Another Delco Guy In South Jersey

Stephen's on State - A Review

This week I had the unsual opportunity to have dinner back in Delco with my dad.  After reviewing the State Street options, I selected Stephen's over Iron Hill on the basis of better steak offerings for him and a lower potential for noise pollution from Flyers fans. 

Stephen's was a good choice overall, but unspectacular.  The decor is clean and neat, but nothing special.  The old-fashioned I enjoyed at the bar (while I waited for Pop to slide the Camry into a primo parking spot out front) had never heard of bitters and suffered from a few too many maraschino cherries.

My cold appetizer of rare tuna seemed to have been pre-prepared and was a touch dry. The sesame oil infused bed of greens was quite tasty and the overall effort was refreshing. The bread course was very good, with crusty, yet soft, recently sliced bread accompanied by herbed olive oil.  It was actually a highlight of the meal.

My crab and scallop broiled tilapia special was flavorful, but poorly cooked.  One side was very over done and the flip side was barely cooked, leading to an overly dry crunchy mouth feel.  The scallops were excellent however and the crab meat was a nice, if sparse addition.

My father had mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat as an appetizer.  SInce there were only 5, I passed on his offer to share, but he enjoyed them immensely from what I could tell.  He also filled up on the crab in his entree, choosing a filet oscar while skipping the bearnaise sauce.  He subbed out the asparagus for Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and was very happy with both the main course and his side.

I passed on a pretty pedestrian dessert menu, but Pop tried the cheesecake.  Obviously recently liberated from a cardboard box, the texture and flavor were pretty below average.  The service was very good, with our local waitress keeping the tea glass filled and endured my father's usual line of questioning about her educational background and future plans.

All in all Stephen's on State was a nice Wednesday night out for two guys without much else to do on a spring evening.  The Food was good, if a notch below the pricetag.  The service and ambiance were enjoyable and unobtrusive.  I recommend hitting restaurant.com for discount certificates if you go.  Ours cut $15 off the $100. bill, which included tip.

There are better restaurants in Delco, but Stephen's is worth a shot if you're a carnivore out looking for a meal in Media.  My dad is a steak guy, so this worked well for him.  We ate, talked about family and friends, upcoming vacations and sport.  It was a good night for both of us and the food was a big part.

'The Great Leader' - A Review

I like cop books.  I read a lot of them, Sandford and Connelly and even Cornwell. At it's most simple, Jim Harrison's 'The Great Leader' is a cop book. A retired state police detective from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the hunt for a cult leader who takes advantage of his young female followers.

But the pursuit of the criminal is only a single thread in the cloth of this novel, which weaves together sex, fishing, history, alcohol, reading, aging, family, longing, nature and travel in a compelling 288 pages.  Author of 'Legends of the Fall' and 'The English Major,' Harrison certainly knows how to build characters who resonate.

The protagonist in this book, Simon Sunderson, seems more than a bit autobiographical and as a reader I wondered throughout the story how much of what Sunderson was thinking and feeling was actually coming directly from Harrison's life experience and how much of it was part of the character creation.  The emotions seem so deeply considered, so strongly felt and vividly conveyed that it seems almost impossible to believe that they could be constructs and not drawn from real life.

Sunderson is a horny old dog, staggering though the early days of his retirement, often in a drunken stupor, lusting after virtually every woman he meets and reading history until he passes out every night.  Trailing the suspect to the desert Southwest, he gradually falls under the spell of the harsh and unfamiliar landscape.  His interactions with the other minor characters of the novel are well-scripted but the supporting cast is pretty one-dimensional. 

A 16 year old next-door Lolita is the best-developed of the characters, but we never really find out what makes her tick.  Sunderson's ex-wife, sisters, love interest and best friend all seem to be merely creations to further the plot incrementally and give things for Sunderson to think about.  None really develop into someone memorable after the book is put down.

The outdoors scenes are particularly well-described.  The cold, wet piney scent of the Upper Peninsula practically leaps off the page when you read the passages.  I even imagined what it would be like to have the patience to actually fish. Harrison's imagery of Arizona and New Mexico easily called to mind my visits to that area. The descriptions of Sunderson healing from an injury were sharp enough to make me wince a few times.

Ultimately the book gives us a peek into the mind of a man at a crossroads.  His professional life complete and his family life a shambles, what is there to live for at 65 years old? Harrison gives us a long look at our own mortality while also creating a solid cop story.

Oscar Night - 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' - A Review

Well The Oscars are tonight and somehow I only got to see five of the nine films nominated for Best Picture.  Today is my final review before the big party tonight and one thing I can tell you for certain is that 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' won't win Best Picture.

'EL & IC' has some seriously good acting in it.  Max von Sydow is OUTSTANDING as 'The Renter,' who shepherds young Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) on a search for his father's legacy after 9/11. Horn, in his first-ever film, is able to carry off a tough role as a pre-teen with Asberger's Syndrome who is staggered by the loss of his doting father (Tom Hanks).  Sandra Bullock continues a series of breakout roles as Oskar's mother and is brilliant in understated way that contrasts starkly with her Oscar-winning role in 'The Blind Side.'

'EL & IC' is nicely shot, taking us on a tour of all of the beautiful places there are to film in New York City.  Central Park looks amazing, the boroughs and neighborhoods sing with authenticity and are a wonderful backdrop for Oskar's noble quest. Cuts in and out of Oskar's memory blend nicely with the locations and the great apartment set.  Stark footage of the Twin Towers burning is included, though probably not needed.

The story is complicated but basically follows Oskar after he finds a key in his father's closet.  In an envelope marked 'Black,' Oskar finds a safe deposit box key and chronicles all the people named 'Black' in New Yor City.  His obsessive fixation on the quest, photographing and chronicling each visit is almost a road movie within the film.  His 'buddy' in the road film segment is a mysterious man who rents a room from Oskar's grandmother. 

Along the way Oskar learns what we suspected all along, that von Sydow's mute character is really his long-lost grandfather. Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter of the recent  Bond films) turns in an excellent appearance as the actual owner of the key.  In the end, all comes together and while Oskar's father is not miraculously resurrected, his mother is shown to be a true heroine, his grandparents re-unite, and just about everything else Hollywood can do to heal the 9/11 scars is thrown in as the credits roll.

Everything The Oscars love in a Best Picture right?

'EL & IC' won't win though, because there just isn't enough to the movie to be the first major film about the fall of the World Trade Centers and the horrible events of 9/11. It tries too hard to make us remember how hard that time was for us all.  The film doesn't just pull on the heartstrings, it yanks hard on them, ending up feeling exploitative rather than transcendent. It's one of the rare movies that I sat thought that I wish I had not seen.

Enjoy the Red Carpet, but skip 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.'

War Horse

In my continuing reviews of Academy Award-nominated films we've come to Steven Spielberg's big budget, massive Christmas-release film about a boy and his horse, based on the children's book by Michael Morpurgo. It's Spielberg doing what he does best - a GIANT movie, with a multi-year time span, huge battle scenes, dozens of characters, hundreds of horses and an ending we all see coming a mile away.

The story is pretty straight forward.  Set in England at the dawn of World War I, a drunken farmer buys a racehorse instead of the plow animal he needs.  The farmer's son Albert, played by newcomer Jeremy Irvine, trains the poorly behaved horse to plow and names him Joey.  Unfortunately after massive rains, the farmer's fields are ruined and he is forced to sell Joey to the British as a cavalry mount.  Joey and Albert are tearfully separated and Joey heads off to France. 

Following an inept attempt by the British to take a German camp, Joey and another horse are captured and used by the Germans pulling an ambulance until they are taken by young German deserters.  After that adventure ends badly, a young French farm girl Emilie (played by another newcomer Celine Buckens) finds Joey and his equine sidekick.  When the German army plunders the farm for supplies, Emilie secrets the horses in her bedroom.

Unfortunately, on her first ride on Joey, Emilie is found by the Germans, who take the horses and press them into service towing tanks.  Years pass and coincidentally Joey and his former owner Albert find themselves on the opposite sides of a terrible trench warfare battle.  Albert and his village buddies have somehow survived years of battle together and charge across no-mans land and take the German positions only to be gassed and blinded.

SPOILER

Joey, spooked by a tank and upset by the death of his companion, charges though no-mans land and is ensnared in the barbed wire between the two enemy positions.  A British soldier comes out under a white flag to try to help the horse and is aided by a German who actually thought to bring some wire cutters.  After the horse is freed, they argue over who gets to take him back to their trench.  Ultimately the Brit wins the coin toss and Joey heads back to the British trenches.  There, word of his heroic charge though the wire is told and re-told among the wounded until Albert hears it.

Albert, temporarily blinded by the the mustard gas, still somehow KNOWS this is his long-lost Joey and opportunely whistles for him just as Joey is about to be put down.  We all know how this one ends.

And despite the Hollywood ending, all the beautiful horses, the expansive scenery and chilling war sequences, the magnificent cinematography, and the soaring John Williams score, 'War Horse' somehow misses. It's a bit too dark, sad and violent.  Despite the attempts to show how strong, yet empathetic Joey is, I never really get a good feeling for the horse as a character. Again, despite Spielberg's attempts to give some dimension to the human characters, they are dwarfed by all that is going on around them.

As I said, it's a big film, ultimately too big for the rather one dimensional characters that live in it.  At almost 2 1/2 hours, there was time to get us to care about these people, but the story about Albert's dad,  the alcoholic farmer, and his service in Africa seems just too simple.  It might help if Irvine could act at all, but sadly he comes off as a bit dull-witted, and not in an interesting or happy way.

I think that this COULD have been a great movie, but the decision seems to have been made to try to re-make All Quiet on the Western Front in France, telling a story about how horrible World War I was to all involved, rather than telling the simple story about a boy who loses his beloved horse only to be reunited after years apart.  See 'War Horse' for what it is, a blockbuster movie about World War I that has a lot of horses, green pastures and muddy battles in it.  But don't take the kids, despite its origins as a children's book, this movies is not for the faint of heart.

Friday Fantastic Four - Grammys Edition

Sunday night is the Grammys, probably my least favorite show of the Awards Season.  It seems like there are too many average artists nominated and too many performances.  I know, the performances are supposed to be better than actually hearing these folks speak, but sometimes, I'd rather hear the speeches.

My list this week is heavily influenced by being in the car an awful lot with 11 year old boys and 8 year old girls.  We hear a lot of heavy-rotation, Top 40 stuff.  Thankfully, this was a great year for big-label, big artists with Britney Spears in a comeback, Pink showing more and more (musically), Katy Perry hot all summer, LMFAO party rockin' and soulful Adele on at least one of the stations 24/7.

What are your four best songs of 2011?

1. 'Pumped Up Kicks' - Foster the People - This one was everywhere last summer. Great lyrical story hidden behind the beautiful, haunting musical arrangement. I can't wait for more from them.
2. 'Rolling In The Deep' - Adele - Surely the most beautiful vocal performance of the year. I chose this one over her other mega-hit, 'Someone Like You' because it's not quite as needy.
3. 'The Edge of Glory' - Lady Gaga - Maybe the best '80s song ever. Even I try to dance ot this one.  Clarence Clemons' last performance is breezy and pulls it all together in the end.
4. 'Forget You' - Cee Lo Green - Funk Lives!!! I loved this song, both for it's unabashed homage to the 70s funkmasters, but also for the message.  Gotta love the lyrical nod to Mr. T as well. (Video is the clean version)

Everyone enjoy the music and the weekend!

'Locked On' by Tom Clancy - A Review

In honor of National Read in the Bathtub Day (I looked for the only known picture of me in a bathtub, but alas, was unable to find it) we've got a book review for you today.  I'm sure you're way more interested in the review than the photo anyway.

'Locked On' is the latest in the Jack Ryan lineage, and includes all of the old gang of Jack Clark, Ding Chavez form the early days as well as newer faces like Jack Ryan, Jr. and cousin Dominic Caruso. The elder Ryan is pursuing a White House bid against a liberal who has gutted the CIA and the younger Ryan and the rest of the gang are running a privately-backed paramilitary group (The Campus) in Northern Virginia.

I have read all of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books and a few of his others, including Red Storm Rising, one of my favorites of all time, but this might be my last one. Written 'with' Mark Greaney, this book has three main plots that converge so that Ryan's buddies can save the world. Each has its own impossible elements and combine in the end for a climax that would make Hollywood's worst action movie directors wince in incredulity.

In the Plot One, a shadowy former Warsaw Pact informer turned liberal American billionaire (A thinly-disguised George Soros) seeks to scuttle Ryan's presidential bid.  The plot involves the world's most wanted terrorist, a liberal civil rights group, a deputy director of the CIA, a convenient French detective with a million amazing contacts, a former Soviet spy and his Russian diplomat son.  And a few dozen other characters with connections and motives that are incomprehensible.  Executed properly, there is enough in just this plot for an entire novel. Sadly, it's executed horribly.

In Plot Two, we've got the insane Pakistani general trying to overthrow his own government by creating a conflict between India and Pakistan. This guy has multiple identities and has been causing trouble in the Indian sub-continent for a decade but no one knew who he was until Jack Ryan, Jr. got on the case! Thankfully Jr. and Cuz zip over to Pakistan to defuse a stolen nuke, kill the plotting general and head back in time for the Inauguration.

And in the Plot Three, a Russian billionaire space tycoon finds out he really isn't Russian, but actually a Muslim, and buys an extra stolen nuke from the Pakistani general to take his revenge on Moscow and force the release of a separatist military leader. Of course, he has 3 former Soviet ICBMs at his disposal and manages to take control of an entire Russian space launch facility to carry out his dastardly plan.

The Rainbow organization of Clancy's middle period has been gutted by lazy, left-leaning Eurotrash governments and can't handle the task of saving the day.  Thankfully, a 64-year old John Clark is fresh off being shot and tortured at the hands of the Russian diplomat from Plot One and is available to train up his old Rainbow organization overnight.  With the help of his trusty sidekick Ding, who is now also a super-sniper and helo jumper, the hostage crisis is averted and with only minor damage to Moscow, the terrorist plot is foiled.

Even at 853 pages, there are glaring plot holes that you can drive a truck through. Ryan, Sr. is running for president as a far more conservative hawk than the moderate who resigned the presidency four years before.  We never hear the reason for his resignation or the startling run to the right. A love interest, Megan Kraft, is introduced to Jr. by old family friend and super spy runner Mary Pat Foley.  We have a few pages of her Kraft's inner thoughts and misgivings about the CIA early in the book.  By the end of the book, those inner thoughts have apparently been forgotten by the authors and Kraft is a duplicitous agent trying to dig up dirt on the Ryans for the CIA.

There are a few saving graces for the book.  It's pretty well written, if not by Clancy himself, then by barely-credited ghostwriter Mark Greaney.  The action is well-written and paced and the switches from plot to plot are solidly done.  As is true with any Clancy book, the technical aspects are perfect.  WIth a wide array of vintage and ultra-modern weaponry, the Jane's addicts will be very happy.  There are also a million new technologies mentioned and used, showing someone is keeping up on what makes counter-terrorism work these days.

In the end though, this book is a mess.  It's clearly designed as a pre-cursor book to a future Ryan, Sr. presidency book where all the world's evils with be righted with a super-robust CIA and techno-superior military. The three plots are just too over the top, the super-human characters to able to do just too much, the villains just too able to enmesh their own separate agendas to make this book remotely believable.

Sadly, I don't care where the series goes from here.  It's been killed by lazy writing, a lack of editing, and obviously greedy publishing.  It's a shame, because there is still some degree of interest left for me, especially in the Jack Ryan, Jr. character.  But there's just too much other crap going on in the last few books to make me think the next one will be worth the time to read it.