Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 279

Some Fourth pictures

As many of you pointed out, the link I posted did not work. It appears that Kodak's gallery, which Gina uses for her photos online, does not want to let her share those pictures with the world. So, while she looks around for another Web-based home for her lovely photographs, I thought I'd pass on a few that are available now.

Almost all come courtesy of Steve, who posted over a dozen on a Flickr page. Check them out here.

The exception is this lovely day-after photo, which Dave supplied. ...

Blowing up 1,300 pounds of fireworks

is an insane amount of fun, but it's also a great deal of work--at least to do safely and in a choreographed manner, as we did. (Pouring gas on them and dropping one match would also yield a cool result, but a differently cool one. We'll stick with what we're doing now.) Our annual Fourth of July party was the biggest ever, with well over a hundred people coming for the food and many more arriving just for the show.

I've written before in this blog about how amazing it is to stand under t...

UFC 116: How we did

With the exception of the main event, last night's card looked to be one of weaker recent UFC offerings. Instead, it proved to be a very entertaining set of fights; only the first televised fight was at all dull.

For Kyle and me, it was a rare tie: we disagreed on two fights, and we each got one right.

Let's see how we did, starting with the undercard.

Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola

I expected Madsen to take down Vemola repeatedly and grind out a decision. Kyle thought Vemola would be able t...

UFC 116: Kyle and I pick 'em

Tonight's UFC PPV event features two of the biggest, baddest men in MMA: Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, and Interim Heavyweight Champion, Shane Carwin. Both will cut significant weight to make the 265-pound maximum for their class.

We, of course, will gather to watch the show. Here's how Kyle and I think it will go. We disagree on only two fights, so it's up to Madsen vs. Vemola and Akiyama vs. Leben to decide which of us emerges the winner tonight.

First, the fights that will hit TV o...

How I file my books

Somewhat to my surprise, several correspondents have asked how I file my fiction books. (Non-fiction is another matter entirely, and I won't get into it now.) So, I'll explain how my filing system should work.

I keep paperbacks and hardbacks separate for a very simple reason: space. I can and do cram more paperbacks into a given wall space than hardbacks. So, I use separate, custom-built shelves for each.

Within a given book type, I file fiction by author regardless of genre. This app...

In defense of body modification

If you're an American, the odds are good that you're at least to some degree a practitioner of body modification. Braces, teeth whitening, LASIK surgery, earrings, waxing, shaving--pretty much everyone I know, including the most straitlaced people, does or has done something to modify his or her body. Despite that, however, I routinely have to listen to people bash others for their modifications:

I can't believe he pierces that!

Her tits are obviously fake.

and on and on.

I usually listen and sa...

Another tasting menu at Herons

We enjoyed a wonderful tasting menu at Herons relatively recently, so normally I would not have gone back there so soon. When I learned, though, that the place was about to close for two months for remodeling, I knew we had to make one more visit. We did so tonight.

I'm very glad we did.

The food was even better than before.

Chef Scott Crawford and his Chef de Cuisine, whose name I am embarrassed to admit I did not catch when he came out to chat with us, created a delicious menu that blend...

In case you were wondering

This is what profiteroles with truffled chocolate ice cream look like. Note the slice of truffle on the whipped cream.


This is what Sarah looks like as she's preparing her A Year In Prose entry. You owe it to yourself to read this week's.


Or, does she look like this?


Or both?

My money's on both, because all writers feel that way at least some of the time.

In other news that isn't news, you need to listen to this John Hiatt song.



With faith settled, we also need loyalty. For that, we turn to an...

Knight and Day

Critics are divided about this movie, as the 53% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes suggests. I'm not at all conflicted: It was big fun, and I enjoyed it a great deal.

Tom Cruise may be a full-of-himself tool in real life, but in this movie he managed to be everything the director wanted: action hero, slightly crazed renegade, and romantic, all with a self-deprecating attitude that made him quite appealing. Cameron Diaz had to spend much of the movie screaming and being helpless, but she kept her ...

Saint Jacques does it again

I've sung the praises of Saint Jacques, a Raleigh French restaurant, here before. After dinner there last night, I must once again declare this fine place one of the very best in the Triangle area.

Because our group had sampled almost everything on the standard menu, I asked if the chef would be willing to come up with a few new things for us. He was, and every single one we tried was excellent. Many took advantage of some summer truffles that they had just received. I ordered three of t...