Mirino's Pizza of Deland Florida

For some reason, I feel at home in central Florida, especially the places that haven't been touched by tourism and pretention. Mirino's is such a joint, and a puzzle at that. Why does a pizza shop need to affiliate themselves with Christianity other than the fact that they can do what they want, the American way. At least it was inexpensive, with an 'early bird' 16" pizza at a discount. God bless.

The ratio for our cheese pizza was 1cr/2ce/2ch. The sauce gets a 3 out of 5. It's a bit runny, with a decent flavor. I would have leaned more toward oregano instead of parsley and basil, skipping the onions. The crust gets a 4 out of 5. Texturally, it's a perfect east coast pizza dough, but its flavor was completely masked by cheese, the same cheese that's on just about every pizza. So Mirino's doesn't stand out at all in the flavor department. I guess that's fine. If you don't like it, you probably shouldn't be eating pizza.

For style, I'll give Mirino's a 5 out of 5. It's cheap, served in a comfortable, no-frills atmosphere. They have plenty of other menu options, like subs (with meats ranging from eggplant parmesan to liverwurst), strombolis, lasagna, and chicken fingers. Not only that, but they shred their own cheese. Regardless of your beliefs, one can't help but feel charmed by their painting of Jesus, and box for prayer requests.

Mirino's gets a 4 out of 5 for overall quality. Nothing to write home about, but with an overall score of 80%, I think Mirino's deserves its place on the map.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I know this book is a classic, written for kids. But I'd never read it before, and was looking for a 'portal fantasy' to sharpen my familiarity with the genre. This book tells the story of Milo, a young boy who is bored with everything. He arrives home one day to find a package, just for him. It's a tollbooth, which he drives through in his little boy car.

Through the tollbooth, he finds himself in a magical world in which every abstraction is a reality. He has to put logic back into this world by restoring the rule of Rhyme and Reason, or somethinglike that. Honestly, I thought this book was super boring, with a lot of words that don't mean much aside from an allegory for Don't Be Bored.

Maybe if I was a little kid, the imaginings of this piece would have had more of an impact for me, but I already had an imagination. I was already interested in learning about things, and doing things. So it may have put into words some of the things that were already in my childish heart. As an adult, it felt like the ramblings of a punisher.

Stretch's Pizza of Malta Montana

With some research into google's reviews, I learned that Stretch''s didn't used to be the only pizza joint in Malta. Now it is, having obliterated its competition. Our $20 20" cheese pizza had a ratio of 2cr/2ce/3ch. Its crust gets a score of 3 out of 5. It could have used a little more knead and a little more proof, which is often the case. It was pleasantly soft and moist, but merely whelming chew and flavor.

Their sauce is my kind of sauce, high tomato and high mileage. It gets a score of 5 out of 5. For style, I'll give Stretch's a 5 out of 5. This place seemed like the main local hangout, and hasn't been redocrated since the 90s. It has a pool table, fooseball, arcade games, casino, to-go beers, and a wide variety of menu items, like a mini corn dog appetizer. If I lived in Marta, I'd probably either work here or come in every day. I like the addition of cheddar into their mozzarella topping, for extra tang.

For overall quality, I'll give Stretch's Pizza a 4 out of 5. It could have been cooked more on the bottom and less on the top, And I don't see why our pizza had to be cut into 16 slices. It would have been nice if they were foldable. Small complaints, I guess. With the dough being what it was, the pizza felt more like a really nice homemade pie than something from a pizzeria. So Stretch's gets a final score of 85%. If you find yourself on Montana's State Road 2, I highly recommend this little slice of heaven.

Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk

As you know, I'm a writer of fiction with hopes of someday showing a novel people like you will want to read. So I picked up yet another book on the craft of narrative fiction. And it was pretty good. Palanhiuk talks a lot about his life as a writer, while giving the best practical writing advice he could put together.

