The men in my family accompanied my niece to see "Pirates of the Caribbean 4: The Search For Curly's Gold". Actually it was "On Stranger Tides". Not ready to be put out to pasture, given last weekend's box office, but it's getting close.

First off, this one clocks in at over two hours, about 2:20. And it was a slo-o-o-o-ow first 45 minutes or so. There was an extremely long runup to the meat of the story and it was a struggle to watch, at first. I'd like to see more funny lines out of Jack Sparrow or perhaps even some action. I'm afraid you don't get much of either in this one. Quite frankly, there were only a couple of lines that I'd call remotely funny. Maybe the 3D version had all the laughs.

Shine Guy as Barbossa (with a peg leg) was pretty good. Ian McShane channels Oliver Reed more than ever in the role of Blackbeard. Penelope Cruz offers a rather tepid love interest for Depp. Al Capone from "Boardwalk Empire" (you know, Tommy from "Snatch") gets the largest role out of the minor characters along with some guy known as the "Catechist", who falls for a mermaid.

Anyhow, the group in this is seeking the Fountain of Youth. As an audience member, I was seeking the Fast Forward button. Looking ahead, I'm sure this series will go as far as Depp wants to take it, and I see maybe one more, if that.

Meal of Links

Interviewer: Dave Grohl. Subject: Kristen Wiig.

Happy Birthday to Bob Dylan.

"Maggie's Farm"/Bob Dylan (Rolling Thunder Review)



50 dinners in 50 states. In Ohio, it's the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan.

Here are the cars that get 30 mpg combined. The Nissan Leaf gets 99 mpg for first place.

Exercise Yard

You just climbed Mt. Everest, what do you do for an encore? Well, you climb Lhotse. In the same day.

Visitor

16 Across: Ponce de ____ (4 letters) Answer: Leon