Good Stuff! Extinct, RadioWest, and Ruca’s

ByJohn Brown

I’ve been looking forward to watching Extinct, a brand-new TV series. I watched the pilot with my wife and teenage daughter, and we enjoyed it. I watched the next episode, and then a few days later couldn’t help but binge-watch three more. And I’m happy to report it’s full of good stuff and interesting stories.

First of all, it starts with a killer concept. Aliens invade earth and wipe us out, but that’s been done to death. This story doesn’t start there. This story is set four hundred years in the future after the extinction of the human race, when a small group of humans is revived by an alien civilization.

But this isn’t Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner, Battlestar Glactica or anything like that. It feels more like the TV series Lost or The Maze Runner. The heroes are three humans who have been brought back and are trying to figure out what’s happening and how to survive in a place that’s low tech and is the home to a dangerous band of other humans that were also brought back. They’re dangerous, by the way, because they have been taken over by spores that latch other their nervous system and use their bodies as a host.

This series transports you to a world of cool tech and alien stuff like the sparks that regenerate the humans in pools of water, two interesting drones, and alien ruins and glyphs. But the best part about this isn’t the spectacle of the technology. It’s the stories. There’s suspense and action, but also mystery and a lot of stuff that’s human and warm and, surprisingly enough, thought-provoking.

We try to hold a family night once a week to have fun together and discuss important topics. And I can see us easily watching one of these episodes and finding ourselves in a deep discussion about free will, or the creation, or whether Duncan, one of the skin riders, looks like someone right out of The Hobbit.

I liked episodes one and two, but it was episode three that kicked it into high gear for me. If you liked Lost or The Maze Runner or the series Once Upon a Time, I think you’ll really enjoy this. Right now you can stream the first eight episodes for free from byutv.org/extinct or extinct.tv.

EDIT: I just finished episode 8. I really like this series.

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Do you like listening to interesting ideas? If so, you will love tuning into RadioWest. It’s a daily program from KUER in Salt Lake City that features hour-long interviews of folks who are experts on some of the most interesting things or have an interesting story to tell.

Doug Fabrizio is the host and has to be the best interviewer on the planet. I love his voice, but it’s his skill in drawing out the fascinating meat of the topic from his guests is what sets him apart. And unlike some interviewers who don’t even read the books they’re talking about, you can see that Fabrizio has done his homework. He’s really thought about what they have to say.

For example, just this last week, I got to listen to compelling interviews of (1) Tom Christofferson, the gay brother of Elder Todd Christofferson, a Mormon apostle, (2) Ben Shapiro, an orthodox Jew who is an up and coming voice on the Right and was recently protested at Berkeley and the University of Utah, and (3) science writer Ben Mezrich who has written a book about the scientists and researchers who are trying to bring back the wooly mammoth.

Week after week, Fabrizio brings amazing people and ideas into my car and home. You can listen to his interviews every morning at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the radio at FM 90.1 (Salt Lake Area), FM 90.5 (Logan and Bear Lake), and FM 88.3 (Randolph and Woodruff). Or you can listen live online at radiowest.kuer.org, which is also where they keep all the recordings so you can catch up on any you miss.

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New restaurants come and go all the time in Garden City, Utah. Most of them don’t last more than a few seasons. Often this is because they charge lots of money for food that’s really not worth it. So it’s with great delight that I tell you about Ruca’s, a little spot on the block between the city park and Bear Lake Pizza on the main drag.

Not only are the prices reasonable, but the food is delicious. They have sandwiches and other stuff, but we have gone back multiple times for their ebleskivers (AY-bill SKEE-vurs). These are Danish pancakes in the shape of a ball that can be filled with all sorts of stuff. My wife and daughter love the ones filled with peaches and the others filled with Nutella and strawberries. I like the savory ones filled with bacon and cheese with eggs on top.

They’re going to be closing up for the winter, so if you want some great food for a great price, get over there now and enjoy a new delight.

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  • Witchbreaker by Author James Maxey

    ByJohn Brown

    I’m supposed to do this tag thing where one author tells about his or her latest project and then tags other authors to tell about theirs and so on and so on until we turn into some weird internet author borg and eat your brains out. 

    Heck with that.

