Random Access

Saturday – 31 October 2009
Happy Hallowe’en to all.

Yesterday saw the conclusion of “The Great Boot-Finding Adventure of 2009.” I needed boots for my costume… and couldn’t find anything that really fit the bill. Nothing in men’s boots. Nothing in women’s boots. And the clock was not only ticking, it was winding down pretty quickly. (Not good.)

I had been looking online and the closest thing that I saw to what I wanted/needed were these. And that wouldn’t work, because I was well past the ordering/shipping deadline. That… and the fact that I didn’t really want to kick out $120 for a pair of boots that possibly wouldn’t see light of day again, other than in a costume situation (read as: “Almost never.”). So, I got to gallivant all over Hell and half of Georgia. I found a prospect for $30 online at Dick’s Sporting Goods. And there’s a Dick’s at The Gateway!  Win-Win! I headed downtown – with a quick stop to say “Hi” to SaraRules at work – assured that my quest was at an end… but, once I got to the store, I discovered that they had nothing of the sort on-hand.

*facepalm*

Undaunted, I continued my trek. I wound up heading to the Sports Authority in Murray. I was hoping that they would have a boot that I had seen in the Sandy Sports Authority. They had them… but the only color they came in was olive. Okay. Fine. I could deal with that. I bought a pair.

After a quick stop to say “Hi” to , a trip to the Home Depot paint department, and a trip to Dr. Volt’s, I headed home… and set to work on the boots. A couple of hours and two coats of paint later, they were ready.

SaraRules came home from work and finished working on my costume – she made both of our costumes this year. When she was done, we headed to OnlyAly and ‘s for their Hallowe’en party. (Pictures here.)  As always, it was a lot of fun.

Stray Toasters

• Let me start off by saying that SaraRules did a completely kick-ass job of making our costumes.
• And a few other Hallowe’en-related items:
  • Hallowe’en is safe, your kids are safe, the only scary thing is the warnings
  • How to Survive the Thriller
  • Be a Comic Book Character for Hallowe’en
  • Witches’ Brews
• Dutch girl’s solo voyage banned
• After the Game, What Happens to the Losing Team’s Swag?
• The good, bad and ugly hair days
• Periodic Picnic Table Fills Your Tummy with Chemistry
• LEGO Transformers Characters
• I think that I’m going to do some more WWG modeling this afternoon.

Have a happy Halloween,
Halloween, Halloween.
Have a happy Halloween,
Silver Shamrock!

Namaste.

Friday – 30 October 2009
Hello, 9/80 Friday off. I slept in this morning… but I woke up in time to see SaraRules – and her Hallowe’en costume – off to work. It’s a pretty snazzy costume (sorry, no spoilers) that she made from scratch.

The rest of the morning has been a bit lazy. It’s a day off, what’d you expect?! I got to watch an episode of The West Wing, as well as Colossal Construction. That’s not a bad way to kick off the day.

Last night, I finally got a chance to test out my digital cutter. Wow. I’m impressed. I’ve been reading the comments of other WorldWorksGames builders who have been using cutters over the past couple of months and thinking,”Come on… I’m sure it’s ‘good,’ but it can’t be as amazing as some of these people are making it out to be.” Well, I was wrong. (Second time this year.) I tested it out on a page of wall anchors – 36 on a page – and let it go to work. About five minutes later, it was done.

Done.
Finis.
Accompli.

It cut and perforated all thirty-six of the anchors; all I had to do was peel them off the cutting sheet. They were ready to be folded and glued. Yeah, I’m happy with this.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, SaraRules called out MarknTyme about doing a Four-Color Coverage. It was amusing. (Speaking of which, I should have a new FCC ready to go tomorrow.)
• If you were building a LEGO-themed hotel, what would you include?
• Take talk of food racism with grain of salt
• Federal Judge Says Email Not Protected by 4th Amendment
• Does anyone else remember Fisher-Price’s Adventure People?
• 
• Top 10 Hallowe’en Movies for Younger Kids
• The 9 Levels of Hell for the Living
• Because they apparently don’t have enough money coming in: Nintendo Announces DSi XL
• Vote for the best ‘Sesame Street’ segments
• FCC Mulling More Control for Electronic Media

Time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

Thursday – 29 October 2009
Welcome to a new NBN Thursday. The sun is shining. The snow is… well, it’s not really warm enough for it to continue melting yet, but the day is still young.

