Random Access

Friday
Another week draws to a close.

I spent part of the afternoon waiting on Jess to get her flu shot (details here). She stood in line, I read and watched people in the parking lot. People are funny. After that, we stopped for a bite to eat and came home (details below).

Coffee was a another small affair this week. Perry and Max were there; stopped in to bring me a video card. I believe that there’s another PC in the offing… A new co-worker of and showed up a little later; he seems like a nice enough guy. Transplant from Seattle. I invited him to join us for 2-D Physics and breakfast tomorrow night. We’ll see if he survives the experience with his soul and psyche intact.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – The Chili Queens of San Antonio
Morning Edition – Car and Court Troubles
Day to Day – Flamin’ Betty’s Love for Speed

For the independent Hearing Voices radio project, producer Jim Kehoe profiles “Flamin’ Betty” Burkland, a 63-year-old grandmother who loves to race amazingly fast cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

KCPW’s Midday Edition had an excellent segment on “Transracial Adoption” this morning. The guest was Corrie Higley, a certified teacher with the Transracial Adoption Project. Unfortunately, the program is not archived.

Stray Toasters

• I stumbled across one of the two railroad spikes that I acquired on the Moab trip a few weeks ago; the other should still be in my camping backpack.
• Is it just me or do Cyclops and Havok have one of the most… oddly-contorted… family trees in all of comicdom?
• I’ve mentioned before that I like the covers to Ultra. This cover is no exception.
• : I was mistaken. The correct answer was: “Andrew. Hero Sandwich, Issues 2 – 4,” not “Issue 6” as I had previously stated.
• Little Ms. Presto just “bathed “my chin. Such a thoughtful kitten.
• A couple of years ago, Judd Winick took on the subject of gay-bashing in the “Hate Crime/Brothers Keeper” storyline of Green Lantern. Winick has since moved on from that title to Green Arrow; in Issue #43, he reveals Mia Dearden to be HIV positive.
  

  According to an article by the Associated Press, today’s “Green Arrow” #43 will reveal that Green Arrow’s sidekick Mia is struggling with a personal battle against HIV.

  In the comic coming out today, Mia, who’s been in the care of Green Arrow for two years, discovers that the time she spent prior on the streets as a prostitute resulted in her contracting the disease. Winick told the AP that he sees this storyline as a way to explore socially conscious themes, while giving the Mia character extra motivation to do good in the world.

  Winick may be known to some from his stint on MTV’s roommate reality-show, “The Real World” 1993, on which he appeared with Pedro Zamora, who died the next year after a public battle with AIDS. He authored the book Pedro & Me about his experiences on the show and the life of his friend.

• Who are your favorite authors voting for?

Quotes of the Day
showed me a link to this auction on eBidet. At the time, the bid was up to $18,400 (USD). I forwarded it to a few other people. The most amusing, and accurate, response came from :

BWAHAHAHA!@! some asshat is going to [pay] 18k to be a name on a disney tombstone.

: sup?
: Amazed at how some people manage to stay upright and not kill themselves doing the everyday things that most of us take for granted.
: Went to Wendy’s to get a bite to eat.
: Ordered: #1 Combo, with cheese, lettuce and tomato only.
: Biggie Size.
: Lemonade/Ice Tea mix to drink.
: I got…
: Burger w/ no cheese…
: And a lemonade.
: …
: (Didn’t catch the problem w/ the burger until we got home)
: So, I told Jess that my drink was wrong.
: She told the young lady at the window.
: …who took it…
: put it on the ledge…
: turned her back to do something…
: And someone ELSE walks up behind her…
: …and hands Jess the cup.
: THE SAME CUP.
: So… Jess told HER: “This drink is wrong.”
: *braincramp*
: She seemed a little… stunned.
: ..wow
: That’s just…
: Jess says: “This is supposed to be Lemonade AND Iced Tea, mixed.
: Wow
: *blink blink*
: *blink blink*
: “Fruit Punch?”
: fruit punch????????
: Jess: “No, Lemonade AND Iced Tea.”
: *blink blink*
: Then she hands it back to the first girl…
: …who, after a few moments, got it right.
: O_o
: All that effort..
: I hope it doesn’t hurt them to breathe

Namaste.

Thursday
Not too much to the day.

I was in a poker tournament last night. Out of 5781 entrants, I finished 570th. Top tenth of the total entrants. I can easily live with that.

One amusing highlight of today: One of the cats got into Jess’ yarn and decided to turn the living room into an interactive work of art. I have to give points for creativity. I just wish I knew which cat to give them to.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Stigma Fading from Community Colleges
Talk of the Nation – Planning Your Haunted Vacation
Day to Day – Science with Ira Flatow: New Theory on Hearing
Day to Day – Dub Reggae Ice Cream Truck
All Things Considered – Mandela’s Long-Lost Prison Notes to Be Released

Fresh Air – Interviews with Matt Stone and J.J. Abrams

BBC News – Mobile phone ‘ear tumors risk’

Stray Toasters

• Centaur – The four-wheeled Segway
• The Darwin Awards. Okay.
  The Darwin Awards… the movie? Umm…

• Od tireh, od tireh
  Kama tov yihiyeh

• By way of : Today’s Dork Tower is about LJ.
• From G4TechTV: Horrorfind.com – The Horror and Hallowe’en Search Engine
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
  (And, yes, I can spell this without having to look it up.)

