Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: After witnessing the effects of nuclear weapons while in the military, Captain John Ramsey has spent years preparing for nuclear war and those preparations help him and his daughter, Joanna survive when it breaks out and destroys the rest of the world. When others arrive at his door, John wants to turn them away, but Joanna insists on giving them shelter despite a limited food supply. It doesn't take long for them to face challenges, both from within and from the meat-eating mutated survivors that are running out of fresh game and will soon hunt them. Who's in it? The movie stars Neil Fletcher, Paul Petersen, Quinn O'Hara , Charla Doherty and Hugh Feagin. Review: I had wanted to watch a murder mystery this morning but, unable to find one that looked interesting and running out of time, I instead chose In the Year 2889 , which had been on my watch list for several weeks. I wasn't completely sure what to expect from it, but it turned out to be an OK choice. T...

Synopsis: No longer obsessed with James Lacey and determined to end another obsession, Agatha Raisin goes on vacation to avoid Christmas. The vacation is a disaster and when she returns early, she learns Health and Safety Board member John Saturday has done the job for her by banning Christmas decorations, among other things, for safety concerns.  When Saturday is murdered outside a church meeting in nearby Odley Cruesis, there are many suspects. However, the police make the wealthy widow Miriam Courtney their primary person of interest and she, in turn, hires Agatha's detective agency to clear her name. Things become even more complicated when Agatha's employer is also murdered and one of her closest friends is attacked and hospitalized. Review: I was unimpressed with the last Agatha Raisin mystery I read but have reached a point where I'm too far into the series to just give up on it because I didn't enjoy one book. So, I ended up checking out Busy Body from my lib...

My wife and daughter recently finished watching season 4 of America's Next Top Model with me in the room (mostly reading a book but still paying some attention). Here are some of my thoughts: I'm not a big fan of the mass elimination to start the show. The biggest problem with it is there's no real opportunity to get invested in any of the contestants enough to care. Plus, are the judges really getting that much more information about the young women than they already have from try-out videos and previous off-camera interviews? The show's travel budget seemed to be less this season. The contestants still travel internationally (more on that in a minute) but stayed in Los Angeles rather than flying to New York and, unlike season 3, weren't flown to Jamaica for one photoshoot. The makeover episode was early. In fact, having the makeovers in the second episode might have been too early. We weren't even given a chance to get to know them with their old looks. Speaki...

Synopsis: Up-and-coming stock car driver Dave Owens travels from California to South Carolina and establishes himself by beating the local hero, Leander Fox, for the first time. The wealthy and beautiful Martha Bryan tricks Dave into smuggling moonshine for her and while he doesn't want to make a career of it, is forced to do so by two revenuers who will send him to prison if he doesn't gather information for them. When he is run off the road during one of his runs, Dave suspects Leander as being the person behind it, adding to their racing rivalry, even as Leander offers to partner with him to find the culprit. Who's in it? The movie stars Frankie Avalon , Fabian, Annette Funicello, Chill Wills , Julie Parrish and Harvey Lembeck . Review: I've had Fireball 500 in my library for a while and finally decided to watch it this morning. It wasn't quite what I was expecting based on who starred in it but that was something that actually worked in its favor. The movie ...

I didn't get an opportunity to get out late last week because of a modeling-related road trip with my wife. So, even though it was a bit muggy out, I went for a walk with my camera.  It was fairly active out there today and I didn't need to rely on tracking down some dragonflies this time around. I even spotted a mystery bird (see below) that required some sleuthing from my wife to back up my first thoughts. Here are some of the photos: There are a lot of these late summer/early fall flowers out, so I figured I'd try to get some photos of them. I got one with and one without a bee. This was a pretty large moth. I spotted it from some distance away. This pelican pod wasn't the most cooperative. I had to zoom in to maximum just to get this photo and they immediately started swimming away from me despite quite a bit of distance from the shore.  This guy (or girl), in comparison, was very cooperative, giving me multiple photo opportunities so I could choose the best one. I...

Synopsis: Things move slow in Suddenly, California, giving Sheriff Tod Shaw plenty of free time to try to win the heart of a widowed mother, Ellen Benson. Tod's quiet routine experiences some upheaval, however, when it becomes a planned stop for the President of the United States and a group of would-be assassins led by gangster John Baron take him, Ellen, her father-in-law "Pop" and her young son, Pidge hostage in her home, intending to use the living room window to fire the kill shot. Who's in it? The movie stars Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden , James Gleason , Nancy Gates and Kim Charney. Review: I added the film Suddenly to my library a few days ago, partly because I haven't seen too many Frank Sinatra movies and partly because the plot sounded interesting. I found time to watch it this morning and was pleased with my choice. I'll start out by saying this film is very American. This includes plenty of talk about patriotism, including the idea of your l...