Mystery Monday

     Why not start your week off with a good whodunit? Here are a few I've seen lately that are pretty good and not so good.

Eye See You
     On paper, you wonder why this movie was never released. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Charles S. Dutton (it's his birthday today), Kris Kristofferson, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Berenger, Stephen Lang, Robert Patrick, Courtney B. Vance and Rance Howard.
     When you see it, you wonder how they got that many big names in the cast. You can't tell me that they tricked all of those guys. They must have been fighting each other to be the killers next victim just so they could leave the movie.
     It was originally titled D-Tox and is the bastard child that Universal wants nothing to do with. It got a European release but didn't show up state side until the magic of home video.
     The story line follows a killer who's targeting cops. Stallone plays a fed brought in on the case. When the killer takes out his girlfriend, he goes over the edge. After a suicide attempt, he checks into a special program set up for law enforcement.
     The facility is in the middle of Wyoming and of course, there's a white out. Oh yeah, and the killer isn't dead. Insert every cliche about secluded buildings here and in an hour you'll see the end credits.
     I can only recommend this to Stallone fans because it's almost like he knew this would never see the light of day so he just tries things you'd never see him do under a studio system.

La habitacion de Fermat (Fermat's Room)
     Written and directed by Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena, this mystery combines the best elements of a whodunit and a Poe revenge tale.
     Four mathematicians are invited to a dinner party by a mysterious host. Each a stranger to the other and assigned famous alias' by their host, they find themselves trapped in a room that gets smaller with every puzzle they don't solve in time. This movie is definitely worth your time.

Mystery Street
     This 1950 film noir stars Ricardo Montalban as a police detective who has to rely on forensic medicine to identify a skeleton. Once it's discovered she was murdered, he must track down a killer.
     As an early study of forensics and an interesting mystery to boot, this movie works on a lot of levels. You should check this one out.

One For The Money (2012)
      If more chick flicks were like this, they probably wouldn't get such a bad rap. Based on Janet Evanovich's novel (the first of 18, anybody else see a sequel in the works?), the story follows a woman as she enters the male dominated field of bounty hunting.
     The first person she goes after is a former acquaintance who's now a cop on the run. He's trying to clear his name and she just wants to collect the money on his bond.
     It's well cast. Katherine Heigl even attempts to act in this movie which is refreshing after watching her go through the motions of being "Katherine Heigl" for the last 10 years. I would say it's well worth a look.

Stephen King's Bag Of Bones
     Talk about a waste of potential. I do have to admit to enjoying the book and when I heard that it was a four hour mini-series, it seemed like a no brainer. They'd have to clean up the language a little for television and tighten up a few scenes but other wise, it could be worth watching.
     I'm not sure what Matt Venne was thinking of while he wrote the screenplay but it's pretty obvious he never read the book. It's like he walked in half way through and overheard somebody talking about the book.
     The best scene in the movie comes when Pierce Brosnan sits down to write after his wife passes. That was a pretty honest scene. Everything else just seemed to happen because it needs to happen or out of convenience. Do yourself a favor and read the book, leave the movie alone.   

The Coffee Diaries-Chapter 4

     Today's coffee shop is Caribou Coffee in Shawnee. The usual question was answered with a drink called the Turtle. The Turtle contains Caribou brand espresso, milk chocolate, caramel syrup, Snickers bits, and topped with whipped cream.
     The flavor is cut short of being overly sweet by the sharp taste of the espresso. It's tasty if you like a sweet drink.
     Caribou's staff is friendly enough and reasonably knowledgeable but programmed in that corporate kind of way.
     It's not a bad place but, the search continues...

Leftover Omelet

     Here's a little two for the price of one action. It's nothing fancy but you get a little more bang for your buck. This recipe will work for just about anything, in fact, I got the idea from a friend who used it on Chinese food. Any way, let's get started.