• We’re often told that art imitates life. Today, I came across an interesting… crossover, if not outright reversal of that adage. I was looking up some in formation on Nichelle Nichols, best known as Lt. Uhura on Star Trek: TOS and came across this rather interesting bit of trivia:
  

  During the late 1970s until 1987(?), Nichelle Nichols was employed by NASA and was in charge of astronaut recruits and hopefuls. Most of the recruits that she launched were minority candidates of different races and/or ethnicities, as well as gender, like Guion Bluford (the first African American male astronaut), Sally Ride (the first female astronaut), Judith Resnick (one of the original female astronauts recruited by NASA, who perished during the launch of the Challenger on January 28, 1986), and Ronald McNair (another victim of the Challenger disaster). She lived in Houston, Texas during her years as a Johnson Space Center employee.

• By way of : Icon Story
• “Steve, what are you doing?”
  “Summoning Cthulu.”
  

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Middle of the week and all is well.

I was working online this morning and got tired. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t go to bed until nearly 4:00 this morning. Naaaaah, that couldn’t be it. So, around noon, I decided to take a short nap. Forty-five minutes of inner eyelid studying bliss. The twins even came upstairs and napped next to me. All-in-all, this was a great idea.

Two hours later, I woke up.

I woke up after the original forty-five minutes… long enough to shut off the alarm and stretch back out. I woke up a couple of other times because of some odd dreams. I don’t remember the content, but I remember being disturbed by them at the time.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty run-of the mill.

Traffic from 22nd West to 27th West between 45th South and 54th South is of the devil. And the Devil is bad… What should take five minutes, at most, took me nearly twenty this evening. And someone at Fuckin’ UDoT needs to get the hint that the intersection of 22nd West and 45th South needs turn signals for north-south traffic. Ass-ninjas.

Jess, and I went to ‘s house to watch the third debate. And eat pizza. And drink beer. Ah, tasty malt beverage… It wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be, but there wasn’t a lot of new ground covered. I was very impressed with some of the off-the-cuff questions that Bob Schieffer asked the candidates, though. There were a couple of good zingers that seemed to catch them off-guard. I liked that. After the debate, introduced us to the home version of DDR. She’s good. Very good.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Viva Las VFW Hall
Talk of the Nation – iPod Radio Owners Create Pirate Stations
All Things Considered – Musicians In Their Own Words: Hillary Hahn
Talk of the Nation – Celebrating New York’s Subway in Film and Song

Stray Toasters

• My new Lego® catalog arrived today…
• I’m craving a snack, but not sure what yet. Possibly ice cream. Although popcorn wouldn’t be bad, either. Or gummy worms.
• brought this gem of human interaction to my attention. Opinions are a good thing. Usually. Differences of opinions can be good, as well. This is basically a train wreck.
• Wombat doom.
• Today’s vocabulary word comes from : Whacktarts.
• She’s the younger sister of Basil Flint, P.I.… and she’s a secret agent.
  

• Gleaned from Usenet:
  

  Subject: Top 10 Least Successful Legionnaires (pre V4)
  From: Jim Davis
  Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh

  10. Bouncing Boy
  Reason: Power too weak for Legion, silliness factor. Consigned to supporting role very early on. Returned to lineup a few times but never for very long.

  Revival Prospects: Fairly low as Legionnaire but a well liked supporting character.

  9. Supergirl
  Reason: Superboy. For whatever reason Supergirl could only flourish in the absence of Superboy. Interestingly, this same dynamic applied in V4. Laurel Gand/Andromeda worked as long as there was no Mon-El/Valor/M’onel around.

  Revival Prospects: High as long as there is no male counterpart to overshadow her.

  8. Quislet
  Reason: Non-humanoid. Non-Humanoid characters are very difficult to do well as human readers have a tough time identifying with them. Gates is the only really successful non-humanoid Legionnaire. The “small spaceship” appearance was also a minus.

  Revival Prospects: Fair. Perhaps in a Wildfire type containment suit to avoid the disadvantages of a non-humanoid appearance.

  7. Blok
  Reason: Non-humanoid. Bland personality.

  Revival Prospects: Poor. Subsequent writers have not seen fit to try. Works better as a villain.

  6. White Witch
  Reason: Magic characters are difficult to do well because it’s difficult to portray their powers consistently. Bland personality.

  Revival Prospects: Fair. Needs a writer who can handle magic well.

  5. Tellus
  Reason: Non-humanoid. Was also handicapped by being Saturn Girl’s replacement. Bland personality.

  Revival Prospects: Very Low. Saturn Girl is the Legion’s “mental” member; no one else need apply.

  4. Magnetic Kid
  Reason: Cosmic Boy. The original is almost invariably preferred to the substitute. Magno in the reboot had the same issue.

  Revival Prospects: Poor. Returned briefly as a Darkseid henchman in V4’s “Quiet Darkness” but that was it.

  3. Matter-Eater Lad
  Reason: Weak and silly power. Bland personality.

  Revival Prospects: I would have bet heavily against it but it has been done quite successfully due in large part to a major personality infusion. I think he works better as a supporting character though.

  2. Chemical King
  Reason: Only his creator, Shooter, understood exactly what his power was. No subsequent writer did. He also joined the Legion at a time when the membership was at its greatest (26) and when it was about to head into the back pages of Action and a couple of years of oblivion. Never really had a shot to establish himself.

  Revival Prospects: Fairly high but no one seems to want to. I’m hoping that he might be the unidentified 20th Legionnaire in Waid’s reboot.

  1. Tyroc
  Reason: Ill-defined power. Anachronistic. We all know this story.

  Revival Prospects: Poor. I was astonished when TMK tried it but then I was astonished at a lot of the things TMK tried.

• “How do you eat a guy with no teeth?”
  “Pretty much the same way you eat a guy who does have teeth, I guess.”
  

Quote of the Day

: You can graduate from high school with your thumb up your ass and your eyes poked out.

Namaste.

