The Helicopter Heist (#Noirvember read)

I blogged on the 8th about Netflix tv series The Helicopter Heist for #Noirvember. It's a Swedish caper thriller based on a novel by Jonas Bonnier. The novel it itself itself by true events. Since I blogged about it, I found out that The Helicopter Heist has been translated in English. Obviously, the adaptation is giving it a fair deal of exposure. So if I enjoy the series enough (so far I am), I might get my hands on the book. Not for this Noirvember, but maybe next year one. Scandinavian crime fiction is maybe one of the genre trend I have most neglected, so I intend to correct this. But if you have other suggestions, please let me know.

The Helicopter Heist (#Noirvember watch)

As it is #Noirvember, I try to read and watch a lot of crime fiction this month. I recently discovered on Netflix a miniseries called The Helicopter Heist. I am ealy in it, but so far I'm really enjoying it. Not only because it's a heist story with the use of an helicopter, which is in itself super cool(seriously, what a selling point). But because unlike many heist stories, this one is quite dark, with plenty of tension and violence. It is also set in Sweden, so it belongs to the Scandinavian Noir subgenre that I have seldom explored yet. Sweden is a great setting for a Noirvember story as well, come to think of it. The series is based on a novel by Jonas Bonnier, itself based on a true crime, which gives the story a veneer of authenticity. I might buy the novel one day, once I finish watching the series.

Helicopters and summertime

I don't know if it's because it is summertime, but recently I have become more aware of helicopters flying around, like big mosquitos in the sky. I mean we have them all year round, but they seem to fly more often during summer, or at least they are more visible in a clear blue sky. I blogged about it back in 2016, and probably before that as well. Be that as it may, I see them more. I like helicopters, they are the sort of flying engines I find the most exotic (for lack of a better word). I also have fond memories of helicopters flying above during summertime when I was a child. Anyway, next time I see one, I will try to take a few pictures, if it flies low enough.

The helicopter

Last weekend, we went to a fayre, or a "summerfest" as it was called. Among the many attractions there, they were offering helicopter rides. No, we didn't go (it was costly) but we saw the helicopter going back and forth every now and then. We saw it from very close, it was very impressive. Wolfie and I felt like in a Bond movie (although he has yet to see a full Bond movie). Now I tried time and again to take a good snapshot at it, but I failed miserably. There were often too many people, or I was at the wrong angle, or it flew away too fast. This is the best close(ish) shot I could get.

Trouvez l'hélicoptère

Lors d'une visite chez les beaux-parents, j'ai vu parun après-midi cet hélicoptère (je crois que c'est un Chinook) voler. Le voyez-vous? Je n'ai pas pu le prendre de manière satisfaisante en photo. Le voyez-vous? On dirait un moustique. Il avait l'air tellement plus impressionnant en vrai.

Helicopter flying...

Because we don't live very far from Heathrow and Sandhurst, at least as the crows flie, we often hear and see planes and helicopters flying by. We don't always see them very well, but sometimes they are at low altitude. Like this helicopter, which I saw yesterday. I think it was a military one, not a civilian. It sure looks like an army vehicle. Therefore, it came from or went to Sandhurst. That's the best shot I could take. If you know about them, tell me what type of helicopter it is. I'm curious.I never get bored with helicopters, not sure why but I love them.

"Air Patrol"

 You know Wolfie loves everything related to transport and all sorts of vehicles, fast or slow, whether they are used to travel on land, water and air. And thus, he also loves helicopters, which are featured in many of his make-belief games. Of course, he has a few toy helicopters. We even bought him a shirt in Next that has an army helicopter on it. He loves it. I don't know how genuine the information on the shirt is, I don't know enough about the military, but it looks pretty cool. In any case, it's a new source of inspiration for him every time he plays.

The Corps! Air Command

I found a new brand of toys thanks to my son's birthday: The Corps!. Okay, so the new website and the company is Lanard Toys, but anyway I know it as The Corps! because that is what's on the label. A military helicopter, a military motorcycle and a commando in one hell of a great packaging. It was a present from the family of Blonde Tickler, who actually chose itespecially for Wolfie. He loved it. So do I: it reminds me of my old GI Joe toys, especially the action figure, whose limbs are flexible like our old Joes. I suspect it was their inspiration for it. We will be very careful with it: I remember they have a short life expentancy and are prone to get maimed. Be that as it may, this toy sent me down to nostalgia lane again. As I always say, being the father of a little boyallows you to live a second childhood.

