First brand new short story in a while – enjoy!

Damon Brinker sighed with relief as the bus bounced its way into the station. The driving slammed on the brakes and sent passengers flying into the seat in from of them. That’s par for the course, he thought. A fifteen hundred mile journey on a run-down bus with barely functional air conditioning and a driver with erratic skills and a surly attitude to boot.

Damon waited for the crush of people to exit the bus before stepping down to the street. He grabbed his bags and headed into the dimly lit terminal.

He got his first good news of the day when he saw a man holding up sign with his name on it. Damon quickened his pace, happy to be leaving the station.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, I’m Damon.” Damon said extending his hand.

“Not your fault.” the man said with a smile, grasping Damon’s hand. “The bus is never on time.”

Twenty minutes later the pickup truck pulled into a driveway. The house was well-maintained, but of a modest size. Beyond the house, Damon could make out the majestic peaks in the fading light. He smiled at the thought of two weeks of hiking in the mountains.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” The voice came from a woman who had materialized while Damon had been gazing at the mountains. He noticed the pickup backing out of the driveway.

Tami showed him to his room, which had a window with a view of the mountains. Once again, Damon was captivated by the natural beauty. After a few minutes of mountain gazing, he sat down on the bed and pulled out his cell phone. No signal.

As he was unpacking, there was a knock on the door.

“I got a bath ready for you. Figured you’d want one after the bus ride.”

Yes, a bath was exactly what Damon wanted. The unpacking could wait. He knew that he was saving a lot of money by arranging for a host family via the internet, but the level of hospitality could be hit and miss. It looked like his roll of the dice had turned out well.

He opened the door and walked toward the bathroom. A towel and robe were laid out, and a Tami had drawn a warm bubble bath. He quickly shed his clothes and slid down into the tub. The warm, sudsy water washed away the dirty feeling of too much time on a crowded bus. By the time Damon stepped out of water, his skin was starting to get a bit wrinkled. He dried off, put on the robe, and cinched the belt.

When he re-entered his room, he saw his hostess lying on the bed, wearing nothing but a revealing nightie. For a moment, he thought that he had wandered into the wrong room by mistake.

And then he knew he hadn’t.

“Troy’s at his weekly poker tournament. He won’t be back for hours. We have plenty of time to play.”

Damon was tempted, but knew that this was a mistake. As he stood motionless, Tami slid out of the bed and approached him. She unfastened the robe and let it fall to the floor. She stood on her tip toes to give Damon a kiss, and the decision was made. This one night, Damon was choosing to ignore his moral compass.

Hours later, Tami kissed him one last time and disappeared down the hall. Thirty seconds later, Damon succumbed to pleasure-induced exhaustion and fell asleep.

The next morning, Damon, Tami, and Troy made small talk as Tami prepared breakfast. Troy chattered on about his luck at cards, unaware that he had been cuckolded. Damon and Tami shared secret glances, and Damon looked forward to next week, when Troy would once again leave the house for his weekly poker game.

Tami bent a bit lower than necessary as she set a cup of coffee in front of him. He enjoyed the viewed and wondered if Troy had other nighttime engagements. He smiled and took a gulp of coffee.

Damon suddenly felt hands closing around his throat as he struggled to breathe. He was being choked by Troy, who was perhaps not unaware of last night’s events. He glanced hopefully toward Tami and noticed that she had grabbed a pistol – but it was pointed right at him.

Troy threw a final shovelful of dirt over the grave and wiped his brow with a handkerchief. The new victim was arriving tonight. This was such an enjoyable game.
 

Note: While attending a writer’s workshop in April, one of the exercises was to write about a horse.  No further direction was given – we could write about any horse.  Here’s the very short story I hammered out in the 15 minutes we were given to complete the exercise.

The rider dismounted and went to attend to errands in the marketplace.  The horse remained behind, as always.  She never ventured into the retail areas; instead always remaining in the corral with the other mounts.

She was not a young mare, and her once glossy red coat was now a bit of a dull pink.  Her owner seemed oblivious to the toll that time had taken on her.  Though her journeys were short, they were frequent, and the mare was growing progressively weaker with each ride.  She glanced across the corral at a stallion whould would have greatly excited her in days past, but there was no hint of the burning sexual fire – not even an ember.  She now preferred quiet solitidude to frolics with stallions.  She noticed that the stallion took no interest in her, either.  This constant fatigue were her natural state these days.

