Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman

On By Rick McIn books, humour1 Comment

Hilarious street philosophy.

Nick Offerman has released four semi-autobiographical publications:

  • Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living (2013)
  • Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers (2015)
  • Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop (2016)
  • Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside (2021).

He has also narrated all four as audiobooks.

Like most people, I love Nick Offerman as an actor, especially as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015).

His writing is just as funny.

When Nick wrote this 2013 book, he wasn’t nearly as famous as he is today.

In 2003, he married Will & Grace actress Megan Mullally. She’s MUCH more famous and financially successful.

Everyone knew Nick Offerman after his fantastic performance in episode 3, The Last of Us – season 1. An Emmy winning turn.

I do recommend this book. And plan on reading all four.

My Favourite Podcasts 2024

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, GOP USA, government, gymnastics, internet, mediaLeave a comment

Looking back on my favourite podcasts 2020 — things have changed.

If interested, search for any of these in your favourite Podcast Player.

These are podcasts I rarely skip:

Next most essential in 2024:

Sadly, most of The Economist podcasts went behind a paywall. I’ll probably buy those again, one day.

For some reason I’ve grown less interested in the TWIT network podcasts. Too much filler, not enough content.

I subscribe to perhaps 70 additional podcasts, but listen to them far less than 50% of the time.

I AM definitely listening to podcasts less than ever. I prefer audio books most of the time.

 Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Wow.

Very intriguing plot. Very original format.

The mystery concerns a long-ago triple — or was it quadruple? — suicide in a London cult, involving a leader self-styled as the Angel Gabriel.

The cult was called the Apperton Angels.

Leader Gabriel survived but is in prison for life for another murder.

Amanda Bailey, a terrier-like true-crime author, decides to write a retrospective book focused on the baby in the incident who will soon be turning age-18.

The Angels had believed that baby was the Antichrist. They had planned to sacrifice the child to save the world. Happily, the mother ran off with it.

The story is told using something called the “Dossier Method”.  

It’s simple: background information is revealed about a principal character via two or more side characters looking over written text—tweet, Facebook post, Instagram post, DM, etc. —about said principal character and discussing it.

The book feels more like the outline of a planned book.

It gets even more complicated when a second journalist decides to write a retrospective on the Atherton Angels at the same time.

In any case — it’s recommended.




PHOTOS – Parksville B.C.

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Autumn 2024.

Pretty Parksville.

September is my favourite month. We’ve had great weather.

A selection of my many photos, most of the waterfront at dusk.

Click through the 17 photos in a slideshow.

  • IMG_20240828_061345_462.jpg
  • Screenshot

Cross Country by James Patterson

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The dumbest of the Alex Cross series I’ve read, so far.

The novel has received a mostly negative response, and maintains a 2.5 rating (out of a possible five) on Amazon.com.[2] Several critics have attacked the story’s graphic scenes of violence and torture …

Seems Patterson REALLY wanted to draw attention to atrocities in Africa — so devised a plot to get Alex over there unofficially.

Cross Country (2008) is the 14th novel in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. 

The bad guy is really BAD. An African warlord known as the Tiger. He trains young boys from refugee camps to become killers.

Why? WHY when the Tiger has plenty of money and access to private jets?

It one of dozens of plot holes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Jungle – Let’s Go Back

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, musicLeave a comment

Jungle is a British band closely associated with a dance troupe. Some of their videos, including this one, are one shot. Very cool.

Choreography by Shay Latukolan

Will West is the lead dancer.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Win by Harlan Coben

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Win is a 2021 mystery/thriller novel by Harlan Coben.

Win is the most interesting character in the Myron Bolitar series. An anti-hero.

I was quite keen to learn his backstory.

Following eleven novels in Coben’s series featuring sports agent-turned-crime solver Myron Bolitar, this is the first novel to completely feature Myron’s best friend and sidekick, the wealthy and mysterious Windsor “Win” Horne Lockwood III. …

An elderly man who appears to be a recluse and hoarder is found murdered in his luxury Manhattan apartment.

The FBI contacts Win when two items connected to the Lockwood family – an original Johannes Vermeer painting that was stolen 20 years ago and a suitcase bearing Win’s initials – are found in the apartment.

The FBI’s interest becomes clear when the victim is revealed to be Ry Strauss, one-time member of the underground group known as the Jane Street Six, who were responsible for a fire bomb attack that killed seven people in the early 1970s.

Win runs his own concurrent investigation, as he “has three things the FBI doesn’t; a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice. …

Win’s investigation has him searching for the four remaining members of the Jane Street Six, with two known to be deceased, while he also digs into family secrets over his father’s objections.

Along the way, a vigilante act Win carried out against a basketball coach and abuser leads to repercussions, nearly costing Win his life.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Deadline by John Sandford

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The 8th book (2014) in the Virgil Flowers series ➙ Deadline.

This is the one many people remember vividly.

Investigating kidnapped dogs. And a murdering School Board.

Very entertaining.

In Southeast Minnesota, down on the Mississippi, a school board meeting is coming to an end. The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues.

“Issues” is correct. The proposal up for a vote before them is whether to authorize the killing of a local reporter. The vote is four to one in favor.

Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers is helping out a friend by looking into a dognapping, which seems to be turning into something much bigger and uglier—a team of dognappers supplying medical labs—when he gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A murdered body has been found—and the victim is a local reporter. . . .

Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger

On By Rick McIn books, human rightsLeave a comment

Spirit Crossing (2024) is the 20th book in the Cork O’Connor series.

Every new William Kent Krueger novel is a joy.

The disappearance of a local politician’s white teenaged daughter is major news in Minnesota.

As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police.

As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim.

In college, Krueger had wanted to become a cultural anthropologist.

He became intrigued by researching the Ojibwe culture and weaving the information into his books.

His books are set in and around Native American reservations. The main character, Cork O’Connor, is part Ojibwe and part Irish.

An oil pipeline is being built through a sacred Ojibwe site in Minnesota’s north woods. Construction is at a standstill due to the Ojibwe/Anishinaabe protests. Tension in the community.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Cycling Denmark

On By Rick McIn cycling, travelLeave a comment

My biggest surprise cycling Europe in 2024 was Denmark.

It’s fantastic.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I needed to cross Denmark south to north, coming from the Rhine river in Germany.

I had low expectations, basically planning to spend as few days in Denmark as possible while getting to the ferry to Faroe Islands.

NOW I want to go back to Denmark — the 2nd happiest nation in the world!

Highest priority is National Cycle Route 1, the West Coast Route. 560 kilometers from the German border.


National Cycle Route 12 ➙ Limfjord Route looks interesting, as well. I rode part of that from Aalborg summer 2024.

Third priority would be National Cycle Route 9 ➙ en route from Berlin to Copenhagen.

As I post, Denmark is my #1 cycling destination for the future. It would get me back to Germany, as well, which is fantastic with the Deutschland Rail ticket making public transit almost free.

Part of the attraction are the fantastic free campsites in an otherwise very expensive tourist nation.

I’m still brainstorming future cycling destinations.