Yesterday was Comics and Sushi Wednesday. It’s a day that usually brings me great joy. Yesterday was no exception. I went to Dr. Volt’s and saw that Superman: Secret Origin #2 was on the shelves. Blissfully, I went about picking up a few other titles that weren’t part of my hold service.

Fast forward to last night…

I started going through my books, sorting them from “least interesting/read first” to “I’ve been waiting for this.” I got down to the Blackest Night and Green Lantern books and realized that there was a great disturbance in The Force something amiss. I couldn’t find S:SO #2. Hm. I checked the bag. I checked to make sure that it hadn’t gotten shoved between a couple of other books. Nothing. So, I get to wait even longer to read a story that I’ve been waiting all month to read. *sigh*

On the “good things that happened last night” side of things, we reinstated a tradition from SaraRules’ childhood. and SaraRules’ brothers came over and we decorated sugar cookies and then watched Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, narrated by Bing Crosby.

It was a great change of pace and it was a lot of fun, too.

And today is “Meeting Day.” Yay.

Stray Toasters

• The “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file is chock full of goodies today:
  • Teens cited after rapping order at McDonald’s, courtesy of
  • Coyotes kill Canadian folk singer
  • Goat Rentals for Clearing Brush
  • Bees That Drink Human Tears
• I still haven’t had a chance to fire up my Silhouette, but I will… I will…
• Star Trek Uniform Onesies
• 
• GDP Grows by 3.5%
• Intel Solid-State Drive (SSD)
• Google Wave as an RPG environment
• The Life and Times of Martha Washington: The Whole Frank Miller ‘Give Me Liberty’ Saga

And…. it’s time for our team meeting.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 28 October 2009
It’s (theoretically) Comics and Sushi Wednesday!  “Theoretically” because most of the usual suspects aren’t going to be able to make it today. I will get comics, sushi is on the fence, though.  We’ll see.

Last night, Chris came over and we played HeroClix. It was a chance for us to try out some barrier “house rules” that I found on ToyChop. In order to keep it as balanced as possible, we played the same team: Fantastic Four (from the last Starter Set), with no Feats or BFCs. Chris won the game, but it was to try the new game ideas; the house rules added a little something to the game without unbalancing it… at least as far as we could tell. We still want to test them out a little more.

My Silhouette SD arrived last night, but I didn’t get a chance to play with it. Maybe I’ll get the chance to do so tonight. Of course, I also need to cut out a lot more foamcore tiles and, unfortunately, the SD won’t do that for me. But, the fact that it will cut out tiles and posts and walls is a definite plus.

Stray Toasters

• passed along a couple of entertaining items:
  • The Art of Manliness Movember Contest 2009 (And, no, that’s not a typo.)
  • …and this Diesel Sweeties ‘toon:
    
• Urban Archeology: Lost Underworld of Los Angeles
• By way of Texts From Last Night: (607): You act like I was drinking alone…I had the entire Verizon network with me
• The Hazards of Lab Work
• Tesla Roadster Breaks Distance Record for Electric Car
• Justice Zombies of America
• Peter Sagal’s Halloween Decorations

Namaste.

I neglected to note something in my earlier post: When I got into the office this morning, I found that Julie (our IT Admin/Property Manager) had adorned my cubicle with all sorts of Green Lantern-related pictures. On my monitors. On my chair. On my work laptop.  It was fun. Not only that, but she had also stopped at the store this morning to pick up day-after-my-birthday ice cream (Rocky Road) for an afternoon snack. Win-Win.