Her heart sank at the sound of approaching footsteps.  The rider mounted, the music began, and the carousel jerked to life, lunching the mare into another pointless journey that would end in the same spot it began.

Whatever possessed the Framers of the US Constitution to separate the powers of government? How does anything get done with a committee of hundreds, a committee of one hundred and a president? Obviously a majority of the power must rest in one department, one partition, one branch of government so that the people’s work is done. That branch of government is today known as the Legislative branch. For a better understanding of the intended nature of our government I try to refer to the Federalist Papers.

Separation of powers is best described by Federalist Paper 51. The powers of the three branches are separate but not all branches are created equal.

In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit.

We see that the Legislature is intended to be the greater of the three branches. It is further subdivided into the House and Senate with the House the greater of the two. The House is greater since it truly represents the people where the number of representatives is derived from the enumeration of the population. The House must be the origin of all appropriations bills, the House has the authority to impeach, etc…

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.

Here we see from Federalist Paper 51 that though the Executive and Judicial branch are the lesser of the two, they have powers to keep each other in check. Overall, the people keep all three in check.

A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government…

The Press has been described as the fourth branch of government but truly the fourth branch is the People. An informed people is an energetic check on the government.

Today President Obama has breached our republican form of government and garnered more power unto the Executive Branch than ever intended by the Framers. Executive Orders apply to the executive branch only but the uninformed people of America seem to think it’s the law of the land. Obama coined another catchphrase for his power grab calling it “We Can’t Wait”.

If Congress refuses to act, I’ve said that I’ll continue to do everything in my power to act without them.

– President Obama

Unfortunately President Obama has gone beyond his Constitutional powers. Obama works in a region transcending the Constitution and within the permissive will of Congress. Obama has restored funding to the terrorist organization Hamas despite federal law. Obama has restored funding to Egypt despite federal law. Obama has reduced deportations of illegal immigrants despite federal law. President Obama funds his czars despite being defunded by Congress. Obama creates czars despite no Senatorial consent as required by the US Constitution.

This unnatural power imbalance should result in the House restoring the proper Constitutional balance of power and impeach President Obama. Congress has failed to act and now it is incumbent upon the people to restore the republic, to be the check on the government that Federalist Paper 51 describes. We must hold Congress accountable for their inaction and unwillingness to defend their Constitutional powers. We the People must fire President Obama for his unilateral unconstitutional rogue behavior or it is the end of a republic.

I’ve always been a huge baseball fan.  In recent years, however, I’ve begun focusing even more on the sports, while losing some focus on the other sports.  I haven’t followed the NBA much since Magic retired, and my interest in the NFL has waned in recent years.  I have baseball thoughts 365 days a year.  There has never been a better time to follow the sport, as technology lets fans get up to the minute information.

Here are some tools I used to follow baseball.

MLB Extra Innings

I subscribe to MLB Extra Innings on Direct TV.  I actually think the price point is pretty decent.  You pay roughly $200.  Compare this to the $300+ that the NFL package costs – for 1/10 the games – and Extra Innings seems like a pretty good deal.  Next year, I’ll drive the price down a bit more by getting MLB.TV instead of Extra Innings.  For about $50 less, I’ll watch the games streaming through my net-enable Blu-Ray player (upstairs) or Roku (downstairs).  A benefit is that I’ll also be able to stream audio on my Palm Pre.

I like MLB Extra Innings, but it’s not without flaws. 

First and foremost is MLB’s archaic blackout policy.  Baseball teams have territorial rights, and if you live in that team’s territory, the games cannot be viewed through MLB Extra Innings (and can only be viewed on a delayed basis on MLB.TV).  The basic idea is that the local cable affiliate has rights to the games, and that you can view the games there.    That’s OK if you’re in Boston and only the Red Sox are blacked out.  But if you’re in Iowa, the Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Brewers, and Twins are all blacked out (until recently, the Royals were also blacked out).  The Cubs are often available on local channels, the White Sox are sometimes available, the Cardinals are rarely available, and the Brewers and Twins are never available.  It’s frustrating to have a Rockies game blacked out because they happen to be playing the Brewers.  Even though the Brewers claim Iowa as part of its home territory, there are absolutely no Brewers fans in Iowa.  MLB need to re-draw territorial rights boundaries soon.  They are leaving a lot of money on the table.  Just in Iowa, there are tens of thousands of Cardinals fans who are unable to watch any of their team’s games.  It’s likely that a significant number of these people would pay $200 for Extra Innings if they could watch Cardinals games.  I fail to see the downside to this.

