Special thanks go out to Van Brunt for bringing this DVD set to my apartment the other day. In the past I had seen little bits of this sitcom on FX, but I never had the chance to sit through an entire episode before. I’m glad that I did because both Seasons 1 and 2 are brilliant. The writing is magnificent and the acting is very well done. I admit that the addition of Danny Devito as a regular cast member at the end of the first season threw me for a bit of a loop, but after watching a few episodes with him it was back to normal.

My buddy told me that this was a sitcom about 4 (and eventually 5) people who are just bad people - I think that’s the perfect description. I especially like the character played by Rob McElhenney who is just an arrogant, selfish jerk. It’s actually hilarious when you watch the show. And Charlie Day (who plays a character named…Charlie) does a great job at acting as the downtrodden, constantly looked over friend in the group.

There are so many great side performances in this show that it would be hard to put them all in a concise blog article. I think the McPoyle Brothers are absolutely hilarious - the best description of them would be two grown-up, extremely creepy guys (and an equally creepy family) who gross out everyone around them. They walk around in bathrobes! And then you have outlandish performances such as the character named Artemis (played by Artemis Pebdani). Artemis is an actress, but an overly dramatic actress. It plays in perfectly to the craziness that is this show.

If you can rent this box set or if you can find it at a good price, I suggest purchasing it. If you’re interested, you can watch some full episodes of this show at Hulu.com. I think there are some commercials mixed in at Hulu, but it’s still free! Anyway, I recommend this irreverent comedy to anyone looking for something different from their television shows.

A few of us went to go see Ironman the other day and it was a pretty impressive movie. Robert Downey, Jr. does an amazing job playing the self-obsessed billionaire Tony Stark. Since I used to be a major collector of Marvel Comic Cards about 20 years ago (disgusting that I remember things that are 20 years old now), I thought this would be a hard comic book character for the audience to get into in any great degree. I was wrong. Downey is excellent in a performance that has got to earn him an Oscar nomination in some category - I think his performance was that good.

On a different level, Gwyneth Paltrow also turns in a great performance as Pepper Potts - Stark’s assistant. There is the obligatory love story underneath the larger story of the movie, but hey, the filmmakers had to find a way to bring the women into the theaters! I commented to my roommate that the reason I liked Paltrow in this role is that it was a change from the generic, ditzy chick flick role that she sometimes gets cast in. Chick flicks - ugh.

And it is completely unfair to talk about this movie without mentioning the great performance turned in by Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane and later as the Iron Monger. Excellent - just excellent. The opening sequence in the movie really sets the stage for the close relationship that the audience believes exists between Obadiah and Stark. The opening sequence alone was worth the trip to the movie theater as was the ending battle between these two characters. Did anyone else feel like Jeff Bridges was channeling Jesse Ventura in this role? I did!

All in all, this was a brilliant movie with great performances. The use of the Afghanistan locale and the prisoner of war scenario was also a good move (and for those of you that may not know, that is pretty much the same Ironman story from the comic books). In today’s society, pitting an American against a terrorist cell is sure to make movie goers happy. I liked the added intrigue of the terrorists using Stark’s own weapons in their fight against the Americans and the innocents of Afghanistan. More good writing!

If you have an opportunity to go see this movie, then I highly recommend you check it out. Great performances, great story, great movie.

A few weeks ago I finished reading The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. I like The Last Kingdom so much that I bought the second book in the series, The Pale Horseman. What a great decision - this book was excellent.

Cornwell writes the book in the same style as he wrote The Last Kingdom, so it felt like I was just reading the next chapter in a novel (which is the point when writing a series, I guess). It follows the adventures of Uhtred as he fights for the Saxon side during the Danish invasions in the 800’s. In this novel, Uhtred continues to struggle with living in a country that is being converted to Christianity as well as serving a king that is anything but happy with Uhtred. If you get this novel, pay special attention to the relationship that develops between Uhtred and Steapa. I have a feeling the mutual respect that eventually forms will play a part in future novels (it certainly saves Uhtred’s life at one point during The Last Kingdom).

During the early part of the novel King Alfred is forced into the swamps of his land. In this swamp-land not only can the Danish invaders not attack him, but he finds himself in need of Uhtred’s fierce fighting skills and brash leadership style. However, one of the best scenes/events that takes place in the swamp is between Uhtred’s Briton-born love interest, Iseult, and King Alfred’s sick, dying son. Iseult performs a pagan ritual and essentially gives the boy a rebirth, but at the cost of some other boy dying somewhere else (the identity of that boy is revealed later in the book). The boy’s rebirth heals his health problems and puts Uhtred in favor with the King and the Queen for a time.

The book ends with a massive battle between the muster of Wessex and the surrounding lands fighting against two Danish leaders and their armies - Guthrum and Svein. Cornwell does an excellent job writing this part of the novel and his skill really comes across to the reader. Believe me - it’s well done. In this battle, Leofric - Uhtred’s older warrior friend - falls, but King Alfred’s forces are victorious.

The Last Kingdom is an excellent work of historical fiction. I highly recommend it to any one who is interested in pre-medieval history and historical fiction in general. For casual readers, Cornwell’s writing style will draw you in and impress you with each new chapter. This is a great read from a great writer.

While the intent of this book is to help everyday people making small, “green” changes in their everyday lives, the book is written from the stance of a person who does not have an everyday life. The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigan has some great advice for those of you looking to go green. Please understand that the message of the book is a good one even though I was turned off by the tone of the book!

For example, each chapter ends with a little quote from a celebrity about how they have gone green in one respect or another. Well, hearing about how Will Ferrell drives his electric car to the dump to do recycling doesn’t help me. And speaking of cars, they suggest flipping to a hybrid or using flex fuel if possible. Well, that’s not possible for so many younger Americans because we just can’t afford to buy a new car!

I do like the advice that they give with respect to the “paper or plastic” question. They say to choose paper since it’s easier to recycle paper bags and you can reuse them a few times before you recycle them. A few weeks ago I purchased two canvas bags (there’s a huge “PathMark” on the side of them) and I like them even better than paper or plastic. You can fit more groceries in these bags and you can fit heavier items, too. Plus you get a whopping 2 cents off of your final bill for each bag you reuse! Ha! Making millions, baby!

Right before they get into their advanced advice for each topic, they give three “Simple Steps” to living a greener, more sustainable lifestyle. These are often simple enough to follow. For example, in the Health and Beauty section they suggest buying a reusable water bottle and filling it with filtered water from home for your trips to the gym. This is great advice and can, in the long run, save you some money. Plus, you cut down on the use and production of plastic water bottles. I went out and bought a Nalgene 32 ounce refillable bottle the other day (though, admittedly, not because I read this book - a story in the New York Times got me to thinking about buying one).

They also suggest some other great ideas that I’ve been engaged in since before I read the book Some examples are getting electronic statements from your bank or brokerage account instead of paper ones; making online payments instead of using paper checks; using compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of traditional ones (this seems to be catching on around the nation); and using natural light instead of electronic light when possible. On that last point, I use natural light in the office and in my apartment as much as possible not just for green reasons, but because it’s less stressful on my eyes and the color of the light is better and more “real” than light bulb light.

Read that last sentence again and see if it makes sense. That’s a bit confusing, huh?

For those of you who have the resources and the desire to live a more sustainable, green lifestyle, I would suggest reading The Green Book. For those of you who have more pressing issues (soaring consumer debt, a mortgage gone bad, family issues, etc) you may want to put off buying this book until you’re in a better position.

Last August, my Mother told some of her friends in Pennsylvania that I was hired as an Adjunct Professor at Monmouth University. These lovely folks were glad to hear it and gave me one of the best gifts that one can receive - a book! This book, The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell, is a historical fiction…and it was an amazing read!

For some perspective - I haven’t really had a chance to read too many books since I started teaching part-time. It’s just tough to read the material for the course, prepare the PowerPoints and handouts for the course, and keep-up with some of my freelance reading choices. However, since class officially ended, I returned from my Miami trip, and the Christmas season came to an end I’ve had some free time to begin reading my own choices again. It took me less than a week to rip through The Last Kingdom - it’s a hard book to put down!

This historical fiction is a story about Uhtred, son of Uhtred, who was also son of Uhtred, etc. His land is usurped from him by his uncle and he is taken captive by the marauding Danes at the tender age of 10. This story is set during the late 800’s AD when England was being ransacked by what we would call “Vikings” today. Cornwell sticks to historical facts when he calls them Danes instead of Vikings since during the time of the story “to vike” was a verb and not a noun. Anyway, Uhtred is taken captive as a young boy as his father dies in battle defending their family’s land.

The Danes raise him and one Dane in particular, Ragnar, essentially adopts Uhtred as his own. This affords Uhtred a great deal of protection and a great source of knowledge on many topics - the most important of which is combat. As he grows up, he begins raiding English territories with the Danish fighters. Remember, now, Uhtred is an Englishman…yet he still goes ahead and raids his homeland’s territories.

Cornwell moves the story along at the perfect pace and the reader is shown Uhtred’s thoughts as he moves through the various stages of becoming a man in a war-torn land. His inner conflict is very well written; Uhtred’s inner discussions regarding with whether or not he should be fighting with the Danes or with the English is particularly well done. Ultimately, he goes back to his people though there are various reasons that lead him to that end. Uhtred, though, begins to believe that he ends up fighting for the English because of fate.

The concept of fate and whether or not a man has free will is explored at different points of the story. Uhtred is first a young by being taught the ways of Catholicism through the local priests (in spite of his family’s history being intertwined with the pagan gods). The Danes worship Thor and his set of gods and Uhtred begins to follow and believe in that religion. The compelling argument that changes his mind is the usefulness of one God versus many gods. In other words, Ragnar and the Danes ask how the Catholic God could be worth worshiping if he does not bring victory to his followers. For the young Uhtred, he sees the simplistic logic in this argument and agrees.

One of the best parts of the religious overtones in this book is how, later in the book, Uhtred is forced to wonder about some of the basic teachings of his pagan faith. Once the English begin to fight back and win battles against the Danish warriors, Uhtred wonders if the pagan religion is really the better of the two? Are the three spinners - who the Danes believe write the story of the world and thus assign everyone their fate - really spinning their webs? Or is the one God of Catholicism really mightier than the aggregated power of the pagan gods? Personally, I enjoyed this little bit of give and take that was more subliminal than written.

The novel has a great climatic scene where a great Danish warrior is defeated by the hand of Uhtred. This is one of the best written battle scenes that I’ve ever read. It seems as though describing the motions and situations of the shield walls and various battles are second nature to Cornwell. This is a testament to his comfort level when writing this historical fiction.

If it’s not obvious by this point, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of The Last Kingdom. This is the first in “The Saxon Novels” series by Cornwell. I’ve already gone out and purchased two more Cornwell books - the next in the Saxon Novels and the first in a different series. Go out and grab a copy if you can; Christmas may be over, but this book still makes a great gift!

Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, deserves all of the credit that he’s been getting in literary circles. This novel, his first, won at least a half dozen awards and was a #1 New York Times bestseller - very impressive. After hearing some folks on the radio talk about how excited they were for the movie coming out, I went and purchased a copy of this book to see what the big fuss was all about. I wasn’t disappointed.

The Kite Runner is a powerful story of a man named Amir. The story follows Amir from his days as a young boy to a fully grown man. Amir is born a child of privilege in Afghanistan during the 1970’s. His father, Baba, is a well known Afghani having given many of his neighbors their first “chance” whether it be a loan or a job or a hand out when it was most needed. Baba has a servant, Ali, who has a son named Hassan. Amir and Hassan grow up together and The Kite Runner is essentially the story of how their close friendship affects Amir for the rest of his life (or at least until the end of the book).

Hassan is fiercely loyal and protects Amir from some of the bad kids in the neighborhood - though he does this at the cost of his own safety. Ultimately, defending Amir puts Hassan in a situation where he is harshly abused by another boy and his two cronies. Amir witnesses the assault and his response determines the path of his mental stability for the rest of his life (or depending upon how you read the book, until the end of the story).

Amir buries his knowledge of the assault and goes on living with Baba until the Russians begin to invade Afghanistan. At that point he is rushed with his father out of the country and they eventually wind up in America. Baba - who has given Amir much of the direction in his life - passes away from cancer, but not before assisting Amir in becoming engaged to a young Afghanistan woman named Soraya. It turns out that there is a large Afghan community in the San Francisco area and Amir becomes a part of this community with his new wife and her family. Then, almost out of the blue, he is called to Pakistan at the request of one of his father’s former business associates who is now dying. Before the associate passes away, he makes a request of Amir: to make everything good again for both his father and himself. To make things good, Amir will need to find Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and bring him to a better life.

The story gets very quick and very interesting at this point and the last hundred pages or so are very good. As a child, Amir won a large kite-flying tournament and he had some assistance from Hassan to help collect the prize kite. The final scenes of this book revisit a kite race setting and gives hope to the reader that there might be hope for Hassan’s son, Sohrab.

There are times during this story when I feel like Amir tortures himself too much over his inaction as a child. Amir expects much from himself, but that is because of what his father expected of him as a young boy. I wonder if all young people have this mentality about themselves and their actions. I hope not!

I am grossly oversimplifying the last 100 pages of the book for the sake of this review, but I would suggest reading The Kite Runner if you have some free time and are looking for a good story. And if you do read it, let me know what you thought!

Will Smith’s latest movie, I Am Legend, will go down as a movie with some of the best previews and trailers in recent history. And, for my part, I have to say that it will go down as a major bore for all of the people who had the pleasure/displeasure of sitting through it. This one didn’t just miss the mark, it fired the gun in the opposite direction!

In truth, I hate to give this movie a bad review because there was so much potential in the concept and the original story is pretty entertaining. Yet, as a viewer I found myself wanting to care about the characters, but it just wasn’t possible. You get vague hints of the back story (though I imagine that most people know it thanks to the power of the internet) and the ending is impossible to care about (it’s too rushed, too out of line with 90% of the film, and too “easy”).

Will Smith does the best that can be expected in a role where he plays opposite a dog for most of the movie. The use of rabies-infected zombies is only marginally scary in the movie and the filmmakers missed a major opportunity to explore the zombie world during the middle of the film. Not good planning at all.

It looks like I Am Legend has grossed about $34 million to date (probably more once the Christmas numbers are added). I don’t think the movie has much drawing power left in it - almost every word-of-mouth review that I heard has been negative. Most of them go something like this, “Yeah, it was alright - not what I expected. It wasn’t that good.”

I agree. It was alright - not the worst movie ever, but not really a good movie either. My recommendation is that if you really want to see this movie, make it a Blockbuster night this spring.

This movie is fantastic! The other day I had the opportunity to watch Hatchet, the Unrated Director’s Cut. I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this movie and I was ready to be let down (I’m not big into the horror scene and I hadn’t heard of this movie before). Wow - I was completely stunned at how great this movie turned out! Now folks, let me first state that there is a lot of gore, cursing, nudity, and adult commentary on this DVD. Got it? Good, let’s move on.

You have to watch this movie if, for nothing else, to see Joel David Moore as Ben. Hilarious! He plays this quasi-loser who is really excited for a ghost tour down in New Orleans (in the middle of Mardi Gras, that is). He winds up guilting his buddy Marcus (played by Deon Richmond) into coming along with him. I don’t want to tell too much of the story because you really have to see it to appreciate the amazing mix of humor and horror, but let me say this - the work of Moore and Richmond is reminiscent of the Judd Apatow style of dialogue. It was excellent - very impressive!

I also got a good laugh out of Perry Shad who acted as the tour guide and Joleigh Fioreavanti and Mercedes McNab who acted as two, ummm, I don’t know. I guess you’d call them “Girls Gone Wild” type of girls. Absolutely hilarious dialogue between these two!

An example of some of the humor in this film… As the guests are getting ready for the tour there is a crazy man screaming trying to get their attention. The guide (Shad) tells them that the crazy man is a nut case and that they shouldn’t even bother listening to him. Shad mentioned that the guy even drank his own piss! The boat starts up and the tour moves out into the bayou. As the tour is moving out, the crazy man says:

“Y’all gonna die.” With a very remorseful look, like he knows what’s coming. Then he drinks a bottle of his own piss. Hilarious!

There are funny moments like this littered throughout the movie. But one of the biggest draws is obviously the story of Victor Crowley (played by Kane Hodder). The story is told - brilliantly - by Marybeth (played by Tamara Feldman). I don’t want to tell the story here because it’s pretty much the meat and potatoes of the movie, but you won’t be disappointed. In fact, this entire part of the movie is excellent. Not to ruin this part for anyone, but two older tourists are killed and it is absolutely hilarious!

Take my suggestion here, folks. Buy, rent, or borrow this movie now! The subtitle on the DVD Box says “Old School American Horror.” Not only is this movie made in the old school horror movie style, but it’s got the perfect mix of humor to go with the gratuitous gore. I highly recommend Hatchet, the Unrated Director’s Cut! I even went out and got a copy as a Christmas gift!

This really should be titled as a “Pamphlet Review,” but it’s no big deal. Also, please remember that this manual is written for New Jersey citizens! This manual is a product of the Center for Civic Responsibility and is authored by Harry S. Pozycki. I believe that this manual is an important read for anyone who intends on or is thinking about becoming engaged in local politics. Some of the points addressed in the manual are extremely relevant given many of the town meetings that I have attended.

One of Pozycki’s best points is about how local citizens can act for change in a community or a region. He details the need to be well-versed on the subject area that you seek a change in and he talks about how one must show respect to those in elected positions. In other words, don’t storm into a council meeting and demand that a business be condemned because you think they are too loud in the morning! Instead, speak with the business and try to handle the problem yourself. If that does not work, then speak with neighbors to get their views and - if support exists - prepare a petition that asks the town council to sanction the business unless certain guidelines are met. And at all times, be very respectful to everyone around you because remember - most of the people who are in positions of power are not paid to be there.

Pozycki also does a nice job of explaining how the planning board and school board has a great deal of power to make significant changes in local municipalities. Many times people overlook these two entities and make all of their judgment calls based directly on the town council. That’s not only not fair to the hard working men and women on the planning and school boards, but it does not do much to accomplish and real change in an area.

One of the best pieces of this manual is that it tells people about party committee seats. These are seats that are elected locally and election district-specific. The folks who serve as committee seat-holders are the ones who get to help decide a specific political party’s slate of candidates and who will fill the holes left by retirements or elected officials stepping down. This is a great way for a local person to become engaged in the political process, though you usually only find Republican and Democratic party committee seats…options that not too many of New Jersey folks may find appealing!

There are a variety of other topics covered in this manual. The manual is written in a way that cuts through the BS and gets right down to business. You can download this manual download as a PDF by clicking here. I highly suggest giving the manual a read if you are into this type of stuff!

One of my co-workers read this book last spring and she was very high on it. I picked up a copy around April because it was in the bargain bin and I admit, it’s a good read. Most of the information is dated (the book was published in 1996), but the core financial principles are universal in scope.

The authors of this book, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, have been studying millionaires for decades. They study everything about millionaires from their automotive decisions to their shopping habits to how they treat their children, where they live, where they work, and a multitude of other variables. The end results are fascinating. Most millionaires are the people living next door to you!

Stanley and Danko make some large, common sense generalizations about how to become a millionaire: spend frugally, research large expenses before they are made, be ware of get rich quick schemes, teach your children to be careful with money, don’t spoil your kids, don’t spoil your adult children, save for the future, etc, etc. All of these are basic principles that we each know (whether you realize it or not), but sometimes hearing real-life stories that back-up these principles can be very powerful. Stanley and Danko create a very powerful book by using excellent examples.

I highly suggest reading this book if you are interested in money or growing wealthier. It’s a quick, easy read that you will find hard to put down once you get to reading it. And hey - you never know…you might learn something about money!