Wes and I made it the gym for a workout at lunch. The actual conversation went something like this:

Wes: How are you feeling?
Me: Fine…
Wes: Do you want to go exercise?
Me: “Want to,” no.  “Should I,” yes… but I really don’t want to drive in this.  *pointed out the window to then-falling snow*

At that point, he offered to drive and we were off…

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 205 lbs; 1 set @ 185 lbs
• Bent-over Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Push-ups: 2 sets/15 reps
• Core (plank): 2 sets, 45 seconds

Pre-workout weight (morning): 181.0 lbs

And with that, the work day draws ever nearer to a close. Selah.

Tuesday – 27 October 2009
It is snowing in the Salt Lake greater metropolitan area today:

It’s not much (at the moment), but it’s still snow. With that in mind, the Council for Better Driving: Utah advises drivers to exercise caution when traveling.

Yesterday was a fairly lax day, as birthdays should be. The day ended with dinner with SaraRules and the in-laws, while watching Monday Night Football. It was a nominally better game than I expected.

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins
27 – 17
The Eagles brought a lot of pressure and seemed to completely flummox the ‘skins in the first half of the game. Washington Head Coach Jim Zorn also seemed a little… lost… on the sidelines; having play-calling duties removed from you will do that, I guess. In the second half, Washington QB Jason Campbell looked a bit better, making plays and completing passes… but still wasn’t able to seal the deal.

Stray Toasters

• My Silhouette SD should be arriving this afternoon. I should be putting it to work with new TerrainLinX bits by the end of the week, I imagine.
• From Comic Book Resources’ “Wonder of Wonders” column:
  • The 12 Triumphs of Wonder Woman Day
  • Star-Spangled Panties: You are what you wear.
• ‘Hot Mormon Muffins’ calendar pokes fun at stereotypes
• Why am I looking forward to tomorrow’s comics?  This could have something to do with it:

  

• Book: Rules for My Unborn Son
• Cities, volunteers fight blight caused by foreclosure crisis
• Northwest pilots’ “distraction” blamed in airport overshoot
• Netflix Coming to Sony PS3
• Church of Scientology convicted of fraud in France

It looks like we’re off to the gym.
In the snow, which has started to come down with a little more “oomph.”

Namaste.

Monday – 26 October 2009
That time of year has rolled around once again: It’s my birthday.  I just realized something, too: Not only does my birthday fall on a Monday this year, but I was born on a Monday.  Fortunately, I have had better luck than Solomon Grundy – this one, not this one… although I guess it’s really been better than either of them.

Once again, I have taken International Day off from work.  It’s been a good – though short, so far – day, as I slept in this morning. Way in. And it was good. Selah. I have no “big plans” for the day, aside from running a couple of errands. Tonight, we’re heading over to SaraRules’ parents’ for “Birthday Dinner 2: Electric Boogaloo” and Monday Night Football.

Yesterday, SaraRules and I had a low-key Sunday. We slept in. We watched football. We went to the grocery store. She made an excellent beef stew, served in bread bowls. Logan came over for dinner, after which we plugged in one of the VCRs (old school, that’s right!) and watched Event Horizon. I’d never seen the movie before; it wasn’t bad. After I had some time to think about it, I realized that aspects of Sunshine reminded me of this movie. Maybe it’s me; maybe it’s Maybelline.  *shrug* Either way, it was a decent movie.

After Logan left, I decided to watch another episode of Fringe. I’ve almost caught up with the regular broadcasts now; I think that I’m only one – maybe two – episodes back.

Instant Replay: Football Recap
It was an odd day of football. There were some good games, as well as some real sleep-inducers. More importantly, there are fewer undefeated teams than there were last week. Here’s how the day wound up:

New York Jets at Oakland Raiders
38 – 0
We didn’t see this game; maybe that was a “good” thing. Sorry, SaraRules.

.

Buffalo Bills at Carolina Panthers
20 – 9
Another game that we missed. And, once again, one that I think I’m glad that I didn’t see. Maybe the Panthers will be good again, someday…

.