Part 1- The meal. This is a little something we call hamburger macaroni. You can substitute turkey but it works best with hamburger. Brown 1 pound of hamburger. Add seasonings of your choice. My choice-Southwest Seasoning, chili powder, black and red pepper. When the meat is brown, add a box of macaroni. Important note-get the stuff with the cheese SAUCE not the powder. Add enough water to just cover the mixture. Put a lid on it and leave it at med-high heat for 12-15 minutes (consult cooking directions on box). Stir occasionally. When time expires, water should be evaporated. Add cheese sauce. Stir well. Turn heat down to med. and let sit for about 5 min. stirring occasionally. Turn heat off and serve.

Part 2-The next meal. Assuming that you have a little left over like I did, you're half way there. Scramble 3 eggs in a bowl with a little milk and 1/4 tsp of garlic powder. Spray pan with non-stick olive oil spray. Pour in eggs, keeping your temperature low. When the mixture starts to solidify, pour in the leftovers. Flip one side of the egg to cover, let it sit for a couple of minutes and then flip the whole thing over. It should be a little golden brown on both sides. Turn the heat off and serve. Enjoy it with your beverage of choice.

Monday Morning Derby Desk- South Central Division

Good morning sports fans and welcome to the Monday Morning Derby Desk. I'll be covering the South Central division for the season. It's my hope and attempt to keep you educated and informed about what happens here in South Central since it's the division I live and work in. If you have any questions, comments or breaking news, please let me know. Now, on with the show.

      Saturday, Jacksonville Florida watched the season kick off with the New Jax City Rollers defeating the Ft. Myers Derby Girls 186 to 123. Jacksonville's home team action saw the First Coast Fatales spank the Duval Derby Dames 124 to 45.
     Also on Saturday, Dallas' Assassination City Roller Derby played hostess to The Governors Cup tournament. The first round saw the Alamo City Rollergirls from San Antonio roll over Oklahoma City Roller Derby 170 to 83. Assassination City's Special Ops took out Northwest Arkansas Roller Derby 160 to 123. Duke City Derby out of Albuquerque, N.M. defeated the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls 141 to 118.
     The next round saw Special Ops get their second victory. This time against Alamo City's Las Tejanas; final score 172 to 92. Last seasons reigning champions, Austin's Texecutioners, crushed Duke City's Munecas Muertas 243 to 36. Finally, closing out Day 1, OCRD's Tornado Alley Rollergirls lost to Northwest Arkansas' All-Stars 186 to 75.

Sunday-Day 2 of The Governors Cup started off strong with the Munecas Muertas learning a lesson from Austin and teaching it to the Victory Dolls as the final score was 236 to 84. The Northwest Arkansas All-Stars sent Las Tejanas home with a final score of 147 to 130. The Texecutioners showed their hostesses how they became the number one team in the division by beating them into submission with a final score of 337 to 46. The Munecas Muertas remembered The Alamo and gave Northwest Arkansas' All-Stars no room to breathe, defeating them 215 to 77. Using their momentum against Special Ops, Munecas Muertas gained another victory the following game, 144 to 101. Finally, just as they looked unstoppable, Duke City hit the wall that is The Texecutioners and had to settle for second place with as Austin won 297 to 56.

     That's all the news for now, hopefully you'll tune in next week as more teams have their season openers.      

Grand Central Murder

     Van Heflin stars, in this film noir whodunnit, as P.I. Rocky Custer. He was hired to prove the innocence of a man wrongly incarcerated (Stephen McNally) but when that man escapes custody and a woman (Patricia Dane) turns up dead, he may not be so innocent. This film is based on the novel by Sue MacVeigh and is worth a look if you get the chance. 

The Coffee Diaries-Chapter 3

     Today's coffee shop is Scooters Coffee House in Shawnee. It jumped the line because in the book the number is for Caffe Casa. It seems odd that the number doesn't match up because Scooters has been there for a couple of years. Oh well, semantics.
     I give the guy behind the counter the standard question and he tells me about the White Mocha Espresso. It has white chocolate, house espresso and steamed milk. The flavor is actually very smooth. The white chocolate gives it a very even flavor.
     The guy working the counter was friendly and knowledgeable and the place even has a drive-thru if you don't want to stand in line.

