2024-07-05

July 2024 Newsletter

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Life in Calgary

It’s Stampede time! For ten days every July, the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth takes over the city and turns it into a very large punch bowl.

Folks outside town tend to think of The Stampede as an excuse to wear a cowboy hat and get drunk (and they’re generally correct), but there’s also an international cultural aspect that often gets overlooked.

Take, for instance, the Mexifest located across the street from our condo in a downtown parking lot. Mariachi bands and churro vendors compete with Lucha Libre wrestlers for the admiration of thousands of Mexican people who now call Calgary home.

Until you hear La Bamba sung with a country twang, you ain’t heard nothing yet.

Coming this Fall: The Official Launch of my latest FBI Agent Jack Kenyon series takes place at Owls Nest Books in Calgary on Sunday, September 15, 2024, at 4 pm.

I’ll be doing a reading and signing paperbacks. You can also order previous books in the series on Amazon.

Book Review

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

By Holly Jackson

I love reading (and writing) murder mysteries. I enjoy everything from police procedurals (Michael Connelly’s Detective Bosch series), to ‘cozy’ murder mysteries in which an amateur sleuth finds the killer when the authorities are baffled.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder falls into the latter category. The town of Fairview is rocked when high-school sweetheart Andie Bell goes missing. Her body is never discovered, but her boyfriend Sal commits suicide, leaving behind a note confessing to murder.

The police close the file, but enough disturbing questions remain to motivate young Pippi to dig further; as her senior high-school assignment, she chooses to investigate the tragedy. Along with the help of Sal’s older brother Raji, she interviews Andie’s gang, sifting through their recollections and social media postings for inconsistencies.

Her snooping soon attracts scoundrels who threaten her with harm if she doesn’t desist. Like all good sleuths, however, she toils on, placing herself at personal risk in order to uncover the truth.

The author (pictured) has written two sequels, and the series has just been made into a TV series by the BBC. I highly recommend you check out the novel first, however; it’s a great summer read!

Recipe: Ceviche

This is the perfect summer meal, and easy to prepare!

Ingredients

1/2 lb. of raw chopped white fish (basa)

1/2 lb. raw chopped shrimp.

1 cup lime juice

1 Tsp salt

1 tomato, chopped

1 mango, diced

½ red onion, slivered

1 avocado, diced

3 Tsp cilantro, diced

½ chili pepper, diced

Tortilla chips

Directions

Mix fish, lime juice and salt. Seal in a container and marinate in fridge for at least 4 hours (this cures the raw fish).

In a bowl, mix tomato, mango, onion, avocado, cilantro and chili.

Add cured fish. Garnish with cilantro and sliced onion.

Serve with tortilla chips and lots of cold cerveza.

Enjoy!

TV Series

The Sopranos

Created by David Chase

It’s been 25 years since the launch of The Sopranos? Fuggedaboudit!

For a quarter of a century, Tony, Carmela, Christopher, Silvio and the rest of the crew have been robbing, racketeering, whacking and screwing each other with criminal abandon.

This isn’t one of the best TV series every made, it’s the best TV series ever made. The show was so faithful to the mob life that James Gandolfini, who played the patriarch of the family, noted that he was frequently complimented by real ‘wise guys’ on its authenticity.

But most of all, it was tremendously entertaining. The mix of violence, irony and slapstick keeps you constantly riveted, even when you’ve seen each episode time and time again.

Creator David Chase and HBO, of course, had no idea how much the series would change modern American culture. The set, which is available on DVD and download, contains never-before-seen clips, as well as a documentary in which the cast and crew reflect on the show.

You don’t have to be a die-hard fan to enjoy it, but if you are, then no matter how hard you try to get out, they’ll pull you back in!

2024 06 01

June 2024 Newsletter

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Life in Calgary

Maybe too much air in the tires?

Canadian Tire had a sale on mountain bikes last week. I found one I liked but the back tire was flat, so I asked the sports clerk to inflate it. I then bought the bike and threw it in the back of my car.

By the time I got home, however, the tire was again flat. I immediately turned around and went back to the store, receipt in hand.

Unfortunately, CT has a lot of problems with people banging canoes into rocks and trying to get their money back, so they no longer allow most sports equipment to be returned or exchanged.

The customer-service clerk pointed to my bill. “See, it says right here, no returns or exchanges.”

“But you sold me a flat tire,” I responded. “You do see the irony here.”

“What?”

“Your store is called CT. Do you want to change it to CFT?”

The clerk pondered for a moment. “Canadian Flat Tire?”

“I was thinking of another four-letter word.”

She eventually relented and allowed me to exchange my bike for the same model. “Is there anything else you need help with?” She asked

“Yes, I hear you rent car tires, as well. Can you give me your flat rate?”

Coming This Fall!

Reading and Signing at Owls Nest Books, September 15, 4 pm!

An Interview With Author Gordon Cope

Crystal Ball is the sixth book featuring FBI Agent Jack Kenyon. To what do you attribute the longevity of the series?

I’ve been writing the series for several decades now, and the characters – Jack, Jasmine, Marge – are all like old friends. Whenever I start a new book, it’s like a reunion. I also try to create a unique crisis – hackers, genetic terrorists – that reflects what’s happening on the front pages of the real world. And finally, there’s lots of twists and turns that keep readers turning the pages!

A lot of series are episodic, in which the action happens and then everyone switches back to default mode until the next crisis comes along. Do you do that with this series?

Jack and the other characters have evolved through the series, growing older, changing jobs, etc. Crystal Ball is an important installment in their lives, in that Jack and Bee are getting married, and one of the main characters dies. It’s going to be a very traumatic book for fans of the series.

How long does it take you to write a book?

It takes me about twelve months from start to finish. I spend a month or two plotting out the premise, then about six months writing the first draft, then another month editing and getting feedback from my cadre of volunteer readers, and then laying out the book and having it converted to eBook and paperback files for Kindle. I end up wearing a lot of hats! By the time the book reaches the official launch date, a year has passed.

Are you planning another book for Jack Kenyon?

