Steven Helmer Publications

  I went to the grocery store last night looking for something simple for dinner. I had other things on my agenda yesterday evening and didn't want anything that would take long to make. As I entered the meat section, I decided on ring bologna and wound up buying the Kewaskum brand. My decision to purchase this particular brand came down to size. At first, the $7.99 price seemed a bit high, especially since I figured I would need to purchase two of them if I wanted leftovers for lunch. However, when I looked at other brands, I found the price was comparable to those and the bologna from this brand was quite a bit larger, giving me more for my money. As far as quality goes, I had no complaints. I thought the ring bologna had a good flavor to it, plenty of garlic without it being overpowering and was, at minimum, as good as better-known brands. My wife and daughters said they thought the skin was a bit on the tough side. I, however, did not think it was any tougher than I would norma...

Synopsis: In January 1945, a group of 513 prisoners of war were being held in Japanese camps in the Philippines, enduring torture and death as World War II was on the verge of being won by the Allies. Determined to free them, the United States partook in a dangerous mission, sending 121 men behind enemy lines. This book gives an intimate account of the mission, those who were assigned to it and the men they were sent to rescue. Review: I received Ghost Soldiers as one of my Christmas presents from my wife and saved it for a couple weeks before taking the time to read it. I finally finished it this morning and came away both impressed and a bit inspired. As I tell my kids whenever they try to tell me "history is boring," there is a significant difference between reading a vague summary of an event and reading a book that tells the story from a more personalized point of view. This was a great example of that. One thing that stood out for me right away was the early narrativ...

I needed a moment to regroup following the Green Bay Packers' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last night, ending their season and, as is often the case in situations like that, I found some familiarity by watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory .  As I was doing that, I realized I have now seen every episode at least a half dozen times, despite not even watching the series until a couple years ago, when it was already off the air.  That reflection resulted in me being reminded of some storylines throughout the series that were one-offs without any real resolution. Even to this day, with the added benefit of the Young Sheldon spinoff clearing up a few questions (while creating a few more), these three storylines, which were major plot points for one episode each, remain unresolved. Who Received Tenure? The season 6 episode, "The Tenure Turbulence", put Leonard ( Johnny Galecki ), Sheldon ( Jim Parsons ), Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) in direct competition ...

 Here are my thoughts from today's 22-10 Green Bay Packers ' playoff loss at the Philadelphia Eagles . This game felt like a broken record. Slow start on offense, game changing errors and a lack of discipline at key moments put the Packers behind early and derailed any opportunity to mount a comeback. It's the same formula that led to their six losses during the regular season and, in this case, made their postseason run short and sweet. The defense put in a valiant effort. As was mentioned in commentary, it felt as though the Packers should have been much further behind at the half than they were, but the defense held the Eagles to just 10 points despite everything going wrong on offense. They even finally found their pass rush, though it was too little, too late. One of the biggest game changers was losing Elgton Jenkins early. Green Bay had a lot of injuries in this game, but the loss of Jenkins arguably had the biggest impact as the backups struggled against the leag...

Even though it was unclear what the weather was going to do last night, I decided to put the trail cameras out while the temps were still reasonably warm (at least for Wisconsin in January). It paid off and I ended up with some critter videos. Here is a selection of them:

Synopsis: Mina, an American living in Ireland and working at a pet shop, is given the task of transporting a parrot to a zoo in Belfast. On the way there, her car breaks down in a forest and she encounters a group of three living in a bunker. Accepting shelter, she learns they are being watched through a two-way mirror by a supernatural entity that will kill them if they try to escape. Who's in it? The movie stars Dakota Fanning , Georgina Campbell ,  Olwen Fouéré , Oliver Finnegan and John Lynch . Review: After my wife spent most of the afternoon attempting to sew and outfit and failing due to mechanical issues with her Serger, I decided to help take her mind off it by finding a movie to watch while we had dinner. I had quite a few doubts about The Watchers but decided to give it a try anyway.  My biggest concern about this movie was it would end up being extremely slow-paced and dull as a result. As it turns out, while the pacing was as I expected it to be, the film sti...