By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
Hanalei Bay today. Linda Ballou photo
When I lived on the North Shore in 1978, there was...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
Po‘ipū Cost Walk. Linda Ballou photo.
Po‘ipū is the favored spot by visitors to the...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
As a young woman, I had dropped out of society and landed on the North Shore of Kaua‘i....
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Imagine you’re a filmmaker. You have an idea. It feels like a good one, a very good one. You start writing, and after multiple screenplay drafts,...
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Is Pixar the greatest animation studio in the history of film? Possibly. It can certainly compete with Disney, its quasi-parent, along with the...
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There’s an old belief that all little boys go dino-mad for a minute. I have no idea if that’s accurate, but I do know I was no exception. Back...
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The first time I saw Top Gun, I hated it. As a wee lad, I remember seeing it in a packed theater in 1986. I remember the whooshing of the jets, the...
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There aren’t many fictional characters that have as many character facets as Batman. You could go in a number of different directions beyond horror...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
Linda Ballou
The only thing certain about travel in 2022 is that it is uncertain. People...
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As you read this, somebody is working a soulless customer service job. They’re getting screamed at by a customer with an almost sociopathic lack of...
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Chicagoland Equipment & Supply (CES), a portfolio company of Cooper Management, LLC, and a leading supplier of equipment, supplies and service to...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
Winter on the Central Coasts means fewer tourists and plentiful wildlife. Birds and marine...
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There have been eleven movies made with the title Vengeance is Mine. The first of those films was made way back in 1912, proving that even in those...
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He was close. He thought he was ready, but at the last moment, he stepped away. Wait — let me back up and I’ll explain. To set the stage, last...
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Movie stars are good. Serious Actors are better. Best of all are That Guys.* Even if you’re a casual film viewer, you likely have a favorite That...
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We say that all lives have value. Do they? If so, what exactly is that value? To ponder a question like that is, at best, distasteful. At worst,...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
Smith River
Steaming temps in the inland valleys of Southern Oregon are sending smart...
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a trend-setter, and it’s kind of amazing considering the risks taken. Consider the lead of Iron Man was a troubled...
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I’m a genre nerd. While a thoughtful documentary or smart drama will capture my attention, nothing gets my nerd radar pinging faster than a film...
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Is it fair to call Nicolas Cage a film icon? Not in the religious sense of the word, but more the idea that an icon represents a concept.
Take a...
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The past is a distant country. The further away we travel from it, the more strange the customs feel and the more unlike our own times it becomes....
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Once upon a time, there was a director who got royally screwed. His name was (and continues to be) David Ayer, and his upbringing in South Central...
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No Sudden Move is streaming on HBO MAX
I adore crime movies, though some flavors more than others. About half of Quentin Tarantino’s filmography...
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Black Widow is streaming on Disney+
Prequels are terrible. That is, until they aren’t. It used to be that the idea of checking out the earlier...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
Every bend of the river beckons—every pool may bring better luck. Life should be like...
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False Positive is streaming on Hulu
In 2016, the World Health Organization estimated that around 830 women die on a daily basis due to complications...
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“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” is streaming on HBO Max
Much like life, franchises find a way. Sooner or later, they realize...
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“Plan B” is streaming on Hulu
A while back, Toni Morrison said, “All good art is political.” I think that’s about right, yet I’d...
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“The Dry” is streaming on Prime
We all have secrets. From the smallest to the most squalid, everyone has a moment, a decision that they...
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“Benny Loves You” is streaming on Prime
Back in the day, the vast majority of scary cinema didn’t exactly knock themselves out in terms...
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“North Hollywood” is Streaming On Demand.
A few years from now, my kid will graduate from high school. Before that happens, he’ll live...
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“Wrath of Man” is Streaming On Demand.
There aren’t that many movies that kicked off an entire sub-genre. I’ll concede that, prior to...
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“Stowaway” is streaming on Netflix
Life is fragile. It’s easy to forget that on an average day. Last Thursday, for example, many of us...
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Boys From County Hell is streaming on Shudder
As I write this, we’re well into springtime in Colorado’s Front Range.* The sun sets later, flowers...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
After eleven years, I decided it was time to deliver the fruitcake my mother had sent me in...
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“Crisis” is streaming on Prime
Years ago, I was driving to the low-pay, high-stress job I held at the time. I turned my head to check my...
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For the Sake of Vicious is streaming on Apple TV
There’s one aspect of filmmaking that’s never gotten the respect it deserves. Directors are...
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Godzilla vs. Kong is streaming on HBO Max
There are those of you who might scoff at the idea of intentionally watching a Godzilla movie. I’m not...
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Zack Snyder’s Justice League is streaming on HBO Max
Second chances don’t come around too often. That’s just as true in the movie business as...
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Boss Level is streaming on Hulu
In the world of Hollywood, it can take time for a genre to emerge. That’s mostly due to the overwhelming cowardice...
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Nomadland is streaming on Hulu
The nature of the world is to change. It’s always been so, despite our best efforts to push back against it. Some of...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
In writing Embrace of the Wild I hope to have turned the lemons of Covid-19 into...
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Welcome to the column for all carbon-based life-forms.
If you breathe oxygen, this is for you.
And if you live on a planet, especially Earth, well,...
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I was not initially familiar with the story of Englishwoman Lady Isabella Lucy Bird, so I didn’t know what to expect when I began reading Linda...
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The Little Things is streaming on HBOMax
Hey, you! You, the person who just dropped a few hundred bucks on screenwriting software and who bought a...
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Promising Young Woman is streaming on Prime
They said he came from a respectable family. Regarding his character, they said he was kind, loving, and...
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It’s Monday, and it’s time once again for The Video You Deserve.
Now, the past several videos we’ve featured have all been vintage stuff from...
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Hunted is streaming on Shudder
She didn’t want to go. It would mean leaving the safety of the village, leaving behind a world of predictability and...
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Mondays can be rough.
And so, every Monday, we give you a music video. A fun, funny music video. Something that’ll make you smile, make you laugh,...
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My kid Liam is around six months into his thirteenth year. He’s kind, smart, funny, and I can already see that he’ll go much further in life than...
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It’s Monday.
Yeah.
We feel you.
And so, every Monday, we give you a music video. A fun, funny music video. Something that’ll make you smile, make...
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If you’re reading this, you’re alive and you survived 2020. Trust me when I tell you, that’s good! We had an insanely acrimonious presidential...
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Wonder Woman 1984 is Streaming on HBO Max
To one degree or another, superheroes are all about symbolism. Despite having been originally designed as...
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It’s a wrap! 2020 is coming to a close. Adventure Travel Writer, Linda Ballou, shares highlights of her year in this interview with Adam Asher and...
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Hillbilly Elegy is streaming on Netflix
There’s a story many of us tell ourselves about poverty.* Poor people are poor due to their own actions or...
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All Joking Aside is streaming on Prime
When it comes to the arts, there’s nothing harder than stand-up comedy. Don’t get me wrong; to play...
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The Trial of the Chicago 7 is streaming on Netflix
There’s a long and semi-proud tradition in Hollywood of the courtroom movie. Some of them, such...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
The Mexican people call retired persons “Jubilants.” I was so busy I never thought much...
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Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is streaming on Prime
How does he do it? He must have the luck of Loki or some other trickster god on his side,...
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Enola Holmes is streaming on Netflix
Perhaps the best part of a movie, for me, is the first couple of seconds. By that point, I have a broad idea of...
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The Devil All the Time is streaming on Netflix
I’ve been to the South, but I’ve never been to The South. To clarify, years ago my wife and I took...
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Cuties is streaming on Netflix
Take a seat. Better yet, make a nice, hot cup of tea, pull up your nearest fainting couch, and get ready for some...
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Bill & Ted Face the Music is streaming on Prime
Let’s talk about trilogies. Specifically, how unbelievably hard they are to pull off. It’s...
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The One and Only Ivan is streaming on Disney+.
Once upon a time, there was a mall, located in a faraway land known as Tacoma. This mall wasn’t the...
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Project Power is streaming on Netflix
Next to westerns, there’s no other genre that has the flexibility that superheroes have in terms of...
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7500 is streaming on Amazon Prime
Americans are not good at empathy. We like to think we are, but the hard truth is, we suck at it. Why? Because...
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The Pool is streaming on Shudder.
There aren’t too many animals that genuinely scare me. Sure, I know that my place on the food chain isn’t...
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Sometimes, the best-case scenario is to be wrong. We all have our blind spots, right? I was wrong about Andy Samberg. Wrong as hell. For a while...
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The Old Guard is streaming on Netflix
So there I was, in the midst of a bout of pandemic depression. The old ways of coping were gone for the moment....
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Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is streaming on Netflix
I like to think I’m a relatively knowledgeable guy. I read a number of...
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Listen, I’m not going to say that Kanye West dropped out of the race for President of the United States just because I announced I was running....
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I’m writing this on the morning of July 2. By now, we should have been a couple of months deep into the summer movie season. I’d be lying if I...
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Da 5 Bloods is streaming on Netflix
I’ve never served in the military. At the tail end of high school, recruiters from the Army bombarded my phone,...
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Everyone who’s into movies has a thing. A thing that is endlessly fascinating and that can be refracted through a thousand different lenses. One...
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It’s Monday.
Yeah.
We feel you.
And so, we’re debuting a new feature. This feature. And in this feature, every Monday, we’re going...
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The Lovebirds is streaming on Netflix
If you’re like me, you could use some quiet time. There’s something to be said for bringing back naps and...
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Time to Hunt is streaming on Netflix
We should be in the summer movie season right now. We should be bombarded by entertainment options: a little...
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You shouldn’t expect your kids to be into the same things you are. It certainly wasn’t the case with my father and me. Bill was a World War II...
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Sometimes the meaning of a life is revealed at the end of it. We’ve seen that in film for decades, and perhaps the best example of this is Citizen...
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The Willoughbys is streaming on Netflix
Once upon a time, there lived a parent. This parent had the colossal misfortune to be a) alive during a...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
When I am not adventuring on horseback through pristine country, hiking some of the...
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Extraction is streaming on Netflix now.
Not all action movies are created equally. You know that, and you know there’s a wide world of difference...
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The Room is currently streaming on Shudder.
Some people love home renovation projects. Can’t get enough of them. I am not one of those people, due...
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Coffee & Kareem is streaming on Netflix.
We can’t help what we find funny. Who knows where it comes from in the first place? We all have those...
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Spenser Confidential is streaming on Netflix.
Gather round, children, and let Graybeard Tim regale you with tales of the Long Ago Times! Back in the...
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DreamWorks’ Trolls World Tour, which was originally set to open in theaters on Apr 10, will now be released digitally on the same day!
Trolls World...
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Although Coachella 2020 has been postponed due to current events, music fans can still experience the festival through the documentary...
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire is streaming on Hulu.
Connections are everything. We all know that humans are social animals. We all know that there’s...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
On my visit to South Africa in 2015, I was surprised to learn that there are too many...
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The Platform is streaming on Netflix now.
It’s hard enough for a quality film to break through to audiences under normal circumstances. The Motion...
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We’re all scared. Can you blame us? There’s a pandemic cutting through every corner of the world. The guy who’s supposed to be in charge...
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The internet has given us a great deal. From my laptop or phone, I have access to several lifetimes’ worth of information and culture. I can order...
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By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate
From the extreme arid red center of Australia, our Overseas Adventure Travel group flew to...
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The good news is, we’re in a golden age of horror movies. Back in the old days, horror wasn’t taken seriously as a genre. If you liked a good...
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Not long ago on my birthday, I decided to do something for myself. To celebrate my inevitable march toward old age and the grave, a drive in the...
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The ultimate Australian experience with Overseas Adventure Travel is a journey through a maze of micro-climates, multi-cultures and natural wonders....
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Who can say how we’ll react during a crisis? We all want to believe that, when the moment comes, we’ll step up. We’ll perform admirably and be...
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I like it when something cool comes from something damaged and terrible. For example, the DC Extended Universe. Initially, they were not off to a...
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A common belief is that movie critics love to trash movies. It’s thought that we critical types, after emerging from coffins buried in consecrated...
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If you’re a regular viewer of movies, you know you can track the seasons by the kinds of movies playing. Are the theaters jam-packed with big, loud...
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We never really reckoned with World War I, not in any meaningful sense. For a while there it was called The War to End All Wars, despite the fact...
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There are two incontrovertible facts: the first is that Louisa May Alcott was a fascinating human being. Her parents were Transcendentalists. She...
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As many of us do, the arrival of the year’s end is a time for me to look back. If I were to sum it up, 2019 was all about surprise. Putting aside...
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In the beginning, there was the Word…or a bunch of words, anyway. They began with, “It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking...
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If you’re currently married or you were ever married, I’ve got news for you: your marriage is insane. I hate to be the one to tell you, but there...
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Making a movie is hard. Making a good movie? That’s really hard. Making a good mystery? These days that appears to be damn near impossible, given...
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What is cinema? Is cinema only cinema when you’re watching it in a movie theater? While their methods have changed throughout the years, ultimately...
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One of the keenest pleasures found in moviegoing is that of competence porn. A great comedy can flood your brain with endorphins, a solid horror...
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“Someday, even the experts will figure out, that crime is not caused by rap music…or even my music, but by a power structure of self-absorbed...
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Sometimes it feels like franchises never end. There’s a bunch of films in the Fast and Furious series, the James Bond movies have been trucking...
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Anything can be funny, right? There are two schools of thought, there. The first is the theory that anything has the potential to be amusing. Comedy...
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Skirt the crowds and beat the summer heat in Yosemite with a stay at Tenaya Lodge, an all-inclusive resort with hot and cold pools and a complete spa...
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Scott Beck and Bryan Woods aren’t slowing down.
The duo, who grew up making indie films since their teen years in Bettendorf, Iowa, and currently...
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While I was working on my list of comics to order from Previews last month I noticed a surprising change to two Marvel series I was ordering.
I was...
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