Getting it off my chest on a Monday morning

     Have we as a society really become so bored that we have turned into alarmists over everything? Over the weekend, in the Kansas City area, there was an incident involving four people where gunshots were fired at a shopping mall. Now I'm not trying to take anything away from the seriousness of this situation. It was a weekend crowd and the situation could have been a lot worse. Notice how I said "could have been", meaning the only people who appeared to have been hurt were the people involved. Admittedly, I'm not really clear on the details because the media is spending more time on what could have happened than what actually did.
     When this happened on Saturday, I first found out about it on facebook. A friend of mine was there, working at the mall. She said she was shaken but unharmed. Of course, there were a string of replies as everybody's asking for details and wishing her well but that's about as far as it went. I watched channel 4's news broadcast that night, because they were the first one on, and was absolutely stupefied.
     They had a live remote standing at the entrance to the parking lot talking about things going on inside like they were there. The mall apparently shut down early due to the incident (more on this in a minute). The broadcaster used the term "hundreds of people trying to escape" more than once(!?). Then, they close the story with a flashback to 2007 when there was a shooting in the parking lot of a different mall(?!) like that had any relevance to anything.
     Sunday once again finds news crews doing a live remote at Independence Center talking to people in the parking lot. I'm not sure what kind of potentially half assed and loaded questions they were asking because I was working at the time and we had the sound down but, just the fact that they were still harping on this story and sticking a mic in peoples faces tells me that they didn't get the fear and anger they were after the first night.
     I'm still curious to know how they reached the decision to close the mall early. This is not the first time people have been shot in public places and it wont be the last. There are a lot of us on this rock and we're not all going  to get along. Some of us just handle it in different ways. Back in the 1980's and '90's, there was all kinds of gang related activity at the Indian Springs mall which probably explains why there's only about five stores still operating there. Well, that and the fact that everybody does their shopping online now. The point is that we didn't make a national tragedy out of it then, why are we now? Where ever you have a gathering of people, you're going to have problems of some kind. Keep your eyes open and your head down. Like they told us in the army, stay alert, stay alive. You don't have to live your life in fear, just be aware of your surroundings.
     One of the other news stories, that I just finished reading about this morning, was the Italian cruise ship tipping over. The Associated Press reporter went through 4 pages comparing it to the Titanic disaster. Really?! The reporter was so busy interviewing people in the Titanic exhibit gift shop that she couldn't even say if the ship hit a reef or rocks but she felt comfortable enough in her ignorance to use the phrase "reef or rocks" more than once.
     Five people died and that is unfortunate but, let's not get this out of proportion. When you're close enough to see land and can swim to it, I don't think they need to condemn the crew on how long they waited with the life boats. People were complaining about having to climb down a rope to get to the boats because of the pitch of the ship. Really?! Whatever happened to being thankful there was a boat to climb down to? I'll bet those five people would have gladly climbed down a rope and swam to a life boat.
     When you're telling me that the captain ran aground, tipped over a luxury liner and abandoned ship before the some of the passengers, I'm not thinking Titanic, I'm thinking Exxon Valdez. It's a little more recent and a little more relevant. Think people spill instead of oil spill. It also makes me think of The Poseidon Adventure when you tell me a ship "tipped over". I'm sure Gene Hackman would have been there to lead people to safety but somebody hit him while he was bike riding last week. You probably didn't hear about his because he's okay, just bumped and bruised and nothing you could compare to Stephen King and make us all paranoid about commuting the local roadways. 

