Steven Helmer Publications

It's probably about time to change the batteries in my trail camera . I discovered it stopped recording videos a little after midnight last night. Normally, I would just take it to mean nothing happened after that point, but it didn't even record me as I walked over to recover the memory card. It's been more than a year since they've been changed so I guess I can live with that. Anyway, I did manage to get one opossum video late last night. Here it is:

Synopsis: A series of accidents begins to plague the Norris Trucking Company, prompting an investigation when the company's heiress, Henrietta Denton, is killed in one of them. When there is another death, truck driver Hank Wilson, the man who found and tried to save Henrietta, comes under suspicion and the only way he can avoid a murder charge is finding out the truth. Who's in it? The movie stars Robert Lowery , Pamela Blake , Clem Bevans , Michael Whalen and Lyle Talbot. Review: I came across Highway 13 on Amazon Prime Video last night and decided to add it to my list for this morning. It seemed like an intriguing mystery and had a handful of actors that I recognized. After seeing it, I thought it was a good choice. The various truck accidents were clearly not just accidents because there were just too many of them. However, the motive for wrecking the trucks and the person behind them were unclear. Hank (Lowery) was as good of a suspect as any of them, though the accus...

My thoughts from the Green Bay Packers ' 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field today: That first half was brutal. There were times when it felt like I was watching someone playing Madden Football as the Minnesota Vikings and had it set on "beginner" mode. Some weeks are like that, and it ultimately was just too much for the Packers to overcome. For a while there, I thought Green Bay brought Jordan Love back too soon. He just didn't seem to be mobile enough and wasn't stepping into the throws. However, once he worked out some of the rust and got back into a rhythm with his receivers, I think he prove me wrong. For a minute there, I thought the Packers would pull off a miracle. I'm going to give the defense some credit as well . The Vikings got off to a fast start, but the Green Bay D locked things down by the second half and had some key plays despite the depleted secondary being outgunned by the Vikings' receivers. I think Jaire Alexand...

Everyone else was sleeping in on this Sunday and, even though it was my birthday, I wound up getting out of bed early. Rather than pace the house, I went to the grocery store to find something for breakfast. I came across Totino's Breakfast Snack Bites in the freezer section for $8.25. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend that kind of money when there were less expensive options, but I ended up giving them a try. Overall, it ended up being an OK choice. I think the thing that surprised me about these is the sausage wasn't overly spicy. I don't normally mind spicy foods but did appreciate not having that early in the morning. In fact, when combined with the cheese, it was a good flavor overall. Preparation was convenient. There are a number of ways you can prepare something like this, but I chose the fastest route, the microwave . As a result, the snack bites were ready in less than three minutes, something that can come in handy when in a hurry on a workday morning. The b...

The trail camera didn't get tripped as much last night as it usually does, and I had a few videos I'm confident only happened because of the wind blowing some nearby plants around. However, I still managed to get a few videos, mostly of opossums and squirrels. Here are some of them.

Synopsis: While out dining with Della Street, Perry Mason learns a new waitress, Kit Ellis, has traded with another server to have his table. Suspecting she wants a consultation, Mason leaves her his card and when she visits his office the next day, she tells a strange tale about her Aunt Sophia, who lives like a pauper despite having thousands of dollars hidden away in hat boxes. Agreeing something is amiss, Mason advises Kit to leave the house immediately. Only, it is already too late. When his client returns to get her things, she is accused of stealing $100 and not long after, her aunt is assaulted, and Kit becomes the primary suspect for attempted murder. Review: After being reintroduced to Perry Mason books several days ago with The Case of the Beautiful Beggar , I decided to get the next one in the series,  The Case of the Worried Waitress . This required a short wait because our library had to order a copy, but I had it in time for the weekend. Unfortunately, while I didn'...

Synopsis: When Glimpy's sister, Betty, gets married to Jack, Muggs and the rest of the East Side Kids decide to surprise the newlyweds by fixing up their new home before they get back from the honeymoon. However, in doing so, Muggs and the gang stumble upon a Nazi plot after mistakenly entering the wrong house. Who's in it? The movie stars Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bela Lugosi , Ava Gardner and Bobby Jordan . Review: I'm not a big East Side Kids fan and probably would have skipped over Ghosts on the Loose under normal circumstances. However, I saw this film also had Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner in it and since I like both of them, decided to give it a try while waiting for my daughter to get done with work. I didn't hate it, but it didn't do much to change my mind about the East Side Kids either. My biggest problem with this movie was, for a film that is only about an hour in length, there is quite a bit filler. Many of the sight gags were drawn out longer than ...

Another busy night in the back yard with opossums tripping the trail camera at various times late last night and early this morning.  Anyway, here are some videos.