New Orleans Saints at Miami Dolphins
46 – 34
Not even the Dolphins could bring me any joy this week. To their credit, they hung in there pretty well – keeping the lead, even – until the fourth quarter started. Then the Saints racked up twenty-two unanswered points. And that’s how you lose ball games. In today’s Boilermaker Watch: Mr. Brees threw for 298 yards in today’s win.

.

Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns
31 – 3
Another game that we didn’t get to see. Sorry, … but thanks for keeping us out of the bottom of the division!

.

Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers
17 – 27
This game we did watch. Wow.  Brett Favre and the Vikes dropped their first game to the Steelers. The game started off as a good contest, but the Vikings started making mistakes – fumbles and dropped passes – late in the game that cost them the win. Sorry, .

.

Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals
10 – 45
I didn’t see this game, but I had hoped that the Bears could pin an “L” on the Bengals. No such luck. Apparently, the Bengals – and more importantly, Cedric Benson – had a few things to prove the the boys from the Windy City. And they went about it in a big way. Congratulations to and .

Stray Toasters

• Thanks for all of the birthday wishes and good tidings!
  (There’s a lot of crosspollination between LJ and Facebook, it seems…)
• SaraRules woke up feeling poorly this morning. (Physically, not “Oh, no… it’s swine flu!”) Please send well-wishes her way.
• Listening, Party for Two: Ella Fitzgerald Live
• I used to be a fairly regular reader of The Gods of Arr-Kelaan. Then, it kind of fell of my daily radar. I now go back every few months and catch up on the story. Last night, I stumbled across this strip, which made me chuckle, especially the middle and last rows of panels:

  

• Reversing the brain impairments caused by sleeplessness
• World’s smallest working model train set unveiled
• I should probably try to avoid The Apple Store, Best Buy, The Garden of Sweden and Toys ‘R’ Us today…
• Detroit house auction flops for urban wasteland

He gets right on to
The friction of the day…

Namaste.

Sunday – 25 October 2009
So far, it’s been a lazy, football-watching day around here.  That’s not a bad thing for a Sunday.

Yesterday, after a bit of cleaning, straightening and rearranging, SaraRules and I went to the local Outback Restaurant with a couple of the in-laws and a handful of friends for my pre-birthday dinner. While the food was good, I was a little disappointed with the service – mainly because for eighteen people, they only gave us one (1) waitress. Granted, we were her only table, but she seemed a little overwhelmed.  To her credit, she seemed to try her best to be available and maintain a friendly disposition.  It was just unfortunate that management didn’t give her a little backup.

After dinner, most everyone came back here for cake – a Devil’s Food cake with cream cheese frosting, both made by SaraRules from scratch – and ice cream. We sat around, ate and chatted for a couple of hours. All said, it was a good way to spend the evening.

Today, we’re heading up to Doughnut Falls for a hike. Other than that… who knows?

Stray Toasters

• The Ravens have a bye week. I’m watching the Vikings take on the Steelers. I’m really hoping that the Vikings can pull off a win against the Steelers… which, given Favre’s fumble that was just loped in for a TD by Woodley, looks like it might not happen.
• Ratification of the Magna Carter: Is Jay-Z the Greatest MC Alive?
• Hobby Lobby apparently hates me. They put their train sets on sale this week. Granted, it’s a safe bet that they’ll go on sale again. And, of course, there’s the whole matter of “Where would I put one, if I got it?”  But, it’s the principle of the matter.
• DJ Spooky delivers keynote address at MICA’s Transformations: New Directions in Black Art
• 
• Last night, SaraRules and I watched “Menace of the Music Meister,” Friday’s episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. While it showcased Neil Patrick Harris’ singing voice, the episode on the whole was a disappointment, especially the lyrics. They were… trite, at best. The episode was almost painful to watch.
• Percy Harvin just ran back a kickoff for a Vikings touchdown.
• Love, 1962 American High School Style
• …and after a great drive, Pittsburgh just picked off a tipped pass and ran it back for a touchdown.  Wow.
• The Biggest LEGO Mario Ever Built is available for bid on eBay.