Mexican Omelet

     Good morning Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea. Today, I'm going to tell you about a new omelet recipe I came up with a little while ago. I call it the Mexican omelet just because it contains ingredients that are traditionally Mexican and I figured if there can be a Spanish omelet, why not a Mexican?
     First, get 1 cup of Chorizo and start browning it in a skillet. I'm using beef Chorizo but pork works too.
     While that's going on, crack 3 eggs into a bowl. Today I'm using Hy-Vee's brown eggs just because they were on sale. You can adjust this to your needs but I figure 3 usually feeds two people or one person who's really hungry. Next, get a fairly small amount of sour cream and add it to the eggs. Personally, I'm using AE's Mexican style sour cream because I still have some left over from the enchiladas I made last week. You'll also want to add 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and then a couple of dashes of black and red pepper blend, chili powder, thyme, and Southwest seasoning. Whisk together for a few minutes until the Chorizo is browned.
     Turn off the Chorizo and pour the egg mixture into a skillet big enough to let it spread out. Set your heat low and drain off the Chorizo.
     When the eggs start to stand up, check the edges with your spatula. If they come up easily, you're ready to add the Chorizo, 1 cup of shredded queso fresco or you can cheat it and use the Mexican blend of shredded cheese, and three tablespoons of refried black beans.
     Fold over one side of the omelet and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Check the cheese, make sure it's melting. If it is, flip it and let that side cook for a couple of minutes.
     Turn off the heat, divide up and serve. A good side dish is refried black beans with some cheese melted on top. Throw in a Bloody Maria and you have a damn fine breakfast. Enjoy.
   

Friday The 13th

     In 1980, Sean S. Cunningham changed the way you watch horror films. Since the invention of film, people tried to keep you in suspense. They've asked you to figure out who done it, they've tried to frighten you with monsters and they've shown you maniacal killers on the loose. Taking a page from Agatha Christie and another from H.G. Lewis, Cunningham created what would become, the slasher film.
     Two years prior, John Carpenter had the boogey man stalking babysitters and audiences loved it. Cunningham just wanted to make a similar trip to the bank, little did he realise what he would start.
     The storyline was classic: a group of strangers are thrown together in an isolated area and one by one they start disappearing. The twist is that you see how they are dispatched in a close up shot with emphasis on realism. Sure, exploitation films had been cutting people up for years over multiple drive-in and grind house theater screens but you could tell it was ketchup, tomato soup and red tempera paint.
     So now, grab a six pack of your favorite adult beverage, play some strip Monopoly and enjoy a piece of history.

Twice as thin

The Thin Man
     William Powell and Myrna Loy play Nick and Nora Charles in this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's classic who done it. Though watered down slightly, the story retains the wit and humor of the novel. Also, while it probably wasn't the first to do so, the movie makes good use of the "killer is sitting among us" dinner party that wasn't in the book.
     Although directed by the legendary W.S. Van Dyke, this movie wasn't expected to do that well. Much to the surprise of all concerned, the audiences loved it. So much so that after a flood of letters, they made five more films. There was also a television series in the late 1950's but Powell and Loy were not in it.
     Traditionally, I'll bring this one out around Christmas time and have a dry martini shaken to a waltz time but you can probably enjoy this one anytime.


After The Thin Man
     Picking up where the other one left off, Nick and Nora make it home just in time for New Years Eve. This time it seems that one of Nora's relations is missing and the family wants Nick to look into it. It's full of promise and there's even an up and coming Jimmy Stewart in the cast but it plays up the laughs too much and there's even a subplot with Asta and Mrs. Asta that just bogs it down and makes it cutesy. This was my first venture all the way through with the sequels. I don't think I'll continue.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

     This is the latest adaptation of John le Carre's famous spy thriller. This time around Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, the spy forced into retirement but then secretly called back to find a Russian mole in his former chain of command.
     While the acting is good and le Carre certainly knows his subject matter having served with British Intelligence during the cold war, I still found this movie to be interesting but not great. If you're a fan of detail overloaded spy thrillers and you liked The Russia House and The Little Drummer Girl, then by all means go now and see it. Personally, it's not my bag.