Yes! Without giving away too much from Crystal Ball, Jack and Bee start a new life together, with lots of complications ensuing! Once I launch Crystal Ball, I’ll begin plotting out the premise for the next book.

Recipe: BBQ Cod

This is an easy and delicious summer meal; simply flavor the cod and let it cook! Great with asparagus and rice on the side.

Ingredients

4 cod fillets or cod loins about 8 ounces each

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

½ teaspoon salt

1 clove crushed garlic

Chopped green onion

Chopped fresh parsley

Lemons for garnish and juice

Instructions

Pat the cod fish very dry with paper towels. Brush them with olive oil.

Combine the Cajun seasoning, salt, and crushed garlic. Sprinkle evenly over the filets.

Bake in the BBQ at medium for 10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork at its thickest point.

Sprinkle with green onion and chopped fresh parsley.  Serve with fresh lemon wedges or spritz with fresh lemon juice.

Book Review

Trunk Music

By Michael Connelly

Connelly is our all-time favorite police-procedural author, and we’ve been reading him for several decades. Trunk Music came out in 1997, and is one of his classic tales revolving around LAPD Detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch.

The book opens with the discovery of a murder victim in the trunk of his Rolls Royce, which is found abandoned in a fire lane above the Hollywood Bowl. Harry and his team are called out to investigate what appears to be a mob hit; the corpse was killed with two execution-style wounds to his skull from a .22 pistol.

Harry soon focuses on a mafia gang that has its tentacles in a number of Vegas casinos, but things aren’t quite what they seem; the evidence pointing to a prominent capo is simply too good to be true.

Harry’s dogged determination to find the real killers makes all kinds of enemies both within the mafia as well as LAPD headquarters, where entrenched interests would just as soon not see the truth revealed. Soon, Harry is dodging more bullets than a marine on D-Day. Justice ultimately wins out, however, and the bad guys are royally punished.

I found reading the book just as enjoyable today as when I first laid eyes on it over a quarter-century ago. I highly recommend Trunk Music!

Movie Review

Queen Bees

Streaming on Netflix

This is a feel-good movie starring some of Hollywood’s most endearing actors. Ellen Burstyn plays Helen, an independent widow living on her own until she gets forgetful and lights her kitchen on fire. Her worried daughter insists she temporarily relocate to a senior’s home during renovation, and Helen reluctantly agrees.

The home is dominated by the Queen Bees, a quartet of bitchy divas led by the seriously uptight Janet Poindexter (played with demonic glee by Jane Curtin), whose purpose in life is to make life unbearable for all the other tenants.

Helen isn’t intimidated by the Queen Bees, and makes it her task to give them their comeuppance. Along the way, she meets handsome widower Dan (played by James Caan), who becomes her love interest.

This is a great movie for cameos; pay close attention and you’ll see French Stewart, who played the delightfully goofy Harry in 3rd Rock from the Sun.

While a few hearts get broken, it all ends well; I especially like the fact that there wasn’t a single car chase scene or shoot-em-up in the entire movie. I highly recommend Queen Bees!

2024-05-12

May 2024 Newsletter

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Life in Calgary

They recently held the annual Calgary Comics Expo. Tens of thousands of fans came out to Stampede Park, many dressed up as their favorite superhero.

It’s my theory that everyone has a super power of some kind. For Linda, it’s her talent to organize a kitchen so that I can immediately find the cherry pit remover or pickle bottle opener, even in the dark.

My super power is the ability to pick the slowest till line. I don’t care if it’s a bank, a grocery store or a funeral parlor, the little old lady in front of me is going to pay her bill with nickels.

It’s spring in Calgary and that means the potholes are in season! That’s right, the city can find enough asphalt to build speed bumps from here to eternity but for some reason there’s none available to fill in the holes that rip a tire off your ride in zero seconds flat.

Movie Review

Anyone But You

Streaming on Netflix

Yes, it’s a Rom-Com!

And a cute one, at that. Sydney Sweeney plays Bea, a law student who hates law. Glen Powell plays Ben, who hates Bea.

Well, kind of. They meet at a coffee shop where Bea proceeds to pull her jeans off and dry them with a hand dryer in the loo. Ben, always a gentleman, offers to go on a date which ends disastrously.

And that’s that until Ben’s friend Claudia decides to marry Bea’s sister Halle in Australia. When Ben and Bea realize they’re going to be spending a great deal of time together, they arrange a truce so as not to suck all the oxygen out of the wedding.

Off to Sydney and the fantastic mansion that Claudia’s mummy and daddy own on the beach. They all go on a hike and Ben gets a spider down his shorts and has to strip buck naked before it bites him somewhere sensitive.

You get the picture. Every conceivable obstacle stands in their way, including old boyfriends, match-making mommas and the Sydney Opera House. One moment they hate each other, the next they’re ripping clothes off. It’s not the best Rom-Com ever, but it has a lot of funny moments and is well worth watching. I highly recommend Anyone But You!

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You can also buy eBooks and paperbacks on Amazon!

Recipe: Butter Chicken

Easy to make and delicious to eat, this is the perfect recipe for guests who enjoy Asian food!

4 tsp butter

1 onion chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

2 cups tomato sauce

½ cup cream

1 tsp tandoori seasoning1

1 tsp garam masala2

2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1If you can’t find it at the grocery store, mix together 1 tsp of cumin, coriander, paprika and cayenne.

2If you can’t find it at the grocery store, mix together ½  tsp of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Basmati rice, cooked

Shallots, caramelized

Cilantro, minced.

Directions

Fry onion, ginger, garlic, tandoori and masala in butter.

Add chicken cubes and brown on all sides. Remove.

Add tomato sauce and simmer for 30 minutes

Return chicken. Add cream. Let simmer until chicken is cooked through.

Serve on basmati rice.

Sprinkle on shallots and cilantro.

Enjoy!

TV Review

Bridgerton, Season 3

Streaming on Netflix

This is a wonderfully-campy bodice-ripper set in a fictionalized pre-Victorian era. Based on the novels of Julia Quinn, it follows the antics of the upper-class Bridgerton clan as Lady Violet, the matriarch of the family, tries to wed her children.

