Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

Afternoon Dance Break

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<chair dance>
     Will Smith – Switch
     Outkast vs. Modjo – The Way You Move (remix)
</chair dance>

Work Music for a Wednesday Morning

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<groove>
     The Time – Jerk Out
     Rush – Leave That Thing Alone
     Living Colour – Glamour Boys
     Goldfrapp – Strict Machine
</groove>

How was your morning musical breakfast?

“A tired mind become a shape-shifter, Everybody need a soft filter, Everybody need reverse polarity.

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Tuesday : 14 February 2006
I didn’t sleep well last night, so getting up this morning was a bit onerous. But I did it. With the help of brew-before-you-go-to-work coffee. Once I got to work, I was alright. The day moved along nicely. Today’s workout was cut a little short, but it was a good one.

After work, however, the lack of sleep caught up to me… with a vengeance (but without Bruce Willis or Samuel L. Jackson). I sat down to watch a little television and was sound asleep within a few minutes. I woke up about two hours later. Having bid adieu to Morpheus and The Dreaming, I had dinner with ; we went to Z’Tejas. It was good; it had been a while since I had eaten there. I confused the waitress a bit when I ordered tea (“Earl Grey. Hot.”) with cream – she paused and blinked like she might have needed a reboot. She recovered, though.

Stray Toasters

  • I chatted with for a bit this afternoon. He and the sister-unit seem to be well.
  • Horizon to Horizon
    memory written on the wind
    Fading away, like an hourglass, grain by grain
    Swept away like voices in a hurricane
    In a vapor trail…

  • There’s a new release of the Semagic LJ client.
  • While looking at some messages on FreeCycle, I noticed that one poster, named Meagan, had an offer (for coupons from the Sunday paper *boggle*) and a request (for either a surround sound system or components of one). *blink blink* Maybe I missed something, but there seemed to be a big disparity between the two. I showed the posts to Eric, his response: “Meagan is a doofus, according to the official definition.” We looked up the definition, just to be sure. He was right.
  • See you cowgirl,
    Someday, somewhere!

  • Appreciation vs. Experience (according to )
  • : Click here and here .
  • Mirrormask is now out on DVD.
  • Despite ‘s insistence, I’m not paying for anyone’s therapy as a result of viewing this.

Quote of the Day
is going on vacation. I informed him that there is a LEGO store near where he will be. I also asked if he’d mind picking up a couple of items for me. It went a little something like this:

[14:09] : So. lego store?
[14:09] : Hrm.
[14:09] : Pirate keychain.
[14:09] : *nod*
[14:09] : Oh, and a Darth Vader keychain.
[14:09] : oh yeah. lego keychains. YES.
[14:09] : Please.
[14:11] : pirate and vader keychains. got it.
[14:11] : pirate vader keychain!
[14:11] : Thanks!
[14:11] : Ooooh!
[14:12] : I couldn’t really think of anything else… unless you can figure out a way to get that 6′ tall Vader figure out of the store without attracting too much attention.
[14:12] : Or the giraffe.
[14:12] : “Luke! I am being ye father! ARRRRR! Search yer feelings lad, ye be knowing it to be true!” hmm. wait. that kind of went scottish didn’t it?
[14:13] : heh
[14:13] : But, it got the point across.
[14:13] : aye.
[14:14] : great. now i be stuck in some bastard scottish pirate accent.
[14:15] : heh
[14:16] : and i could probably get the 6′ vader out of the store.. it’s getting it on to the plane that would be entertaining.
[14:16] : Bastard scottish pirate accent…. behind a respirator.
[14:16] : “This is not the LEGO statue you are looking for. We are free to go about our business. Move along.”
[14:18] : I find ye lack of alcoholic beverages disturbin’
[14:19] : I’m in Utah County… and you expected alcohol? You’re kidding, right!?
[14:19] : Wait.
[14:19] : Let me put this into perspective.
[14:19] : But utah county is a dry planet!
[14:19] : I’m in Utah County… and I’m Black…. and you expected alcohol? You’re kidding, right!?
[14:20] : You just want me dead.
[14:20] : This proves it.
[14:20] : i pretty much always expect alcohol these days.
[14:21] : pour yourself another drink! complete your training! become one with the piratey dark side!
[14:22] : Nooooo! You’re not my bartender/captain/father! I’ll never join you!

