Random Access

Tuesday – 05 March 2019
It’s happened. Sideshow Collectibles has put out another figure that I’m 99.999% sure will wind up in my display case. Soon. Well, soon-ish. The funny thing is: I wasn’t even aware that it existed until yesterday.

What is it?

Marvel’s Luke Cage Sixth Scale Figure.

Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles

Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles

Bad. Ass.

There are two versions: The “Collector’s Edition” and the “Exclusive.” The difference is that the “Exclusive” comes with two additional hands, with brass knuckles rings that spell out “Luke” and “Cage.”

Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles

I don’t know that I “need” the knuckle dusters, but the price difference is $5.00 USD, so… *shrug* We’ll see. Either way, it will look just fine next to my Nick Fury.

Thursday – 28 February 2019
This year, I opted not to do a month-long Black History Month series of posts. I did a post on February 1st on Facebook, but I think that last year’s run of Black Panther posts – while fun – may have burned me out a little.

I was going through old blog posts and wound up stumbling upon part of an entry from nine years ago – nine years ago today, in fact – that I thought bore being brought to light once more:

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month

Today is the last day of February and, as such, the last day of Black History Month in the United States and Canada. Of all the things that we’ve looked at over the past twenty-seven days, one question has not been asked: “Why do we have a Black History Month?”

The remembrance was founded in 1926 by United States historian Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.

While I believe that it is good to set aside time to recognize the achievements and pitfalls of the past, we still have “…miles to go before [we] sleep.” Black history – and any ethnic group’s history, for that matter – shouldn’t be relegated to just one month of the year. In the same way that America was known as a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, our history is an amalgamation of those peoples’ struggles and stories. These are things that should be studied and celebrated throughout the year, as a common history of the people of the United States of America.

Quite frankly, that seems like the perfect coda for this month.

Wednesday – 30 January 2019
I’m going to tell you a story about a friend of mine named Jason.

Jason

I first met Jason in almost 20 years ago, when he was dating the daughter of the person I was dating at the time. He was quick-witted and funny, and like many late teens/early twenty-year-olds you’d meet: Ready to take on anyone and anything that stepped up to him.

After that, we mostly stayed in touch via IRC; I managed a Utah-specific channel of which Jason was a member. I lost track of him over the years, but our paths crossed again at my local comic shop, when he came in to play a game that I was judging. I didn’t recognize him at first, as it had been close to – if not more than – ten years since we’d seen each other. Once we put two and two together, there were a lot of wide eyes and dropped jaws in the store, as we recounted the story of how we knew each other.

Once again, Life took us in different directions, but I’d see Jason from time to time. He was still taking on the world his way, now he was writing, directing, and producing independent horror films.

Jason, on the set of Day Zero

I ran into him a few weeks ago, at the Jim Lee signing event at my comic shop. He even got a picture of me in the background, while he was getting something signed.

Jim Lee and Jason

I ran into him again a few days ago, while Sara, the girls, and I were out shopping.

Last night, I heard from another friend that Jason died yesterday. From an overdose. Needless to say, I was stunned. I had no idea that he was using, let alone struggling with addiction. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

That being said, if you are struggling – be it with addiction, depression, anxiety, “Life, the Universe, and Everything,” or just…”whatever” – you are not alone. In a time when so many things around us make us feel isolated and different, let me just say that if you need to talk, go out for coffee, or just sit somewhere until things feel a little better, let me know.

In a strange bit of serendipity, this morning, Facebook presented me with a memory from a couple of years ago. Jason made the second comment on that post. Well played, Universe.

Please be good to yourself and to those around you.

Namaste.

Sunday – 20 January 2019
Tonight, there was a lunar eclipse, visible from North America. The skies were clear enough that we were able to see it; we also let Team DiVa stay up to see it. Sara and the girls went outside a little before nine to see what it looked like. I opted for the warmth of “staying inside.”

We all went out around 9:20. A small crescent of the moon was still unobscured. The girls were also excited to show me the constellation Orion. (Hey, they’re not usually up and outside when it’s late enough to see it and they REALLY wanted to make sure I saw it. That was an easy “win.”) After looking up at the stars and moon, we headed back inside.

At 9:35, we ventured back outside. The moon had the tiniest of fragments that was still getting direct sunlight, but it was losing ground. Quickly. About this point Vanessa commented that the moon wasn’t really that red. (Tough crowd, what can I say?) Unimpressed, she decided to go in and finish getting ready for bed. Diana wasn’t far behind her. Sara and I followed.

After tucking the ladies in, Sara and I returned outside and looked at the moon – whose red had deepened a little – and appreciated the view for a few minutes.

Eclipse

Eclipse – EMBIGGENED!

And then, not surprisingly, we came inside.

Sunday – 20 January 2019
Every once in a while your kids will come up with something that surprises and impresses you. A few minutes ago, I had one of those “onces.”

Team DiVa came to my office to play a little LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 before dinner. They looked up at the shelves around my television and noticed my Legion of Super-Heroes figures.

