Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 92

So you want the other take on Terminator Genisys?

The one that, while giving away spoilers, explains most (but never all) of the aspects of the movie that are just plain dumb?

Want no longer:  io9.com has come to your aid with this excellent piece.

I still had a good time watching the movie, but only because I tried never to think about it.

About my story in Onward, Drake!

I've been mentioning this upcoming book


a lot lately, and I'll continue to talk about it from time to time until it appears.  A few folks have asked me about my story in it, so I thought I'd break my usual silence on such matters and share two facts with you.

First, as
Next, here's how it starts:

Crane froze a step short of the doorway. The room screamed indifference and menace. He looked at his husband and shook his head.  

To read more, you'll need to pick up the book.

More reasons you need to pre-order a copy of Onward, Drake!

I've mentioned this October book before, and I'm going to mention it again.


If you're even remotely considering not buying it, check out this table of contents:

Introduction:  It’s About Time - Mark L.  Van Name
The Great Wizard, Cabbage - David Drake 
Incubator - Gene Wolfe 
A Flat Affect - Eric Flint 
SUM - Cecelia Holland 
David Drake - Tom Doherty 
The Crate Warrior, the Doppelganger, and the Idea Woman - Mur Lafferty 
Working with Dave, or, Inmates in Bellevue - S.M.  Stirling 
Hell Hounds - Tony Daniel 
Technical Advantage - John Lambshead 
Saracens - T.C.  McCarthy 
The One that Got Away - Eric S.  Brown 
Appreciating Dave - Toni Weisskopf 
Swimming from Joe - Barry N.  Malzberg 
The Village of Yesteryear - Sarah Van Name 
The Trouble with Telepaths - Hank Davis 
A Cog In Time - Sarah A.  Hoyt 
All That’s Left - Mark L.  Van Name 
The Losing Side - Larry Correia 
Save What You Can - David Drake

We're talking multiple bestselling and award-winning writers, a wide variety of stories and essays, and hours of entertaining and often thought-provoking reading.

Yeah, you need this book.

Two Roosters: The second great local ice cream

For quite some time now, the best ice cream in the Triangle area, hands-down, has come from The Parlour in Durham.  No other ice cream I've tasted has even come close to the wonderful confections from The Parlour.

I'm happy to say that we have now gained another great local ice cream vendor:  Two Roosters.  I've sampled their ice creams twice now--once at a Durham food event and earlier today when they were scooping from their ice cream trailer a mile and a half from my house--and both times everything I tasted was delicious.

Click the image to see a larger version.
As you can see if you magnify the photo, their menu is small but interesting, with a few classic flavors and several of their own invention.  I'm particularly fond of their vanilla vanilla, and the strawberry I tasted today was also excellent.  Their flavors are generally strong and clean, though the more complex concoctions, such as the butterscotch haystack, definitely will leave you smiling as you discover their ingredients.

Also obvious is the fact that they operate out of a trailer, so you'll have to follow them on Twitter to learn where they're going to be--just as we did in the days before Parlour had a store.

Before you ask me in email or a comment, no, I am not going to choose one place over the other.  I don't want to do that.  Instead, I want to encourage all of us to support both businesses; the Triangle can handle more than a few great ice cream sources.

I certainly intend to support both.

On this Fourth of July

about a hundred of us gathered in the country at Dave's house, ate, talked, and watched (or, in my case, helped put on) a lovely fireworks show.

It was a good, if hot and tiring day.

I hope your Independence Day was equally good.

Terminator Genisys: Big, dumb fun

Do not go to this movie if you are seeking a plot that makes sense.  Do not go if you are seeking good acting, though Emilia Clarke does a credible turn as Sarah Connor.  Do not go if you're seeking a mental challenge.

Do go, however, if you'd like to turn off your brain for a couple of hours and watch things, in the immortal words of Billy Bob Briggs, blow up real good.

The film is both a reboot of the Terminator franchise and an ode to the first installment in that series.  Arnold is back, but through the magic of this-makes-no-fucking-sense-whatsoever, he's now a good-guy terminator whom Clarke affectionately calls "Pops."  Oh, yeah:  he's her daddy.  Not physically, of course, but emotionally.

Did I mention the movie makes no sense?

The effects are good, the many villains are interesting, and I do love watching Clarke.  Arnold trying to learn to show emotion also provides some high points.  I enjoyed myself.

Just don't go without being clear on what you're signing up for.

Servers and roses, oh my

Yes, it's time for another episode of Now with PT.  This one, the twenty-first and the last before we take a break and prepare for our season two reboot, is probably my favorite.



Enjoy.

A movie quiz for this weekend

Will you go see a nearly talent-free male star try to keep his career going in a weak franchise vehicle

OR
will you skip Channing Tatum in Magic Mike XXL and go see Arnold in Terminator Genisys?

Decisions, decisions.

Dashi comes through again

I wrote a couple of months ago about
I'm happy to report that the food was even better this time, with all add-ins mixed well with the rest of each bowl's contents and superb, rich flavors in each type of ramen we tried.  As before, the local pork meatballs were particularly outstanding; add them to any dish you get there.  The edamame appetizer was also tasty, and the cobia sashimi was delicious.

I definitely recommend a trip to Dashi when you're in the mood for ramen.

Another reason you need Onward, Drake!

I've mentioned this book before, but I'll be discussing it again many times between now and its early October release.



If the names on the cover aren't enough to persuade you to buy this nifty tribute to Dave, consider this:  the book contains the first new Hammer's Slammers story in nearly a decade.

Oh, yeah.

The story, "Save What You Can," is an excellent piece that in my opinion ranks among the best of the Hammer's Slammers tales--and that's saying something.

Yup, you need this book.

So do your friends.  Spread the word.