I’m tapped.

Namaste.

Tuesday Morning Video Break

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<groove>
     Gorillaz – 19-2000 (soulchild remix) w/ the “Jamming with Edward” Cowboy Bebop video
     Rush – Show Don’t Tell
     MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
     No Doubt- Just a Girl
     Fatboy Slim – Weapon of Choice
</groove>

“It’s the colour of your heartbeat… a rising summer sun… the battle – lost or won…”

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Monday : 13 February 2006
Today is/was my next-oldest sib’s 28th birthday.
I am reminded of the first time that I saw her in the hospital: She stuck her tongue out at me.
Sure, some would say “Oh, that’s just a newborn reflex or something.”
I’m pretty sure that it was planned.
Either way, she’s turned out to be a very nice young woman and someone whom I am happy to call my sister. (Most of the time.)1

I stopped in the local office to pick up a few things before work. Of the three people whom I needed to see, only one was there. *sigh* So, I’ll have to stop in again on Thursday to get what I couldn’t get this morning. Oh na. The rest of the workday was pretty good… even if there wasn’t any kite-flying involved. (Must remember to take other kite to work…) There weren’t any fires to put out or any monkeys to punch. And, I got to talk comics for a few minutes with a coworker.

Post-work, I had dinner with and at Cafe Med. Then, there was a trip to Tech Mecca. I mean “Best Buy.” Then it was back home. Jiggety jig. A little later, I wound up going back out for a drive. Agitation. Irritation. Blah. By the time I got back, I felt a good bit better.

Stray Toasters

  • I was listening to a Whitney Houston song on the radio this morning. (Yes, I freely admit this. In fact, I’ll even admit that her Whitney CD was the second CD I owned, bought for me by my late uncle.) It’s a shame that she – and her career – has fallen off the map… which I mostly attribute to getting drawn into the chaos whirlpool that surrounds Bobby Brown.
  • : Since I’m not sure which one(s) I have posted, you get the covers to LSH #16, #17 and #18.
  • In honor of St. Valentine’s Day I give you:
  • comes out in two (2) days! (Figure Set)
  • My Prerogative (Yeah, I know, I was giving Bobby crap earlier. *shrug* I like the song.)
  • Can the VP Cheney shooting incident be used as the impetus for the development of cyberpunk-style smartgun links?
  • Considering that I haven’t had any coffee since… roughly 3:00 or 4:00 PM, I am oddly wide awake.
  • “Great Caesar’s Ghost!”

  • From the “Ick!” file: Ice Machines Contain More Bacteria Than Toilet Bowl Water
  • Why does this sound like part-Micronauts and part-Pluto Nash?

It’s well past bedtime.

Namaste.

1 – Just kidding. She is a good person. And I love her. (Most of the time.)

“That’s the way that Lady Luck dances. Roll the Bones.”

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Sunday : 12 February 2006
Sleeping in == good.
I slept until nearly noon this morning. Then I came down to the HCC and took a little time for…


The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt and “Sparky,” the Ball Lightning Wonder
I teamed up with Locutus Silens and we took on some Sky Raiders and members of the Freakshow in Terra Volta. We didn’t have to break as many heads (and glider wings and sky skiffs and cybernetic limbs) as I thought that we would. I think that we got our point across, however.

From there, we headed to Talos Island and headed to Pocket D, the “neutral zone” dance club for heroes and villains. We took on a mission to retrieve some data from The Council. Something that I neglected to remember: Some of the Council’s members are Werewolves (pic). And fighting them in close quarters is not necessarily something that you’d put under the heading of “fun.” Nevertheless, we completed the mission. The next Pocket D mission is one in which I’ll have to team up with a villain to retrieve an item from Arachnos. That should be interesting.