It’s great that you can choose to watch either the home or road team’s broadcast of the game – unlike the NFL, where you get stuck with only one option.  I really can’t figure out why DirectTV doesn’t simply dedicate one channel for each team.  Foe example, make channel 742 be the Rockies channel.  On any given day during the season, I could just flip to channel 742 for the Rockies game.  Having to scroll through the list of available games to find the one I want is mildly annoying.

Finally, Extra Innings gives you only the game – none of the pre and post game coverage and interviews.  Seriously, throw the viewers and bone and include these features.

Palm Pre

A while ago, I purchased a used (and slightly battered) Palm Pre for a good price, and have used it as a portable WiFi device (the phone portion is not activated).  This has been a great tool for keeping up to date on scores and stats.  I use a premium app (meaning that it cost a whopping $1.99) called Baseball Live.  The home screen of the app lists all the games.  You can easily click to get to a detailed information about the game.  Based on your settings, you’ll get either the MLB.com or ESPN widget for the game.  You could get the same end result by going directly to MLB.com or ESPN, but the Baseball Live app provides a more convenient interface.

Podcasts

I’ve only recently begun seeking out podcasts.  I complain (a lot) about the lack of baseball coverage on sports talk radio.  There are several baseball podcasts that can alleviate this.  By far the best is the Up and In podcast from baseball think tank Baseball Prospectus.  Baseball Prospectus is a serious organization, published several books every year.  Up and In throws this aside and is a very informal (and often R-rated) chat between two colleagues (and occasional guests).  Baseball Prospectus managing partner Kevin Goldstein hosts the show with Jason Parks.  They cover a variety of topics in both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball.  The show generally rambles on for about two hours (with frequent detours to random non-baseball topics).  I’ve enjoyed Up and In so much that I decided to purchase a membership to BaseballProspectus.com – mostly to get the minor league insights from Goldstein.

I also listen to the ESPN Baseball Today and Fangraphs podcast.

Brave (2012 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pixar has created some of the most enjoyable children’s movies in recent years. They have taken over the role of their parent company Disney. The stories are generally tame enough for any age with some sophomoric humor for teens and adults. They also tend to have some scary part to be the focal point of the whole adventure. Brave is no exception.

The plot, although different, has the same basic elements as UP. The main character has a dream that will complete the life they are living. In UP, the main character finally meets the hero of his youth, but instead of fulfillment, he finds a mean, self-centered villain, whom he has to vanquish to save his young companion. Brave also takes on the fulfillment of a wish, this one granted by a witch. The challenge is how to recover from the consequences of your desire.

No want wants to cause harm to the ones that they love, but some action result in bad side effects. The lesson is: be careful what you wish for.

The graphics are spectacular. Each iteration of Pixar animation is a step forward in the art. The dialog insults most of the possible ethnic groups for the British isles; Pict, Scot, Norse and Irish all get their shots. The action is separated by enough gags and calm dialog to allow you to enjoy the movie and walk away refreshed rather than exhausted.

The voice actors and actresses are also excellent in this movie. The main character is a beautify red head teenage Irish girl. Her voice is enticing and rolls directly into the songs as the adventure unfolds.

Remember this is a child’s film. I recommend full price theater on this one. If you miss it, definitely a rental opportunity. Don’t let your younger kids watch this alone, there are scary parts.

Next week: John Carter
 

 

Is Jeter reaching the end of the road?

 Jeter’s Slump

Derek Jeter got off to a fast start this year, hitting .389 with 5 homers and 13 RBI in April.  His current average is still above .300, but a steep downward trend – a .293 batting average in May and a .238 in June (through Wednesday) – should have Yankees fans a bit concerned.  This is not a young player we’re talking about – Jeter turned 38 earlier in the week.  Even worse, he’s a middle infielder – and middle infielders rarely reach age 40 with their offensive skillset intact.  Don’t be surprised if Jeter’s offensive skills start to slip away and he turns into a .240 slap hitter.

