Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 280

Jonah Hex

Yes, I went to see it. Of course, I realize that such an action requires justification. After all, with only 13% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and nearly universally bad reviews, most people are staying far from this stinker. Here's why I went:

* It's a comic book movie, and I'm a sucker for them.

* Steampunk imagery.

* The team from Crank 2 made it, and they're a good kind of crazy.

* I'd heard rumors that they'd managed to cast Megan Fox's lips on their own, without the annoying rest...

Ever wonder what Kyle does for a living?

Well, now you can see the results of his labors as a videogame developer working on a major upcoming title. To learn about the game on which he's been a key technical contributor for a couple of years, check out these three videos. The narration isn't always great, but the graphics are the fun part.

Enjoy.

If you like the looks of it, help support his work by buying F3AR when it appears later this year.

Alternating realities

I'm so tired I often dream of sleeping.

I'm so bursting with energy that on the morning walk in the blistering heat it's all I can do to stay with the others.

I stare into the mirror and see every gray hair, the white beard, the lines around my eyes, the fat body I've accreted.

I stare at the world and want to kick its ass, my mind pulsing and my body quivering with the rage of youth.

I listen, nod, and do my best to be wise, caring, helpful.

I listen, nod, and inside scream, want to kill, want t...

Guess where I'll be on Saturday, September 11?

San Francisco, that's where. More specifically, I'll be one of the two writers, along with Amelia Beamer, performing at the monthly SF in SF event. I've long wanted to catch one of these gatherings, and now I get to participate in it! I've also been interested in reading Beamer's upcoming novel, The Loving Dead, so I'm looking forward to getting to meet her.

As I understand it, the evening will include readings, a Q&A, and perhaps an impromptu paintball tournament. Okay, maybe not the las...

How big explosions begin

This full, wrapped pallet, which stands over seven feet tall and weighs over a thousand pounds, is most--but not all--of the fireworks that we will blow up on the Fourth of July. We're talking more than half a ton of colorful, explosive goodness. Twenty-eight boxes (twenty-four here, four that came loose) crammed full of fireworks. Over 90 devices--not counting the small stuff we'll light to explain fireworks safety to the kids and to warn the crowd that we're starting. With them, the cou...

Toy Story 3

I quite liked the first Toy Story movie, but the second was mediocre enough that I was prepared to skip the third. The reviews were so overwhelmingly positive, however, that last night we went to see it at our local megaplex.

I'm glad we did.

Michael Arndt, who wrote Little Miss Sunshine, one of my favorite films of the last five years, was the lead writer on Toy Story 3, and his ability to deliver both humor and genuine emotion, as well as his wonky plotting style, were on full display. I ...

My company is still hiring

We're seeking three people:

technical marketing writer

This person should be able to understand both the marketing dreams of our clients and the highly technical work we do, then translate between the two to create marketing collateral that speaks to specific target audiences.

If that sentence sounds like gobbledygook to you, I don't blame you--but you're not the person for the job.

Web developer

This person should be skilled at a broad range of back-end and ecommerce technologies. From online fo...

The A-Team

After my recent viewing of this movie, I had to agree with Kyle's one-sentence judgment: Fun, but not as good as it could have been.

On the fun side, the action was plentiful and so frequent that you rarely had time to stop and think--which is a good thing for a movie like this, one whose premise is fundamentally dumb. Patrick Wilson's turn as a CIA agent was also particularly entertaining; the screen grew more interesting every time he was on it. His speech patterns and his interplay with...

About the signing the other night

It went pretty well. I couldn't get a firm fix on the size of the crowd, but I'm pretty sure it topped fifty folks, people who braved a dark and stormy night (really) to come see us yak. Linda Maloof, the Community Relations Manager for this B&N and the organizer of the event, kicked us off with a question from her podium. We each answered it, and then Linda opened the floor to audience questions.

As part of our introductory answers, we each had the opportunity to flog our current works. ...

What I'm listening to right now

and in heavy rotation, too. It's an awesome album. Enjoy these two cuts.

First, the title track.



And now, the song I quoted the other day.



Damn, I love this band.