Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Two FBI agents are given a tour of a top-secret federal prison where scientists use virtual environments and homeless people to study criminals as they commit their violent acts. When outside sabotage causes the power to go out, the prisoners break loose from their confinement. Who's in it? The movie stars Kane Hodder , Cortney Palm , Cody Longo , Dee Wallace , Bill Moseley , Michael Berryman , Tony Todd and Gunnar Hansen . Review: It's been a while since my wife and I have had a chance to watch a horror movie together. My original plan was to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre again. However, I came across this film while looking for that one and, thinking it sounded somewhat different, decided to give it a try. My first impression of this film when we started watching it was it was a movie with a lot of potential. Not only did the plot sound interesting (though there were parts of it that reminded me of Resident Evil ) it had a who's who of horror movie...

As I was out walking today, I thought of a great scene for a horror movie. It involves a man (or woman) walking nature trails at a park and, as he is walking, is surrounded by hundreds of crickets and grasshoppers, which are surprisingly loud when they are hopping around. As a result of that noise, he doesn't hear the serial killer sneaking up behind him (you're welcome Hollywood. Be sure to reach out to me regarding my fee). Fortunately, despite all the noise from the previously-mentioned insects, I was still able to concentrate and managed some photos, especially of the frogs and snakes I also encountered on the trail (likely finding their lunch). Here are some of the photos I took: You can't see me.

Synopsis: Grant Wilson and his team investigate a newly-remodeled house after the owner tells them he is interested in selling the building but believes there is something there that is preventing him from doing so. Review: I didn't get a chance to watch this episode when it first aired on Wednesday but, thanks to the magic of DVR, was able to finally watch it yesterday evening. Much like last week's season premiere, my overall impression was, at best, mixed. Once again, I am going to start out by giving kudos to Grant and his team for a couple things. Much like last week , they avoided investigating some tourist trap and, getting back to the show's roots, picked a private residence instead. This is something I enjoy much more because it does give the investigation at least some sense of legitimacy because most homeowners don't have a financial reason to prove their house is haunted. And, while they failed miserably at their efforts, I did appreciate the tea...

It wound up being a much warmer and nicer today than it was when I tried to go for a walk at lunch yesterday and, while the wind was still somewhat strong at times, it wasn't constant like it was on the last walk. As a result, I did end up seeing a lot more on my walk this time around and wound up with more photos as well. Here are some of the ones I took:

I haven't been able to take a lunchtime walk the past couple of days but, despite it looking like it might rain, did managed to get out to the park and squeeze one in today. However, as far as photos go, it was a little bit of a disappointment. It was a bit too chilly for the turtles and snakes to be out, the various birds and insects I saw didn't seem to be overly cooperative and even something as simple as a flower was hard to photograph because of the wind. Fortunately, I did manage to snap this photo as I was finishing up my walk so I didn't leave completely empty-handed.

Synopsis: While reluctantly attending a literary luncheon, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver is approached by Mrs. Burton-Cox, the future mother-in-law of Ariadne's godchild, Celia Ravenscroft. When Mrs. Burton-Cox inquires about the apparent double suicide of Celia's parents 10 years earlier, asking who killed who, Ariadne is, at first, offended. However, with the question lingering in her head and with Celia's blessing, Ariadne seeks out help from Hercule Poirot in an effort to find out the truth. Review: Some time ago, I made it my personal goal to read all of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels. I'm very close to succeeding in that goal, having finished the second-to-last book. Unfortunately, this one turned out to be kind of a disappointment for me. Poirot is easily one of my favorite fictional detectives. However, his later mysteries (published when Christie was in her late 70s or early 80s) just aren't as magical as the books that got me ho...

Overall, my garden is far from done. My tomato plants are still producing as are my green bean and cucumber vines. And, thanks to the squirrels planting the seeds, I'm going to have some pumpkins even. However, I decided to clean up some of it. My lettuce, which had gone to seed, is now in the compost pile and I pretty much gave up on my corn, which was knocked over by one of the surprise pumpkin vines. I'm debating on the zucchini plants, which are still green but don't seem to be producing any more. I left them for now, but I'm guessing I'll wind up pulling them up by next weekend if I don't see any more on them. One wild card is a surprise squash plant that popped up by my beans. It's just now starting to flower so I'm going to wait and see what happens with that one.

