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Happy Holidays

 I'm one of those who greet people this time of year with "Happy Holidays." I do that not to disrespect the celebration of the birth of Christ but because I respect those that celebrate this time of year for other reasons, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

 Least my comments section light up with flames of anger; I will mention National Drunk and Drug Driving Prevention Month. How could you include that in a holiday greeting? However, people do seem easier to insult these days. All of that palaver being uttered, I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday season this year.

Entertainment:

I keep questioning my subscription to the Apple + streaming app. It made perfect sense when I was giggling the night away watching Ted Lasso. I'm sorry, but after Ted retired until the next season, I found I didn't understand or enjoy Severance and for me, anything with Will Farrel is questionable, even if it co-stars Ryan Reynolds.

And then Apple produced Slow Horses, the best and funniest spy thriller I've ever seen. It features two fantastic actors, Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas. The dialogue in this streaming event is reminiscent of the late Robert B. Parker, fast, furious, and funny. The spy capper is twisted and re-twisted so often that it weaves a wonderful thread to a story of intrigue and mayhem. 

That would hold me over until the next season of Ted Lasso. Then I stumbled onto Echo 3. I usually avoid starting a conversation about film or theater with the self-deprecating phrase, "Well, it's not Shakespeare but..." because I don't understand much of Shakespeare, anyway. But I'm sure Echo 3 is not Shakespeare because the body count is way too high, and Shakespeare never scripted automatic weapons. 

The premise of Echo 3 is the girl gets in trouble, and the guy rescues her. I know, that one started with a guy with a twisted, looped mustache tying the girl to the railroad tracks and the wholesome cowboy arriving in the nick of time, or every opera ever written. Now, I understand for an audience to be genuinely entertained, in a memorable fashion, someone has to die, and this one seeks to satisfy that blood thirst. 

I'm spotting the Gulf War influence here. The protagonists in several TV and movie offerings are going away from pathologists and forensic investigators to former highly trained soldiers. Echo 3 has the damsel in distress's husband and brother as the major saviors and a bevy of their buddies waiting in the wings so they can arrive in the nick of time. I rate this three boxes of popcorn out of a possible five. 

From David Nitz, webmaster for St. Louis Park HS class of 1959 and a first-rate "where does he find this stuff" guy.


And If that's not amazing enough.



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