Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 61

Green Room

appears from its trailers to be exactly the sort of horror movie I skip:  a bunch of dumb teens do dumb things in a dumb setting while an only slightly less dumb killer chops up most of them.  After Steve saw it, though, he said that it was more of a bleak and violent noir film than a horror flick.  The presence of Patrick Stewart also made me considering it.  Finally, trusting Steve and hoping for the best from Stewart, I went to see it recently.

I'm quite glad I did.  Steve was right:  though often horrific, Green Room is not a horror film.  A good way for a noir narrative to begin is for someone to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, often for no fault of their own, see something, and consequently begin a horrible journey.  That is exactly the structure of Green Room.

The acting is uniformly good, and the plotting and pacing are tight.  From start to finish, the ride is intriguing and compelling; I never wanted to look away.

I don't want to give away anything about the film, so let me say simply that if you are up for 95 tense minutes of entertainment, and if you can handle violence on screen, don't miss Green Room.

Just when you think the government of North Carolina couldn't possibly get more stupid

my state's Republican governor and Republican-led legislature prove that we have yet to explore what stupid really means.

In case you've missed the recent news about NC, after our idiotic government wrote discrimination into law with the despicable HB2, I thought we had hit bottom.  I hoped we would react to the scorn we were receiving and the accompanying loss of jobs and money by repealing this awful law.

We didn't.

Apparently the U.S. government got tired of waiting, because Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Justice Department have filed suit against North Carolina over this bill.  (For more on that story, you can start here or search easily enough.)  They threatened not just to continue the lawsuit but to take away some Federal funding programs.

At this point, I briefly hoped that our governor would use the lawsuit as a way to save face, blame the big bad Feds for making him change, and back away from the law.

Oh, no.  That would be entirely too sensible for Governor McCrory.  Instead, our state sued the Justice Department.

North Carolina is in many ways a wonderful state, and I am usually happy to live here.  We have our share of issues, of course, including plenty of poverty, underpaid teachers, and an education system that is nowhere near as good as it could be, to name but three.  Our government could be focusing its time and resources on such challenges, but instead our governor doubles down on HB2.

HB2 denies rights to transgender people.  It is thus wrong-headed, even evil.

Attorney General Lynch accurately noted, "It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had other signs above restrooms, water fountains, and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference. We've moved beyond those dark days."

I'd like to think she's right, but at least some North Carolinians, including our governor, still live in those awful times.

Lynch also said, "This action is about a great deal more than bathrooms.  This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them."

When we deny rights to any group, we open the door for additional similar actions, and so we hurt all of us.

I hope everyone in this state remembers this time come November, so we can all vote McCrory and the other ass clowns out of their offices.

Captain America: Civil War hits on all cylinders

A plot big enough to fill nearly two and a half hours?  Check.

A huge ensemble of characters, all of whom manage to be individuals you can understand and care about?  Check.

Moments of humor that never feel forced and that let you breathe--for a moment--before the action resumes?  Check.

Run down the Marvel superhero movie checklist, and you'll find that Civil War hits every item perfectly.  Even when you read about the formula, as I did, you still find it working on you.

Does the movie have flaws?  Absolutely.  The most egregious involves the timing of certain key events, but in the moment you forgive them and go along for the ride.

This far past the film's debut, I'm not likely to be able to sway you, because you almost certainly already know if you want to see it (if you haven't already gone).  If you are undecided, though, and you have liked any of the other Marvel movies, then do not miss this one.

As a kid, I was addicted to comics.  As a grown-up, I find it absolutely wonderful that the superheroes of my youth are now filling movie screens with wonder.

On Mother's Day

I'm not generally a fan of holidays that we've recently created.  Mother's Day, with its U.S. origins in 1908, is one of the older of that group, but I've never really celebrated it.  I did usually remember to call my mother on this day, and on a few occasions I even sent something, but it was already so commercialized that I rarely did much for it.

At the same time, our mothers do deserve our thanks for all they've done for us, starting with birthing us.  The older I've gotten, the more I've appreciated all the work it took my mom to raise three kids, for many years as a single mother.

So my take is this:  Yeah, Mother's Day is an overly commercialized event, but if your mom is alive, it wouldn't hurt you to send a little love her way, talk to her, and let her know how much you value her.  If she's not alive, pause a moment to appreciate her.  As an excuse to show a little love, which is rarely a bad thing, we could do worse.

Working at the Food Bank

As anyone who knows me at all well can tell you, I am not a morning person.  I have nothing against the morning; I just prefer to see it on my way to bed.  Despite that strong preference, however, today, on a Saturday, when I normally sleep for most of the day, I arose after three and a half hours of sleep to head to
After an hour of standing and listening to two folks train us, we went to work.  Our group included some folks from PT, some family members of PT staff, and many more people from other volunteer groups.  We collectively numbered over 30. Our job was relatively simple:  to convert boxes of donated food into boxes of food sorted by type (e.g., water, other beverages, dry packaged food, and so on).