Ferro Lad (between Matter-Eater Lad and Timber Wolf)

Out of the blue, Diana asked “Why does Ferro Lad have an ‘Fe’ on his shirt? What does that mean?”

I responded that ‘Fe,’ in this case, stood for “Iron,” which he could turn into. (He died many, many issues past…)

She then retorted, “He was a twin. He and his brother had the same powers.”

I was stunned and it apparently showed on my face.

Diana very calmly said, “I read it in one of our books.”

Proud geek father moment: CHECK.

Friday – 18 January 2019
We’re that much closer to the weekend.

Need a little something to get over the post-lunch/pre-clocking out slump? I’ve got you covered:

Just Loud – Soul Train

Jungle – Casio

Some of you might remember that my affinity for Jungle started with Busy Earnin’… which I’ll add as a bonus track:

Jungle – Busy Earnin’

Thursday – 17 January 2019
In my Instagram feed this morning, one company I follow posted a picture – over 100 years old! – of a rail line that passed through the town in which my father grew up and just shy of the town where my mother grew up. I decided to try and see if I could figure out where the picture was, by way of Google Maps. (Hint: I wasn’t quite, but I got close enough to sate my curiosity. 100 years is kind of a long time, after all.)

Something else happened however…

I wound up using Google Maps and Street View to “drive” down the road that I rode and drove on for decades to get to my grandparents’ house. It was interesting to see what was still the same and what had changed. In doing the math, I also realized that I hadn’t driven down that road since well before I moved out west. I followed the road all the way to the best view of the house that I could get. It was a nice nostalgic moment.

I “rode” further down the road, to find the house in which my mother grew up, but there was no Street View available for it.  I can’t say that I’m terribly surprised by that, though.

Still, I got to see a part of the country – and places that evoke a lot of good memories – that I haven’t been to in a very long time.

And that’s not a bad thing at all.

Tuesday – 15 January 2019
Today is the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday.

When Simon and Garfunkel sang about a Hazy Shade of Winter, they must have been talking about the Salt Lake Valley. The air here has been atrocious over the past few weeks.

There’s supposed to be a weather system moving through tonight that will hopefully help move some of the chewy air out of the valley.

Stray Toasters

• Team DiVa has decided to undertake “spy training.” Last week, they spent days working on “being stealthy” and “using camouflage” to hide from Evie. (I didn’t have the heart to tell them that she could see – and just as easily smell – them, all the same.) Last night, after getting home from school, they asked me how much a motorcycle costs… because they need two of them (with two seats) to be spies. When I showed them a couple of options from BMW and Harley-Davidson, they asked if they’d have enough to buy them if they sold our house.YeahbuhWHAT?!

  Sara and I told them that, while they’d have enough to buy the motorcycles, that they’d have no place to live. At this point, Kid Logic kicked in, as they told us that they didn’t mean right now… but in a few years.

• Men Are Mad Online Because of a New Gillette Commercial
• A Son’s Race To Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality
• A friend asked me if, when I say that I am adding something to “The Covet List,” I am adding items to an actual list. I told him, “Yes,” and that there are actually two lists. (I really need to see to it that they mirror each other more accurately.)
• How Our Cruelty Killed Hootie and the Blowfish – and Damaged Our Souls

There might be a fair bit more that I could say, but for now… I’m ready to call it a night.

Tuesday – 25 December 2018

Christmas 2018 (Click for original image)

Checking connectivity via third party.

Testing connectivity to FB

Saturday – 10 November 2018

I just did a thing.

Choo. Choo.

More accurately, I made a thing.

For my birthday, I ordered a new toy: A 3D printer. It arrived earlier this week. It sat in the box for a few days; Team DiVa would often ask, “When are you going to open your box?” Last night, I opened and assembled it. Then, I went to bed, because I was tired and that’s what you do.

This afternoon, I took a couple of stabs at figuring out how to use it – leveling the print bed, making sure the motors worked, figuring out how to feed filament to the extruder. Pretty standard stuff.

This evening, I decided to jump in and try my hand at making something. I loaded the test print object and hit the “Go” button. (Okay, you caught me. There’s not an actual “Go” button on the printer. But, you have to admit: You considered the possibility for a moment.)

Nothing. Went. Right.

I consulted the University of Internet for help/answers. I found a setup and initial print video that actually helped a bit. The one issue I had was poor camera angles for some of the things the videos maker discussed. Which led, in part, to a problem I encountered: The print head moved, but didn’t really DO anything. The leveling I had done, based on the video, didn’t put the print bed at the level for which my printer was calibrated. So there was a LOT of adjusting and swearing and more adjusting.

I tried again.

More swearing and adjusting.

I opted to try a different test print object. I went to Thingiverse and found the file for a locomotive. Because: Me. I hit the Go button again. Yes, there was more adjusting, but noticeably less swearing. I hit the Go button, yet again. Lo and behold… printing occurred! Unfortunately, about 14 minutes into the 20-Minute Workout with Joanie Greggains print job, I bumped the table and made things go all skewampus on the print.

