Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“We’ve taken care of everything: the words you read, the songs you sing…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Tuesday : 18 April 2006
I’ve already bitched about there having been snow this morning, so I won’t do so again. This time.

Instead, I’ll comment on how nice the day turned out: Blue skies, cool but mild weather. It was a nice turnabout from the way the day started. I had lunch with and today… instead of going to the gym. We went to Rumbi Island Grill; it was my first time there. The overall atmosphere made me think that working there could best be likened to working at a Disney-owned business. It just seemed… too bright and cheery. *shrug* But that doesn’t mean that I won’t go back – the food was good.

Tonight was Shadowrun night. The group put themselves in a good position to accomplish their mission… but we ran out of time to finish it. That’s kind of a good thing: There’s the potential for a fight to break out in the next phase of what they’re doing. If we had tried to wrap it up tonight, we would have most likely been forced to stop at an awkward point. Thus, we called it a night.

Stray Toasters

  • I want a new Morris Day icon…
  • The Birth of He-Man – an interview with Roger Sweet, creator of the He-Man toy line
  • Sissy and Presto are here, keeping me company.
  • I like this picture: One person’s thoughts about Digital Rights Management
  • 2112
  • I just had an image from an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati run through my head. It was the one where a mortician wanted to but ad time on the station. The ad that they came up with was up-beat and bouncy… just the thing you think about when you think of your loved ones’ eternal rest. The image that popped into my head was of the mortician listening to the ad and dancing around the DJ booth/sound room. Bizarre.
  • Let’s see how many people I can cover in one ‘Toaster…
    Perry, , and : The figures on this page will be on sale on 10 May 06.

  • From the City Paper: The Balti: North Baltimore’s Lacrosse Mullet, and the Next Big Thing in Hair
    Boys’ Latin is the first school that I attended, from Kindergarten through Third Grade. But, I never played lacrosse… or had a mullet.

  • Pass the Prozac – It’s National Depression Week
  • : The cover art to Storm #6

Namaste.

Random mid-morning amusement

everyday glory No Comments »

From Reuters: Bush picks Portman for budget

I liked her in the Star Wars movies and she was great in V for Vendetta (and let’s not forget The Professional), but a Cabinet-level position?

That’s impressive.

Tuesday Morning Tune-age

everyday glory No Comments »

I don’t know who ordered “Double snow with a side order of WTF…?!”

But that’s okay.
There’s still music.
Get-you-going morning music.

<groove>
   Yoko Kanno & Seatbelts – Tank! (from Cowboy Bebop)
   Walter Murphy – A Fifth of Beethoven
   Sting and Cheb Mami – Desert Rose (Victor Calderone remix)
   New Order – True Faith
</groove>

If rainy days and Mondays are bad…

everyday glory No Comments »

Monday
It was 68 degrees (F) yesterday.
Today, I think we peaked around 42 degrees.
And there was snow this morning. Lots of it.

Other than that, it was a good day. It was capped by Family Home Evening at Brother ‘ place. We played D&D as our (typical) group activity. Twas good.

Stray Toasters

Quotes of the Day
Quote #1 comes from IRC. I was listening to the Schoolhouse Rock! mp3 of The Preamble and decided to post a couple of lines in the channel. provided the counterpoint.

[13:16] We… the people…..
[13:16] In order to form a more perfect union….
[13:18] will stick our collective foot in your ass if you so much as think about having a free thought!

Quote #2 comes from tonight’s gaming session. , making an analogy about the difference between monks and clerics (in the game), came up with with the following:

“It’s the difference between… Buddha… and some schmuck.”

Namaste.

“They say there is strangeness too dangerous in our theatres and bookstore shelves…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Sunday : 16 April 2006
Happy Easter to all.
It was a good day in the valley. Sunny. Warm. Good. (Too bad that it’s going to be back in the mid-40s tomorrow.)

I had lunch with and Land at the Olive Garden. It was a good time with good friends and good (and funny) conversation – a good way to spend some time on a lazy Sunday afternoon. This was followed by a trip to Memory Grove. I had only been there once before, for ‘s wedding. and I walked up the trail for a bit; I took a few pictures along the way. I also realized that I haven’t taken random photos like this in a long time.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Up on the roof…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Saturday : 15 April 2006
The day started off with sleeping in. That’s always a good way to start off a day off. After that, I got to play Spider-Man for a bit: Spring swamp cooler preparations at ‘s grandparents’ house.

Most of the day was fairly uneventful until evening set in. and I went to see Swan Lake at Capitol Theatre. I believe that this was the first time I have been to the ballet. It was a great performance. I wasn’t entirely familiar with the story behind Swan Lake, but it was summarized in the programme. The dancers, orchestra, set design and choreography were all top-notch. Following the ballet, it was off to Cheers for breakfast and coffee. There were lots of fashion risks/don’ts there. *shiver*

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

*yawn*

everyday glory No Comments »

Goodnight, moon.

Mid-day music

everyday glory No Comments »

Put the needle on the record.
Put the needle on the record.
Put the needle on the record…
Put the needle on the record…
Put the needle on the record when the drum beats go like this!

