Random Access

Thursday – 02 September 2010
Another NBN Thursday kicks off.
And it also kicks off a four-day weekend, as today is my “Technical Friday.”
Maybe I’ll leave a little early to get a jump on the long weekend…

Today also marks the anniversary of the first use of an ATM in the United States.

Last night was Game Night with melodywise and Jack and company. It was fun, but our party got our collective recta handed to us, for the most part. Not zesty. We survived, but it was touch-and-go for a while.

After the game – and a stop at Home Depot, to pick up a hacksaw – I headed home and read the day’s four-color haul. It was a good way to wrap up the day.

Stray Toasters

• The art of James Hance
• Leaders Call for Peace as Mideast Talks Begin
• I just found out that a coworker of mine – one whom I like – is… a Steelers fan.
  I’m not sure if we can be friends anymore.
• I Lost 100 Pounds (And Found Out What the World Thinks of Fat People)
• Tony Blair on Clinton, Bush and the American Character
  

  Americans can be all that the rest of the world sometimes accuses them of: brash, loud, insular, obsessive and heavy-handed. But America is great for a reason. It is looked up to, despite all the criticism, for a reason. There is a nobility in the American character that has been developed over the centuries, derived in part, no doubt, from the frontier spirit, from the waves of migration that form the stock, from the circumstances of independence, from the Civil War, from a myriad of historical facts and coincidences. But it is there.

• New River Gorge Bridge attraction not for the faint of heart
• 35 New Hidden Logos of 2010 – Messages Revealed!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Trapped Chilean Miners Denied Pay While Underground
• 
• Young, Single & Childless: Women Who Earn More Than Men
• Fall Clothing for Men: 21 of Your Most Pressing Fall Style Problems, Solved
• F.C.C. Seeks More Input on Wireless Internet Rules
• Annihilating the Ivories: A Solo Piano Workout Mix

Meetings! Yay!

Namaste.

Current Mood:  good

Wednesday – 01 September 2010
A new month begins.

Today is Comics (and maybe Sushi) Wednesday.

Today also marks the 36th anniversary of the The SR-71 Blackbird setting the record for flying from New York to London in the time of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds… a record it still holds.

Last night, most of the Clitorati crew met at Desert Edge Brewery for dinner with gazehound, Michael and Hannah. It was a nice to see her – and meet Michael and Hannah – even if only for a couple hours. I had the Paella-style Chicken and Sausage Pasta, which was very good.

This morning finds me in the south office. I had a meeting with the landlord and the sbuilding manager about some changes that we’d like to make in our server room. I mentioned two ideas that we had considered; they countered with a variation on one of those plans… that might be somewhat less expensive than we had originally thought. We’ll see how their quote looks when it comes in.

Stray Toasters

• I broke out my grey glen-plaid suit this morning. White shirt. Blue/black/white tie. White pocket square. I’ve been getting the usual “Are you bucking for a raise/promotion” questions. I’ve been countering with “No, I have a meeting with my bishop.” The quizzical looks – since pretty much everyone down here knows that I’m not LDS – have been totally worth it.
• zeeke knew that I’ll probably never be a Browns or Indians fan… but I can give their home city a warm nod, if for no other reason than this: Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman
• Lovecraft is missing, and all R’lyeh breaks loose
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: NFL player Troy Polamalu gets $1m hair insurance
• Chewbacca, Han Solo and R2D2 drawn as if part of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh
• In New York Ballet Companies, Corps Is a Thrill
• I like how this garage-to-office conversion turned out.
• 
• Wesley Snipes Was Almost Geordi LaForge
• After Years of War, Few Iraqis Have a Clear View of the Future
• The Wilderness Downtown - this comes by way of melodywise. It is a very cool blending of technologies. Put in the real address that it asks for – it’s totally worth it. And don’t close any of the windows that pop up!
• 8 Surprising Household Deodorizers
• Method to Grade Teachers Provokes Battles

Namaste.

Thursday – 26 August 2010
It’s Thursday. I was informed of something that might push the day outside of the “NBN” envelope. That – coupled with who told me and what they told me – bring the phrase “People suck” quickly to mind… and serves as a reminder that some people practically beg to be curb-stomped.

Despite this, I shall try to maintain an NBN Thursday state of mind.
(As opposed to a New York State of Mind.)

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Pawit’s Royale Thai for dinner. As always, the food was very good. We started with their Por Pia Sod spring rolls (most excellent) and I had Pad Thai for my entree, while SaraRules had a salad whose name escapes me.

