By Brian Lafferty

August 9, 2011 (San Diego) – Dark of the Sun (1968) was one of the first films to cash in on The Dirty Dozen’s success. Both films are set in war-torn countries, both are about do-or-die missions, and both feature football great Jim Brown (his second film after his retirement). The similarities end there. Judging it on its own terms, Dark of the Sun is uneven but when it’s good it makes you wish the rest of the movie were just as brutal and action-packed. When it drags, it really suffers.

Nothing but the truth!
 

By Will Power

August 8, 2011 (San Diego)--The downgrading of the U.S. credit rating by Standard and Poor was thrown into limbo when a $2 trillion dollar math error was found in their calculations. I wish my bank would make the at kind of mistake on my bank account!

Thankfully, other credit-rating agencies have not followed Standard and Poor's bad math. Moody's, another credit agency, still lists U.S. securities as AAA.  How could Standard and Poor make such bad mathematical errors? Here's a clue.

By Brian Lafferty

August 5, 2011 (San Diego) – The original Planet of the Apes was a thoughtful, intelligent commentary on the human race. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an ambitious but mostly mindless prequel that is yet another entry in the “changing things that aren’t meant to be changed” genre.

By Dawn Celapino
 

August 3, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)--Who says the only thing you can do with your dog is take him or her on a run/walk? Kayaking is a fun thing to do on a hot day with your dog, especially if your dog enjoys the water.

 By Buck Shott

August 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Gearing up for another rough-and-tumble campaign season, our Political Wrangling column is back with answers to questions inquiring minds want to know.

• Which Presidential candidate flunked 13 of 13 fact-checks?
• What prominent candidates are eyeing Bob Filner’s seat in Congress, in a redrawn district that includes the southern chunk of East County?
• Which liberal school board member may be living outside her San Diego district, making her potentially ineligible to serve?
• Which local Republican official admits to paying off folks to pack a council hearing in support of hiking rental rates for mobile home owners?
• What national office holder is collecting rent from public servants providing security for his family?

By Walter Davis

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson, after signing the Federal Reserve into existence (1)…

Nothing but the truth!

By Will Power

July 30, 2011 (San Diego)--It's no secret that politicians attempt to control the press. It's been happening forever. But when the press, politicians. and the police start working together secretly, you can get into a hell of a mess.

By Judith Seid, president, Blue Summit Wealth Management

“Your guide to socially responsible investing”
 

July 22, 2011 (La Mesa)--According to Financial Planning, on Friday TNS released a new study which revealed that 87% of Americans with $500,000 or more in investable assets feel that the size of the US government's deficit is a major concern for them.

By Brian Lafferty

July 21, 2011 (San Diego) – Cedar Rapids is the type of comedy I would expect from Fox Searchlight Pictures, the subsidiary of 20th Century Fox that specializes in independent film. If it was 20th Century Fox distributing the movie (which stars Ed Helms of The Office and The Hangover as well as John C. Reilly) we’d have a raunchy, broadly-humored comedy.

By Cate Sacks

July 17, 2011 (Blossom Valley)-- This week we have several different kinds of animals here at Dream Dogs, all in need of forever homes. First there are several dachshund-mix puppies. We also have other dogs, kittens, a rabbit and a duck.

By Brian Lafferty

July 15, 2011 (San Diego) – Sucker Punch is what happens when you give Zack Snyder carte blanche to do whatever he wants. 300 was my first exposure to Snyder. It wasn’t a masterpiece, or even a great movie, but if you were looking for a good sword and sandal epic with lots of slicing, dicing, and blood, then you couldn’t miss.

 Tips and tricks for business success

by Rama Beerfas

 By Billie Jo Jannen

July 13, 2011 (Campo)--I can vividly describe every one of the four fires that has burned through my property over the past 25 years. Notably, every one was started by someone who doesn’t live here. Causes include burning objects thrown from passing cars and trains, illegal fireworks by drunk Navy men, and border smugglers intent on their own agendas.

Also notable is that my family’s home survived every fire because of our personal efforts -- both costly and time-consuming -- to plan and execute our own defenses. Not a single fire department, including CalFire, has ever managed to arrive at my house before the fires did; the distances are simply too great and the fires too unpredictable.

By Clyde Jennings

July 10, 2011 (La Mesa)--If you're not aware of the "green movement", you just haven't been paying attention. More than ever, and growing every year, homeowners not only are asking the age-old questions of price, features and style, but they seriously want to know the green attributes of a project. In other words, does the project in question impact the environment as little as possible?

By Matt Butler

By Cate Sacks

July 11, 2011 (Blossom Valley)--This wonderful 1 year old pure Rhodesian Ridgeback female is loving and sweet.  She loves to play with other dogs, and bonds closely to her family.  She is safe with dogs and people she does not know.  Comes when called, sleeps happily in a crate at night.  She loves both big and small dogs, and doesn't have aggression towards people or pets.  She has not been cat tested.

By Brian Lafferty

July 9, 2011 (San Diego) – The Trip is a Reader’s Digest condensed version of the hit British TV sitcom of the same name. Normally sitcoms and cinema go as well together as peanut butter and mayonnaise. Director Michael Winterbottom reverses this trend with a film that makes a smooth transition from the small screen to the big screen.

Swami’s Café
8248 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa CA 91941
(619)668-9030

Reviewed by a team of East County Eaters
 

July 2, 2011 (La Mesa) –When it came time to review Swami’s Café, East County Magazine found a team of eager volunteers. The menu is too vast and diverse for any single “eater” to assess, so we sent in our ravenous reviewers to sample the fare. Each enjoyed it so much that they went back again—and again!

Nothing but the truth! 

June 29, 2011 (San Diego)--The US Supreme Court made two important health care rulings last week. 

By Brian Lafferty

June 24, 2011 (San Diego) – 3 Backyards tackles one of my favorite movie subjects: A seemingly quaint, picturesque small town that masks a dark undercurrent. This foreboding, unsettling subtext is displayed in the opening title sequence, which is set against an ironic canvas of woods, houses, cats, and hummingbirds,

Increase your enjoyment of living!

By Sharon Courmousis, Sacred Rocks Reserve

June 20, 2011 (Boulevard)--We observe at every news show and every news stand headliners about three types of people: victims, predators, and others [counselors, officers of public safety, family and friends]. While ghoulishly fascinated with the horrifying acts of predators, we feel sympathy for the victims.  But what is even more important is to feel a burning determination never to be a victim yourself and to learn how to deter the bad guys. We need to make it so by learning strategies to be safer. We need to teach others in our circle of influence.

You can train yourself to be alert at all times to what is going on around you. This training applies to driving, to walking, to parking, to walking into your home, to stepping outside to take out the garbage. People who live in nature and in rural places have an edge on city dwellers because danger can come from one wrong step – like on a rattlesnake.

Simple, easily do-able ways to increase your money management skills

By Nancy Clement

June 24, 2011(La Mesa) - Congratulations to the new 2011 East County college graduates and best wishes for your future! One important thing to think about is even though the job market is not the best right now, it is turning around, you have skills, and talents that only you can contribute--so do not let the negativity you hear, see or read in the media stifle your career goals.   Our society needs your creativity and contributions.  Remember:   “Incredible things happen…when you hold on to your Dreams” Bergsma 1990.

Marketing for a Reason

By Rama Beerfas 

June 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Most companies that have a marketing plan tend to market on a similar type of schedule every year – perhaps they have a winter campaign to kick off the new year, a summer campaign to boost business during the slow season, and a holiday campaign to maximize their share of consumers’ holiday spending.

All that notwithstanding, how about marketing for a different reason altogether? There are thousands of designated observances, commemorations and celebratory days that are just asking to be used as an excuse for marketing.

Is Marketing an Expense or an Investment?

By Rama Beerfas

May 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) –  There’s an old saying that 50% of  a business’ marketing expense is wasted. The question is, which 50% is it?

Admittedly, it can be difficult to track the success of a marketing campaign; even more so given the fact that most micro to mid-size businesses don’t set a specific goal, don’t put a definite call to action and/or don’t develop a metric that will allow them to measure the ROI and/or ROO on a given campaign.
 

By Brian Lafferty

June 20, 2011 (San Diego) – If Henry Jaglom made a movie about a young man’s sexual discoveries the result might have been something like Twelve Thirty. Jaglom didn’t direct it, but it feels like a Jaglom film. It’s talky, self-indulgent, shot with a handheld camera, and is a supposed deep character study. All that's missing are David Proval, Zack Norman, and a liberal use of the zoom lens.

By Brian Lafferty

June 18, 2011 (San Diego) – After watching Korkoro I fondly recalled the stories of my Uncle John and “the Gypsies.” When my sisters were little, he would warn them about the Gypsies and how they wouldn’t hesitate to snatch them while they slept. If you left root beer outside, maybe my sisters would have a fighting chance.

If only Korkoro was as interesting as these stories.