Tuesday
A Java app ate my post. Not only did Java eat the post, it locked and rebooted my system. Which is how I lost the post.

No, really! It’s true! Besides, I don’t have a dog that could have eaten it. And while the kittens like to play on my desk, they were nowhere near here when it went *pfft* So, I can’t blame them.

So, here is the 12″ extended remix version:

I think that today’s “highlight” was spending time in three home improvement stores. The excursions weren’t as glorious or adventurous as they could/should have been. I went with a purpose. A mission. And a notebook and pencil.

I went… in search of toilets.

The toilet in the hall bathroom has a nasty crack that leaks. (There’s a really bad joke in there somewhere, but since this has the potential to cause some horrible water damage to the floor and garage ceiling, I’ll skip it.) As such, we’ve stopped using that toilet. I was scouting Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sutherlands for a new fixture for the water closet.

I wasn’t surprised to find sets (tank and bowl) that start around $50 USD. Sticker shock set in when I saw ones upwards of $200, though. I know that a toilet is a valuable piece of plumbing equipment in the modern home, but does one really need to spend that much for something that your ass gets the most use out of? Yes, they’re great for those impromptu “library moments,” but come on…

(NOTE: I was going to put a toilet-related song lyric here… and the only things that I found (immediately) were two songs from Animaniacs. And that made me laugh.)

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Heart Association Calls for More Obesity Education
Morning Edition – Bob Dylan: A Conversation
Talk of the Nation – Minors and the Death Penalty
Talk of the Nation – Police Searches
All Things Considered – Derrida, Philosophy and Lessons from France
All Things Considered – Elvis Costello: Country to Classical

CNN – Pharmacist says he feared ‘spiritual pain’

Stray Toasters

• I found a copy of ST:TNG Drinking Game rules on my hard drive. I thought that I had lost them when I lost the (12+ year old) facsimile of them that I had.
• I’ve long said that I hate the stupid things that people do. Since I stumbled across , however, I have learned to appreciate their follies for the comedic value that they provide.
• JLU will air rebroadcasts until 04 December.
• R2EB
• Shirley Bassey.
• Season Three of the Blood Gulch Chronicles is available…
  

• Today was the second time in (roughly) a week that someone has mentioned Conway Twitty.
• : That 70s Legion – Violet, LSH Girls 1 and Leviathan
• I wasn’t aware until a few days ago that Diedrich Bader (whom I severely disliked in The Beverly Hillbillies debacle, but like on The Drew Carey Show) was the voice of Zeta in the Batman Beyond spin-off show: The Zeta Project.
• “Answer: Andrew. In Hero Sandwich, Issue 6.”
• Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie
• and I agree that this kid (1, 2) makes a cute Beast Boy from the Teen Titans cartoon.
• From Gotham Public Works comes…
  • Something for
  • …something for
  • …and two somethings (1, 2) for
• Here’s an amusing use for IMDb: Go to the Trivia Searcher, enter your hometown (or a nearby larger city) or state and see what odd bits of data are there.

As usual, if any of your IM force is caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.

Namaste.

Monday
Today was a good day… and not just because it was Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving, either.

Kate, Max and Perry came over and hung out this afternoon and evening. Kate and Jess… did whatever they did while Perry and I talked games and comics. Then, I introduced him to the electronic joy known as HALO. He liked it.

After a couple of hours of Covenant extermination, we cooked out: Burgers, brats and chicken. I also came to a realization this afternoon: If you must have an “occasion” to cook out, you lead a far too mundane existence. Shortly after we’d finished eating, and came over for poker. We never got around to playing any cards; Jess, Nyx and Kate (and eventually ) hung out upstairs while Nox, Perry and I continued getting our multiplayer geek on.

Then Nyx and I tried a couple of music and video combinations. Among the more amusing combos:

• RATM’s Renegades of Funk with Outkast’s The Way You Move video
• Taco’s Putting on the Ritz with Queen’s I’m Going Slightly Mad video
• Tupac’s Changes also with the Putting on the Ritz video

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Misdirected Murder Plot
Day to Day – French Lessons Keep Singer’s Legacy Alive

That was the tagline from one of my all-time favorite movies: Superman. It propelled an unknown actor named Christopher Reeve into international stardom. And, in the summer of 1978, I did believe that a man could fly.

He returned to the nation’s eye in 1995 when he was paralyzed after being thrown from his horse in an equestrian competition. He became a proponent of new research for paralysis research, including stem cell research. He was a firm believer that a breakthrough would be found and that he would someday walk again. He and his wife, Dana, opened the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center, U.S.’s first center devoted to teaching paralyzed people to live more independently, in May 2002.

More recently, Reeve was added to the cast of Smallville as Dr. Virgil Swann, a scientist with knowledge of Krypton… and Clark Kent’s ties to it. He was supposed to appear in more episodes this season, along with his Superman co-stars Annette O’Toole and new cast addition Margot Kidder.

I just found heard that Christopher Reeve died (1, 2). He fell into a coma on Saturday after going into cardiac arrest; he passed away Sunday.

Christopher Reeve made us believe that a man can fly.
More importantly, he showed us that a man can inspire.

Rest in peace.

Football

Baltimore at Washington 17 – 10 The Ravens played sixty minutes of hard scrabble defensive football tonight. The Ravens went into halftime down 0 – 10. It looked pretty bleak. There were three back to back to back interceptions for the Ravens; although, Ravens QB wasn’t responsible for the first pick. Jamal Lewis couldn’t find a run lane. And the passing game? Non-existent. The second half, however… That was a totally different story. Ed Reed forced a fumble by ‘Skins QB Mark Brunell. B.J. Sams ran back a punt for a touchdown. And Jamal Lewis found holes in the Washington Defense; in fact, he rushed for 116 yards… more than the Redskins’ combined yardage. But the bottom line: It was a win.

