Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 60

When I saw the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond

I knew I would be excited to see the movie because, hey, Star Trek, Justin Lin, and JJ Abrams.  Of course I'd be there.

After watching this new trailer, however, I'm completely psyched for this summer blockbuster.



We now have more action, aliens boarding the Enterprise, and Idris Elba in full forehead alien mode.  Face it:  everything gets better with Idris Elba.

Oh, yeah, I am so ready for this one!

Are you having trouble sleeping?

Cone Man can help.

Of course, first you have to persuade him you are worthy.

He's a sneaky bastard who respects sneaky people, so your best bet is to start by trying to sneak up on him, as if he can't see your side-on approach.

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Of course, he can see you, but he won't be able to stop himself from spinning to look at you.


Once you're face-to-face with him, give in to his psychic pressure, draw closer, and stare into the blackness of his eyes, twin voids that link directly to his soulless true self.


Oh, you'll fall asleep then, once he locks his gaze on yours.

What happens next, though, and what you dream, well, no one can help that.

The best dog in the world protects a bone

For no reason I could fathom, one evening not long ago, Holden decided that everyone in our den was a threat to one of his bones.  Having reached that decision, he leapt into action to defend the bone.

First, he tried distracting us all by moving his head and tail so quickly that they became blurry.

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That ploy worked briefly, but we must have paid too much attention to the bone, because he then decided to draw away our attention by walking toward a person and psychically broadcasting, "Follow me with your eyes, me, just me, not that bone, only me."


He next tried a blend of fast motion and psychic persuasion.


I must not have responded as he wished, because he then decided to reassess whether the bone was worth all the effort it was causing him.


Eventually, he decided that it was indeed a worthy bone, so he beseeched me directly not to let anyone touch it.


Holden carried the day.  I agreed we would all leave the bone in his able care.

The bone thanked him.


The greatest dog in the world averted another crisis.

HB2 screws North Carolina--and me--again

I've written a few times about our noxious House Bill 2 (HB2), which among many awful things basically legalizes discrimination against transgender people.  I hate this bill.  Most of the North Carolinians I know hate this bill.  The Attorney General of the U.S. is suing North Carolina over this bill.

Yet our jerk of a governor and our equally awful Republican legislators continue to stand behind it.

A while back, I had tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show that Cirque cancelled in response to this bill.  I'm sorry I missed the show, but I had to support their decision to boycott the state.

Earlier tonight, I was to be sitting with Scott and others enjoying a performance of the legendary violinist, Itzhak Perlman, with the North Carolina Symphony.  We had seen Perlman perform once before and had greatly enjoyed the show, so we were looking forward to tonight's concert.

Perlman cancelled yesterday.  In a statement, he said,

As my fans know, I have spent a lifetime advocating against discrimination towards those with physical disabilities and have been a vocal advocate for treating all people equally.  As such, it is only after much deliberation that I have decided to cancel tomorrow’s concert in North Carolina as a stand against House Bill 2.

As much as I wanted to go, I once again have to support this decision.

According to Perlman's agent (read more here), Perlman was going to play the show, make a statement, and donate his proceeds to Equality North Carolina.

The NC Symphony, however, is a state-supported non-partisan organization and so could not allow the statement.  I respect their decision, in that to sustain their funding and to avoid getting in serious trouble with our state government, they had to make this decision.  Fair enough.

That stance, though, cost them a sold-out concert, a great deal of money, and probably a lot of disillusioned supporters.

If our government won't repeal this bill, we in North Carolina need to make damn sure that we replace it in November with a government that will remove the blight that is HB2 and provide equal rights to all.

Counter shines again

If there's a better restaurant in Austin than Counter 3 . FIVE . VII, I want to eat there ASAP.  After multiple visits to this downtown restaurant, I have yet to taste a dish worse than very good, and almost all of them have been excellent.  Tonight's meal continued the winning streak for Counter, with seven wonderful courses that proved once again that this team has serious culinary game.

The menu was the usual intriguing set of seven courses, only one of which I've tasted before.  (They've created 102 dishes in the past year.)

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That repeat, the rhubarb with Newsom's ham and brown butter,


was one of my favorites, a tantalizing combination of salty and crunchy and spicy, with the richness of the brown butter making everything a bit better.

Perhaps my favorite dish this evening was the rabbit,


which was a riff on a Provencal stew but with local rabbit and some Carolina Gold rice beneath the meat.  As the chefs meant it to do, it was a perfect transition dish, one that highlights the end of cold days and the transition to warmer ones.

The weakest course tonight was the dessert, which used many flavors of carrots supporting a scoop of cardamom ice cream--and I liked it so much I almost licked my bowl clean.  At most places, it would have been the strongest dish.

Counter 3 . FIVE . VII is a world-class restaurant that you should visit if you can.

Veracruz All Natural

started as a food truck but has grown to a few trucks and a physical location.  Veracruz has earned a reputation for delicious tacos and tortas, which they make with fresh ingredients.  When I realized they had a storefront just down the street from my hotel, I had to try them.

