A scene is shown from 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.' (AP Photo / Columbis Pictures-Sony)

“Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance”

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and language
What it’s about: The “Rider” returns to protect a child that Satan and his minions want to get their hands on.
The kid attractor factor: Based on the comic book, full of action and effects and Nicolas Cage in “Nutty Nic” mode.
Good lessons / bad lessons: If you’ve made a deal with the Devil, you need to “work on your decision making.”
Violence: Yes, and some of it directed against a child. Most of it is of the supernatural variety, though.
Language: Limited profanity.
Sex: None.
Drugs: Wine is consumed and enjoyed.
Parents’ advisory: A little rougher than your average kid-oriented comic book adaptation, but OK for 12-and-up.

A scene is shown from the film 'Act of Valor,' starring real, active-duty Navy SEALs. (AP Photo / Relativity Media)

“Act Of Valor”

Rating: R for strong violence including some torture, and for language
What it’s about: Navy SEALs circle the globe in an effort to foil a terrorist attack on America.
The kid attractor factor: Real-life Navy SEALs show us how it’s done — commando style.
Good lessons / bad lessons: Learning to live without fear is the key to making a good SEAL.
Violence: Lots and lots and lots — torture included.
Language: Some profanity, not a lot.
Sex: None.
Drugs: A plot subtext.
Parents’ advisory: This could be a recruiting film for the Navy SEALs, until you get to sober scenes showing the cost of combat. OK for 13-and-up.

— ROGER MOORE, The Orlando Sentinel

Recent reviews include “This Means War” and “The Secret Life of Arrietty” and “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and “The Woman in Black.” Find all the family movie reviews, dating back to September 2011, here.

Of course, everything changes when you have a child. The boy loves the bathroom and has since he was first potty trained.  I find that if I give myself a pep talk before taking him to the bathroom than my anxiety will not overwhelm me and I won’t be shouting, “For the love of God, please do not touch anything.”

So, imagine my reaction when the boy made a face and announced in the middle of Smokey Bones, “I’ve got to poop.” Guess what, you don’t have to imagine, I’m going to tell you.  As with most things, many different things sprinted through my brain in 10 seconds flat.

• Why is he yelling? I really need to get his hearing checked.
• I love being a spectacle.  At least the people around us got a good chuckle.
• OMG, what is he going to touch?
• Why is he making that face?
• Is that a high school basketball team waiting for tables in front of the bathroom?
• Teenagers, ugh!
• At least I was done eating.
• I really need to eat slower then at least I can negotiate taking him to the bathroom with the husband.
• He has to poop, so we’re going to be at least 10 minutes if not longer.
• Did the husband bring his wallet so he can pay the bill? I can’t remember.

I must admit the yuck factor in the bathrooms at Smokey Bones was at a minimum.  They were relatively clean. (It was 11:45 am, so they had only been open for about 45 minutes.) It only took the boy 20 minutes to do his business.  He is slow and stoic in all things, including pooping. I only told him 15 times that he needed to get done, because I was tired of being in the bathroom.  At least this time there were no questions about the sanitary napkins disposal area or the baby station. Plus, the boy didn’t decide to throw himself on the floor to say hello to the person in the next stall. Everybody wins, when that happens.

I’m pretty sure that public restrooms will always be disgusting because it all comes down to consideration.  People are not considerate of each other or the workers who have to clean up after them.  If you make a mess, clean it up — even in a public bathroom.

Everybody poops. It’s what you do with your poop that indicates what kind of person you are.

What lessons do you teach your children?

Cliff Etheredge, a wind farmer in Roscoe, Texas, shares how his farm embraced wind turbines in 'Carbon Nation.' (Photo by Peter Byck)

Last week, I joined about 100 York College students and York County residents for a showing of “Carbon Nation,” a documentary that claims solutions to climate change can also address other social, economic and national security issues.

It started off with a short cartoon, which personified carbon dioxide as a brown-headed character sporting two earmuffs — one atom of carbon, two of oxygen, get it? Very clever.