This afternoon, I helped create a spreadsheet so that she can track some data for work. It wasn’t a big to-do, but I can see that I need to work on my Excel skills. We also watched parts of The Little Rascals and The Replacements. (Whenever they showed Keanu Reeves, in The Replacements, I wanted to go “Whoa… I know football.”) The Little Rascals was cute. I remembered something while watching The Replacements: I was at a Ravens game in M&T Bank Stadium (then known as “PSINet Stadium”) when they shot some of the game scenes – they shot them during the NFL game’s halftime.

<< Rewind <<

I saw Curious George yesterday. It was a very cute movie. I don’t remember enough about the books to say this with authority, but I think that they took pieces from a few of the books – along with some new story material – to make up the movie. It did a good job of blending traditional 2-D animation with CGI. Will Farrell was Ted, “The Man in the Yellow Hat.” I’m not his biggest fan, but I liked him in the role; it seems as though the writers wrote the piece “for” him, as there were things that reminded me of some of his other characters’ quirks and idiosyncracies. And it had Dick Van Dyke, one of my favorite actors, too. I also really liked the Jack Johnson soundtrack. I give the movie a thumbs-up with an okay; it was fun. I’d even go see it again.

> Play >

Stray Toasters

  • I am eating potato chips. Ruffles, to be precise. They are a far cry from what I thought I would have for a snack tonight. But, they are tasty.
  • posted a link to World Press Photo’s Winners Gallery 2006 These photos are worthy of their awards. (Those of you on dial-up may not want to click here… but, if you do, the pictures are worth the wait.)
  • “I am Jack’s raging bile duct.”
       – Narrator/Tyler Durden (Fight Club)

  • Looking at this picture, and thinking about DC Comics’ “Big Three” (Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman), a strange thought came to mind: Superman is said to fight for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.” However, if you look at “The Big Three,” it could be said that each of them embodies an aspect of that:
    • Truth: Wonder Woman (She was once the Goddess of Truth; her lasso compels the truth from people)
    • Justice: Batman (Do I really need to go into this one?)
    • The American Way: Superman (Ditto.)
  • Because did The Ten Commandments in ebonics, I had to do:

    //
    // The Ten Commandments
    //

    User = “Thou”;
    Deity = “God”;
    parent1 = “mother”;
    parent2 = “father”;
    parents = parent1 + parent2;
    User2 = “neighbor”;

    I == User’s Deity;

    1. User !other gods >= me;
    2. User !make graven image;
    3. User !take the name of the lord in vain;
    4. Observe the Sabbath Day == holy;
    5. if parent1 && parent2
          honor parents;

    6. User !murder;
    7. User !commit adultery;
    8. User !steal;
    9. User !bear false witness against User2;
    10. User !covet User2’s possessions;

  • The NFC beat the AFC in the Pro Bowl? Must be another sign of the apocalypse…
  • If you’re roughly my age, you’ll undoubtedly remember Transformers, the toy line and the cartoon. And, like many, you probably thought that it would be cool if there was actually a robot that could turn into a vehicle (and back again). Well, your wait is over. Kind of. Check out this video.
  • VP Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter
    (And then, there’s the boingboing.net take on things…)

  • Maybe about the business U was worried
    Wasn’t ever filed in your name.
    Maybe the cartridge U was playin’
    Don’t fit in your video game.

    (This Prince moment was brought to you by the letters “G,” “O” and the number “23”)

  • Logitech Wireless Music System for iPod
  • “Ugh.”

  • Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory… lasts forever.
       – Shane Falco, Washington Sentinels’ Quarterback (The Replacements)

  • Web suicide pacts surge in Japan
  • There’s a joke in this picture about Aquaman getting some tail, but I’m not going to make it.
    Oh, wait… I just did, didn’t I?
    Damn.

