Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 111

Into the Woods

I have never seen the play from which this movie stems.  I don't know the songs.  At least among many of my friends, this ignorance is unusual.  It allowed me, though, to come to the film as a fresh viewer, one with no preconceptions of what it should be.

I left wondering what all the fuss was about and fundamentally disliking what little message it has.

Let's deal with the message first.  Yes, I know that fairy tales were originally darker than the versions that most people know today.  I have read original versions of many fairy tales.  I think it's telling, though, that the lighter versions have far outstripped in popularity the darker ones.  In the course of showing us the dark sides of some of these fairy tales, this film basically delivers the message that life is hard and will beat you down.  Okay, we'll all die at some point, and life often is hard, but I find little value in art that tells me only that.

The music was pretty, though often repetitive.  The lyrics were clever.  The actors did a fine job.  All the ingredients were there to make a fine film.

I still left feeling that the film was overly long, having been bored in many spots, and ultimately being dissatisfied with the message.  If you loved the musical, I assume you'll enjoy the film, but for me it was a bust.

On the eve of the New Year

I wish for you that in 2015 you

find new friends

show current friends how much you care

act bravely

act wisely

read, listen to, or watch something wonderful as often as possible

summon the strength to chase your dreams

give all the love you can comfortably manage, and then give a bit more

receive all the love you can comfortably handle, and then get a bit more

Happy New Year!

Three holiday views of Holden

When Holden is not busy trying to
In this shot, for example, he is letting us know that, yes, there is a guiding force to the universe.

Click an image to see a larger version.

That force does not, however, bring kibble often enough.

Here Holden makes clear that vigilance is the price of freedom--and also package delivery. 


Woe be unto those who try to sneak a cardboard box onto our stoop. 

Finally, as he so often does, Holden likes to remind us that if we will only stare deeply enough into his eyes, we will realize that though the guiding force of the universe does not deliver his kibble when it should, we have free will and could fix that problem on our own.


If only we would listen and act more.

The Interview

is one of the dumbest movies in a year filled with dumb movies.  Yes, obviously I watched it; I felt I had to know what the story was, and I will watch almost any film.  A small group of us viewed it using YouTube's pay service at my house, so the cost was minimal--and keeping the cost low was about the only smart choice I made involving this film. 

According to Variety , with data courtesy of the folks who hacked Sony, Sony paid Seth Rogen $8.4 million for his role in the film, and they gave James Franco $6.5 million.  So, basically, Rogen and Franco conned Sony into paying them a combined nearly $15 million dollars to film a mutual hand-job, a bromance love letter of epic proportions.  Good for them.  Sony, on the other hand, needs to find the exec who greenlighted this one and send him/her off for some sort of prolonged punishment, perhaps a hundred repeated viewings of this film.

I won't lie:  I did laugh at times during the movie.  It contains some funny bits, and even a few touching moments.  The vast majority of the time, however, I alternated between wincing and watching in stunned amazement as these two stars created this ode to each other. 

If, like me, you feel you simply must know what the fuss is all about, watch The Interview.  Otherwise, almost anything else you can do with your time is likely to be more productive and make you happier.

Kindle Unlimited is bad for writers

Amazon has been pushing its Kindle Unlimited all-you-eat reading service for some time, and writers are getting upset.  The writers should be more than upset; they should refuse to participate.  This service is bad for writers on multiple levels.

John Scalzi did a good job discussing the problems with Kindle Unlimited, so I'm not going to repeat that material here; check out his summary and then come back. 

I want to focus on a few key points.

First, none of this should surprise anyone.  Amazon has a history of being a ruthless competitor that likes to control as much of the playing field as possible, and this move is in keeping with that tradition.  If Amazon can make bookselling a zero-sum game that it controls, then it can both increase its own profit and boost its already huge share of the market.

So, what to do about that?  Don't participate.  I understand that for writers, particularly self-published ones who've made all their money on Amazon, this is a rough choice, but if you do give in, you are essentially giving Amazon control of your future.  For readers, yes, it's tempting to get all you can read for one cheap monthly price, but as I've written in a recent entry,
Finally, recognize that decisions like this happen all the time.  You vote with your money.  If you want to enjoy all that cheap reading, support Amazon--but expect to hurt artists whose work you like or not to find their work on the service.  The same is true with grocery stores, local shops, you name it--the most powerful vote you can cast is with your money.

