After seeing Elizabeth Olsen in her breathtaking breakout in last year's "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (if you haven't seen it, do so), I searched high and low for her next film. I was a little shaky about the promise of " Silent House," an American remake of the Uruguayan thriller "La Casa Muda."

I know you've been waiting for director McG's next endeavor. Surprise, surprise, the mastermind behind "The Charlie's Angels" franchise and the worst excuse for a Terminator film, "Salvation," doesn't deliver the goods with "This Means War," starring some of the most beautiful faces in Hollywood. And that is where the problem lies, pretty faces and nothing else.

Public libraries are amazing in their breadth of service. They help people of all ages, from toddlers to senior citizens.

I have a pretty strange relationship with the Oscars.

Donna Keck was an original talent, unique, caring, darn smart, fun, loving. She had an artistic and captivating mind. It was hard not to like her or her photography. As a member of our Book Club Valley Girls, she brought insight, intelligence and new horizons. Her recent death is a loss to the community and all her friends and family. A service was held in her honor at Whitehurst Chapel on Wednesday. Her memory remains forever.

Dear Chuck, I would like to find out how many calories my body burns. Is there some way calculate or to test what my metabolic rate is? Josh

When I see yellow daffodils emerge from the ground and watch almond orchards blossom in explosions of white, I think, naturally, of -- crab.

Proverbs 16:17-19: The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. NIV

Merced County Association of Governments has been working with the Valley Transit Authority on an "improvement" project along Highway 152 from Interstate 101 to Highway 99.

The Los Banos Chamber of Commerce has been very busy. We are getting ready for our Spring Street Faire on April 14. There are still spaces available. Contact the chamber office if you wish to reserve a space.

Honoring trees is an American tradition. The more we look at our country's history, the more we see how much Americans have valued trees.

There is a saying that goes, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings." That thought carries with me through out the curve of this story.

As I was shopping in one of our variety stores this week, I ran into someone I haven't seen in church for quite some time.

I've been to Colorado in the spring and in the summer. So I asked myself, why not go to Colorado in the winter?

How do you get a 2012 audience used to color "talkies" to see a black-and-white silent film (eek, subtitle cards!) that feels like a time machine to 1928? You put Harvey Weinstein on the job to sneak it into the Oscar race as this year's underdog. And Weinstein's done good work, grabbing "The Artist" more than 60 awards thus far. Whether a wide audience will go to see it is yet to be determined.