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The Trial of the Chicago 7 Quicktake

Rating **** 1/2

The Trial of the Chicago 7 by Aaron Sorkin tells the story of how Mayor Richard Daily used overwhelming police force to prevent peaceful protesters from protesting at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Rather than contain the protestors, the efforts to prevent the protestors from protesting at the convention resulted in street violence with many of the protestors being injured by police. Sound familiar? The organizers of the protests were targeted and rounded up and put on trial for inciting the riots.

As the title suggests, a lot of the story centers around the trial of the eight people indicted. One person, the head of the black panthers, was removed from the proceedings after the judge was forced to declare a mistrial because of his treatment of the defendant, which included bounding and gagging the defendant. The trial scenes were memorable thanks in large part to the bizarre rulings by the judge, played by Frank Langella. The riots for which the men had been put on trial are shown in flashbacks using both archival footage and dramatizations.

One of the better scenes in the film revolves around the idea of just who started the riots. Was it the protestors, who were there to protest the Vietnam War? Or was it Tom Hayden played by Eddie Redmayne. The scene starts out with a recording made the night of the riots where Hayden appears to incite the protestors. The answer is not black and white. As the scene unfolds it appears that Hayden did incite the crowds. Later, though, it becomes apparent that it was just a misunderstanding.

As good as the film is, I think it may have been even better if done as a two or three-part series. It seemed to me that a good deal of the story was condensed in an effort to save time. For example, five of the defendants are found guilty, but we never get to see the verdict being handed down. They just show up unexpectedly wearing jumpsuits. Another thing missing was images of the real people. And while updates were given for a number of the characters, there was no update on Attorney General John Mitchel, who was a lot like our current Attorney General Bill Barr.

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Review of The Sleep Revolution

Review of The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington Rating *** 1/2

I consider sleep to be the single most important factor in achieving better health. As a professional pilot who travels between timezones regularly, I’ve become somewhat of a sleep expert. I picked up the audio version of this book to compare what I’ve learned over the years to what the author had to say on the topic.

Author Arianna Huffington does a commendable job of highlighting the benefits of getting more sleep and the myriad of issues that arise when we don’t get enough. She also offers a multitude of suggestions on how to get better quality sleep. Her approach was to list every technique she learned from her personal experiences, along with what she picked up through her research. That attempt to list every conceivable suggestion to help people get better sleep meant that the author had to gloss over some of the more useful techniques. I’ll use the remainder of this review to share what I’ve learned.

It starts with your sleep environment. If you want better sleep, I suggest the following: a comfortable bed, a neck supporting pillow (I use a seed pillow), a quiet room, and a temperature between 69 to 71 degrees. Additionally, sleeping alone will always provide better sleep.

Next on the importance list is light. If your sleep schedule is not consistent, you can trick your brain using blue blocker lenses. I can’t go to sleep if I’m not tired. If I wear blue-light-blocking glasses two hours before I need to go to sleep, It works as well as taking a melatonin pill but without the side effects. If I need to use an electronic device, I’ll turn on night mode. Lastly, the room where you sleep has to be completely dark. Rather than spend a fortune on room darkening blinds and window coverings, I wear a sleep mask.

There are times, however, when all of the above is still not enough. I can’t shut my brain down. That’s when sound comes into play. At home, I’ll use my smart speaker. On the road, I’ll use my phone. The idea is you want to let your mind focus on the sounds rather than all of the other pressing issues going on in your brain. What types of sounds are best? I put them into three categories: white noise, mood or meditation sounds, and orchestrated music. You don’t want to be listening to anything with lyrics, drums, bass, or strong melodies. I’ve found that music with orchestration works best for me. I’ve put together hours-long playlists of movie soundtracks. My brain seems to focus on all the different instruments.

Lastly, I have a suggestion for waking up. When you wake up to an alarm clock, you are technically sleep deprived. But you still have to do it. You can make the transition from sleep to awake a little less jarring if you wakeup one side of your brain before the other. To better illustrate what I’m talking about, do the following: Get into a dark room. Cover both eyes. Wait a minute or two. Now turn on a single bright light like a flashlight pointed right at you. Let the light into just one eye. You will discover that letting light into one of your eyes will result in agitation while letting the light into the opposite eye will be much less annoying. It’s different for everyone. For me, letting light into my right eye while keeping my left eye covered works best. The left side of the brain wakes up before the right side. It makes the transition to wakefulness a little less jarring.

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Turnkey Vacations Renters Beware

I am writing this post to share with others my experience with Turnkey Vacations. Had I done more research prior to my rental, I probably would have passed.

My wife and I planned to stay close to home on this vacation due to travel restrictions related to the pandemic. We settled on a short trip to Texas Hill Country. The plan was to take our dog with us and visit some of the state parks as well as a side trip to Fredericksburg, TX. We’ve had good success with VRBO and used them to select a vacation rental. We found one in Dripping Springs, Texas. It was a new listing. The pictures of the rental looked fine. It had a separate fenced-in area for a dog. So I entered my credit card information and booked a stay from August 28 through August 31, 2020.

A few days after I made the reservations, our dog was riding in the car and injured her foot after a sharp turn. By this time I had already learned that the property we rented was managed by a company called Turnkey Vacations. So I emailed Turnkey on August 16 to see if we could reschedule our trip to October. I believe they responded the next day. The email said something about changes made to the reservation within 30 to 11 days prior may have additional charges. Now I’m 11 days out. So I call them. After holding for thirty minutes, I selected the option to have them return my call. No one called back. I called the next day and got someone right away. I explained my situation. “Sorry, you are now 10 days out and we can no longer make any changes.” As it turns out, it would not have made a difference because their policy is that you can only make changes within the same month if it’s in the 30 – 11 days out time frame. It was my first indication that this Turnkey Vacations might not have been a good choice.

With no other options, we boarded our dog and headed to Dripping Springs. The communications from Turnkey were clear and detailed. We were told that there would be two gates. The first gate would be open and the second gate required a code. My wife liked this layer of security. However, upon arrival, we discovered that the second gate was opened and it did not close after we passed. No problem. I’ll send Turnkey a text message. They responded that they would look into the issue.

The picture below is from VRBO. The drawings are mine.

It was late when we got there. We were pretty tired from the five-and-a-half hour-drive. Our first impression was that everything seemed as advertised. The place looked clean. It was only later that we started noticing a myriad of little issues. Here are a few things we discovered that night.

  1. There was a drawer in the kitchen that would not close. Not a big problem but one that could cause injury.
  2. None of the windows in the living area had window coverings.
  3. The furniture was sparse and uncomfortable. The couch was comfortable, but you couldn’t sit there and watch TV because the TV was in an Armoire that had doors that blocked the view. Bottom line was if you wanted to watch TV you had to sit in one of the two stiff chairs.
  4. The TV was a small 27-inch screen. Viewing options were limited to Netflix. That was it. No cable. The TV shared a slow wi-fi signal. If you were using a computer with wi-fi, Netflix would freeze up.

One of the reasons we go with VRBO is because my wife and I like to have our own bedrooms. I chose the smaller of the two bedrooms. When I pulled back the covers of my bed, I noticed a stain and a foul odor. It was late. It was dark. I was tired. I got in bed and pulled the covers tight to block the odor. I also could not find any pillows that were comfortable. I ended up using a stiff throw pillow.

I didn’t sleep well. The odor from the bed was awful. The pillow was uncomfortable. The next morning I got up and went to the shower. That’s when I noticed there were no towel racks. I also discovered that the stopper in the sink was broke. I got in the shower. After a few minutes, I noticed that I was bleeding. I’m talking puddles of blood. WTF? I couldn’t determine where I was bleeding from. I looked down and noticed several pinprick spots on my foot. Bed bugs. Yuck.

I went back to the bedroom and pulled back the sheets. This is what I found.

That’s it. We’re out of here. Before leaving I got a text message from Turnkey wanting to know if the gate had been fixed. I told them I didn’t know (it hadn’t) but that I had some problems to report. I asked that they call me.

I received a call on the way to Fredericksburg. I was told that they were sending someone out to clean the sheets. They were also sending out an exterminator to take care of the bedbugs. I replied that I wasn’t coming back and expected a refund.

A few days later I received a text message informing me that they were going to refund me $175 of my $950 + initial charge.

Rather than waste my time arguing with this company, or taking them to small claims court, I decided to write about my experiences here on this site where other people can find it.

I’m sure that many people have had positive experiences with this company. If someone from Turnkey sees this post and decides to respond, I will post their response. But ask yourself Turnkey, wouldn’t it have been better to simply offer a full refund?

Note: This site is dedicated to reviews of nonfiction books, films, and documentaries. Occasionally, I use this site to call attention to other issues of importance. Also, the two pictures on the home screen of this site are from our last vacation to California where we stayed at two different VRBO locations without problems.

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Review of The Last Dance

Review of the Netflix docuseries The Last Dance
Rating *****

You don’t have to be a basketball fan to enjoy this highly entertaining ten-episode docuseries. The plotline, established in the first episode, centers around whether or not the Chicago Bulls can win a third three-peat before the Chicago Bulls management disbands the winning team. Thus the title “The Last Dance.”

At the center of this dynasty is Michael Jordan. There is little doubt that the Chicago Bulls could not have won as many championships as they did without Michael Jordan. But it’s also true that Michael couldn’t have done what he did without a talented cast of supporting characters, including Scottie Pippen, Denis Rodman, Steve Kerr, John Paxon, and a host of other players that came and went.

The ten episodes cover eight years, starting with the signing of Michael Jordan. Between the conference and championship series, there is a dizzying amount of time-shifting flashbacks and individual player profiles. When this series first became available on ESPN, I passed because I couldn’t make sense of the structure. The filmmakers do a commendable job by using a timeline graphic. Once you accept the time-shifting structure, you can sit back and enjoy the anecdotes, profiles, and basketball highlights.

Every episode contained anecdotes from players, coaches, and management. One of my favorites involved an interaction between Michael Jordan and teammate Steve Kerr. There were just a few seconds left in a championship game. Everyone knew that Michael was going to get the ball. While sitting on the bench, Michael whispered to Steve Kerr and asked him if he was ready, the implication being that Michael was going to pass the ball to him. Steve Kerr’s reaction to this unexpected revelation was memorable.

Despite the confusing structure, the filmmakers deserve credit for putting together one of the best sports documentaries ever produced.

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Review of the Netflix docuseries Immigration Nation

Rating *****

Two sides of an equation

The six-part docuseries Immigration Nation is an unbiased examination of both sides of the immigration issue. Throughout the series, viewers meet a wide range of immigrants, border patrol agents, ICE agents, homeland security personnel, concerned citizens, and shady employers who participate and what is known as wage theft. Each episode focuses on a few specific issues: illegal border crossings, child separations, asylum seekers, sanctuary laws, deportations, DACA, wage theft, migrant deaths, veteran deportations, and the criminalization of human trafficking.

By looking at all sides of the immigration problem, viewers can make up their minds about the effectiveness of the current administration’s efforts. One thing that I didn’t see was evidence of immigrants taking jobs away from Americans. One example involves workers who move around the country seeking work in areas affected by storms and hurricanes. Someone has to repair roofs. Someone has to rebuild. Someone has to clean up streets from debris. In many cases, immigrants, including many who may have entered the country illegally, perform these jobs.

Unfortunately, there are a handful of companies that employ illegal workers and then refuse to pay them. Instead, they threaten to report workers to ICE when they demand pay. One company highlighted for wage theft was Winterfell Construction and the company’s owner Tommy Hamm. Tommy’s defense that it was his contractor’s responsibility to pay the workers is weak. Not only did he not take any steps to ensure that his contractors pay their workers, but he also threatened the workers and their representatives with lawsuits.

The singular goal among immigrants is for a better life for themselves and their families. The vast majority of them would be happy to enter the U.S. legally. But rather than make that a realistic goal, current immigration policy has shut down all legal paths. We treat immigrants as criminals. We deport people with no criminal records without regard to the impact on the family members remaining behind. What exists now is an immigrant community that lives in constant fear.

It is human nature to want to better one’s position in life. No one would willingly leave their own country if they weren’t escaping violence and poverty. Rather than spend billions of dollars on policies that are cruel and heartless, we should be granting more work visas. We should grant legal status to immigrant veterans. We should do what we can to improve living conditions in Central America. We are better than this.

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Review of Evil at Lake Seminole

Review of Evil at Lake Seminole: The Shocking True Story Surrounding the Disappearance of Mike Williams by Stephen Epstein Rating *****

A man goes missing while on a duck hunting trip in the Florida panhandle. That mystery propels this narrative in the opening pages. Unlike most missing person mysteries, however, the reader learns early on that Mike Williams’s disappearance was no accident. The author provides ample clues pointing to murder. It also becomes evident early on who was involved in the murder. The real mystery here is what happened and will those responsible be held accountable. The answers to those questions are what keeps you turning the pages.

The early clues point to a boating accident. Searchers find Mike’s boat floating in the water. Eventually, they find his truck nearby in a spot where he would have launched the boat. But Mike Williams is nowhere to be found. Police quickly conclude that it was an accident and do nothing further. Things might have stayed that way if not for the persistence of Mike’s mother, Cheryl Williams. Mike’s wife, Denise, on the other hand, was quick to accept the accident scenario. She took steps within weeks to have Mike pronounced legally dead so she could collect on almost two million dollars in life insurance. She would eventually marry Mike’s best friend, Brian Winchester.

One-third of the way in you know who the primary suspects are and the motive. But you still don’t know what happened to Mike. Mike’s mother hounds the police until they finally agree to open an investigation. It’s been three years and Mike’s body still hasn’t been recovered. A hypothetical involving alligators doesn’t hold up. Once Denise and Brian are married, investigators are further stymied by the privilege that allows a married person not to testify against a spouse. The investigation stalls. Brian and Denise are free to live their lives. They buy a 650,000 dollar home.

That rosy picture doesn’t last. How could it? Mike’s mom is relentless in her pursuit of the truth. Brian and Denise both have character flaws that bubble to the surface. They divorce. Things start to spiral out of control for Brian. Knowing that he no longer has the protection that his marital status once provided, Brian does something foolish. He uses a gun in a failed attempt to get Denise to reconsider the divorce. That action causes Denise to go to the police. Brian is arrested and facing a lengthy prison sentence. Prosecutors decide to give Brian an immunity deal in return for his assistance in solving Mike’s disappearance. Knowing what we know now, the prosecutors gave away too much.

The author had the good fortune of having almost everything he needed to tell this story by way of trial transcripts, depositions, and newspaper articles. It’s all their in the court records. Still, it took the mind of a skillful writer to weave the whole mess into a compelling narrative.

In writing a review like this, I try not to give away too much. But I have a theory about what could have transpired that the author didn’t purse. If you plan to read this book, and I encourage you to do so, you might want to skip this next part.

My theory is that when Brian pushed Mike into the water, Mike had no clue of Brian’s ill-intent. Mike almost certainly had his back turned to Brian. It was dark. For all he knew, falling into the water was an accident. He was yelling for Brian to help him. Brian circled his friend. Brian used the shotgun to extend to Mike so he could grab onto it. Had Brian pulled Mike into the boat, I think Mike would have been grateful that his friend was there to save him. But Brian couldn’t know this. When Mike reached for the gun, Brian made a fateful decision that would ruin many lives.

One last note. The author, Steven Epstein, started this book in August of 2019. The fact that I was able to read it just one year later is an amazing feat for both the author and publisher. Kudos for crafting a top-notch true crime story in record time.