Season 3 revolves around Penelope Featherington (played by Nicola Coughlan), a hapless redhead facing ghastly spinsterhood unless she finds a groom. She is also the anonymous publisher of a scandal rag that titillates the bored socialites who orbit around the court of Queen Charlotte.

Enter Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), Lady Violet’s swaggering eldest son, intent on stealing the hearts of as many debutantes as he can. Colin gets entwined by Penelope, however, who needs his help finding a mate.

Most of it makes no sense whatsoever, but there’s lots of dashing about and bonking in carriages to entertain. I highly recommend Bridgerton!

Book Review

Get Shorty

By Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard has always been a big favorite of mine. The author populated his novels with a colorful array of drifters, con artists and the law, and his ability to create unique dialogue was so finely honed that he often didn’t bother with quotation marks – you simply understood who was talking by the pace and vocabulary of a character’s words.

Leonard began writing Westerns in the 1950s, so it comes as no surprise that he was well-acquainted with the process of adapting his popular books to film. Get Shorty was written in 1990, and it’s essentially a book about making a movie.

Of course, that’s where the author takes a dog-eared concept and turns it into high satire. Chili Palmer is a loan-shark based in Miami who goes to Los Angeles in search of an errant client. Once in Hollywood, he discovers that being a movie producer is not that different than being a mobster, and decides to switch careers.

He teams up with Harry Zimm, a producer of B-Grade horror flicks, and Karen, his leading lady. They set out to snare Michael Weir, (a rather short) A-list actor, to star in Mr. Lovejoy, an unbelievably bad script. (Fun fact; Leonard based Michael on his dealings with Dustin Hoffman.)

It wouldn’t be an Elmore Leonard novel without a cast of low-life trying to muscle in on the action, including a delightfully nefarious Ray Bones who Chili once shot in the scalp over a stolen jacket and now is hell-bent on revenge. Mayhem of all sorts quickly ensues, with the good guys eventually triumphing.

There’s one more delight; as you read through the book, it’s impossible not to imagine John Travolta, Rene Russo, Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito from the 1995 adaptation gleefully chewing up the scenery. I highly recommend Get Shorty!

2024 03 03

March 2024 Newsletter

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Life in Mexico

It’s the little things in life that makes living in Mexico so enjoyable.

Every other week, we go down to the Santiago market where the chicken ladies have a stall under a staircase. Their counters are festooned with broilers and eggs and poultry appendages.

Their free-range produce is classified as Mexi-organic, because Tia Maria who raises them can’t afford hormones or antibiotics, so you get them the same way they’ve been sold for the last 500 years.

Mama Angelica is in charge. When I ask for ‘Milanesa’, she picks up her razor-sharp cleaver and slices a breast so thin it’s the size of a bread board when she’s done.

Whenever I want to make paté, I always buy my livers there; although ‘buy’ is a misnomer as they just give me a bag.

And the price? I can buy enough chicken for twenty servings for around twenty-five bucks. Read it and weep.

Recipe; Mariposa Chicken

Mariposa (or butterfly) chicken is easy to make in less than an hour, and it always comes out moist, tender and delicious!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

½ cup of butter, soft

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp of salt

½ tsp of black pepper

2 Tsp of parsley, chopped

Directions

Heat the oven to 425F. (You can also cook it on the BBQ).

Split the backbone so that the whole chicken lies flat. You can do it at home if you have a good pair of meat shears, but it’s also sold pre-prepared; if you don’t see one out on the shelf, just ask the butcher to split one for you (butterfly translates as ‘mariposa’ in Spanish – easy to remember).

Lay the chicken skin-side up in an oven tray that has been sprayed with oil or covered with parchment paper and allow it to warm to room temperature.

Mix together the butter, garlic, salt, pepper and parsley into a paste. Place half the paste under the skin of the breast and legs, and spread the rest on top of the skin.

Roast for 45 minutes, then cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!

Read all my books with a subscription to Kindle Unlimited!

You can also purchase eBooks and Paperbacks on Amazon!

Book Review

The Appeal

By Janice Hallett

The novel attracted quite a bit of attention when it debuted in 2021 due to the unusual structure; rather than telling the story of a murder using chronological narrative, the majority of the book is told through a series of emails and instant messages sent between the primary suspects.

This is a bit of a spoiler, but it will help you understand the premise right from the first paragraphby rather than having to fumble through several chapters trying to figure out what’s going on. Two independent investigators have been hired by the lawyer representing the imprisoned murderer in an attempt to overthrow the conviction. They are trolling through messages sent between friends and acquaintances prior to, and after, the murder in an attempt to find the real killer.

The story itself points to an intriguing range of motives. A two-year old girl is suffering from a rare brain cancer, one with little chance of survival. Her parents and grandparents are part of an amateur theatre company in an affluent English village, and they decide to launch a Gofundme appeal to raise money for an expensive, experimental treatment developed in the US.

As the investigators work through the correspondence, however, troubling questions emerge. Is someone stealing money from the appeal? Does the experimental cure, in fact, even exist? The reader is drawn through a series of interpersonal disputes that could very well escalate into nasty repercussions.

Even though the author creates a dozen potential suspects, in the end, Hallett wraps it up neatly with a bow, much to the satisfaction of yours truly. This is a unique twist on the Agatha-Christie English village murder mystery. I highly recommend The Appeal!

TV Series Review

Expats

Streaming on Amazon Prime

This six-part mini-series set in Hong Kong is based on the novel by Janice Lee. Normally, I would give the domestic drama a pass, but it stars Nicole Kidman, and I’d be a fool not to give it the sniff test.

I’m sure glad I did. Nicole stars as Margaret, the mother of three children, who is stationed in HK with her husband Clarke (played by Brian Tee). One day, she takes the children with their young nanny Mercy (Ji-Young Yoo), to the night market, where her four year old son Gus suddenly disappears.

The abduction sets off a series of crises in her family, with Margaret searching the city for signs of her son, and Michael retreating to the comfort of religion. The remaining two children are traumatized by fear that they might be next, and there’s nothing their parents can do to protect them.

