Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, March 17, 2018

B4 
Mountain Views-News Saturday,March 17, 2018 
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS B4 
Mountain Views-News Saturday,March 17, 2018 
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS 
Jeff’s Book PicsBy Jeff Brown FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett 


Built offers a fascinating window into a 
Winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best

Oslo by J.T. Rogers

subject that makes up the foundation 
Play.Winner of the 2017 New York Drama

of our everyday lives.Agrawal is a 
Critics Circle Award for Best Play, “Oslo

structural engineer who builds big. 
is a wonderful and moving work that

From footbridges and sculptures, to 
portrays how real diplomacy works. The

train stations and skyscrapers ,she 
play shows us what can happen when men

has left an indelible mark on London’s 
and women on opposite sides of what is

landscape.She is a tireless promoter 
perceived as an intractable divide strive

of engineering and technical careers 
to create a shared humanity.” – Ban Ki-

to young people, particularly under-
moon, former Secretary-General of the

represented groups such as women. 
United Nations.“Exhilarating theatricalmagic…Oslo makes high drama out

The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer 

“Meltzer is a master and this is his best. 
in any less wizardly hands would be 

of a complex set of negotiations that 

Not since The Girl with the Dragon 
a shallow biopic.” – John Guare, Tony

Tattoo have you seen a character 
Award-winning author of Six Degrees

like this. Get ready to meet Nola. If 
of Separation and The House of Blue

you’ve never tried Meltzer, this is the 
Leaves,A darkly funny and sweeping

one.”--Harlan Coben. Who is Nola 
new play, Oslo tells the surprising true

Brown?Nola is a mystery.Nola is 
story of the back-channel talks, unlikely

trouble.And Nola is supposed to be 
friendships, and quiet heroics that led

dead.Her body was found on a plane 
to the 1993 Oslo Accords between the 

that mysteriously fell from the sky as it 
Israelis and the Palestinians. As he did 

left a secret military base in the Alaskan 
with such wit and intelligence in Blood

wilderness. Her commanding officer 
and Gifts, J.T. Rogers presents a deeply

verifies she’s dead. The US government 
personal story set against a complex

confirms it. But Jim “Zig” Zigarowski 
political canvas. 

has just found out the truth: Nola is 
still alive. And on the run.Zig works 
at Dover Air Force Base, helping put to 

Built: The Hidden Stories Behind 

rest the bodies of those who die on top-
The wonders of engineering revealed-

our Structures by Roma Agrawal 

secret missions. Nola was a childhood 
-by the inspirational female engineer 

friend of Zig’s daughter and someone 
behind The Shard, Western Europe’s 

who once saved his daughter’s life. So 
tallest building.While our cities are full 

when Zig realizes Nola is still alive, he’s 
of incredible engineering feats, most 

determined to find her. Yet as Zig digs 
of us live with little idea of what goes 

into Nola’s past, he learns that trouble 
into creating the built environment, 

follows Nola everywhere she goes.Nola

let alone how a new building goes up, 
what it is constructed upon, or how it remains 
standing.In Built, structural engineer Agrawal 
explains how construction has evolved from 
the mud huts of our ancestors to skyscrapers of 
steel that reach into the sky. She unearths how 
humans have tunneled through solid mountains; 
how we’ve walked across the widest of rivers, 
and tamed nature’s precious water resources. She 
tells vivid tales of the visionaries who created 
the groundbreaking materials used to build the 
Pantheon and the Eiffel Tower; and explains how 
careful engineering can minimize tragedies like 
the collapse of the Quebec Bridge. Interweaving 
science, history, illustrations, and personal stories, 

is the U.S. Army’s artist-in-residence-a 
painter and trained soldier who rushes into battle, 
making art from war’s aftermath and sharing 
observations about today’s wars that would 
otherwise go overlooked. On her last mission, 
Nola saw something nobody was supposed to 
see, earning her an enemy unlike any other, one 
who will do whatever it takes to keep Nola quiet.
Together, Nola and Zig will either reveal a sleight 
of hand being played at the highest levels of power 
or die trying to uncover the US Army’s most 
mysterious secret-a centuries-old conspiracy that 
traces back through history to the greatest escape 
artist of all: Harry Houdini.The preceding reviews 
are from Amazon.com 

All Things By Jeff Brown 

IS YOUR SMART PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING 
INCREASE YOUR ACCIDENT POSSIBILITY? 

The National Safety Council reports that cell phonefound that, contrary to popular belief, hands-freeuse while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.phone conversations result in the same drop in drivingNearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidentsperformance as hand-held phone usage. Studies havecaused by texting while driving. 1 out of every 4 careven pointed to a level of impairment comparableaccidents in the United States is caused by texting andto drunk driving. And despite often being marketeddriving.The U.S. has seen a 14-percent spike in roadwayas a safety feature by car manufacturers, recent studiesfatalities over the past two years. It’s also seen thealso show that dashboard-integrated hands-free callingbiggest back-to-back increase in motor vehicle–relatedand texting are little or no better. Yet drivers can’t seemdeath rates per mile driven in more than 50 years andto help but take their eyes off the road to respond to37,461 lives lost by drivers, passengers, cyclists, andthe pings and draws of their devices. A 2016 AT&Tpedestrians in 2016 alone. What’s to blame? Manystudy and a 2017 AAA study both suggest that aboutexperts, writers, and organizations are pointing totwo-thirds of drivers admit to engaging in smartphonesmartphone use and other tech-related distractionsactivities while driving, which includes talking,
while driving as major culprits.The past 20 years ofreading and sending messages, or browsing.Accidentswork in cognitive science have been showing justhave also increased in Sierra Madre.Keep your phonehow dangerously distracting phone usage of almostoff when driving and spare yourself,your family, andany kind can be to drivers. Cognitive scientists have the rest of us from injury or death. 


HOW ESTATE PLANNING 
CAN HELP YOU DREAM 
ABOUT YOUR FUTURE 

A dream without a plan is simply a wish. Estate 
planning is not just about death and taxes -- it puts youin the driver’s seat of your financial life, allowing you toset achievable goals. But it’s also a great opportunity tofocus on the legacy you want to leave behind for lovedones, help you avoid the expense and delay of probate,
as well as help you save on taxes. 

Putting Your Dreams on PaperWhen putting together your estate plan, think aboutwhat legacy you want to leave behind. The best way todo so is to write down your wishes. Consider the valuesyou want to promote. Think about important familytraditions you want to encourage or memories youwant to preserve. Rather than a just dry discussion ofwhat happens to your assets, including these wishes inyour documents makes your plan relatable and moremeaningful for your family. Because you’ve passedalong values and wisdom along with your financialwealth, you will have solidified and furthered yourdreams, hopes, and aspirations you have for your family,
even though you are no longer with them.

For your estate plan to effectively pass along yourvalues and wisdom, it should: 

(1) clearly state who you are leaving your assets to;
(2) give an explanation as to why an individual isreceiving a particular asset;
(3) provide guidance about how you want a beneficiaryto benefit from your assets (e.g. what “education” youintend to help with, whether or how you want to instill awork ethic, what you mean by “support,” etc.);
(4) make sure that those assets are received by yourbeneficiaries at the right time to maximize their benefit,
and 
(5) protect your legacy from being taken by estate taxes,
creditors, predatory lawsuits, government claims or
divorce. 
You even have the opportunity to protect your legacy
beyond your beneficiaries’ lifetimes into future 
generations if you want to do so. 
Estate Planning Basics & BenefitsThere are several benefits of developing an estateplan with your legacy in mind. You can help the nextgeneration become empowered to achieve competence,
character, and confidence. You can also preserve andreinforce your family’s core values and traditions.

In addition to preserving your legacy after you die,
a comprehensive estate plan can provide guidance formanaging your affairs if you become incapacitatedand unable make decisions for yourself. Some basicdocuments that should be included in your estate plan 
are: 

. 
A will: A written document that states who you wantto inherit your property and names a guardian to carefor your minor children or disabled family members.
The use of a will as your primary estate planning strategydoes require the court process known as probate.
. 
A trust: A legal structure which holds propertyfor your benefit during your life and for the benefit ofyour beneficiaries after your death. The use of a “fullyfunded” trust allows your beneficiaries to avoid thecostly and time-consuming process of probate.
. 
A healthcare directive: A written document that 
spells out your wishes for healthcare and end-of-lifechoices when you are unable to make these decisionsfor yourself.
. 
A financial power of attorney: A written documentgiving a trusted person authority to handle yourfinances and property on your behalf. 
Guidance From Estate Planning AttorneysA skilled estate planning attorney can help you makeyour dreams a reality by communicating them througha well thought-out estate plan. Contact us today to learnabout your options. 