After dinner, it was back home for couch-time with comics! Yesterday’s haul was pretty good. I am really enjoying Justice League: Generation Lost, a “reunion” of sorts of the Justice League International. Another good storyline has been the new Wonder Woman. J. Michael Straczynski has done a good job of reinventing the character (even if people aren’t fond of her new costume). And the Legion made two appearances this month — in their own title and also in Superman/Batman #75.

After reading about superheroes, I went back to work on my HeroClix Wonder Woman mod. The new figure from The Brave and the Bold is… boring:

(gallery bb-figure-018)

So, I decided to try and make something a little more… dynamic.  I’m combining two figures:

Phantom Girl, from the Legion of Super-Heroes Starter Set

(gallery ls-figure-005)

…and Mary Marvel, from Crisis:

(gallery cr-figure-041)

I should (hopefully) have pictures to share of the finished product soon.

Stray Toasters

• Blogging and Tweeting, Egyptians Push for Change
• Jo Chen’s Wonder Woman Pencils from Her Mystery Project Astound
• Trader Joe’s: Successful, but Secretive
• Looking at Islamic Center Debate, World Sees U.S.
• The best way to get back at your superhero ex: Become a supervillain

(Plan B, by Mitz)

• I like this layout.
• Tutorial: Creating a Retro Sci-Fi Poster
• Interview with “Love and Capes” creator, Thom Zahler
• Sci-fi movie posters from an alternate universe
• It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned him, but I really like Brian Bolland’s artwork. Check out this cover he did for the upcoming Zatanna #5:

• “Wheelchair of Death”
• Geek Art Loves Daniel Clark
• And another work emergency arises.  I think that we understand the problem, now it’s just a matter of arriving at a solution.

Time to save the world… again.

Namaste

Tuesday – 24 August 2010
aLast night, SaraRules and I went to her parents’ house for dinner (homemade chicken pot pie = WIN!) and football: Arizona Cardinals at Tennessee Titans. For a preseason game, it was a pretty good game… if you’re a Tennessee fan. They worked on both sides of the ball. And worked well. Vince Young looked good in the game, much more composed and poised in the pocket and able to make decent connections with his backs and receivers. They’ll be a team to watch this season.

On the other side of the field, the Cardinals still looked like a team trying to figure out who they are without Kurt Warner. Matt Leinart couldn’t get anything going in the three series that he played. Former Cleveland QB Derek Anderson looked decent, but wasn’t able to put together a scoring drive either. Former BYU QB Max Hall looked rather solid and put together the Cards’ only TD-scoring drive. It will be interesting to see how the team fares with their star receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, back in the game after his knee heals.

After the game, SaraRules and I headed home and wound up the evening with a couple of episodes of Mad Men. We are both enjoying the show quite a bit.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
I have had a couple of teachers and administrators in the family and a few of my close friends are teachers, as well. Teachers often get blamed for all of the ills – perceived and actual – in the halls of our schools, but seldom get the credit for trying to do the right thing for their students. (Drive to Overhaul Low-Performing Schools Delayed, NYTimes) I have both heard and seen first-hand how they deal with students and some of their students’ issues.

Case in point: I was talking with one of these friends earlier and he gave me the Cliff’s Notes version of one of the problems a student of his was facing — it was more “mountain” than “mole hill.” He told me that the student wound up literally crying over the situation.

What many people don’t realize is that teachers – at least the ones that I consider “good teachers” – don’t just shut out their students when the afternoon bell rings. They don’t just see their jobs as ending when the last school bus pulls out of the lot. They get involved. They do what they can to be supportive of their students. In short: They care.

If only more people cared about the teachers and administrators who spend time with their children…

Workout
I have no idea what yesterday’s step count was, as I broke the pedometer as I was heading home from work. Bah. I might have to look into getting another one.

Stray Toasters

• I would ask if it’s too early for office monkeys… but I don’t think that there’s such a thing as “too early” where they are concerned. Unfortunately.
• I discovered this song, by Cee Lo yesterday. It’s definitely NSFW, but it is also pretty damned good:
• Scant Progress in Effort on Old Racial Killings
  

  “Everybody put me on the back burner for years and years,” said Mr. Allen’s son, Henry C. Allen, 65. He had hoped the cold case initiative would change things, but said the response has been slow. He said the legwork had been done. “Here’s the people you can contact, here’s their phone number, here’s their address,” he said. “I don’t have the authority to go knock on their door, but you do — and it still don’t get done.”

