pacific Ring of Fire‘s earthquakes and the region’s tropical storms.

This tuned mass damper is designed to  reduce mechanical vibrations,

I only paid for a ticket to the indoor observation deck on 88th and 89th floors. You can pay extra to go higher, if you wish.

Here’s the view from nearby Elephant mountain.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I have Vertigo

On By Rick McIn about Rick, health & fitnessLeave a comment

October 2025 I had my 3rd ever episode of Vertigo.

Happily, it only lasted about 10 minutes. The previous two, over a decade ago, lasted much longer. This time I was able to resist vomiting.

Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. …

It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspiration, or difficulties walking. …

Vertigo accounts for about 2–3% of emergency department visits in the developed world. …

In fact, the first time a police woman called the ambulance. And I underwent a half dozen tests at the hospital.

It was concluded that I had normal Vertigo, requiring no follow-up medications or treatment.

Here’s one physical treatment that I have tried. I can’t claim it works, however.

vertigo

A Comparison of Two Home Exercises for Benign Positional Vertigo: Half Somersault versus Epley Maneuver

I do suffer motion sickness, as well — but only on amusement park rides.