The series explores a further layer of trauma within the extended community of HK’s domestic service industry. The opportunity for work draws hundreds of thousands of Filipina and Indonesian women to Singapore, HK and the North America seeking to support their families back home. Mercy is wracked by guilt, and Essie, who raised Margaret’s children from infancy, experiences the same nightmare that every mother faces.

The series is brilliantly cast, but it is Nicole who rises a level above with her unrivaled ability to evince her character’s grief through the tiniest of micro-expressions, magnified by the intense close-ups used by the cinematographer. You feel her pain, not through cries of anguish, but the immense, deep distress in her eyes.

This is a feast of Nicole Kidman’s talent that equals her best performances on both the big and small screens; I highly recommend Expats!

Documentary Review

American Symphony

Streaming on Netflix

For years, Jon Baptiste was well-known as the bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

He is also an accomplished song writer, singer and performer, teaming up with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Ed Sheeran. He has won 5 Grammy awards, including Album of the Year for We Are, in 2021.

The documentary, directed by Matthew Heineman and executive-produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, follows the artist as he composes American Symphony, an orchestral arrangement featuring black musical styles, and simultaneously deals with his wife Suleika’s relapse into leukemia.

This is a portrayal of their struggles to beat a deadly disease and to finish the biggest musical challenge of his career. The documentary is both intimate and majestic, as they suffer the pains of chemotherapy and celebrate the debut at Carnegie Hall. I highly recommend American Symphony.  

2024-02-09

February 2024 Newsletter

by Newsletter

Life in Mexico

There’s a line of coconut vendors at the side of the toll road heading toward Colima. Just past that is a shady cantina consisting of half a dozen picnic tables and a cow.

The cantina serves ‘pajarete’, which is made from milk straight from the cow. The vendor then adds vanilla, chocolate, strawberries and pure cane liquor. Essentially, it’s a milk-shake for alcoholics.

Because cows are milked in the morning only, pajarete is consumed at breakfast, and you can see many a thirsty truck driver at the cantina bracing themselves for the windy mountain roads ahead.

Pajarete tastes best when drunk from a clay mug, but if you’re in a hurry, they have go-cups that fit into the beverage holder on your console. The nice thing is, if you run out of gas, you can probably pour it into the tank and it will work just as well as the stuff you buy at Pemex.

FYI: Pajarete is also known as the ‘drink of death’, due to the fact that unscrupulous vendors swap out the cane liquor with wood alcohol. About two dozen people have been killed in the last year.

Recipe; Fish and Shrimp Curry

This is a great way to enjoy the fresh seafood we have in abundance in Manzanillo. Easy to prepare, and delicious to eat!

Ingredients

1 lb of dorado (or any white fish), cut into 1-in cubes.

12 peeled shrimp

2 Tsp of butter

Half an onion, chopped

Half a red pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp of ginger, minced

1 Tsp of curry powder

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of paprika

1 can of peeled tomatoes

Fresh coriander and mint.

Directions

In a Dutch oven or large pan with lid, lightly fry the fish and shrimp in butter. Remove.

Fry the onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, and spices (add a little more butter if it gets dry).

Add the tomatoes, cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

Return the fish and shrimp to the pan and simmer for another two minutes.

Serve on rice with mint and coriander topping.

Enjoy!

Read all my books with a subscription to Kindle Unlimited!

You can also purchase eBooks and Paperbacks on Amazon!

Book Review

The Paradise Trilogy

By Elin Hilderbrand

We’ve always been big fans of Elin Hilderbrand, who has written about a million novels set in the island of Nantucket. As an author, she creates a background ‘bible’ for every major fictional character, in which their life is lovingly detailed with everything from their favorite childhood sundae to the designer jeans they wear.

I know, it sounds a little over the top, but this allows the celebrated ‘Queen of the beach read’ to take the dramatic circumstances of the main characters (death of a child, a cheating spouse), and weave a rich tapestry that literally pulls you into their lives.

The Paradise Trilogy (Winter in Paradise, What Happens in Paradise, and Troubles in Paradise), is an outlier for two reasons. Most of Hilderbrand’s novels are stand-alone, in that they rarely have sequels. The trilogy is also set in the US Virgin Islands, which happens to have an identical tropical environment to what we experience in Manzanillo.

The series revolves around Irene Steele, wife of Robert Steele and mother to two adult sons, Baker and Cash. She lives in Iowa City in a Victorian house; its restoration has been her main occupation while her husband travels the world on business.

Irene’s life is turned upside-down, however, when her husband dies in a helicopter accident in the US Virgin Islands. When she journeys there with her two sons, she learns that Robert owned an immense mansion overlooking the St. John harbor.

She also discovers that he has been living a secret life with a mistress in the mansion. As the plot unfolds, her bewilderment turns to anger as she realizes the depths of duplicity that her husband has descended. One twist follows another as she and her sons try to adapt to the new reality of their lives.

We both found the series very addictive, and read all three books in a matter of days! I highly recommend The Paradise Trilogy.

Documentary Review

The Greatest Night in Pop

Streaming on Netflix

In January 28, 1985, three dozen of the greatest pop stars on the planet got together for a single night to record We Are the World, a pop tune designed to raise money for the relief of starvation in Africa.

The original idea came from Harry Belafonte, who had been inspired by the Christmas Carol, Do They Know It’s Christmas? He asked friends Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson to write the tune and lyrics, and encouraged American and European stars to participate.

The challenge, of course, was to get all the singers in one room for one night. They chose the evening of the American Music Awards, knowing that the majority of participants would be in Los Angeles to celebrate, and then cajoled stars like Bruce Springsteen who were on tour to make a special detour.

The documentary largely relies on taped footage that was recorded during the rehearsal and performance, as well as interviews conducted by director Bao Nguyen with participants such as Richie, Springsteen and Huey Lewis. In the end, the documentary is much more than a stroll down musical memory lane as it is a revealing insight into the real people behind the carefully crafted public personas of the performers.

The song was rewarded a Grammy and ended up raising $100 million in aid. I highly recommend The Greatest Night in Pop.

Mexican Strawberry Champagne Cocktail

We’re celebrating Linda’s birthday this month, and there’s no better way than Champagne on the beach!