• By way of Nyx: Koala survives highway ride wedged in car
• Why Coffee Is Getting More Expensive
• Of Mosques and Men: a new Liberty Street message
• lightning != lightening
  • light·ning (noun)
    1: the flashing of light produced by a discharge of atmospheric electricity; also : the discharge itself

    2: a sudden stroke of fortune

  • light·en (verb)
    light·ened | light·en·ing
    1: to make light or clear : illuminate
    2: archaic : enlighten
    3: to make (as a color) lighter
• 
• 1980s T-shirts
• Another addition to The Covet List: WorldWorksGames’ Mayhem: Under Construction
• New Orleans Levees Nearly Ready, but Mistrusted
• A couple of songs about a certain midwestern state:
  • Rockapella: Indiana
  • Jackson Five: Goin’ Back to Indiana
• Nordstrom Links Online Inventory to Real World

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 August 2010
Midweek. And that means Comics (and Sushi) Wednesday!

Yesterday afternoon, I called a local sporting goods store to see if they’d be able to do a quick turnaround on tuning up my bike. Yeah, the one that I haven’t ridden in about two years. They said that as long as I could have it there by 1000 this morning, that I could get it back this evening. It was in their store a little after 1800 yesterday. The clerk also told me that, aside from new tubes, it looked like it only needed a minor tune-up. Win!

SaraRules’ sister, Meliko, got into town last night. SaraRules and I stopped by the in-laws’ to visit with her  - and the in-laws – for a while.

The evening finished up with ice cream and an episode of Mad Men… which really isn’t a bad way to wind up a day.

There was just a major accident on the freeway outside of our building; I got a few pictures of the aftermath.  The Council for Better Driving would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to please be careful when on the roadways.

Workout
Tuesday’s step count: 5, 546

Stray Toasters

• Guess who was just given his first project to manage…
• Depending on how you look at it, August is either a good or a bad month to be a geek with hobbies. The Covet List is chock full o’ goodies:
  • The Lionel Chessie System Merger Special train set that I wanted came out this month.
  • City of Heroes: Going Rogue came out yesterday
  • The Watchmen HeroClix Collector’s Box Set comes out… next week, I think.
  • The Phoenix and Dark Phoenix Bishoujo statues come out… either today or next Wednesday.
  • The DC Direct Blackest Night Series 5 figures come out next week.

  Mr. Sulu, set phasers wallets on “Empty!”

• Given Money, Schools Wait on Rehiring Teachers
• 
• Canned in Washington, Jim Zorn ‘feels fortunate’ to join Ravens
  I liked his response to/interpretation of the situation:

  Looking back on his “learning experiences” without being specific, Zorn said he wished he could’ve changed some things while having no regrets on other issues. He added that he just learned to deal with circumstances as they came.

  “You just get fired, thank you very much, and you move on,” he said. “I really think that’s the way we have to handle it, or we could go sit in our rooms for a few weeks and mope and feel sorry for ourselves.

  “It’s not the way life is, really. We’re called to handle difficult situations as well as glorious situations. That’s the way life is.”

• Reviving ‘The Peony Pavilion’ with Modern Shading
• U.S. Army’s new camouflage debuts
• A Film Unfinished - Yael Hersonski Revisits a Nazi Film of the Warsaw Ghetto
• End to COBRA subsidy means higher health insurance bills

Namaste.

Thursday – 12 August 2010
Not only is it an NBN Thursday…
But there’s an NFL preseason game tonight…

The Baltimore Ravens take on the Carolina Panthers, in Baltimore.
As these are my #1 and #2 teams, this comes out as a “Win-Win” for me.

vs. 

Additionally, The Wizard of Oz was released on this date, in 1939.

SaraRules and I, along with her parents, attended the “Epic Dining” at MacCool’s last night. There was a five-course meal, in which each course was paired with a beer from Epic Brewing:

The whole evening was great.  We sat that the table with Dave and Peter, co-owners of Epic, Dave’s wife, Susan and Michael, Peter’s assistant. We got to talk with them about how they decided to start brewing beer, what they enjoyed about it, and whatever else popped into our heads. It was a great evening, with good company and a fantastic dinner. Pictures of the courses – minus the salad, because I neglected to shoot it before devouring it – can be found here.