Click the image to see a larger version.
We started with many pallets of unsorted donations, and we ended with many pallets of sorted food ready to go to groups to feed people, as well as a lot of trash.  A lot of trash.  I made only two trash runs, and I dumped well over 400 pounds of garbage.

I started as one of the people who was sorting food, but in less than five minutes I had become a runner, someone who moves full boxes from a work table to a pallet.  I spent a bit over two hours moving full boxes, taking out trash, and, near the end, picking up and stacking empty pallets.

When you look the way I do, people always end up asking you to lift things.  I have a peasant build, and I spent a lot of my teen years doing jobs that involved lots of lifting and carrying.

When we finished a little more than three hours after our start, we had assembled about 10,500 pounds of food ready to go to people.  The Food Bank folks said that would translate to over 8,500 meals.

That's pretty cool.  Helping feed people is a good thing.

I'm glad I did it.  I'm also glad for the reminder of why I went to college and why I am always happy that I am fortunate enough to work in air-conditioned offices.

Stephen Kellogg, artists, and audiences

As I wrote in yesterday's entry, Stephen Kellogg and his band put on a wonderful show at the Back Room at the Cat's Cradle.  His highly personal songs touched everyone in the audience, and the crowd responded to every tune enthusiastically.

Click the image to see a larger version.
The problem is, the audience numbered about fifty people.  Only fifty people showed up to see one of my favorite musicians pour his heart out for nearly ninety minutes.  For my taste, if there was any justice Kellogg would pack huge venues and sell out wherever he played.

My taste, of course, is an extremely unreliable indicator of artistic success.  Josh Ritter would be filling stadiums if my taste ruled, and Ritter is not (though I think he's doing well).  Nick Harkaway would be a bestseller in the U.S.  (My own books would do rather better as well.)  I could go on and on.  I'm sure you could, too.

All any artist can really do is create the best work they can, put it out there, and hope for the best.  I know marketing and social media and all of that can help, but if the work doesn't happen to touch a large audience, then the artist won't sustain such an audience over time.

I find this truth disheartening, but it is the truth.

Nonetheless, I hope one day Stephen Kellogg gets the audiences I believe he deserves.

"Gravity"

is a song that Stephen Kellogg and his band played in a concert earlier tonight at the Back Room of the Cat's Cradle.  I was fortunate enough to be there.

I'll write more about the show tomorrow, but for now, enjoy the song.



I do love his music and his live performances.

WTF, Republican Party?

Donald Trump is now set to be your nominee for the role of President of the United States of America.  Wow.  Years and years of increasingly divisive campaign tactics have culminated in this awful moment.

Here's hoping the voting citizens of America have the sense to stop him before he wins that office.

Now with PT

is back with a new episode, so I have to point it out here.  The buying advice this time concerns enterprise IT products, so it doesn't relate to most people, but I will say that the host, Drew, is looking ready for the beach.  I am definitely ready for the beach.



Check it out.

Steamed buns at Panciuto

The other night, a group of us ate dinner at Panciuto, one of the very best local restaurants and one of the restaurants in the whole world I love the most.  One entry on recent menus had made the visit irresistible:  steamed buns with bologna.  Even imagining what chef Aaron Vandemark could do with that combination set our mouths to watering.

When the menu for that day appeared online, the steamed buns were gone.

I called the restaurant and begged Lauren, Aaron's sister, to plead our case with Aaron for steamed buns with bologna.

We went, the steamed buns were not on the menu, and so we shrugged and ordered anyway.  Sometimes, you miss dishes.  We understand that.

Everything we ordered was, as always, wonderful.  My friend, Kyle, says that eating one of Aaron's dishes is like getting a hug, and he's right.  The food was great, delicious and rich and comforting.

In the middle of the meal, a gift from Aaron unexpectedly appeared:  the steamed buns with bologna. We were as excited as little kids.

The dish surpassed our expectations.  Every bite was amazing.

Talking later with Aaron, I learned that the steamed buns with bologna had not sold well.

I was stunned.  These steamed buns were amazingly good, so good I cannot imagine any meat eater not liking them.

Maybe if Aaron were willing to go all fancy and call them "Southern-style steam buns with local meat"--which they were--they would sell better, but Aaron tells you what you're eating, and I love that.  I love the way he takes local ingredients of all sorts and elevates them beyond what you would have thought was possible.

So, if you live near here, go to Panciuto, order whatever's on offer, enjoy it--and ask after the steamed buns with bologna.  If they're on the menu, order them, and prepare to be amazed.

Do this not just for the good of all restaurant-goers in the area, but also for me, because I'm already craving those delicious steamed buns.