Ingredients

Strawberries

1 Tsp of lemon juice

½ tsp of vanilla extract

Champagne (or any dry sparkling wine)

Gently pulse the strawberries, lemon juice, vanilla extract and crushed ice in a blender, then mix with bubbly in a large wine glass. Enjoy!

2023-11-03

November 2023 Newsletter

by Newsletter

Life in Mexico

Life’s a Beach

We live a few blocks from Santiago beach, a beautiful, 6-km stretch of coffee-colored sand situated in a protected bay.

The beach is deserted most of the week, but come Sunday, several thousand people flock for a day of rest and celebration. Here are some of our observations about the unique way that Mexicans enjoy a day in the sun.

Bring Beer. Anyone who thinks Mexicans are lazy has never seen one carrying three flats of warm cerveza on their head.

Bring the family. When it’s time to take the clan to the beach, they rent a bus. Even Grandma, dressed in black and sitting in a wheel chair, comes along.

Bring a life-vest. There are no lifeguards, rip markers or swimming lessons; if you get carried out to sea, you’re crocodile buffet.

Bring a skin tumor. The favorite sunscreen is coconut oil, with a melanoma-rating of +50. Smells great, though.

Bring a bikini. Not so bad when they’re 17, but when you see a Big Momma toting a few decades of tacos only one phrase comes to mind; Lycra torture test.

Book Review

The Exchange

By John Grisham

Linda and I have been reading John Grisham’s legal thrillers for decades now, and we’ve enjoyed them a tremendous amount. Unfortunately, in The Exchange, the author has taken a couple of detours from his usual winning formula that are, to say the least, distracting.

The Exchange is a follow-up to a tremendously enjoyable book, The Firm, which followed the misadventures of a young lawyer. After graduating with distinction from Harvard, Mitch McDeere joined Bendini, a prominent Memphis firm. At first, he and his wife Abby found themselves enjoying the life and sudden wealth that the position promised. Soon, however, they found themselves embroiled in a nefarious world of money laundering. With the FBI closing in, Mitch and Abby fled the country one step ahead of murder, abandoning their lives.

Now, decades later, Mitch has established a career with Scully, the world’s largest law firm. Settled in New York, they are intent on raising their twin sons and putting the nightmare around Bendini far behind.

Their lives are shattered, however, when a mysterious terrorist gang based in Libya kidnaps one of their associates, the sultry Giovanna Sandroni, while inspecting a client’s engineering work in the middle of the desert. Mitch finds himself scrambling to put together the $100 million ransom before she is executed.

So, what’s my problem? I enjoy Grisham because he doesn’t generally wallow in gore. The Exchange, however, features several grim torture/executions of terrorist captives; I can get all of this I want from reality, thanks.

Secondly, this isn’t a legal thriller, with all the court twists-and-turns that normally propel Grisham’s narrative. It’s essentially a ‘will he get the ransom together before the deadline (and presumably icky death) of the beautiful victim’ thriller.

Finally, when you do a sequel, the core of the conflict is associated with some ‘unfinished business’ (one of the guilty parties gets out of prison and comes looking for revenge, say). Except for the fact that it features the two primary protagonists from The Firm, the two books don’t really have anything to do with one another.

My suggestion; if you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend you get a copy of The Firm!

Read all my books with a subscription to Kindle Unlimited!

You can also purchase eBooks and Paperbacks on Amazon!

TV Review

The Crown

Streaming on Netflix

We were living in London in 1997, about one km south of Kensington Palace. The morning of Sunday, August 31, dawned sunny and warm, and we decided to go for a jog in the park.

As we made our way north along Gloucester Rd, however, we noticed several strange occurrences. A cabbie was parked at the curb, weeping as he listened to his radio. People were solemnly exiting the Gloucester Rd tube, each clutching a bouquet of lilies.

When we reached the park, the normally-cheery warden wore a solemn expression and a black armband. It wasn’t until we reached the gilded south gate of the palace, already strewn with a pile of flowers, that we realized what was going on.

“Diana died last night,” a tearful mourner explained.

The sixth, and final season of The Crown focuses on the death of Diana. Even though half a lifetime has passed, the events remain riveting. Although it is a dramatization that pigeonholes many of the participants (the scheming Mohamed al-Fayed, his weak-willed, acquiescent son Dodi), the episodes nonetheless capture the visceral fascination that the world held for one woman and her tragic death.

Days after her demise, we stood in veneration as her gun carriage was drawn through the park, mourning with the millions watching at home.  It is a feeling that I shall remember for the rest of my life. I highly recommend The Crown!

Movie Review

Nyad

Streaming on Netflix

NASA had a goal to reach the moon; it was a massive, coordinated scientific achievement.

Sir Edmund Hillary had a goal to scale Mt. Everest, the tallest peak on earth.

But when does a goal become an obsession?

Diana Nyad, an American marathon swimmer, had achieved notable success early in her career, swimming the circumference of Manhattan, a distance of 28 miles, at the age of 26 in 1975. She went on to achieve a world open-water distance record in 1979, swimming 102 miles from Bimini in the Bahamas to Juno Beach, Florida.

Her ultimate ambition was to complete an open-water swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys, a distance of 110 miles. Although the feat had been previously done by swimmers using shark cages, she wanted to do it unprotected. It took her a total of five attempts, the final one in 2013 at the age of 63.

Each of the attempts were aided by a small army of volunteers, including the captain of the support boat, played by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans (who, as you may recall, did a wonderfully-comic turn as the goofy roommate to Hugh Grant in Notting Hill).

In the end, Nyad succeeds, although her achievement was shrouded in controversy due to a lack of independent verification that ultimately motivated Guinness to revoke her feat from its Book of World Records .

The movie stars Annette Bening, who plays Nyad, and Jodie Foster as her coach Bonnie Stohl; two incredible actresses portraying two strong women working to achieve a near-impossible objective. The movie is both riveting and touching; I highly recommend Nyad!

2023-10-02

October 2023 Newsletter

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Life in Calgary

We’ve been residing in Mexico for the last 12 years, so a lot has happened in our old home town in the intervening decade. We’ve had a chance to spend the last two months in town, and here are a few things I never thought I’d live long enough to see.