Just as dinner wrapped up, I got a call from one of the guys on my team: He had been receiving notifications from a wetness sensor in one of the cooling units. This would make the third time in under three months. Not good. As I was closer to the office than he was, I told him that I’d check it out. And with that, SaraRules and I headed left MacCool’s and headed to the office.

When I got there, I took the front panel off of the unit in question and looked inside. Nothing.

::: grblsnrkx :::

I removed the rear panel and checked there. Nothing.

::: braincramp :::

I went back to the front and looked again… just in case I had missed something. This time, I noticed the remnants of a splash of a water droplet next to the sensor cord. I checked the cord itself — it was damp. Okay, this was progress. The only problem: I couldn’t find any sign of a leak or spill. Upon further investigation, I noted that one of the copper pipes was damp with condensation… and it took a bend just above the splash point. Apparently, enough there had been condensation to form a drop and landed next to/on the wetness sensor cord. It was enough for the sensor to register, but not enough to cause a problem – other than sending out alters – that would affect the unit’s operation. Disaster: Averted.

Back home for comfy pants and comics-reading time.

Workout
Wednesday’s step count: 4,649

Stray Toasters

• JetBlue: Sometimes the weird news is about us…
• In Superman’s Hometown, a Labor Dispute over Health
• With a Google Map, You Can Find Doctors Behaving Badly
• 9/11 museum going up underground in New York City
• LEGO Universe is apparently releasing a Beta Client for Mac. Tomorrow.
• Shopkick can lead you to discounts and sales
• 
• Quick Change in Strategy for a Bookseller
• Five Years Later, The Big Easy Pushes Forward
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: City of Beacon, NY enforces archaic law outlawing pinball, closes retro arcade
• gd

Wednesday – 11 August 2010
Mid-week and all’s well.
It’s Comics and possibly-Sushi Wednesday.

Last night, Chris, Jeremiah and Sinister came over to play ‘Clix. (Yeah, I know… what a concept!) Our theme for the game was “War of Light,” based on the “Blackest Night” storyline from DC Comics’ Green Lantern titles.  Chris and I played the Sinestro and Green Lantern Corps, respectively, while Jeremiah and Sinister played the Black Lanterns. For some reason, we thought that 1200 points per player was a good idea. And we also thought that starting (theoretically) at 7:00 was a good idea. We didn’t really get under way until 9-ish… and wrapped up somewhere around 12:30 this morning. We just called the game, but I think that if we tallied up points, Chris and I were ahead… but the other guys played one Hell of a game. And, it was a lot of fun. Pictures of the game can be seen here.

Workout
Tuesday’s step count: 4,633

Stray Toasters

• Tonight is the Epic Brewery Dinner at MacCool’s. SaraRules and I are going with the in-laws. If it’s anywhere on the level of the Guinness dinner from a few weeks ago, it should be fantastic.
• Letter from a freed man to his former slave owner
• I’m not a Twitter user, but found this article interesting: How black people use Twitter
• City of Heroes: Going Rogue comes out on Tuesday.



• Last week, Comic Book Resources’ “Comics Should Be Good” column asked for submissions of Disney-Marvel crossovers. This week, they posted some of the submissions — and they are good. Check them out here.
• This had me literally laughing out loud… and then sharing it with the rest of my team, when they came over to see what was up: Soul-Toons
• Another cooling unit’s pump appears to have gone out in our server room.  This would be (more)  understandable… if the units were more than a year old!
• Anti-terrorist hotline ad banned for being ‘insensitive’
• By way of Brad Guigar (Evil, Inc.): 



• My Day of “Dreckoning”
• Literary Destinations: Five Books to Help You Escape

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from last night’s game.  Attacked by two Black Lanterns, my Ganthet evaded an attack from BL Superman and shrugged off part of an attack from BL Martian Manhunter.  Jeremiah looked at Ganthet’s dial and saw that he was still ready to rumble. Rolling his eyes, he muttered:

“Stupid Ganthet…”

…and considered options for trying to remove him from the game. (Didn’t happen, just for the record.)

Namaste.

Thursday – 05 August 2010
Today…
…aside from being NBN Thursday…
…and aside from the Rush concert being tonight…
…is also the birthday of two of my friends – Christine and Land:

Last night, I played D&D (4E) with Jack at Hastur Hobbies. It was fun. No one died during the encounter… although a couple of characters came close. We even had a couple of new players in the group — one of whom, with his near-encyclopedic knowledge of some rules minutiae, reminded me of Brad or Chris.