“Jack, relax. Get busy with the facts…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Thursday : 13 April 2006
Another No Bad News Thursday has, in the words of David Bowie: “…come, been and gone.” On the whole, it was a good day. I did come close to snapping off a little something on one of the monkeys today. *sigh* After all was said and done, I went to my Team Lead, explained the situation and my thoughts on the matter. He seemed amenable to what I said.

After work, it was off to birthday dinner and Easter egg dying at ‘s grand parents. After dinner, we had cake and ice cream for ‘s birthday. Then… it was egg-dying time. It was fun watching how excited the boys got over dying and decorating the eggs. Then it was home, where I watched the last half of CSI and generally decompressed from the day.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I started out with a mission in Crey’s Folly. While I completed the mission alone – with Sparky’s help – I died once. But, as I said: I completed the mission. After that, I hooked up with a couple of people with whom I usually team and headed to Peregrine Island and Perez Park to take on Nemesis. We died. Many times. But, one good thing came out of it: Security Level 33.

Stray Toasters

I’m sure that there were eleventy-seven things that I was going to add to this… but I can’t think of them. So, I’ll call this good for tonight.

Namaste.

“Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping… into the future….”

everyday glory No Comments »

Wednesday : 12 April 2006
Today was a markedly better day than yesterday…

…even though I overslept this morning. By roughly an hour. D’oh! I was able to go from bed to ready-to-go in about twenty minutes, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Work was good. Post-work was good. And quiet. And relaxing. Selah.

Four-Color Coverage
Yep, it’s a new section. I decided to break some/most of my comic-related chatter out of Stray Toasters for those who don’t really care about comic books and the like. But, as I said: “Some/most of [it],” because there are times, when things are just going to go turned into ‘Toasters. That said, here we go…

Although I was skeptical about it at first, I’ve been reading Marvel’s Young Avengers for the past few months. Allan Heinberg (Wikipedia entry), the series’ author, has been drawing rave reviews for his portrayal of life as a (super-powered) teenagers.

And the reviews are spot-on.

Heinberg, who has also gained acclaim for his writing on Fox’ The O.C., has a definite handle on the way that kids think and act. Add to that the fact that these aren’t just any kids: They’re superpowered teenagers looking to be the next generation of heroes (and heroines). So, on top of the pressures of family and school, they are balancing saving the world (or just the city or even one or two blocks of it) along with just trying to fit in.

Heinberg’s story-writing is sharp and full of more than just “A leads to B leads to C” plots. There have been twists, turns and even a loop or two (for good measure). More than once, I’ve found myself thinking: “Wow… didn’t see that coming.” Issue #11, the latest one on the stands, features the Kree, Skrulls, the possible answer to a long-standing question from The Avengers (and The House of M… and a few other special guests. And a “Wow… didn’t see that coming” moment on the next to last page. Go figure.

If you’re looking for a new series – or trade paperback – to get into, I recommend this one.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Static on your frequency, electrical storm in your veins…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Tuesday : 11 April 2006
Today was… a day. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but somewhere around 10:00 this morning, it became “a Monday.” And not a good one. I could tell that I was getting in a progressively declining mood. I tried taking a late morning constitutional, hoping that it would help clear my head. It did… a little. But not enough. I spent the next hour trying keep my head down and just stay more or less “away” from people. Or at least as much as you can in an office. And it was at that point that I had a problem child show up at my desk. *braincramp* She’s a nice person and under normal conditions, we get along well; today, however, I was irritable… and she was being bubbly and Care Bear happy. Not a good mix. *sigh* I dealt with her in as calm and civil a manner as I could muster. Soon, it was time for lunch. Today, that meant a trip to the gym. *genuflect* I was able to work most of the irritation and angst out of my system. I felt considerably better post-gym. The rest of the day wasn’t as much of an obstacle course.

I came home and just… unwound. I found Don online and convinced him that we needed to save the citizens of Paragon City from the nefarious forces that had aligned against them. Okay… to be honest, it didn’t really take a lot of arm-twisting. We ran a few missions. I died three times. Blah blah blah. But, by the end of our run, I was out of XP debt and well on my way to Security Level 33. I wrapped up the evening with episodes of Batman: TAS and Superman: TAS.

Stray Toasters

  • I spoke with my mother this evening. She’s on “Spring Break” – since they don’t/can’t call it “Easter Break” – this week; she said that she hasn’t done a thing all week. Which for her is both an amazing (as in “unusual”) and a very good thing.
  • By way of Maximum PC: Fight Disease with your PC’s Spare Cycles (Team 11108)
  • GamesRadar.com
  • : A couple of items about CoH/CoV Issue 7: Destiny Manifest: 1, 2
  • I didn’t know (until a few minutes ago) that Carrie Fisher (yes, that Carrie Fisher…) is only 5′-1″ tall. She was just on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. She was witty and seemed to be enjoying herself.
  • The Harper’s Index
  • “Don’t you know who I am?” (Yes, this still amuses me.)
  • I just saw a promo for an upcoming show: Celebrity Cooking Showdown, set to air Monday night on NBC. Think Iron Chef… with celebrities. Nine Hells.

Namaste.

