Well, well, well. It’s part two of our “What We’re Consuming” series.

Let us know what you have been enjoying or not enjoying in the comments!

Jon Johnston

I have tried to watch several movies without success.

Breach - with Bruce Willis. Gave up 10-15 minutes in because I expected a cheesy sci-fi action, fighting aliens in space and what I got was a really slow start. Boring.

Army of the Dead - I want this to be decent. No. It’s your typical kill zombie hero’s journey break out of poverty if we complete the mission zing. I like Dave Bautista. Even he wonders when the movie is going to live up to its promise. Most interesting character is the German nerdy guy who can’t handle a weapon. I have tried to watch this three times now. I had high hopes.

LLamageddon - One night we’re sitting around wondering about a movie we can watch together. I want to watch “Tomorrow War” with Chris Pratt. That gets shot down. I suggest “Ted Lasso”. Shot down. My rotten son picks this movie. My God. The good news is that it’s only one hour, nine minutes long. I get two things of value from it. First, one dude gets turned into a Llama (very poorly as you can expect), and screams, “I’M A LLLLLLLAAMMMMMA MAN”. Then at the end (yes, I am spoiling it but not really because a movie this terrible can’t really be spoiled, can it?), Dad saves the day, then says “Any living thing, you run it through a combine, that’ll take care of it”, which is true.

After this terribleness, I watched the first episode of “Ted Lasso” and I enjoyed it, so I will watch more.

Then there’s “Loki”, which has been excellent so far.

Video Games: No Man’s Sky is consuming me.

Books: All the books I have been reading lately have to do with learning self-publishing and advertising.

Nate M.

Restaurants:

Angus Burgers and Shakes - Omaha, NE - Will definitely be returning to Angus Burgers and Shakes. To me there isn’t much better than an appetizer, a good burger and then a nice ice cream shake. The shakes were okay, but our waitress told us the machine was broken so she had to do it by hand. So I will give it another shot. We got there a little bit after it opened so I can’t speak for when it may be a little busier but our food came out fast. That is so nice when you have kids.

Buffalo Wings & Rings - Lincoln, NE - Not sure when we will go back. It was not good all around.

Lina’s Mexican Restaurant - Omaha, NE. This was a go-to when we lived in Millard many years ago. Great burritos. It can remind you a bit of D’Leons but I think Lina’s breakfast burritos are better.

Reading:

Finished: Brain Wars: The Scientific Battle Over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof That Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives by Cognitive Neuroscientist Mario Beauregard. It was pretty good. At some point it just felt like he was referencing study, after study, after study. I think some people really would get into that. The argument is that there exists a “mind” which is separate from the brain. It was not a religious book in any sense from my point of view.

Currently Reading: Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History by Jeremy Schaap.

Television:

No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain is at the top of the list with Robin Williams as far as getting punched in the gut when I learned about his death. I am revisiting his shows and I actually missed out on some of the early No Reservations shows which I am watching on Hulu. Love this stuff.

National Geographic’s Secrets of the Whales. Warning: Young children may not be too impressed when the whales eat the sea lions.

Movies:

Raya and the Last Dragon. On Disney+ and watched it with my kids. It was not bad. It isn’t as good as Moana which is probably the best children’s movie I’ve seen in a while. 2.5 Valentino’s Pizza slices out of 4.

The Tomorrow War. Not impressed. In fact, toward the end my wife and I laughed at times that weren’t comedic because it was simply stupid. With that said, I still think you can enjoy this movie. On Amazon Prime. I give it 1 out of 4 Valentino’s Pizza slices.

Independence Day. Yes, that movie. It is still so good. You may have to swallow the extreme corniness of some parts and accept that some of it is absurd. It is still a great movie to sit down and enjoy. WELCOME TO EARTH! lol. On HBO Max. Four out of four Valentino’s Pizza slices.

The Silencing. I’d probably give it 3 out of 4 Valentino’s Pizza slices. I generally enjoy redemption stories of flawed hero characters. If you want to leave “the movie theater” full of hope and joy then this probably ain’t it for you. On Amazon Prime.

Food: Chipotle.

