Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 113

On the road again: Las Vegas, day 3

It's going on five in the morning back home.  I'm on a plane to Miami, where I will catch a connection that will get me home in time for me to grab two or three hours of sleep before my company's annual Seasonal Celebration, our biggest event of the year. 

So, once again, I'm going to cut this blog extremely short.  I hope to get back to better entries soon.

Today, I awoke very early after very little sleep so I could join a work call and then do some work.  After that, I was able to doze a couple of hours, and then I did some more work. 

At that point, our little group  headed over to Bouchon for our traditional brunch, which was, as always, delicious. 

From there, we walked for a bit, I did some work, and then we grabbed a taxi to the Palms, where we spent the next six hours watching the finale of The Ultimate Fighter.  The fights were generally strong, and the evening ended with Carla Esparza becoming the first UFC women's strawweight champion. 

Now, to hope I can doze on the plane. 

On the road again: Las Vegas, day 2

I am falling into the habit of short, disappointing posts, but I am going to have to work most of the night and will get almost no sleep, so I have to continue that habit and keep this short.

High points of the day included lots of walking, dinner at Craftsteak, and seeing the Cirque show, Ka. 

Tomorrow, the finale of The Ultimate Fighter!

Now, back to work.

On the road again: Las Vegas, day 1

I had every intention of writing a nice long blog entry about an interesting day, showing you several pictures, and generally being more entertaining than I have been lately.

The thing is, though, I slept less than three hours last night, and I've now been up 21 hours, so I am just too tired.  I will try to make amends tomorrow.

In case I blow it then, I will note that the day included dinner at Jaleo and my first viewing of the show Absinthe.

Now, to sleep.

Off I go to Las Vegas

I head out all too early tomorrow morning to Las Vegas, where you can count on me indulging in most but not all of the following activities:
Eating great Spanish foodWatching a spectacular Cirque du Soleil showGetting so wasted that what happens in Vegas needs to stay in VegasEnjoying an amazing steakWatching The Ultimate Fighter Finale liveIf you don't know which of those I will not be doing, you don't know me very well at all.

I'll report back on the activities I do enjoy.

Chromebooks? Skiing? Sure, they go together

in this new episode of Now with PT. 



These shows carry a lot of good content, but we also make them more than a little silly at times, just to have fun.

Enjoy!

Terminator: Genisys

I just know this movie is going to disappoint me, as the filmmakers try to reshuffle the Terminator cards into some new configuration, but I still can't resist it.  Just the trailer alone, with its Arnold-on-Arnold action and explosions everywhere, has me hooked.



If it wasn't enough, the fact that the female lead is Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, my favorite character on Game of Thrones, would have me ready to go. 

With luck, this film will hit around the beach next July!

The top five reasons to watch Bad Santa

every year at Christmas, as I do.

5) John Ritter's performance

I was never a fan of Ritter's, but in this, his last film, he turned in an amazing portrayal of an uptight store manager caught in a very bad position.

4) The many great lines

If you haven't seen the movie before, I won't ruin it for you, but this one is full of wonderful lines. 

3) Billy Bob Thornton's performance

With a role this broad, it would have been easy to overplay the character and turn him into someone silly, but Thornton goes the other way and keeps his performance tight and, most of the time, low-key.  A picture of dissolution, he is never appealing, and yet ultimately he wins you over.

2) You have a great excuse to make sandwiches

If you have a granny who will make them for you, so much the better, but even if you don't, a make-your-own-sandwiches dinner is always a treat.  Buy great meats and cheeses and breads, and it's even better.

And, the number one reason to watch Bad Santa every year is,

1) The writing

The screenplay by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa tells a tight, fast-paced, darkly funny, often gross, and, in the end, ultimately redemptive story.  Jokes thread through the fabric of the tale, popping up at just the right times, so that even as the protagonist is crawling toward personal growth, you're laughing.  It's a beautiful piece of work. 

Lustworthy holiday objects: Any Blue Rodeo album

I will never understand why this group, which I have loved since December, 1987, is not huge everywhere.  Their mix of rock, folk, country, and pop sounds like nobody else, and it's often wonderful.

You simply can't go wrong with any Blue Rodeo album.  Their first, Outskirts, remains one of my desert island top 10 discs.  Their most recent original album, last year's In Our Nature, contains this lovely song.



This holiday season, treat yourself or someone you care about to a little Blue Rodeo.  You'll be glad you did.

Lustworthy objects: Any Blue Rodeo album

I will never understand why this group, which I have loved since December, 1987, is not huge everywhere.  Their mix of rock, folk, country, and pop sounds like nobody else, and it's often wonderful.

You simply can't go wrong with any Blue Rodeo album.  Their first, Outskirts, remains one of my desert island top 10 discs.  Their most recent original album, last year's In Our Nature, contains this lovely song.



This holiday season, treat yourself or someone you care about to a little Blue Rodeo.  You'll be glad you did.

Lustworthy holiday objects: Taschen books

If you don't know the publisher Taschen, you should check them out, particularly during this season of gift giving (and getting).  They make consistently interesting, beautiful books.  I have a wall full of them. 

I'm particularly in lust right now with this book, which features the work of amazing photographer Annie Leibovitz.  Its price is crazily high, but with luck at some point Taschen will bring out a more affordable version.

When you're wondering what to get for someone special, you could do worse than checking out Taschen.




(I own no stock in Taschen, nor did they compensate me in any way for this.  I just love their books.)