An helicopter in the evening

Two days ago in the evening, I heard the rather loud noise of rotors, well, rotating. When I lifted my eyes, I saw a huge helicopter, the same kind I had seen back in February. Maybe a Boeing Chinooks, but I am no expert so can't be certain. It was probably flying from or to Sandhurst. I tried my best to take a few snapshots. This is the best picture I managed to take of the machine. It looked far more impressive live.

Army Helicopters Sighting

Yesterday afternoon, just before finishing work, when it was still fairly light outside, I witnessed a very impressive sight: two huge army helicopters flying. I don't know for sure which kind of helicopters they were, I know zilch about army equipment and vehicles, but it was those huge machines with two rotors on top, maybe Boeing Chinooks. In any case, even though I'm not a militarist I was in awe just for the cheer size of these flying things, and Wolfie even more so. I wonder where they were heading to/from. Sandhurst perhaps? We don't line that far, but we seldom see army helicopters, and I have never massive ones like them. Anyway, it made my day.

Helicopter sighting

There is something that I have been noticing recently when we are out in the garden (which is fairly often as we've had nice weather): there has been quite a lot of helicopters flying above us recently. Airplanes too, but mainly helicopters, or at least they are more noticeable. Some are small and probably civilian ones, others are larger and seem to be army vehicles. Maybe it is a sign of summertime, maybe I just notice them more because the sky is clear and blue. Be that as it may, I have always been excited to see helicopters, now spotting them makes my day.

A police raid from the air?

This afternoon at work, we suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter flying low. We heard it getting closer and closer, then we saw it flying low again and again over the small business park where we are. It looked like a police helicopter, but we could not be certain. It would make sense if it was. To what purpose did it circle ominously above our heads, I have no idea. No siren was heard during or after, it was just this helicopter flying low and buzzing like a clunky metallic mosquito. I have to say, I found the whole thing quite exciting, if its dénouement or lack of was anticlimactic. This is the kind of stuff I read about in crime news. I know that police helicopters can be used for surveillance exercises, but they can also be prominent in major raids, drug busts and anti-terrorist operations, things like that. This is creative material for crime fiction. So I will try to remember this little episode for future use.

A helicopter in the night

I heard it, but did not see it this evening, around 8:00. The sound of the rotor of a helicopter, flying at low altitude. It was somewhat menacing and ominous, as such sound often is. I wonder why there was one flying low around here. We were once woken up by one in the middle of the night, a couple of years. Turned up it was the police looking for burglars on the run. Maybe this is the case for the one tonight as there has been burglaries around here recently. Maybe I am just a bit paranoid and have a vivid imagination. All the same, it was quite dramatic.

Helicopters (a sign of summertime)

The weather may not be really summery these days, but there is a sign that summer is most definitely here: we hear the hums of helicopters flying over here very often these days. Yesterday we had a whole lot of them. I know correlation is not causation, but all the same, I am more aware of helicopters when summer is here. I am not alone: my wife told me yesterday that she had heard them far more recently. I suspect they fly up more often around this time of year. I blogged about helicopters and why I identify them with summertime in 2014. If it is a confirmation bias, I stand by it. But I wonder if my readers hear them and see them more in summertime.

Concert nocturne d'hélicoptères

Après le concert de motos dimanche dernier, nous avons eu droit hier soir, après minuit, à un concert d'hélicoptères. Il passe souvent des avions par ici car nous sommes  relativement près d'Heathrow. Il passe aussi des hélicoptères, d'habitude de jour. Parfois de soir aussi. Mais au beau milieu de la nuit, c'est aussi rare qu'incongru. Outre que ça a gâché un sommeil aussi fragile que léger (je suis insomniaque). J'ai donc apprécié encore moins que les motos. Et je me demande bien ce que les hélicoptères faisaient la nuit dernière.

The solo of the helicopter

I witnessed another sign of summertime today: the flight and sound of many airplanes and one helicopter. They fly all year round of course, but they seem more... audible and visible during the summer season. I am not sure why, maybe it is because the windows are open all the time. I hear them more anyway. But the helicopter is the one I identify most with summertime. They look like metallic mosquitoes in the sky, big or small, and their steady, monotonous buzz always make me think of the summer afternoon by the swimming pool of my childhood. Chicoutimi was near a military airbase, there were plenty of them flying around. Helicopters are for me the one of the symbols of modernity, the machines used by badguys in James Bond and other action movies. I think about it every time I hear one.