Random Access

Saturday
One costume.
Two parties.
Lots of fun.

More details after the sun’s up.

If you went out and partied this evening, I hope that you had a good time, as well.

Namaste.

Friday
Today featured an afternoon of running around taking care of a few errands and a couple of less-than-totally-successful shopping expeditions.

Jess had to work overtime tonight. And she gets to do it again tomorning. Starting at 6 AM.

Coffee was a small affair tonight. But fun, nonetheless.

News
Morning Edition – Nuclear Plants Get Stricter Security Standards
Morning Edition – Fashion Trend or Heresy?
All Things Considered – Hungary Hit by Paprika Ban
All Things Considered – Alabama State Constitution Language Disputed

BBC News – US Elections Map

CBC – Internet Turns 35 Today

The Register – ATMs Susceptible to Windows Viruses

Stray Toasters

• I tried field-testing my idea for my ring. I think that the Edsel was more successful. So, I’m going to look for a green LED ring at Spencer’s or similar store. On the other hand: My. Costume. Kicks. Ass. Jess has done one helluva job on it. The lantern insignia goes on tomorrow.
• By way of Slashdot: XBox Owner Sues Microsoft
• Richard Belzer. Gen. Wesley Clark. Kevin Costner. On Real Time with Bill Maher. Feisty!
• ‘Witch’ Pardons Come Centuries Too Late
• Star Trek: TOS “Requiem for Methuselah” is on. *doubles over laughing*
• “Lupine Americans.”
  …and…
  “President Bush, or as our Native American friends call him: ‘Dances Around the Facts’…”
  Bill Maher amuses me.

I’m tired and feeling a little achy. That’s most likely a good sign that I should call it a night.

Namaste.

Thursday
Another rainy day behind the Zion Curtain.

The evening ended with in the company of and over coffee and dessert. We went to the V.I. that’s more or less halfway between our places. The Clone was there; I said hello. Nyx and I came up with new song/video combinations:

Song	Video
Wicked Game (Chris Isaak)	Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson)
More Human than Human (White Zombie)	Tonight, Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins)
Rick James – Jude	It’s My Life (No Doubt)
Where It’s At – Beck	Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
Chunga’s Revenge (Gotan Project)	Sober (Tool)

Stray Toasters

• Jess worked on my costume this evening. It looks BADASS. And I think that I have solved 80 – 85% of my ring conundrum. Now I just need to get gloves and wire them up.
• I (finally) saw the video for Eminem’s Mosh on GNN. Wow. I know that he has a reputation for being “angry,” but this was more like “angry with a message” for the people and to our governmental higher-ups. I liked it.
• I caught up with a friend with whom I haven’t chatted in a few months.
• I emailed another friend, who is having a tough time with some things. I hope that some of the things that I said can be helpful to her.
• I’ve been giving a pretty serious listen to Alex Lifeson’s Victor lately. It’s pretty far from his work with Rush and it’s good.

  Bonus trivia: March of the High Guard, the season one main title theme for Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, was composed and performed by Alex, as well.

• Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers, Birds of Prey) was on tonight’s episode of CSI. She played the hostess of a swingers’ party… where an attendee wound up dead. They’ve been dealing with “mature” themes on CSI over the past couple of seasons (swingers tonight, furries last season). One can only guess what they’ll take on next.
• Furby Assassin vs. Zero-G Hamster
• Congratulations to on the new additions to her family unit.
• By way of ThinkGeek: Beverage Containment Device
• Presto is lying on my desk. Well, mostly on the desk. Her head is currently resting on my left wrist.
• “We have a situation.”
  

Namaste.

Wednesday
Another day in the valley comes to a close.

It wasn’t necessarily a “quiet, uneventful” day. There was some unpleasantness to deal with, but I handled it. And I am satisfied with its resolution.

The day closed on a good note, with company of friends, coffee and good conversation.