It's been kind of cloudy whenever I've wanted to take my walk the past few days and, in the interest of not getting my camera wet in an unexpected downpour, I've elected to leave it behind. However, I was able to take it with me today and wound up with quite a few photos as a result.

Synopsis : Paranormal investigator Grant Wilson looks for supernatural evidence at an Idaho high school with a long history of urban legends and ghost sightings. Review: My wife and I were big fans of this show when it first came on the air back in 2004. However, by the end of its original 11-season run, we had pretty much lost interest in the series, mostly because we felt as though the show had gotten away from its roots and wasn't putting as much effort into the investigations as it used to. Plus, with the two spin-off series ( Ghost Hunters Academy and Ghost Hunters International ) it was pretty easy to get burned out on the whole concept. When I heard A&E was rebooting the series with just Grant Wilson at the helm, I wasn't really sure what to think and, despite some reluctance decided to give the show a second chance last night. Ultimately, my opinion of it was a bit mixed. I'll start out by saying I was a big fan of the decision to have the first inve...

Synopsis: After losing his job as a shipping clerk, an impoverished son of a tailor, Phineas Taylor Barnum, cons a bank into giving him a $10,000 loan so he can open a museum. When the museum fails to draw a crowd, he adds a live freak show act that, despite ongoing community protests, quickly makes him wealthy. However, despite his success, he is still treated as an outsider by other members of the upper class and, in an effort to be accepted, takes steps that could cause his financial downfall and ruin his marriage to the woman he has loved since childhood. Who's in it? The movie stars Hugh Jackman , Zac Efron , Michelle Williams , Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya . Review: My oldest daughter saw this film during a movie day at school last year and quickly described it as one of her favorites. She is even working on an ice skating program to one of the songs from this film. As a result of this, she ended up with a copy of the movie for her birthday and, based on her recom...

I had a coupon for this particular item and, since I am always trying (unsuccessfully) to at least cut back on the amount of soda I drink, especially at the office, decided to pick up 6 cans of it this morning. I had one after finishing my lunchtime walk and, after trying it, I'll say it was definitely interesting. First of all, I had never even heard of sweet potato juice until reading the back of the can and finding out it is the primary ingredient in this drink. Heck, even now, I'm still trying to wrap my head around that because a sweet potato seems like such an unlikely thing to get juice from. But, I'll give the drink a thumbs-up for that regardless because it makes it pretty clear how you are getting the one-serving of vegetables the can advertises. I'll even agree the drink is considerably healthier for me than my normal afternoon Mountain Dew. It has just 45 calories and a very small amount of sugar, none of which is added. Granted, it's a smaller ca...

As I've mentioned before, I'm always on the lookout for simple (and legit) ways to make a little extra spending money. After all, I have two daughters who participate in relatively expensive after school activities and, because of that, money is sometimes a little tight. Recently, I started visiting a site I joined a while ago but kind of forgot about, SurveySavvy . This isn't a site you can expect to make a life-changing amount of money on. But, it is a relatively easy way to make a few extra dollars if you have some free time. The surveys they offer range in value. Sometimes you're only getting $1. Sometimes you're getting $5. And, of course, you do have to qualify for the survey in order to complete it and get paid for it. However, I've been able to qualify for a few of them every month, making about $5-$10/month extra while sitting at home with my laptop on my lap and watching TV despite falling in one of the worst demographics as far as qualifying for s...