Stray Toasters

• Jess and I were enjoying a leisurely loop of the city on I-215 when Copacabana came on the radio. I wasn’t driving, so I chair-danced madly while singing along. I’m sure that other drivers/riders must have been amused by my antics. But, I don’t care… it was fun.
• I like Jaguar’s new “7 Sins” commercial for the XJ8.
• For the first time in a while, Jess and I went to the mall. I had forgotten how amusing mall patrons can be. And that does not even include the Hot Dog on a Stick lemonade-making antics.
• Sean Howard, the creator of A Modest Destiny and The Starship Destiny had a few interesting points about Star Trek: TOS in his latest blog.
• I held a copy of both X-Men Legends and Fable in my hands this afternoon. I think that one of them might be my birthday present to myself.
• Perry and Max are coming over tomorrow to play.
• By way of Slashdot: Scientists Define Murphy’s Law
• Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
  Walla walla, bing bang

• I cooked bratwursts and burgers on the grill (again) today. I’m sure that our neighbors must wonder why it is that I cook out so much. *shrug* Let ’em wonder.
• “Why are you talking stupid?”
  

• If you get The Travel Channel, check out Vegas Revealed. It’s an interesting and informative show.

Namaste.

Saturday
I muddled through a wave of domesticity today. We’ve had the new entertainment center for a couple of weeks, but haven’t done anything to rearrange furniture around it. Until today. There wasn’t much to do, but I did it. And I like the way that it makes the room flow.

I unpacked the three boxes of CDs today, too. For the time being, the CDs are being housed in the wire cubes that weren’t getting much use. That’s a stopgap measure, but my CD collection is fairly easily accessible again. And, in the aftermath of that exercise, the HCC is in need of a good straightening. Again. As always.

I also watched the boys in Black and Gold take it to the house on Penn State. They won. And, it was the first time, since 1945, that Purdue has beaten Penn in on Penn’s home field!

Stray Toasters

• Bowling: 128 – 153 – 149 – 126 – 158
  I wasn’t on my “A” game, but I was more-or-less satisfied with the way I bowled.

• Bill makes me laugh. Even when he’s not “drunker’n twenty-eight Indians.”
• : I shared the joys of The Escapist with tonight. He liked it. And, according to an article on Comics Continuum, there will be a new Escapist book out in January.
• hindu muslim catholic creation evolutionist
• Drinking Gatorade + coughing = A big mess.
• Wombats and counterweights. *twitch*

Namaste.

Friday
Blessed Madonna (the Holy Mother, not the converted Kabbalist music star)… I found the Installation CD for my video card! Hallelujah! It was, of all places, in a box with my music CDs in the bathroom. Well, the proto-bathroom. It is a box – one of three – that I haven’t unpacked. Obviously. I happened to check them on a whim. Lo and behold… it was in the third box.

Coffee was a small affair tonight: , , and me. We sat around and talked about our varying degrees of acrophobia… which made for a much more interesting (and amusing) conversation that it would seem.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition – Serious Pumpkin Smashing
Morning Edition – Texas Men Executed Despite Evidence Find
Talk of the Nation – The Future of Private Space Travel
Day to Day – Collecting and Archiving All 50 State Songs
All Things Considered – Colo. Dispute over Organ Donor Brain Death
Fresh Air – Singer and Songwriter Tom Waits

Stray Toasters

• As if no one could tell, I’m a long-time Legion of Super-Heroes fan. Yeah, I know. BIG surprise there… I was looking over an LSH newsgroup on Usenet and found an came across a post asking if anyone knew of a website that had a list of the Legion Rules. Someone responded with a list of their own; numbers 3 – 6 even include a nod to Jim Croce. and I might be the only ones who get a laugh out of them, but here they are anyway…
  

  Never eat at a restaurant called “Moms”

  Never play cards with a man called “Doc”

  Don’t you tug on Superboys cape

  Don’t spit into the wind

  Don’t pull the mask off the old Green Lantern

  And you don’t mess around with Gim

  Try not to kill anyone

  Try not to have the same powers as anyone else on the team, or at least
  havea novel use for aan existing one… Unless you’re Kryptonian, in which
  case, come on in!

  Don’t stand around on the plains of Korbal with a super conducting stick in
  your hand unless you’re absolutely sure you mean to.

  REALLY try not to kill anyone

  If you’re wearing less than Mike Grell’s Cosmic Boy costume, pray that you
  aren’t susceptible to colds, or are at least stunningly good looking (This
  applies to both genders)

  Don’t make “One on, one off, one in the wash” jokes to Triad, she’s heard
  them all before…

  Don’t make “Pull my Starfinger” jokes to Garth, he doesn’t think they’re
  funny.

  Don’t leave giant roach motels near Gates room again, not after the…
  unpleasantness that night he got blitzed on Silverale and went through the
  wrong door.

  Ultra Boy isn’t as thick as he pretends to be, or he might be, and is just
  pretending he isn’t… or he might be REALLY smart and, knowing that you’d
  think he wasn’t, is pretending that he is… Oh frell it, just shoot Glorith
  on sight…

  When someone whose codename is “Reflecto” says “Don’t shoot me”, for the
  love of Nass LISTEN to him…

  The risk of ice powers going out of control is instantly more dangerous than
  say, fire powers going out of control.. or gravity suddenly increasing a
  hundredfold.

  When Mordru says “Do you like the hat?” just nod.

  When the girl who keeps announcing that “My powers is creating illusions”,
  suddenly seems to be surrounded by giant monsters that weren’t there a
  moment ago, act like you haven’t worked out they’re not real… she’s
  sensitive to these things…

  Don’t step on Shrinking Voilet

  
  By the way, , you might want to check this out.

