Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 284

Remember that big announcement I promised?

No, I can't make it yet, but very soon--this coming week, I hope.

I'm excited.

More soon.

I can't get this song out of my head

So, I figured, why should I be the only one?

I found this live version on YouTube. Check it out, then buy the CD, So Runs the World Away. The more I listen to it, the more I like it.

What teachers really think

In an email exchange with my friend, Lynn, I learned that when she was a teacher, her county circulated a booklet with advice on how to deliver difficult messages to parents. The teachers found the piece more than a little humorous, and as you might expect, many came up with their own little code phrases. She told me a few of the bitchier ones, and I liked them so much that I asked for more. In each pair, the bit in italics is the nice rendition; the regular type is the translation.

Enjoy...

Robin Hood

I saw this movie Saturday night, but my reactions to it were complicated enough that I needed some time to sort them out and to figure out the reasons for them. To go further, I have to give some spoilers, so stop reading now if you want to avoid them.

First, the bottom line: Despite the movie's many flaws, I liked it well enough that I recommend it if you're in the mood for a big-budget action flick and don't mind turning off your critical faculties.

That said, what's wrong with the film is ...

Diet for Death

Earlier today, on the heels of
This study reminded me, however, that there is so...

Bacon camp

Just the name is enough to give you goosebumps, isn't it?

Kyle tipped me to this event, which occurred recently in, of all places, San Francisco. You can read more about it on its home page or in this fine and heavily illustrated article in Asylum.

In the immortal words of LOLcats: WANT!

Wow, would that be fun to attend! Among other benefits, it would allow me to explore that timeless question: Can there be too much bacon? (I think not, but one never knows.) Plus, it would let me try the...

Working on the page proofs of Children No More

That's where my spare time is going right now. I go through the manuscript very carefully, so it's a time-consuming process. I'm already behind schedule, so I'm going to get back to work.

As a small compensation, let me leave you with a classic that now and again I simply must listen to. I've linked to it before, but it's time once again. Enjoy Jeff Buckley's soaring vocals on this Leonard Cohen masterpiece.

Yoga lies

Once a week, a group of us gather at my house and take yoga from a teacher who is willing to come to us. I suck at it, but I enjoy the work and am slowly improving. I have to tell the world, though, that yoga sits on a throne of lies.

Think about it: Yoga purports to be all mellow and go-with-the-flow, like a bad jazz AM station. What it really is, however, is what any at all serious physical training must be: torture.

Consider these sample statements from our teacher and what they reall...

A strange thing I do

(No, this isn't that kind of post. Get your mind out of the gutter.)

When I'm leaving PT, I usually take the stairs nearest my office. When I reach the bottom of those stairs and emerge from the building, instead of walking straight ahead on the sidewalk, I often veer right and onto the grass. Standing a few yards away is a very large set of shrubs that surround a power transformer that you may well not notice if you're not looking for it--which is, of course, the whole point of the shrubbe...

I'm unreasonably excited

at the prospect of seeing the new Robin Hood film this weekend. I know all the many reasons I shouldn't be, and I'm well aware of the myriad ways this particular version might go badly wrong, but I don't care.

I love the Robin Hood myth. I always have, for as far back as I have memories. To me, the heart of the it--a ragtag group with a charismatic leader standing up to an uncaring and all-powerful oppressor--is timeless and compelling and always ready for a fresh take. You can certainly...