Reviews and More

Dan Brown is of course one of the best-selling authors in recent years. His 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code was a blockbuster, and was the first of Brown’s works that I’d ever heard of. I didn’t read the book right when it came out, but after The Da Vinci Code generated tons of buzz and spent months atop the NY Times bestseller list, I finally broke down and read it.

In case you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I’ll provide a very brief synopsis here. Actually, it would just be far easier to use the author’s own words about the plot, as printed on the Official Dan Brown website and then add a few thoughts of my own after that. Anyway, here’s what Brown’s site says about the book:

A renowned Harvard symbologist is summoned to the Louvre Museum to examine a series of cryptic symbols relating to Da Vinci’s artwork. In decrypting the code, he uncovers the key to one of the greatest mysteries of all time…and he becomes a hunted man.

The Harvard professor is Robert Langdon, and the plot is actually much more complicated and involved than Brown described it above. But that’s the gist of it.

I thought this novel was very good. I know a lot of critics have come out and bashed Brown’s writing skills, the historical accuracy of some of the things Brown wrote, or the religious implications of the theory that Jesus had a wife, but I don’t have the quailfications to assess the book on those factors. I’m just going by entertainment value here, and I thought The Da Vinci Code gave me a lot of bang for my buck.

The action was almost non-stop and nearly every single chapter ended with a cliffhanger. Sure, it was gimmicky as heck, but I’m not claiming this is great literature here. It’s a beach book, a popcorn book — just as there are fun, popcorn movies that are meant to be entertaining rather than artistic. I was intrigued by the things Brown wrote; so much so, in fact, that I actually looked up a lot of Leonardo’s works so that I could see what the author was talking about.

If you haven’t read this book yet, you should give it a try. It earns 7.5 out of 10 stars from me for being so entertaining and engrossing.

I have a friend who runs a small business out of rented office space. Her offices were burglarized about 7 months ago, and since there was no security system, the criminals easily got away with several laptop computers, a fax machine, a digital camera, and other electronics. The police never recovered the stolen items, so my friend was stuck footing the bill for everything except the property damage (which insurance covered). I can’t help but think that whole incident could have been avoided if my friend had had an alarm system installed back then!

My husband has been riding motocross for more than 15 years now and has tried lots of different equipment in that time. For instance, he gets a new helmet every two years regardless of whether or not he had any big crashes that impacted his old helmet. It’s just smart to replace your motorcycle helmets frequently because the protective materials naturally degrade over time, and this wear-and-tear may not be noticeable to the naked eye.

Anyway, my husband has worn Bell, Arai, Answer, and Shoei helmets before, but he wanted to try something different this time around. He decided to go with a One Industries helmet because he’s heard very good things about the company and their products. So he bought a One Industries Trooper helmet in black. He has gone for a couple of rides with the helmet and has formed some initial impressions.

First, he loves the way the helmet fits. It’s very snug and secure without being overly tight (like his Bell helmets were). One uses Small, Medium, and Large size designations, and my husband went with a Medium.

Second, the helmet is very lightweight. It doesn’t feel like it’s weighing his head down, which helps him put in longer motos without getting any pains in his neck or shoulders the next day.

Third, my husband really likes the way the helmet looks. It’s got a cool paint scheme and there were a lot of different color combos to choose from.

Overall, my husband can’t think of anything negative to say about the One Industries Trooper helmet that he purchased. It’s a great motocross helmet and he recommends it to any rider at any competition level. Check it out!

I’ve been reading a lot about cell phones in the past week or so, and have been actively searching for the right one to buy for at least a month now. The decision shouldn’t really be that difficult, but there are so many nice phones out there that I can’t make up my mind!

Today I was looking at some more Motorola phones because they seem to have the best ones. I saw a couple of very cool ones today, like the Motorola K1 and the Z3. The K1 is a nice-looking clam style phone, which is the type I’m leaning towards now. My current phone is a slide phone like the Z3, but I’m getting a bit tired of that style. I’m not sure if either of these are available in the U.S. yet, but you U.K. folks can definitely get your hands on them. Lucky!!!

I saw A Simple Plan starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda back when it first came out in 1998, and I remember thinking that it was a very good film. I didn’t watch it for a second time until recently, at which point I was interested in seeing how well it held up upon further review. I discovered that enough time had passed that I forgot all the details and plot twists, so I was just as drawn into the story as I was the first time.

A Simple Plan is about a group of three Minnesota men who think they’ve hit the jackpot when they stumble upon a downed plane in a nature preserve. The plane was a small, private one, and contained nothing but the dead body of the pilot and $4 million in cash. At first, Hank (Paxton), the leader of the group, wants to report their findings and turn everything over to the police.

But his brother Jacob (Thornton) and Jacob’s friend Lou (Brent Briscoe) convince Hank to keep the money and divide it among themselves. They say that it’s probably drug money anyway and wouldn’t be missed. All three of the men are mired in financial difficulties, so it’s not long before Hank agrees — on one condition: He will hide the money and no one will get to spend it until the spring. His reasoning is that by then the snow will thaw and the plane will be found by someone else. If the money is reported missing, Hank will burn it and no one will be the wiser. If there’s no mention of the money, the men will be in the clear.

It sounds like a simple plan, but it doesn’t work out like Hank planned. In fact, things go drastically wrong right from the start, and sitting on the money proves to be a very difficult task for the men. I won’t reveal the details here, though, because they’re what make the movie interesting.

As I said, I liked A Simple Plan very much, even after watching it a second time. It’s not without some flaws, and some of the actions the characters take are very puzzling (especially when there seem to be easier alternatives), but it’s entertaining and suspenseful.

I give this movie 7.5 stars out of 10 and recommend that you watch it if you haven’t seen it yet or if it’s been a long time since you last viewed it.