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It is always nice to spend an evening with one of the people who fascinates you in so many ways. Last night I took a short reprieve from the hustle and bustle to see - probably my favorite author - Jeffery Deaver appear at the Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, MI. It was a fun presentation by Mr. Deaver.

I have now seen Mr. Deaver on three separate occasions over the years. I try to make my rounds to see the various authors that I read and/or collect. By far Jeffery Deaver is the nicest and most personable author I have met. He seems genuinely appreciative of our interest in his work, not just the almighty dollar. Each time I have seen him he appears to thoroughly enjoy speaking to the crowd and interacting with people who take the time to attend his appearances.

I understand that anything read by the person who wrote it can sound more fluid than water, but listening to him read from his latest (Lincoln Rhyme) novel The Cold Moon did create a significant urge to drop everything and read it.

I have taken a recent hiatus from Thriller Fiction and explored other areas of writing. After having read almost nothing but Suspense/Thriller novels for three years, the stories seemed to all blend together. All but Jeffery Deaver's, and I made the mistake of lumping his together with other writers who grew monotonous. His books excite me. The feelings and reactions he incites in me as I read are why I read books. They are also why I want to write. Someday I hope to provide a reading experience like the ones that Jeffery Deaver has provided to me in so many of his books.

If you have the chance, pick up a Jeffery Deaver novel and thumb through it. I do recommend them.

If you're interested in a few pictures from last night's engagement, they are available here.

Congratulations to Randy Foye. He received an incredible amount of praise last night from everyone involved with the 2006 NBA Draft that I feel he has more than earned. I can understand that he was not drafted before the seventh pick, but obviously would have liked to see this Villanova guy go higher in the order.

I was a bit worried initially. His being drafted 7 was by the Boston Celtics, who had traded the rights to that pick to the Portland Trailblazers. That would be a horrible system in which to begin his career. The team has accurately been called the "New York Knicks of the West." The team is beyond need to rebuild and is not the place for a young guard to shine. When the news came through that Portland had traded the rights to Randy to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the rights to Brandon Roy and some change, my heart picked itself back up off the floor.

I was hoping, as the draft started, that Randy would land in Minnesota. If the Timberwolves look to hang on to Kevin Garnett it would be an unbelievable experience for Randy. He could really begin to make an impact early.

It is very exciting, as a Villanova graduate and basketball fan, to see a player like Randy receiving such praise and being in the position to begin his career with a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Best of luck to Randy and also to Kyle Lowry who left Villanova after his sophomore year to be drafted 24 by the Memphis Grizzlies.

1. Robin Hood

2. Lion King

3. Aladdin

4. Little Mermaid

5. Jungle Book

(Honorable Mention: The Rescuers, Sword in the Stone, Emperor's New Groove, The Black Cauldron)

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If I lay here...if I just lay here...would you lie with me...and just forget the world...

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

They say love and money don't mix, but you can't blame Harry Lockhart for trying. He's been whisked from a life of petty crime to Hollywood, where he'll audition for the role of a movie detective and be tutored for the part by a private eye. Now all Harry has to do is convince the dream girl he meets that he's an actual detective. And try not to stumble over the corpses as reel life abruptly gives way to the real.

Lights, camera, plenty of action! Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) provides the screenplay and makes his directing debut in a clever fusion of buddy movie and hardboiled noir produced by Joel Silver. Roberty Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan play the thrust-together trio -- a naive schemer, a tough-as-nails gay detective, and a hopeful actress clinging to her dream. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Watch Watch.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist -- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.

With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

Markus Zusak, award-winning author of I Am the Messenger, has crafted an unforgettable novel about the ability of books to feed the soul.

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From epicurious.com.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons gin
1/4 teaspoon dried orégano, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 whole skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1/2 pound each)
2 cups thinly sliced onions

In a shallow dish whisk together the lemon juice, the gin, the orégano, the salt, the sugar, and pepper to taste, add the oil in a stream, whisking, and whisk the marinade until it is emulsified. add the chicken, coating it well with the marinade, and let it marinate, covered and chilled, for 20 minutes. Grill the chicken, reserving the marinade, on an oiled rack set about 6 inches over glowing coals for 7 minutes on each side, or until it is cooked through. While the chicken is grilling, in a heavy skillet combine the reserved marinade and the onions and boil the mixture, covered, over high heat, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown. Reduce the heat to moderately low and cook the mixture, uncovered, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a heated platter and with a slotted spoon scatter the onions around it.

