A gift shop named "The Attic" on Main Street
Mansion along the banks of the Ohio River in
Madison, Indiana
Leaving Madison, Indiana, I crossed the bridge
that spanned the Ohio River into Milton,
Kentucky and traveled north back up the other
side of the river until I reached Interstate 71
which carried me through downtown Cincinnati.
Before heading further north to Pennsylvania, I
stopped off in Lebanon, Ohio and stayed a night
at the Golden Lamb, the oldest hotel in the
state. It has been the host to such notables as
Charles Dickens, John Quincy Adams and the
current President George W. Bush as of 2004. I
stayed in the Ulysses S. Grant suit, a modest
but comfortable room on the second floor.
Seeing that the night was still young, I decided
to take in a movie which happened to be the
sci-fi remake The War of the Worlds. Now, folks,
I don't know if it's just me but I find actor
Tom Cruise, the most lack-luster actor in the
business. He has limited range and has a hard
time projecting emotion. He comes from the Keanu
Reeves school of acting, where cool takes the
place of real acting skills. All through the
film, I kept hoping the aliens would kill Cruise
off. I even found myself shouting "He's over
there!" so that one of the Martians could
terminate him and I could terminate my time at
the theater.
As for the movie, director Spielberg hired a lot
of talented artists and special effects people.
They should be given most of the credit for this
film. Overall, it was very predictable and
nothing to write home about.
Disenchanted with my movie experience, I
returned to the hotel and began to climb the
stairs to the second floor so that I could
settled into my bed and drift off to dreamland.
As I took my first step upstairs, my eyes
latched onto a beautiful blond hotel clerk who
wore a smart black dress with small white dots.
Striking up a conversation, I mentioned my movie
experience and we started to discuss War of the
Worlds and my dislike of Mr. Cruise. She agreed
with me that he is not the brightest bulb in
Hollywood. Satisfied that I wasn't the only one
who thought him over-paid and under-talented, I
happily went to bed.
Continued >
Back to Top
