Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 122

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

was the second movie I mentioned in
The good:  More of the same.
The bad:  Not as well done.

So, I enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed its predecessor, 2005's Sin City. 

This summary also explains exactly why Hollywood keeps churning out sequels:  they may not make as much money as their predecessors, but they are reliable moneymakers--for a while--because audiences know just what to expect to get from them. 

Some sequels, of course, do not fall victim to this structure.  Most that do not, though, advance the plot arc of a sequence of films, with characters growing and changing in each movie.  That sense of change, in both plot and characters, is what makes the best series of all types work well (and what I strive to do in my own series of novels).  This second Sin City installment paid lip service to that goal, but it didn't really hit the mark. 

If you liked the first one, odds are that you'll have a good time at this one--but not as good a time as you had at the first.  If you're curious to see how this highly stylized film plays out, you'll also want to check out this film.

On the other hand, if you didn't like the first, or if the trailer looks dumb to you, or if you're not in the mood for over-the-top dialog and bloody violence, give this sequel a pass.

The Hundred-Foot Journey

In
To my surprise, I quite loved it. 

Helen Mirren, though as magnificent as always, was not the star.  That honor went to Manish Dayal, a South Carolina-born actor who turned in here a star-making performance as young chef Hassan Kadam.  His struggle to balance family, his art (cooking), his ambition, and his love (the wonderful Charlotte Le Bon) was the heart of the film and for whatever reason really worked for me.  Director Lasse Hallstrom dragged the movie a bit too long, as he usually does, and he stitched its heart directly to its sleeve, as he also typically does, but I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't care. 

In the end, I took the film to be Hallstrom's statement that you can indeed achieve that delicate balance, but always at the cost of some success, a cost Hassan Kadam willingly chose to pay. 

There are far worse messages.

Though I'm in the minority among my friends, I highly recommend this movie.

On the road again: IDF, day 4

I'm home.  A day that starts after less than three hours of sleep with a 5:15 a.m. wake-up call is never going to be my favorite, but everything from when I woke up until when I reached home went according to plan.  Both flights were on time.  I was able to work for almost all of both flights.  I had time in DFW to grab a lunch of a Red Mango parfait.  I even got an upgrade on the second flight.

For a business trip, that's a pretty strong day. 

Still, I am very glad to be home.  I get to stay here for almost three weeks, and I'm quite looking forward to being in one place for a while.

While in Atlanta, I forget exactly where, I heard this song, and it's music-virused me since then.  So, have a go at it.  Maybe if it gets into your heads, it will leave mine.



Okay, I'll admit it:  As a teenager, when I first heard this song, I had a big-time crush on Petula Clark, and I still like a few of her hits.  So sue me.

On the road again: IDF, day 3

The crowds were dramatically smaller today as the show wound to its end.  I made it to only one public session, an interesting presentation on Intel's new RealSense technology.  This technology uses a 3D camera and a lot of software to enable features such as accurate measurements, gestures in the air, and so on.  Think the xBox 360's Kinect capabilities and possibly more, all in your tablet or PC.  Neat stuff, though so new it's just starting to appear.

All of the non-show time today and tonight went to work, with the exception of a lovely dinner at the restaurant I consider to be the very best in San Francisco, Benu.  I hope to write a full review later, but I have to get up in a very few hours, so I'm going to cut this short, pack, and then grab a few hours of sleep.

Tomorrow, I must get up insanely early to begin the long day of travel home.  I am hoping for uneventful flights with upgrades and work and maybe even a little napping.

All I can be sure of, though, is the work.  I always find a way to do that.

On the road again: IDF, day 2

Today's keynote, which for some reason the organizers instead called a "Mega-session," from Intel Senior VP Diane Bryant covered her turf:  the data center.  She discussed both the two key trends--big data and the ever-increasing number of connected devices--that are driving a huge increase in data center requirements, and Intel's approach to meeting those requirements.  Though she didn't have much new to show, the presentation was still interesting and encouraging; a lot of new data center tech is heading our way in the years to come. 

I ended up in meetings the rest of the day and so was unable to attend any other sessions.

Dinner was with a friend at Chef Corey Lee's new (to me) French bistro, Monsieur Benjamin.  The food was good, though not up to that of his flagship restaurant, Benu (where I'll be eating tomorrow night).  If you're looking for a good meal, though, I'd certainly recommend Monsieur Benjamin. 

Now, to crash.

On the road again: IDF, day 1

The conference kicked off today with an opening keynote from Intel CEO Brian Krzanich.  "BK," as many of the folks here call him, did a good job of laying out Intel's vision of the future and the company's plans for the next few years.  Intel, like most tech companies today, is a firm believer in the coming Internet of Things (IoT), a concept that basically means more and more things will be connected in some way to the Internet.  BK cited estimates of 50 billion connected devices by the year 2020--only six years away.  The IoT is important for the tech industry because each of those 50 billion things will need processors, storage, and other hardware, plus software to drive it all.  They will also need back-end data center/cloud support.  I don't have enough data to support or argue with the 50 billion figure, but it feels in the right ballpark to me, and I do believe the IoT is at this point inevitable. 

Closer to the present, BK brought out colleagues who demonstrated Intel's work to remove all wires from PCs, tablets, and smartphones.  Wireless connections to monitors will remove that plug from your PC to a big screen, and inductive chargers will remove the need for power cords.  This particular set of products can't come too soon for me, because like so many who work in tech, I have a huge collection of cables of all sorts. 

Michael Dell joined BK on stage late in the presentation to show off a lovely, super-thin new tablet, a member of the upcoming (in November) Dell Venue 8 7000 family of tablets.  This one features Intel's RealSense technology, which supports 3D imaging and which software can use to do things like taking a picture of a sofa and immediately and accurately showing the sofa's width on screen--an application they demonstrated on a live unit. 

