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On Travel Channel's "Booze Traveler," host Jack Maxwell takes viewers along as he samples the strange and exotic libations of strange and exotic lands. Which can mean that occasionally he'll have to down something that most of us would consider repugnant. Take, for instance, the concoction he consumes in Monday's Peru-set episode, the frog smoothy. Yes, it is what it sounds like. Think Bass-O-Matic 76. And he had to drink a quart tankard of the stuff. "It tastes a little odd," allows Maxwell, an actor by trade who hails from South Boston. "But it (has) molasses in it to make it sweet. There's tree root, which makes it bitter, and that's supposed to be good for digestion. Then there's moonshine for the alcoholic effect. So it tastes like an odd combination of things I've never had before. But then in the back of your mind – excuse me, even in the front of your mind – you know you're drinking liquefied frog, so you just have to get past that. But it's not a horrible tasting thing like some other things I've had." Mmmmm, that's good frog. Season 1 takes Maxwell to Iceland, Armenia, Belize, Mongolia and the scene of last week's premiere episode, Turkey, to sample their native cocktails and foods, some even more bizarre than the frog smoothy. "It was kind of cool at the end of (the Peru episode) because I got to immerse myself into their culture and do what they do, which is what our show is all about, what makes 'Booze Traveler' special," Maxwell says. "We immerse ourselves into the culture, the people, the places. Everything they do, we do, too. We become locals. We become natives. We are grateful to be there, so we do what they do and happy to do it." What are you currently reading? "I'm reading books about cocktails, about drinks, and I'm also reading one that my friend wrote called 'Ascending Gallows.' But I read books about the history of booze around the world and certain cultures." What did you have for dinner last night? "I went to Vito's pizzeria, which is the best pizza in L.A., with an old buddy of mine from the East Coast. ... And we just went and had pizza and salad and just caught up and laughed ... ." What is your next project? "This. This is my next project. Helping people understand what a fun and exciting show it is. ... And hopefully Season 2 right around the corner." When was the last vacation you took – where and why? "It was right before I was going out in April. I went home to see my family. My mother and sister and nieces and stepfather live in Phoenix." BY GEORGE DICKIE Maxwell samples the unusual and scary on 'Booze Traveler' Jack Maxwell BEST MOON MOVIES "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) Considering the Wright Brothers wouldn't take flight for another year, this film could be considered to be well ahead of its time – in terms of both technical achievements and subject matter. It's loosely based on works by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and is about a group of astronomers in a capsule shot out of a cannon toward the moon. Although Georges Melies' 14-minute short film featured very rudimentary special effects and animation, the movie is campy fun. "Countdown" (1967) The space race was in full swing when Robert Altman helmed this underrated drama about an American astronaut hastily launched toward the moon so he – and his country – can get there before the Russians. James Caan plays the astronaut in question, who must rendezvous with a space shelter sent there first if he is to survive. The surprisingly impressive cast includes Robert Duvall, Ted Knight, Joanna Moore and an uncredited Mike Farrell. "The Right Stuff" (1983) The U.S. space program, from Chuck Yeager's breaking of the sound barrier in 1947 to the Mercury 7 project and President Kennedy's proclamation to send astronauts to the moon by the end of the 1960s, is at the center of Philip Kaufman's superb historical drama. There's lots of drama and lots of space minutiea to absorb here, from the lives of the astronauts in the early days to history-making missions such as John Glenn's (Ed Harris) orbit of Earth in the unpredictable Mercury-Atlas 6 spacecraft in 1962. All in all a rousing tribute to space exploration. "Apollo 13" (1995) While no one actually lands on the moon, it figures heavily in the storyline of Ron Howard's 1995 classic. Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert (Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon) are headed there on Apollo 13 when an explosion of an on-board oxygen tank cripples the ship and severely compromises their air supply. Much problem solving ensues as NASA works around the clock to bring the astronauts back alive while their friends, colleagues and family sweat it out on the ground. And look carefully at the end of the film. That's the real Lovell as an aircraft carrier commander, shaking hands with Hanks following splashdown. BY GEORGE DICKIE "Countdown" "Apollo 13" "The Right Stuff" 8 The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • December 1 - 7, 2014

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