I decided to get out for a walk today while the weather is still nice enough to do so without needing to bundle up. I didn't have much luck getting photos of the blue heron I spotted a couple times. For a large, predatory bird, it sure was skittish. However, I did manage to get a few. Some of them are below. Camera: Kodak PIXPRO AZ-425

  After slipping a bit, I've been trying to get back to being on my DASH diet . This is both because I have a physical in a couple months and because my wife's blood pressure has been a bit on the high side lately as well. As part of this, when I decided to make my skillet lasagna for dinner last night, I looked for a pasta sauce with less salt and decided to purchase a jar of Prego Lower Sodium Traditional Pasta Sauce , despite it being slightly more expensive ($2.99) than my normal brand, because the 350 mg of sodium was by far the lowest I could find on that shelf. Overall, it ended up being a decent choice. One of my biggest concerns when it comes to "heart healthy" foods is taste. In many cases, the salt that is being cut from the product was the only flavor that product had. That, however, didn't turn out to be the case with this brand. While I always doctor up jarred/canned sauces, I took the time to taste this first and it wasn't bad.  In fact, by the ...

I'm starting to get a lot of shine on the trail camera from the dew forming on the grass every night but am still getting some videos that aren't completely flooded out. This includes quite a few more opossum videos from last night and early this morning. Here are some of them:

Synopsis: A college student, Amanda, accepts a babysitting job from a new family in town. The parents seem friendly but the mother, Helen, seems a bit elusive whenever Amanda asks questions. Once she is left alone in the house, however, Amanda discovers the truth, the man Helen lives with isn't her real husband. Instead, her real husband and the child's father, Brian, has been institutionalized, has escaped and is now trying to get inside the house. Who's in it? The movie stars Honor Blackman , Susan George , George Cole , Ian Bannen and Tara Collinson. Review: I came across Fright while scrolling through movies on Amazon Prime yesterday. While it sounded similar to plenty of other horror movies/thrillers I've seen, I figured I'd give it a try this morning since I had some extra time before needing to head into the office. While I don't think it was the best movie I've seen from this genre, it ended up being OK. The movie does a decent job building up th...

After repositioning my trail camera a couple different times and not getting much in terms of results, I moved it back to one of my original spots and will likely just keep it there. It ended up being a good decision because I wound up with some decent videos as a result. Nothing new animal-wise, just opossums and rabbits, but with some close-ups. I also caught what I think is an earwig on the very first video. See if you can spot it.

Synopsis: After her carriage driver abandons her in a Transylvanian village, French schoolteacher Marianne Danielle accepts an invitation to stay with the Baroness Meinster despite warnings from the locals. While there, she discovers the Baroness' son chained to a wall and frees him, not knowing he is the vampire, Dracula. As Dracula begins feeding on the villagers, the only hope is the vampire hunter Van Helsing. Who's in it? The movie stars Peter Cushing , Marita Hunt , Freda Jackson , Yvonne Monlaur and David Peel. Review: I've been trying to get back in the habit of watching classic movies in my free time and came across The Brides of Dracula last night on Amazon Prime. It's a film I've wanted to watch in the past but never got around to seeing. I changed that early this morning and, overall, thought it was an OK film. David Peel made a halfway decent Dracula, though I'm not really sure if he was supposed to be the real Dracula or just being referred to...

Synopsis: After she receives a breakup letter from her GI boyfriend on her birthday, a distraught Norah Larkin has a drunken night out on the town with womanizing artist Harry Prebble at the Blue Gardenia restaurant only to have Prebble attempt to rape her. Norah wakes up the next morning hungover and with very little memory of the previous night but learns Prebble has been murdered with evidence pointing to her as his killer. Who's in it? The movie stars Anne Baxter , Richard Conte , Ann Sothern , Raymond Burr and Jeff Donnell. Review : We're reaching the time of year when my arthritic knees act up a bit and the only way I can sleep is by putting some heat on them before bed. Since this resulted in my wife going to bed before me tonight, I ended up finally watching The Blue Gardenia on Amazon Prime. Overall, I have to say it was a good choice. The mystery is a decent one, with Norah (Baxter) seemingly being the last person with Harry Prebble (Burr) before his death and wit...

  My wife wasn't feeling well on Sunday, so I decided to keep dinner simple with soup and sandwiches. I picked out Campbell's Chunky Smoked Turkey with White & Wild Rice for me, mostly because it was a variety I hadn't tried before, and it looked like it would be something I'd enjoy. Well, I had that half right. I didn't end up making this Sunday because my sandwich was much more filling than expected. Instead, I brought it with me to the office for lunch the following day and when I finally gave it a try, I wasn't overly impressed. My biggest problem with this product, other than a sodium content that blew up my DASH diet with one meal, was it didn't have any sort of "wow" factor to it. Don't get me wrong, it's a canned soup and I wasn't exactly expecting something that was restaurant quality. However, I was expecting, well, more. The soup, other than the salt, was kind of bland in my opinion. I didn't really taste the smoked...

