Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 28

Monday

is when that new, odd thing should appear.  Already, a countdown is showing up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

I'll tell you a tiny bit more tomorrow.

I'd tell you more about a very good dinner at Little Bird

but right now, many, many hours later than the timestamp on this blog post indicates, I'm too tired to do anything but crash.

Tomorrow.  For sure.

Phrases of a very long day

Five hours of sleep.

Twenty-two hours of day.

Two flights.

One exit-row seat, almost tolerable.

One non-exit-row seat, with one folded laptop, two nearly cramped shoulders, and one sweat-soaked shirt.

Spam musubi and macaroni salad snack from a nearby Hawaiian food stand.

Wonderful Mediterranean dinner from Tusk.  Eat there if you can.

Lots and lots and lots of work.

One of the problems with being a night owl

is the challenge morning flights pose.  Take tomorrow, for example.  I have to be at the airport at 5:30 a.m., which means I have to get up to shower at 4:45 a.m.  For some people, that would be no big deal, just waking up an hour or two earlier than usual.  For me, however, it means that about the time I'd stop reading in bed most nights, I have to get up.  To get any sleep at all, I have to try my luck in the bed during what is normally for me prime productivity time.

I consequently hate early flights, inevitable as they are on some trips.

I am not looking forward to the morning.

The odd thing is still coming

and it's much closer now.  I wrote about it in
I will give one clue:  it'll make its public appearance about the same time as the start of this year's TED, which I am fortunate enough to be attending.

Is that a coincidence?

Hmmm.

The Fate of the Furious

is everything I hoped it would be and more, a fine movie in this franchise and probably my second favorite (after the fifth) of the bunch.

With more and stranger action than you would imagine possible--a trademark of the series--and nods to all of the elements of its predecessors, the movie just picks you up and carries you along in its explosive-laden hands.  You're not going to be bored, and though you can easily know the direction of the story, the particulars are good enough that you enjoy the ride.

The movie also manages to give some time to all of the key members of its huge and growing cast, and it does so with both love and a great deal of humor.  Watching Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham taunt each other is a special treat, but so, too, are the more far-out action bits, which the script and actors handle with just enough self-awareness that you feel like they're both in on the joke and enjoying the hell out of making the movie.

I believe you could come to the film cold, with no knowledge of the previous seven, and still have a good time, though you'd be aware you were missing some of the gags.  Having seen all of the films more than once, however, I was in the perfect audience for this one, and I had a perfectly grand time watching it.

When you're in the mood for summer blockbuster action fun, check out The Fate of the Furious.

I'm not solely responsible for the rise of the big, dumb action movie

but I certainly share the blame with some of my friends and millions of other viewers who see a trailer like this one and know they must catch this film.



We're talking Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds chewing the scenery, gunfights and chase scenes, and enough of a story to keep the action rolling along.  What's not to like?

I will need to read afterward to repair my brain, but I can live with that.

I fail the tire test

Yesterday, the rear passenger-side tire of my Tesla Model S picked up a very large screw that quickly turned the tire flat.  Though I was sad to see it and more sad to have to buy a new tire, this sort of thing happens.  It was late, so I got a ride home and emailed Tesla Motor's local service manager om the wee hours of the evening.

Today, in the wonderful Tesla style, they brought me a loaner on a truck, parked it, put my car on the truck, and took it off for repair.  Total time cost to me of this encounter:  four minutes.  Wonderful.

After picking up the key fob for the loaner, it occurred to me that I had not gotten new tires in quite a while, and given that my car has sports performance tires and I do drive the thing like a sports car, I should have needed new tires.  I mentioned this to the guy who picked up my car and asked that he have the service manager check out my tires.

A couple of hours later, the service manager, a woman who's always been incredibly efficient and great to deal with, called me.  She was laughing.  She asked if I had looked at my rear tires closely.  I allowed I had not.  She said that, yes, I did indeed need two new rear tires, because the cord was showing on both.  She was amazed they were still working well--which they were.

I clearly failed the tire test.  I shall endeavor to be more observant in the future, but I am also quite glad to report that the tires managed to keep me driving even when I neglected them.

Even though outrageous is the new normal

sometimes I'm surprised by how stupid our current administration can be.  Case in point:  Sean Spicer's recent remarks about Hitler and his subsequent lame attempts to explain away his remarks.

Nothing is too ludicrous or offensive for this administration.

Thor: Ragnarok had me

by existing, but then it gained Cate Blanchett and a few other actors, and, well, this trailer.



Yup, I'm there.