Albert’s Surge

Albert Pujols

On the other side of the coin we have Albert Pujols.  After signing a monster deal with Anaheim in the off-season, Pujols had a horrific start to the season – unable to get his average to .200 and displaying no power at all.  After hitting .217 with no homers in April, the power returned in May when Albert hit 8 homers to go along with a .263 average.  In June, the batting average has returned, with Pujols hitting .333 with 4 homers.  When (not if) he’s able to consolidate those April and May statistics, he’s going to once again be one of the most feared hitters in the game.  even with the horrible start to the year, Pujols is on pace to hit 25 homers and drive in nearly 100 runs.  A reasonably good second half could push his homer total above 30, and I’d bet that his batting average gets close to .300 by the end of the year. 

Mike Trout

Mike Trout

Pujols’s teammate in Anaheim, rookie Mike Trout, is having a tremendous season.  While Bryce Harper of the Nationals has been a highly touted player since high school, Trout slipped to the 25th overall pick in the 2009 draft, partly because of New Jersey high school players having a poor track record.  By the end of the 2010 season, he had emerged as one of the top prospects in the game.  Trout put up pedestrian numbers during a brief call-up in 2011, as is common with rookies.

This year, however, Trout has been tearing it up.  he was called up on April 28th, and has been one of the best players in baseball since his call-up – and he’s just 20 years old.  He’s leading the American league in batting average and stolen bases and showing good power for his age, with 8 homers in his first 54 games.  He’s also a terrific defender in the outfield.  Some worry that Trout won’t be able to maintain his elite speed, given his body type.  However, it’s possible that he could slim down a bit, or that he’ll simply be the exception.  In any cases, Trout is still several years away from reaching his physical peak – it should be fun to watch him improve and become an even better player.  If you’re looking for an example of Trout improving, look at his strikeout rates – 28 strikeouts in 108 at bats in May and just 18 strikeouts in 104 at bats in June.

Teams to watch

Do you know this man’s name?

It’s been an interesting start to the season, with lots of good storylines.  Here are some teams to watch in the second half.

Phillies – The Phillies are in last place in their division.  Why are we watching them?  Well, although they are nine games behind the Nationals, they are only 5 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot.  With Chase Utley back in the lineup, Ryan Howard beginning his rehab stint, and Roy Halladay not too far away, the Phillies could very easily find a way into the playoffs.

Pirates – I was still in high school the last time Pittsburgh had a winning record.  They teased their fans last year before falling apart late in the year.  They are in contention once again this year.  Although their negative run differential suggest that they aren’t as good as their record suggests, I’d love to see them emerge with a division title.

Who do I predict as the playoff teams?  In the American League, the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Angels, and Rangers.  In the National League, the Nationals, Phillies, Cardinals, Pirates, and Giants.

Chief Justice John Roberts, author of the majority opinion.

Don’t spike the ball. This is what the Crying Man and his cohorts in Congress focused on leading up to today’s decision by the Supreme court on the Affordable Care Act or more commonly known as Obamacare. They did not want to upset the common folk and possible voters in the upcoming elections by having too joyous of a reaction to what they felt was going to be a Supreme Court ruling in the favor of their ideals. Man, they must have really been blindsided when the ruling came down today in favor of upholding Obamacare, especially when the deciding vote ended up being one of their own. So it has already been a pretty chipper beginning to a day for me, but should I have this good of a feeling. Oh what the hell, screw this I am spiking the ball. IT’S CONSTITUTIONAL.
BITCHES!

Actually that was a tweet this morning from the DNC executive director when the ruling came out, but its sums up my sentiments exactly. A man the Republicans thought they had in the palm of their hand ended up being the deciding vote against them and Kennedy sided with them. Oh the irony. Granted in his opinion on the ruling Chief Justice John Roberts was pretty political with his rhetoric about the President, but did uphold the right of Congress to mandate people having healthcare coverage as it is in ways a tax. I bet Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito are now no longer on speaking terms with the Chief Justice after his ruling. I mean the same Court that brought you the personhood of Corporate America and unlimited secret campaign spending to buy elections, just saved Obamacare. Oh the agony!