    I want to simply share something cool with you instead. James Maxey (who tagged me in the borg fest) writes stories with lots of action, fun, and character that also make you think. They always start with a bang and never let up. For example, look at how GREATSHADOW, his last book, starts.

    When Infidel grabbed me by the seat of my pants and charged toward the window, I didn’t protest. Partly this was due to the speed of her action, but mostly due to my inebriation from the sacramental wine we’d stolen.

    If an opening like that isn’t going to make you want to read more, I don’t know what will. Especially when the wine was stolen from a lava-pygmy temple carved into the sheer cliff face of a volcano.  I’m not alone in my appreciation of Maxey’s writing. Orson Card wrote this glowing review of GREATSHADOW earlier this year.

    Here is the opening to Maxey’s “To The East, A Bright Star” which was published in Asimov’s.  It has one of my favorite beginnings.

    There was a shark in the kitchen. The shark wasn’t huge, maybe four feet long, gliding across the linoleum toward the refrigerator. Tony stood motionless in the knee-deep water of the dining room. The Wolfman said that the only sharks that came in this far were bull sharks, which were highly aggressive. Tony leaned forward cautiously and shut the door to the kitchen. He’d known the exact time and date of his death for most of his adult life. With only hours to go, he wasn’t about to let the shark do something ironic.  

    Which brings us to the fact that Maxey has another book out called WITCHBREAKER. That’s such a cool title I wish I could off Maxey and steal it for myself. The book has, as you have seen to the right, a fabulous cover as well. About 5000% better than the horrid thing Solaris put on GREATSHADOW.

    Maxey talks about what inspired WITCHBREAKER in this blog post, which I recommend you read in full. But just in case you’re a lazy son-of-a-gun like me, here’s the meat of the thing. WITCHBREAKER is about a woman named Sorrow. Says Maxey:

    Her father was a judge who hung his own mother after she was accused of being a witch. Sorrow rebelled by becoming a witch herself, but her hatred isn’t directed directly at her father, it’s directed at the religious and political institutions that empowered him. So, Sorrow’s life mission is to overthrow that system. She’s one woman against the world, fighting to make it a better place even though everyone she meets keeps insisting that the world isn’t so bad. I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for characters locked into a lifelong battle against forces more powerful than they will ever be.

    Blast that dang Maxey and his character genius. I’m not envious at all. No, sir. Which is why I suggest you give Maxey a go. Maybe you’ll appreciate him as much as thousands of other readers do. Read the first few pages of WITCHBREAKER here with Amazon’s look inside.

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  • Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Rumbi Island Grill

    ByJohn Brown

    Toy Story 3

    It’s interesting that two of the most enjoyable films this year are both animated. The first is Toy Story 3. We all know how awful sequels can be, and, in fact, I didn’t like Toy Story 2 all that much. But Pixar defied the sequel slump with this one.

    Andy has grown up and is going to college. From a toy’s point of view, that’s tantamount to death because Andy has to clean out his room, and what is he going to do with all that junk anyway? The last few remaining toys barely miss the garbage truck and get sent, by accident, to the local day care instead. Sounds great for a toy, right? They’ll get played with every day forever. But things are not as they seem at the day care, and our crew of toys is put on the fast track to an early death. Will they be able to escape when the other toys there are ruled mob-style by a big pink teddy bear that smells of strawberries?

    I laughed and cried and cheered in this movie. There are hilarious scenes featuring Barbie and a Ken who’s gone over to the dark side. More gut busters with Buzz Lightyear when he’s put into Spanish mode and Mr. Potato Head who has powers we never would have suspected.

    But the movie goes beyond toys and action. It’s not just a cartoon. It’s about loyalty and friendship and heroics and love and family. Because my oldest will be leaving the nest next year, the final scenes carried extra power for me. But I think they will be effective for almost anyone because Pixar does in this movie what all great art does—it reaches into themes we all share. And in that moment, we identify so strongly with the characters that their situation becomes our own.

    How to Train Your Dragon

    Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon, based on the novel by Cressida Cowell, is the movie I should have seen for my birthday. Instead, we went to the mind-numbing Clash of Titans. I still cringe at some of the massive plot holes in that one, even though Medusa rocked. Which only proves, once again, that cool effects can’t save a bad story. How to Train Your Dragon, on the other hand, delivers cool monsters, but never once did the writers make the mistake of thinking that cool monsters is what the story was about.

