Planes: Fire and Rescue: Campfire S’mores Recipe
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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.
DVDS from the summer rental cabin that I somehow missed the first time around – the good, the bad, and the ugly. First Different Drummer has her say, then other critics – who may or may not agree.
2009 – An Education: Champagne Punch
An education… in the school of hard knocks, if you will forgive a somewhat salacious pun. Yes, for years older men have seduced teen-aged girls, but usually without the willing cooperation of their clueless parents.
“... attempts to impress audiences with its worldliness, but it comes off instead as an awkward, unformed teen fantasy run amok.” Jeremy Hellman
2008 - Flashbacks of a Fool: English Apple Traybake
Maybe the real fool is Daniel Craig, who cashes in his 2007 James Bond bona fides for this insipid vehicle produced by his best bud.
“An ambitious but disappointing, regret-filled psycho-drama.” Jeannette Catsoulis
2008 27 Dresses: Mexican Wedding Cakes
This sweet comedy makes you want to believe in love all over again. And 27 of the most bizarre wedding themes in all their over-the-top splendor provide the icing on the cake.
“27 Dresses is so flimsy it gives froth a bad name.” Peter Ravers Rolling Stone
2007 – P.S. I love You: Lamb Shanks Braised in Guinness Stout
Gifted veterans like Kathy Bates and Hillary Swank can’t bring this script back from the dead even with the assistance of Gerard Butler's ghost. The Irish clichés are as flat as day old Guinness.
“I hated every calculated second of it with a passion.” David Keyes.
2006 The Holiday: English Fairy Cakes
The ham-fisted Hollywood/British clichés fade with Jude Law’s textured sweetness, but it is 91-year-old Eli Wallach who steals the show.
“No amount of ironic gift wrapping can conceal the triteness within in this double-plotted festive chick flick that is too long by half, and too cloyingly sweet to be healthy.” Anton Bitel
2006 The Devil Wears Prada: New York Appetizers
Merly Streep as the chic dominatrix of the fashion police relishes every stinging slap of her leather-barbed insults.
“An agreeably shallow comedy.” C.R. Jones
“The whole thing is humbug, a giant ad for the industry it affects to critique.” Ben Walters
1987 - 84 Charing Cross Road: Apple Brown Betty
As a love story it’s a near miss, but with legends like Anne Bancroft and Antony Hopkins as well as a nearly unrecognizable Judi Dench lending her hand, how can you resist?
“…such unrelieved genteelness that it makes one long to head for Schrafft'sfor a double-gin martini, straight up, and a stack of cinnamon toast from which the crusts have been removed.” Vincent Canby
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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.