Review: Happy-Go-Lucky

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Gotta Get Theroux This
Happy-Go-Lucky written by David Sedaris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second book by Sedaris I’ve read, and again I enjoyed his perspective throughout. This book – loosely arranged around events culminating with his father’s death, gave a clearer visual of his family’s dynamics. It obviously helped make him the interesting character he is, with so many entertaining takes. But you should probably look up his sister Amy, I hear she’s even more so. 😛

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ADDENDUM: I saw the library also had a copy of “Pretty Ugly” (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165940550-pretty-ugly), the first children’s book David Sedaris has authored, which was illustrated by Ian Falconer shortly before he passed away.

I saw Sedaris spruik it on an American late night show, although not very convincingly. He claimed it took a few minutes to write, which did NOT fill me with confidence.

While I can tell it probably took longer than that, it was not a book I’d proudly gift a friend’s kid. Which strangely might be my new measure of children’s book quality. But I thought the book was kind of fun, with an obvious message coming through after all.

Bellarine Sunset Run – 10 Feb 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes

On the weekend I ran the half marathon at the Flying Brick (Cider) Bellarine Sunset Run. It was my 21st half marathon.

I think there were almost 900 people at this event in all. 369 runners and walkers for the half alone.

I spotted Australian cycling royalty Cadel Evans collecting his runner’s bib which got a lot of interest from our group. Cadel was looking very fit, altho a shadow of his Tour de France champion physique. Definitely still athletic, he went on to finish in 6th position for the half marathon, in a respectable 1hr 30.

It was a warm day, at least 26 degrees which led to lots of people struggling through the afternoon. But the support of the crowd and caravan park party people didn’t subside. A few along the course sprayed us with their garden hoses, which everyone appreciated. When I checked facetiously if it was in fact water, there were a variety of funny answers.

My own running pace was very controlled for the first 10kms, and I was pleased with my training to be on track somewhere under 1:50 pace, but the heat was definitely becoming a factor.

While I was running, I saw my mate Gary, my coaching counterpart for the Under 12s rugby team last year. Gary surprised me by giving me a high-five as he ran by from the other way. He’s new to running long races and had started in the group which began 20 minutes earlier.

Just before this chance encounter, doubts were entering my head whether I could continue at this pace or if my body would reluctantly slow down. I continued on, even speeding up a little as I was distracted with a mini goal to catch up to my mate. It didn’t take long to reach him, and the poor guy was definitely struggling. I thought it’d be a lot more rewarding to help him pull through his ‘hurt locker’, and also catch up with him for the first time since our kids rugby season concluded last year.

He tried unsuccessfully for me to return to my race alone instead of joining him. I wondered, did I really choose to slow down and help him with some company through the race, or did I just choose the easy option and opt out on the hard work to run faster?

It didn’t matter in the end. It was enjoyable to take it easy and ignore my finishing time and spend the time more socially. He lives on the Bellarine, not far from the half marathon route and knew the course quite well. He even ran the whole thing a few days earlier – probably contributing to the massive muscle cramps he suffered in his quads. So he knew the landmark tree to spot which signalled the final two kilometres. We finished up our last resting walk before raising the pace, and even adding a sprint down the hill and around the corner to the finish.

It felt so rewarding to cross the finish line to the cheers of the remaining crowd. Maybe a sign of our mutual struggle, we didn’t give high fives at the end, we had a hearty hug.

After getting our medals I found a grassy spot for my mate to crash and relax his painful legs, while I got us two Apple Ciders (including quite an unusual line called a Splicer). Unfortunately my phone had unlocked at some point inside my hydration vest and had pressed wrong passcodes. It resulted in the phone locking me out for 10 minutes, which blocked me from making mobile payments. So my friend had to regrettably stand up again on his painful legs and pay for the drinks I was supposedly buying us.

I ended up having more with some of our Surf Coast Trail Runners who had returned from their volunteering duties at the event. Given the afternoon’s heat they were impressed with everyone’s effort, and more than a little pleased with their decision to volley instead of run. We stayed on at the finish line cheering the finishers until the final participant crossed, closely followed by more of our SCTR friends who were the volunteer tail walkers.