    The movie is about a young Viking named Hiccup who wants to be accepted, wants to become one of the burly defenders of his city, like his dad, Stoik the Vast. But Hiccup isn’t brawny. However, he is resourceful. And during a dragon attack, he brings down a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention. However, when he finds the dragon, he can’t bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon begin a friendship. But will Hiccup be able to save the dragon that everyone wants to kill? Will the Vikings be able to see the truth about the dragons before they’re destroyed? Most importantly, will Stoik be able to accept his son?

    I enjoyed the superb animation in this story as well as the dragons. But it was the characters and humor that made this movie so good. There’s Stoik who just can’t relate to his son, but tries to bond with a very interesting use of his dead wife’s brassier, Hiccup, the son, with his dry wit, and Gobber, a peg-leg family friend who has some of the best lines in the movie.

    Go see this show. You’ll laugh, and then you’ll wish you had a dragon of your own.

    Rumbi Island Grill

    The Rumbi Island Grill is a restaurant chain that started in Salt Lake City in 2000. They serve fast, casual tropical food at incredibly good prices. My favorite is their rice bowl. It comes with your choice of sauce, rice, and meat with sautéed vegetables. In the Netherlands I learned to love Indonesian food and the spicy-sweet peanut sauce that often accompanied it, which is why I can’t get enough of the Bali Island bowl with brown rice and shrimp. You might find you love the sauce so much you ask for two servings to pour over your bowl (oh, and add a dash of the hot sauce). The food’s great, but they’ve paid attention to the Hawaiian atmosphere as well. So even though it’s fast food (you order and they bring it out to you), you feel like you’re sitting in a casual dining restaurant.

    I always look for a Rumbi when I travel down to Salt Lake City or Provo. Now I don’t have to go so far–a restaurant has opened up in Logan right across from the Wal-Mart on the south end of town! I took Nellie there recently. The staff was friendly and the food was delicious–just what I’d come to expect.

    Now all we need is a Cheesecake Factory!

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  • The Profiler, Almond Milk, and Uncle Sam

    ByJohn Brown

    Real crime 

    It’s 1990. You’re a housewife, homeschooling your children, and renting a room upstairs to a young man to make ends meet. There are a few odd things about the young man, but you overlook them. Then one day a woman is strangled on a jogging path near your home, and your first thought is that the young man living in your house has something to do with it.

    What do you do?

    Pat Brown found herself in this exact situation. She voiced her suspicions to her husband, but it was all too farfetched. However, the nagging thought wouldn’t let her go, and she soon uncovered evidence that made the young man a strong suspect.

    She took the evidence to the police, but they dismissed her as a bored housewife with an overactive imagination. She evicted the young man, but it would be six years before the authorities would finally bring him in for questioning.

    Dismayed and frustrated, Brown started down a path that would lead to her become a professional criminal profiler, assisting police departments and victims’ families by analyzing both physical and behavioral evidence to make the most scientific determination possible about who committed a crime.

    In The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths Brown tells about what happened with that young man and her journey to becoming a profiler, then she opens a number of other cases she’s worked on, giving the reader a behind-the-scenes look at how profilers work, and how their methods bring new investigative avenues to light. She also brings home very clearly just how many murders go unsolved. It’s an absolutely fascinating read.

    Milk that doesn’t moo

    I used to think soy milk was either for the lactose intolerant or hippies. And so I always avoided that milk section of the grocery store. But, having embarked on a new way of eating that I’ll explain in another column, I was induced to approach the alternative milk shelves. I purchased a carton of soy milk, but then I saw cartons of something even more strange: almond milk.

    Puzzling. I knew, of course, that almonds did not have udders. So nobody was out there hooking them up to tiny milking machines. And they were nuts, so it’s not like you can squeeze them to make them release their tasty juices. Instead, I learned that almond milk is made by finely grinding almonds together with water. I thought this was something new, invented perhaps by a Californian who’d had too much weed, but it appears many Medieval European recipes called for almond milk, and it has always been a popular beverage in the Middle East. So almond milk has been around for some time.

