Steven Helmer Publications

I had to take my car in to the dealer at lunch today to fix a recall on it and wasn't able to take my walk as a result. So, instead, I'm just sharing a few random photos I've taken over the course of the past few days.

Synopsis: In his youth, Simeon Lee traveled the world and made his fortune mining diamonds but was cruel to his wife and alienated all but one of his sons. Now elderly, widowed and an invalid, Lee invites his sons and long-lost granddaughter to his home for Christmas. But, instead of inviting them to make amends, he uses the opportunity to once again show his cruel side by hinting at changes to his will and pitting them against each other. When he is brutally murdered later that same evening, detective Hercule Poirot is called in to assist. Was the murder related to a bag of uncut diamonds Lee reported stolen? Did a member of his family finally snap? Or, was it Stephen Farr, the son of his former business partner who happened to show up at the house unexpected? Review: I was a bit hesitant to check this book out from our local library because, at first glance, I thought it was going to be a Christmas-themed book and it is only July. However, I'm trying to read the Hercule ...

It had been a long while since my wife and I made a trip to our local Aldi store (we like Aldi, but it's hard to justify going there on a regular basis when we have two grocery stores within a few blocks of us). But, they recently completed some new renovations so we decided to check them out this past weekend. To be honest, the renovations didn't really excite us all that much. The aisles were wider but their grocery selection seemed a bit thinned down (or, at very least, it was more difficult to find items we were interested in buying). As a result, we didn't buy nearly as much as we were expecting to purchase. However, while we were walking through the store's freezer section, I saw these dinners and, since the $4.99 price seemed reasonable, decided to purchase a couple of them. My primary reason for this purchase was my wife and I have some week nights when things are really hectic and we don't get an opportunity to sit down and eat dinner together until ...

I'm having zero luck with my green beans this year. I have plenty of vines but they haven't even flowered yet and it's almost August. My black beans, however, are doing pretty well. I opened up one of the pods last night and they look like they are just about ready to be harvested. This is my first year growing them so I'm having to Google the instructions about when to harvest, how to dry them, etc. But, it looks like I will have enough for at least a couple dishes. I might have to plant them in a larger quantity next year. On another note, I think my zucchini plants are just about done. I picked quite a few off of them this summer but the sun is starting to shift a bit, causing more shade in the back yard and the plants are looking like they are about to die as a result. Good thing I still have a fridge full of them. I should also be able to get some spaghetti squash before those vines die on me.

before Hollywood and our government changed it into a movie about ballerinas? At least that's what my dream last night revealed to me (though I'm a bit fuzzy about some of the details now that I'm awake). In hindsight I probably shouldn't have trusted Homer Simpson to deliver the original film to Canada, where we intended to show it. Sometimes I wonder if Sigmund Freud would have quit psychiatry if he had me as a patient.

Synopsis: Vacationing Hercule Poirot overhears a pair of siblings as they discuss murdering their tyrannical stepmother, Mrs. Boynton. When the woman is found dead of apparent natural causes, Poirot vows to prove she was murdered and find the killer in only 24 hours. Review: After my disappointment with Agatha Christie's short story collection Murder in the Mews, I was anxious to get back to another Hercule Poirot novel and wound up purchasing this book (via Kindle) from Amazon. I was able to get through a good chunk of the book while at the skating rink last week and finished it this weekend. Overall, I have to say I enjoyed it. The thing that really impressed me about this book was the way just about everyone traveling with Mrs. Boynton had motive for murder, especially her own family members, who were kept under her thumb. Between the step children and the various outsiders who seemed to have their own reasons for wanting the woman dead, it wasn't nearly as clear cu...

I haven't been taking my camera with me when I go on my morning walks and, instead, concentrate on picking up aluminum cans along the shoreline. However, I do still have my camera in my car and, when I saw a pod of pelicans, I was quick to grab it and managed to get some photos of them as well as a couple others.

Synopsis: When his daughter, Mavis, insists on a family vacation, Dracula reluctantly agrees but becomes even less enthused when he learns it is on a cruise ship (which he believes isn't any different than their hotel). He quickly warms up to the idea, however, when he sees the ship's captain, Ericka, and falls in love. There's just one problem, Ericka is the great granddaughter of monster hunter Abraham Van Helsing and is determined (at the insistence of the still-alive ancestor) to carry out her family's legacy and kill Dracula. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Adam Sandler , Kevin James , Selena Gomez , Kathryn Hahn and Jim Gaffigan . Review: Even though I love movies, I very rarely spend the money to see them at the theater. One of the few exceptions to that is, every July, we take the girls as part of their birthday celebration. My youngest daughter said she wanted to see this movie and I figured her older sister would be OK with th...

