Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 54

Do not let Trump become President of the United States

If you are a Trump supporter, then the rest of this entry is not for you.  I also don't understand what you see in the man, but so be it; that's your choice.

If you are not a Trump supporter, though, then ask yourself this question:  How bad would it be if Trump became President?  If, like me, you believe the answer is, mighty bad, then you have only one rational course of action:  Vote for Hillary Clinton.

I know a lot of people who find that thought unpleasant.  I know others who adore Clinton.  Regardless, though, if you want to stop Trump, you must vote for Clinton.  I have nothing against Gary Johnson, but giving him a vote in no way helps stop Trump.  To stop Trump, again, you must vote for Clinton.

I could go on and on about why I think Clinton is the better candidate, but for the purposes of this discussion, none of that matters.  What matters is that voting for her is the single best thing we can do to stop Trump.

Stop Trump.  Vote for Clinton.

It really is that simple.

I'm home

Airline travel keeps getting worse.  Today, despite having exit-row, aisle seats on both flights, I spent many hours curling my shoulders inward to try to stop being hit by attendants and other people in the aisle.  Nothing was comfortable.  The second flight ran quite late.

Unless you are fortunate enough to land in business or first, flying is a deeply uncomfortable drag.

On the other hand, I made it, so I shouldn't complain too much.

I am very glad to be home.

A hot day in Portland ends in a delicious meal

Temperatures here once again reached into the 90s, as they have all week.  I always expect to relax in the cool air here in the summer, but not this trip; this trip, Portland delivered the heat.

I spent the dinner hours in the cool interior of one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Le Pigeon.  Chef/owner Gabriel Rucker was working tonight, which made the usual cooking show even better than normal.

As always, every single dish was wonderful.  The stand-out was an offering not on the menu:  truffled pasta.  In this case, the Le Pigeon chefs made the pasta from scratch with Italian flour and tons and tons of black Australian truffle, so the pasta itself was infused with the delicious goodness of truffles.  They covered it in a cheese and truffle sauce, and finished the dish with--you guessed it--grated truffles.

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This bowl provided bite after bite of sex in your mouth that delivered a serious foodgasm, so rich and wonderful that I almost licked the bowl clear.  Two of us shared it, a decision that saved me some calories but that I regretted more than a few times.

If you're ever in this area, do not miss Le Pigeon.  If you're here now, rush over there, ask for this pasta, and hope it's still on the menu.

Willow joins Portland's restaurant elite

I visit here about four times a year, so it's a bit cheeky of me to declare a restaurant one of the city's elite, much less to do so after only a single visit to the place.

I don't care.  I'm doing it anyway.  Willow deserves the praise.

Tonight's menu featured six courses.

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I also opted for the four non-alcoholic drink pairings.


Willow's dining room is a single L-shaped counter; tonight, seven of us ate at chairs spaced around it.

Three people do all the work, from preparing the food, to serving it, to washing the dishes.  Two are owners, and one is the sous chef.  They hustled the whole time we were there, but they were always on top of their game.  Everything I tasted was inventive, attractive, and, most importantly, delicious.  I didn't encounter a single misstep.  The meal was top-drawer.

One dish, the mushroom tart, stood out as absolutely perfect, a true world-class preparation.


I could go on and on, but it's late, and I'm tired, so let me just say that Willow has joined Le Pigeon on my must-eat list anytime I'm in Portland.

If you possibly can, check it out.

Frito Pie dog says

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

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Indeed it was, this beautiful centerpiece of my meal last night.

And tasty, tasty it was, oh so good.

With this radicchio salad


and this lovely heirloom tomato gazpacho,


the Frito Pie dog helped create a delightful dinner.

One of those travel days

Today treated me to several of the special variations of hell that travel can offer.

I had to get up early, at 5:30 a.m., only to learn my flight was delayed--but not enough to let me go back to bed.

I spent both flights in cramped standard seats; no upgrades today.  The second flight found me in the very last row of the plane, in a seat so small I physically could not work on my laptop.

I didn't hit the hotel until after ten p.m. Eastern time.

The good news is that I made it, and so did my luggage, so I don't really have too much to complain about.

Dinner was a high point; more on that tomorrow, I hope.

For now, I must finish work and then crash.

The Wonder Woman Comic-Con trailer looks awesome

If you haven't seen it, you definitely need to check it out.



I have high hopes that this movie will be big fun.

On Chinese food and movies at the beach

Last night, we opted to keep dinner simple and go for some take-out from the local Chinese restaurant.  We'd eaten completely serviceable food from them in the past.

We were not quite as lucky this time; some dishes were fine, but others were not at all good.  My beef lo mein arrived in a little box and was sticky enough to retain its shape without the box.

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The stickiness affected its flavor, with the sauce overpowering everything else.  Beef lo mein also should not behave like quick-set concrete.

As has become a tradition, I'm wrapping up the beach reporting with a happy snap of all the movies we watched on Blu-ray discs and/or DVDs.


A quick glance should make clear that we watched some cult classics, some recent movies, and a variety of older flicks.

To me, the winner of the Most Surprisingly Good Award of this year's trip is the disc alone on the left, Mr. Right.  Don't look it up, and don't try to learn more about it; just rent or buy it, and then watch it.  Give it 20 minutes to earn your love.  I found it a wonderfully charming film.  I hope you do, too.

Even from the beach

Sarah has her eye on you.

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So, you better behave.

In other vacation news, tomorrow morning I head home, and Monday morning, I fly to Portland.

Busy times.

Retail opportunities, retail oddities

Today's post-lunch adventure led a small group of us to a beach shop we had not previously explored.  Its offerings proved to be among the stranger of the local thrift stores.

The decaying little couple outside kicked off the creepiness.

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The doll with insane eyes upped the ante.


The Creepiest In the House award, though, went to this insane clown.


No, I did not buy him, though I was sorely tempted to do so.  He would be perfect sitting right next to a small lamp on a bedside table in a guest room.

Who wouldn't want to wake up to him?

To end on a completely different note, here's a shot under the bridge in the middle evening.  I'm sorry the photo is hazy, but the sky was so lovely I had to try to capture it.


The beach is full of beauty.