Gaslight

     This classic 1944 mystery features Charles Boyer as Ingrid Bergman's husband who is trying to convince her she's going insane. Joseph Cotten, a Scotland Yard detective with an American accent(?), starts to look into things when he notices the couple have occupied her childhood home where her mother died.
     George Cukor directs this adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play. This was also Angela Lansbury's first movie. It's worth a look if you get the chance.

Red Riding: In The Year Of Our Lord 1974

     A young journalist is investigating a missing girl. While researching, he discovers similar cases going back a few years. He begins to suspect police corruption as they start giving him the run around. Things get even hotter when the missing child is found dead at a construction site.
     This is the first of a trilogy based on David Peace's novels. It's well acted but personally, I felt it kind of wandered around. Maybe it all makes sense once you've seen all three but this one didn't do much for me.

The Hoodlum Saint

     Terry O'Neill (William Powell) returns from the war and finds the job market a little dry. After spending the last of his money to bail his three friends out of jail, he's now desperate to find something fast. He crashes a wedding for a meal and a chance to meet prospective employers. He ends up meeting Esther Williams. Luckily for him, she has an uncle in the newspaper business.
     After using the paper to tear down a local fat cat banker, O'Neill jumps ship and goes to work at the bank. He eventually makes Vice President but it has tainted his view of his former life. His three friends haven't seen him in months and when one of them gets in a jam, he agrees to help one more time if they'll leave him alone. Instead of taking credit though, in an effort to get his friend to stand on his own two feet, Terry convinces him that Dismas, the patron saint of criminals, is responsible.
     When the stock market crashes, Terry loses everything but his friend now spreads the word of Dismas. After seeing the collection plate at one of the "sermons", a couple of other past acquaintances start a Dismas racket where they keep 2/3 of everything collected for the poor. Feeling responsible for the whole Dismas thing, Terry now has to make amends and shut down the scam.
     This one is worth a look.

Good Guys Wear Black

     Chuck Norris was hitting his stride as an action hero in this 1978 release. This was also his second time in a leading role. He plays John T. Booker, a former C.I.A. black operative who's now trying to figure out why men from his last mission are being killed off after five years.
     Ted Post directed this movie that seems to be the Godfather of the '80's action genre and beyond. You can see the basis of practically every character from John Matrix to Jack Bauer in this film. I cant say that I'm a huge fan of this movie since I've always considered Chuck's Golden Age to span from 1979 to 1986 with the exception of An Eye For An Eye.
     The first two Missing In Action films I've always considered to be the re-birth of his career when he started working for Cannon. They were the necessary evils to get to Invasion U.S.A. and The Delta Force. I know that it's popular to bag on Firewalker but truth be told, I don't hate it. I saw it theatrically in 1986 and haven't seen it since, it just didn't make that strong of an impression on me. I also happened to see The Wraith right after it so the palate was cleansed before it could sink in.

Man In The Chair

     Cameron is a high school student who's only goal in life is to make a movie. One day while attending a screening of Touch Of Evil at the local retro house (yeah right, a high school kid in a retro house by choice, only in Hollywood), he meets Flash madden (superbly played by Christopher Plummer). Flash is an old school gaffer who now spends his days drinking Wild Turkey and brow beating projectionists and theater managers (I'm convinced this will be how I'll spend my twilight years).
     With an opportunity to win a scholarship to film school, Cameron asks Flash if he'll help him make a movie. Admittedly, it's a cliched story but the details and the all star cast keep it from being cheesy. On a quick and impressive side note, writer/ director Michael Schroeder got his start as First A.D. on Revenge Of The Ninja, The Big Easy, and Shakedown. He was also Second Unit Director on Avenging Force. I definitely recommend this one.

Public Sex

     A free lance journalist is attempting to do a story on doggers, or people who have sex in public places. He just wants to make journalistic observations but his roommate keeps telling him that the best way to find out about it is to be an actual participant. After trying it, he becomes more hesitant about about the story but his girlfriend becomes more drawn to it.
     Like most British comedies, it has it's moments of humor but it's not consistent. It is, however, interesting and entertaining. If you get the chance, check it out, there's much worse out there.