  • Better living through video games?
  • The NFC won. *sigh*

Namaste.

“So much to say, so much to say, so much to say…”

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Saturday : 11 February 2006
I’m tired.
I’ll fill in the gaps tomorrow.

Namaste.

“Let’s go fly a kite, up to the highest height… let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring!”

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Friday : 10 February 2006
TGIF.

Work was good. And rather productive, too. Around 3:30, Eric and I decided to take advantage of a good wind and took our kites out for some air. (Yes, we keep kites in our desks.) I was using the kite that gave me. It kept turning to its right, first in tight turns… then just diving for the ground. *sigh* But, I did get a decent amount of air time with it.

I came home and spent a little time in the Rogue Isles, advancing Dhoruba’s nefarious career. Hmm. I should probably make a CoV icon…

Then, it was off to Clitorati. Small group, but good. I went all Confucius on this week’s crossword puzzle. From there, it was on to Cheers: North and then home… where I spent a little time patrolling Paragon City.

Stray Toasters

Quote of the Day:
From a mid-afternoon chat with

[14:08] : your social calendar is so packed, I can;t keep up with you
[14:08] : need a personal assistant?
[14:08] : *holds up Palm Pilot*
[14:09] : well, when that thing poops out, you just let me know
[14:09] : Now, a cabana boy…. or, even better: a cabana girl …. would be ideal.
[14:09] : k – I draw the line at thongs, though
[14:09] : no pun intended
[14:09] : I was thinking board or bermuda shorts
[14:10] : 2 – how do you feel about the XM2go gadget thinger
[14:10] : Dunno much about history….
[14:11] : Dunno much trigonometry….
[14:11] : Don’t know what a slide rule is for…
[14:11] : Or XM2GO for sure….
[14:11] : But I do know…
[14:11] : Wait.
[14:11] : We aren’t singing Sam Cooke songs, are we?
[14:11] : that was good, if not a weeeeeeee bit mildly retarded

And with that… Good night.

Namaste.

“Lefts and rights of passage, black and whites of youth…”

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Thursday
Today was good. Work was productive; so was the lunchtime workout. Today’s area of focus: Shoulders. I’m pretty sure that they’ll hate me in the morning, but it was worth it.

This morning, on the way to work, I stopped at Beans & Brews for a cup of frozen mocha goodness. As an added bonus, I got a pass to see Freedomland, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore. and I went to check it out. Very interesting movie, it was like an odd cross between… Flightplan and Do the Right Thing. It was an emotionally intense movie. I recommend it, but it is definitely not a movie to see if you’re looking for pick-me-up, feel good fare.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“It’s the eye of the tiger…”

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Wednesday
Three down and two to go.

All in all, it’s been a good day. There were new monkeys who joined the zoo today. Other than that, there wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary at work. In the words of Icehouse: N-n-n-nothing too serious.

On the way home, I picked up my brand-spankin’ new Passive Optical Enhancers. If all goes well, I’ll be glasses-free tomorning. Once I got home, I changed clothes and patrolled Paragon City for a bit.

Stray Toasters

  • Bret called tonight. Just checking in… and making sure that I saw his team bring home the Lombardi trophy.
  • showed me a site called JesusPets. I’m not sure which is more disturbing: The site or the fact that she found something online before I did.
  • I was talking with couple of coworkers about the model train show that I went to a couple of weeks ago and mentioned an upcoming show. That reminded me of a monorail that someone built in his backyard. (See? Building a BattleMech in the backyard doesn’t sound so far-fetched now, does it?) That, in turn, reminded one of the coworkers about this monorail, which he used to ride when he was on his mission in Germany.
  • If this is true, it will be interesting to see how it shakes out: Apple to take bite at Palm?
  • By way of Wired: Sharper Image, Better Performance (And, on top of that, they just look cool.)*
  • From North Sydney, Australia comes Patch Me Up, from Root Kit. (Warning: Geekery ahead.)
  • Superman. Bizarro. Brainiac. Luthor. Game on.
  • What happens when you introduce Richard Simmons into the Whose Line Is It Anyway? mix? This.
  • Ethics…? Who needs ’em? –
  • pointed me in the direction of this house. Make sure that you click on the “More Photos” and “Property Tour” links. Wow.
  • Check out the art of David Michael Beck. (comic book-related stuff, mostly)

Namaste.