As the film dove into its different vignettes, it highlighted areas where clean energy solutions were already in place. True to its promises, a lot of these solutions also had positive effects on other issues. And while I wouldn’t claim the benefits are cut and dry, it was interesting to explore. A few examples:

• Along the Pennsylvania Rust Belt, cities that struggled with population loss and high unemployment are seeing a turnaround through wind turbines. Because the manufacturing of the turbines is labor-intensive, the operations require more workers — which means more jobs.
• In Roscoe, Texas, farmers are making up to $15,000 per year, per turbine, for wind mills on their land. At the same time, the land can still be used for livestock grazing or agriculture. Farmers who used to curse the dry winds for their ill effects on soil now celebrate their money-making potential.
• The Department of Defense spends one-third of its wartime fuel use on generators. In Iraq and Afghanistan, A/C units eat up fuel to cool tents — from 120 degrees to a still-quite-sweaty 100. By insulating these tents with spray foam, the DOD lessens its reliance on fuel (and the logistical and safety problems in acquiring it).
• A group (in California, I believe) is hiring ex-cons to install solar panels for low-income families, providing job opportunities and skills training for men and women who might otherwise have trouble getting hired — and savings on energy bills for those who need it most. One worker noted he could have his own business in five or six years.

And honestly, that’s just the beginning. It was hard to walk away from the film and not believe that climate change solutions and economic, military and social issues are intertwined. But unless there is a tangible cost for emitting carbon dioxide, it’s likely that many companies and consumers won’t curb their oil usage, and energy alternatives that benefit the Earth and its people will fail to garner support.

Just before the end credits, “Carbon Nation” listed a number of ways to address the problem — through land use, sustainable energy, etc. For anyone seeking practical advice, watch the film through to the end.

Can you spot the seven differences between these two Easter bunnies?

Click on link to view answers. Easter answers

Easter scramble

Unscramble the Easter words to reveal their correct spellings

Click on link to view answers. Easter answers

It helps to take a four-pronged approach for maximum belly fat reduction – exercise, diet, sleep and stress management. 30 minutes of aerobic exercise four times a week is effective in fat reduction. Staying active in general can make a difference so skip the parking spot closest to the grocery store, play outside with your kids, take the dog for a walk, so on and so forth. Factor into the equation a healthy diet rich in fiber, the right amount of sleep (not too little or too much), and learn how to better handle the curveballs life throws your way, and you’ll have a better handle on those love handles.

If you’ve tried all of the above and your belly fat just won’t budge, you do have another option. Good news, it doesn’t involve surgery and needles. Scientists at Harvard developed CoolSculpting®, a non-invasive and natural way to permanently trim down and smooth out those annoying bumps and bulges.

Gone are the days of tummy tucks! The FDA-approved CoolSculpting® effectively freezes fat cells without causing any damage to your skin. After one treatment, those crystallized fat cells start to break down and are naturally eliminated from your body over the course of the next few months. Results are typically noticeable after that first treatment.

CoolSculpting® is non-invasive, safe and comfortable. You can return to normal activities immediately after treatment. As long as you maintain your weight with a normal diet and exercise, your long-term CoolSculpting® results should remain stable. To learn more about CoolSculpting® and how you might be a good candidate, contact Lebo Skin Care Center for a free consultation.

This post is brought to you by Lébo Skin Care Center, which has a York location (1936 Powder Mill Road) and Hanover (250 Fame Avenue, Suite 205). They can be reached by phone at 717-747-9950 (York) or 717-646-9950 (Hanover). Learn more about Lébo at www.leboskincare.com. Call today to schedule a free consultation, where a licensed skin care consultant can match the right products or procedures to your specific skin care needs.

Don’t miss this month’s specials – Enjoy 10% off permanent makeup now through the end of February!

Sha' Summerlin of York sits among the roses in Michael Wrightstone's rose garden in Camp Hill in 2010. Air-drying works best for robust varieties such as roses. (File photo)

If you were lucky enough to receive a big bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day last week, they might be looking a little droopy — mine always did after about a week. But that doesn’t mean you have to toss them into the trash. In the January/February issue of Smart magazine, we showed you two ways to preserve your buds: in the microwave or by air-drying.

First things first, though: Find out if the flowers will preserve well. After all, the types of flowers used in the bouquet make a big difference in the final product.