The EAA air show is happening in Oshkosh soon and, since we are a little south of there, we usually see some of the planes as they head up. Today, we heard a ruckus outside and got out there in time to watch hundreds of planes as they flew over our neighborhood. It was pretty cool to watch. I, of course, forgot to take my camera with me at first. But, I did run back in and grab it in time to get a few photos.

There is a lot of great food to choose from but, instead of leftover turkey, you are trying to figure out how to use all that zucchini.

Synopsis: Emily Valentine decides to take a leave of absence from work and spend more time at home with her husband and daughter. When a single mom, Tamara, moves in next door with her two sons, she thinks there's something "off" about the new family, especially when she notices bruises on both of the boys and her daughter is pushed and breaks her arm during a playdate with the youngest of the two boys. Despite her husband believing she is just bored and missing work, she begins digging deeper and puts her family in danger. Who's in it? The movie stars Marguerite Moreau , Richard Ruccolo , Abby Brammell , Natalie Alyn Lind , Julien Dean Lacroix and Aidan Potter . Review: My wife and I finally had a night free of skating/dance and other parental commitments and, since I'm putting off mowing the lawn until this weekend, we had time to make grilled zucchini pizzas and watch a movie together. I recently added a few movies to my Netflix list. When choosin...

I haven't had much of a chance to post photos the past couple of days so I'm just cleaning off my camera and posting some I took on my various walks.

My zucchini plants are really starting to take over the garden and my refrigerator crisper drawer was already filled so my wife and I decided to experiment last night with grilled zucchini pizzas, using a recipe I found here . I wasn't really sure what to expect from these. But, they did turn out to be surprisingly good. The butter/garlic that is spread on the zucchini while it is grilling adds a nice complementary taste to the pizza sauce and we were able to make them even more pizza-like by adding a slice of pepperoni to each of them. They also proved to be very filling. I wasn't sure if we made enough (we sliced up two medium-sized zucchini). But, there was enough leftover for me to bring some to work with me for lunch (I'm sure it won't be as good warmed up though). Here are some suggestions when making these: 1. Don't go by the cook times in the recipe because thicker slices take longer to cook than thinner slices. You'll want to wing it when ma...

My daughter's skating club came up with this idea (well, actually, they may have borrowed it). Members were asked to bring any extra garden vegetables they wanted to get rid of and they set up a veggie exchange table at the ice rink last night. It was a surprising success with people bringing everything from zucchini to garlic to share.

Synopsis: A 21-year-old journalist begins to experience everything from numbness and seizures to hallucinations. When various medical tests come back negative, her doctors believe her issues are psychological and want to send her to a psychiatric hospital. Her divorced parents and boyfriend, however, aren't convinced and continue to fight for more tests. Who's in it? The movie stars Chloe Grace Moretz , Jenny Slate , Thomas Mann , Carrie-Anne Moss , Richard Armitage and Tyler Perry . Review: I came across this movie on Netflix a few days ago and, while it's not something I would normally find myself watching, I thought it would be a movie my wife would enjoy and I added it to my list. We ended up watching it last night and, after seeing the film, I have to admit it was considerably better than I would have expected it to be. As I've said in the past, I'm a fan of mysteries. And, this film fit into that genre nicely. It didn't quite fit into the murd...

Summer celebrated her 9th birthday yesterday and she had a group of her friends from dance class over at our house. In total, it was only three extra girls. But, there were times when it seemed like a whole lot more. To be fair, they were all pretty well behaved. They were just really energetic and kind of loud. But, she had a good time so that's what matters most. Next year, however, we will probably have this somewhere that isn't our house.

Synopsis: Wanting nothing more than to take a vacation, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is summoned back to England and secures passage on the Orient Express. He hopes to spend the trip relaxing and reading books. But, when the train becomes temporarily stranded and a passenger is stabbed to death, he reluctantly agrees to find the murderer. Who's in it? The movie stars Kenneth Branagh , Daisy Ridley , Johnny Depp , Michelle Pfeiffer , Penelope Cruz , Willem DaFoe and Leslie Odom, Jr . Review: I held off on watching this movie until I had a chance to finally read the Agatha Christie book it was based off of. And, even then, I honestly had some doubts about this movie, especially after being a bit disappointed by the novel. Despite this, I did hold out some hope the all-star cast would find a way of making this movie a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, while it did ultimately exceed my lowered expectations, it still fell well short of being a memorable film. To b...

Synopsis: A film crew travels to a remote, superstitious town in Moldova to film a follow up episode for a popular house hunting show. While there, they manage to offend the residents by filming a funeral and, as they are filming their follow-up, find their lives in danger from a mob looking to burn the home's owner as a witch. Who's in it? The movie stars Brigid Brannagh , Carrie Genzel , Mia Marcon , David Alpay and Kris Lemche. Review: I had never heard of this film until I came across it on Netflix yesterday afternoon. But, while I was a bit skeptical, the description of the movie was intriguing so I decided to give it a try, albeit with tempered expectations. As it turns out, the movie was actually better than I was expecting it to be. The remote Eastern European location gave the film an uneasy feeling from the start (a necessity for horror movies), especially with the less-than-friendly villagers. And, while they were far from perfect, the members of the film...