“She’s a brick and I’m drowning slowly…”

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Tuesday : 07 February 2006
Today was a good day at work. The lunchtime workout was good, too. I maxed my bench press at 185 pounds. Granted, I only got three reps out of it, but it’s still more than my body weight. That makes me happy.

Tonight was Shadowrun game night. I think that I’m just about done with this arc. Once again, the group’s rather “creative” gameplay led to a couple of interesting situations. But, they did a good job of preparing for and executing their objective.

Stray Toasters

Quote of the Day

: You really are trying to kill me…
I turn down the heater in the car
: I am freezing! I have been cold all day. And if you tell me “You should have taken your coat, I’ll kick you.”
I think this over
: You should have taken your coat.
: You can’t do that! When I threaten you, you can’t challenge me on it. Because if I don’t go through with it, it makes the threat so much less effective.”
: You should have taken your coat.
: *glare*
I stifle a comment
: What?!
: Nothing…
: No… what was it?!
:No, because if I tell you, you will kick me.
: I will not kick you.
: I was thinking, “It’s like talking to a brick wall.”
: *GASP* It is not! Do you know what the difference between talking to me and a brick wall is?
I wait…
: A brick wall will hear you. I mean… it won’t hear you!

I laughed for the next 20-something odd blocks as she tried to correct herself.

“I’m walking into spiderwebs… Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”

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Monday : 06 February 2006
Today was a good start to the week. No fires to put out. No monkeys to punch. And it was a productive day.

Tonight was D&D night at ‘. We wrapped up this storyline, I think. We saved an outlying village, we stopped a raid and we killed spiders. And we set things on fire. Lots of things, lots of fire. And no one in the party died. All the way around, those are good things. Tomorrow night: Shadowrun.

Stray Toasters

  • I got a call from Adam this evening. My cell signal dropped and I haven’t been able to catch up with him since then. I’ll try to get him tomorrow.
  • I’m tired.
  • Four words that I don’t think that I would have ever put together: “Hello Kitty Belt Sander”
  • Ugh. I look so stupid. I hate this uniform.

  • Growing up, I had a… fascination… with boomerangs. I’m pretty sure that it stemmed from a cartoon that I used to watch. But that’s not the point. My father would buy me boomerangs and take me to this baseball/football field across the street from where he lived and throw it with me.

    Fast forward a few years…

    I was living in NC and had… you guessed it… a boomerang.

    I had gotten nominally good at throwing it and having it return to roughly where I was. One afternoon, I was in the backyard, playing with my boomerang. I gave it a toss and watched it sail away from me. It spun around and it gained a little altitude while flying. I watched it make an arc as it got farther away. It curved back towards me. This was a good thing. It made me smile.

    Then I noticed something: Some quick mental math told me that its path would bring it “back” to me… somewhere above my head.

    Right where the kitchen window was.

    *PANIC*

    I watched as the boomerang spun its way back to me.
    And the house.
    And the window.

    I could just picture myself trying to explain to Mom what had happened.
    Not good.

    *PANIC*

    I watched it sail over my head and towards the house.

    It hit the house.
    About three feet away from the window.

    I don’t think that I had ever been so happy to miss a target. I might not have hit the broad side of a barn, but I was far too close to hitting that stupid window.