Workout
Wednesday’s step count: 5,068

Stray Toasters

• Froyo 2.2… I am learning to both love and hate you.
  • Google CEO: 200,000 Android devices sold each day
• Meetings.  YAY!
• Ethics training. Double YAY!
• 
• Zombie Survival Scanner (iPhone app)
• WizKids/NECA posted a new “Web of Spider-Man” figure preview last night: Wolverine
• MarknTyme sent me a link to this video last night:
• Today is apparently National Underwear Day.  Who knew…?!
  • How to Choose Comfortable Underwear
• Video Game Hall of Fame inducting Pac-Man and pals
  • Five Disturbing Truths about Mario Games
• Critical flaws discovered in widely used embedded OS

No, his mind is not for rent…

Namaste.

Current Mood:  hungry

Monday – 02 August 2010
Hello, work week… we meet again.

It seems that, for the most part, the network switchover has worked pretty well. There have been some hiccups this morning – that were neither PEBCAK or ID-10-T errors – but those are to be expected. We even uncovered the mystery behind a long-running/long-forgotten problem with one office’s wiring. We’ll see what the rest of the day brings.

Yesterday was a good day, all-around. SaraRules and I went to the gym for a much-needed workout. Later we met up with suzie_lightning, everydave and tofer1977 to see Salt. The movie was reminiscent of the Jason Bourne movies… but with Angelina Jolie. It was a good popcorn flick.

After the movie, we went back home for a while and then headed to Logan and Sanaz’ place for dinner. They prepared an excellent meal of stuffed peppers, quinoa (with almond slivers and Craisins) and bread topped with a homemade olive butter.

Back at home, SaraRules and I finally got around to watching The Wild Bunch, which I’ve had for “a while,” from Netflix. It was a good movie… but, as SaraRules noted: It’s a movie with out clear and distinct “good guys” or “bad guys.” Yes, all of the major characters had motivations and seemed to be fairly-well defined, but “morals” and “ethics” for most seemed to have been left by the wayside. It was also a LONG movie, clocking in at nearly 2.5 hours. But, it was definitely worth seeing at least once.

Workout

• Elliptical: 10 minutes/ avg. speed: 5.5 MPH
• Leg Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Glutes: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 1 set @ 135 lbs
  • 2 sets @ 155 lbs
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Tricep Press (t-bar): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Core (plank): 3 sets/30 seconds

Sunday’s step count: 5,419

Stray Toasters

• Jonathan Coulton: Code Monkey

  
  (video by spiffworld)

• Things to look forward to this week:
  • Rush concert
  • Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture concert at the Deer Valley Music Festival
  • 9/80 Friday off!!!
  • Gaming
• By way of SaraRules: Does Language Influence Culture?
• For SaraRules: Biggie Smalls: The Voice That Influenced a Generation
• Sally Ride Science Academy aims to make kids starry-eyed
• I ran into a problem with LEGO Universe yesterday. As a test, I created a new Minifigure so that I could see if it encountered a similar behavior. Lo and behold, as soon as the new Minifig got to the same point, the same problem occurred. Feh.
• iPad, other high-tech gadget trends differ by region
• Sorry…. teleconference.

Namaste.

Sunday – 01 August 2010
“Summer’s going fast…”
It seems as though July just started, and now we are beginning August.

Yesterday was also Ms. suzie_lightning‘s birthday.

Friday, was Day 5 of The Great Network Conversion. By the end of the (very long) day, it seems as though most things were in order. There was a lot of “hurry up and wait” involved, as we were awaiting some configuration to be completed at the home office. That didn’t help with the “longest day ever” feeling. Just before we left for the day, SaraRules dropped by the office, with a caramel mocha in-hand. (Have I mentioned ‘Coolest Wife Ever,’ recently?) By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was come home and take a nap. And that’s exactly what I did… and then it was off to gather with the rest of the Clitorati crew.

Saturday, I forced myself to sleep in. I know… I know… it sounds odd to have to “force” oneself to sleep in. But, considering that I woke up at 0700 and seriously contemplated getting up and starting the day — and given the fact that between Thursday and Friday, I put in nearly 24 hours in the office — sleep was a good and necessary thing. SaraRules went to the Open House at Repertory Dance Theatre; I stayed at home and did a bit of cleaning…

…until everydave got here. We went to The Train Shoppe. I wanted to see if my new set had arrived. It hadn’t. Apparently, Lionel pushed back its shipping date by nearly a month. So… it should be here either just before or just after we  go camping.

Following that stop and a quick run to Dr. Volt’s, it was back home for a bit. Lunch. Hanging out with SaraRules. Exploring LEGO Universe… when it wasn’t being buggy. *shakes fist*

Later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to Rio Tinto Stadium to see Real Salt Lake host a match against DC United:

This also marked the first time that I have seen an MLS game live. (I doubt it will be the last time.) I had gone to MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League) games as a teenager, but that really comes under the heading of “same brand, different flavor.”  Or, for the SAT crowd:

Major Indoor Soccer League : Major League Soccer as…

1. Roller Derby : NASCAR
2. Arena Football League : NFL Football
3. BMX : Motocross
4. Stickball : Major League Baseball

The correct answer, in this case, would be “2″

The match was a lot of fun. We sat in the upper level and had a great view of the soccer pitch… AND the seats were very reasonably priced. And they were also covered, which became important when it started raining. RSL won the match 3 – 0, with a couple of goals coming in the last 10 minutes of the game.  (I was a little torn about the loss for DCU, though…) I am Ivory Soap sure that we’ll be back in Rio Tinto Stadium to see another match before the season ends.

Workout
Friday’s step count: I don’t recall, but it was somewhere around 3,600 steps
Saturday’s step count:  5,948

Stray Toasters

• Obama gives himself a grade of ‘incomplete’ after 18 months
• UAE to block BlackBerry services
• Holly Golightly: Breaking Rules in a Little Black Dress
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • Washing Machine Self-Destructs After Trying to Wash a Brick
  • Sixteen Years in Prison for Videotaping the Police?
• 
• My right bicep hurts, for an as-yet unexplained reason
• This Airplane Luxury Suite Is Way Out of My Budget
• Reading the Writing on Pompeii’s Walls
• The Evo gets Android 2.2 this week.
• Who’d win a battle between a Klingon battlecruiser and the Death Star? We found out!

Now: Breakfast.
Later: Salt.

Current Mood:  relaxed

Friday – 30 July 2010
It’s (almost) the end of the work week. Amen.

We’re in the middle of a network transfer – switching from one network connection to another. It made for a long day yesterday and an early morning today. I just hope that it’s not another long day today.

Ironically, today is also Sys Admin Day.

Workout
Thursday’s step count: 4,647

Stray Coasters

• I have the world’s most awesome wife.
  Your wife pales in comparison.
  (Although, your wife is okay.  But just yours, no one else’s.)
• History at 500 Yards
• Are 3D-Printed Fabrics the Future of Sustainable Textiles?
• 
• A couple of items from NPR Music:
  • Listening, Party for Two: Miles and Monk at Newport, 1955
  • Lara St. John: A Little Skin, Lots of Violin
• It’s turning into a long day…
• Banks seek customers’ help to stop online thieves
• 
• Lunchtime.  Finally.

Namaste.

Thursday – 29 July 2010
Good NBN Thursday to all.

I spent the day in the south office yesterday. That’s always um… a treat.  We’ve been preparing for some network changes and I went down to help Minion #1 take care of the wiring for that office. And, I did manage to squeeze in sushi for lunch with a few coworkers.

After work, I hauled back up the road and swung past Dr. Volt’s. (There was four-color goodness to pick up, after all…) I made a couple of quick side trips and then went to Hastur Hobbies for D&D night with Jack and melodywise. This week, they even brought little Jack:

Workout
Tuesday’s step count: 6,758
Wednesday’s step count: 4,207

Stray Toasters

• I quite enjoyed Batman: Under the Red Hood. Until recently, I haven’t really read the Batman titles in a long while. From what I recall of the “A Death in the Family” storyline and some recent developments, they appear to have done a decent job of adapting the story. Bruce Greenwood did a decent turn as Batman, but I was a bit disappointed in John Di Maggio’s Joker… of course, I kept comparing him to Mark Hamill, who – aside from the late Heath Ledger –  is now “the voice I hear” when I think of the Joker. Neil Patrick Harris, did a good job as Nightwing. I also have to give the animators a huge amount of credit for making Nightwing move like an acrobat.
  