Co-op Cannabis

For those of you not from Alberta, the Co-op grocery chain was founded by the United Farmers of Alberta in the 1940s and is about the least likely organization in the province to open a chain of pot stores (except for the RCMP).

They have great names for the various weed varieties, including Purple Haze (too bad Buzz Light Year was already taken). But I’m kind of nostalgic for the days when you’d purchase a dime bag behind the high-school from the local JD. Somehow, paying GST on reefer is a bit of a buzz kill.

Calgary Central Library

The City of Calgary began planning this about the same time as the Pyramids of Giza.

The award-winning design was completed in 2018 at the cost of around $250 million. When it finally opened, thousands of citizens waited patiently in line to gaze upon the wood-clad interior and pinch CDs.

When we recently visited, the vast interior echoed with the sound of children’s delight as Librarians performed favorite books.

Best of all, however; they carry copies of Secret Combinations, Magnus the Magnificent and A Paris Moment! If you are a Calgary Library member, be sure to sign in on your card and request Joan the Saint and The Hotel Seamstress.

The Big Head

This sculpture, formally entitled Wonderland, was installed a few years ago in front of the Bow Tower in Calgary. The Spanish artist Jaume Plensa drew inspiration from the head of a young Spanish girl, and the interior the 12-m work of art can be accessed through a door. I recommend a visit to Co-op Cannabis before entering.

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Joan the Saint!

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Book Review

The Last Devil to Die

By Richard Osman

The concept of this mystery novel series is disingenuously simple; a quartet of retirees living in a seniors’ complex near Brighton start a club in which they investigate unsolved murders.

They are led by Elizabeth, a legendary former spy who is ruthless in her pursuit of perfidy. Her best friend Joyce loves to cook pound cake, while retired union leader Ron and former psychiatrist Ibrahim round out the crew. They are, in turn, aided by Bogdan, a mysterious Polish émigré, and Donna, a police inspector for the rural constabulary.

In this fourth installment, a delivery of heroin from Afghanistan goes astray and a friend of the murder club is found, well, murdered. The intrepid gang vows justice and goes in search of both the heroin and the killers.

The series is in the delightful tradition of the English cosy mystery in which amateur sleuths bring their unusual talents to bear on murder most foul. They are invariably a delightful blend of eccentric characters, convoluted plots and dry British wit. If you aren’t familiar with the Thursday Murder Club series, I highly recommend you give it a try!

Recipe: Chamorro de Cerdo

Chamorro de cerdo

Pork shank is a popular Sunday meal in Mexico. It is inexpensive, easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Ingredients

1 pork shank.

¼ cup of flour

1 Tsp of chili powder

1 Tsp of butter

Four carrots

1 cup of baby potatoes

½ a white onion

½ cup of water or broth

1 tsp of salt

Ground pepper

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 400 F.

Mix the flour and chili powder together in a plastic bag. Insert the pork shank and lightly coat the meat. (Save 1 Tsp of the remaining flour and chili powder).

Fry the shank in butter, browning on all four sides.

Cut the carrots, onion and potatoes and place in the bottom of a cast-iron pot. Pour in the water or broth.

Place the shank atop the vegetables and bake in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Cover and reduce heat to 350 F. Cook for a further two hours.

When the meat is tender, remove from the oven and separate the meat and vegetables.

Tent the shank and let rest for 10 minutes while preparing the gravy by mixing 1 Tsp of the remnant flour and chili mix with the drippings.

Serve each portion whole, or flake the meat off and serve on a platter. Enjoy!

TV Review

Lupin

Streaming on Netflix

This is a French series following the adventures of Assane Diop, the modern reincarnation of Arsene Lupin. The latter was a fictional gentleman thief popular in the early 20th century, a self-styled Robin Hood of the Paris underworld.

Diop, a master of disguise, uses his abilities and general chicanery to steal from the rich and, (ahem), keep it. In the latest series, his arch nemesis kidnaps his mother and extorts him into stealing some of the world’s most precious jewelry, including the invaluable Black Pearl.

Our anti-hero and his intrepid team pull a host of outrageous heists that bamboozle the police and infuriate the pampered owners of pricey baubles. Although the first installment of the series was delightfully entertaining, the writers and producers have taken the concept to a whole new level in this latest season. I highly recommend Lupin!

2023-09-07

September 2023 Newsletter

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Life in Calgary

I am Sleeping in Jon Hamm’s Bed

I am sleeping in Jon Hamm’s bed. Not the one in his Italianate villa overlooking Lake Como, of course, but the one that he used while filming a TV series in Calgary last year. I can’t tell you the name of the series because I’m sworn to secrecy, but the pig-Latin pronunciation is Argo-fay.

How I came to be sleeping in Jon Hamm’s bed is really banal. Our friends were flying to BC and needed someone to baby-sit their tomato plants for the weekend. As they were leaving, they said, “Oh, by the way, we rented our home to Jon Hamm last winter.”

“Not the handsome but morally-compromised ad executive who starred in Mad Men?”

“That’s the one.”

I fluff the bedsheet. It’s one of those micro-fabrics that feel like it’s made of baby seal. I imagine Jon and his girlfriend having breakfast in bed, eating French toast with real Canadian maple syrup, when suddenly Jon reaches beneath his pillow and pulls out a jewelry box with a ring and asks her to marry him! I lean over and peek under the bed for the discarded box; a dust bunny stares forlornly back. Still, I can imagine his Fiancée taking Jon in her arms and giving him a big kiss then spilling the maple syrup as she jumps his bones.

I don’t know why I can’t tell you the name of the TV series. It’s not like nobody knew he was here. When the cleaning ladies showed up at the door, he said; “Hi! I’m Jon Hamm.” They all took selfies and shared them with half of Manila. When I walked in to a local take-out shop to buy lunch the other day, there was a signed-photo of him behind the till with a big sign advertising the day’s special, Hamm Sandwich. Like, subtle.

I am drying my clothes in the dryer. There must be six months-worth of lint in the catcher. It is kind of dusty but I keep it because it just might have some remnant of Jon’s socks tucked in there. I’m thinking of making a beret if I can figure out how to keep from sneezing.

I discover a half-empty jar of Jiff sitting in the rear of the pantry. I envision Jon having a bachelor dinner in the living room by sticking a knife in and licking the peanut butter off. Doesn’t taste too bad, though.

There is a copy of Jon’s script on the book shelf. I know it’s his because someone has helpfully written Jon Hamm’s script on the spine. Jon plays Sheriff Ray Tillman, a rancher with some anger management issues. It contains only the first five episodes, so don’t bother asking me how it ends, although I highly recommend you get a subscription to FX or Hulu and watch it when it drops November 21, 2023.

A big shout-out to Laurie and her book club in Calgary! Their featured book this month is The Hotel Seamstress, and they graciously invited me for a Q&A session. The book is available on Kindle Unlimited, and you can also pick up a copy of the eBook or paperback on Amazon.

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Movie Review

Barbie

Starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling

“You want to go see Barbie? Are you nuts?”

Yes, yes, I know I’m supposed to check out Oppenheimer, but, man, can’t a guy just chill, for once?

And, guess what? Barbie isn’t just for kids, not by a long shot. From the very first scene, an homage to 2001; A Space Odyssey, where the black obelisk is replaced by a blonde in a bathing suit who incites children to destroy their old dolls in apelike brutality, you know this ain’t no Disney flick.

Instead, Greta Gerwig has constructed a highly entertaining movie that explores the dichotomy between male and female-dominated societies.

The story opens in Barbie Land, which is populated by all the versions of Barbie ever created by Mattel, including Astronaut Barbie, Doctor Barbie and Disco Barbie. All of the Supreme Court is occupied by Barbies, as is the Pink House.

All of the Kens, on the other hand, are subservient to Barbie. They hang out at the beach and wait to be noticed.

All is perfect, until Stereotypical Barbie (played by Robbie), suddenly begins to get bad vibes from one of her owners in the Real World. Her feet go flat and she begins to have nightmares about mortality. Weird Barbie (delightfully played by Kate McKinnon), advises her to go to the Real World and set things straight before she gets cellulite.

Barbie and Ken trek to LA, where they promptly get into a series of fish-out-of-water scrapes with the law. Barbie realizes that reality sucks, but Ken discovers patriarchy, where men rule the world. He takes his findings back.

When Barbie finally returns to Barbie Land, she finds that everything has been turned upside down, with all the other Barbies fawning over muscle-bound dudes. Appalled, she seeks out the help of Weird Barbie, who comes up with a solution; “By giving voice to the cognitive dissonance of living under patriarchy, you rob it of its power.”

In other words, show that the Emperor has no clothes.

Now, if you’re wondering how this goes over with an audience of six-year olds wearing tutus, worry not; there’s more than enough dog-poop jokes and dance numbers to keep them screaming in the aisles.

Barbie: it’s nuts, it’s funny and it’s in your face. I highly recommend you go see it while it’s still in theaters and enjoy one of the most original movies made in a long, long time.

Book Review

Cinema Speculation

By Quentin Tarantino

I became a big fan of Quentin Tarantino when I first saw Pulp Fiction. It was violent, scary and in-your-face in a way that I had never seen before. I was so riveted that I could remember, scene-by-scene, exactly what had happened. But one of the biggest questions in my mind was; “Who could create this film?”

Cinema Speculation is a first-hand account of how director Quentin Tarantino’s childhood was shaped by cinema. At the age of six, his single mother would take him with her when she went on dates to double-feature movies. Starting at the age of six, he was exposed to graphically-violent movies such as The Wild Bunch, MASH and Bonnie and Clyde.

And he loved every gory, blood-splattered moment of it.

The memoir is broken down into two dozen essays, each focusing on either a classic action movie such as The Getaway, or on a director or actor who he cherishes for their contributions to film.

As a respected auteur in his own right, Tarantino has gone back to the titans of the industry and interviewed them to determine how each film came together, right from how the script was molded to the choice of actors and the artistic decisions that ultimately made an otherwise pedestrian movie into a masterpiece.

One quibble; the author doesn’t explore the entrails of any of his own films. I can only hope that that’s the subject of his next book. In the meantime, I highly recommend Cinema Speculation to all cinephiles!

2023-08-03

August 2023 Newsletter

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Life in London

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”

Samuel Johnson said that over two hundred years ago, but it still holds true today. Whatever turns your crank, you’ll find it within the shadow of Big Ben.

We spent a week at the end of July in a lovely AirBnB flat located in Earl’s Court. We were in walking distance of Kensington Palace and a thousand curry take-outs. A short ride on the Tube took us everywhere else in town.

Our favorite pastime is always the West End, where you can see some of the best musicals on earth. We went to see two shows, Guys and Dolls and Cabaret; a head-to-head comparison follows below.

We also love to travel around town on the double-decker buses, the fare of which is included when you purchase a week-long Oyster Card. They are far less crowded than the Tube, and you get to see all the attractions, like Buckingham Palace, as you roll by.

If I have one gripe, it’s that the folks in London don’t know how to walk on the sidewalk. They stagger along, heads bent over cell phones, totally oblivious of everyone else. Fortunately our flat had a big umbrella with a pointy end that I could use to goose them into oncoming lorries.

Alas, our time in Europe passed too quickly. We’re back in Calgary for the next little while, so I have to remind myself not to drive like a Mexican or I’ll end up in jail.

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Head-to-Head Theatre Review; Guys and Dolls vs Cabaret

We had the pleasure of seeing two musicals in London this summer; Guys and Dolls and Cabaret. Both have many similarities – they are set in the 1930s, feature hit songs, innovative immersive sets, and the best singers and dancers that the West End can offer.

Cabaret first appeared on Broadway in 1966. It starred Jill Haworth as Sally, a role that was reprised by Liza Minnelli in the 1972 movie.

The show is set in 1930s Berlin, at the end of the jazz age and the rise of Hitler and fascism. American writer Clifford is involved with Sally, a singer at the seedy Kit Kat Club. The debauched world of the Weimar Republic swirls around them as they stagger toward the nightmare that awaits.