  • This strip and this strip, both from Two Lumps, made me laugh.
  • Meet Virginia Valentino Cthulhu
  • As if killing spiders in tonight’s game wasn’t enough, I just killed one in here.
  • Was it just me or were some/most of Sunday’s Super Bowl commercials really… lackluster? Yes, there were some that were funny and memorable, but on the whole, I wasn’t impressed. (And the GoDaddy.com commercial? Can you say,”Beating a dead horse,” boys and girls?)

  • (The punch line and the commentary.)

Quote of the Day
From Friday’s conversation with a coworker:

[09:29] : Do you know how many man-hours are being lost on your side of the wall right now?!?
[09:29] Eric: are they full men?
[09:30] : That’s a rather personal question.
[09:30] : …and one that I’d rather not investigate.

It’s early and I have to get up later.

Namaste.

Monday Morning Wake-Up Call

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<groove>
     The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil
     David Bowie – Looking for Lester
     Victor – Promise
</groove>

Get it started.

“We’re having a party…”

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Sunday : 05 February 2006
<< Rewind <<
Yesterday was a “be lazy and sleep in” day. It was nice. came over and we headed to her grandparents’ house to see her father and brother off. While there, we watched the UConn-Indiana game. UConn won, thankfully. (Sorry, my inner Boilermaker’s favorite teams are Purdue… and whomever’s playing Indiana.) From there, it was on to get an eye exam. The doctor said that my eyes looked good and healthy; this was a good thing. I ordered a couple of boxes of Passive Optical Enhancers (colloquially referred to as “contact lenses”) and we were on our way.

Next stop: We dropped in to see Perry, Kate and the boys. Kate headed to work, Perry and I talked geek and played with the kids. Perry hooked me up with a custom ‘Clix of the Martian Manhunter, so I now have ‘Clix for the roster of the animated Justice League, before they went “Unlimited.” This makes my inner geek smile broadly. While in the neighborhood, we stopped at Colosimo’s and picked up bratwurst for Sunday’s Super Bowl party.

There were a few more party-related errands, a little down time and then it was on to breakfast. Small gathering, good times. We sat next to a large group whom we think was related to the Impact group that’s there from time to time. Someone in that group apparently ate something foul a few hours before because they kept letting go with a few rather raunchy “one-cheek sneaks.” Foul. Rank. Just plain “bad.”

> Play >
Woke up this morning. Armed myself with a frozen mocha and finished up some around-the-house pre-party cleaning. People came over. The grill was fired up. The beverages – leaded and unleaded – were poured. Life was good. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

Super Bowl XL
Pittsburgh vs. Seattle
21 – 10
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers on their win over the Seahawks.

Yes, there were some botched calls in the game.
Yes, there were some fouls that the refs didn’t catch.

But, the bottom line is: The Steelers are the latest team to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy as victors. And I bet that some of them are even going to Disneyland or Walt Disney World.

And what happened to Mike Holmgren, the Seahawks’ head coach, after the game? Steelers coach Bill Cowher went to mid-field for the traditional post-game handshake… and Holmgren was nowhere to be seen? In fact, I believe that I saw Cowher ask: “Where’s Holmgren?” as he looked around; he seemed a bit disappointed that Holmgren wasn’t there. I don’t know if Holmgren’s non-appearance was intended as a snub to Bill Cowher (which I would hope was not the case) or a reaction to some of the calls made by the refs, but whatever the reason, it was just bad form to not even show up to congratulate the winning team.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“He picks up scraps of conversation…”

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Friday : 03 February 2006
Tonight’s post: Clitorati quotes

  • Alyce: “I was trying to go behind, because it was the easiest way to get what I wanted.” 1
  • : “I would much more prefer the ramming down the throat…” 2
  • : “I so want to mount you on my dash… I want to lick your ass and mount you on my dash.” 3

Namaste.

Original contexts of the quotes:
1 – Trying to reach around (heh) someone to get a magazine
2 – On (possibly) preferring the style of talk radio hosts – such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc. – who shout, scream and generally push their agendas onto their audiences to the quiet, somber tone of NPR
3 – I had just done some head movement that reminded of a bobble-head *sigh*