Namaste.

Saturday – 24 October 2009
Today’s been a good – and somewhat busy – day around here.

So far we’ve had breakfast (pancakes!) and watched the first half of the Illinois-Purdue game, run some errands, done some cleaning – including the storage closet(!), SaraRules is baking a cake, I’m trying to wrangle the office into usable shape once again. In a little bit, we’re heading out for Errands II: Electric Boogaloo… which includes a trip to The Garden of Sweden. And tonight, we’re heading out to dinner for my birthday.

Stray Toasters

• The Boilermakers beat the Illini, 24-14. That makes me smile.
• I have a couple of new icons:

  and 

• An F-16 and a couple of F-22s were flying over the valley earlier. My guess is that it was in advance of today’s Air Force/Utah game. (And… I just had this confirmed.)
• Dioramas “captured” from nature
• I need to get back into HALO 3 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.  And CoH, once they fix the cursor glitch.
• DodgeDot (iPhone game)
• NASA Releases Cool, Free iPhone App

Time to get back to it.

Namaste.

Friday – 23 October 2009
It’s my prerogative… 9/80 “on” Friday.
That means that it’s vewwy, vewwy qwiet around here.
I might just have to break out the DreamCast in a little while…

::: lunch break :::

I went to lunch with Paul (Boss⁺¹).
Five Guys.
Good.
Filling.
Nearly food coma-inducing.

It was still quiet when we got back.  That was good.  I’m getting a 3-day weekend, as Monday is International Robert Neal Day… and I’m taking the day off. So, all things considered: Win.

Stray Toasters

• I still want to build one of these someday. You know, when I have a yard.  And some woodworking equipment. And a welder. And… And… And…
  • I was discussing this in a chat… which, in turn, led to today’s Quote of the Day (below).
• I could pretty much add all of the stuff from this site to the O-Scale Railroad/HeroClix Covet List.
• Woman with dystonia can only walk backwards
• I stumbled across Bowling for Sandercoe on Oblong Pictures last night; I thought it was amusing:

• posted a link to Prince Armory earlier. Nice stuff… nice, spendy stuff.
• From the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Ice skating bear kills Russian circus hand
• I watched part of Whose Line Is It Anyway? last night for the first time in… in… well, let’s just say “a long time.” They did “Greatest Hits” as one of the sketches; as usual, Colin Mochrie made it fun:

• The Creepiest Thing You’ll Ever See

Quote of the Day
The aforementioned BattleMech conversation:

[12:36]     Ahpuc: r0b: Better not have an HOA when you have a yard. They are bitchy about cool stuff like that.
[12:37]     r0b: “What part of ‘rocket launcher’ and ‘flamethrower’ did you not understand, Mr (or Ms) HOA President?”
[12:38]     r0b: ….as I power up the weapon systems.
[12:38]     r0b: 😀
[12:38]     r0b: Wait.
[12:38]     r0b: That leads to “terrorist action” police reports.
[12:38]     r0b: Hm.
[12:38]     Ahpuc: Not just that, but if YOU can do it, so can your neighbors.
[12:38]     r0b: Have to remember to install trap doors and cells.
[12:38]     Ahpuc: I mean, sure, you can be trusted with an operational battle-mech. but what about the jerkoff who can’t even be bothered to mow his lawn noce a month?
[12:38]     r0b: Well, DUH!   Then we could have a full lance of ‘Mechs.
[12:39]     r0b: Think about it.
[12:39]     Ahpuc: You think he will remember to rotate the rocket propellant and service the engines?
[12:39]     r0b: If he can’t deign to mow, what is the workmanship of the mech going to be like?
[12:39]     r0b: *power on*
[12:39]     r0b: *SPLODE*
[12:39]     r0b: -problem solved-
[12:39]     Ahpuc: Then he gets methed up one night, tries to use it to shoot an invisible cat that is inside his left eyelid, and blows up the whole neighborhood.
[12:39]     Ahpuc: Property values rapidly decline.
[12:40]     r0b: Okay… you might have a point with that one.
[12:40]     r0b: “Miles doesn’t know it, but we’ve secretly switched his rocket propellant with decaf!  Let’s see what happens…”
[12:40]     Ahpuc: This is the problem I have with the “right to bear arms” branch of the libertarians…They all think THEY should be able to have RPGs if they can afford them, but they don’t think through the implications when it comes to the average retard.
[12:42]     r0b: Hm.  So maybe I shouldn’t start with a Mech.  Maybe I should just start with Elemental armor, instead.
[12:43]     Ahpuc: How about you start with a bomb shelter?
[12:43]     r0b: Of course, finding someone 8′ tall to pilot it might be a bit difficult.
[12:43]     Ahpuc: Cause then you can do whatever you want indside it without the neighbros seeing.
[12:43]     r0b: Bomb shelter…. Mech Bay….
[12:43]     r0b: It’s “same brand, different flavor,” isn’t it really?
[12:46]     Ahpuc: If they neighbors cannot see inside, call it whatever you want.
[12:46]     Ahpuc: “Now that I have a shed up, with power, I need to put a lattice around the bottom to cover the “crawlspace” thing.”