• I woke up this morning feeling the effects of Tuesday night’s workout.
• Trader Joe’s owner dies at 88
• melodywise has discovered the joy of Pin-up Girl Espresso.
  (One of us…. one of us…)
• Be a Supergirl – Warner Brother’s mix of comics, sports and style
  • …and in a nominally related note: Krystal Harris – Supergirl

• What Is the American Dream?
• Dan Brown Wants You to Tell Him Where to Go
• Where did the money to rebuild Iraq go?
• By way of Wired: What’s the Best and Fastest ISP in Your City? Look It Up Here
• 
• Pixar: 25 Years of Animation Exhibition
• Breathing new life into old train depots
• 20 Secrets Your Waiter Won’t Tell You

Namaste.

Tuesday – 27 July 2010
Work week: Day 2.
I had an extreme case of “the lazies” this morning.  In an uncharacteristic move for me (at least for a workday), I gave in to it. And, I have to say: It felt rather nice.

Last night, SaraRules had a Justice Junior League meeting after work, which meant that I was a dinner bachelor. The “up” side to this: I could have Chinese food for dinner. (Win!) I pinged former coworker Marci, to see if she wanted to spare me from dining alone; she was kind enough to agree.  We went to David’s Kitchen. I hadn’t been in many, many moons. I had the Beef Lo Mein, with potstickers and an egg roll; the food was as good as I remembered.

This morning’s musical interlude is brought to you by the letters “H” and “L” and the number “2″:

Workout
Monday’s step count: 5,628

Stray Toasters

• I almost typed this as “Stray Coasters.”
• For SaraRules: Barn-quilt trail patched together in Pennsylvania
• Lawmakers Question Salaries at Nonprofits
• duckspeaker sent me a link last night… that I didn’t get until this morning. I think that it was better to see it this morning, as it was the perfect way to kick off the day:
• By way of SaraRules: Alan Moore Digs Up ‘Unearthing’ and Lays His Comics Career to Rest
  • In a related item: Alan Moore Celebrates a Real Person in ‘Unearthing’
• Apple updates iMac line, intros Magic Trackpad
• I was just informed that I get the… privilege… of working in the south office today or tomorrow.  Yay.
• 
• The Great Male Survey 2010
• Secret Invasion Spider-Woman (chase figure) = Mine.
• Botanical Gardens Are Turning Away From Flowers
• 
• ‘StarCraft II’ is launched for a whole new era
• Former Body-Armor Executive on Trial for Fraud

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 July 2010
The new (and short!) work week begins. I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable long holiday weekend.

I was informed, this morning, that I completely missed two coworkers’ birthdays… despite wishing a third coworker a “Happy Birthday” on the same day. So, with that in mind:

Friday was very quiet around the office… although, there were more people in the office than I had expected. One of the day’s highlights was getting to watch the Uruguay vs. Ghana World Cup soccer match. I had hoped that Ghana would be able to pull off a win, but it wasn’t meant to be. After work, I hung out with Jim at Pin-up Girl Espresso, while waiting for SaraRules to get home from work. Then, it was off to Clitorati.

Saturday, Chris and I got together for breakfast (Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks) before heading to Dr. Volt’s for the weekend’s tournament, “Patriotic Fight for Freedom:”

We had nine players, so it was a good turn out for a holiday weekend. As there were an odd number of players, I got to play – I put together a team comprised of:

• Uncle Sam
• Wonder Woman
• Captain America
• Winter Soldier
• Harvey Dent LE and
• The Question

After the tourney, SaraRules and I visited her folks… and her aunt and uncle, who are in town for the week.

Sunday was a nice sleep-in day. Then we headed to The Garden of Sweden, for brunch and to pick up a few things… unfortunately, they had changed their hours (again), so we wound up visiting the Ashley Furniture,  across the street, while we waited. Into and out of the IKEA. On to more errand-running and then back to the in-laws’ for dinner and birthday cake for SaraRules’ mom.

Monday was a “work around the house” day. We walked up to Pin-up Girl for caffeinated goodness and then came home, where SaraRules fixed breakfast. After that, we got to the business of housekeeping. This also included hanging pictures and making the space look generally “lived in.” Later in the evening, SaraRules suggested that we go for a walk. We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon and walked around Silver Lake. While out, we saw two deer (just hanging out along the road), a moose (!) and SaraRules saw/I heard a beaver jump into the lake, just ahead of us.