I had planned on posting these yesterday evening. But, I wound up being at the ice rink 3 hours longer than expected and, by the time I got home, I was ready to eat dinner and go to bed. I took advantage of a sunny and warm (but not too warm) day to get my walk in and these are some of the photos I was able to get yesterday.

Synopsis: A short story collection that has super detective Hercule Poirot investigating two murders, solving the theft of valuable government papers and trying to prevent a murder while he's on vacation. Review: I picked up this book at our local library a couple weeks ago and, thanks to my daughter skating once again (meaning I have hours to kill at the ice rink), I was able to get through it relatively quickly. With some exceptions, I like Christie's Hercule Poirot novels and was intrigued with the collection of short stories that were, in essence, offering four mysteries for the price of one. After getting through the book, however, I did find I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. This is mostly because Poirot is a detective that has a set process that requires the reader to be patient. In short story form, I just felt as though his process was a bit rushed. In addition, some of the supporting characters (something that is usually Christie's stre...

Synopsis: Already stretched to their limit by hundreds of college kids celebrating spring break, the Lake Victoria Sheriff's Department must deal with thousands of prehistoric piranha that have been released into the lake by an earthquake. To make matters worse, the sheriff's kids are also on the lake. Who's in it? The movie stars Elisabeth Shue , Steven R. McQueen , Ving Rhames , Jerry O'Connell and Jessica Szohr . Review: I came across this movie on Netflix some time ago but was hesitant to watch it. This is mostly because I've found movies about killer fish are largely hit or miss because, let's face it, all you have to do to escape them is get out of the water. However, my wife and I (both suffering from a weekend-long bout of seasonal allergies) were trying to find something to watch yesterday evening and, since we couldn't decide on anything better, I decided to finally give the movie a chance. As it turns out, it was better than expected....

It was a little humid out at lunch today but still cool enough to get a walk in. The highlight of my walk had to be the young muskrat I encountered while on one of the trails. It must not have seen me because I was able to get within a reasonable distance of it for my photo. I did, however, make sure to make some noise after I got my picture because I didn't want to get too close and there was only so much room on the narrow trail. Here are some of the photos I was able to take:

We didn't attend any of the other Beaver Dam Lake Days activities this weekend, mostly because of a lack of funds, but my wife and I kept her promise to the girls and took them to see the Saturday night fireworks. Last year, we discovered we could see the fireworks from one of the downtown parking lots. This has some perks because it means we don't have to fight for a spot to sit and deal with bugs. That's where we ended up again last night as a result and we were able to see just fine. And, overall, I thought they were very entertaining (better than they have been some other years). My biggest complaint about them, however, is they were supposed to start at 10:10 p.m. and, instead, they were started a little before 10. We ended up missing part of them as a result of this and, considering the fireworks display is only about 20 minutes in length, I'm sure there were plenty of other people who did miss them. This isn't the first time that has happened, so I guess ...

I went out to water the flowers a couple nights ago and discovered this tomato plant. It's not the first time I've had something like this grow wild (I'm guessing it's from the compost I used). But, I pulled weeds in this flower bed last weekend and this plant wasn't there. It apparently shot up and grew about a foot high in only a few days. Has anyone noticed a sudden, unexpected eclipse of the sun over the course of the past few days?

I saw this pelican flying around when I started my lunchtime walk today. I originally thought it was going to fly over to the lake but was pleased to discover it landed in one of the ponds instead. I was able to get a couple photos of it as a result.

Synopsis: Michael and Rae are vacationing in the Southwest when she learns he used their $15,000 new house money to buy a classic car instead. Angry, she breaks up with him and hitches a ride to the Las Vegas airport. Michael wants to follow her and make things right. However, his attempt to reconcile is delayed when his car is stolen and a botched convenience store robbery results in him being taken hostage. Who's in it? The movie stars Jamie Foxx , Nia Long , Barry Corbin , Eduardo Yanez and Jake Busey . Review: My wife and I decided to celebrate Independence Day with my parents yesterday evening and, after using their grill to make brats and burgers, I wound up in the living room with my dad. He had this movie on and, while I wasn't sure I would like it at first, I have to admit it was a better film than I was expecting it to be. I think the thing that really impressed me about this movie was it didn't rely solely on Foxx to make the film interesting. There ...

I am still a little sore from walking with my daughter's ice skating float in the Columbus 4th of July Parade yesterday (that, and from mowing the lawn the night before). But, I still managed to slip in a quick walk along the lake this morning despite the fact it was kind of gloomy out and looked like we would get rain. Here are some of the photos I was able to take: