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.
Is it happening all over again? The impulsive romance, quickly souring, and then ending in a brutal murder? Then married couple Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson play two sets of star crossed lovers executing a tortuous pas de deux that mirrors what happened decades earlier.
Read More
A screenplay superbly crafted by David Mamet, Anthony Hopkins working his magic alongside a compelling Alec Baldwin, not to mention a 9-foot Kodiak bear bulldozing his way through the Alaskan wilderness. What’s not to like?
Read More
Sandra Bullock glows as the lovelorn CTA ticket taker hopelessly in love with a regular commuter, but the whole cast is tremendous as well. She is the shimmering star atop the Christmas tree, but the others are the lights and ornaments that make this film sparkle.
Read MoreNo one is better at playing superficial, selfish ogres than Hugh Grant. You might say he has lived that life, at least a bit. But that only sets us up for his “redemption,” and this one is probably the steepest climb of them all.
Read MoreIt’s time to revisit this classic. Remember when Hollywood valued humor, playfulness, and witty banter? Instead of action, action, action, with a few dollops of self-righteous preaching thrown in for good measure.
Read More
Maybe the most inspiring film ever. It’s a true story of Srulik, an 8-year-old Polish Jew who must survive on his own, outwitting the cold, hunger, and the relentless Nazis. And a few others as well.
Read More
Make it a double feature, a followup to Top Gun: Maverick: Great Balls of Fire Cocktail, with“one-man supernova” Tom Cruise saving the the world once again.
Read MoreDespite its July release, this wasn’t exactly a summer popcorn movie. But it is definitely a must see because it exposes a concealed crisis from which too many wish to avert their eyes: the human trafficking scourge that affects approximately 2 million children a year.
Read MoreIn the bleak shadows of 2023 streaming, a new film is a lamp onto our feet. One of the few new offerings that is uniformly excellent.
Read More
Steven Spielberg reimagines war –its tragic irony, chaos and confusion –through the eyes of a young English boy in Shanghai who lives through the Japanese invasion (and occupation) of that British colony.
Read MoreProbably the only movie that is as good or better the second time around. The first time is creepy and surreal. The second time an intellectual exercise as well as a lesson in humility.
Read MoreGaslight: To manipulate someone psychologically such that they question their own sanity, particularly by leading them to doubt their own experiences or perceptions of reality.
Here is the 1944 classic that spawned the term.
Read MoreClick on Index to access SEARCH
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.