“We’re rehabbed and we’re ready for our fifteen minutes of shame…”

everyday glory No Comments »

There’s something fun (nice… amusing… fill-in-an-adjective…) – with a bit of a subversive feel – about:
     … being the first person in the office
     … turning on Winamp
     … listening to music (mostly Rush) at a good volume (no headphones)
     …and turning volume up more when I Don’t Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me) comes on.

And I haven’t even had my coffee yet.

A few songs later, I was treated to the following trio of songs:

  • The Time – Jerk Out
  • George Michael – Fastlove
  • Cornershop – Brimful of Asha (the up-tempo version)

How does your Tuesday sound so far?

“Everyone’s a superhero… Everyone’s a Captain Kirk…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Monday : 10 April 2006
It was a good day… even for a Monday.
And, despite a wee bit of oversleeping.

This evening was relatively quiet. I got to watch 24 for the first time in about a month. That was good. I also watched “Trek 2.0,” on G4 (which used to be a good channel… back when it was TechTV). It was the original series pilot – the pre-Kirk one: The Cage, with Captain Christopher Pike. “Trek 2.0” is Star Trek for the ADD/ADHD crowd – it had a chat window at the bottom of the screen, the “Spock Market” on the right and random trivia on the left. *shiver* In the words of Living Colour (the band, not the TV show): “Information Overload.” After that, I watched Batman: TAS and Superman: TAS on Boomerang. I am amused (and a little ashamed to admit) that I just picked up on their tagline tonight: “Boomerang. It’s all coming back to you now.” It’s not like I’ve been watching this channel for a few years. You would think that it would had dawned on me a long time ago. Nope. It didn’t. Until tonight. *sigh*

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I joined a couple of higher-level teams tonight. The experience was good, I’m about 30% of the way to Security Level 33. And, also on the “plus” side: I didn’t die tonight.

Stray Toasters

  • I talked with my uncle for a brief bit today. All’s well in New Amsterdam.
  • I didn’t get my Blizzard, but I do have Creme Eggs.
  • Leftover tidbit from this past weekend: I took ‘s boys with me to the comic shop. They waited (more or less) patiently while I picked up my books. Curtis, the four-year-old, asked me to come look at something. As I got closer – though my view was blocked by another patron – he told me: “You could get this costume!” That was immediately followed by Troy, the six-year-old, saying: “That’s what you look like naked.” (Did I mention that he’s six? And to the best of my knowledge, has never seen me topless, let alone naked…) Then I saw what they were talking about. It made me laugh. A lot. It made the guy standing next to me laugh, too.

    What was it that they wanted to show me?

    This.

    I had to buy the issue after a build-up like that. And it still makes me laugh.

  • Thanks to for pointing out: Thriller… done in LEGO.
  • *sigh* It looks as if this really is the last season of Justice League Unlimited. That’s a shame.
  • 20th Century Fox has signed Kiefer Sutherland to a 3 year (“three day”) deal for 24. Hopefully, it won’t jump the shark.
  • : You’re thinking of The Theme from Shaft.
  • Dual-headed video.
  • Jets transformed into limos prowl Chicago streets
  • Yoda… Easter eggs.
  • I just watched the video for Jack Johnson’s Upside Down, from the soundtrack from the recent Curious George movie. Very cute. Not to mention that it’s a rather catchy little ditty, too.
  • Man stabbed for his PowerBook in SF WiFi cafè

Namaste.

Boom boom acka-lacka-lacka boom!

everyday glory No Comments »

<boogie>
     Was (not Was) – Walk the Dinosaur
</boogie>

This was a good way to spend a four minutes chair-dancing this morning.

How does your Monday sound?

“You can roll that stone to the top of the hill…”

everyday glory No Comments »

Sunday : 09 April 2006
Pretty low-key weekend.

Saturday, we visited and had lunch with ‘s grandmother and aunts (on her father’s side of the family). That was followed by a quick trip to Best Buy; I walked out empty-handed. Back to her aunt’s house for a bit and then on to take to the nail salon (while the boys and I headed to Dr. Volt’s). On the way, we made a “side trip” to the Sandy Best Buy. I didn’t walk out of their empty-handed. Post-salon, we stopped at Kate and Perry’s. The boys played with Max for a bit before we headed over to visit Kate (at work) and get a bite to eat.

I slept in this morning. After I achieved something that approximated “coherence,” I watched Chicken Little with and the boys. I hadn’t seen it before. It was cute. I picked up on the actors behind the mayor’s and Ace’s voices (Don Knotts and Adam West, respectively). I looked up trivia on IMDb after the movie was over. Headed back to my place and decided to cook out. (After all, the weather today was great.) Chicken, bratwurst, burgers and hot dogs. After that, we headed to Jordan Landing and watched Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. It was a cute – and fun – movie, but the overall experience was marred by a lady sitting a couple of seats next to me – she not only neglected to turn off her phone, she proceeded to have a conversation on it when someone called her. I – and a couple of other people – tried to quiet her, unsuccessfully. Then she proceeded to talk – loudly – to her kids throughout the movie, as if they couldn’t see or get what was happening on-screen. *sigh* Ass hat.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.