RENDON'S GENERAL STORE

Jenny and I met for lunch at the newest burger joint near our house. It's called Rendon's General Store but it's just a burger place.

The parking lot is small, but the inside is much bigger than expected. They have a lot of nice decorations, including a huge bear rug draped over a would be fireplace.

The menu is basic, burgers, sandwiches, etc., however, there's no combo choices. Everything must be ordered ala carte. This is the best way to run up a bill.

Secondly, they only take cash. Not very consumer friendly.

Last, the food was sub par. Maybe because their grill is new and not greasy from years of use, but our burgers were bland.

The staff could be more friendly, as well.

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (2007)

Jason Bourne is back in The Bourne Ultimatum, the third installment of this action packed series.

Jason finally discovers the truth about his identity as he pursues and is pursued all over the world. He finally ends up in New York and comes face to face with his past.

This high budget sequel delivers the goods and even takes a stab at post 9/11 politics and our corrupt government.

This movie is just as good as the second, but not as good as the first in that there is no mystery to Bourne's mission.

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is about the life of Chuck Barris, the creator and host of The Gong Show.

Based on his book, it covers how he got into show business and such. It also says that he was a CIA operative . . . Yeah, believe it or not.

The movie as a whole, was very interesting and quite good. The believability factor was 50/50. The Hollywood stuff was believable, the CIA stuff was not.

Directed by George Clooney, it had several big names in it and won 6 awards with an additional 5 nominations.

WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT (2004)

Welcome To Mooseport stars Gene Hackman and Ray Romano. Gene Hackman is a former President who is divorced while in office and has lost everything to his ex-wife except for his vacation home in Mooseport, Maine. Ray Romano is a local handyman.

When the Mayor of Mooseport suddenly dies, Hackman is asked to be Mayor, which he accepts unknowingly, Romano also decided to become Mayor in order to help out the town.

Now there is a true election centered on ego and a woman.

There is no winner in this movie. Although there was a couple of chuckles, I thought this movie was empty and poorly written. Hackman has been is many great movies throughout his career, however, Mooseport will be a dark shadow over him.

FREEBIRDS

Recently Jenny and I met for lunch at a place called Freebirds World Burrito.

Much like the wing places from a few years ago, it seems like burrito places are popping up everywhere lately.

We first tried out Chipotle. We just weren't impressed with the choices here. Not long after we found a place called Qdoba.

Qdoba was a lot better and had more normal choices.

Then we found Freebirds. Freebirds is awesome. They have normal food and regular sauces and everything tastes great. Qdoba is still good, but Freebirds has them beat.

Give them a try!

SHOOTER

Shooter stars Mark Wahlberg. He was previously a sniper in the military until a covert ops went bad and his spotter was killed.

Years later he's contacted by our government to help foil an attempt on the presidents life. Little does he know that he's being set up.

This action packed movie is white knuckle, edge of your seat fun. There are car chases, explosions, you name it. A well done movie with good acting and a nicely executed budget.

More Movies And Such

SHREK THE THIRD
Shrek, Donkey and all the gang are back in an all new adventure in Shrek The Third. Princess Fiona's father, the King, dies and Shrek is next in line for the throne, which he dreads. He finds out that there is another heir to the throne named Arthur, voiced by Justin Timberlake. Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots set off to find Arthur. Meanwhile, Prince Charming and a band of misfits invades the castle in Far, Far Away, imprisoning Fiona and her royal girlfriends. In the end, all is well and order is restored in the land of Far, Far Away.

This movie dragged on in spots for me, but there were a few times when I laughed as well. It wasn't as good as the previous two, yet it wasn't a horrible sequel, either.


THE KEG STEAKHOUSE
There is a restaurant near our favorite Mexican restaurant that we've talked about going to for quite some time. It's called The Keg Steakhouse. From the outside it doesn't look like anything too fancy, just another steakhouse.

Once you enter through the doors you see everyone dressed nicely and low lighting throughout. The wait staff is very friendly and the ambiance is pleasing.

Our waiter was very attentive and friendly, however the food was less than stellar.

The bread was ordinary, yet the salad was very fresh. I don't know what high dollar grain they are feeding their cows, but they happily pass on the cost to the diner. My steak was supposed to be teriyaki flavored, but it tasted like plain sirloin along with a big strip of fat. Also the baked potato is served with only a pat of flavored butter.

I've eaten at many steakhouses and had better tasting food with a cost that was more acceptable.


The Keg Steakhouse

Ambiance


Wait Staff


Food


Over All Experience


NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
This was a fun movie. Ben Stiller plays a night watchman at the museum of natural history. Little does he know that when the sun goes down, everything comes to life. His attempt to restore order creates the slapstick humor for this family friendly movie. An All-Star cast makes Night At The Museum a movie that will hold up for years to come.


THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Will Smith plays a struggling salesman trying to do the best for his family. When he decides to change careers, his wife leaves him and he fights to keep his son with him. This movie is about family bonding and pursuing your dreams. I tried to resist seeing this movie, but found it to be very enjoyable. The Pursuit Of Happyness is a keeper.


FANTASTIC 4
Jessica Alba is reason enough to watch Fantastic 4. The special effects were well done. To my chagrin, the four scientists were not in harmony with one another, neither before the accident nor after. The banter between them brings a chuckle or two. In the end, as in all super hero movies, they save the world.


CHINA KING SUPER BUFFET
China King Super Buffet in Mansfield has the best Chinese food in a 20 mile radius. They have traditional Chinese food on four bars, American and Mexican on two bars, a sushi bar, a fruit bar and a dessert bar. If all this food isn't enough try the Mongolian grill, which is my favorite. Choose raw meat and vegetables and give it the cook where he'll grill it for you while you wait. About $10 each with bottomless beverages.


TWISTER
Although this movie came out in 1996 and I have seen it several times, sharing it with the kids made it seem new again. Helen Hunt plays a girl who loses her father to an F5 tornado and grows up to be a storm chaser. Although some people discredit this film because of some unbelievability, you have to keep in mind that it is a movie. Bill Paxton gave a poor acting performance, but is overshadowed by Hunt's acting and the special effects. Twister still holds up!


WAR OF THE WORLDS
Tom Cruise stars in this 2005 film where aliens supposedly buried tripod craft millions of years ago and decided to wait until now to take over the world. Other than the lame premise, I found this movie to be exciting and action packed. Great special effects with wholesome family bonding sub-story. War of the Worlds won 11 awards with 18 nominations.


MEET THE ROBINSONS
This past weekend we actually went out to the theater and caught Meet The Robinsons during the matinée. Lucky for us there were very few people in the theater and we had no distractions. In 1953, Disney made a Stereographic 3-D animated cartoon called "Working For Peanuts" with Donald Duck and Chip and Dale which they shelfed until now. It was like watching a movie through a View-Master. I enjoyed it.
Meet The Robinsons was also in 3-D and was pretty good. It deals with orphans and being adopted. Throw in some time travel and a villain and you've got the makings of a fun family movie.


Walk The Line
Walk The Line is a movie about Johnny Cash. I found this to be an enjoyable movie even though it had a lot of music. I learned a lot about Johnny that I didn't know before. For example, June Carter was not his first wife and he toured with Buddy Holly and Elvis. I'm not 100% sure how well this movie followed his life, but I thought it was good.


The Terminal
When we first saw the trailer for this Tom Hanks movie, we were intrigued. How is it that a person can be stuck in an airport terminal? Come to find out, he's Russian and lost his citizenship while in the air and therefore cannot be admitted into the U.S. He ends up living in the terminal for 9 months! Not exactly believable, but he finds love and follows his dream. I enjoyed this movie quite a bit.


Zoom
Although I like Tim Allen and think he is very funny, Zoom was horrible. It could be called a remake of Sky High with Kurt Russell except that it came out about the same time. So I'll tell you what they are both about. They gather a bunch of kids that have extraordinary powers and train them to use those powers. In Zoom they are rushing to become a team to defeat Zoom's (Tim Allen) brother Concussion who decimated the world before he was banished to another dimension. Zoom hasn't used his powers in 30 years but when his brother returns, he and his team come together to bring Concussion back to the good side. The small difference with Sky High is that they are all students whose parents are super heroes and a villain comes to the school. The group comes together and defeats the villain. If you haven't seen either of these movies, I recommend Sky High as worth the time.