• Gummy Worms 2: Electric Boogaloo
• If you were a child of 70s Saturday morning cartoons (or even Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law) you might get a kick out of this.
• Go Toora Loora Toora Loo-Rye-Aye
• Glacier Freeze Gatorade Frost. (Or, “Smurf Juice,” as I have come to call it.)
• Rumors speak of a possible new Supergirl movie; hopefully, it won’t be as dreadful as the 1984 Supergirl, starring Helen Slater.
• I don’t recall what I was doing when I came across this, but it amused me.
• Stan Lee + Hugh Hefner + MTV = Hef’s Superbunnies
  I’m wondering if this is a “spinoff” of the Hef toon that was on Atom Films…

• and I are rifling through our mp3 collections and seeing who has the most ridiculous music. I pity the people on IRC watching this…
• From an ad in Newtype, an anime magazine, for Najica:
  

  She’s Sexy.
  She’s Deadly.
  She Smells Really Nice.

• : The Big O 2

Namaste.

Thursday
‘Nine is back up and running. Thanks to for the suggestion on the driver CD. *sigh* It looks like ATI wants me to pony up $10 for a new CD for the DVD Decoder. Ass-ninjas.

Otherwise, it’s been a decent day. I let Sissy, Presto and Lightning out in the back yard this morning. The most amusing thing: Lightning was stalking Sissy… while Presto was stalking him.

Tonight, , and I watched CSI and Without a Trace. AIM and TV are our “interactive media.” It might be a bit geeky, but it’s fun.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: Exploring America’s “National Identity”
Morning Edition: South Park Creators Jab Hollywood, Terror War
Talk of the Nation: How Americans View Immigrants
Day to Day: Re-Creating the 60s Sound for Percy Sledge
Fresh Air: Excerpts from a panel discussion with Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather (I know that it sounds rather dry, but it was rather interesting.)

Stray Toasters

• I don’t know what I meant to tape, but I apparently taped an episode of 60 Minutes. Odd. But, on the plus side, there’s an interview with Jimmy Buffett on it. There’s a part of me that would would like to attend one of his concerts; I think that it would be incredibly fun.
• I recently found the track listing for the first music CD that I made, called “Overtures of Addiction”. That CD’s been AWOL for a couple of years and I’ve been wanting to recreate it.
  
  Suite 1: “Temptation”
  • Crack City – Tin Machine
  • New Jack Theme – Living Colour
  • Temptation Waits – Garbage

  Suite 2: “Denial”

  • Not an Addict – K’s Choice
  • I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me) – Marilyn Manson
  • Not My Idea – Garbage

  Suite 3: “Suite d’Addiction”

  • (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do – Filter and The Crystal Method
  • TNT for the Brain – Enigma
  • The Perfect Drug – Nine Inch Nails

  Suite 4: “Recovery”

  • Long Hard Road out of Hell – Marilyn Manson and Sneaker Pimps
  • Dead Man Walking – David Bowie
  • No Control – David Bowie

• : Take a look at this.
• Come join the Warner brothers and the Warner sister, Dot.
  Just for fun, we run around the Warner Movie lot.
  They lock us in the tower, whenever we get caught…
  But we break loose and then vamoose
  And now you know the plot!

• By way of Slashdot: World Cyber Games
• By way of Backwash: A Mean Trick: When Homecoming Elections Turn Cruel
• “Ellellator go down the hoooooole.”
• No-Sew Hallowe’en Costumes
• : Catwoman: When In Rome
• And, on the subject of Catwoman, Gwyneth Paltrow had a few things to say about the Catwoman movie:
  

  While out promoting her own version of a big-budget action film, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow the new mum told MSNBC that she could have been the lead kitty but turned down the role and opted for the more adventurous Jude Law vehicle, saying “…if (the film) was going to fail, it was going to fail, but I wanted to take that risk and not be in a standard Hollywood adventure. After seeing Catwoman, I thought the character and movie were unoriginal.”

• Elektra movie poster
• Given the last item in this post, by , I think that he and might have a common interest in the oddities of the human body.
• “I was going to mail the hammer back, but I think I’ll send him Windows ME instead.”
  

• Free subscription to Computer Games Magazine.

Quote of the Day
By way of an Animaniacs episode that I found on a tape. A tape that had a commercial for The Three Musketeers (the one with Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland) and Addams Family Values. Yeah… from 1993. Ô_õ

Survey Ladies: Would you like to take a survey?
Wakko: Okay.
Survey Lady #1: Do you eat beans?
Survey Ladies #2: Would you like to see a new movie starring George Wendt?
Survey Lady #1: Do you eat beans with George Wendt?
Survey Ladies: Would you like to see George Wendt eating beans in a movie?
Survey Lady #1: Do you eat beans at George Wendt movies?
Survey Ladies: Would you like to see George Wendt in a bean-eating movie?
Survey Lady #1: How many beans do you eat at George Wendt bean-eating movies?
Survey Ladies #2: How many bean-eating movies have you seen with George Wendt?
Dot: Umm… it’s not that we wouldn’t like to take your survey….
Yakko: Uhhhhh… It’s more like we’d rather have dental surgery.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Rebuild Day 2 of God-only-knows-how-many…

Do you remember the Death Star in Return of the Jedi? It looked half-built, but was actually fully functional? That’s what DS9 (my Windows PC) is like now; it works and just about everything is ready for reinstallation. Except, I’m still having an issue with the drivers for my video card. Specifically, the card is about two years old (give or take), I have two ATI CDs here and either could be the one that I need and the ATI site isn’t being forthcoming about which package to get for my card. Whoop-de-fuck. I’ll get it figured out, but it’s a bit irritating. At least the rest of the system seems to be functioning properly.

