Kia is one of those carmakers that keeps improving its product year over year, without the car buying public necessarily realizing it’s happening. One of my buddies is a big fan of both Kia and Hyundai, both Korean-based car manufacturers, so I hear all about the latest improvements and model releases. As a result, I was definitely interested when Kia offered me the chance to drive the 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid EX and was appreciative…Read More
From the classic film Topkapi (1964) to Ocean’s 11 (the original 1960 version or the terrific 2001 remake) to Mission Impossible and the Fast & Furious mega-franchise, a motley crew of criminals teaming up to take down an even bigger criminal has long been a staple of action cinema. It’s no surprise, though; between them, the Fast & Furious and Mission Impossible films alone have generated billions in box office and ancillary revenue. The formula’s…Read More
32 miles is a special number in the world of automobiles. The reason is buried in ABC’s study on commuting, wherein they state that commuters “report an average one-way commute time of 26 minutes (over an average distance of 16 miles).” 32 miles, then, is the average round-trip commute in the United States. Lots of people have shorter commutes and some unfortunate souls have much longer commutes. When I’ve reviewed plug-in hybrid vehicles, one of…Read More
This shop has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HealthierToes At various times I’ve had a house full of athletes. From basketball to volleyball, gym visits to yoga, my family is active and we all strive to avoid the dreaded world of the couch potato. There are a lot of benefits to being physically active, of course, but there are some dangers that lurk too, some healthy living…Read More
Those poor pandas, stuck in the zoo when they want to be out and in the wild. Who wouldn’t prefer their natural habitat to a zoological park where everyone just stares at you all the time? Fortunately, these pandas are savvy and have cut a deal with the sneaky meerkats just over the wall; it’s a zoo break! In Pilftering Pandas from Wren Games, it’s your job to help your panda collect sets of food…Read More
Gaming can be an expensive hobby. Check out the latest well-funded campaigns on Kickstarter and you’ll assume you can’t get a new game for under $150 and to have all the cool components it can cost twice that. Daunting! Fortunately, there are people who are fighting this tide, game designers more interested in having others play their games than in making lots of money. People like Charles Ward at Ex1st Games, who creates “Forever Free”…Read More
When Strategic Axiom Mentoring founder Sam Peurifoy reached out to me about his business, I was intrigued. Tutors are a great addition to any educational journey and my daughter K-‘s math tutor has helped turn her most hated subject into one she loves (and has straight A’s in), so I get the benefit. But PhD tutors? During our conversation back and forth it became obvious that there were some pretty interesting questions to consider. The…Read More
Deductive puzzles based on a process of elimination are a mainstay of family games, best represented by the popular Hasbro game “Clue”. Everyone’s racing around the board trying to collect as many clues as possible to eliminate suspects, weapons, and locations to be able to narrow down that classic question: whodunit? This entire class of games requires patience and a good memory, and you typically need to know the entire field of suspects (weapons, locations,…Read More
One of the great changes to the horror genre over the last few years is the increased speed of the monsters. Gone are shambling zombies that you could outwalk while enjoying an ice cream cone and a blob that oozes down the street at an amusingly glacial pace. Because of improvements in visual effects, monsters are bigger, faster, and much more intense. Jumpscare, meet terrifying visage! And yet, the buildup is part of what makes…Read More
The lure of a supercar is that even sitting still it looks fast and sexy. Then there are the more pedestrian vehicles that look like they’re parked even when they’re zipping down the highway. The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat I was loaned by Dodge lands somewhere in the middle: In fact, it’s the Clark Kent of cars. From the outside, it’s a rather mild-mannered SUV with very little exceptional about its design, but under…Read More
You’ve probably heard of Tangrams. It’s a puzzle with seven shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. Mostly triangles, they might include a square or a rectangle. Katamino is the next evolutionary step of this type of puzzle; a collection of a dozen different “pentaminos”, each of which is five units in size, that you have to fit together to fill a rectangular space. The bigger the grid, the more pieces you…Read More
Cargo trucks, vans, and small buses were great utilitarian vehicles but they also beget a new type of vehicle: The minivan. First introduced in 1983, the Dodge Caravan (and its sibling the Plymouth Voyager) launched the segment, a category of vehicle that was destined to be a craze for many years. From its peak of almost 7% of all vehicle sales in the mid-2000’s, the minivan has subsequently lost market share year after year to…Read More
Film is all about metaphor. We know that they’re actors, we know that there’s a cameraperson pointing a lens at the actors, a sound person holding a mic above their heads, a director telling them when to start and stop the action, and an editor chopping up the scenes to establish a certain tone, rhythm or emotional response. We happily ignore the technical in our desire for a good story. The dead can resurrect, people…Read More
Considering that we spend approximately one-third of our lives sleeping (at least in an ideal world) it’s remarkably difficult to test out mattresses, understand the differences between mattress technologies, and end up with a great mattress on your bed. Furniture shopping is worse, so if you want to get a great bed frame to pair with your mattress, it’s an even more challenging task. It’s hard to say why this is the case; people spend…Read More
The last few vehicles I’ve driven have all hovered in the mid-20’s for fuel efficiency, but the latest generation of engines and vehicle design can support driving a lot further per gallon of gasoline. I’ve wondered if perhaps too much of the industry’s attention focused on electric vehicles and SUVs? Maybe not, if the 2021 Honda Accord Hybrid TRG is representative. Its sporty lines, peppy drive, and smart interior design demonstrate how far Honda’s has…Read More
Living in the ‘burbs, I have grass in both the front and back yard of my house. As does every one of my neighbors. It’s a curious aspect of suburban life, the desire to pretend the big housing complex construction project didn’t eradicate a field and replace it with driveways and roads. Be that as it may, however, there is something delightful about a thick, plush, healthy green yard. Unfortunately, I’ve learned over the years…Read More
Films can profoundly impact our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, but to really work their magic, the best subtly weave their message into a compelling story. People prefer watching a robot run amok to a scientist standing in front of a whiteboard, lecturing about the dangers of robots. Indeed, sharing a well-told story is a profoundly human experience. And that’s the core problem with the new indie thriller 86 Melrose Avenue; writer/director Lili Matta has so…Read More
A few weeks ago the team at Liquid Einstein generously sent me a box of their “brain supplement” formula. This is what’s known as a nootropic, a “drug used to enhance memory or other cognitive functions”. Intriguing, right? I’ve been waiting until a particularly cognitively foggy morning to try it, however, and that’s exactly how this morning started out. I slept poorly, woke up too early, and had to help my youngest get her luggage…Read More