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The setting is simple, the dining room warm and small.  I ordered one each of all three tacos, because the folks making them assured me that was a reasonable order (it was).


The marinated chicken was moist and flavorful, the steak perfectly grilled, and my favorite, the el pastor, rich with flavor.  I recommend all of them.

Dessert took me a short drive away to my traditional Amy's location at the Arboretum.

Tacos for dinner and ice cream for dessert:  however long a day might be, it's hard to complain about it ending that way.

Down Austin way

I headed to Austin this morning, so wake-up came entirely too early after entirely too little sleep.

No upgrades for me today.  Instead, I enjoyed the usual over-sold planes.  I can't complain, though, because I had exit-row, aisle seats on both legs.

In the Austin airport, the two of us on this trip spotted a new (to us) flavor at the AUS Amy's:  honey graham.  Purely for the good of others, we split an Amy's "tiny" cup of this flavor.  It was amazing.  Amy's does honey in ice cream superbly.

In an unexpected and pleasant turn, the hotel at which I stay on almost all of these trips, the Marriott Round Rock, broke a long string of failures at getting me extra pillows with a bit of flourish:

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Yes, not only did they give me two extra pillows, they also left a small welcome basket.  For the first time in ages, I'll be able to complete a post-stay survey in complimentary fashion.

Dinner took us to the Cooper's BBQ here in Austin.  It continues to deliver the second-best brisket (after Franklin's) that I've ever tasted.  We reduced our order from our last visit, but it still proved to be too much.


Dessert was, as per my tradition, at a nearby Amy's.

Tomorrow morning, the meetings begin!

Money Monster

is one of those movies whose trailers tell the whole story.  You watch the first trailer, and you know the plot.  The question becomes not, "What will happen?", but rather, "Will the ride be fun?"

I'm happy to report that in this case the answer is, yes, it is a very fun ride indeed.

Director Jodie Foster and the team of writers have turned what could have been a preachy agenda film into a velocity exercise (with some preachy bits).  By rarely slowing, the story involves us and only occasionally forces us to consider how very silly the underlying key event is.

The key actors--George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Jack O'Connell--are all in fine form and turn in strong performances.  The players in lesser roles are also uniformly good.

In addition to the pacing, what really makes the film are its grace notes, scenes that could have gone conventionally but that instead have a bit of an odd edge to them. The one involving O'Connell's girlfriend is the best example; I won't spoil it for you by saying more.

Nothing about this movie is realistic, and it wears its politics openly, but it's still a fun ride.  I left the theater quite happy to have seen it.

Check it out.

This trailer for The Accountant

makes me very much look forward to the film.



Ben Affleck playing a troubled accountant cum hit man; what's not to like?

We'll learn more in October.  Between now and then, I hope they do not release any trailers in which his character speaks.  That would only ruin the magic.

Tesla service continues to shine

As I pulled out of my driveway Tuesday to go to work, a warning message appeared in the dashboard of my Tesla Model S.  It said my tire pressure was too low and I should pull over safely.  I drove to a gas station that's quite close to my house--the first time I've been in that station in some time--and filled all of my tires to the proper air pressure.  The right rear tire was fairly low, but because I was running late I gave it only a cursory inspection.  I saw nothing wrong and drove to work.

The car was fine until yesterday as I was heading to work, when the same warning appeared.  I called the local Tesla outpost, gave them my name, and explained the problem.  The guy on the phone clearly had my records in front of him almost instantly.  He asked what I'd like to happen.  I said I didn't have time to bring in the car, so I'd prefer they come get it.  I told him I would be available for a short time.  He said that was no problem.

Twenty minutes later, he showed up at my office building with a loaner, had me sign an inspection report, handed me a fob, and took mine.

The service folks called later that day to tell me the bad news:  my tire had picked up a screw, which was in deep, and so I'd need a new tire.  I okayed the expense, and they said they'd fix it and wash and vacuum the car.  I said I'd prefer a detailing--which you do have to pay for--and they said that would be no problem.  I kept the loaner overnight.

Today, they called to say they'd finished the car and asked when they could do the car swap.  I had only a half hour open.  At seven minutes into that half hour, a guy called to say he was in my office building's parking lot.  I missed the call.

By the time I found the phone message and made it downstairs, five minutes had passed.  In that time, he found the loaner, moved it out of its parking space, backed my car into the space, and was waiting beside the loaner.  When I marveled at that, he said, "I figured there was no point in you having to waste time doing the car shuffle."  I signed the approval form and headed back to work.

My car sparkled like new, inside and out, when I checked it.

I paid only for the tire work and the detailing.

The total time the experience cost me, counting all signing, phone calls, and walking, was under 15 minutes.

Yes, I own both a Model S and Tesla stock, but, damn, this was yet another great Tesla service experience.

The combination of the Model S being such an amazing car and the service continuing to be so fantastic makes me want to own only Tesla cars.