The Coffee Diaries-Chapter 2

     Another Sunday, another coffee shop. This time around it's The Broadway Cafe located in Westport. I haven't been there in a while so it was interesting to return. They do a nice business for a Sunday morning. I asked the girl behind the counter what was good and she recommended a Rwanda Gisenya. This is a washed bourbon peaberry.
     The peaberry is interesting in that it's smaller than your average coffee bean. The bourbon wash is a process that I'm still trying to learn more about. I have to admit that the taste is pretty good. It's bold like a dark roast but lets you know it's there without kicking you in the mouth.
     The Broadway Cafe roasts their coffee locally (literally about two and a half blocks down the street) so they can insure freshness. They're their own brand and sell retail. If you get the chance, stop by and have a cup.
     While I have found an impressive cup of coffee, the quest continues...

Mail Order Bride

     Lee Carey (Keir Dullea) has been a drunken gambling womanizer since his father passed away. Will Lane (Buddy Ebsen) recently learned of his friends passing and has come to town to fulfill his obligation as trustee of the estate. Lee can have the ranch and do as he pleases as soon as he can convince Will that he's responsible enough. Will figures that the fastest way to do this is for Lee to get married to Annie Boley (Lois Nettleton) whom he finds in a mail order catalog.
     Made in 1964, this western comedy also features Warren Oates, William Smith and Denver Pyle. It's definitely worth a look.

Last Summer In The Hamptons

     The title of this 1995 Henry Jaglom film sets the stage, so to speak, for the story of a family who have fallen on financial hardship and will be losing their house in East Hampton, Long Island. The theatrical family is known for putting on an original production each year and this is the final weekend for rehearsal. As the viewer, you start to wonder if this group of wine drinking neurotics will be able to pull this off with the slow unraveling of the family ties.

The Lucky Ones

     It's a shame that this movie wasn't given more of an opportunity to find an audience. If you missed it on the festival circuit or weren't in one of the selected cities for it's limited theatrical run, then you have to hope you're lucky enough to randomly come across it on cable.
     The story deals with three soldiers who are returning from Iraq and find themselves thrown together on a cross country road trip. All three are returning due to injuries but only Tim Robbins was discharged, Rachel McAdams and Michael Pena are on 30 day leave.
     It's pretty well written as far as the characters are concerned. The resolution for one of the characters is an impossibility but if you can overlook it, you'll make it remaining three minutes to the credits.

Double Wedding

     I can appreciate the romantic screwball comedies of the 1930's. Also, as far as I'm concerned, William Powell is The Man. I'll even go as far as to say that a William Powell film is like sex, when it's good it's great and when it's bad, it's still a William Powell film. That's the best way I can sum up my feelings on Double Wedding.
     It was originally written for the stage as Nagy szerelem by Ferenc Molnar, but something must have gotten lost in the translation because about half way through the movie things just start happening out of convenience instead of necessity. I haven't read it but it's my guess that the play has a kind of The Importance Of Being Earnest vibe to it where the movie has a why are these two suddenly together? kind of vibe.
     The cast is great with Powell playing a Bohemian vagrant and Myrna Loy as an uptight business woman who controls the lives of her sister, Florence Rice, and her spineless fiancee, John Beal. It's directed by studio favorite Richard Thorpe, who directed 184 films in his career including a handful of Tarzan films and Elvis Presley's best movie, Jailhouse Rock. It's just the script that feels like the square peg being driven through the round hole that fouls everything up. Well, like I said earlier, it's still a William Powell film.

The Matador

     This 2008 documentary follows David "El Fandi" Fandila, one of Spain's most celebrated bullfighters, as he tries to enter the exclusive club of being the thirteenth person to fight 100 bulls in a season.
     It's pretty fascinating to see everything these guys go through just to become a matador but to be able to achieve rock star status like El Fandi, who was 21 at the time, it will change the way you look at bull fighting.
     No matter which one, if you're a sports enthusiast, you will dig this movie.