Podcast: You Haven’t Seen...? Podcast with Chloe and Sam with Guest Appearance of Gus Episode 3.2 as they start talking about a movie at least two of them haven’t seen and then they watch it and then talk about it. It’s entertaining and Episode 3.2 is on The Dark Knight which is still one of my favorite movies of all-time. The podcast’s description is “two friends watch movies. Only 50% of us have seen them, but we have 100% of a good time. Each episode includes quizzes, wildly incorrect theories, and IMBD trivia that might be completely made up.”

Patrick

Podcast: I have been listening to Slate’s Slow Burn podcast on the Iraq War. It gives some interesting details on what happened leading up to the war along with some very good interviews. Is it slanted a bit on certain topics regarding the war? Yes, it’s Slate. However it still has some interesting information and give the listener some details that you may not have known about.

The Shutdown Fullcast. It’s the internet’s only college football podcast. I would be surprised if you were not already listening to it.

Outdoors: I’m spending a lot of time weeding my garden. Hopefully my plants will start outperforming the bind weed that keeps trying to get in. I put grass clippings over the bed two weeks ago and another helping this week so that should help.

Watching: I rewatched Reds this weekend which is about John Reed and his life with the Russian Revolution. Everything that I like about it when I first saw it still holds up after all these years. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in politics or history.

I never watched the John Adams miniseries when it came out over a decade ago so I’m starting that up. All of the actors in it are doing a great job representing their respective historical figures and the tenseness of the time is coming through nicely. Paul Giamatti has represented Adams well and I’m having a hard time thinking of anyone who could do it better.

Also, is anyone else getting some major Doctor Who vibes from Loki? I am really enjoying the series but the last couple of episodes has given me the feel that a Time Lord is playing around. I’m kind of waiting for the Tardis to show up.

Jill:

Vegetables: The garden is giving us cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, kale, broccoli and lots of herbs. The tomatoes are getting close and the first planting of sweet corn should be ready soon. The garlic is already harvested with the shallots soon to be. The onions will be ready in the next 2-3 weeks. I’ve already cheated and dug a few new potatoes. Shhhhh!

Vacation: Tubing the Niobrara. It was fun and relaxing, and the sunburn wasn’t too bad.

TV: I need to renew my Disney Plus subscription to watch the Mandalorian season 2 and check out Loki. The only problem is that I don’t generally get back in the house until after it’s dark and then I’m tired and ready for bed. TV watching isn’t a high priority for most of the summer.

Fireworks: Ranchdude loves fireworks. So, we generally go to see as many of the shows as we can. I like taking pictures. So, we have lots of cool fireworks photos. Two of our favorite spots to watch include a lake or river, so we get the bonus photo with the firework + the reflection.

Aaron:

TV:

I just started this new show on HBO some of you may have heard of called Band of Brothers. Seriously though, I rambler wanting to watch it when it was released IN THE YEAR 2001! And have no idea what the hell has taken me so long to get around to it. I love every person in it, other than David Schwimmer, but that actually works out well for me hating his character so far (I’m halfway through the series). And I love war films/series, I mean one of the 5 film classes I took in college was called “War Flicks”. So I really have no idea why I (or anyone else) hasn’t watched it yet.

The story telling and characters are unreal, and the cinematography is as good as any war movie, before or since. Many consider it the best miniseries of all time, and so far, I can’t really argue against it. So if you’ve made the same mistake as me and put it off, get to it!!

Movies:

Introduced my kids to the classic movie, Good Burger, on Netflix. It really is the pinnacle of Kel Mitchels vast film credits. For a non-animated film, it was fairly well received. Plus my daughter finally was able to learn where a lot of quotes I throw at her originated from.

Sports:

Well, EURO is coming to an end already, and it’s been one hell of a tournament. Obviously the biggest headlines other than who will be champion are all about the Danes. Hell, they watched their star player die in the first match, only to be revived after 7 minutes of CPR. Then they proceeded to make an improbable run to the semifinals, where they were taken out on a controversial call in extra time. Hard to believe a team could have any fight in them after witnessing what they did, and missing their most decorated player, but this is why we all love sports.

I’m watching the men’s final of Wimbledon as I write this. And it the first match I’ve watched the entire tournament, which is very strange for me with a tennis major tournament. Soccer and work combined with major players either being upset early on or skipping altogether has really squashed my interest this year.

Lego:

Ah yes, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! What Lego did Aaron build this week? Well fans, this week was the bust of Boba Fett! Having worked a lot of overtime and getting holiday pay as well, I had some cash to throw down on some lego this week and for the upcoming new releases (Seinfeld’s apartment and Star Wars: The Bad Batch sets). My daughter picked out Boba Fett because she knows I like Mandalorians. It’s a smaller set, but the colors of his helmet really stand out with the gray/black/white/tan that is most of the Star Wars collection.

Someone has put out on the internet plans that you can use to sculpt a torso for Boba Fett as well. You just have purchase the same set again, and use the pieces from that for the new plans that you can purchase from his site. I may end up doing something like that for the first time in my lego career.

Todd:

Sports: A lot of soccer! Euro 2020 was great, though I was pulling for England that they did not get the win. Copa America was solid as well. The finals match between Brazil and Argentina was incredibly exciting. The United States opened group play in the Gold Cup beating Haiti with a very young team. The USWNT has played some friendlies lately. It’s been a good time to be a soccer fan.

Television: I’ve been catching up with Underground, an outstanding program that I’d lost track of a couple of years ago. Very good production and the story line keeps me captivated. Being a former history teacher, I’ve always been fascinated by the bravery of those individuals involved with the Underground Railroad. I’m also watching Godless. I’ve always been a fan of westerns. This one is pretty gritty and a bit far-fetched. I’m also addicted to America’s Got Talent. I don’t have a favorite picked out yet.

Podcasts: I have my regulars ... The New Abnormal, What Next, Pod Save America, Broken Record, Slow Burn, and Political Gabfest, among others. I just started listening to Toxic, about all the crap going on with Britney Spears.

Reading: Just finished Sooley by John Grisham. It wasn’t as good as other’s he has written, but I enjoyed it none-the-less. College basketball fans should read it. I’m working on Killing the Mob by Bill O’Reilly. He’s really not a very good writer, but his stuff is an easy read, and that’s what I want right now.

Food: A lot of burgers and brats on the grill! It’s summer!

Kevin:

Streaming:

• Young Royals: Surprise, the gay writer on staff had a show with a main character who is also gay pop up in the recommended shows on Netflix. I was not aware of that when I clicked it, and despite having never gotten into shows like Downtown Abbey, gave it a shot. The subtitles hilariously don’t match the actual spoken words hardly ever. Having said that, I really enjoyed it. The characters are a welcome change from most teen shows. The actors and actresses are of the actual character’s age instead of mid-20s, they don’t have washboard abs like in Riverdale which 99-percent of teenagers are incapable of having, and they don’t have absurdly unrealistic perfect complexions. The storyline, despite being about a royal prince, feels much more down to earth and features realistic human interactions. The contrast of fleeting glimpses, secret hand holding, and awkward straddling the line of figuring out you’re both “that way” without saying it or letting other people find out is a nice contrast to a lot of other young coming of age storylines out there. Of course, my tv recommendations probably don’t match most readers here, but it’s a nice go to if you’re struggling for something new to watch on the side, with plenty of good plot even if the LGBT characters aren’t a main draw for you.
• Madam Secretary: Binge re-watching this one over dinner mostly with the spouse on Netflix. Good show, if wildly unrealistic and fantasy optimism. That can be nice at times when you live in the real world of Washington, D.C.

Reading:

• Not much new since last time, but there was an editorial related to my work yesterday that made me want to vomit with the outrageous hyperbole misrepresenting reality and basic facts/common sense.

Food:

• I had a lot of seafood over the Fourth of July as I was in Key West with my husband. Sadly I only had conch fritters at our last dinner. Love me some delicious conch fritters. I won’t bother recanting how much alcohol was or wasn’t consumed that trip... Thankfully we took off literally as the lead storm clouds of then Tropical Storm Elsa were starting to make their way over the airport. Well, okay, not going to lie, I would have preferred to have had my flight cancelled and stayed an extra day or two since it was only a tropical storm when it made landfall on the keys, but alas we took off as the palm trees lining the runway’s perimeter started to really sway in the wind and I even got to check out the new regional terminal at Reagan National when we landed. As a transportation geek, I was nerding out pretty hard walking through the new gate areas. It will be a shame when the new TSA checkpoints open and the main hall is closed off to non-ticketed passengers. It will also suck as there will be fewer checkpoints and hence inevitably longer lines. Still beats Dulles, though.