Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 138

My power is out

and I'm dealing with various related household issues, so I have nothing for you tonight. 

Oh, okay, here's something:  It now seems likely that I'm going to debut a new spoken-word show at Balticon late next month.

More on that another time.

Even without electricity flowing to my house, I can tease.

Why is this song following me around?

It tormented me in the dentist's chair Monday morning, and I've heard it at least twice daily since then.

Why?

My theory:  Our robot overlords demand that I pass it on to you.  In return, it will leave me.

So, here.



Don't blame me.  No one can resist our robot overlords.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson is perhaps the most idiosyncratic major film director working today.  His work is not like anyone else's, though as Kyle and I agreed in discussing him, each movie of his is a great deal like his work as a whole.  Most frequent moviegoers I know either quite like his films or very much dislike them; few are in the middle.  I am in the former camp, with his last movie, Moonrise Kingdom, being my all-time favorite of his oeuvre. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel, which a group of us saw earlier tonight, did not, to my taste, have the wonderful heart of Moonrise Kingdom, but I still very much liked it.  The look was amazing:  heavily stylized, as you would expect, and otherworldly, as you would also expect, but completely charming.  The cast was the usual amazing assemblage of talented actors, and all of them played their roles with scene-chewing gusto. 

I could go on, but I don't want to spoil anything for you.  If you at all like Wes Anderson's work, don't miss this one.  If you generally don't like his films but happen to be in the mood for something absurd and witty and extremely odd, give this one a try anyway. 

Oh, yeah:  If you do go, stay to the very end of the credits.  You'll be glad you did.

The distinct pleasure of unsought moments

Plans dominate so much of my life that I've come to appreciate more those little moments that happen on their own, unbidden and unsought. 

Scanning the latest offering email from Amazon is fine, and it's great to be able to order the books and music and other items we know we want, but I still love encountering a new and enticing book on a store's shelf, or hearing a song for the first time in a music store and needing to know who was performing it. 

Being able to listen to any song at any time is wonderful, but so, too, is sitting in the car in the garage or in your job's parking lot as a song finishes on the radio. 

Encountering a friend at a movie and grabbing something to eat afterward, or even just chatting about what you both saw, is a special sort of treat.

A year ago right now, I was on sabbatical.  On April 7, 2013, I was spending my last night of the trip in Florence, a city I deeply love.  (For more on that day, go

Give a listen

Pop on over to Aaron Dethrage's SoundCloud site and listen to this cover of Kevin Devine's "Just Stay."  Ben's vocals are a treat, and the song is lovely. 

I love that people young and old are always creating new songs and reinterpreting old ones.  I think often of The Count's final speech at the end of Pirate Radio:

Years will come, years will go, and politicians will do fuck all to make the world a better place.

But all over the world, young men and young women will always dream dreams and put those dreams into song.

Nothing important dies tonight. Just a few ugly guys on a crappy ship.

The only sadness tonight is that, in future years, there'll be so many fantastic songs that it will not be our privilege to play.

But, believe you me, they will still be written.

They will still be sung and they will be the wonder of the world.

Indeed, to me, they are.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

You may want to take everything I say with a rather large shaker of salt, because I am the perfect audience for this movie.  I loved the comic, have generally enjoyed all of the intertwined Marvel movies (yes, even the second Thor film), don't for the most part mind overblown action sequences, and love big-conspiracy stories.

Okay, I've warned you.

As you can tell by now, I loved this movie.  I was never bored, always engaged, and had a great time watching it.  I appreciated its humor, its earnestness, and its action. 

None of that is to say it has no flaws.  The bigger plot surprises were not at all surprises, many action sequences went on too long, and the film generally painted the characters with very broad strokes.  Some in our group definitely felt it dragged at times, and I can see their perspective. 

And still I loved it.  It and the Avengers movie are the stars of the current constellation of Marvel films. 

Though it's far from perfect, Captain America:  The Winter Soldier is a great way to spend a couple of fun-filled hours in a theater.

Luc Besson gives superpowers to Scarlett Johansson

in the upcoming film, Lucy, and I am so there.  Ignore the silly neuroscience and instead enjoy the Besson visuals and Johansson starting weak and then stalking with new-found powers through this trailer.



Oh, yeah, you know you're there, too.

The latest PT sabbatical video

is now live, and it features Bonnie's work with lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center.  I'm very proud of all the good deeds folks at PT have done on their sabbaticals.  It's great to see people like Bonnie taking a week from their time off to do something to help make the world a better place.

Check out this video to hear Bonnie talk about why she chose this charity and what she did there.

Enjoy.

Another bit of tooth abandons its filling

Forty-three years ago, when I was sixteen, I went to the dentist for the first time in my memory. (I say it that way because it's possible I went as a young child, during a time when I have no memories.) All my wisdom teeth had come in--I still have them--but I had not yet learned how to brush that far back in my mouth without gagging myself. As a result, I left the dentist's office with five fillings: one in each wisdom tooth, and one in the lower left molar adjacent to the wisdom tooth.

For years, my dentist admired the craftsmanship of those fillings. He would tap each one, verify I had no pain from the contact, and then muse that someday, someday, he would get to replace them.

Alas (and this is no joke), that day did not come, for he died some time ago, a victim of cancer. He was a good man, and I miss him each time I go to his office.

His son now checks my teeth and did my crown some months back. He, too, has marveled at how long those fillings have lasted.

Tonight, I ate a bite of chicken and hit a bone. As I did, I felt a disgustingly familiar sensation, and when I checked to confirm my suspicion, I found that the interior side of that lower left molar had abandoned its filling and my mouth.

I probably should be grateful for the over four decades of service that tooth and filling have given me, but I'm not. I'm pissed. The tooth, like the rest of my body, should have toughed it out.

Instead, when I can grab some free time--not before next week--I will have to go to the dentist and get another crown.

This sucks.

The only up side, as Kyle noted, is that this bit of weakness has fled my body, and after the crown, I will be another bit more bionic and rather stronger in that small area. I have that to look forward to.

I do not, however, look forward to three more hours in the dentist's chair, nor am I thrilled about the rather massive bill I will incur in the process.

I cannot truly complain, because I am fortunate to have both dental insurance and enough money to pay that bill without hurting my lifestyle, but I still don't like it.

After writing all of this, though, I come to one conclusion: I am incredibly grateful to live where I do, have the assets I do, and have access to great dental care that I can afford. I am a very privileged person. Much of the world is in far worse shape, and I would do well to remember that always and to be thankful for all I have.

The new Hold Steady album is out

It's called Teeth Dreams, and if you're a Hold Steady fan, you either already have it or know you need it.  If you love rock and roll but don't know the Hold Steady, you need both this album and the rest of their catalog, particularly their amazing debut CD, Boys and Girls in America.

If you don't love rock and roll, move along; this is not the blog entry you're looking for.

If you're still here, enjoy this cut from the new album.