So I very much appreciate his elaboration on the tricks he uses to hook readers, though you should be able to figure it out by reading his other books. Now I know, if I had the talent, how to write like Chuck. While every writer intends to have their own style, I do see the value in what he shares.

If you're a writer, I definitely recommend this book. And like most books by authors on writing, he included a long reading list, mostly of stuff that inspires his own work. Stuff heavy on hooks and voice. All good stuff.

With Shuddering Fall by Joyce Carol Oates

For those who don't know, Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite authors, easily one of the best to produce work in my lifetime. With Shuddering Fall is her first novel, taking place in the days before air conditioners were common place, in small towns surrounded by country.

It tells the story of a sheltered young girl, stupidly innocent, and hungry for a real experience. As it turns out, these real experiences in life can be pretty awful. And she finds herself a dangerous attachment to a racecar driving man whose talent leans heavily on detachment and dysfunction.

While this isn't my favorite of Oates's novels, it's overflowing with the darkness, juice, and drama her fans have come to expect. If you haven't read anything by her before, I think this is a fine place to start, seeing how it's easier to stomach than some of her other books.

511 Main Fountain & Pizzeria of Ashton Idaho

From the map, I wasn't especially interested in trying Ashton's only pizza joint. In this situation, the only pizza in town will be crafted to be "pretty much" pizza, thus good enough. The town was so cute, and we were so hungry, so we stopped.

The shop is an old fashioned ice cream parlor whose main food is pizza, with options of soup, salad, sandwiches, and a "chilango wrap". They had a whole menu of sundaes and things with ice cream, soda, and huckleberries. After downing my first diet pepsi of the bottomless type, our pizza had a ratio of 3cr/2ce/3ch.

I give their crust a 4 out of 5. It's somewhat bready, heavenly soft with the flavor of good pizza dough. While I loved the presence of goo in the center of pizza, I felt like it could have been cooked at a higher temperature as it was lacking in chew. Maybe it could also have used a longer knead. Still, it's the kind of dough Papa John's would give us if their pizza was made with something related to love.

Their sauce gets a 5 out of 5. It might be a little tomato pasty for some, but I thought it was perfect, thick with plenty of tomato flavor. The kind of sauce you get some mileage from.

For style, I give a 4 out of 5. The shop was cute and cozy without trying to make a gimmick of it. I might have tried one of their desserts if I hadn't stuffed myself with delicious pizza. Their appetizers didn't interest me, since they were mostly more basic forms of pizza, like garlic twists and bread sticks They didn't even have chicken, which might be the reason they didn't get the full 5. Their other menu items didn't appeal more than pizza, though one of their pies comes with a special cranberry sauce pizza sauce, which is an intriguing heresy.

For quality, I give this pizza a 5 out of 5, especially since I was critical of its dough and cooking temperature. There was no brown on top, but look at the stretch on that cheese. This pizza was beautiful and absolutely delicious. So Main 511 Pizza gets a final score of 90%. Good good stuff. I'm glad to have stopped, as it truly brightened my day.

Thief, Acolyte, Consort by James Paige

I've been somewhat torn about reviewing this novel, written by someone I very much look up to in the world of computer game design. We're not exactly friends, but we've had a few interactions with much kindness and generosity from his end.

This book is a fantasy romance, set in a fantasy world. It should be right up my alley, but I would have prefered more juice. A traveling thief, protagonist Cat ends up in a new city with a curse on it that makes fire impossible in certain areas. Every character is from a rich variety of size and race: lizards, golems, people with horns, etc.

Each year there's a new king, and that king gets sacrificed so their soul can serve the magic of the city. Cat falls in love with a professor from the school of magic, who becomes the new king. Sorry if that's a spoiler, but it happens within the first 20 pages of the book. Both characters are female, so it's a queer romance. I feel like the genders of most characters were decided by the roll of a dice. The narrator has limited knowledge, typically leaning on Cat's perspective who can somehow discern every character's chosen pronouns (she, he, or they) without having to ask.

Nobody bats an eye at the fact that Cat's in a gay love affair. And perhaps that's how it might be in an ideal, fantasy world. But I think if gender is a social, then perhaps gender identity would have some kind of social impact. Thus, I found most of the potential 'juice' of this novel wasted.

I thought the writing and story-telling were heads above your typical first novel, self-published. The narrative style reminded me of Lloyd Alexander in a good way. If this is your cup of tea, you should check it out.

The Rock (feat. Nicolas Cage)

Released in 1996, The Rock is one of those covert military op films, for people who like that kind of thing. For its time, it's pretty edgy, giving a little extra juice to those who like Tom Clancy things. I've heard the quote "All is fair in love and war", which we know now to be false. In fact with war, nothing is fair, which gives us a certain amount of sympathy for our antagonist, General Francis Hummel (played by Ed Harris). Hummel is a hero of the Vietnam war. Seeking reparations for himself and his comrades, he seizes Alcatraz (The Rock) with a number of hostages and bio-chemical weapons pointed at San Francisco, in a hostage situation with our government.

Of course our 'Don't Tread On Me' country can't let Hummel get away with this, so it forms a team of navy seals while coercing a chemist in the employ of the FBI named Stanley Goodspeed (played by Nicolas Cage) into taking part in the mission, as they need him to dismantle the weapons. But to break into Alcatraz, they need to employ the only man who has ever successfully escaped from the prision, John Mason (played by Sean Connery).

So Cage gets to play an arrogant, but noble chemist in all of his brilliant 90s Nick Cage fashion while Sean Connery gets to display his talents for always somehow playing a total badass. The badass and the noble chemist make good... chemistry for this film, that is no doubt. While I would rate this film highly among its peers, I'm just not really into these violent tales of military heroism. The Rock hasn't very well stood the test of time, regarding predictability, calls for character sympathy, and its eye-rolling attempts at humor. I guess the writers thought including a very gay hairdresser would fill the theater with ROFLing.

The story itself is well presented, giving the audience a few moments to guess what's going on. And I like how the antagonist himself has a character arc, which is super rare for a Cage film. Speaking of Cage films, the action in The Rock does not make the cut. Most of it is delegated to bullet storms and a singular car chase. While there were a few, forgiveable of stretches in plausibility you'd expect from any action thriller, it's far more immersive than the likes of Face/Off. But it dragged on for too long, with little we didn't see coming.

1. Raising Arizona
2. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
3. Leaving Las Vegas
4. Red Rock West
5. Adaptation
6. Pig
7. Birdy
8. Wild at Heart
9. Joe
10. National Treasure
11. Guarding Tess
12. Snake Eyes
13. Mandy
14. Dog Eat Dog
15. Color Out of Space
16. Mom and Dad
17. World Trade Center
18. Peggy Sue Got Married

19. The Rock

20. Zandalee
21. Prisoners of the Ghostland
22. City of Angels
23. Willy's Wonderland
24. Captain Corelli's Mandolin
25. Bangkok Dangerous
26. Drive Angry
27. Army of One
28. Lord of War
29. Gone in 60 Seconds
30. Matchstick Men
31. Vampire's Kiss
32. Con Air
33. Face/Off
34. Trapped in Paradise
35. The Boy in Blue
36. Honeymoon in Vegas
37. Deadfall
38. Amos and Andrew
39. Moonstruck
40. Tokarev
41. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
42. Knowing
43. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
44. Bringing Out the Dead
45. The Family Man
46. Stolen
47. It Could Happen to You
48. The Wicker Man
49. 8mm
50. The Frozen Ground
51. Left Behind
52. A Score to Settle
53. Pay the Ghost
54. Primal
55. Dying of the Light
56. Grand Isle
57. Looking Glass
58. Arsenal
59. Between Worlds
60. Ghost Rider
61. Trespass
62. The Humanity Bureau
63. Next
64. The Weather Man
65. 211
66. Fire Birds
67. The Croods