I'm a big fan of cheese curds, mostly because I am somewhat lactose intolerant, and curds tend to be one of the few dairy products I can eat in a reasonable quantity without getting an upset stomach. I've tried quite a few brands, and Malcore's is easily one of my favorites. The first time I saw curds from this Appleton, Wisconsin-based company, I was admittedly a bit curious. Normally, you find a product like this in the grocery store's refrigerated dairy section. These, however, were displayed prominently on a table nowhere near the refrigerator. They were also a bit warm. As it turns out, that isn't the only thing different about these. For one, they are some of the freshest curds I have ever purchased. I can tell because they squeak when you eat them. Even in the dairy state, that's not always a given. In fact, I'd say the majority I've purchased over the years, even those made right here in Wisconsin, didn't squeak. Another thing I like about th...

I had to reposition the trail camera a bit because we're reaching the time of year when the dew on the grass can create quite a bit of glare. I managed to get some decent videos of the backyard visitors from last night and early this morning though. This included quite a few rabbit videos and a neighborhood cat. Here are some of them: 

Synopsis: "Smoky" Callaway hasn't been a cowboy star in a decade but a recent decision to air some of his old movies on television has made him a celebrity again and the network wants him to make new films. There's just one problem, nobody knows where Smoky is. Desperate to cash in, advertisers Mike Frye and Deborah Patterson attempt to pass off cowboy "Stretch" Barnes as Smoky. The plan seems to go well until the real Smoky returns. Who's in it? The movie stars Fred MacMurray , Dorothy McGuire , Howard Keel , Jesse White and Natalie Schafer .  Review: My wife is feeling under the weather tonight and went to bed early. Since I had some time to myself, I decided to finally watch Callaway Went Thataway , which has been in my movie library for a few weeks. Overall, it ended up being a good film. The overall plot seemed like something that would be predictable but as it turned out, it was full of surprises. For one, Barnes (Keel) was an intriguing charact...

 Some thoughts from yesterday's 30-14 Green Bay Packers ' win at the Tennessee Titans : Matt LaFleur proved he is an underrated coach. Despite his success since coming to Green Bay, LaFleur never seems to be in the Coach of the Year conversations. Going 2-0 with a backup quarterback that wasn't even here during the preseason should maybe change that. You couldn't ask for better results. Green Bay could easily have been 0-3 after Jordan Love 's injury but are 2-1 with an opportunity to claim the division lead with a win over the Minnesota Vikings next week. Oh, and there's a good chance Love will be able to play in that game. I am excited by the Packers' run game. With Love out and the Titans knowing Green Bay was going to rely on the run again, the Packers still managed 115 yards, not counting the 73 Malik Willis picked up with his legs. Once Love is back and defenses need to account for his arm, that run game is only going to get better. Speaking of Will...

My daughter had her homecoming dance yesterday and, since that took up pretty much all our day, I reset my trail camera and just left it for about 24 hours. Here are some of the videos that were collected during that time.

Not an overly active night on the trail camera , with it being tripped just twice. However, one of the videos did confirm what I suspected, there is more than one opossum visiting us each night. I finally managed to get both at the same time.

Synopsis: While on her way back from a 3-month-long Asian retreat, 22-year-old Daphne Shelby receives a letter from her wealthy uncle, Horace, instructing her to cash an enclosed check for $125,000 and then have attorney Perry Mason take charge of the money on her behalf and make out a will naming her his sole heir. When Daphne and Mason attempt to follow the letter's instructions, they learn Horace's finances have been seized by his half-brother, Borden Finchley, and Horace has been committed to a sanitarium.  Believing it is an attempt to steal Horace's money, Mason agrees to help Daphne free her uncle, only to find the case is more complicated than first believed. Things become even more complicated when Daphne breaks her uncle out of the sanitarium without Mason's knowledge and later becomes the primary suspect in the murder of Ralph Exeter, Finchley's associate.  Review: It's been a while since I've read a Perry Mason book, and I even needed to do so...

I moved my trail camera again last night because I have a brush pile in my yard that has been built up over the past several years and have been curious if anything is living in it. Unfortunately, the camera didn't really catch the pile (it was too far away) so I'll need to try again with a different angle at another point, but I did get some pretty decent videos of the opossums again. Here are some of them.

I repositioned my trail camera again last night and woke up to a bunch of videos on the memory card this morning. Most of those were opossum videos, though I'm not quite sure if it's the same opossum each time or if there's more than one. I suspect it's the latter because the opossum looks bigger in some videos than others.  Anyway, here is a selection of the ones I ended up with.

