Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 52

Skinny bandwidth yields tiny posts

I'm sorry, because I had planned to post a few pics each day and write more, but the bandwidth here is so bad that I can't even stay connected for long.  Heck, I can't even reliably send email.

So, the brief version:

Today, I participated in my last two con functions.

First up was a panel on finance for writers.  Each of the panelists brought a different perspective to the topic, so the conversation was far more interesting and lively than I had expected.  The audience stayed engaged throughout, so I can't complain.

Next was a writing workshop in which I and another professional writer critiqued manuscripts from three folks still trying to break into the field.  I'm a firm believer that what happens in workshops must stay in them, so I will say only that I think the participants got value from the critiques.  (I should note that I normally turn these down and have for some time, but the organizer is a friend who needed one more person, so I was happy to help.)

I hope to sleep a great deal tonight.

A day of two very different performances

After a decent night's sleep, I grabbed lunch, visited with friends, and did my first Worldcon program item:  a reading.  Readings are frequently dicey affairs at which no one shows up, but I was lucky enough today to have about ten folks listen to me read.  I count that as a win.

After the reading, I signed a few books for folks who had brought some, and then I spent time in the dealers' room and the art show.  I enjoyed both, as I usually do.

I watched the Chesley awards and then headed to my second performance of the day:  a short comedy set at a "Comedy Tonight!" panel.  Three of us took turns doing sets, the audience laughed a great deal, and we all had fun.  Another win.

After dinner with friends, I tried hanging out with tons of other writers and fans in the hotel bar, but my heart just wasn't in it.  So, I caught up on email, read, and will now get another good night's sleep.

I'd like to blog more about today, but I'm not that masochistic

The arrival of the rest of the fans has left this hotel's bandwidth a splintered shadow of its former self.   Everything I try online takes so long I need to read between operations.  Trying to upload a photo I end up encountering network failures that thwart me.

Maybe tomorrow, but for today let me say that the con is starting well, but the hotel bandwidth is beyond bad.

Travel days give, and travel days taketh away

Today's travel day gifts were upgrades on both my flight from San Francisco to Phoenix and the one from Phoenix to Kansas City.  Getting to ride in first class is a wonderful thing, because my shoulders fit, I have room to work, flight attendants bring me all the Coke Zero and water (in separate glasses; don't mix the streams) I want, and the airplane experience is generally humane.

Unfortunately, today's travel day penalty was a multi-hour delay in Phoenix that no American Airlines representative would or could--hard to tell--explain.  I was already slated to arrive in Kansas City late, but now it's ridiculous:  the plane is due to land at 2:15 a.m. local time.  I say "due to land" because I'm going to post this entry from the plane so I can crash when I finally hit the hotel.  After all, once we're on the ground, I still have the usual walk to baggage claim, the wait for my bag, the search for my rental car, the drive to the hotel, and check-in there.  I can't wait.

What I got to see of the Intel Developer Forum was fun and interesting, with the opening keynote a tech treat full of goodies for those who like such things--as I do.

I hope to get to sleep late and awaken refreshed.  For now, I'm shutting down this computer and returning to today's book.

Nothing to see here

That's really the story of my day:  nothing worth reporting.  A decent night's sleep, lots of work, a couple of meetings, and tomorrow I head into the conference and then back out on the road.

Hello, San Francisco

I arrived here in the early evening after a full day of riding in planes and automobiles--but mostly planes.  I'll be leaving the hotel in less than two days after I hit it, so this is a quick visit to participate in some meetings and attend part of the Intel Developer Forum 2016.  I'm looking forward to the conference and wish I could stay for all of it.

Though I wasn't lucky enough to get any upgrades today, I did have exit-row seats with row-mates as interested in staying in their own worlds as I was in keeping to mine, so I can't really complain.  As a bonus, my lunch was a Red Mango parfait in DFW--always a tasty treat.

Today was the first day of a two-week road trip that will take me from here to Kansas City for the World SF Convention and thence to Austin for work.  I'm traveling with a big suitcase and hoping not to lose it.

Now, to grab some sleep!

A Hologram for the King

With this weekend's lackluster openings not enough of a temptation to drag me from my house the night before I begin a two-week trip, tonight's movie was the Blu-ray pressing of this recent film.  I'd missed it in the theaters and had wanted to see it, so it was an easy choice.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, primarily because at almost no point was I sure what was going to happen next.  The plot moved in a relatively reasonable fashion, but it contained enough oddities and grace notes to make the ride worthwhile.

I said "relatively reasonable" because a great many of Tom Hanks' actions in this one would probably have gotten him kicked out of Saudi Arabia or even killed.  As with most movies these days, in this one at multiple occasions you had to suspend your reality filters and go along with it, or you would break your suspension of disbelief beyond repair.

If you haven't seen the movie, I don't want to tell you the plot, and I encourage you not to check it in advance.  Just turn on the movie and let it wash over you.  It's worth the time.

Though there is no way Bad Santa 2 can be as good as the original

I absolutely will be there on opening weekend.  In fact, I'll probably watch the original right before I go see it.

How can you resist a movie with this trailer?

Warning:  This is a red band trailer full of foul language and gross stuff, so don't play it if you don't want to see that sort of thing.



If the basic premise alone is not enough, did you notice that Christina Hendricks, whom I absolutely adore, is in this movie?

I am so there.

Two years from now, I want to be in New Orleans

and I want you to help make sure I get to go.  Specifically, I hope in late August of 2018 to be flying into New Orleans for that year's World Science Fiction Convention.  You can read more about the bid here.

Running against New Orleans--committees from each city mount bids on which SF fans vote--is a group from San Jose.  Their bid info is here.  These are perfectly fine folks, and San Jose is a perfectly fine place, but it's not New Orleans.  It's not even close.


Really, who wouldn't?

At next week's WorldCon in Kansas City, I'll spend some time hanging out in the New Orleans party at the convention center.  Please come by, see me, meet the fine folks behind the con, and vote for the Big Easy.

Let's send the WorldCon back to New Orleans in 2018!

Stand By Me, 30 years on

I thought about this movie today after stumbling for no good reason onto this post of Wil Wheaton's about the 25th anniversary of the film--a post that is quite good and which I recommend reading.  I remember entering the theater with very low expectations for the movie, feeling it win me over, and then being absolutely delighted and bowled over by the ending.

And then, of course, there's the song.  I love and have blogged the John Lennon cover, but tonight it has to be the Ben E. King original.



This weekend is a new-movie wasteland, so it might be time to do a back-to-the-eighties double feature at home.  It just might.