*grblsrnkx*

Undaunted, I started a new instance of the print job. And was vewy, vewy qwiet… and still. Something – and I’m still not sure “what” – bollocksed up the cowcatcher on the front of the locomotive, but everything else printed just fine.

I’m not sure what’s next and in the future for the 3D printer, but I promise (to TRY) to use this new power only for (neutral to chaotic) good.

Monday – 08 October 2018
Today is the holiday-formerly-known-as-Columbus-Day Indigenous Peoples Day.
There are just under 30 days until midterm elections in the United States.
There are 325.7 million people in the United States.
There were 245.5 registered voters in the United States, as of November 2016.
Are you one of them?

If you are not registered, there’s still time.
Do you need assistance to get to a registration location? Ask a family or friend to take you or to go with you to register, as well.

I don’t care political affiliation you claim.
I don’t care for whom you vote.
What I care about is you using your right to vote to make your voice heard.

Register. Vote.

Wednesday – 03 October 2018

All the journeys of this great adventure
It didn’t always feel that way
I wouldn’t trade them because I made them
The best I could, and that’s enough to say

Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again

     -“Headlong Flight,” Rush

From Summer 1999 (I think…) (c) NoteablePhoto

Gettin’ married!

All the treasures, the gold and glory
It didn’t always feel that way
I don’t regret it – I’ll never forget it
I wouldn’t trade tomorrow for today

Sunday – 15 July 2018
Man, it’s already after 9:00 and I am sitting here wondering where the weekend went. There’s just one “problem.”

I know exactly where.

Friday, after work, I left work a little later than planned, made a quick stop at a local toy store (again, surprising absolutely NO ONE), met Sara and Team DiVa for dinner, and headed off to Clitorati. After that was all buttoned-up, back home for some Overwatch with friends.

Saturday morning, I did not want to get out of bed… which might have had something to do with staying up late. Maybe. But, I got up, ate and went to work out while DiVa had swim class. For some, as yet unknown reason, I decided to throw squats into the mix. For the record: NOT MY FAVORITE. (Put a pin in this, we’ll be coming back to it shortly.) Back home to shower and change and head off to Dr. Volt’s to judge a tournament. I was pleased; it went well.

Back home to knock out a couple of things and get ready for an evening out with Sara – we finally got around to celebrating promotions that we got back in the Spring. We dropped the ladies off with their grand-parents for the evening and headed downtown. We had dinner and dessert at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar; it had been far too long since we had been there. As usual, the food and service were both excellent.

Next, we decided to check out Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Yeah, yeah… not exactly Oscar fare, but we kind of knew what we were getting into. Kind of. Our best summation was that it wasn’t the best movie we’d ever seen – and it was far from the worst – but we were entertained. C’mon… it’s got dinosaurs, for Pete’s sake! Yeah, you know what I’m talkin’ about. Back home and we both crashed pretty hard.

This morning, I woke up tired. Remember that pin from earlier? Here’s where it makes its reprise: Somewhere in the middle of an already not-great sleep (a series of unpleasant dreams kept waking me up), I encountered “The Revenge of the Squats” – my thighs delighted in making turning over and even lying still “somewhat unpleasant.”

Ibuprofen, my old friend…
I’ve come to be with you again…

We headed back to the in-laws’ for breakfast. Oh… and to pick up the girls. My father-in-law makes a mean waffle. And he makes LOTS of them. Sara’s local sibs and their families were there for breakfast, too. It was a good way to start a busy day.

It was a “busy day” as today was (“is,” still… technically) National Ice Cream Day, which means Sara and I put on our annual Ice Cream Social.

Please note: It was, apparently “The Twins’ Ice Cream Party” Fine. Next year, they get to foot the bill and do the heavy lifting.

That meant a lot of “spending the rest of the morning and afternoon getting ready.” Thus, we did. One thing that we didn’t fully account for were the number of unexpected guests, in the forms of bees and wasps.

Fortunately, there were no cross-species incidents, for which I was supremely grateful. There was ice cream, toppings, pink lemonade, good company and conversation.

After our guests left, there was a little bit of clean up – we pretty much have set up and teardown down to a science after… six or seven years of doing this – and then time to get ready for dinner. I somehow managed to convince Team DiVa that it would be a “good idea” to take their showers while dinner was getting ready. Not quite sure “how,” but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We ate dinner – salads (light post-ice cream fare = WIN) with chicken. And lemonade. Duh.

Sometime during the post-dinner “What do we do now” period, I stretched out on the couch. My mistake. I fell asleep for almost an hour. That might not have been such a mistake, after all. I woke up in time to find Sara and the girls watching the tail-end of a two-part Sofia the First episode… with mermaids. Yes, I just made that pun and decided not to edit it out. When the episode was over, the girls got ready for bed. Once they were tucked in, it was time for a greatly sought-after cool summer shower. It was sublime, just in case you wondered.

Now, I still have a little bit of free time before I have to make my way to The Dreaming. I should probably figure out what to do with said time…