The ruling was pretty much a sweep across the board in favor of upholding all of what was before the court. The ability for 26 year olds to be on their parents’ insurance was upheld. The ability for Congress to regulate that people with pre-existing conditions to be able to be covered by insurance was upheld. Most importantly and the most debated part of the decision is that the individual mandate was upheld as a taxing mechanism. Now I do not really like the wording with the ruling there as it just added more fuel to the fire for the illogical right. The only down part in the ruling was that the Medicaid expansion was struck down, but would be upheld if Congress were to take out the clause punishing states by withholding current Medicaid funds if they did not comply with the expansion. I agree that that part should be taken out and if it were not for the Congress that don’t do anything (sorry my kids have been watching Veggietales a bit much lately) it would be able to be remedied quickly.

Well that is about it for this month. Ah what a feeling. I will open up the comments section to discussion on the SCOTUS ruling. I will try to answer comments as soon as I see them. I’d love to see some discussion on this. Certainly a phrase I would never have thought I’d say. Thank you Chief Justice Roberts for making my day and slightly restoring my view of the Supreme Court if only just for one ruling.

Lawrence Block (left) & Robert Silverberg

Regular readers know that my favorite author is Lawrence Block.  Block has been writing since the 1950s, and continues to write new work.  About a decade ago, a friend gave me Burglars Can’t be Choosers, and I was hooked.  In pretty quick succession, I read all of the burglar books and also started working my way through Block’s Matt Scudder books.

There are ten Burglar books and seventeen Scudder novels (plus a short story anthology).  I’ve put more than a few dollars in Block’s pocket over the years.  I’ve also read some of his books on writing, and of course his short story omnibus Enough Rope.

Block also has three series of novels based on the following characters:

• Evan Tanner – Tanner has the sleep center in his brain destroyed as the result of a war injury, and is now incapable of sleep.  He uses the extra eight hours of each day to learn about a myriad of topics, and manages to get himself involved in a lot of international escapades.
• Keller – A professional hit man who actually had a conscience.
• Chip Harrison – A private detective who works a boss who is infatuated with Nero Wolfe.

On the surface, I should love two of these characters.  The destroyed sleep center aspect of Tanner is cool, as well as his interesting take on politics.  Keller is a hit man who spends his spare time (and money) collecting stamps, of all things.  I’ve never read Nero Wolfe, so the Chip Harrison novels wouldn’t be something that would necessarily be my cup of tea.

So I bought a Tanner and Keller book.  I hated them and wasn’t able to finish them.  I was disappointed that I was unable to appreciate books written by my favorite author, but fiction is very much a matter of taste, and I simply didn’t like them.

Fast forward five or six years.  I was in the public library looking for some audio books to read.  I saw a Keller book.  On a whim, I decided to give it a shot.  I was surprised to discover that I enjoyed the book immensely.  I read the other Keller books and liked all of them.  I liked them so much that I pre-ordered the upcoming Keller book, Hit Me.  The book doesn’t come out until February, but I’ve had my pre-order in for a couple of months.

I also rediscovered Tanner.  My rediscovery in this case was two-forked.  It turns out that Tanner was a favorite character of a good friend’s dad.  The friend’s dad served his country in Vietnam, raised his son alone after his wife deserted them, and fought a courageous battle against cancer – an outstanding role model for his son and the community.  After he passed away, I often thought of reading some Tanner books, just to see if I could see the same things he saw in them.  A bit later, I read Lawrence Block’s Afterthoughts, a collection of the forewords and afterwords from his books.  Block’s thoughts about the Tanner books were the clincher – I needed to give them a second chance.  I found out that I liked the Tanner books as well.

I have yet to read the Chip Harrison books … but I’m sure that in time I will.

If you have every given up on an author, or on a book, I urge you to give it a second chance a bit later.  The years won’t change the text in the book, but they will change you, and you may appreciate the book more.
 

Omaha, the NEW Sports Mecca!

Before any of you accuse me of being a homer, and writing about the city to the east of my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, let me set the record straight.

I am really not a fan of Omaha. Compared to Lincoln it has a HUGE amount of crime. Many people there have what I would call the quasi East Coast Attitude.

They are the biggest city, their news is the only important news, the rest of the state is…well…hicks so to speak.

Even the Omaha TV meteorologists do not make mention of any storms hitting the rest of Nebraska. But once the storms are close to their beloved Omaha then it is a Major weather event…even if the storms have left major hail, tornados and feet of rain and snow in their wake.

Now that we are past my dislike of the Republic of Omaha, let’s focus on the positives.