Serves 2.

This recipe seemed to call out for an asparagus side dish, but I made asparagus last time I entertained. For my vegetable I opted instead for a caesar salad, which I felt worked very well. Add roasted red-skin potatoes and two bottles of chardonnay and our meal was complete. I doubled the recipe with no problems. The only liberty I took was in omitting the onions which was in favor of my own and my dinner guests' preference. I got my chicken breasts from the meat counter at my local supermarket. They were enormous and stayed tender and juicy with the marinade. This recipe is a keeper.

"Hey, if I don't see you, have a great weekend."

_____

Do we imply with this that if you do see me that my weekend will automatically be awful?

Who has this power? Am I the only one who works with the walking cursed? If you see me later, your weekend will be bad...

I have now realized that if someone says that to me I must avoid them at all costs. I want to have a great weekend. I do not want it spoiled just because I passed you in the hallway at work again.

_____

Do we imply with this that if you do see me that you hope my weekend is awful?

Is this guy just a jerk?

_____

Or do we maybe imply that his weekend will be so great that if he does see me that I am guaranteed to have a good time?

That way he hopes that if we don't cross paths that he hopes I can come up with some way to have fun other than in his presence. That is rather nice of him, but I think I will not put him in that position and I will hunt him down instead to get me some of this rockstar weekend. "I have glorious ends to my week without fail, if our fates do not intertwine over the next few days, please find in your heart to go on without me in search of enjoyment."

_____

Or mayhap he is so conceited that he does not see it as possible that you could have a good weekend without seeing him, but he wishes you well regardless?

Screw you, pal.

_____

The important thing is that I do not over analyze anything.

Lucky Day: In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be the actual El Guapo!

Timothy Treadwell spent 13 seasons with the grizzly bears in Alaska. He followed them, studied them, lived among them. For the first few years he would take pictures and in the later years he carried a video camera with him to document his experiences on film. He would present them at various speaking engagements for which he never charged a fee. He wanted to dispel the feeling that grizzly bears were inherently dangerous. He believed, rather, that they should be respected and loved by humans. His message, from the beginning, was that he was so passionate about this cause that he would die for these animals. Each year when he set off to Alaska he would tell friends that if he should not return, they should not worry because it was what he wanted. It was how he wanted to go, if he must.

In the end, that is exactly what Timothy got. In 2003 he and his companion killed by a bear.

Grizzly Man is a documentary about Timothy Treadwell. It tells about the man before he became obsessed with bears and it talks about the man as he lived among the bears. We see actual footage taken by Timothy and we see first person accounts from family and friends. One of the more interesting perspectives included in the film is that from people who think Timothy got exactly what he deserved. The contrast between a man and woman tragically killed by a bear and sentiment that he was doing more harm than good to the bears he was committed to protect was sharp.

The movie was very interesting. Despite the interference with nature, and the breaking of a few federal laws, Timothy Treadwell had a unique perspective on life. The film would not have been worth seeing if it did not contain so much footage from his time in Alaska. So much of his philosophy was explained as narrative to his video. His transition away from human society was remarkably well captured over the years. He grew more and more comfortable among the bears and less and less cautious. It would be his downfall.

I do not usually make a point to watch documentaries, but this one looked different. It was entertaining in documentary terms, but if you are deciding between this and something a bit more fictional, I am not sure you should pick Grizzly Man.

I liked it well enough, though I do not anticipate the need to ever watch it a second time. Put Grizzly Man on your "to rent" list.

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[He] knew that the most invaluable man in any job is the one who can make his colleagues -- and his superiors especially -- appear invaluable as well.

1. The Green Mile

2. Saving Private Ryan

3. Big

4. A League of Their Own

5. Joe Versus the Volcano

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Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) and Gary (Vince Vaughn) live in the condo that they own together. They have had all of the conversations about what is to come from their future; things look good until one night. Brooke feels that Gary does not participate well enough in the relationship. She feels that she goes above and beyond her duty and not only does he fail to meet her halfway, he does not appreciate what she does for him. She breaks up with him.

Now she must do everything in her womanly power to make him realize that he needs to make some changes in his life and want to win himself back into her favor. But is it that simple?

My expectations were relatively low. To my knowledge, the movie has not been reviewed well in most circles. Some people expect it to be 100% chick flick. Some people expect it to be 100% Vince Vaughn hilarity. The reality falls somewhere south of the latter and to the left of the former.

The movie was absolutely hilarious...until their first fight - the break-up fight. The movie then took on a serious tone for the next 20-30 minutes. It was a sharp contrast from the raucous laughter that spewed from the audience as the movie began. The laughs that came throughout the remainder of the movie were hearty, though sporadic.

I had heard that it was not a great date movie. Various scenes harp on not-so-subtle idiosyncrasies exhibited by both men and women in relationships. Apparently there has been some trouble caused among viewers who then have things pointed out that they relate to their own mate. My feelings are that maybe this could be true if you are in a middle stage of a relationship. If you are early you have not seen signs of anything yet that could be highlighted in the movie and if you are late in the game you are over it by now. But I do pass along the warning anyway.

Vince Vaughn was great. Vince Vaughn's humor was somewhat of an amalgamation of other roles he has played. He had relationship insight like he did in Wedding Crashers and some right-on-time trash talk like he did in Swingers. I will continue to tout him as the new Bill Murray. He does the slapstick, sophomoric humor; he does serious drama; he does touching chick flick. He is very likeable on screen. So far anyway, he has the Midas Touch.

Jennifer Aniston, in many scenes, has never looked better. I do not expect to see her name attached to any blockbuster roles, but she does well in this chick-flick niche. She is well suited to the characters in the genre.

Welcome back to movies, Joey Lauren Adams. She put on a few pounds and looks good. Her role was small, but she did a good job as the nagging friend whose advice is misinterpreted by Brooke.

Vincent D'Onofrio takes on another quirky role like the one he played in Thumbsucker. The characters were vastly different, but it seems that Mr. D'Onofrio is stretching his artistic legs a little. It was a small part, but he did well.

As if Joey Lauren Adams' reincarnation wasn't enough, Cole Hauser came out of the woodwork. Probably the only thing you've seen him in was Dazed and Confused, and after that role you did not expect to see him in anything ever again. Though he did have a small roll in Tigerland, which is a fantastic movie.

Jon Favreau was great. I love to see Favreau and Vaughn interact on screen. I still picture Mikey and Trent (Swingers) when the witty banter begins.

The movie was good, not great. I may never see it again, but it was entertaining enough.

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Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter, Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school. Or maybe it's Janine, Miles's soon-to-be-ex-wife, who's taken up with a noxiously vain health-club proprietor. Or perhaps it's the imperious Francine Whiting, who owns everything in town -- and seems to believe that "everything" includes Miles himself. In Empire Falls Richard Russo delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache, and grace.

Empire Falls came recommended to me by a professor of mine from a few semesters ago. From many talks about books after class, she suggested I look into this and Last Days of Summer.

The book briefly describes the lineage of the Whiting family -- the family with nearly sovereign status over the small town -- and the Roby family -- one of many families who serve the Whitings, though in a manner different from all the rest. A man (Miles Roby) with a teenage daughter hides from the conflict in his life. He avoids dealing with his wife who leaves him for a man who frequents the diner he manages and he avoids dealing with the oppressive woman who owns the diner.

The story was set in a small town in the state of Maine. I had expected the story would spend more time championing the little guy, though it opted to keep him down a little longer.

The writing was pretty good, though there were random interjections of harsh language and sexual situations which stuck out like sore thumbs. Those two things can easily be an acceptable addition to any story, though it has to fit. In a story about a man struggling to earn his living and keep his family together, an excerpt from an erotic novel that he found in a friend's school bag over 15 years earlier does not fit. I don't think so anyway.

The book, overall, was just ok. I did like the simple theme in every character's life that they were just doing what they needed to do to find happiness in their own world. Unfortunately, some of the rest of the book left me bored.

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[He] felt an ache in his chest that turned out to be, as so often occurs when memory and desire conjoin with a transient effect of weather, the pang of creation.

Three brothers from New York struggle through conflicts arising from their Irish Catholic heritage. At first separately, and then together they tackle love, marriage, and infidelity. Their parents were not ideal role models in matters of the heart so they are forced to teach themselves in this picture written and directed by Ed Burns, which features familiar faces from She's The One.

The acting was a little rough around the edges and with the choppy video, it is evident that this was a low-budget project. Ed Burns was not the first to write a movie about failed relationships and burgeoning love, nor did he put an overly memorable feel on his version. The ending was slightly touching, which was at least nice from my perspective to get some relatively positive emotion out of the movie. I spent most of my time bored with it, but it did end decently by comparison.

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Drew Baylor: No true fiasco ever began as a quest for mere adequacy. A motto of the British Special Air Force is: 'Those who risk, win.' A single green vine shoot is able to grow through cement. The Pacific Northwestern salmon beats itself bloody on it's quest to travel hundreds of miles upstream against the current, with a single purpose, sex of course, but also....life.

1 C. flaked coconut
1/2 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 C. butter or margarine, melted
1 C. apricot preserves, optional
2 T. Dijon mustard, optional

Heat oven to 400° F.

Wash your hands.

Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in medium bowl. Dip chicken into egg, then coat with coconut mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan. Wash your hands.

Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through, turning once. If you stick an instant-read thermometer in the center of the chicken breast, it should register 165° F.

Meanwhile, mix apricot preserves and Dijon mustard until well blended. Serve as sauce with chicken.

This recipe came from thatsmyhome.com. I cannot comment on the apricot/mustard sauce since we left that off our meal, but the chicken was fantastic. Like any breading/batter recipe, however, I do recommend you use a little more than the directions ask for when you prepare that part.

Harvard professor Robert Langdon was dragged into a religious conflict that dated back a few millenniums. He and French Cryptographer Sophie Neveu had work together to follow the path toward the answers. Conflicts arose from many sources: the figurative path to follow was not known, neither were the questions whose answers are sought, and Robert Langdon was wanted for murder. In a surprising turn of events, the path begano reveal itself in religious lore and a few of Leonardo Da Vinci's works.

I cannot say how enjoyable the movie would be to someone who has not read the book, or at least read it recently. I had just finished reading the book about two weeks before I saw the movie at the theater. Many things were different. In my opinion, too many things were different. There were so many intricate details pieced together in the book that had to be removed for the sake of time that left enormous holes. Some of the holes were patched with movie-specific details, but they were not as good.

I believe that, for the most part, people prefer whichever came first, reading the book or seeing the movie. It becomes a reference point against which the other is measured and many differences seem too great to overcome. Having read the book first, I cannot tell you if the book is worth reading after seeing the movie. I can tell you, however, the movie was not worth seeing after reading the book.

A friend of mine made a fantastic point that summed up the difference between the two mediums perfectly. He said, "The book was much more Indiana Jones than the movie." On paper, the story had much more mystery and suspense. Almost none of it translated onto the big screen.

He and I differed in our opinions of Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. I cannot speak for his reasons, but he thought Hanks was good for the part. I thought it was a poor casting choice. Additionally, he sounded like he did back in the 80s; the sound is as if hearing his own voice delivering the words is a surprise to him. (Think about it.)

The dialogue in the movie was horribly forced. It was a long string of forced cues. To be able to explain what was happening, without the luxury to include a chapter of text, writers built all-too-convenient verbal cues. One character, seemingly out of the blue, would ask another something completely unrelated to the current conversation and then the second person would feign surprise and explain how it all ties together. Compare this exactly to when you try to coerce another person to answer a question to which you already know the answer. (I don't think I explained that very well, but it was the best I can do.)

If you have read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, especially recently, I do not recommend you see the movie. I thought the movie was as bad as I expected the book to be...

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