Workout
Walking step counts for (most of) the past few days:

• Friday: 7,403
• Saturday: 5,794
• Sunday: —
• Monday: 6,480

Stray Toasters

• There’s a free Utah Symphony concert at Abravanel Hall tomorrow, just call the ticket office and reserve your tickets: 801-533-NOTE (6683). For more information, click here.
• Caramel Mocha Frappe from Pin-up Girl == Win.
• 
• Puttin the Punk Back in Steampunk
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Alligator takes late-night stroll through town
• loonybin88 just put in an appearance in the office. He was here to follow up on a project on which we’ve been working; apparently, I haven’t bolloxed things up. Win!
• I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I checked out some old posts:
  • http://blog.echopulse.net/?p=401
  • http://blog.echopulse.net/?p=402
  • http://blog.echopulse.net/?p=403
  • http://blog.echopulse.net/?p=404

  They made me smile.

• lj user=”chromeangel” posted this, it made me laugh:
  



• Underwater Baskey Weaving: The Real Story
• I still haven’t picked up a copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood.
• Zombies in Wonderland tee shirt
• These changes in temperatures 15F+ are not helping me to shake this congestion.
• This is possibly one of the best business cards I’ve ever seen.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 30 June 2010
Today is Comics and Sushi Wednesday.

It is also the last day of June. That means that when the day is over, the year will be half over. It seems like it just started…

Last night, just after work, SaraRules and I had a surprise visit from her mother… and her grandparents. We knew that the grands were coming to town, but didn’t expect to see them until today. (Good thing that the house was fairly clean and straightened!) They were on their way home from dinner and, as we were on the way, they stopped in to see us. We sat around and chatted for a bit before they continued on.

A little later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to the Salt Lake Art Center for the opening of:

As described on the Salt Lake Art Center site:

As part of its summer programming, the Salt Lake Art Center is exhibiting Contemporary Masters: Artist-Designed Miniature Golf, 18 fully-playable works of contemporary art like you’ve never seen before. Contemporary Masters features original creations by top artists from Utah and around the nation that explore diverse ideas (the current immigration debate, the fragility of personal identity, and the meditative value of Donkey Kong) in equally diverse media, including woven fabrics, video installations, and shredded paper. Deftly exploring the intersection between art and play, Contemporary Masters reminds us that art can and should be a part of our everyday lives.

The exhibit runs all summer and the admission is free – the SLAC does accept donations in their lobby, though. Some of the holes are challenging, to say the least. It is a fun outing and a different way to look at – and experience – art.

When we got back home, SaraRules found Blindness – which was referenced in the article on dystopian 21st Century visions from Monday’s post – on Netflix’ Instant Queue. It was an odd movie. It started off with a man going spontaneously blind. The movie follows him – and others – as his affliction is visited upon others. Julieanne Moore stars as the lone protagonist who retains her sight, hiding this fact from those around her. This movie provides an interesting character study, as well as an interesting social commentary on how quickly things break down when the conventions to which we are accustomed no longer hold true.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 4,302

Stray Toasters

• A few months ago, I had a catastrophic hard drive failure at work. On the “plus” side, I had another rig that I could move into the then-dead machine’s place. On the “minus” side, I lost a LOT of company email… or at least I thought I had. I was able to recover a good portion of the lost email. That is a “good” thing. Today, I found an “even better” thing: I was able to find and recover a year-and-a-half gap of mail that I thought was totally gone. Win!
• LEGO for Grownups (a TED talk)
• Sites that ban you from linking to them. Still. In 2010.
• DC Comics has proclaimed this “Wonder Woman Week,” as the Amazon princess’ title hits Issue #600 today. Along with this, new writer J. Michael Straczynski (as in “The guy who created Babylon 5“) is giving Diana a retconned background and a new costume, courtesy of Jim Lee:

  

  • The Source (DC Comic’s blog) also had an interesting essay from Wonder Woman’s most famous portrayer, Wonder Woman Can Save the World, by Lynda Carter, as part of the celebration
• Best Summer Dance Music
  Sidenote: I don’t get all the flak people are giving Lady Gaga/her music. She’s a bit outlandish, yes. Guess what: It’s a persona/image.  Deal with it. And as for the music?  It’s pop music… it’s supposed to be light, fun, and danceable.  If you’re looking for “deep meanings,” you’re barking up the wrong tree.
• Deliver Bad News in a Good Way
• Bad Day for Bengals, Steelers
• 
• 10 Great Racetracks as Seen from Space
• Here come the Men in Black…
• Mad Dash as Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Arrives
• Daly, Conroy Return in “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse”
• Since Eclipse just hit theatres, I figured I’d re-repost this:  Why Breaking Dawn Must Be Made into a Movie

Namaste.