The night ended with us making the last order of Bahn Bao Buns from the final food truck yet to pack up. Then we found the local pizza place still open at 9pm, which provided a great (only?) dinner option, before I made the 50 minute drive home.

Starting a half marathon at 5:20pm doesn’t feel natural to me. It’s near impossible to spend an entire day around my kids without them consuming most of my energy. Perhaps that helped with the decision to take this race comfortably in the end, which made for a wonderful running experience. Think I’ll add this event to my annual running schedule.

Review: Gotta Get Theroux This

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Gotta Get Theroux This
Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television written by Louis Theroux
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fascinating backstory, and journal of process and progression from someone I think I always admired. Louis’s humble and raw account of his major accomplishments encouraged me to watch and rewatch several of the documentaries he recounts in entertaining and educational detail. I don’t often finish a book of this length, let alone within a month!

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Movie reviews collection

Reading Time: < 1 minute

I really enjoy a good movie experience (sometimes that can even involve bad movies). Thanks to IMDb I have a growing record of all my more than 200 ratings. And on Twitter I often share what I think about the more noteworthy movies or series I watch. My summaries really don’t conform with regular reviews, partly due to a Tweet having a limited number of characters, which I think is a lot more fun. Here’s the definitive archive of Ryan’s movie reviews for your info – and to prevent me from starting to watch something again by mistake.

The list is sorted by most recently watched/reviewed, not when it was released. You can filter by choosing Genre and/or Star rating.

Perhaps my tongue-in-cheek comment about Willis’s unwise decision to be part of this movie could be in bad taste. As it turns out, his declining mental state has been quietly known about for some time.

Hard to believe it’s 30 years since Romper Stomper was infamously released. Now we’re living in Victoria I finally got around to watch it – immediately recognising the Richmond train station subway and Point Addis finale. Kind of an important story still here, regardless of its age.

https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1279766036854652929
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1273939208436985856
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https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1261666544670531584
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1260896832307130369
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1218395908036915201
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1249797497486061573
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1208708310943223808
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1150002581797625856
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1050997333754818561

https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1032018268373045248
https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/1030525022782345218
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https://twitter.com/rbrink77/status/624522343092613120

Review: Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia

Reading Time: < 1 minuteGrowing Up Aboriginal in Australia
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Dr Anita Heiss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a wonderful book Growing Up Aboriginal Australia is.
Full disclosure, my amazing Mum wrote one of the stories featured.

It’s a touch sad to finally complete it. I’ve enjoyed flicking through and reading one or two of the stories from time to time at random.

This is apparently a sign of a good book.

Some of the accounts brought joy, truly brightening my day with appreciation. Others shared a more solemn account worthy of reflection.
I acknowledge the strength of all the authors putting their very personal stories to paper.

It made me think deeply about my own view of growing up Aboriginal in Australia.

For that I am grateful.

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Chance encounter with The King, and Review: Out Of The Shadows

Reading Time: 3 minutesDuring our Australian holidays, we had a chance encounter with rugby league great, Wally Lewis while walking into Brisbane Airport.
It’s interesting how sometimes you can spot a celebrity from a mere flash of them quite a distance away.

He was kind enough to pose for a photo with us.
In case he needed some convincing, to seal the deal I mentioned I did name my second son “Lewis” afterall.
I forgot to add that my first son is Myles, so we have pretty close to the famous Wally Lewis and Gene Miles combination.

Wally and wife Jacqui were lovely during our short interaction/interruption while they were on their way to the Dally M awards.
We were grateful, and it had me recounting to the boys again how inspiring he had been as a player.

 

Out Of The Shadows

A few days later at my parents’ place, the boys were flicking through some papers on the bookshelf when they came across the Wally Lewis book, “Out Of The Shadows”; by Neil Cadigan, and Wally Lewis.

We should ignore the fact that my Lewis saw the cover and excitedly exclaimed “Oh look, it’s Dr Phil!”

I decided to read the book before leaving Brisbane, as a result of our chance encounter at the airport.

When you’re like me and average reading 5 books a year, completing an entire book in just three days is what’s called a challenge.

Reading it was quite simple really. The book was a lovely and warm account. I’m probably similar to a lot of Queenslanders, who knew only some of the story of Wally’s epilepsy. The book gives great perspective. It shares the full chronology leading up to the diagnosis, and then living long-term with the disorder while still leading a busy professional schedule. I really had no idea how big an ordeal this was, and accounts from others supplemented the events along the way. It really uncovered my own ignorance around epilepsy. It’s no spoiler that the story has a happy ending. Many aren’t so lucky.

I’m glad I read this book, which I was certainly encouraged to do after seeing The King in the flesh. It made me appreciate how inspiring Wally is as a man.

A wonderful account of The King’s biggest battle outside of rugby league, epilepsy. It was nice to read more about the man who inspired so many on the sporting field, and now is arguably doing even more important work in lifting awareness of the disorder – and even taking control of your health generally.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Also, I went through our Brisbane holiday photos from 12 months earlier.
On that trip we managed to catch a Broncos home match, where the boys got their first encounter with King Wally Lewis, the Emperor of Lang Park!

Wally Lewis statue
Broncos vs Parramatta Eels 24/08/2017

 

Touch down Australia, “summer holidays” begin – Aug 2017

Reading Time: 2 minutesIt’s 4 in the morning, I’m wide awake, and my body feels like it should be eating dinner.
Dubai right now is 37 degrees at 10pm. Outside here in Launceston is 1.
My summer holiday has again become a freezing one.

It was quite a day of flying. In summary, my plane took off from DXB at 10:41am. With a short stop to change planes in MEL, I arrived and reunited with my family at Launceston airport 10:08am the next day.

I already got into the Aussie mood in Dubai. The family behind me at the boarding gate were speaking in Greek. I like the sound of the language. Then occasionally they would switch to a thick, regional Australian accent when they were cursing so impressively. I guess Greek has no equivalent to “flamin‘”

As I boarded, Bob Marley & The Wailers were singing “Don’t worry, ’bout a thing … Cause ev’ry little thing, is going to be all-right.” Not just a cool song, perhaps a great ploy to calm the nervous traveler?

I had the window seat, a vacant spot next to me, then one neighbour on the aisle. It was a lovely, old British lady. She looked like a small, female version of Tim Cook. We exchanged pleasantries. Soon after she took off her shoes, and asked if it’s ok to store them in the seat pocket between us. I said it’s fine. A little while later, she put her feet up on the seat next to me, after asking if it was fine. I figured it wouldn’t be long before I’d be asked to give her a foot massage. It didn’t come to that. She was actually lovely company, even helping me finish my large bag of cashews before Australian Customs.

I watched three movies, which is my standard for this leg. 

  • I watched Fate of the Furious – #8 in the franchise. It’s a lot of fun, and must be the best movie written by a 10 year old boy. 
  • Then I watched Ghost In The Shell. It’s hard to go past an action flick with a near-naked Scarlett Johansson. The movie is quite amazing. It’s the movie you’d expect if The Matrix and Total Recall had a baby. 
  • And the pick of the bunch was Off The Rails. It’s a documentary about Darius McCollum. Darius had issues growing up, and has Asperger’s syndrome, which resulted in his unhealthy love of the New York transit system. He continuously, quite innocently, takes control of trains and buses and impersonates employees. It has landed him in jail 32 times and for more than half of his adult life. His problem is exacerbated by a justice problem which continually proves unable to help. I watched it 1.5 times.

And now the two week whirlwind whistle-stop tour begins. It’s good to be home.

Glen Moray Whisky Tasting – 08 August 2017

Reading Time: 3 minutesFor several years I’ve been an occasional whisky-tasting attendee. These events are usually pompous single malt promotions with a bit of exclusivity to taste something unique that I may not buy myself.

Last night’s Glen Moray tasting was quite different. The label’s master distiller, Graham Coull, presented his finest whiskys for us to taste. Perhaps due to the format it was a larger crowd than we’re used to.
It was also the biggest audience the distiller had ever been part of. And this was after having a promotional tour of Australia – Glen Moray’s 3rd largest market.

