Often been surprised by a movie after what a film critic said about it? Ever felt cheated out of big bucks on the recommendations of a punk 24-year-old? Or really loved the ones they panned? Well, you no longer need to feel out of step with the current movie review band. Different Drummer is for you. Read more about our take on the film world. And get ready to relive your favorite movies with the recipes that follow each review. You can find many other great recipes in Different Drummer’s own Appetite for Murder: a Mystery Lover’s Cookbook, too.
The little town of Round Top, Texas, halfway between Houston and Austin, hosts a Country Antiques Show. Its roadside grasslands are piled high in French enamel, stained glass, old time buggies, grandfather clocks, wooden grain buckets and benches, or Chinese wedding baskets painted a festive red, to name but a few of the treasures for sale.
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Steve McQueen is mesmerizing is this brutal saga capturing man’s eternal yearning to be free. At the jungle labor camp he battles betrayal, disease, starvation, as well as encounters with unfriendly lepers, a pragmatically sadistic prison director, nuns with unusual ideas of Christian charity, and more than one person setting him up for certain death. But it is his unlikely alliance with fellow prisoner Dustin Hoffman that anchors this epic tale.
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Beirut in 1982, once exotic and sophisticated, is now a chaotic rubble. But no more so than its prodigal son, fallen from diplomatic grace, who returns to rescue an old friend.
Read MoreNo wonder it was banned in China, and its director and star were placed under gag orders. To Live depicts all too well the brutal upheavals of the communist revolution in this poignant saga of one family trying to survive its embrace.
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Just change the point of view and “the greatest story ever told” becomes new and fresh again. This time it is the disciples, uneducated and often lost and confused, who frame this exquisite narrative about Jesus.
Read MoreThink Father Brown time warped back about 8 centuries. Cadfael’s not a priest but a 12th century monk who solves medieval mysteries.
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This isn’t just a slap in the face to the glamorized intrigue of the spy world; it’s a punch in the gut, a leveling one that bends you over and leaves you groaning. An unflinching portrait of moral compromise that slowly eats away at a man’s soul, whether he is on the right side or not.
Read MoreThis 1987 film is even better than I remembered. Action, adventure, and a superb cast of characters who gain courage from each other as they fight against entrenched corruption both inside and outside the law.
Read More“Four weeks that changed the course of history.” It doesn’t get much bigger than that. If you missed this tremendous film when it was in the theaters, watch it now!
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Appetite for Murder: A Mystery Lover’s Cookbook
Also available here
by Kathy Borich
A tantalizing slant on cooking and crime. Relive your favorite classic detective stories and then whip up the food that caught the culprit.
"Look, you don't have to go to law school to figure out there's something very, very wrong at Lady Bird Lake," Nancy Grace says in the episode's opening of her “Austin Serial Killer Fears” episode. She even derides the police who refer to the events as “unfortunate incidents.” Yes, she is a bit over the top, and some of her guests are so called experts not really familiar with the Austin area or the specific cases, but she does have a point.
Move along everyone. There’s nothing to see here. That seems to be the escalating nonchalance citizens are getting from the Austin Police Department regarding the 12 bodies that have been found in or very near Ladybird Lake in Austin Texas in the past 22 months. The last three - one February 6th , another April 9th, and a third on April 13th have not even been identified.
Different Drummer herself has noticed the weak city response in terms of safety measures as she and her husband ride past the Rainey Area near Lady Bird Lake. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. What good are some pallid lights and a split rail fence if there are big gaps with only a sign to warn those of danger? Certainly, someone drunk, as may or may not be the case, probably would or could not read it.
Update: They are beginning to install electricty along the path for better lightning as of April 2024
February 6, 2024
“A body was found Monday, Feb. 6, 2024, in a Texas lake, the same site where other deceased individuals have been discovered in recent months, authorities said.
“At least five people have been found dead at the lake, which is a portion of the Colorado River running through downtown Austin, since last year.” –Louis Casiano, Fox News
The body is that of a woman, which differs from the previous drownings, all of which were men around age 30. As usual, the police are mum and saying there are no signs of foul play, but what else is new? –DD
Different Drummer will keep you informed as further details emerge. Below is the area where the recent body was found.
In 2023 alone, five bodies have been found in in Lady Bird Lake, and according to local reports, as many as eight in the past 10 months.
Different Drummer and her husband Gary have been biking this trail around the lake for decades. They live in the thick of it, on a quaint tree-lined street across the river from the glittering Austin Skyline.
Follow our two Cycling Sleuths chronicle where their path crosses those who did not return home to their loved ones.
Smiley Face Connection: February 2024 Update: Another Body Found
The Serpent’s Tooth: A Texas Mystery
Austin is now the trendy number one city, but back in the eighties it was more laid back – not so many skyscrapers and urban hipsters. Just outside of town, you'd be likely to run into old cowboys, ranch hands, and a diamondback or two. And just maybe – an accidental death not as accidental as it seems…
Complete with Texas Recipes for the Oktoberfest Dinner where all is revealed.
An Illustrated Introduction to Classical Horsemanship: Concepts and Skills from A to Z
by Gary Borich
A comprehensive resource in a succinct alphabetical format that brings the beginning rider through every aspect of learning to train and ride for show and trail.
