Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 23

How can you tell my beach vacation is coming?

One sure sign is the influx of high-quality films on Blu-Ray and DVD that hits my house. Sitting on tap right now, for example, are three fine action discs.

In the first, Jean Claude proves he's not ready yet to stop working.



Oh, yeah:  nothing but hospital mayhem.

Michelle Rodriguez clearly needs work between Fast flicks, and Sigourney Weaver leaves no doubt that she will act in anything for money, by joining forces in this next gem.



Transfolks, I mean no hate or disrespect here; I just won't miss a Michelle Rodriguez movie.

Finally, somewhere there was a meeting, a pitch meeting, in which someone said, "Bloodsport, but with women," and this movie was born.



Yup, I hope to watch 'em all at the beach.

Unless he's already seen them, Kyle is likely to be right there with me, and maybe Scott, too.

Delta Rae keeps getting better and better

Saturday night, the band stopped by the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill as part of their tour in support of their EP, A Long and Happy Life. The show sold out, and people packed the joint even for the opener, Lauren Jenkins. (I enjoyed her music, but I'm not sure I'll seek it out again.) When the band took the stage, the place went crazy, and the musicians responded by noting that they were home--and then putting on the best show of theirs that I've yet seen.

They sang all the songs on their EP and a selection of familiar hits. I was particularly happy to get to hear them perform "Run," a long-time favorite of mine, but I enjoyed every single tune.

I honestly don't know why this band isn't selling out arenas; to me, they are just that good.

I can tell you that you are missing something wonderful if you don't take every opportunity to see them perform.

Delta Rae will be back in the area, this time at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, on August 26.

I already have tickets.

Wonder Woman is a joy you should not miss

Yes, I'm another of the many people who are telling you that Wonder Woman is a movie you should not miss, but that's only because we're all correct. The movie is wonderful.

Gal Gadot is everything one could hope for in a hero greeting a brave new world: virtuous, naive when appropriate but learning as she goes, and increasingly powerful as she comes to understand herself and her capabilities. She is also the most inspirational screen superhero in a long time. In one scene, when others are willing to let the horrors around them continue because the odds against them are too great, she is not, and her charge into the fray is one of the most inspiring moments in recent films. I wish I'd had this movie to show Sarah when she was a little girl.

Director Patty Jenkins delivers the goods, too, with strong pacing and generally good use of special effects.

The movie is not without flaws. It suffers from the CG over-indulgences that plague most final battles, and a few bits of humor felt forced. These are minor quibbles, though, in a movie that had me both cheering and tearing up at multiple occasions.

Go see Wonder Woman.

UFC 212 predictions: how I fared

I went 1-1 in my predictions for last night's UFC card.

I started out with a bang by correctly calling Claudia Gadelha to beat Karolina Kowalkiewicz in the co-main event. I said the fight would be exciting in the beginning, and it was, as Gadelha foolishly chose to stand and strike with Kowalkiewicz. Kowalkiewicz predictably was out-pointing Gadelha with strikes that were landing but not doing any damage. After a couple of minutes, though, Gadelha took down Kowalkiewicz, and that was that: in no time Gadelha sunk in a choke, and Kowalkiewicz tapped out.

The first round of the main event played out as I predicted, with Jose Aldo taking some time to size up Max Holloway and then picking apart the younger man. The second round was similar, though Holloway definitely improved. In the third round, though, Holloway was visibly in better shape and faster, and he began catching Aldo. In time, he knocked down the champ and hit him with a serious ground-and-pound battering. Eventually, Aldo was doing nothing to protect himself except turtling up, and the ref called the fight. Max Holloway delivered on every promise he'd made and in the process became the new, undisputed featherweight champion.

So, after three tries at this game, I'm 5-1, which isn't bad, but it's also less impressive than it looks, because I'm picking only the top fights in each card. Perhaps next time, I'll choose more fights.

Putting myself to the UFC prediction test once again

Tonight's UFC 212 event features two key fights: a battle between the top two contenders in the strawweight division, and, in the main event, a bout to unify the two top featherweight fighters who aren't named Conor McGregor.

In my recent predictions, I've felt confident in my choices. For tonight's fights, I do not, but I'm going to put my picks on record anyway and see how I do.

The strawweight title contender fight pits Claudia Gadelha (#1) against Karolina Kowalkiewicz (#2) for the dubious right to lose again against champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Both women are strong fighters, with Gadelha definitely the more powerful of the two and, crucially, the better grappler. Kowalkiewicz has the better gas tank and is a more technical striker, so she has the chance to out-point Gadelha. I don't believe, though, that Gadelha will give her that chance. Instead, Gadelha will close the distance and grapple with Kowalkiewicz, and ultimately she will win that way. So, I have to go with Gadelha to win what will probably start out as an exciting fight but quickly turn into a smothering grappling match.

The other match features once untouchable Jose Aldo against Max Holloway, who has been on a tear in the UFC.  Holloway is a skilled, versatile fighter, and he's the younger man, but he lacks knockout power, which is what let McGregor put the first loss on Aldo's record in years. Aldo is still enough in his prime--he's only 31, and he hasn't taken tons of punishment aside from the McGregor knockout--that I think he picks apart Holloway.  I expect the fight will go all five rounds, but in the end Aldo will be too much for Holloway and emerge the winner.

Check back tomorrow to see how I did.

Now more than ever

we need to get back to basics: peace, love, and understanding. As long as we keep seeing others as essentially different from ourselves, we can never all win, and it's time--past time--for us to figure out how we can all win together.

This song asks the right question.  Nick Lowe wrote it, and Elvis Costello covered it, as did others, so I'll go with the Elvis version.


The answer, of course, is, nothing.

Peace, love, and understanding.

Now more than ever.

On Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement

Well, he delivered on a campaign promise. You've got to give him that.

That's all he deserves, though. He's once again denying the importance of addressing climate change, and he's making our country once again look backward and selfish. He's ignoring the advice of scientists and even of CEOs; check out their reactions here.

I am embarrassed by this man's behavior and the way he is making our country behave.

It's time to settle an important issue

I brought this up in my closing remarks in the opening ceremonies at Balticon 51 (trust me: it fit), so I thought I'd share it here. Zoe Saldana does a fine job as Uhura in the new Star Trek movies, but for me, now and forever, that part will always belong to Nichelle Nichols.

That's just how it goes.

Buy a shirt. Start a conversation. Change the world.

That's what we're trying to do over at LYG, and you can help. Check out the six cool t-shirt designs on offer there, order the ones you like, and when they arrive, you'll also get some key talking points on nifty little cards. Wear the shirts, start conversations, and get people talking about how businesses can make the world a better place--and still make a good profit.

If you don't want to spend the money for a shirt, that's cool; just start the conversations. We're not out to get rich from selling shirts. We just want to make things better for all of us.

We can do this. We can change the world for the better.

I hope you'll help.

I'm out in the country

The land here in rural Virginia is beautiful, and I'm staying at a lovely place, but there is no mobile signal, and the bandwidth is excruciatingly bad.

Click the image to see a larger version.
Uploading this photo, for example, took many minutes.

So, I'll keep it to this:  I hope your Memorial Day was good and you remember those who died in the service of our country.

Tomorrow, I'll be home and in the land (I hope) of good bandwidth.