Random Access

Wednesday (reprise)
I was right: A day that starts with The Spirit of Radio can’t be bad.

Work was painless; in fact, it was pretty damned fun. Jonahs came in and helped us with an inventory count. The day moved pretty quickly and there weren’t any problems.

After work, there was coffee/beer group night. Tonight was a beer night; we went to the Porcupine Grill. The food was good (as usual), the beer was just right (a nice Raspberry Wheat was this evening’s choice) and dessert was a rich fudge brownie with two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream that was the perfect coda to the meal.

After that, we stopped at and ‘s house. We sat on their patio and talked. It was a nice way to round out the day.

Song of the Day
We Got Our Own Thang by Heavy D and the Boyz

Stray Toasters

• ::: makes sure that it’s after midnight :::
  Happy birthday to !

• Hullo and welcome to
• Remember a few weeks ago when I was on my free magazine subscription kick? Well… I found another offer on SlickDeals.net for a complimentary subscription to GamePro Magazine. Free. How could I pass that up? If you’re interested in getting a free subscription, click here.
• I had another “Utah Drivers…” moment on the way to work this morning: Four-lane highway – I was in the second lane from the right and there was a lady in the lane to my left. The exit ramp that was steadily approaching. She cut across both lanes of traffic – and VERY close to my front end – to get to the exit. About fifteen seconds before she did it, I had a sense that she was going to try it. *sigh*
• While talking with the paternal unit this evening, he told me that Adam had done something rather cool this week during his training. He’s in the AFROTC program; he’s currently training at an air base in Texas (his least favorite state). I’ll have to call him and find out just what this “something” was…
• Madden 2004 will be out soon. ::: covet :::
• : We’re going to have to figure out a time to get together and finish off The Flood. Preferably, in a very violent, noisy and messy manner. Messy for them, that is.
• From Slashdot: The Not-Quite-Human Rights Movement
• Is there a method to RIAA’s madness? According to Slyck.com there is. Read more about it here.

That’s all the news from Lake Saline… for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Just about halfway through the week… and the week is going well.

The Spirit of Radio greeted me this morning. How can a day be bad when it starts with such a damn fine song?

I saw this on Slashdot a few minutes ago. My inner geek giggled with delight. Yep. “Giggled.” I felt it. If I had unlimited finances, a sci-fi shopping spree of ludicrous proportions would be under way.

Tuesday
Good day at work.
After work was a quiet evening at home.

Song of the Day

• She Talks to Angels
  Sometimes Salvation

…both by The Black Crowes

Stray Toasters

• For ….
  Next on the agenda: Coloring. I may do the original with pencil, but I think that I am going to use Photoshop to color the scanned image.

• 
  
  
  
  
  

• Diva. (You know who you are.)
• Did anyone else hear the story about someone at The Pentagon wanting to set up a stock exchange-like market where people could earn money… by trying to determine when, where and how terrorist actions would occur?! No, that was not a joke; read more here

  From SFGate.com:

  It sounds jaw-droppingly callous, not to mention absurd: An Internet gambling parlor, sponsored by the U.S. government, on politics in the Middle East. Anyone, from Osama bin Laden to your grandmother, can bet over the Web on such questions as whether Yasser Arafat will be assassinated or Turkey’s government will be overthrown.

  If the bettors are right, they’ll win money; if they’re wrong, they’ll lose their wagers. The site itself will keep numerical tallies of the current “odds” for various events.

  Why not just ask the guys at the corner bar whether or not we should invade Jordan, or play SimCity to make foreign policy decisions?

  I don’t know whose brainskid this was, but I was shocked to think that someone – even for the most brief of moments – though that this might be a “good” idea. Fortunately, a rectal craniotomy was performed and this idea was eighty-sixed before it got too far. Although, it could be argued that as far as it got was “too far…”

• From Slashdot: Cyber Sleuths vs. Secret Networks
• It was (almost) inevitable: Telemarketers Sue Over “Do Not Call” List
• RIAA has a lot of subpoenas. I hope that they have a lot of time…

Namaste.

[16:53] Penfold003: How’s work treating you?
[16:53] : Pretty good, thanks.
[16:54] : As John said: “Nothing to get hung about…”
[16:54] Penfold003: John?
[16:54] : Lennon.
[16:54] Penfold003: Ah… Never met the man.
[16:54] : He was a member of this obscure little band from England.
[16:55] Penfold003: Wait, weren’t they bigger the Jesus?
[16:56] : That was only because there were four of them.
[16:56] : But, Jesus had a bigger posse.
[16:56] Penfold003: and he meant it in terms of money made at the time, I think.
[16:58] : He did… but it was also true in terms of sheer mass.
[16:58] Penfold003: Ah, fair enough…

[14:37] : indeed, it’s my cross to bear 🙂
[14:38] : *shrug*
[14:38] : I’m just the travel agent.
[14:38] : ….and royal courier.
[14:38] : lol interesting new job title, i like that one
[14:39] : ::: bow :::

——————-

[15:28] : 😐
[15:29] : eww… is he drooling?
[15:29] : Not on my screen.
[15:29] : weird
[15:29] : I’m still getting used to a new Trillian skin
[15:29] : Ah
[15:30] : Mine is unskinned.
[15:30] : ah
[15:30] : Does that make it “nude/naked” or “flayed?”
[15:30] : Hmm….
[15:30] : interesting conundrum
[15:32] : Indeed.
[15:33] : how about “au naturel”?
[15:34] : That works, too.

“There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.”
– Oscar Levant

Monday
Not a bad day… just a long one.
Eleven (11) hours at work. *ugh*
After work came gaming. That was good. And fun. And a good release.

The thing that made it a top notch day was finding out that the Wonder Woman piece that I did last week made it to the Digital Concept Galley on Comics2Film.

Song of the Day
17 Hours by emmet swimming from the CD “Arlington to Boston”

Stray Toasters
They’ll keep until tomorrow.

Namaste.

Bob Hope died of pneumonia yesterday, at the age of 100.

I found it ironic that he died on the weekend that Lara Croft – Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

I don’t mean this in a mocking way. Part of the quest in Cradle is to find the mythical Pandora’s Box. According to mythology, when Pandora opened the box, she loosed “…diseases, sorrows, vices and crimes…” upon the earth. The only thing left in the box after the others had flown out was hope.

And now, Hope is gone.

1903 – 2003.

Sunday
After going to bed somewhere around 3:00 this morning, I woke up a little after 6:00 (went back to sleep), 8-something (again, back to sleep) and when I woke up a little after 10:00, I decided that I might as well get myself out of bed and start the day.

Yesterday, in a Nutshell (apologies to Barenaked Ladies)

• Slept in a bit.
• Had a lazy morning and early afternoon around the apartment.
• Had a short and very casual work-related meeting.
• Attended a birthday/anniversary for a friend/her father’s bookstore.
• Bowled.
• Went out for breakfast

Stray Toaster
While I was doing a lot of nothing yesterday, I was listening to Winamp. One of the songs on my playlist is Sugar Sugar by Mary Lou Lord with Semisonic (from the “Saturday Morning Cartoons’ Greatest Hits” CD); it’s a cover of the song by The Archies. The chorus of the song is:

Sugar…
Oh, Honey Honey
You are my candy, boy…
And you’ve got me wanting you.

Something in one of the back corners of my head decided that it should be redone as:

Sherpa…
Ah, llama llama
You are my mountain guide
And you help me climb K2.

And now… time to get ready to draw.

Namaste.

More mid-day randomness:

• I want a miniature golf course. I think that it would be neat to have one in my backyard… when I have a backyard (and one large enough to support it). It wouldn’t have to have 18 holes – although that would be nice.
• Music with didgeridoo GOOOD!!! ::: gesture :::
• My Palm Vx is being schizophrenic. Again.
• Does anyone else remember the Marathon candy bar?
• This just in: Seems that the box of Magic: the Gathering cards that my friend’s student had was not an unopened box, after all… but it was a complete box.
  

Some of this song’s lyrics crack me up:

• “They be like he the man when I’m really a Thundercat”
• “Collect so much grass popo thinking we mow lawns”
• “Plus my rats come in packs like Sammy and Dean Martin
  And I got so many keys you’d think I was valet parking”

Friday
The work week is over.
On to the weekend at hand!
Selah.

Post-work hijinks included the traditional Friday trip to Borders with , and . My new drawing is coming along decently; I’d post a picture of it but I’m drawing it in non-photo blue pencil – nothing would show up. *shrug* I’ll post it when it’s done.

Song of the Day
Up on the Roof by The Drifters (or the covers by either The Persuasions or Rockapella)

Stray Toasters

• Why does this (the last item on the list) not surprise me?
• Windows crash statistic
• In-vitro fertilization – 25 years later (or… “Happy Birthday, Louise Brown!”)
• and I were discussing movie casting this afternoon. We touched on the fact that it’s more important to stay true to the nature of a character than to attempt to live up to the standards and expectations of every fanboy (and fangirl) in the target audience. Case in point: The Kingpin in Daredevil, as portrayed by Michael Clarke Duncan. In the movie, he was Black; in the comics (for the past umpteen years), he’s Caucasian. *shrug* To me, the change didn’t matter… as long as he was the same ruthless bastard that we’ve come to know and love through the years. Mr. Duncan did a great job with the role. I mentioned to her that many years ago – when the first rumors of bringing X-Men to the silver screen were being bandied about – I had another casting idea that was also against the norm: Louis Gossett, Jr. as Professor X.
• Craisins!
• Who knew that cats fought going to sleep (okay… lying in a corner and falling asleep) almost as much as children do?
• Amusement! This almost makes me want to post my “Men on Bikes” send-up of Will Smith’s Men in Black again.

Quote of the Day
: “She’s got more cleavage than I have asscrack!”

Namaste.

Thursday
Four down… one to go.
Work wasn’t too bad today. Fairly quiet, in fact.

After work, , and I went to Sampan for dinner and then on to Spydr’s to watch the Pioneer Day fireworks display. Spydr’s back yard had a great view of the show.

Song of the Day
Lakeside Park by Rush, from “Caress of Steel”

Stray Toasters

• Spam (Part I): I got to work this morning and found an email for a site called Date911. It advertises “The Hottest Casual Sex Encounters.” I laughed. Then it went into the Trash Folder.
• Spam (Part II): I’ve been getting email (at home) from… *shrug*… I don’t know whom. Different names on the “From:” line. These emails have files attached to them: .exe, .pif, .scr and files. *sigh* A couple of years ago, I learned the hard way about “problem” files that people send. These days, I have a “Quarantine” folder into which these unsolicited little gems are deposited. It makes life simple.
• Having personal problems? Air them out on a gaming forum. You’ll feel better.
• DirectX Flaw Leaves Windows Vulnerable… from Slashdot. If you use Windows, you might want to take a look at this one.
• Hungry? On the road? Take a look at this.
• First, RIAA issued subpoenas for music swappers. Now, they are subpoenaing their parents.
• Flash mobs. “What’s a flash mob,” you ask? Voila.

Off to The Dreaming…

Namaste.

Wednesday
Day Two of “Damage Control.” It went well. The people whom I contacted yesterday seemed to be rather understanding of our problems. *whew* I still have a few more people to contact, but I’m a lot less stressed than I was 24 hours ago.

After work, I met up with a few friends for an impromptu coffee night – it was the right night (this week was a beer week, though); but most of our group went to see They Might Be Giants perform. Tonight’s conversation ranged from comics to Lakota rituals to meeting Mark Hamill. After that, we headed to Applebee’s for dinner. As the hostess seemed to be in a bit of a mood, we weren’t able to sit in Vivi’s section. *BAH* She came over to visit us, though. And had the entire table laughing.

Song of the Day
Les Poissons from The Little Mermaid Original Soundtrack

Stray Toasters

• I was chatting with a friend from back home and he told me that a student of his went into a local sports card store and asked if they sold Magic: the Gathering cards. The owner of the shop went into the back and returned with an unopened box of Alpha cards. (For those of you who don’t grok that: First edition and first printing of the game.) The owner had bought them when the game first came out… but they didn’t sell, so he just put them in his back stock. He sold them to the kid for twenty ($20) dollars! The kid and/or his father put the cards up for auction on eBay. As of the last price that I could find (Sept. 2000), an unopened box was worth $2800.
• RIAA’s got subpoenas…. TechTV’s got the names. Are you one of them?
• VH1’s 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. The complete list is about 2/3 of the way down the page.
• Sacre bleu!
• Digitized Gutenberg Bible Available
• Microsoft… losing a patent battle? Seems so. Check it out.
• Hmmm. I’m a little disturbed/irritated. I just saw an ad from Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It showed roughly 20 goldfish swimming in a water-purifying jug – like a Brita jug that you’d fill with tap water to purify. The tap was open and water was draining out of the jug. As you can expect, the fish were trying to swim in an ever-decreasing amount of water. When it got to the level of the spout, it stopped draining…. but there was only about 2-3 inches of water in the jug. As you can imagine, the fish were more-or-less on top of each other just trying to survive. There was a voiceover about using inhalants and how that destroys brain cells which are necessary for us to live. I don’t remember exactly how it went, but that was the gist of it. Somehow, I think that they could have found a better way to get the point across.
• A new Cheech & Chong movie? Yep.

Tomorrow is “Pioneer Day” here in the Land behind the Zion Curtain. Or, as calls it: “Mormon Christmas.” (I have to admit: That makes me laugh.) This is the day when (almost) everyone celebrates the Mormon pioneers coming to the Salt Lake Valley and Brigham Young saying “This is the place.” It’s a state holiday – some businesses will be closed, some will close early. This holiday gets more fanfare and hullabaloo than the Fourth of July here. Call me a “Colony snob” if you want – being from one of the original thirteen colonies/states – but I still don’t think that a state holiday should outshine the federal one. *shrug* Nevertheless, I’m going to watch the fireworks display tomorrow night. NEVER pass up an opportunity to see a good fireworks display.

And with that, bon soir.

Namaste.

*sigh*
It seems as though my domain host is having issues. Not good. It’s been about 3 hours since I called them to alert them to the problem – it wasn’t just my site that was affected, the main site was down, too. (It’s nice to be on personal terms with the head honcho.) The fact that he hasn’t called me back yet bodes ill.

And so, I wait.

UPDATE (18:45)
Apparently, their server ate something that it didn’t like and is now being moody… but they are working on it. All should be well again in fairly short order.