Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 270

UFC 119: How we did

The undercard fights we saw were generally stronger than those on the main card, but we all had a good time watching the shows. To get right to the bottom line first, Kyle and I tied. So, I reversed my slide, but just barely.

Now, on to the fights.

Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe

We didn't get to see this one, but Lowe indeed won, as we expected.

T.J. Grant vs. Julio Paulino

Another fight we didn't see, but another one we called correctly, as Grant carried the day with a unanimous decision. Go,...

UFC 119: Kyle and I pick 'em again

I'm on a bit of a slide, but I'm hoping to rebound with a victory over Kyle in our competition to pick the most fights correctly. Tonight's UFC pay-per-view event doesn't have the strongest card, but it's good enough that a bunch of us are gathering to watch the show.

As usual, we'll begin with the undercard, most of which we're unlikely to get to see. Kyle's picks appear first because he's the reigning champ.

Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe

Kyle: Lowe's the better athlete, which should be enough...

Travelin' Man

If you've never checked out
Portland, OR - Sept. 27 to Oct. 1

This is a work visit, but if any SF folks are interested in getting together one evening, I'd try to make it happen.

San Francisco, CA - Oct. 13 to Oct. 20

Mixing writing and work, I'll be attending Bouchercon and also visiting clients. Again, ...

Radio Boy

Today, the fine folks at The State of Things on WUNC-FM, a local PBS affiliate, were kind enough to have me on their show. Producer Alex Granados did the initial prep work with me and managed to make the multiple phone calls and email threads as fun as they reasonably could be. Host Frank Stasio was as nice and caring and skilled as frequent listeners would expect him to be. So, I was prepared when I arrived, the show went smoothly, and I had a good time doing it.

I appeared on two segmen...

The Town

is one of those films that divides crowds. If you don't like movies filled with people you would never want as friends, you will hate this one. If, on the other hand, you don't need any of the characters to be good, then you'll find The Town to be a satisfying entertainment.

At its core, this is another of those "bad guy turns good through the love of a good woman" stories that you have to suspend disbelief to swallow. Why does the obviously educated bank manager love the rock-breaking Bos...

You need to own this

Ryko has just released a new comedy bundle, Bill Hicks: The Essential Collection, and you need to buy it stat. In fact, you should probably go to the store his long-time supporters have set up and buy the t-shirt bundle there. Yes, I did, even though I have all the previously available Bill Hicks material.

Come to think of it, when the new biopic, American: The Bill Hicks Story, becomes available in the U.S., you need to pick it up as well. (For a quick take on this film, which debuted at ...

Guglhupf

is not a throat condition or a new, misspelled enterprise form the search giant. Rather, Guglhupf is a promising new (at least to me) restaurant in Durham where we ate the other night.

The place began as a bakery and still provides baked goods, but now it also includes a cafe. The setting is lovely, particularly this time of year: a courtyard with an interesting roof overhang surrounds most of the two-level, glassed interior dining space. We ate outside, and for most of the meal, it was lovel...

A friend's songs

Earlier tonight, my friend, Eric, held his belated birthday party. As part of it, he sang some songs as his regular accompanist, Sue, performed the piano part. All of the pieces were humorous, and he did a very good job with them. We all laughed a lot, applauded, and generally had a good time listening. I'm glad he sang them.

As the party was moving to the eating stage, I was struck that in a far broader sense we are all listening regularly to the songs of our friends: the ups and downs ...

Resident Evil: Afterlife

The essential question that the Resident Evil franchise asks is this: Can you ever have too much of Milla Jovovich in skintight clothing fighting outrageous numbers of enemies, most of them undead, in ways that routinely defy the laws of physics?

If your answer is a resounding no, as any sensible person's should be, then you should skip this movie, its predecessors, and its inevitable sequel.

If, on the other hand, you're always up for a hot woman with a gun and you don't require that your movi...

On the road again: San Francisco, day 9

The cab ride to the airport set the tone for the day, as the driver turned an ordinary run into an unpleasant journey by spending way too much time near the edge of the fog-covered elevated freeways.

No bandwidth was available on this plane--the same one for both legs of the flight. Instead, I was treated to massive overcrowding and fried like a sardine in a gigantic George Foreman grill made of sweaty ass. You know you need a shower when your seventeen-year-old son, himself reeking of fun...