Steven Helmer Publications

My youngest daughter turned 10 on Sunday so we decided to take a family trip to Oshkosh and the Menominee Park Zoo (mostly because it was free). It wound up being a good choice and everyone had a good time.
Here are some photos I was able to take:

Synopsis: Once a promising cellist, Charlotte Wilmore has spent the past decade caring for a terminally-ill mother. When her mother finally passes away, she rejoins her former mentor in Shanghai and is introduced to his new protégé, Lizzie. After hitting it off and having a sexual encounter with the new cellist, Charlotte agrees to join her on a bus trip across China. However, when Lizzie becomes progressively ill, Charlotte reveals an ulterior motive.

Who's in it? The movie stars Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman and Mark Kandborg.


Review: My wife picked out this movie last night and, in all honesty, I wasn't really sure if I would enjoy it. Netflix tends to be a bit too vague with its movie descriptions/previews lately and, based on what I saw, I had some doubts. However, as it turns out, this movie ended up being surprisingly good.

I'm not going to go as far as to say it was the best film I've ever seen. And, there were some parts of it, e…

Synopsis: Lawyer Perry Mason is hired by a wealthy business man to represent Marjorie Clune, a small-town beauty who, along with the rest of her town, was duped by promoter Frank Patton and his "Lucky Legs" beauty contest. However, when Mason tracks down Patton, he discovers the promoter has been murdered and Marjorie may have been in the room with him at the time. In an effort to protect his client, Mason takes some risks that could ultimately cause him to be charged as an accessory if she's found guilty.


Review: After reading and being impressed with The Case of the Velvet Claws, I decided to pick out another Perry Mason book and wound up bringing this one home from the library. At first, I wasn't sure if I would end up liking it. But, as the book progressed, I found I enjoyed reading it.

The murder mystery itself did lack a little something. I had my suspicions, from the start, who killed Frank Patton and, as the book progressed and more clues were revealed, it onl…

I never seem to have enough money when I need it so I've been trying to find ways to earn a little extra (even if it is just a few bucks) in my spare time. This includes taking online surveys.

One site I recently discovered is called Swagbucks. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but it turned out to be a pretty nice way to earn a little extra.

When I first visited the site, one of my biggest concerns is it would be one of those sites that makes me sign up for a bunch of deals I would normally not want to sign up for just to earn the money. That, however, turned out not to be the case. It's an option. But, it's not a requirement.

Instead, I found I can earn some decent money just by taking their online surveys. Like most survey companies, you have to qualify for them first in order to earn money. But, I usually can qualify for enough of them to earn $3-$5 worth of "Swagbucks" daily, which I have been cashing in for Amazon and Wal-mart gift card…

I took the family to the Mackenzie Center in Poynette this past weekend and invited my mom to come along with us. She insisted on buying us lunch and, not wanting to spend more money than she could afford, I looked for something reasonably priced and close to where we were.

I had never eaten at the Red Apple Restaurant before and wasn't really sure what to expect from it. However, it looked like a good fit so we wound up going there. As it turns out, it ended up being a great choice.

First of all, I was very impressed with how reasonable the prices were at this restaurant. For example, I ended up ordering a mushroom burger. It came with soup and fries and was just $7.99, which is actually pretty comparable to the average value menu price at our local McDonald's (minus the soup). My wife's liver and onions was just $8.49 including salad and mashed potatoes.

The portion sizes were also surprisingly large. I couldn't even make it halfway through my burger and wound up ta…

Synopsis: Founded by Headmistress Honoria Bulstrode and teacher Miss Chadwick, Meadowbank School has become one of the most prestigious girls' prep schools in England. The school's reputation takes a hit, however, when some of its staff members are murdered and one of the students is apparently kidnapped with the motive possibly being related to valuable jewels that were smuggled out of a Middle Eastern kingdom days before a revolution broke out. At the request of one of the students, Hercule Poirot gets involved with the investigation.


Review:  I started reading this book Sunday morning and, thanks mostly to waiting around at an ice rink for about 90 minutes, I was able to finish it yesterday evening. While the book started out OK and had a halfway decent plot, I honestly didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

My biggest problem with this book is the motive behind at least two of the deaths isn't much of a mystery. Normally, motive is one of the toughest things t…