The Hilton Double Tree’s COPPERDOG was a superb bar to host this.  It overlooked the amazing Ain Dubai (“Dubai Eye”) which seems to have almost 75% of the wheel completed. Building a massive pie chart is such a handy shape to report upon progress.

Rather than a speech and stories, Graham patiently took endless questions from the many curious folks. Most were pretty standard stuff which I think I could answer after a dram or two.  There are always questions like the exchange of whisky, and blends. Fun fact: Glen Moray might be the best thing in Johnnie Walker Red – even the only good thing in Johnnie Walker, depending on your tastes!

Then a guest asked Graham where the bathroom was.  But my highlight was someone asking if after opening a bottle of whisky, is it recommended to finish it on the same day. I can’t recall his detailed explanation, but what I chose to hear was Yes.

Out of the five samples, the 25 year old was clearly the smoothest.  But we were taken on a real Speyside journey from the Classic, to the 12 year, to the 15 (inferior to the 12 in some eyes), to the port casks and the sherry cask.  The 12 year old was finished in a bourbon cask, Jack Daniels to be precise if you could believe the perceptive guy next to us – which I didn’t.

It’s an interesting story how whisky has become so dependent on the casks of other spirits to finish and improve their flavour. And other spirits aren’t keeping up with this demand. This has led to some whisky companies going into the sherry business not for the content but the container.

Glen Moray generally use their casks twice or three times.  Graham explained he sees casks similar to tea bags.  Their first use is a bit strong, the second is fine, but the third can be a little too weak.  Being a proud Scotsman, he said it’s only natural they get maximum use out of everything.

The five of us were in a booth that had places set for seven. Handy. We thought to get maximum use out of things also and devoured the extra whisky samples.

We spotted another three untaken places at nearby table.  A guy was one step ahead of us about to help himself to one or two glasses when the lady at the other side of the table snapped at him.  It was quite funny to see her fury, and the gentleman deflate away. She scooped up the glasses into her chest like a protective dragon cuddling her eggs.

The next morning was the concluding chapter. Still quite seedy, I taxied back to the venue to pick up my car. I couldn’t tell if the attendant was joking when he asked if I had forgotten my car.

Review: True Girt

Reading Time: 2 minutesTrue Girt
True Girt by David Hunt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At the outset, it’s probably a good idea to clarify, this book is not True Grit by wee-drinking author Mr Bear Grylls. Although if you’re after a tale of desperate and deprived actions of slightly deranged people in perilous conditions, you may not be disappointed. *sound of tucker bag being zipped up*

I enjoyed this follow-up to Girt.  Both books provide a great antidote to the shiny history of Australia we were taught in schools ‘down under’. Many of the key figures in founding the land became celebrated as place names, but it took a volume like True Girt to aptly describe how many of these characters were.. well.. a bunch of pricks.

Along the way, we appreciate how unique Australia is.  Where else is there a such a massive convict past, a sponsored horror of injustice against the original inhabitants, an unexplorable land so enticing to work-experience explorers, and then an uprising culture of rebels who appear to this day as tattoos amongst proud pre-grownups? And then there was the discrimination against other religions and races – glad we sorted out that issue long ago.

Australia has a history that beggars belief, but it’s what a few of us call home.

Many gold nuggets were shared, like Australia inventing what became standard democratic processes (with a few oversights).  And we finally learn the collective noun of Hipsters. It makes sense.

True to the author’s word, this follow-up has even more hilarious moments where I laughed out loud before looking around nervously.

I look forward to whatever next installment comes.

A good thing about history, it doesn’t stop.

 

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Review: The Princess Diarist

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Princess Diarist
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Audio books usually lack something compared to regular books. It’s not the case when you can hear the late great Carrie Fisher reading her own brilliantly funny account of the wonder days of Star Wars and its ensuing fame. It made me smile every day. Perhaps a more appropriate title would be “My infatuation with Harrison Ford”.

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