To unwind somewhat – and to keep me from punting computer parts all over the HCC – I took some time to watch a little Wednesday night television and some things that I had taped over the past couple of weeks. That kept my head from going all splodey. And that’s a good thing. Included in this were the season premiere of Smallville, the last episodes of Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: Clone Wars and three of the four previously unreleased episodes of Samurai Jack. A few things I noted:

• This season of Smallville should prove interesting. As Warner Bros. and DC have decided to tie the series into the Superman mythology, I’m curious to see how they retcon things to make them fit.
• “Episode L” of Samurai Jack was film noir-inspired. I like that.
• “Episode LI” reminded me of Disney’s The Lion King, in many ways.
• “Episode LII” had a “Lone Wolf and Cub” feel to it.
• I forget which episode it was, but one of the Clone Wars shorts reminds us just how bad a man Jedi Master Mace Windu is. One man alone against a droid army? No problem. Against a devastating warship? He’s got that covered, too. And, he even had time to share a smile with a young boy who saw the battle from a distant hilltop.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: Don Flavin’s Fantastic Lights
Day to Day: Two Hip-Hop Documentaries from Russell Simmons

Stray Toasters

• I called Dad for his birthday. All’s well there. He, my stepmother, Rana and John went out for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Downtown. At Harborplace. In the Pratt Street Pavilion. *sigh* Just a few, short steps from Philip’s, in the Light Street Pavilion.
• Dennis Farina is on Law & Order now, having replaced Jerry Orbach. I like him; he’s been a favorite actor of mine since I became aware of him on NBC’s Crime Story in the early 80s.
• Static Shock is getting new life on Cartoon Network. That’s pretty cool.
• For a reason I have yet to determine (casting a sidelong glance at ), for the past few days, I have had Smashmouth’s Padrino running through my head when I wake up. It’s even more peculiar since I haven’t heard that song in a couple of years.
• “You’re like some kind of giant black hole that only sucks out joy…”
  

• Counterweights.
• I had a “Star Wars meets Pink Floyd” moment while watching the Clone Wars episode in which the young boy watches Mace Windu fight the Imperial droids. He hears a rumbling in the distance before running off to see what it is. For some reason, “A Delicate Sound of Thunder” came to mind. My next thought was “The sound of war is as the distant sound of thunder over the hills.”
• I don’t see what all the kvetching about the new web interface for entries is all about. It’s not that bad. Hell, I don’t think it’s bad at all. Granted, I usually post using a client, but this isn’t unreasonable.
• It seems as though there will be a few changes to the Legion lineup when “The Legion of Super-Heroes” reboots – this will be the 6th such reboot for this series; it’s had more reinventions than Madonna’s image. One of the changes: Thom Kallor (Star Boy) will be African-American. I’m not sure if this is being done to add a little more diversity to the mix, as was the case with adding John Stewart to Justice League Unlimited, but I look forward to seeing how he’s handled.
• Gummy worms!
• : I believe you mentioned that you have Battlefield 1942, don’t you? Check these out when you get a chance:
  http://www.galactic-conquest.net
  http://www.bfpirates.com (Yes, a pirate mod.)
  http://www.bf1982.com
  http://www.wl2042.com (That’s an “L”… and this is a “Mad Max” mod.)

• Gizmo has gone to the most vile and wretched time period in all the history of time.”
  

Quote of the Day
Jess got a subscription to Entertainment Weekly. I was thumbing through the October 8th issue and came across the follow:

Obviously, it’s not nice to shoot people.”
Former Long Island Lolita, Amy Fisher, discussing her crime on The Oprah Winfrey Show

I… really don’t have anything else to add to that. Well, maybe “No shit.” *shrug* Maybe was onto something when she said that we should stop mollycoddling the stupid and the weak and let a little social Darwinism come into play.

And with that… good night.

Namaste.

Tuesday
We almost lost a cat this morning.

Sissy was batting at things/knocking things off of the shelf above the sink in the bathroom. Repeatedly. I was pretty sure that Jess was going to turn Sissy into a wall hanging. The Counting Crows and the Aristocats said that everyone wants to be a cat. Not me, not this morning. No way. And, in a surprising bit of common sense, the twins steered clear of Jess this morning (until she had her coffee) too.

And, before any more of them slip by: Happy Birthday to:

• (Belated. Sorry about that!)
• …and me.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: Libraries See Renovated Reading Rooms and Coffee Bars
Talk of the Nation: Census Shows Shifting Demographics
All Things Considered: Bill Would Drop Native-Born Presidential Rule
All Things Considered: Library of Congress Seeks Digital Preserves
The Tavis Smiley Show: A Chat with Sax Player Maceo Parker
Fresh Air: Interview with ‘Gourmet Magazine’ Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl

USA Today: Urban Greenway: An alternate route from Maine to Florida
USA Today: N.C. woman sells naughty Barbie dolls
USA Today: Theater showing ‘Anacondas’ hunts for movie-going snake

Stray Toasters

• Rest in Peace, Rodney Dangerfield. May you find the respect in the next world that you found so elusive in this one.
• + Winamp + music videos = Copious amounts of laughter.
• A different take on Snow White…
• The new Burger King commercials… the one with the guy who wakes up to find Burger King in bed next to him…. Yeah. That one. The mask/head of Burger King looks like the actor who portrayed the character in the early/mid 70s. (How many of you remember those commercials?)
• : That 70s Legion: Invisible Kid
• The X-Prize competition may become an annual event.
• Rumours of a Wolverine solo movie starring… Hugh Jackman? Could be…
• Whoa… Tiny Toons and Animaniacs on Nicktoons?! Nice!
• *groove*
  *boogie*
  *sway*

• By way of Slashdot: Anheuser-Busch has developed caffeinated beer
• posted the following quote in his journal:
  

  “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert Heinlein

  I’ve done 13 of those.

• The new Citi credit card commercials – with the people enacting calls to automated voice systems – amuse me.

I should probably install some more drivers and apps. *sigh*

Namaste.

Monday
Jess and I had a lazy day today. The pre-game and poker highlight was heading to Kate and Perry’s for a bit. Oh… and getting Justice League: Starcrossed in the mail! Hoo-AH!

Poker was good. We started late, because of the football game… but we played. Tonight’s top three were:

3. Me.

Monday Night Football

Kansas City at Baltimore
27 – 24
The Ravens lost, but they played well – their second half performance was better than the first half, though. The Chiefs simply outplayed them in a lot of key areas. I can’t be too upset with the loss because the game was close despite the fact that the Chiefs controlled the ball for three-quarters of the game. And they still only won by three points. The loss hurts, but it was a good game.

Stray Toasters

• I mailed birthday cards to my father this afternoon. And, Im going to open up the Second Annual “Wish My Father a ‘Happy Birthday'” commenting. If you’d like to send well-wishes to my paternal progenitor for his birthday, leave a comment here; I’ll pass them along when I talk with him on Wednesday.
• Voodoo Zombie Pandas… from Space!!!
• + Pixy Stix® = amusement.
  Add Animaniacs songs, shake well, serve at room temperature.

• also brought goodies from India in the form of postcards (one is somewhere in transit) and a copy of Wonder Woman #6 (India edition, in English) by John Byrne. I’m not sure, but I think that it is a reprint of the series from when Byrne took over around Issue #100 (American printing). Nox knew just the things to bring back. *nod* Very cool.
• ::: This space intentionally left blank :::
• We caught the video for The Devil Went Down to Georgia on VH1 Classic this afternoon. It was spliced together footage from various concerts. And it was seriously up-tempo. But, it’s still a fun song.

This post has been brought to you by the letters “V” and “Q” and the number “6”

Namaste.

Sunday
Today has been the penultimate lazy day.

I haven’t left the house all day. (Stepping outside to empty the trash doesn’t count as “leaving the house,” although it does cover the “Yes, I went outside” angle.) I watched football and reformatted DS9. Finally. After many “good intentions” to do so. The road to Hell… and all that. Of course, I spent the better part of a few hours looking for a verdammt 98 boot disk. Apparently, all of my disks and CDs had not been unpacked and/or brought in here, as I had thought. I got Win2K installed. Now, I just need to track down drivers and re-install software.

As I mentioned, last night was… something. Bowling was good; I bowled eight games and had a high of 185 (my last game, go figure). Five of us headed to breakfast and all was quiet. A few people showed up a little later – among them, and the recently-returned-from-India , who looked rather dapper in a shirt that he picked up on the far side of the world. And things were still quiet. Around 1:30 AM, things got interesting: A customer on the other side of the restaurant grabbed one of the waitresses, in a suggestive and rather untoward manner. He is in his late 30s/early 40s; she’s 17. Needless to say, she was more than a little freaked out by it. Something good that came out of it: Pat and Brent (both police officers and one who works part-time as a security guard for the mall of which the Village Inn is part) were at our table when it happened. They went to check out what happened when a patron from the other side of the restaurant came to our table asking for help. People applauded as they escorted the “gentleman” out of the restaurant.

Football Update

New York (Jets) at Miami
17 – 9
I didn’t watch this game. Looking at the score, I’m glad that I didn’t. The Dolphins have dropped to 0-4. Not good. Who would have thought that they would effectively fall apart like this with the sudden retirement of Ricky Williams?

Atlanta at Carolina
27 – 10
Atlanta rolled into Charlotte… and all over the Panthers. For a while, it looked as though the Panthers had a bit of the good fight left in them. Then, the Falcon s put the final nails in the coffins. They say that cats have nine lives. That’s a good thing. At this rate, Carolina is going to need them. This does not look like the team that went to the Super Bowl last year. *sigh*

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati
30 – 13
I watched this game with the hopes that Marvin Lewis’ team could tear down the Steel Curtain. Apparently, they couldn’t. and I talked last week about the lack of experience that Bengals’ QB Carson Daly Palmer has. It’s his second year in the league, but he’s still effectively a rookie – he was a bench-warmer last season. He threw a couple of ill-timed and ill-fated picks. The Steelers capitalized on all of the Bengals’ mistakes and move to 3-1… which makes them the AFC North Division leaders. That will not do. Hopefully, the Ravens will be able to join them after tomorrow’s game.

Washington at Cleveland
13 – 17
Congrats, . I guess that the sun really does shine on a dog’s ass, too. Kidding. (Mostly.) The Browns 2.0 served up a little somethin’ to the Deadskins. And I’m happy with any team that can do that to the Capitol Beltway boys. Even if it’s the Browns.

St. Louis at San Francisco
24 – 14
Did anyone besides and me see the 40 of Whoop Ass that the Rams shook up and opened on the Niners? Not pretty. The Rams held them scoreless through three quarters. Even more impressive: The Rams didn’t score in the second half. And still won by ten.

Kansas City at Baltimore
Monday at 9:00 PM (ET)
The Chiefs roll into Charm City for what is becoming an NFL rivalry match-up. Priest Holmes, the Chiefs’ star running back, was a Raven during their Super Bowl season (2000-2001). Dante Hall is the back who made the Ravens’ defensive special teams look like they were non-existent last year. But, the Chiefs are having problems this year; they are 0-3, thus far. This isn’t to say that they can’t perform, they just haven’t shown it thus far. We’ll see how this one turns out.