Cheese & Mushroom Omelet

     Good morning America, how are you? I hope you're hungry because I have a recipe for an omelet that I think you'll enjoy. I once read somewhere that your ability to make an omelet reflects on your ability to cook in general. In the spirit of self improvement, I keep trying to perfect the omelet. Today's recipe is nothing overly special but it uses what I have and besides, you have to start somewhere.
     I start off with 3 Hy-Vee brand eggs that I crack into the mixing bowl. Next, I put in a sliver of cream cheese. You don't need too much and it helps to make the eggs fluffier. Add 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder. This adds a little flavor and it's also good for you. Finally, there's the 2 dashes of black pepper. Whisk it all together for 4 minutes and pour it into a pan big enough to spread out the mixture. Don't forget to use some non-stick spray or you will be VERY disappointed in about five minutes. Your heat should be low and your cook time slow.
     In a smaller pan, pour a little olive oil to coat the bottom and have just a little puddle. Your heat here will be medium high to high. After it heats up, add 3/4 cup of mushrooms and stir frequently. When they turn brown and get tender, they're done. Should be about 3 minutes, give or take.
     Check your eggs. By this point they should be fairly set up. Check the edges and make sure.
     Add the mushrooms and 1 cup of cheese. You can use what ever kind you want. I used a combination of Mozzarella and Mexican blend because I had just enough of both but not enough of each.
     Once you've added the ingredients, slide the spatula under one side and flip it over upon itself. Let it sit there for a minute of so, until you see the cheese start melting. Now for the tricky part, slip your spatula under the open side of the omelet and flip to the other side. I wish I could tell you some age old sage-like wisdom but in reality, I'm lucky to get this right 92% of the time. To paraphrase The Marlboro Man-Don't think, just flip the bastard.
     Traditionally, omelet's are meant to be shared but since my girlfriend sleeps through breakfast, I ate all of this myself. If you're sharing, don't forget some kind of side dish. I recommend Sweet Potato hash browns. It's easier than you think and you only need one sweet potato. Shred the potato and cook it up in some olive oil like you did with the mushrooms.
     Of course, coffee or a Bloody Mary is the perfect breakfast (read as any) time beverage, or you can get your dose of anti-oxidants with a cup of Pomegranate green tea. See you next week, Enjoy!

Tootsie

     Those of you born after 1982 may remember this as an episode of Family Guy. The rest of us remember it as the flip side of the coin when trying to decide whether to see Tootsie or Gandhi.
     Dustin Hoffman plays an actor whom nobody wants to work with. When there's a role available on a popular daytime drama, he decides to audition. The only problem is that the role is female. No problem, he can play a woman. The problems come after he gets the role.
     His roommate (Bill Murray) and his agent (director Sydney Pollack) are the only ones who know he's both Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels. His girlfriend (Teri Garr) thinks he's seeing another woman and he's constantly fighting off advances from various men on the show and the woman he's attracted to (Jessica Lange) thinks he's a lesbian.
     If it's been a while since you've seen it, give it a look, it still holds up pretty well. You can show it to somebody who only knows it as a Family Guy episode and see it again for the first time, just make sure she turns her phone off long enough to get the joke.

Shaft

     Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks? Damn right, I'm talking about Shaft, John Shaft. Hot on the heels of the popularity of Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, MGM put out Shaft, an adaptation of the first in a series of detective novels by Ernest Tidyman.
     Directed by famed photographer Gordon Parks and written by Tidyman and TV writer John D.F. Black, this movie opened the door for what became known as the Blaxploitation film genre.
     The film made an instant star out of Richard Roundtree who's only previous film work had been the Candid Camera movie, What Do You Say To A Naked Lady? He would go on to play the character in three sequels and a short lived TV series.
     For the uninitiated, the storyline deals with the events that follow the kidnapping of a crime boss' daughter as he hires John Shaft to find out who did it. If you get the chance, you should also read the Tidyman novels, you wont be disappointed.

Blue Velvet

     While doing some research, I discovered that there is another cut of this movie that's fifty minutes longer. It apparently came out on Blu-ray. I was just happy to find a version that wasn't edited for television and modified to fit my screen. I haven't seen this movie in probably ten years, it's nice to see that it still holds up.
     It also doesn't seem possible that this movie came out in 1986. Man, has it really been that long? This was Kyle MacLachlan's second film. His first being Dune, also directed by David Lynch. You know it's good because he's not playing the villain. You MacLachlan fans know what I'm talking about.
     The villain in this movie is the iconic Frank Booth, played to perfection by Dennis Hopper. I think every writer in Hollywood tried to come up with a reason for their character to huff amyl nitrate after seeing Hoppers performance.
     This kind of foreshadows Twin Peaks in a way because you find yourself wondering how nobody in this small town seems to know about this deranged crime lord but yet the movie still works. I guess even small town America has a side that everybody closes their eyes to.
     One other interesting factoid about this movie, apparently Dino De Laurentiis had to create De Laurentiis Entertainment Group because the film was so controversial that no other distributor wanted to be associated with it. Their loss.
     If you haven't seen it for a while or if you've never seen, go get it. If you happen to find the full length Blu-ray, let me know.

The Coffee Diaries-Chapter One

     As a coffee drinker I've always wondered who in this town has the best cup. Where does one go to get the taste of sweet Nirvana that is the hot brown liquid of the Gods? You may call it a New Years resolution but I call it finally getting up off of my ass and going out into the territories to hunt and gather in the tradition of my forefathers.
     Each week I plan to go to a different coffee house and seek out the best cup around. Since I live in the Kansas City area, my research will mainly be based on my findings here. Consulting the latest Yellow Pages, I figure I'll just start at the top and work my way down.
     Today, I'm at Black Dog Coffeehouse in Lenexa. Upon entering, I am greeted by two guys behind the counter. I ask them for the specialty of the house and they start to look at their shoes and mumble something about making any drink on the chalk board behind them. Now, admittedly, it did say House Specialties across the top so they weren't completely outside their rights to treat me like a jack ass. However, once I refined my search and pressed them for what was good or a favorite, I noticed that the glaze over their eyes didn't really clear.
     This is kind of like the look I used to get when I walked into a video store and asked for a movie that wasn't on the New Release wall. It's somewhere between the deer in the headlights and the look the dog gives you after dinner. They're startled by the approach and confused as to how they got there.
     Realizing that I, the customer, was looking to them, the alleged knowledgeable source, for some guidance in this matter, they told me that the John Brown was a popular item. Having the answer I came for, I ordered a large after finding out that it's not necessarily a drink but more of a particular roast of coffee.
     When I asked them what kind of coffee it was, the glaze came back. I was looking for Colombian, Ethiopian, you know, some kind of answer. "I think it's a medium roast, I'm not sure, I'm not really a coffee expert." Between the two of us, he's in more of a position to be an expert than I am. I'm just a frustrated, unemployed writer, this kid works in a coffeehouse. Coffee is his livelihood, it's just my hobby.
     To be fair, I Googled John Brown coffee before starting this and ran across the roasters website. They had some information but no real knowledge about what I was drinking. As an industry insider though, I would think these guys would have access to information that the general public doesn't. They are the face of the product and have to be able to sell it and answer questions from people like me. Is this what happened to the video store clerks after Netfix killed off Blockbuster? Do I expect too much thinking that somebody who lives and dies by the bean should know something about it? Stay tuned folks, this is only the first chapter.
     One quick thing before I go, despite what you've read about my experience, Black Dog is a pretty decent place, what the staff lacks in knowledge they make up for in courtesy and the John Brown roast is satisfying, however, the search continues...