• Air drying works best for such robust varieties as roses or long-lasting plants, like lavender.
• For more delicate flowers like lilies, pressing may be your best preservation alternative.
• Gerbera daisies, chrysanthemums and tulips are great candidates for the microwave flower-drying technique, a process that will preserve their color and structure better than air drying.

Voila. Now that you know which method will work best for the flowers you have, check out the full tutorial. If you end up drying some, post a photo of your preserved bouquet to the Smart magazine Facebook page and let us know how it turned out.

Of course, if you’re less than crafty, or escaped Valentine’s Day flower-free, no matter. Grab a fastnacht and celebrate Fat Tuesday — and celebrate a belated Valentine’s Day on your own!

As the cold sets in and that couch calls your name, Smart magazine encourages you to enjoy winter for all it offers. From outdoor activities like skiing and hiking to cozy indoor ideas like making your own hot cocoa, we’ll offer a tip each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through March.

Oatmeal baths are great to soothe irritated and dry skin, but I rarely finish a whole box I buy from the pharmacy because it’s buried deep in the back of a cabinet.

When I recently stumbled upon a do-it-yourself recipe online, I felt silly that I bought the concoction elsewhere when I regularly have a small tub of oatmeal in my kitchen!

Actually, all of the ingredients for the oatmeal spice bath comes right from the pantry: oatmeal, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg. I use these four ingredients during the holidays to make cookies or other sweets, so why not use them during the dry winter to refresh my skin? The spices will warm your spirits.

You will want to gather and then add to a bowl:

1 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

½ teaspoon cardamom powder

½ teaspoon nutmeg powder.

Mix. If you’re not using right away, store in a container in a cool place. When using, either take a muslin bag or a bunch of cheesecloth and a string. Tie to your faucet, and then cut it off and use to rub on your skin to make it even softer.

More information at Mountain Rose Herbs.

I know better than to go to the grocery store on a Sunday. Unfortunately, I was sick on my normal shopping day. As a reward, I got to go on Sunday. My patience, in general, is low. (As my husband would rant if he had a blog. Which he doesn’t.)  My patience at the grocery store is nonexistent. I believe it’s from the stress of having to deal with gawkers, gabbers, gremlins and grumpers.

You need some definitions here to fully understand what I mean.

Gawkers – People who have been staring at the salad dressings for more than five minutes while blocking the aisle with their crooked cart in front of an aisle display. In general, it’s more than likely that 1) the grocery store does not have what you’re looking for and 2) it’s not going to magically appear. Please choose a close substitute or share the aisle.

Gabbers- People who haven’t seen each other in 15 years but have decided to catch up in front of the ketchup while completely closing off the entire aisle.

Gremlins- Small children running amok. I personally have a gremlin; he was contained in the shopping cart.

Grumpers- People who are in such a hurry that they will mow you down with their cart. And apparently, what they need to do is 10 times more important than what you need to do.

OK, definitions out of the way.  Here’s the story:

I was three-quarters of the way down the chip aisle. In front of me was a couple, the lady, who was on an electric grocery cart and her husband, who was directly behind her (classic gawkers).  In front of her, was an aisle display of spray cheese.  (Why do the grocery stores feel the need to block the aisle with a display? Ugh!). Directly across from the gawkers was a cart that was crooked.  The owner of the crooked cart was missing-in-action (MIA).

I assessed the situation and during that time decided that I did not have the patience to wait for 1) the couple to move and 2) the MIA cart owner to return. I believed that I could successfully wedge my cart, gremlin and my fat butt through the narrow passage.

Let’s just say, that I could not successfully wedge any of those three things through the passage. Not only did I hit the display, I hit the display with such force as to knock over numerous cans of spray cheese. In the meantime, the MIA cart owner returned. In my attempt not to completely look like an idiot I yelled, “Woo-who, I win!” while throwing my hands up in the air.

Needless to say, I caused one heck of a traffic jam not only in the chip aisle but also the main thoroughfare near the deli counter. Did I learn my lesson? Probably not, I’m  a classic grumper.

What tests your patience at the grocery store?