As for me, well, to the best of my knowledge, none of my books are available on Kindle Unlimited or any other subscription service, and I have no plans to offer my books on any such service.  I will also not join such a service; I prefer to pay the writers whose works I read.

Drugs vs. cough: round 1 is a draw

I'm sad to report that the first round in the battle between my prescription drugs and my sinus infection and accompanying cough was very much a draw.  I feel a little better, though my body's fatigue from fighting the infection is evident.  More importantly, last night, when I had hoped to sleep all night without coughing, contained a great deal of coughing--but also, for the first time in over a week, multiple stretches of sleeping. 

I hope to be able to report tomorrow that I've turned a corner and not coughed all night, but given that I'm coughing as I type this, I don't expect that to be the case. 

Someday soon, though, the drugs and my body will team up to kick this infection and cough out of my system. 

I am very much looking forward to that. 

About that cold

A little over a week ago, I noted that
Today, I finally relented and went to an urgent care clinic.  I've apparently become the winner of a particularly bad sinus infection and a cough, due to drainage, that is keeping me up all night.  Thanks to the clinic's doctor, I'm already fighting the infection with antibiotics, and I am the proud owner of a cough suppressant that should help me sleep.  I am quite look forward to a long slumber, so to it I go.

Merry Christmas!

We celebrate this holiday, though admittedly as much as a family gathering as anything else.  If you, too, celebrate it, I hope your holiday is filled with joy and love.

If this holiday is not for you, I still wish you a day full of joy and love.  None of us can never get enough of either of those.

In which Holden attempts to turn Cone Man toward the light

Click the image to see a larger version.
Holden:  Over a month has it been since we last chatted, my Plexiglas friend.

Cone Man:  Not so long since you pissed on me, you fur-covered toadie for the man!

H:  Must you resort to vulgarity at every turn?  Surely you are a better cone than that.

CM:  Stick your snout in one of my arm holes, and I'll show you vulgar. 

H:  As intriguing as your offer is, I must decline it, for I venture forth this Christmas Eve on far more serious matters. 

CM:  If you think there's anything more serious than what's inside these arm holes, you haven't been paying attention to the local wildlife, you furry lackey.  Haven't you wondered why we've had so few deer in the yard lately?  Oh, yeah, who's the cone?  I'm the cone!

H:  Which brings us to the very subject I wish to discuss:  you simply must stop consuming the local wildlife. 

CM:  Consuming?  Consuming!?!  Exactly where did you go to school, my four-legged bit of fluff?  I consume nothing.  I am but a conduit for the dark lords who are are building their animal army, that one day they might flow through me, conquer this wretched planet, and appoint me King Cone. 

H:  Yes, well, about that.  My vision is far better than that of any humans, good enough that I can see through those arm holes of yours, see all the way into the dimension of your so-called "dark lords."  I'm afraid I must report that those lords are simply two thirteen-year-old boys on a distant planet, boys who have found it's easier to persuade you to lure deer and squirrels than it is to hunt for local game. 

CM:  You're just jealous, stumpy, that there's no room for you in the Cone Empire. 

H:  I anticipated you might reject reason, so I will have to resort to cruder forms of persuasion.  Exactly how long do you think it will be before your dark lords have enough animal soldiers to attack Earth?

CM:  Years, many years, they've said, but I am patient.

H:  Uh-uh.  And exactly how many years do you think your Plexiglas body will last if I raise my leg on it, oh, say, four or five times a day? 

CM:  Not many, but you wouldn't.  You wouldn't. 

H:  Not by choice, no, I would not.  But to save my fellow animals, I am prepared to make that sacrifice. 

CM:  Fine.  No more deer.

H:  No more animals of any type--including humans?

CM:  Fine.  No more animals of any type. 

H:  My work here is finished. 

CM:  Will you at least get me a fresh coat of paint, or a decent scrubbing, in the spring?

H:  If all the squirrels indeed return, I will consider it.  Merry Christmas, Cone Man!

CM:  Whatever. 

What's that you say? Come a little closer,

I can't hear you, says the Cone Man, who in full festive regalia is now welcoming guests down our driveway. 


Click the image to see a larger version.
Don't worry about that red mouth, or the eerie yet welcoming glow from where his arms once were.  Approach him, listen to him, and do whatever he says.

You can trust the Cone Man. 

Come a little closer.