It seems to me
As well make our own few circles ’round the block
We’ve lost our senses
For the higher-level static of talk

News
Talk of the Nation – Birth of the Comic Book (Neal Conan is a comics fan.)
All Things Considered – Ancient, Tiny Humans Shed New Light on Evolution
All Things Considered – New Banking Rule Reduces Float Time on Checks

USA Today – Taiwan’s rowdy lawmakers stage food fight
USA Today – Buddhist monks fall for beer girls (Two monks walk into a bar…)

Stray Toasters

• This “card” from and literally made me laugh out loud.
• I came across this by way of a friend’s post. Wow.
• The Bosox beat the Cards! Four game sweep! So much for the “Curse of the Bambino.”
• Interview with The Beastie Boys
• Dremel, Dremel, Dremel…
  I made it out of clay pumpkin…

• : “Propane. Meat. Beer.” I think that you know where I’m going with this.
• “Am I the President yet?”
  

• Break the mold
  Break your back
  Break the promise you made
  Leave the safety
  Leave this life
  Leave before it’s too late
  Seek the world now
  Don’t look back
  Make your promise today

• An oldie, but a goodie: The 10 most disturbing trends in Hollywood
• What causes the smell after rain?

Namaste.

Tuesday
On this day in 1970…

• “Doonesbury” comic strip debuts in 28 newspapers
• Tanzania begins building railway Lusaka-Drone ash Salaam

…and I was born.

Today was a good day. I didn’t do much and that was exactly how I had intended to spend the day. I slept in. Late. Very late. I got calls from the family unit (including the three members of my sibko) and Jess’ Mom; everyone seems to be doing well. While talking with my stepmother, she asked what if I was dressing up for Hallowe’en and, if so, as whom or what? I told her: “Green Lantern.” She knew who I was talking about. More or less. I told her that had changed him a bit and that he was now bald and had a goatee, which made him the perfect choice for me; her response: “He has a goatee? That doesn’t sound like the Green Lantern that I remember.” I clarified and explained that this was the replacement for Hal Jordan, the GL she remembered. But, I was floored by the fact that she got it… especially since neither of my sisters did; you could almost hear the “nod and smile” through the phone when I told them.

The evening was capped off with dinner at Outback with Jess, Nyx and Nox. Prime Rib. Cheese Fries. Foster’s (Australian for “beer”).

Also, I’d like to extend a hearty “Thank you,” to all of you who extended well-wishes for the day. And, a special thanks goes out to . I don’t know how he got in so good with Mother Nature, but last night I asked him to put in a good word to her so that I could have a snow-free day… and damned if it wasn’t bone dry all day.

News
Morning Edition – Debating the Electoral College
Morning Edition – Calif. Could Mandate DNA Samples from Felons
Talk of the Nation – A Look at Celluloid Vampires
Day to Day – The Color of Money: 40-Year Home Mortgages

BBC News – French gay TV channel comes out

The New York Times – Three Amazing Things Your Automobile Can’t Do

Stray Toasters

• As any good DC Comics and/or Justice League Unlimited fan knows: The source of a Green Lantern’s power is his ring. Without it, he (or she) is just another schmo running around in a black-and-green outfit.

  I don’t have a ring.

  The costume is coming along nicely, but I don’t have a ring. Perry has a ring, but I don’t. On one hand (no pun intended), I wanted a ring like his. On the other, I wanted something a little different. Different is good. I’ve been toying with a couple of ideas over the past few weeks and tonight, I came up with “different.”

  My “ring” will be a small circuit containing LEDs. Yep. My “ring” will actually glow! Hoo-AH! I figured it out with both AC and DC power sources. I need to get a couple of 9V batteries and plugs. I also need to figure out how to attach it to a glove and hide the wiring in the right arm bracer.

• I posted a link to this picture of Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm (The Thing) from the upcoming Fantastic Four movie on IRC this afternoon. These are the responses I got:
  

  [16:10] *KorUpted* that’s a cool costume
  [16:14] *Crunchyy* costume?
  [16:14] *Crunchyy* I thought Chiklis just needed lotion

• From Wired: Home PCs Plagued with Problems
• Apple will soon be rolling out the iPod Photo, which “will be able to hold 25,000 photos as well as your traditional iPod functionality.”
• Megatokyo is becoming onerous to read. I’m *this close* to dropping it from my daily webcomic reading.
• By way of Slashdot: Hypo-Allergenic Cats Now Available for Pre-Order
• Will That 70’s Show‘s Topher Grace be the next Jimmy Olsen…?
• : Legion: The Movie
• : There’s Rob Liefeld-bashing in the last paragraph!

