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.
You can’t help but fall in love with this 2020 British adaptation of James Herriot’s first unsteady steps as a young veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales (hills for us Yanks). It’s Midsomer without the murders, and an enchanting assortment of loveable and eccentric characters, humans and animals alike.
Read MoreIt doesn’t get any better than this! Two “bandits” on the run battling officious bureaucrats, murderous thugs, an armed blind man, and a past that haunts each of them. An excellent ensemble cast keeps it heartfelt without being hackneyed, as they remind us how much we have to fight to keep dreams alive.
Read MoreAn astonishingly young and vulnerable Mel Gibson careens between the influence of a mercurial photographer and his growing passion for a lovely British attaché in Jakarta, Indonesia. Festering poverty and violence envelop us, the heat palpitates like a hammering heartbeat, and ambition battles better angels.
Read MoreSteven Spielberg again reminds us that one purpose of great drama is to inspire as well as delight. His film does both.
Read MoreMontreal-born Leonard Cohen, who died November 7, 20016, at age 82, is Canada’s Bob Dylan, but he never went electric, sold out, or even yearned for fame. As his sage comments interspersed throughout reveal, Cohen the man is definitely more interesting than the film that pays him tribute, showing us that some aging icons actually achieve both wisdom and humility.
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A tremendous script, spot on performances by the two leads, a wonderful sense of humor, and perhaps most important, humanity and hope replacing the edgy nihilism that so dominates current films.
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Pass the popcorn and strap yourself in for the ride. It’s time to revisit this terrific 2013 thriller, and it’s no surprise that it was the sneering critics rather than the plot that was so predictable.
Read MoreDamian talks to dead people. However, his conversations are not with bloody corpses, but with surprisingly engaging and human saints of yore. For a refreshing return to innocence seen through a child’s eyes stream this 2005 British film.
Read MoreMy pretty and perky granddaughter Ava helped me bake these for her 5th birthday way back in June of 2012.. We had a great time. This recipe is well suited for young ones because so much of it is like working with play dough. It’s nice and messy, too.
Read MoreDustin Hoffman hits all the right notes in his directorial debut about an English home for retired musicians. It comes somewhere in between the English melancholy glimpse into the abyss of old age offered by The Last Bus and the randy vulgar denial of it too often presented by Hollywood.
Read MoreThis 2011 film shows how one man navigates the very same rough economic waters that are affecting us all. He can’t change the wind, but he can adjust his sails.
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It’s about hidden ancient treasure, but don’t think Indiana Jones . Neither is this English period drama circa 1938 a Downton Abbey of landed gentry with glittering gowns, uniformed chauffeurs, and a kitchen staffed with a small army of cooks.
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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.