I was unsure if I was going to go for a walk today or not. The weather was nice but getting to the park requires going through some road construction and I nearly got into a head-on collision yesterday when someone ignored the temporary traffic light.  However, after some thought, I decided to grab my camera and go. As it turns out, it was a productive walk photo wise. Here are some of the ones I got. Camera: Kodak PIXPRO AZ-425

Synopsis: This non-fiction book edited by Bill Fawcett shares essays about various wars in world history and the events and decisions that caused one (or sometimes both) side to lose.  Review: I've had How to Lose a War in my office for several months, usually reading an essay or two when the weather isn't cooperating enough for me to take a walk at lunch. I finally finished it this week and it is a book that I found worth reading. The book has a good mix of subjects. Some wars, like the Korean War or the Napoleonic War, were familiar while others were a bit more obscure, such as the Anglo-Sudan war. The latter alone was something that made the book interesting because I was learning about conflicts I didn't even realize were a thing, despite my love for history.\ The main purpose of the essays was what really pulled me in though. I found it fascinating just how many wars were ultimately lost because of one bad decision or, on occasion, were altered by poor decisions on ...

It was a relatively quiet walk with my camera today without much in terms of signs of life other than maybe the numerous grasshoppers. I did, however, come across this blue heron, which was surprisingly cooperative considering they usually fly off squawking at the top of their lungs as soon as they see movement.  Anyway, here are the photos I managed to get.

Synopsis: The divorced and re-married Neville Strange is persuaded to attend a holiday at the estate of Lady Tressilian at the same time as his ex-wife Audrey, despite objections from his current wife, Kay. The summer trip results in Strange telling Audrey he made a mistake and wants to return to her and the predictable fight between him and Kay results in an argument with Lady Tressilian as well. When Lady Tressilian is found murdered the following morning, Strange becomes the primary suspect and it's up to Superintendent Battle to help unravel whether the evidence is real or staged. Review: Even though I have gotten through most of Agatha Christie 's novels, there are still some that I haven't yet read. Towards Zero was on that list even though I found it at a used book sale back in December and it's been on my bookshelf since. I finally got around to reading it this week and, for the most part, I thought it was an OK book. The book does take a little bit of time t...

I slightly repositioned my trail camera again last night and switched it back to video, hoping to catch some of the nocturnal wildlife wandering my yard after dark. It didn't disappoint. Here are some of the videos it captured.

I decided to reposition my trail camera again last night, just to see what the different angle would get me. The backyard seemed to be somewhat busy with 62 photos total, pretty much all of them triggered by opossum activity, though I also caught a shadow of something I think is a cat (last photo, by the tree to the right). Here are some of them.

Some thoughts from today's 16-10 Green Bay Packers ' win over the Indianapolis Colts at Lambeau Field. Maybe the Packers' season isn't over with after week 1 after all . The Packers dodged a bullet with Jordan Love, who hopefully will be back from a knee injury by week 4, if not next week. However, they couldn't afford to go winless without him and this was a big team victory as a result. The game plan was a good one. The Colts were starting to shut down the run-heavy offense by the second half but with Malik Willis being thrust into a starting role when he wasn't even with the team in preseason, it was the right decision. Willis only had to throw 14 times and was able to play to his strengths. I would assume they will depend on his arm a bit more if he's forced to play next week though. Speaking of the run game. That was as dominant of a performance as you could expect to see in the first half. Imagine how dangerous that group of running backs will be whe...

I repositioned the trail camera last night, same tree but a different angle, since I didn't see anything on it the past couple days. It seems to have worked because I had multiple videos of the local opossums as they came to visit. Here are a couple of them. And before anyone asks, I also realized the time stamp has the wrong year. It probably reset after I checked the batteries.

Synopsis: Kate Hibbert has a habit of disappearing for weeks at a time so, when Lochdubh's newest resident goes missing, Sergeant Hamish Macbeth isn't immediately worried, even after Kate's cousin, Diane, visits him in person to express her concerns. When Hibbert's body turns up in a lake, Macbeth discovers evidence suggesting Hibbert had been blackmailing many of the local residents. In addition to having plenty of suspects and possibly needing to arrest one of his friends, Macbeth has another issue. His nemesis, DCI Blair, has been put in charge of the case and he has a new assistant, Davey Forbes, who may be spying for Blair. Review: After being left saddened by the end of Death of a Green-eyed Monster , I was a little hesitant to read the next book in the Hamish Macbeth series, Death of a Traitor . However, mostly out of curiosity and a desire to see a happier ending, I checked it out at the library. Unfortunately, while this book ended on a higher note than the p...

I caught myself doing something interesting today. Apparently, and I just realized this was the case, I have a habit of telling the various animals, insects, etc. I photograph "thank you," each time. Well, maybe not all of them, just the cooperative ones. Still, knowing they probably don't understand me, I guess I'm just that polite of a guy. Then again, maybe it helps with karma and ensures some of them will pose for me, as was the case today, when I had plenty of reasons to say thank you. Here are some of the photos: