Random Access

Sunday Wrap-Up
, , , and I went to see Big Fish this afternoon. It is an excellent movie. It is definitely going on my “must own” list. I’m even considering seeing it again. The movie was “magic;” that’s really the only word for it. After the movie, we adjourned to Cheers.

Football Update

Green Bay at Philadelphia
The NFC Playoff
Final Score: 17 – 20 (OT)
The Eagles came from behind to win this one and end the Packers’ season. On to the Conference games…

…which brings us to next week’s games…

Indianapolis at New England
AFC Conference Championship
Sunday, 18 Jan 04

Carolina at Philadelphia
NFC Conference Championship
Sunday, 18 Jan 04

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Sunday
So far, it’s been pretty quiet. And that’s not a bad thing.

Stray Toasters

• Ever play BattleTech? Or watch the Robotech cartoon? Did you ever wish that you could have a mech of your own? A company called tmsuk has announced the closest analogue: T52 Enryu HyperRescueRobot. No, it’s not a Phoenix Hawk or an Atlas or a Veritech fighter, but it’s not a bad start.
• Subtly Simpsons – Humor gleaned from The Simpsons
• Finder – As noted on Backwash: Story in comic form of a girl, in a future bookless time, who is given a book as a gift.
• An encore presentation of an old amusement: Reasonably Clever
• Papa Smurf is a Communist

Football Update

Indianapolis at Kansas City
The AFC Playoff
Final Score: 38 – 31
The Colts beat the Chiefs in a well-fought upset. Peyton Manning put together a great game against the KC defense. On the other side of the field, Trent Green and the Chiefs played well; Dick Vermeil and his staff and players deserve praise for putting together a good season. I am also glad to see Tony Dungy and the Colts advance… especially after the way that Dungy was released by Tampa Bay. Next week: The Colts travel to Foxboro to face the Patriots.

Green Bay at Philadelphia
The NFC Playoff
The Packers take on the Eagles in Philly. More on this one later.

Foggy night out there… Cold, too!

Today was good. I slept in and lazed about the apartment all day. I did a little straightening as Jess’ parents were hopefully coming into town today; “hopefully” because they have been stuck in Portland – whose airport has been closed for the past four days – trying to fly here. And there was football. Glorious, glorious football. Selah.

We ate dinner with the parental units, two members of Jess’ sibko (and one sib’s S.O.) and . Twas a good time. We split up after dinner. Jess and I came home and finally saw the “Hearts and Minds” episode of Justice League. It was a Green Lantern episode. Hoo-AH! GLs Kilowog and Katma Tui were in it, too. And… there was even a reference to GL Kyle Rayner (who was introduced in animated form in Superman: The Animated Series).

Bowling and breakfast were good. I bowled eleven games; I bowled games nine and ten at the same time (on two lanes). Scores: 152, 146, 136, 136, 115, 186, 171, 163, 114, 115, 183. Average for the night: 147. Not too shabby. and and our friend Bill joined us at the bowling alley, but just for moral support. and were waiting for us at V.I.; we were joined by Pat and Staci a little while later.

Carolina at St. Louis
The NFC Wild Card Playoff
Final Score: 29 – 23 (2 OT)
The Panthers rolled into the Gateway City to take on the Rams in today’s matchup. There were concerns about the Panthers’ effectiveness on an artificial playing surface and their play in a domed stadium. The game was a very close defensive battle: The lead changed five times in the first half. Field goals were the sources of most of the points. In the end, Carolina QB Jake Delhomme connected with WR Steve Smith for a 69-yard touchdown pass to advance the Panthers into the next round. Next weekend they will play the winner of tomorrow’s Green Bay – Philadelphia game.

Tennessee at New England
The AFC Wild Card Playoff
Final Score: 14 – 17
The Titans faced the Patriots in Foxboro tonight. Cold Foxboro. It was 3° Fahrenheit at game time; it was -12° with the wind chill. The Pats won. This makes me happy because I wanted the Titans to pay for taking the Ravens out of the playoffs. And, the various expressions on Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher’s face made it all worthwhile – the man looked like a grade-schooler who had just had his milk money taken by the school bully. Priceless. Next up: The winner of tomorrow’s Indianapolis – Kansas City game.

And with that…

Namaste.

Friday
I woke up very tired this morning. I’m not sure why, but I haven’t slept well in about three days. Hopefully tonight will be different.

The day was good, on the whole. Post-work, there was coffee and hanging out with the usual suspects (, , , and ); we were joined by and tonight. Following coffee and chat, we went for a bite to eat. And Coronas. (Ah, yes… Corona.) It was a good night.