Namaste.

Monday
*urk* I did not sleep well last night. It took a while for me to finally drift off… and I kept waking up at random intervals. “A good night’s sleep?” Not last night.

This morning, I woke up to snow. Whoop-de-fuck. As of this month, I’ve been in Utah for six years. You would think that I’d be used to “early snow” by now. I am. But, that still doesn’t supercede 28 years of “snow doesn’t show up until late November, IF you get snow before January.” Welcome to the beginning of Utah’s eight months of winter.

and I went to Jitterbug Coffee Hop for coffee and drawing time. We walked in a few seconds behind a couple of kids (a brother and sister) who had just gotten out of school. We went to put our bags down near the sofa and the little boy looked at us (with that “Uh-oh… I’m in trouble” look that kids get when you’ve caught them with their hands in the cookie jar) and said: “We aren’t going to get anything. My sister had to use the bathroom.” Nyx and I were amused and stunned. So, I looked at the boy and asked him,”You’re not going to buy anything?” He looked at me and said, “No,” as his sister came out of the restroom and they collected their things and exited the shop. It was quite cute… and very unexpected.

Jess, Nyx and I went to Chili’s for dinner. We then swung by to pick up and came home for Poker Night. Jess won, Nyx and I tied for second, Nox and tied for fourth.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Transgender Politics
Day to Day – Xeni Tech: Broadband Electrical Outlets
All Things Considered – Radio Islam, a First, in Chicago
All Things Considered – War, Protests and the Election: Kent State

Stray Toasters

• Reason #48356582 of “Why I Love …
  This morning, she posted the URL to this. I watched the “Album Edit” and then the “Radio Edit.” Both versions made me laugh. Quite a bit. Then, like some viral infection, I passed the URL on to the IRC masses. And now, to you…

• Toonami has returned Rurouni Kenshin to the Saturday night lineup. God bless ’em!
• Typhoid Mary will be a villain in the upcoming Elektra movie.
• I just caught the Ashlee Simpson SNL flub on Access Hollywood. Color me amused.
• I finally checked out what FreeCycle is all about. After browsing a bit, I joined. If you aren’t already part of it, you should check it out.
• “Oh that? It’s my new alignment ability: Fowl Language.”
  

Quote of the Day

: “We’re so good at forgiving and forgetting… except when it makes us laugh.”

Tuesday Morning: 34 begins.

Namaste.

Sunday
Last night’s scores: 140/166 – 130 – 133 – 137/134 – 112/120 (8) – 158/156

I slept in a bit this morning. I missed the first :20 or so of the Bills-Ravens game. But that’s all right. The sleep was good. And neither Sissy nor the twins were nuisances about climbing on the bed. Otherwise, today was fairly laid back. We picked up propane, but I didn’t cook out; I hadn’t counted on having a supreme case of laziness settle upon me. Instead, we had dinner at Cafe Med with Mary, Matt, , and .

Football

Buffalo at Baltimore 6 – 20 The Ravens played a good defensive game… but the offense and special teams did some good work, too. Neon Deion Sanders ran back an interception for a touchdown. And he followed it up with a pick in the end zone. those were two of four consecutive turnovers by the Bills.

St. Louis at Miami 14 – 31 The 0 – 5 Dolphins hosted the Rams…and WON! Pinch me.

San Diego at Carolina 17 – 6 The boys from Sandy Eggo went into Bank of America Stadium and beat down the Cats.

Stray Toasters

• I caught Kris online this afternoon. She’s… “still trying to get into the swing” of law school.
• Zero-G Kitty – I don’t know if this qualifies as “animal cruelty” (I don’t think so, though)… but it does qualify as “funny.”
• Check yesterday’s entry for the “Best Jeopardy! Moment Ever.”
• SeeTouchThink
• Sussudio: #24 “Most Awesomely Bad Song Ever”
  … and …
  Limp Bizkit’s Rollin’ made #4. One of the critics referred to it this way: “It’s like the Hokey Pokey, but for metal fans.”

• Whole Pop Magazine
• It seems as though the DVD-ROM in DS9 has gone the way of all things flesh mechanical. I still have my old CD-ROM drive in there, so it’s not a major problem. And, if I really need it, I still have the DVD-ROM in Enterprise that could be moved over.
• I am Jack’s raging bile duct.
• To the chagrin of many of his fans, Joss Whedon will neither write nor direct the third movie in the X-Men franchise.
• Stone Soup Magazine
• Something for your favorite sports fan: WhatIfSports
• FOUND Magazine

Namaste.

Saturday
Garbage had a song on their first CD entitled Only Happy When It Rains. If the local weather is any indication, they would have been ecstatic this week. Today was no exception. It wasn’t a pouring rain, but slow, steady light rain/drizzle for the better part of the day. To me, it was a very *blah* day. I couldn’t really find the motivation to do much more than nap. Which I did. With gusto.

Bowling and breakfast were decent. I think that my high was 165. I’ll find the score and verify that later.

Stray Toasters

• Leave it to Megas XLR to turn something as simple as returning a video rental into a knock-down, drag-out “Metal Massacre: the Rematch!” And they even had Bruce Campbell (yeah… that Bruce Campbell) reprising his role as Magnanimous. (And they even had a Mr. T-inspired giant robot called “T-Bot.”)
• HeroMachine The free version might not have all of the bells and whistles of the full version, but it still makes for an amusing time killer. Or simple method for devising character pictures.
• I shocked a couple of the workers at Borders Friday night when one of them asked if I was taking off and I replied: “Yep. I’m off like a prom dress after midnight.”
• Nothing said could change the fact.
  My trust was blind. You broke the pact.
  If God’s my witness, God must be blind.

  Choke on guilt that’s far too good for you.
  Say one word, I’ll laugh and bury you
  And leave you in the place where you left me.

• I have a chocolate cream pie from Marie Callender’s. It’s tasty.
• Rain, sun, Hell or high water, I want to cook out tomorrow. It just goes so well with Sunday afternoon football. But, I need propane. Damn you, Hank Hill!
• By way of Backwash: Best Jeopardy! Moment Ever (Having listened to it, I’m inclined to agree!)

I’m tapped.

Namaste.

Friday
As in “Thank God It’s…”
All-in-all, it’s been a pretty quiet, low-key day.

Coffee tonight was small: Jess, , and me. I worked on a couple of small sketches. Must continue to practice…

NPR and Other News
All Things Considered – Playing a ‘Genius’: Jamie Foxx Takes on Ray Charles
All Things Considered – Jill Sobule: ‘Underdog Victorious’ and One-Hit Fame
All Things Considered – George Bodarky: Yoga for Dogs
Stray Toasters

• For some reason, I have a song from The Electric Company running through my head. I can even picture the video that went with it. That’s gotta be a bad sign, especially since that show hasn’t been on the air in close to 30 years. *checks IMDb* Yep. The show ran from 1971-1977.
  

  See Sam.
  See Sam sit.
  See Sam sit in the sun.
  See Sam sit in the sun sipping soda.

• Something for
• Mulan II ?!? *sigh* You know, I remember a time when movies were made for the sake of making movies. Not for the sake of milking a property for all that it’s worth. Or it’s perceived worth. Yes, I will make exceptions for some franchises, but generally speaking, if you have a movie that has closure by the time “The End” appears on the screen… let it lie. Put it to bed. Be happy and move on to your next movie.

  That said, George Takei, best known as Lt./Cmdr./Capt. Hikaru Sulu from Star Trek: TOS and its spinoff movies was part of an interactive chat, sponsored by USA Today. In it, he talked about his involvement with Star Trek and in the upcoming Mulan II.

• Hey, … More Rob Liefeld work! Torso!
• No matter what you call it, a zit (or pimple or blemish) is not fun.
  One on your nose is even less fun.
  One just inside your nostril is not fun and painfully irritating.

• Something for
• 
• This is Brandon Routh, the latest actor who will portray Clark Kent/Superman in the upcoming feature film.
• By way of Slashdot: Game Publishers: Stop Overpromising!
• Crossword puzzles.

Quote of the Day
Greg Raymer, 2004 World Series of Poker champ, is profiled in this week’s Sports Illustrated “Q+A” section. I didn’t know that he is (or was, at this point) a patent lawyer.

SI:What’s it like to realize that you’ve won $5 million?
Raymer: I’m not sure the five million part sank in at first. Weeks later, I was looking at a picture where they have me holding up, like, $100,000 in each hand. That was when it really hit me. I was holding more than my annual salary including benefits, and yet there wasn’t even a noticeable dent in the stack.”

Namaste.

Thursday
Today’s word – or more accurately “acronym” – of the day is: BTU.

It stands for “British Thermal Unit.” Its definition, according to Whatis.com is:

A British thermal unit (BTU) is a standard unit of energy that is used in the United States and sometimes in the U.K. It represents the amount of thermal energy necessary to raise the temperature of one pound of pure liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit at the temperature at which water has its greatest density (39 degrees Fahrenheit).

The BTU is often used as a quantitative specification for the energy-producing or energy-transferring capability of heating and cooling systems such as furnaces, ovens, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

You may not really care about BTUs or what they mean, but I just turned on the furnace. Took the coverplates off. Lit the pilot. And then…

Unless I’m mistaken, this marks the first time that I’ve had to light a furnace. I’ve always had a parental unit or apartment complex maintenance person to deal with it before. But, that’s not the point. The point is: The house is now warm and toasty! And, with snow on the mountains and a possibility of snow here in the valley tonight, a warm and toasty house is a good thing.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Net Connects Cross-Atlantic Hip-Hop Duo
Talk of the Nation – U.K. Letters Aim to Influence Undecided Ohio Voters
All Things Considered – Tight Rules May Create Imbalanced Flu Vaccine Supply
Fresh Air – President Carter Tries Hand at Fiction

USA Today – Rabbits run Louisiana man out of his house

Stray Toasters

• More Toblerone white chocolate goodness. This time, with Kool-Aid.
• Cunning Stunt
• Brandon Routh has been cast as Clark Kent in Bryan Singer’s Superman.
• John Romita, Jr. is a talented comic book artist. His style, however, just doesn’t do much for me.
• These made me laugh. “Latter Day Sentiments” garments. *cracks up*
• Little-Known Feline Personality Disorders
• Who did put the “bop” in the “Bop she bop she bop?”
• I dream of (a totally different) Jeannie…
  
  She’s coming back in 2005. There goes the Marvel Universe. Again.

• “I don’t remember the X-Prize requiring you to have five large plasma cannons on the spacecraft.”
• R.O.D. the TV is a curious anime.
• From Cnet: Car crazy: Microsoft in the driver’s seat

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Midweek.

I don’t typically have many issues with the credit union that I use here, but today… well, there was an issue.

I made a transaction Monday afternoon. Today, I checked to be sure that everything went through properly. They didn’t. I was a little torqued. I called to find out what happened. The agent told me that the department that handled the transaction did not receive a fax from whatever branch I went to. I retorted with the fact that I didn’t go to a branch, I called the Service Center directly.

There was a slight pause followed by an “…oh.”
Yeah. “Oh.”
*braincramp*

I explained what I needed done. She wasn’t sure about some of the stipulations that I stated and said that she would have her supervisor call me back. A few minutes later, I got a call… from the agent. She had spoken with her supervisor and had gotten the authorization for the items that I had stated. And, so far, everything seems to be all right.

I miss Bank of America.

::: fast forward :::

Neither nor and I could get together today for some pencil and paper time. I spent a couple of hours at Borders and did a little drawing. It was fun. There was a couple at the next table who are apparently remodeling rooms in their house. They talked about what finishes they should use and what they should do about flooring.

Poll of the Day

Stray Toasters

• I have a Toblerone white chocolate bar. AND a mug of hot tea.
  Jealousy may now ensue.

• Cray Pas Oil Pastels Wonderful Colorful World Contest
• Dolly Parton is this month’s FreeView on DirecTV. There’s a part of me that wants to watch this just to see whether or not it’s a trainwreck. Also, while I’m not generally a fan of country music, she has been a performer to whom I can listen without wanting to go on a psychotic rampage.
• Digicam Closeups
• I just saw a commercial for Trivial Pursuit SNL DVD Edition.
  Do we really need an entire edition of Trivial Pursuit devoted to Saturday Night Live? I used to be a big fan of the show, but isn’t this a bit much?

• The Dairy Lama
• Superhero + elder god = Superhero Chthulu
• Apple’s new U2 iPod
• Just what the Hell is (or was) “sussudio?”
• David Duchovny is hosting The Late Late Show tonight. O_o ?!
• On a crawl of Action Figure.com, I came across a link that led me to this, a figure from the Taiko Drum animation!

Quote of the Day
Tonight, NBC aired last season’s finale of The West Wing before showing this season’s premiere. (Why can’t more networks do things like this?!) Last season, Josh Lyman’s aide, Donna Moss, was injured in an attack in the Middle East. Josh flew to see her in the hospital. While there, Donna received a floral bouquet with a note; the note was an “invitation” for Josh to meet an agent of a foreign government. Josh called Kate Harper, Deputy National Security Advisor to confer with her about the meeting:

Donna: Is it dangerous?
Josh: No, it’s a diplomatic meet. It’s not dangerous. *pause* Donna wants to know if it’s dangerous….
Kate: You flew Lufthansa, you’ve been wandering the streets by yourself… If someone wanted you dead, you’d be dead already.
Josh: That’s not very reassuring.

Namaste.

Tuesday
One week.
Next Tuesday, I turn 34.
I must find something appropriately anti-34 to do for my birthday. Like Nickelcade.

I forgot to mention something in last night’s post: There’s snow on the mountains. I still find it amusing that it snows “so early” here.

On the radio this morning, one of the DJs had a call from (or to…) a friend of his in Detroit. The friend set up the following scenario: He was sitting at the bar in a nearly-empty pub (2 or 3 other people there, plenty of other seats available) when someone sits down in a stool next to him. It’s a woman. She proceeds to buy him a beer and chats him up a bit. As she leaves, she gives him her business card and tells him that he should call her.

So far, so good.

The radio station call was to help him decide whether or not he should tell his significant other.

In light of this, I thought that I’d do a little poll:

Stray Toasters

• The cats have been playing tag through the house. High-speed. Up and down the stairs. Pounce on each other. Tag.
• I have a VERY low threshold/tolerance for drama.
• I watched Comedy Central’s Wanda Does It for the first time tonight. It started with her cursing an airline pilot out… and the rest of the show was her taking flight classes. I think that I laughed through almost the entire show.
• GetUpMove.com – DDR as an exercise/weight-loss method
• I thought that this was a great pic of Carol Danvers, the Avenger known as Warbird:
  

• The latest word on the forthcoming Superman movie seems to indicate that Bryan Singer is going not only ignore the Superman III and Superman IV (thank God), but that he is going to make it a continuation from Superman II. In fact, there’s talk that Terence Stamp will reprise his role as General Zod. More information here.
• Looking at this picture made me decide which icon to use for tonight’s post.
• “What the hell are you doing?”
  “I’m in Pon Farr?”
  

• Does anyone remember EA’s Skate or Die or its follow up, Ski or Die?
• By way of : Get hip to chav as this year’s wizard word
  Word of the year for 1970: “hypermarket” O_o

• Late night TV can be… interesting, to say the least. Fortunately, there are other things to watch besides infomercials. Here are a couple of things that have stood out tonight:
  • Last Call with Carson Daly: Tom Green used to be an MC. And he can freestyle rap. Pretty damned well, too.
  • Last Call with Carson Daly: Maria Menounos’ laugh sounds like Fran Drescher trying to imitate dolphin chirping.
  • Oprah Winfrey (Yeah, yeah, yeah… that Oprah. Shut up. I used to watch her over 25 years ago when she used to do the news in Baltimore): Jamie Foxx is on. They’re talking about his portrayal of the late Ray Charles in the upcoming movie Ray.
  • By the way…. and , Sue Johanson will be on Last Call Wednesday night. Just letting you know since you seemed to enjoy her show so much the other night.
• For those of you who took the poll above, here’s a little more information about the guy’s dilemma. These factoids came up a bit later in the segment:
  • He’s married.
  • He had taken his son to hockey practice…. but left to get a bite to eat.
  • I think that the woman knew that he was married.

  Now, with these added facts, do you think that he should tell his wife?

And with that…

Namaste.

Monday
Today was errand day. We got a few things accomplished. We also stopped at an arts and crafts store… to find out that they are closing all of their locations. Everything in the store is 20% off; we stocked up on Christmas wrapping supplies.

I stuffed a “pillow” in the swamp cooler vent. I need to get on the roof and put the cover on the cooler and whatnot. I also need to measure the vent to see how large a piece of wood/Plexiglass I’m going to need for the seal that I’m putting up there.

, and came over for poker… but tonight wound up being a kick back, watch TV and shoot the marsupial bull night. I may have scarred and by forcing them to watch a few minutes of Sunday Night Sex Show with Sue Johansen. The looks on their faces: priceless.

Stray Toasters

• Stikfas! (Check out the “Stikfans” gallery, too.)
  I wonder if you could make Baron Karza’s centaur form from Stikfas…?

• I’m going to write an updated version of the Dr. Seuss book, The Northbound Lomax and the Southbound Lomax.

  Mine will be: The Eastbound Wombat and the Westbound Speeding Mack Truck. I think that it has the potential to sell as many copies as my forthcoming book: Can You Stop a Semi with a Teflon-coated Cat?

• Purify your soul with the goodness of gingerbread and lactose!
• By way of : Breakdancing
• …and since she posted a link to Wikipedia’s Random Page, I’ll post a link to MetaCrawler’s Metaspy. “Ever wonder what the rest of the world is searching for?” You can find out there.
• “I like it when they run…”
  

• : For you, Harley and Ivy
• I’m not sure which bemuses me more: The fact that there’s a live-action Dragonball Z movie in the works… or the fact that Asia Carrera was offered a role in it. She is pregnant and has apparently declined the role. (Hint: Neither the fact that she’s pregnant nor that she refused are why I find that odd, though.)
• By now, almost everyone has seen the JibJab Bush-Kerry animation, This Land. Nyx just forwarded me a link to Presidential Horror Show. I’m not sure whether to laugh or claw my eyes out. But, I’m leaning towards “laugh.”
• Hmm… Apocalypse vs. Darkseid. Who would win?
• Usenet. ‘Nuff said.
• Do I need any other reasons to love Nyx? No. But, if I did, this and this would be good ones.

Quote of the Day

: Swimming…. Floating….

The power of Chthulu compels you!
The power of Chthulu compels you!
The power of Chthulu compels you!

Namaste.

Sunday
I slept in until sometime around noon. Which was almost two hours later than I had planned on getting up. I obviously needed the rest.

Today was a cool and mostly cloudy day behind the Zion Curtain. That didn’t stop me from cooking out. Kate, Max, Perry and came over. Bratwurst, burgers, chicken legs and steak. At one point, it started to… not quite drizzle. It was more like sporadic droplets. I moved the grill under the cover of the garage and cooked on!

Max “played” Halo with us on Monday when Perry and I were playing. He came in today and asked to play “that shooting game.” So, I played a split-screen game with him for a bit. Let me rephrase that: I ran around/stood around while he shot at me. And, I even taught him how to pistol-whip. 🙂 Ah, impressionable three-year-olds.

Perry and I went up to hang out with the ladies for a bit. Max came up a few minutes later to ask me to play Halo with him. I came down and played a little longer. And then I remembered two very important things:

1. Max is a huge Spider-Man fan.
2. I have the Spider-Man: the Movie game.

I started him at the beginning of the game; I figured that swinging around would occupy him for a while. And it did. But he kept wanting to find/fight the Green Goblin. So, I looked up a code to unlock a screen with the Goblin on it. That worked for a while, too. Then he decided that he wanted to play Batman: Vengeance. That held up for a while, too. From there, it was on to X-Men: Next Dimension; he played as Wolverine. He actually did pretty well. Perry came down later and played a bit.

After we finished getting our game on, we watched Baseketball with the ladies.

I didn’t even turn on a football game until part of the way through the Saints-Vikings game. It’s amazing how blasè a Ravens bye week makes me about the rest of the games. BUT… I will say “Congratulations” to (and “Commiserations” to ) for the Cleveland/Cincinnati game. The Browns…. who knew?!

Stray Toasters

• Every so often, I read the online edition of Baltimore’s independent weekly: The City Paper. This week’s issue has a column called: It’s Cold and Flu Season; I decided to take a look at it to see what sage words of advice it would impart. The article was good, but when I hit the first line of the second paragraph… I cracked up. I love my hometown. And, its free weekly, too! Amen.
• : I tied for that Qs and 8s hand…. and won the next hand with Qs and 2s. And there was lots more pre-flop dick-waving, too.
• Wombats. Nine Hells.
• 92 vehicles. 17 separate accidents. 11 miles of I-95. No fatalities. That’s just another day on the job for the Maryland State Police.
• and : Coming in January…
• I’m not a fan of the Steelers. But, after seeing what rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger has done in the past few weeks, I have to give him credit for a job well done. I can’t imagine that Bill Cowher would even consider bringing Tommy Maddox back to the starting QB position after he comes off the IR list.
• By way of Slashdot: Halloween Webcam
• Also from Slashdot: Satellite smashes Chinese house
• GizmoDuck!
• My icon for online poker is the Cyborg icon that I once used on here. During a game this afternoon, someone asked me if I was partly non-humanoid. I told them “I have secondary optical enhancers… but most people refer to them as ‘contact lenses.'” He seemed to be amused by that answer.
• 

Namaste.

Saturday
Going to bed at 5:00 AM was a trend that I thought that I had pretty much moved away from. Apparently not. To balance things out, I didn’t get out of bed until 12:30. That was something of an effort, though – one of the cats decided that playing with the blinds in one of the other bedrooms was not only a great theory, it was a great way to pass time. Fortunately, the novelty wore off in fairly short order and I was able to return to The Dreaming without much ado. I remember that I had a couple of odd dreams, but I don’t recall any details.

The highlight of the day, so far, is that I have mowed the jungle that is our backyard. Okay… it was not quite that bad, but it had been close to two weeks since it had been mowed. And the difficulty that I had cutting the slope on the eastern edge of the yard has strengthened my resolve to level the entire yard.

::: fast forward :::

Bowling was good: 146 – 144 – 155 – 148 – 141 – 197 – 127 – 172.

We had a rotating group for breakfast; this was good as we were sitting in a corner booth. At one point, one of “The Singles” got up and juggled 15-18″ long knives. For no apparent reason. Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die point and laugh.

Some idiotstick did a half-assed job parking his van at V.I. It was horribly crooked. So crooked, in fact, that he was between 3″ and 6″ from hitting Jess’ car – closer towards the rear bumper, further towards the driver’s side door. When he came over to look at it (and move it), he kept saying: “I didn’t know it was that close…” I didn’t smell anything on his breath, but he had to be under the influence of something.

On the way out of the South Towne Mall parking lot, we passed a Chevy TrailBlazer. It was parked in the mall exit. There was a man sitting in the driver’s seat with is head tilted all the way back and his mouth agape. and I could not tell if he was sleeping… or worse. She flipped around on 106th and came back to the V.I. lot; I got out of the car, asked Jess to come back for me, called mall security (knowing Brent, the on-duty officer, has its benefits) and ran back to the SUV. Brent pulled up as I was nearing the TrailBlazer. He went to the window and knocked. The driver woke up and explained that he had been very tired and decided to take a quick nap. But, in the exit?! Brent suggested that he pull back into the parking lot and out of the flow of traffic. The driver left the mall property. *shrug* I hope that he made it to his destination safely.

Stray Toasters

• I have gummy worms!
• Many of you have heard about Jon Stewart’s exchange with Tucker Carlson on CNN’s Crossfire. Some of you may have even read the transcript. Now, you can see it.
• From Slashdot: Wearable LCD Display
• “I like my bobbly bits…”
  

• Is it just me or does Cartoon Network’s The Venture Brothers seem like a cheap knock-off of Jonny Quest?
• I want to setup my train and monorail. Fairly soon.
• “Tony, you are seven shades of screwed up, do you know that?”
  

• By way of IRC: jessamyn.com

Quote of the Day
I’ve been going through/reorganizing some of my old comics and came across the following in Issue 35 of Young Justice. Red Tornado had called a meeting with the team and noted the addition of a couple of new members. Looking at Empress, he queries the rest of the team:

Red Tornado: And I see we have a new addition to the team. Was she subjected to a rigorous background check, an exacting series of standardized tests designed to measure her powers, and a sequence of personality interviews to determine her mental fitness?

Impulse: Nah. We just let her in.

Red Tornado: Oh, good. I was worried things had changed.

Namaste.