The College World Series

Robert Refsnyder of 2012 champion Arizona.

Each year Omaha hosts two sporting events that are incredibly well received. The main crown jewel in the Sports Scepter is the College World Series. It has been an institution in the Big O for many many years. ESPN came aboard and blew the CWS to a whole new level. They even held so much power over almighty Omaha that a new baseball part was built right in the downtown area. This of course was to provide a bunch of extra income to the downtown area, and to also keep all of the drunk drivers off of the roads driving from Rosenblatt Stadium to the downtown area. Now, all of the inebriated people at the CWS just walk back to their hotel instead. (if you don’t believe me, check out the surrounding area next year during the CWS at about 11 PM on any game night)

The Cox Classic

2011 Cox Champion J.J. Killeen

The Nationwide Tour also hosts the Cox Classic in Omaha every year. This tournament is held at the Champions Club, and is viewed by most of the Nationwide tour players as the best event they have all year.

Volunteers turn out in droves to come and help make the Cox Classic a success. The prize money payout is one of the largest on the Nationwide Tour. But the real fun starts after the tournament is over each and every day. Once the golfers are off the greens, the parties start at a number of designated events at the golf course. These parties go late into the night and are known to be the favorites of the locals and the tournament players and staff alike.

I am sure in large part that the success of this tournament has led Omaha to host the 2013 United States Senior Open Championship. Omaha Country Club will be the site of that tournament and I am sure it will be attended by huge masses of people.

U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials

He’s back!

The Olympic trials for the swimming events is being held as we speak at the Qwest Center in Omaha (conveniently located basically right next door to TD Ameritrade Park where the College World Series is now held). This is the second time for this event to be held in Omaha, and with crowds over week to be in excess of 100,000 one could argue that these events are better attended in Omaha than they are at the ACTUAL Olympic Games.

Other Events in Recent Years

Omaha has also been host to NCAA Basketball tournament games earlier this year , and the NCAA Volleyball Championships in the recent years. Omaha is centrally located in the United states so while it might not be close for many it is also not near as bad as travelling coast to coast to go to some of these events.

It has a host of Hotels, has the casino’s and dog races right across the river in Iowa, and let’s face it , Nebraska’s State Motto is “The Good Life” for a reason. The people in the Midwest are nice, sincere, and hardworking.

Now if we could only get the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha…wait…they are coming in 2013 as well.

Until Next Time…Stay Classy Ralston, Nebraska – SOUTHSIDE!!!!
 

 

It is common knowledge that sequels are never as good as the original. Everyone will say that, but it is not actually true? The second Star Wars (for those of you under the age of 21, that would be Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) was better than the first. So maybe we can say that third installments are always the worst. Men In Black 3 refutes that cultural surety. I would not say that it is better than the original, but it is at least better than its immediate predecessor.

The Men In Black series broke onto the movie scene 14 year ago. It was one of those movies that came directly from comic books. The art of special effects had matured enough to make the story entertaining and successful. Men In Black 2, although bringing back most of the original cast, failed to bring anything new to the table. The secondary and background characters knew too much, almost like they had watched the original movie.

Men In Black 3 avoided those pitfalls. The primary members of the cast (Smith and Jones) were retained. The addition of Emma Thompson to replace Rip Torn was outstanding (Ok, I just really like Emma Thompson). The story is more about the characters getting to know each other than just hunting down strange aliens.

There are strange aliens of course, and they are very important to the plot. There is a big nasty evil one, just like in the other movies, and he is the focus of the action, just like in the other movies. There are plenty of differences from the first two movies. The first movie was an introduction and a study of “J” as he entered the Men In Black organization. The second movie was the return of “K”. This movie is really an introduction of “K” and “J” to each other. In the other movies, there is a teacher and student. This latest installment is more of a partnership.

There is a lot of simulated violence; so it would not be appropriate for younger viewers. Teenagers will of course love it just as they flocked to the first two. Since there is time travel, there are plenty of historical play for viewers older than 40. I would say that this movie is good entertainment for most viewers of science fiction or action hero films. Although some theaters are presenting Men In Black 3 in 3-D, the film does not over use the technology and the effects do not really need it. I believe that this movie is worth a full price ticket, but if you miss it in the theaters, or don’t want to pay full price, it is definitely a discount theater or rental value.

Next week: Brave