    But I didn’t know any of this. I just knew I loved almonds and that they provide all sorts of goodies for the human body. Besides, I have a hard time resisting adventures. So along with the soy, I picked up a carton of Silk’s PureAlmond regular, vanilla, and chocolate milk.

    The soy was okay, but it left a weird zingy taste in my mouth. Furthermore, soy contains estrogen. I’m sure it’s a fine product, but I live with four daughters and don’t need any more estrogen. And I certainly don’t need it mutating me in any, um, feminine ways. So I put the soy aside and gave the almond milk a go.

    It was delicious. I love the vanilla and regular flavors the best. In fact, I like it so much I only drink cow’s milk when the last drop of almond milk is gone, and I try to make sure that never happens. Some might worry that I’ll deplete my calcium stores, but not so. Almond milk actually has MORE calcium than cow’s milk along with vitamin D that allows the body to absorb the mineral. It also has 50% of the RDA of vitamin E, of which cow’s milk has none. But that’s all technical vitaminy stuff. It wouldn’t matter if the milk itself didn’t taste so dang good.

    The American breakfast

    I love cereal. We have our standard favorites as a family, but I also like to get a box of something new when we shop. I recently saw, perched up on the top shelf at Wal-Mart, boxes of  Uncle Sam.

    What the heck? Was this a Tea Party product? I know Utah is conservative, but come on. And what kind of nut sings “The Stars and Stripes” for breakfast?

    Well, I might.

    So I promptly snagged a box and read that it’s been around since 1908, thus making it politically neutral. Then I read the ingredients. It’s a simple cereal made of wheat berries that are steamed, rolled, and toasted to provide killer whole grain nutrition. Those wheat flakes are then mixed with flax seeds (omega 3’s anyone?). That’s it.

    I purchased a box, felt patriotic, and then gave it a try when we got home. I’ve been buying it regularly ever since. It’s slammed with 10 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein, and goes great with Silk’s vanilla almond milk and a piece of fruit.

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  • Sherlock Holmes, Mission Impossible, The Art of Shaving, Wages

    ByJohn Brown

    Sherlock Holmes & Mission Impossible

    I have been looking forward to two movies this holiday season. One of them was as good as I’d hoped it would be. The other disappointed me because the story tellers forgot to make things clear. The two movies were Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

    I loved the first Sherlock Holmes movie—the story was intriguing and plotted well, the atmosphere and music were amazing, and the characters and relationships were even better. In fact, the movie presented some of the most delightful characters I’ve enjoyed over the last few years. So it was a no-brainer to plan in a date to see this new episode.

    Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows provided the same great atmosphere and music as I enjoyed before. Holmes and Watson were as wonderful as they’d ever been. The film introduced a wonderful new character: Madam Simza Heron, a gutsy gypsy who you can’t help but want to know better. And it brought on Professor James Moriarty, the uber-villian. There was plenty of the wit that we enjoyed in the first one. It had all the elements to work.

    However, the film fell down in its plotting. There were many times when I had no idea why the characters were doing what they were doing or how it fit into the overall threat. At other times, it appeared Sherlock could have taken out the villain but didn’t only because it would have ruined the plot.

    The film makers also decided to kill off one of the characters, and therefore relationships, that had provided so much satisfaction in the first movie. And they did it without much fanfare. Who thinks it’s a good idea to kill off beloved characters like that? If you’re going to kill someone we love, you’d better make it meaningful and the core of the film. Alas, they didn’t.

    In fact, it felt like there was too much stuffed into this film. Cool ideas that couldn’t be explored or have much impact including facial surgery for spies, a lost brother, European politics, resistance fighters, a henchman we hardly see. The wonderful Madam Simza Heron didn’t play the pivotal role she could have. So unlike Irene Adler in the first movie who becomes central to the story, she’s more of a bit of the setting.

    If you loved the first film, you’ll have to see this. There’s a lot of good. But you must go knowing it’s a grade lower than the first film.

    Now, I stopped liking the Mission Impossible movies about thirty minutes into the second in the series. But the previews for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol intrigued me. I like Tom Cruise as an actor. And so we decided to give it a try.

    Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol didn’t provide the atmosphere or super-delightful characters and relationships of Sherlock Holmes. But that’s not to say its characters were tepid. On the contrary, the cast was great with a lot of funny interplay. Furthermore, unlike some action films where everything seems to work for the hero, a lot of things go wrong for Tom Cruise’s character. These problems and his reactions are part of what make the movie.

    The story also provided plenty of “action” but did it in a new way. This is the first time, for example, I’ve seen a car chase in a sandstorm. And it was a fab chase. It’s also the first time I’ve seen a final battle in an automated parking lot. The director and writers did a good job choosing new twists on common action elements.

    But a story needs more than characters and new sights—the plot has to make sense. Especially when the plot takes center stage, which it does in action movies. And I’m happy to say that I never once wondered why our characters were doing something or how it affected the main threat. Furthermore, every one of the characters made a difference. The result was that I thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish. I can’t wait to watch it again. If you like action films, I think you’ll enjoy Ghost Protocol.

    The Art of the Shaving

    When I was on a mission in the Netherlands I was an idiot and did not take care of my face in the winter. I’d hop onto the bicycle with the temperature hovering around zero degrees (not counting the wind chill) and bike out with Fearless Companion to an area to meet with people or knock on doors. And I’d do it with hardly a thing covering my face and ears. As a result, I damaged my skin.

    So now when I’m exposed to cold, my face flushes and stays that way for some time even when I’m in a warm house. I can’t wear cologne. And I’ve had a love/hate relationship with shaving. I can’t stand the prickle of a beard and so love to shave, but I hate the fact that when I shave, my face turns the color of a tomato for four to six hours. And this is when I use shaving cream specifically formulated for “sensitive skin.”

    But then I walked into The Art of Shaving store in Fashion Place Mall and learned that those shaving creams designed for sensitive skins weren’t super gentle. They just numbed the skin so you didn’t feel the shave. The folks at The Art of Shaving suggested, of course, I use their product.

    I bought a kit (I’m a sucker for good sales pitches even when I know I’m being suckered) which included: a badger hair brush (they say it is optional, but I love mine and wouldn’t do this without it), pre-shave oil, shaving cream, and after-shave balm. They had five types to choose from: unscented, lemon, sandalwood, ocean kelp, and lavender. I selected the lavender because it was formulated for sensitive skin. At first I was worried about being overpowered with the smell, but was pleasantly surprised to find the scent as light as a feather. I didn’t need a new razor; they said my Mach3 was just fine.

    I came home with my bag expecting a huge dose of buyer’s remorse. Except after my first shave with their product, my face didn’t flush. Could this really be a product that worked? I wasn’t willing to make that conclusion at the time. But now, after about a month of shaving, I can honestly say that this is the best shave I’ve had in years. My face doesn’t flush. The after-shave balm does what a balm is supposed to do–soothe. There’s no alcohol burn. In fact, I use the after-shave balm on non-shave days. If your skin hates shaving, let me suggest you visit theartofshaving.com and order some product or go to one of their stores. I think you’ll also become a fan. 

    Info for Choosing a Career

    There are many things I wished I’d done differently when choosing a career. I wish I’d broadened my horizon on the horde of different careers possible. I wish I’d really looked at what the various careers earned on average. Luckily for those looking to select a new career today, Utah’s Department of Workforce Services compiles data on more than 700 occupational wages and shows you the average and median annual wage as well as the average for inexperienced folks in that occupation.

    Not only does looking through the list help you see options you might not have considered, it also helps you get a realistic expectation for what you might earn in that profession. Now, the list, although large, doesn’t show every possible occupation (FBI agent, Marine) or every permutation of the occupations shown. For example, there’s one line for accountants and auditors, but there are tax accountants, fraud accountants, security accountants, auditing accountants, etc. Nevertheless, this is an excellent list to begin a search.

    To get the list, go to this state website: http://jobs.utah.gov/jsp/wi/utalmis/default.do. Click on “Utah Occupational Wages.” That will open a page with a map of Utah. Click on the link on the right “Utah Occupational Wages” to get the Excel spreadsheet of all 700+ occupations listed.

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  • Good Stuff! Saving Mr. Banks, Elementary, Captain Phillips, & Lone Survivor

    ByJohn Brown

    Saving Mr BanksOver the last two months I’ve been able to squeeze in a couple of hours to watch a few shows and some episodes of a TV series. I was plesantly surprised to have actually had a wonderfully good run. If you haven’t watched any of these, you’re in for some awesome entertainment.


    Saving Mr. Banks

    I didn’t think I’d like this movie. I enjoyed Mary Poppins as a child and enjoyed it again with my kids. But a movie on Disney getting the rights to make a movie? Boring. Except I was completely wrong. This is not a story about some woman selling the rights to her story. It’s about why she never wanted to sell the rights to Disney in the first place. It’s about her childhood and the real source of Mary Poppins. And to pull that off Saving Mr. Banks has to tell two stories: an often funny one about P.L. Travers who does not want to license her story and Disney’s final attempt to win her over, and a poignant one that reveals why Travers was so resistant. And it leaves the last twist, one that expands the meaning of the title in the viewer’s heart, to the very end. I loved this movie. I loved Hanks as the affable Disney and Thompson as the irascible Ms. Travers. Loved all of the other characters. If you enjoyed dramas like Miss Potter or The Blind Side, you’ll love this too.


    ElementaryElementary

    I thought: another Sherlock Holmes series? Puh-lease. Yes, the two films featuring Robert Downing Jr. and Jude Law and the BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were superb. I loved both. But another Sherlock? Surely this is going to be some cheap attempt to capitalize on the success of the other two, something that is direct-to-DVD quality. Who is going to do it as well as Downing and Cumberbatch?

    Boy, was I wrong (yet again!)

    Elementary is delightful. Sherlock, played by the talented Johnny Lee Miller who made Eli Stone such a joy, is a modern day Brit living in New York. He’s in the final stages of drug rehab, living with a “sober companion.” The companion is Joan Watson, played by Lucy Lui. The Captain of the NYPD is one of Sherlock’s old friends an appeciates his skills and so brings him in as a consultant on various cases.

    So how could they do anything different? Yes, you have the quick powers of observation and intellectual acrobatics the other Sherlocks have. But the female Watson and the whole recovering addict angle takes the stories in a new direction. This Sherlock has a past that haunts him. And this Watson is maybe a bit quicker than the other two, as wonderful as they are.

    I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it, but there is room for three Sherlocks and Watsons. I can’t tell you which of the three pairs I enjoy more.

    Captain_Phillips_PosterCaptain Phillips

    As soon as the news stories about Somali pirates started breaking back in 2008 I knew it would lead to some thrillers. Heck, Abdul Hassan, “The One Who Never Sleeps” was one of the first zings I posted on this site. What I didn’t know was that the big thriller would be based on an actual story: the 2009 hijacking of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years. Phillips is played by Tom Hanks, who always gives a great performance. But I also found the portrayal of the pirates interesting as well. As I did the many unexpected details of how these pirates operate and how the incident was brought to a close. If you like realistic thrillers, you’ll enjoy Captain Phillips.

    Lone Survivor

    I reviewed the book Lone Survior back in 2011. You can read my full report there, but the bottom line is that it was an awesome read. However, as with all awesome reads, you become a bit wary of the films based on those books. I’m happy to say the filmmakers did a great job on this one. They paid huge attention to detail because they wanted to honor the fallen soldiers by getting it right.

    Lone_Survivor_posterIn order to get it right, they brought Marcus Luttrel, the author, and a number of other SEALs onto the project as consultants. The SEALs put the actors through some basic training before they even began shooting. This was to not only help the actors get to the point where they handle their weapons and gear as someone seasoned might, but also so they could feel what is was to work as a team, an important part of being a SEAL. The SEALs stayed on to provide input as well during the shooting.

    But the details went beyond that. I have never seen a military film that felt as real to me, especially when it came to the characters. SEALs are warriors. But that doesn’t capture the variety they come in. And in the opening 25% of the movie we see sides to these men that many movies do not portray. It was so refreshing! In fact, without the groundwork laid in the beginning, this film wouldn’t have had near the impact it did. Yeah, the action is ACTION! It’s thrilling. You have never seen some of the shots the film portrays. But the action means nothing without the men.

    And this story is about the men.

    It’s about what it means to be one of those guys and gals who put their lives on the line for the rest of us. And if you want a special treat, when the film is over, you’ll watch all the extras.

    The f-word is used about five million times in this movie. I usually don’t like a lot of vulgarity in my entertainment. But I cut the folks some slack in this case because I felt the story was worth it. Besides, I didn’t consider it entertainment anyway, more documentary.

    If you are interested in what it’s like for Special Operations forces, if you want a story to help you see what so many are doing for the rest of us, I don’t know that it gets any better than this.

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  • Sing-Off, Reliable Contractors, Cruise & Valkyrie

    ByJohn Brown

    The Best Vocal Show Currently Running

    We are now two weeks into the third season of NBC’s The Sing-Off, and it’s going to be just as good as last year’s or better.  It airs for the next few weeks on Mondays from 7-9 p.m. Mountain. But you can catch the performances on the site http://www.nbc.com/sing-off/ if you miss them.

    According to the site, “The show scours the country in search of the best a cappella groups, ranging in various sizes and ages. This year, the competition has expanded to the 16 very best groups, who will perform popular songs in weekly competitions, which will culminate with a live finale revealing the grand-prize winner. The groups will be competing for America’s vote and a chance to walk away with the ultimate prize – a Sony Music recording contract and $200,000.”

    There are a lot of great groups this year, including Vocal Point from BYU and the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets, who both nailed their second songs this week–“The Way You Look Tonight” by Fred Astaire and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli. These guys were sooooo good. Delilah, an all-girl group, wowed with their week one performance of “Grenade” by Bruno Marks. A number of the other 16 groups are spectacular, but there’s not enough time to list all the wonderful performances.

    This is the best vocal show on TV right now. The judges and host, who are all successful singers themselves, give interesting feedback, even if they sprinkle it with too many mild expletives for my taste. Tune in and enjoy.

    3 Reliable Men

    For almost a year now I’ve been trying to find somebody, ANYBODY, to come and fix some issues with my house. We had a leak in the roof, a leak through a window, and an exterior French door that was never hung right and gaped open at the top, especially when we had a strong north wind blowing at us in the winter. Lovely Wife had to take to stuffing the gap with a towel.

    So I called a number of local construction guys. I called folks in Evanston, Wyoming and Logan, Utah, and it boggled my mind how many promised to drop by but never showed up, or came by but never followed through. I was happy to pay good money. But contractor after contractor after contractor shined me.

    Then I ran onto three guys who made promises they could keep, showed up, followed through, did an excellent job, and did it quickly.

    Ryan Hoth of Hoth Boys Construction in Logan, UT, recommended to me by Burton Lumber in Logan, does framing, concrete, and general contracting. Ryan personally fixed the troublesome French door with a very creative and simple solution that I wouldn’t have come up with in a million years. Hoth’s number is 435-994-0169.

    Todd Bohman of Valley Trades in Logan, UT, which does siding and windows, came up and assessed, then sent one of his crew to fix our window/siding issue. The crewman not only worked expertly and quickly, but he fixed a piece of siding another contractor had broken without being prompted. Bohman’s number is 435-752-7642.

    Keith Homer of Homer Roofing in Logan, UT, not only assessed our issue, but steered us towards a fix that cut the amount of money we would have to pay him. He gave up revenue we were willing to pay because it was the right thing to do. Homer’s number is 435-787-0910.

    If I ever need any construction, siding, window, or roofing services, you can be sure I’ll be calling these guys first. 

    Valkyrie

    I love a number of movies Tom Cruise stars in. The stories are usually strong, and Cruise is a great actor. Nellie and I recently watched and enjoyed Knight and Day, a hilarious romantic action comedy with Cameron Diaz. We enjoyed him in Collateral, a thriller where a cab driver gets shanghaied to drive for a contract killer, and fights to save himself and the last victim. I loved him in Minority Report, Last Samurai, and Far & Away. In Valkyrie, Cruise stars as Claus von Stauffenberg, a colonel in the German army who attempts to assassinate Hitler.

    The movie is based on a true story, and dramatizes just one of many attempts those who disagreed with Hitler made to remove the despot from power. It shows just how close they came. The story is full of suspense and, ultimately, heartache.

    This is a movie to make you think. It’s also a great introduction to the history of WW2 Germany that’s often missed. According to a number of top WW2 historians, the film is accurate.

    If you’re in the mood for a suspenseful serious film, I think you’ll love this one. And when you’re done, you’ll ponder on the meaning of courage.

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