Stray Toasters

• Who has homemade chocolate chip cookies? I do. Mm-hmm, that’s right! Why? Because I have the coolest girlfriend in the world. And she made a batch for me.
• The twins are knocked out – and sprawled across each other – on the futon.
• When reformatting your hard drive, don’t forget to transfer your browser’s bookmarks to another partition/drive before you reformat. I didn’t, but they hadn’t changed much since the last time that I put a copy on another partition. Fortunately.
• I had bratwursts, cooked on the grill, yesterday. For no other reason than they were there and I had the time to do it. And they were good. Very good.
• What’s the point of playing in a poker tournament if you’re just going to sit out for at least the first hour? Just to advance in the rankings? If you’re not sure enough of your poker-playing skills to actually play – and hopefully advance rightfully – then why waste the time to even register? I don’t get it.
• Die Hard with a Vengeance was on yesterday. I remember seeing that in the theatre.
• “Jacknuts.” When “jackass” isn’t quite strong enough, but “fucknut” is a little over-the-top.
• I treated myself to a few episodes of Justice League Unlimited this afternoon. They were on a videotape (unlabeled) that I had lying near the VCR. Pleasant surprise. Now, I need to go back and watch the season premiere of Smallville and “The Cat and the Bat,” Saturday’s episode of The Batman. I’ll do that tomorrow while I’m installing applications on DS9.
• : Another from the “That 70’s Legion” series – Karate Kid
• I’ve been craving cotton candy again.
• West is not east. Unless you go REAAAAAALLY far west.
• I still think that The Remedy by Abandoned Pools is a good song.

It’s MUCH past the time that I had planned to be in bed. But, I managed to find a driver that I needed for my video card… although I’m not sure that it’s the exact one that I wanted. However, any further modifications can wait until tomorrow.

Namaste.

Saturday
The early part of the day was relatively uneventful.
The later part of the day was not.

Purdue beat Notre Dame, 41- 16.
In South Bend.
For the first time (at Notre Dame) since 1974.
Go Boilers!

I’m tired. Any further musings on the day will have to wait until after I get some sleep.

Namaste.

Friday
And the end of the week was good. Selah.

I mowed the jungle yard today. It’s been at least two weeks since I did that. I still contend that people have offspring not so much to continue the family name as to do the damnable yard work.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: ‘Hidden Kitchens’ Calling
Morning Edition: Award-Winning Comb Over
All Things Considered: Unreal Travel Destination: Molvania (Learn more here)
All Things Considered: Famed Photographer Richard Avedon, 81, Dies
Fresh Air: Steve Martin and James Earl Jones interviews

Various Sources: After two months of searching, the body of the late Lori Hacking was found today in the Salt Lake County landfill. Her husband has been in custody since shortly after her disappearance.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been looking at various sites’ galleries from Dragon*Con 2004 and Anime Weekend Atlanta 2004. Some of these costumes are incredible. And some are… um… well… “not-so-incredible.” But you have to give credit for the time and effort that (most) people put into them.
• forwarded the following to me:
  http://www.deviantart.com/print/60080/
  http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11051039/

• : Click here. (Hint: Shadowcat bust… with Lockheed)
• Did anyone ever watch Moonlighting? You know, Tuesday nights on ABC… back in the 80s… Bruce Willis… Cybill Shepard… Yeah. That show. Well, we’ve seen Bruce in some good (and some really crappy) movies since then. Cybill’s been in a few TV shows and movies… and, I think, a show or two on stage. But what happened?!?
• It’s an aquarium.
  It’s a toilet.
  It’s…. Oh, Hell…. you figure it out.

• Someone has apparently stuck quarters in the twins. *sigh*

Quote of the Day
While at Borders, I looked at a few new comic books. Among them was a copy of DC Comics’ Outsiders, issue #14. I found a couple of passages amusing:

*following a fight with The Frightful Five*
Thunder: Does being… being a superhero… always involve… this much… puking?
Jade: Depends. When I was with Infinity Inc, I never stopped throwing up.
Arsenal: Classy broads, that what you guys are.

…and…

*The Frightful Five meet with their benefactor, Dr. Sivana*
Psimon: Lex Luthor had a facility near Joshua Tree. I know you know this. We should take it.
Dr. Sivana: No.
Psimon: Okay. I was being polite. We are taking it. We spoke at great length amongst ourselves and as much as we appreciate the little things you’ve done–
Dr. Sivana: Like freeing you from incarceration, like the roof over your heads, like breathing life into the dead siblings in the group? The “little things,” Psimon?
Psimon: My dear doctor, I have only allowed this to go on as far as it has because, well, you managed to block my psychic and telepathic abilities–
Dr. Sivana: Just of you use them on me.
Psimon: Yes, just if I use them on you, yes. But now that we’re all gathered up, and have set aside our differences…
Dr. Sivana: You’d like to spread your wings without the old man?
Psimon:Pretty much, yes.
Dr. Sivana: *activates a laser and kills Gizmo*
Frightful Five: *stunned silence*
Dr. Sivana: Look, it’s “The Fearsome Four.” Want to go for “The Threatening Three?” Did you think it would be that easy? You think I didn’t see this coming? THIS is why you constantly fail. This is why you keep getting caught. Jailed. Stripped of your powers. This is why you keep killing each other.
Shimmer: Because, what? We’re evil…?
Dr. Sivana: No. Because you’re schmucks. You see a good thing and you can’t just stick with it. Even for a little while. Schmucks.

And with that… it’s time to call it a night.

Namaste.