The stage is set up in the center of the theater, and audience members sit at tables surrounding the performing area. Waitresses bring Champagne and snacks before the performance. Once the show starts, the cast sings and dances through a dozen songs, including the hit Cabaret.

Guys and Dolls is based on a series of short stories that Damon Runyon wrote about hard-scrabble con artists and gals down on their luck in New York. The stage is also set in the center of the main level, with audience members milling about as risers lift the actors up. The cast of 24 also performs a dozen songs, including the Sinatra standard, Luck be a Lady Tonight.

So, how did the compare?

Keep in mind that we saw matinees, so several of the main characters were played by understudies. That said, the cast of Guys and Dolls had a significant edge when it came to belting out the tunes, soaring above the competition with heart-felt gusto.

I also preferred the story line of Guys and Dolls, which had a more light-hearted theme of pursuing the American dream. Mind you, the sub-plot of Cabaret was focused on the rise of fascism, so one could hardly expect a laugh-riot. The director gamely explored the dark humor of the situation, but the comedic timing was off.

Out of five stars, I give Guys and Dolls a four, and Cabaret a three.

Movie Review

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Back in 1984, I went with my sister Marlene to see the first Indiana Jones movie, and was utterly entranced by this big-screen, throw-back to the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Over the ensuing 40 years, I have faithfully viewed each sequel in a theatre as they came out.

Linda and I went to see Dial of Destiny at a cinema in Paris. I hate it when they dub in the voices, but fortunately it was shown in VO (Version original), so that wasn’t a distraction. True to form, the movie opened with an extended scene in which ruthless bad guys (Nazis!), try to off Indie during a New York parade honoring the crew of Apollo 11.

The premise of the story is that the no-goodniks want to get ahold of the Antikythera mechanism, a time-traveling device built by Archimedes 2000 years ago so that they can use it for nefarious stuff.

Indie sets off to thwart them, aided by his god-daughter Helena. As usual, there are pits full of snakes, chases on horseback, fights on trains and a dangle or two out of a plane. Needless to say, the scoundrels get their comeuppance in the end. My recommendation; go see Dial of Destiny while it’s still playing in the theatres; you won’t be disappointed!

Book Review

The Beach at Summerly

By Beatriz Williams

Beatriz Williams has long been feted as a master of the summer read. Most of her books feature a strong female lead, usually a young, feisty woman making her own way in the turbulent world of the first half of the 20th century.

The Beach at Summerly is set on Winthrop Island, just off the coast of Long Island. Secluded for most of the year, it comes to life in the summer when rich New Yorkers occupy their palatial summer homes.

Emilia is a native Islander, her family having arrived some three centuries ago to settle the rocky isle. She lives with her father and mother in a cottage adjacent to the Summerly Mansion, owned by the Peabody clan. As a child in the 1930s, Emilia grew up with the Peabody children, whiling away the summers swimming, cycling and picnicking in the dunes.

But WWII interrupts their idyllic existence; the young men go off to fight the Nazis. Emilia’s older brother is killed, as is the eldest Peabody son. When the survivors finally return, Emilia finds comfort in the arms of Shep Peabody, a kind and gentle younger brother who has had a crush on Emilia since they were children.

Enter, stage left, Olive Rainsford, a relative of the Peabody’s who has just returned from Europe. A twice-widowed woman of elegance and mystery, she asks Emilia to help care for her three young children.

Suspicions arise when undercover agents arrive on the island and begin to surveil the locals. Is there a spy in their midst? Death soon stalks their cloistered existence.

The author enjoys using split narratives. In this case, the main tale is set in 1946, and the ensuing flash-forward in 1954. I personally enjoy split narratives, as they keep the reader on their toes. Williams wraps it all up in the end; I highly recommend The Beach at Summerly!

French Digital Tour 2013 - Couleur

June 2023 Newsletter (2)

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Life in France

Linda and I have been in Antibes for almost a month now, and we love it!

Even though Antibes is in France and Manzanillo in Mexico, it’s amazing how much the two towns have in common. The people are friendly and laid-back, the sun shines most of the year-round, and the streets are lined with palms. But there are also glaring differences – here are a few observations.

Crazy Scooter Drivers

Not a day goes by in Manzanillo where you don’t see a moto flying down the street with a five year old jammed between mom and pop and a tyke plopped on the gas tank, gleefully clinging to the handlebars.

European drivers may not have the household strapped in, but they sure love to race their Vespas along the sidewalk should the street be clogged by lethargic traffic. I think there’s also a law that says they have to hold their cellphone in one hand and a Vape in the other while driving.

Tacos

That’s right, Diego, the ubiquitous street food of Mexico has gone big-time in France. They don’t limit themselves to boring things like tongue or BBQ brains over here, either. Our little taco joint down the block offers cordon bleu, scallops, spicy Thai sauce and fried eggs.

Fresh Ingredients

France prides itself in bio; the label on every head of lettuce and bag of spuds boasts about being grown with organic poo and no pesticides. Our neighborhood butcher, Monsieur Bardot, has Polaroids of happy calves taped to his veal display. Mexico is also big on bio, but mainly because farmers can’t afford the hormones and antibiotics for their cattle, and chickens are perfectly happy to wander around the yard feasting on ants and scorpions. Either way, you eat great.

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TV Series Review

Inside Man

Streaming on Netflix

Stanly Tucci plays Jefferson Grieff, a prisoner on death row who refuses to plead clemency for murdering his wife. He does, however, use his acute sense of deduction to solve seemingly baffling cases. Grief’s sidekick is a serial killer named Dillon (played with hilarious gruesomeness by Atkins Estimond).

Grieff is contacted by a woman who’s friend Janice has disappeared from her home in a tiny English village. Janice is, in fact, being held prisoner in the vestry basement by the vicar, who is wrestling with a moral dilemma that threatens to ruin his family and career.

The clock is ticking, and Grieff and his posse have to find and rescue Janice before a sinister fate befalls her. The four-part series is a tremendous mash-up of everything from Midsomer Murders to Silence of the Lambs, all held together by the inspired performance of Tucci. I highly recommend Inside Man!