All in all, the mood of BK's address and the audience reactions were both upbeat, and the tech year ahead from Intel promises to be an exciting one.

I should have mentioned that before the address, Kawehi, a young musician, performed live for us.  I quite liked her music, and though I didn't know it before today, I'm now going to look for more.

I met with a lot of folks and so had time to attend only one other session, a technical presentation on All-in-One systems.  I'm a fan of these for certain uses, and so, apparently, is a big chunk of the buying market.

After touring the industry showcase and talking with folks here, I remain optimistic about the tech industry.  More great products and technologies will definitely be hitting the market over the next year.

On the road again: IDF, day 0

Click the image to see a larger version.
Some planned meetings fell through, so I ended up spending most of the day working in my hotel room.  As work days go, it wasn't a bad one, but it leaves me with little to report.  I did catch a movie late in the afternoon in a work break, but I'm going to save the review for later, when I can do it justice. 

Dinner was with a friend and colleague at a nearby Mel's Drive-In.  The food was good but not great, but the conversation was excellent. 

Tomorrow morning, earlier than I prefer, thousands of tech folks will descend on the Moscone Center West for IDF, which Intel's CEO will open with a keynote that will, I assume, discuss at least some of Intel's vision for the future.  Technical sessions and meetings with colleagues in other companies will fill the rest of the three days of the conference.  Though I realize it may all sound boring to many, I'm quite looking forward to it.

On the road again: IDF, day -1

San Francisco, I am in you.

I left the house this morning entirely too early on a Sunday after my normal very late Saturday night bedtime, so I made my way through the airport wishing I was still in bed.  Fortunately, I was lucky enough to receive an upgrade on the first flight, so I passed those hours in relative comfort. 

The second flight was much more of a mixed bag.  On the one hand, my seat was on the aisle in an exit row, which is about as good as a non-first-class seat can be.  On the other hand, the guy next to me was enormously wide; I could have easily hidden behind him.  We did our best to stay out of each other's space, even though neither of our shoulders came close to fitting into our seat areas. 

I hit the hotel in time to check in, set up my laptop, do a little email, and register for the conference.  I grabbed some supplies for the room--Coke Zero being the key one--and worked some more.

My big treat of the day was walking to one of the two nearby movie theaters and catching a film on which I'll post a review later.

So, Sunday became travel and work day. 

I'm hoping to enjoy a decent dinner tomorrow (Monday) night, so if anyone in the SF area is interested in joining me, email me. 

Now, more work!

Speaking of ice and hotels

On my recent trip to London, for the days before and after the Worldcon, I stayed at my favorite grand old hotel there, the Savoy.  A superb hotel with lovely rooms and excellent service, the Savoy nonetheless barely understands the ice requirements of Americans--or, at least, those of this American.  As I've explained before, including in
I initially tried solving it simply by asking for ice.  They filled the room's lovely (and cleaned daily) metal ice bucket--but with seven admittedly large cubes.  Seven.  As if each was precious.

I tried again. 

Six cubes this time.

I pondered the challenge.  Six or seven cubes lasts one glass of Coke Zero, and then I'm out.  The Savoy clearly was not going to understand the amount of ice I want.

As is usually helpful, I tried to consider the situation from the perspective of the others involved, in this case, the hotel.  No one would need much ice.  Really, who needs ice?  Six or seven cubes is perfect for a mixed drink or two, more than enough for a guest and even someone a guest might be bringing back to his/her room.  You don't need ice in quantity for anything, really...

...except, perhaps, to keep champagne cold. 

Ah, I could work with that.

The next time I was leaving the room, I called for ice, but this time I said when I'd be returning and requested a couple of large buckets of ice.  They thoughtfully asked whether I would like two champagne glasses.  Of course I would, I replied.

Upon my return, waiting for me were two gloriously large buckets full of beautiful ice!  Standing on either side of one of them were two equally lovely champagne glasses.

Deep into the night, I drank my icy cold Coke Zero from first one and then, just for fun, from the other lovely champagne glass.

Oh, yeah:  I can work a hotel.

Savoy folks, if you are by some miracle reading this, I love your establishment, and I apologize for gaming the system, but given what the rooms cost, I don't feel too bad about it. 

And I'll definitely try it again, should I be lucky enough to visit there once more.

Things that piss me off: Ice bucket condoms that are too small

I love ice.  No soft drink, no glass of water, is complete without it.  So, when I settle into a hotel room, and each night when I return to one, I fill its ice bucket.  Inevitably, that bucket is a piece of plastic crap that the hotel never cleans, so for your own health you must first line it with plastic before filling it with ice.  The hotel kindly provides a plastic bag insert--an ice bucket condom--that you can use for this purpose.

If only the bloody things weren't always too small.

The bag is never quite big enough to both line the sides and bottom and also wrap over the lip of the ice bucket.  So, you stretch and pull and finally get it to kinda sorta fit--until the first ice cubes drop from the ice machine.  Then, either the edges of the bag fall into the ice, or you discover the bucket can now hold only a fraction of the ice it should be able to handle, thanks to air trapped around the bag.

This frustration is completely unnecessary.  Surely someone could make a healthy profit providing bags that actually fit these buckets. 

Alternatively, hotels could stock more ice buckets, ideally insulated metal ones, and actually provide clean ones each day--as many European hotels do.

No, of course they won't.  The firms that manage the hotels would rather torture us, presumably in the cause of a tiny bit more profit, with ill-fitting ice bucket condoms. 

That pisses me off.