Dedicated to empowering your family, building yourwealth and defining your legacy, 


A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on a missionto help parents protect what they love most. His office is 
located at 55 Auburn Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 
Schedule an appointment to sit down and talk aboutensuring a legacy of love and financial security for yourfamily by calling 626.587.3058 or visit www.GarlettLaw.
com for more information. 

BUSINESS TODAY 

The latest on Business News, Trends and 
Techniques 

By La Quetta M. Shamblee, MBA 
If you’ve looked at your cable bill lately and experiencedinvestments in new technology and equipment thata slight rise in blood pressure when looking at therequires fewer staff to maintain. Some have also reduced 
monthly cost, you are not alone. I seem to recall that expenses by outsourcing online and call-in customer“commercial-free” programming was one of the mainservice functions to low-cost, offshore operations. So 
reasons it made sense to pay for cable when it was firstlet’s look at this picture – they lower costs, but the priceintroduced. After all, it seemed to make perfect senseto subscribers has continued to climb? It is clear there 
for subscribers to pay some type of fee, especially sinceis no thought of passing any cost reductions along tothe cable networks wouldn’t be earning any money forsubscribers. What about those great specials they 
airing commercials from corporate America. That advertise? Read the fine print and calculate the totaldidn’t last long.amount we’ll need to fork over after the time period for

We should have known that something was amissthe special price has run its course. Also pay attention towhen “pay-per-view” reared its head to latch on tothe early cancellation fee, which is nothing more than apopular sports events that had previously been availablepenalty for refusing to continue the insanity of paying anon the free airwaves to be enjoyed by anyone who had aoutrageous monthly fee.
working television. It was one of the first indications of We accept the fact that the good ole days of freeour collective cultural addiction to watching others acttelevision are history, but we don’t have to accept the blatantout our hopes, dreams, fantasies and fears. Not only hadpocket gouging by the cable industry. It’s time to take a 
the cable companies convinced us to accept “pay-per-lesson from the providers and do a better job of reducingview” as the status quo for certain programming, but theyour cable expenses by finding the most affordable option.
also eventually groomed subscribers to sit through anA growing number of friends who have unplugged fromincreasing barrage of commercials, without demandingcable completely seem to be doing just fine. They haveany corresponding decrease in our cable bills.found other options that require a one-time purchase, like

Cable subscribers are paying hefty monthly feesthe Amazon Fire Stick or Apple TV. Add another one-
to watch stations that have up to 40% of the airtimetime purchase of $30 or so to get an antenna that attachesdominated by some form of paid advertising. Of course to the back of your TV, and you’re able to watch all of thewe don’t have to be bothered with the disruptive streammajor and local TV channels in your area. You can also 
of commercials if we choose to pay to watch a movie ofdownload numerous free apps that can give you access tosome other special broadcast. Still, we’ll be subjected toa laundry list of additional stations and television shows.
the select group of advertisers who pay for advertising andStill want to be able to watch almost any movie? Create 
product placement to reach those of up who make up theyour own customized “bundle” of services for your TVtarget audience for those particular broadcasts.watching pleasure. You can add low-cost options like a

These deep-pocket-diving-for-profit maneuvers byNetflix account (or other company that provides a librarycable providers are very frustrating. In the past if weof movies that can be streamed). A bonus feature is that 
chose to eliminate television from our lives, we were left you can watch your movies at any time, typically on anywith few alternatives. Until recently, the multinationalof your digital devices – unlike the cable box that restrictscorporate telecommunications providers have been inyour service to where it is located, your account is attachedtotal control, socking us with outrageous fees just to watchto you, and not to the TV sets in your home or office. With 
TV. They have done an outstanding job of growing theira monthly fee typically less than $20, you’ll have your ownprofits and shareholder value by siphoning monthly feesprivate on-demand cinema choices, with plenty of moneyequivalent to car notes in some instances.left over for popcorn, plus a surplus to use towards that car 

Providers have increasing their efficiencies with note. 


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