Synopsis: When Constable Hamish Macbeth makes a routine visit to the remote village of Stoyre, he senses something is amiss. The pub is empty and the residents, who seem to have become unusually religious, are closed lipped whenever he attempts to talk to them. He is determined to figure out why but, at the same time, also has to avoid being promoted/forced to leave his home in Lochdubh after solving a series of unrelated crimes ranging from insurance fraud to attempted murder. Review: Mostly because of all the time I spend at the ice rink, I can get through, on average, one book per week. However, every so often, I wind up finishing a book much quicker than that because I simply cannot put it down. This book falls into that category. There were a couple things that really stood out for me when reading this book. The big one was definitely the main mystery surrounding Stoyre. Unlike many other books from this series, there was no obvious crime. Nobody had been murdered and, a...

Synopsis: When one of Peter Brunold's custom-made glass eyes is stolen, he hires lawyer Perry Mason because he feels someone plans to use the eye to frame him for a crime he didn't commit. When a wealthy businessman, Hartley Bassett, is later murdered and is found clutching Brunold's missing eye, Mason must figure out who the real killer is. Further complicating things is a missing witness, who the police and a brash new district attorney believe Mason is hiding. Review: After reading my first couple Perry Mason books, I found I was hooked. And, as a result of that, I did wind up checking out this book the last time I was at the library. Unfortunately, as it turns out, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I think my biggest problem with this book isn't the story itself as much as it is the story when compared to other books from this series. Other than the part about the missing eye, there wasn't much about this story that was really an...

Even though I do feel a little guilty about not visiting our church's fundraising brat fry instead, I decided to pack a lunch so I could go for another walk with my camera. I didn't end up seeing a whole lot, other than some bugs. But, at least the trails had been recently mowed so I didn't have to push through weeds like the last time. Anyway, here's some of the photos I was able to get:

I haven't been skipping my daily walks but have been neglecting to take my camera with me, mostly because I've been walking along the shoreline (which has less photo opportunities) rather than somewhere with more nature. However, I did manage to get out to the park today and, while there weren't as many animals as I normally would expect to see (either that, or they were hiding in the tall grass), I did get some photos. Garter snake skin

The photo isn't the greatest (I'm still figuring out the camera on my new cell phone) but I cut up some zucchini, an onion and a tomato and combined them with some leftover chicken in this Alfredo sauce. This was then served over some tri-colored pasta. The sauce itself did come from a jar, mostly because I didn't have time to make it from scratch. But, overall, it turned out pretty well.

Synopsis: An aspiring young chef in jazz era New Orleans dreams of fulfilling her deceased father's dream of owning a restaurant despite having an economic disadvantage. Her efforts are put on hold when a visiting prince is turned into a frog and her attempts to break the spell with a kiss result in her being changed into a frog as well. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Anika Noni Rose , Bruno Campos , Keith David , Jennifer Cody and John Goodman . Review:  My youngest daughter insisted on having some family movie time on Sunday so, after searching several options on Netflix, I wound up settling on this Disney film, mostly because it was a movie she hadn't seen yet. I remember watching this movie not long after it first came out and not enjoying it all that much. However, for my daughter's sake, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and watch it a second time. Unfortunately, as it turns out, I still found I didn't enjoy this f...

Synopsis: Mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver is helping a friend prepare for a kids' Halloween party when 13-year-old Joyce Reynolds tells her she once witnessed a murder. Since Joyce is known to be a compulsive liar, nobody believes her. However, later that evening, someone drowns Joyce in the apple-bobbing tub. Disturbed by the incident and partially blaming herself, Ariadne reaches out to long-time friend Hercule Poirot for assistance. Review: My wife and I wound up spending a good chunk of last week binge watching the final season of Orange is the New Black and, because of that, it took me a bit longer to get through this book than I normally would have expected. I finally finished it yesterday and, overall, I was happy I read it. When I first started reading this book, I thought the mystery was going to be a little too easy to solve. After all, Joyce was apparently murdered because she witnessed a murder so, in theory at least, the only thing I needed to do was figur...

My oldest daughter turned 15 yesterday so we decided to celebrate with a family trip to the Henry Vilas Zoo . It was a bit more crowded than we were expecting it to be on a weekday, but we managed to have a good time. Here are some photos taken both with my camera and with my cell phone: