I just got back a few days ago from my summer road trip: Boulder to Kansas City and thence the Lake of the Ozarks, where I relaxed for a week with my kids and enjoyed both the summer heat and the cool indoor air conditioning. I wrote about the Lake trip elsewhere – see Summer Vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks – but what I didn’t talk much about was the transit. Honda kindly…Read More
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with jigsaw puzzles. Most of the time I enjoy the slow, detailed process of puzzle assembly, but every so often there’s a moment when I swear that a piece is just missing and that somehow the company omitted that piece from the box. Of course, somehow it does all work out in the end and I’ve never yet had a puzzle actually missing a piece, but the…Read More
It’s been a long summer. Heck, it’s been a long pandemic, during which time both my older daughter’s boyfriend and my younger daughter (who lives with me full time) both tested positive for Covid. He had an easy go of it, but my girl had a rough weekend of flu-like symptoms, followed by a loss of taste and smell for a few weeks. It’s also been a year of very little travel for me when…Read More
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is enormous, encompassing dozens of superheroes and hundreds of characters, all tied together through vague and mysterious organizations like SHIELD or Hydra. SHIELD was created when boss-man Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) realized how fragile our world was to outside threats, then a subset of them created The Avengers. That covers about twenty movies and a couple of TV series, I think. But Marvel has had other secret organizations throughout its…Read More
Note: This is part 2. Please start here, as needed: The 2021 Rocky Mountain Driving Experience (part 1) I’d enjoyed driving the 2022 Nissan Frontier with Derek, the Nissan product specialist, but generally speaking, I prefer to drive these vehicles solo so I can screw with settings, crank the stereo, stop if I see something interesting (or a good photo backdrop), etc. Next up in the driving queue was a solo drive of the… 2021…Read More
It’s been a few years since the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press team pulled together a Rocky Mountain Driving Experience event for us auto writers and media types. You can guess why, but suffice to say it was great to get back with the group just a few days ago and take over the roads above Morrison, Colorado. Most famously, that’s where Red Rocks Amphitheater is, but our base was just a few miles away at…Read More
It might be because Halloween is coming up, but there are a lot of horror films hitting the streams and theaters right now. Some of them I can’t make it through, but others turn out to be sleepers, really good movies that demonstrate a terrific verve and sense of style. The indie horror film Come True is in the latter category and proves a good, creepy watch. It’s the kind of oppressive horror film that’s…Read More
I’ve been driving a number of different Kia vehicles recently, finding each a solid option in its class with lots of nice design touches and external design. Most recently, the sporty Kia K5 GT sedan, but I also liked the Kia Sorento X-Line too, which is, yes, a compact SUV. When I had the chance to drive the entry-level 2020 Kia Sportage SX AWD, I expected something quite similar to the Sorento. But I was…Read More
The idea that we might have already experienced a moment, an event, or an entire day is endlessly fascinating for filmmakers, Most obviously, the wry Groundhog Day (1993) starring the inimitable Bill Murray in one of his most famous roles. The Matrix (1999) dabbles with time loops ingeniously in its explanation of déjà vu. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt offer a high-tension iterating day in the terrific, albeit poorly named sci-fi actioner Edge of Tomorrow (2014)….Read More
I’ve been driving a number of different Kia vehicles this year, and each is an impressive entrant in its category. There’s no question, Kia Motors has quickly evolved to be a somewhat underrated A-list player. I suspect that most car buyers still think of the brand as being a step down in performance and luxury when compared to the premium manufacturers, but that’s no longer accurate. Get behind the wheel of a Kia and your…Read More
I’ve spent countless hours playing video and computer games and watching my kids master the hugely popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game Fortnite. But Fortnite isn’t just a game where players wander around shooting each other. It’s built upon an internal economy of clothes, costumes, accessories, and signature dance moves: players pay real money to acquire digital outfits and wacky weapons that let them complete their mission in style. Killed someone? Bust a move with…Read More
I’m now on the sidelines watching my third child go through the adventure of dating. She’s 17 and pretty darn particular about who she spends time with, especially when it comes to the possibility of an intimate relationship. My two other children are older, so I’ve been able to watch – and hear about! – how dating has progressed with each of them, and their friends, over many years. What’s become clear is that most…Read More
My usual measure of a vehicle is how it balances comfort, power, tech, and fuel efficiency, but you really can’t use all four of these criteria to measure the behemoth 2021 Cadillac Escalade. It’s ridiculously comfortable, plenty powerful and built upon more tech than you can shake a stick at. But fuel efficiency? Let’s just defer that discussion until a bit later. Suffice to say if you want a green, eco vehicle, this is not…Read More
I grew up visiting Disneyland throughout my adolescence. A definite perk of living in Southern California, and I definitely grew to have my favorite rides at the park. Given my sense of humor, it’s no surprise that The Jungle Cruise was on that list with the wry and pun-filled patter of the guides, coupled with calm, peaceful faux jungle terrain. A jungle in the heart of Anaheim? It requires no more a suspension of disbelief…Read More
There are few directors in Hollywood that have a spottier track record than M. Night Shyamalan. Bursting on the scene with the original and disconcerting 1999 film The Sixth Sense, the director has spent the last two decades trying to recapture that mix of mundane, eerie, and unexpected. Muchly relying on a startling twist in the last scene and mostly without success. From Signs, to The Village, The Happening to Lady in the Water, we’ve learned that Shyamalan…Read More
It all started way back in 1966, when Ford Motor Company introduced a “sport utility” vehicle called the Bronco. It had three models, the Roadster, the Wagon, and the Sport Utility. It did really well and over the years, Ford has gone through five major redesigns of the vehicle, ending its production run in 1996 as it was replaced by the Ford Explorer and then the Expedition. Until this year, when Ford announced it was…Read More
Fermentation is probably one of the most important chemical reactions known to humankind. Since the dawn of civilization, people have been taking advantage of how sugars change into alcohol, the process that underlies every alcoholic beverage, from the lowliest moonshine to the fanciest aged cognac. Fundamentally, though, it’s straightforward: water + yeast + sugars = alcohol. Want to make a specific spirit like vodka, gin, or brandy? You’ll need specific sugar sources (grains versus fruits,…Read More
The open scene of the new Japanese martial arts action film Hydra tells you everything you need to know about the movie; stylized florescent lighting, spontaneous and shockingly violent action, an 80’s electronica soundtrack and almost no dialog. Director Kensuke Sonomura and cinematographer Yasuyuki Suzuki have created a beautiful homage to 80’s action films, even with the typeface chosen for the opening credits. Like waking up to a slap on the face, the opening scene…Read More