Namaste.

Thursday – 22 October 2009
Another NBN Thursday kicks off in the valley.

It was a slow-starting morning, though. After sleeping poorly two nights ago, I slept reasonably well last night, but I did wake up a couple of times, for no apparent reason. Once I woke up, I wasn’t in a “get up and go” kind of mood, so I was rather lazy and slow about getting ready for work. And, as the cherry on top of it all: I cut myself shaving. On the back of my head. It didn’t hurt much; it was more of a “Really…?  Really?!? *sigh*” kind of thing.  And, it’s going to make the next few mornings’ shaving less-than-fun. Yay.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to a Cub Scout fundraiser that Mr. and Mrs. were part of. It was a fun change of pace. They had grilled chicken skewers, rice and salad as the main course and there were baked goods, too. They had games for the kids and there was even a jungle-themed photo board where you could have your pictures taken.

Once we got back home, I decided to catch up on episodes of Fringe that I’ve missed. I watched the last two episodes from last season and this season’s premiere. Good stuff.

Stray Toasters

• Even though no one else went to sushi yesterday, I did.
• Rules of Thumb
• SaraRules just pointed this out: The Counter restaurant closes at The Gateway.  That’s a shame.
• OnStar Ends First Police Chase
  I’d heard about this last week, but had forgotten about it… until I saw a commercial about it last night:

• ‘Black Dynamite’ pays homage to blaxploitation films
• The Weekly Crisis: A Collection of Random Thoughts, Vol. 17
• Boom De Yada… Boom De Yada….

  I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.

  Based on the I Love the Internet comic from xkcd.com

And now… meetings! Yay!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 21 Oct0ber 2009
Midweek and all appears to be well.

And it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday, to boot.

Last night was my night to cook dinner. I pondered the issue all day and came up with “Fish…” as an idea. Then I came to the realization: I’ve never cooked fish – other than Van de Camp’s fish fillets or fish sticks – before and I wasn’t sure that SaraRules wanted to play guinea pig. So, I went with chicken instead. I made a dry rub, put it in a plastic bag, tossed the chicken in the bag to season it and threw the pieces of chicken in the oven.  Then I went to work on the rest of dinner: Green beans, cooked in chicken broth, and pasta (angel hair and thin spaghetti). When the chicken came out of the oven, it smelled good. It tasted good, too… at least my piece did. SaraRules had gotten a piece that was VERY heavily seasoned and was very salty. Looking at it, I realized that she had gotten the first piece of chicken to which I had applied the rub; it got the lion’s share of the dry spices, despite my attempts to remove most of them. She ate it quietly, suffering in silence. I traded pieces of chicken with her, as mine was nowhere near as salty-tasting as hers. That seemed to go over better. Other than that, it was a good dinner, though. I just need to remember to watch out for the first piece of meat that gets seasoned with a dry rub next time…

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules and – Dolly Parton: NPR Staffers Celebrate ‘Dolly’
• If you ever wonder what “Fighting for freedom” means, take a listen to this testimony from an 86-year-old World War II veteran, speaking at a public meeting on Maine’s marriage equality bill:

  He wins today’s “Human of the Day” award.

• Turtles prefer ‘city life’
  Of course, this isn’t exactly news, as we have long known about sewer-dwelling, pizza-eating ninja turtles.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Yahoo hires lap-dancers to entertain at its open, inclusive Hack Day event
  Be sure to click through the links at the bottom of the article (before the comments)
• Vatican welcomes Anglicans into Catholic Church
• Amelia Earhart: Pioneer of Style
• From xkcd: “More Accurate”

  

• has an interesting take on “a fundamental difference between Australians and Americans.”
• Essential plot twists for writers
• Bionic Eye Opens New World of Sight for Blind

Hm… it looks like it’s just going to be “Comics Wednesday.”  Oh, well.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 20 October 2009
This morning is rather grey and dreary… but it’s also without precipitation, so far. I think that maybe – just maybe – Fall weather has (finally) settled in over Utah.

Last night was a quiet evening in. There was football and a horror movie, 30 Days of Night. According to SaraRules and Reverend Tom:

“The goal isn’t just to watch ‘good’ horror movies or ‘bad’ horror movies; the goal is to watch ALL horror movies.”

And, after all: It’s October, the month made for horror movies. Or something like that.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym today:

• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/12 reps, 120 lbs
• Dips: 3 sets/10 reps

Pre-workout weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Instant Replay: Football
Last night’s match-up between the Denver Broncos and Sandy Eggo Chargers wound up being more of a slugfest than I had originally expected:

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
34 – 23
Any game where you have three (3) kicks/punts run back for touchdowns is a good game… especially when both teams get in on the action.  This game was not an exception to that. It was a definite back-and-forth struggle, until the Chargers started fumbling the ball in the second half. After that, Denver forged ahead and never looked back. All-in-all it was a good game, from start to finish.

After the Patriots’ 59 – 0 beat down of the Titans on Sunday, I decided to look up a couple of football facts:

1. Highest-scoring game in NFL history: November 27, 1966, when the Washington Redskins defeated New York Giants 72-41
2. Widest margin of victory in NFL history: December 8, 1940, in the NFL Championship Game, the Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0

So…at least the Titans don’t have the distinction of “the worst loss ever.” That’s gotta count for something, right? But, on the other hand, the Redskins have the (dubious) distinction of being part of the both the highest-scoring and widest margin of victory games… which qualifies them for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file.

Stray Toasters

• Apple unveils new hotness
• At the centre of time – A look at the Greenwich Prime Meridian
• Car seats can be dangerous outside the car
• How forensics use Photoshop to find missing children
• NASA’s rocket roll-out complete
• How do you solve a problem like IKEA?
• From Threadless: The Horde t-shirt
• Chillits 2009 ambient music mixes online

Okay…. lunch beckons.

Namaste.

Monday – 19 October 2009
Another week begins… and this one is starting off in shades of grey. Apparently, there was even a bit of morning lightning (!lightening) to accompany the clouds. I, however, was wandering around The Dreaming, so I missed it. And I’m alright with that, to be honest.

Yesterday was a good day, despite the Ravens’ loss, which I’ll get to in a minute. Following that game, SaraRules and I headed out to pick up a couple of things that we needed to go with dinner. Logan came over and we started watching the Patriots blow out the Titans. When that became boring – it didn’t take long at all – we decided to watch a movie, instead. We watched Rec, the Spanish movie upon which Quarantine was based.

Too bad we didn’t see this one first – it was a better film, on the whole… despite the fact that Quarantine almost lifted the entire movie shot-for-shot. Although, had we seen Rec first, I think that we might have been let down by how derivative Quarantine was.