Stray Toasters

• Utah drivers. Again! *braincramp*
• The P-51 Mustang.
• From National Geographic: The Scientific Analysis of Stone Skipping
• From Slashdot: Inside the Lego Master Builder Search (Talk about your dream job…)
• Dialect Survey
• The F4U-5N Corsair
• Random Fate
• I am getting the urge to reread the Rose of the Prophet series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman…
• “His Sacred Place” and “10 and 2” (…and a lifetime of scarring)
• The SR-71 Blackbird
• For and : Instant Monkeys Online

Quote of the Day
brought imported chocolates to coffee tonight. Those of us who received them got a chocolate in the shape of our first name’s initial.

Amber: Where’d you get those?
::: the group points at :::
Amber: Where’d you get those?
: Holland.
Amber: Where’s that?
::: group laughs :::
: East of Texas.

Namaste.

Thursday
…which means that tomorrow is Friday. Today wasn’t bad. Unless you count the stupid driver who tried to start a multi-car pile-up on I-15. Right next to/in front of me. *sigh* Some peoples’ children.

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking
Talk of the Nation – Pete Rose Controversy
All Things Considered – Think Tank: White House Fudged WMD Report
All Things Considered – Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty
All Things Considered – CD Blends Jewish, Persian Music

Stray Toasters

• Blown glass rayguns. They look like something out of a 40s or 50s sci-fi movie.
• 42.857142857142854% of me is a huge nerd! How about you?
• The Emergency Broadcast System and the Emergency Alert System. The EBS was around when I was growing up. You’d hear the warning tone and the message “This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System…” and then you’d go back to your regularly scheduled programming. The EAS does the same thing, but it uses a different tone. Same brand, different flavor. Emergency Broadcast System alert sound was a two-note tone, very similar to the “Off-Air” sound that some television stations use at the end of their broadcast day. The Emergency Alert System alert sound is more modern – it sounds like a dial-up modem connecting to a server.

  If I remember correctly, the new tone – along with the name change – was chosen to be something “easily recognizable” and something that would get peoples’ attention. I wonder if the modem-like sound was chosen since the Internet was gaining popularity. I also wonder if the older EBS sound was chosen because it was “familiar” to those who grew up in a time when broadcast television stations actually went off the air… and would thus be recognizable and attention-grabbing.

• BicycleSafe: How to Not Get Hit by Cars
  Simple. Straight-forward. Even chock full o’ common sense. Which means that there is bound to be tons of people who don’t think about this kind of thing.

• Gene Colan’s Virtual Studio Check out the galleries.
• Powerpuff Girls Portrait Studio
• Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
  Mata ah-oo Hima de
  Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
  Himitsu wo Shiri Tai

• Looking to get published? RoseDog.com

Namaste.

Wednesday
Three down, two to go.
Aside from the nominal snowfall, it was a good day. And the day was capped with dinner with Jess and Mary… which isn’t a bad way to cap off the day.

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – War on Poverty — 40th Anniversary
All Things Considered – France Seeks to Question Missing Passenger
All Things Considered – State Porn Law Spurs Lawsuits
All Things Considered – Trombonist Offers ‘Treats for the Nightwalker’

Stray Toasters

• The paternal unit made it home safely after driving the youngest member of the sibko back to Oklahoma. All seems to be well.
• Adventure! Looks interesting…
• From Slashdot: FBI Can Inspect Bank Records without Court Orders
• Utah drivers. *braincramp*
• Cats + Windows’ “3D Pipes” screen saver = Amusement.
• My affinity for Halle Berry is pretty well-known.
  My affinity for comic books (and related items) is well-known, too.
  But, some of the things that I have read and seen that relate to the upcoming Catwoman movie have me more than a little worried. Just like the bastardization… um, “adaptation,” of Hellblazer that Warner Brothers is producing called Constantine. I believe that I have ranted about that at least once before, so I shall not go into it again here.

And with that…

Namaste.

Tuesday
It snowed this afternoon. There wasn’t any accumulation, but that’s not the point. Otherwise, the day has been good. And, that includes tonight’s episodes of 24 and L&O: SVU.

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation: NPR Radio-Only Debate
All Things Considered: Death of a Child: Losing Adam
Fresh Air: Al Franken and Benicio Del Toro Interviews

Stray Toasters

• From Slashdot: Caffeine vs. Type II Diabetes
• Bruce Sterling. Author. Interview.
• NECA. Enjoy.

  ::: this space for rent :::

  Honor: You are an honorable person who is firm with his/her beliefs and treats others as you are treated. People would consider you humble at times and very respectful, and someone to definitely respect back. Which Characteristic From the Samurai Code Matches You Best? (You may find out your best trait) brought to you by Quizilla

I’m off to enjoy the company of and along with a few cups of Type II Diabetes-bane.

Namaste.

Game night.

There wasn’t excessive doom. And we all lived.
Selah.

More later, I have some cleanin’ to get to.

Namaste.

Last night, I had something happen that I wasn’t expecting: I was visited by three (3) missionaries. THREE. Sister missionaries, at that. Okay… no big deal there. They’ve stopped here before, I’ve spoken with them and explained that I am not LDS and that I am quite happy with the Baptist church, we talk for a few more minutes and they leave shortly thereafter. I have no problems discussing comparative religion with others; I enjoy learning where ideologies differ. I do have a problem with someone attempting to force their views on me. I don’t force mine on others; if they ask, I’ll share otherwise I try to take a “live and let live” stance.

The thing that irritates me is: Someone, and I have yet to find out whom, apparently decided to call a number and request a copy of The Book of Mormon in my name. How do I know that someone else did it? Let’s see:

1. I have never been inclined to request a copy of the book; there is at least one copy here already.
2. She said that she “…had a note that I called a number to request a copy” of the book. She seemed a little surprised when I said that I hadn’t called.
3. One of the sisters asked for me by name. More specifically, she asked for me familiarly. Not by the name that I give when ordering things online or over the phone.

Let’s just say that I was not pleased. In fact, I’m still mildly torqued by it. Whomever it was apparently thought that it would be a cute joke. Pray, for their sake, that I don’t find out whom it was as they are apparently not familiar with my ideas on vengeance.

Stray Toasters

• Bowling last night was… not too bad. I was inconsistent, but I did manage to pull out a 178.
• Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for defeating the Seattle Seahawks in overtime.
• I finally got around to watching the trailer for Appleseed. *jawdrop* That’s damned impressive!
• From NPR’s Weekend Edition: Where Snow Globes Go When They’re Broken
• Weekend Edition: Books Compile Best of Modern Eulogies Also, see the book’s website.
• Weekend Edition: Music Stuck in the Analog Age
• I think that I might reread the Dragonlance Chronicles series.
• The Gingerbread Village Server A case mod. No, really! It is!

Namaste.

I’m 1 for 2 on the day:

Carolina soundly thumped Dallas 29 – 10.
(Yes, I know that’s a Ravens icon. Deal with it.)

The Panthers completely dominated this game. They are only the second team in the history of the NFL to win a post-season game with no penalties and no turnovers. And this in their second appearance in post-season play.

So, I’m 1 for 2 on the day and I still have a team that I can watch through at least the next round of the playoffs.

Tennessee beat Baltimore 20 – 17.

It was a close game. One that could have been a little less close… if offensive lineman Orlando Brown hadn’t made two extremely stupid and completely unnecessary personal fouls. And he committed them LONG after the plays had been called dead.

About the game: I can’t complain too much – The Ravens played a good game. The offensive wasn’t really effective until late in the game, but the defense did a good job. And there are still eight Ravens going to the Pro Bowl next month.

Next up: Dallas at Carolina.

A little before kickoff…

Tennessee at Baltimore
The AFC Wild Card Playoff
This is another big rivalry match-up as the Titans roll into Charm City. Baltimore usually fares well against Tennessee – the Ravens have beaten them five consecutive times – but this is by no means a “gimme.” Both teams are looking to advance to the next round. Watch for Jamal Lewis to lead the Baltimore ground attack with Ray Lewis pumping up the Ravens defense while Steve McNair will head up the Tennessee air assault. I expect this to be a good game. I’m also expecting a Baltimore win… but that’s a given.

And, later today:

Dallas at Carolina
The NFC Wild Card Playoff
The Panthers are on the road to the big dance. Behind QB Jake Delhomme and RB Stephen Davis, they have put together a solid season. Dallas, led by head coach Bill Parcells, has become the team to watch. Even if you aren’t a fan. This is the fourth team that Parcells has taken to the playoffs… and they don’t look like they intend to end their season in Charlotte.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at 3:50 this morning.

Time to find a new book…

Friday
Another week comes to a close.
Work wasn’t bad. Post-work activities were good. And tomorrow, there is football. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• It’s fun to watch peoples’ reactions to some of our coffee conversations. Sometimes, they look as though they are trying not to listen, but they smile or look up or blush at “just the right moments.”
• From Slashdot: California Bans Front-Seat Computer Use… even if it’s the passenger using the computer.
• Drawing hands sucks.
• Umm… Wanga Dolls
• Things to Do at Malls
• Linguists Suggest Banned Words for 2004
• Drawing hands still sucks.
• One of my new favorite online comics, A Modest Destiny, has undergone a transformation in the new year. It is now: The Starship Destiny. It still makes me laugh. (1, 2, 3)

Namaste.

Happy birthday well-wishes to: