Friday – 30 March 2007
Four down and roughly five hours to go.
I have frozen mocha goodness, it’s Friday and we’re about to have a team-building, no… make that “team-fragging”… exercise. HALO/HALO 2. Selah. Yeah, that’s the making for a good end-of-the-week.
Stray Toasters
I was about to list a few here… but it looks like we’re about to go shoot people. So Toasters, just like Heaven, can wait.
The geek factor is on “High” today:
Then a name popped into my head:Â “Serra.”
As in Angel.
As in Magic: the Gathering.
I winced, just a little, as I entered the name into the dialog box.
In it, there I see Leonidas, king of the Spartans from 300, standing on the shores of Thermopylae. Before him, Xerxes and the combined armies of the Persian Empire stand ready to attack.
As the image widens out, there are no loincloth and cape-wearing Spartans, standing behind him.
Instead, there are 300 Master Chiefs, from HALO.
For those of you who don’t get the reference, the Master Chief is a cyborg. More specifically, he’s a Spartan-II Super Soldier.
Having seen what just one Master Chief did to the Covenant, I’m Ivory Soap sure that 300 of them could easily handle the Persian army.
Wednesday – 28 March 2007
Two-and-a-half down…
Two-and-a-half to go.
The back half of yesterday’s work day was decent. Post-work, I stopped off for coffee and drawing time; the new drawing is coming along… slowly, but there is progress being made.Â
This morning, I woke to snow. Yay. Fortunately, it wasn’t cold enough for it to stick to the roads… but that didn’t stop the road monkeys from driving as though it was a natural disaster. (Packed like lemmings into shiny, metal boxes…) At one point, there was a lady driving down I-15 with a LOT of traffic stacked up behind her: because she was going about 50 down the center lane. The road was wet. Barely. And she was doing 50. And white-knuckling the steering wheel. I simply listened to Carnival (*shakes fist at
The work day hasn’t been bad. So far. I’ve had a couple of brushfires to deal with, but n-n-n-nothing too serious. (Lookit that: I snuck in an Icehouse reference. Go me. I rock.) And, I should be able to ease on down the road around 4:30, God willing and the creek don’t rise.
Stray Toasters
Quote of the Day
[13:14] Sarah: have you seen the new Trix?
[13:14] ShadorunrWORK: Nuh-uh.
[13:14] Sarah: they are…. wait for it
[13:14] Sarah: NEW SHAPE:Â ROUND
[13:14] Sarah: …
[13:14] ShadorunrWORK: Wait…
[13:14] Sarah: uh huh
[13:14] ShadorunrWORK: Weren’t Trix round when we were kids?
[13:14] Sarah: yup
[13:14] ShadorunrWORK: >.< [13:14] ShadorunrWORK: So "new hotness" Trix is really "old busted" Trix? [13:15] Sarah: and then they went all weird and made them "fruit shaped"... a lot like runts... and now...WOW! ROUND! UGH!
“That’s the thing about birthdays and Quik (and, apparently, lunch hours…), they go by so fast.”
Namaste.
Tuesday – 27 March 2007
One down, one in the chamber and three to go.
So far, the day’s been decent. The road monkeys weren’t unbearable this morning, as they swung from branch to branch… I mean “lane to lane.” For the most part, traffic flowed nicely. I have coffee. And there was apparently an IT task that was assigned that neither I nor our office director knew nothing about. Greeeat. Fortunately, it’s not a huge deal, but when I asked him about it, he had the same deer in headlights look that I had when I was originally asked about it; that made me feel a little better. Oh, well.
Last night, we were supposed to shoehorn in a D&D session. But, we didn’t. So, I watched a few episodes of Justice League – including one from the second season that I had somehow neglected to watch! – and played some online poker…. until it was time for 24. While not as amusing as 24: ATHF, it was still good. Then, some online poker. I also watched The Guardian – it wasn’t a horrible movie. Near its end, I half-expected Whitney Houston to show up and sing I Will Always Love You. Of course, when I first heard about the movie, I had the not-so-serious urge to photoshop her into a copy of the movie poster and retitle it The BodyGuardian. Go figure.
Stray Toasters
Quote of the Day
[09:00]
: eh!
[09:00] Scott: sup
[09:01]: Thought that this might amuse you:
[09:01]: ‘The Transformers’ appear on the internet’s worst website
[09:01] Scott: eh?
[09:01]: http://www.comics2film.com/
[09:01]: second item in “The Latest News”
[09:02] Scott: hahahahahahah oh god.
[09:02] Scott: Do we get Optimus Prime’s blog?
[09:03]: bwahahahaha
[09:04]: “Dear Diary: Today, I got my oil changed.   There was a very cute Nissan Xterra there. Red. With racing stripes.  She was hawt!”
Namaste.
I just found a link to the video for emmet swimming’s Arlington.
Not bad for a Monday lunchtime.
Enjoy!
Sunday – 25 March 2007
Another weekend comes to a close. It’s been a good weekend, quiet and low-key. I had given some rather serious thought to a road trip (of sorts) this weekend, but opted to wait a while.
Saturday started with the Legion, found me in Park City in the afternoon and ended with episodes of The West Wing and late-night breakfast. One of the episodes was “Six Meetings Before Breakfast.” The title triggered a memory waaay back in the deep, dark recesses of my mind… but I couldn’t figure out why until I looked at the chapter listing: It was the episode in which Allison Janney’s character, C.J., did a lip-synch of The Jackal. For some reason, I didn’t think that happened until Season 2 or 3; I was quite pleased to find out that I was wrong. Quite pleased, indeed.
Today was rather mellow, as well. I started off with a trip to Paragon City with Nefer-Tem. I joined a team and put on… a level and a half, possibly a little more than that. After that, I hung out with
After Borders, we decided to catch a movie: Reign Over Me, starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. There were also a number of other fairly well-known faces/names in the movie, including Donald Sutherland and Robert Klein. I’m not a huge fan of Adam Sandler; I’ve found him to be intermittently funny, but his name in movie credits isn’t an automatic draw for me. In this role, however, I think that he did an amazing job. Don Cheadle, as usual, put in an excellent performance, as well. This wasn’t necessarily an “easy” movie to watch, but it was well worth seeing. The movie started out with a song by Graham Nash, Simple Man; I don’t think that I had heard it before tonight, but I like it. And, as one might infer from the movie’s title, the movie featured a couple of versions of The Who’s Love Reign O’er Me, a favorite of mine. I highly recommend the movie.
Stray Toasters
Namaste.
While looking around the YouTube, I found the video for The Saga Begins.
And now, I share it with you.
Selah.
Thursday – 22 March 2007
Four down, one to go.
Today was a rather decent day. It started with frozen mocha goodness and a trip to the SLC office. Neither of which is a bad way to start the day. Then, it was on to the south office. The day was relatively problem-free; and it was slow enough to allow for two constitutionals. The lunchtime workout was good, too – a focused triceps workout.
Post-work, I skipped picking up my four-color shwag and got home a little before six. I was in a Barbacoa mood, so I had a steak burrito for dinner and watched V for Vendetta. (March Madness = CSI: ) Good movie and a nice way to wrap up the day.
Random Access
We’ve taken care of everything
The words you read
The songs you sing
The pictures that give pleasure
To your eye
One for all and all for one
Work together
Common sons
Never need to wonder
How or why
Whenever I watch V for Vendetta (1, 2, 3, 4), I am struck not only by its similarities to George Orwell’s 1984, but also to the Rush concept piece/rock opera, 2112. The three of them are set in dystopian societies where the government provides all of the necessities and good things in life. And they would never mislead their citizenry. And everyone works for the betterment of god and country.
In the three stories, we are introduced to “the outsider,” the one who sees between the cracks of the grand facade and recognizes that all is not well. In two of the stories, he is also the one who wishes to bring change and freedom to his blissfully ignorant brethren: V and the “narrator” in 2112. In 1984, Winston Smith is not necessarily out to overthrow The Party and/or Big Brother, or even enlighten his fellow citizens, as much as he enjoys subverting the system by partaking in restricted/forbidden pleasures.
The stories differ in their resolutions and in how their protagonists end up:
I also find it… oddly amusing that I wound up watching the “Vote Different” parody of Apple’s 1984 Mac ad earlier and then watching V for Vendetta tonight.
Stray Toasters
Quote of the Day
It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years I had roses and apologized to no one. I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch, but one. An inch. It is small and it is fragile and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must NEVER let them take it from us. I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the worlds turns, and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that, even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you.
Valerie Page, V for Vendetta
Namaste.
A couple of videos that caught my eye this morning:
Enjoy!
Wednesday (coda)
The post-work day has been good. I came home and then went to Borders to hang out with
And, I drew. Taking a page from Nyx’ book, so to speak, I picked a song lyric and went to town. The lyric that came to mind was Elton John’s Rocket Man. I had a slightly different concept in mind when I started, but for a first attempt – as well as starting and finishing in one sitting – I’m happy with it. You can see it here (large file size, 329K).
Stray Toasters
Namaste.
Wednesday – 21 March 2007
Middle of the week and all is.
Last night,
Why is it that the pretty ones are never very smart? Wait… he was a troll; he was neither smart nor pretty. *sigh*
I don’t know if Nyx will be a regular or intermittent member of the game – or if she’ll decide that it’s not her thing – but it was fun having her play.
Stray Toasters
– Tigger socks land girl in detention, school in courtTime to finish eating and get back to the grind.
Namaste.
Tuesday – 20 March 2007
Another day in the valleys.
Speaking of valleys, does anyone else remember Valley of the Dinosaurs? It was a Hanna-Barbera ‘toon from the 70s; Boomerang airs – or it used to air – episodes on Saturdays and Sundays. I liked it. But, I digress…
Last night was D&D night. But, we didn’t play. Instead, there was Lunch Money and Guitar Hero 2. I did “okay” at lunch money; I still equate my GH2 (lack of) skill to the first time I tried DDR: It was bad. Fun… but bad. After that, I went home and tried my hand at PokerStars, no pun intended. I didn’t do too badly. And, before bed, I read more of Specter of the Past.
We’ll be heading to the gym in a few minutes. Picking up and putting down heavy things. Mm-hmm, that’s right.
Stray Toasters
Stand up when no one else is willing
Act not in hatred or in spite
Be to this world as a perfect knight
Even if it means your life
*voop*
Namaste.
Monday – 19 March 2007
A new week begins. And it began with caffeination. Large. Triple-shot. Selah.
All-in-all, the weekend was good. Lazy, but good. Saturday, I spent the early part of the day doing… a lot of nothing. Went to lunch. Went to Best Buy and reveled in consumerism. Maybe “reveled in” is a bit of an overstatement, but I bought a few things that I’ve had my eye on:
After a quick stop at Hoppers for a couple of growlers of Madame X Stout – to help celebrate Green Lantern Day – it was off to
Tonight, there are D&D goings-on. Hopefully, we won’t have our collective recta handed to us on silver-plated trays… but the possibility exists.
Stray Toasters
Whoosh!
Namaste.
Sunday – 18 March 2007
This had the potential to be a serious post.
The potential.
Instead, it’s going to be an “I found some of these to be amusing” post. Deal with it. You’re big kids.
MMORPG Motivational Posters
And… because it amuses me:
It looks like a nice day out. Time to go play.
Namaste.