After the movie, I started dinner – spaghetti with sauce I made. We ate and watched the Bears-Falcons game. Logan left after the first half; I half-heartedly watched the second.  Later, I decided to play a little City of Heroes. I logged in… and discovered that my cursor decided to reset its location whenever I tried to click on people or objects. Hmm. I logged out and hit the forums. Sure enough, it’s a known issue with Mac clients – it started with the live roll-out of Issue 16. *sigh* So, no City for me until it’s fixed. Around this time, SaraRules decided to watch a movie; she selected 28 Weeks Later. Good choice.

Instant Replay: Football Recap
The games of the weekend shook out this way:

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings
31 – 33
I don’t know exactly what Coach Harbaugh said to the team at halftime, but the second half of this game turned into an actual football game. Even though the running game was still “off,” Joe Flacco started making passes down the field. Receivers ran their routes. Points were scored – including three TDs in the fourth quarter – and there was much rejoicing. The game came down to a field goal attempt by Steve Hauschka, which went wide to the left. It was a disappointing way to lose, after such an amazing comeback, but I am happy with the way the Ravens played the game… at least, the second half of it. Congrats, .

.

Philadelphia Eagles at Oakland Raiders
9 – 13
The Raiders won. Wait… let me make sure I got that right. Yep. That’s not a typo. The Raiders hosted the Eagles and won the game. Huh.  Miracles really do happen, I guess. Congrats, SaraRules.

.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers
14 – 27
Ben Roethlisberger and company handed the Browns another loss. Sorry, .

.

Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals
28 – 17
The Texans went to Ohio and rode herd on the Bengals. Sorry, and .

.

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
28 – 21
The Panthers were able to hang on against the Bucs and eke out a win.

Added Bonus – Boilermaker Watch: Drew Brees

New York Giants at New Orleans Saints
27 – 48
Former Boilermaker Drew Brees and the Saints went marchin’ in on the Giants yesterday.  Brees threw for 369 yards and went 23/30 on the day, as the Saints go 5-0 in the NFC South.

Stray Toasters

• Why All The Wonder Woman Hate?
• All-male college cracks down on cross-dressing
• just discovered to joy of Badass of the Week this morning.
• Rosie the Riveter bookends
• Amiga and Hyperion Settle Ownership of AmigaOS
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man finds missile launcher in Comal County
• They Shoot Porn Stars, Don’t They (Not too surprisingly, this contains some NSFW content)

Namaste.

Sunday – 18 October 2009
This morning has been quiet and lazy. I was up at 0900 and decided to start the day. And I did. I made my way into the living room and started watching TV. USA was airing episodes of Psych; I was set.

And now I’m watching the Ravens struggle against the Vikings:

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings
3 – 14 (halftime)
Man… I was not looking forward to this game, but still… Minnesota scoring 14 points in the first quarter… almost at will? Baltimore not being able to come up with an effective mid-range defense?  Didn’t see that coming. Hopefully, the Ravens will be able to find the end zone in the second half.

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday was a good – and busy – day. It started off with some cleaning. Yeah, I know, not the most awesome start to a day, but things needed to get done. Around noon, Kenneth – one of my coworkers – brought two of his kids over to do some sidewalk chalk art with us. We also played Freeze Tag(!), which was the first time I’ve done that in many, many, MANY years. It was a lot of fun… but seriously tiring.

After Kenneth and the kids left, SaraRules and I ran some errands… including getting some things we needed for this year’s Hallowe’en costumes. We then stopped for a bite to eat before heading off to get a little culture.

Utah Opera staged Macbeth. The performance was excellent. The set design. The costuming. The vocalists. It was top-notch, all the way around. After the opera, we went to the Vivace after-party, which was fun – I haven’t been to a Vivace event in four or five years. Last night’s event was at The New Yorker; I hadn’t been there before. It’s someplace that will be added to the “We should check them out for dinner sometime” list.

> Play >
I don’t know what’s on tap for the rest of the day, but I’m Ivory Soap sure that it’s going to be low-key.

Namaste.