Random Access

Monday : 12 December 05

To be continued…

Namaste.

Sunday : 11 December 05
I slept in today – I didn’t get up until nearly 11:30. It was divine. I didn’t even watch any of the early games. Instead, I patrolled Paragon City. After a while, I headed to ‘s to watch the Ravens game.

Football Update

Baltimore at Denver
10- 12
The boys from Charm City flew into the Mile High City to take on Mike Shanahan’s Broncos. It wasn’t a pretty game, by any stretch of the imagination. Neither was the final score. I’m going to put a lot of the blame for today’s loss on Kyle Boller. While he’s shown some promise and maturity over the past couple of games, today… he just couldn’t seem to pull it together. He was too erratic. At times, he looked like a poised, seasoned NFL quarterback; other times, he looked like a panicky rookie. He turned the ball over three times – two poorly thrown interceptions and a fumble. In other football news: – The Colts are now 13 – 0. – The Bengals beat the Browns. ‘Grats, … sorry !

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
This morning, I went on a couple of missions, fighting Tuatha de Danaan, in Croatoa. I found an old partner of mine – along with a couple of other heroes – and we ventured into the sewers below Salamanca. There were a lot of Tuatha to be dealt with. And they weren’t exactly in the mood to move along quietly. So, a lot of fighting ensued. We finished the mission and were then asked to rescue hostages from an office building that had been overrun by Fir Bolg and Tuatha. (Sidenote: If you see a… pack/herd/whatever of Tuatha running in the direction of the Fir Bolg that you are currently fighting, get out of the way quickly.) We rescued the hostages and cleared the building of the Fir Bolg and Tuatha.

Stray Toasters

• As of last night, I’ve been wearing a pink (“It’s like red, but not quite…”) breast cancer awareness bracelet in support of a friend.
• I may have to remove the word “never” from my general vocabulary, at least when referring to things that I do not think that I would do. When companies started making plastic bracelets to signify any and everything, I said that I would never wear one. But, here I am wearing one. And a pink one, at that.

  Just like I said that I would never move to (someplace like) Utah.
  Or that I would never shave my head.

  Yeah… I think that I need to put “never” on a “Special Use Only” list.

• Youths reveal racy Bible calendar
• From PingMag – The Website Development Process (done with mini-figures)
• Grey.
• Coca-Cola Blak
• “Welcome to Apokolips, Mister Mannheim.”
  “Who are you?!”
  “Your new lord and master. You may call me… Darkseid.”

• Gamers are better at multitasking
• From Buzzscope: Geek Gifts for 2005
• Offbeat Tech Toys for Your Holiday Gift List
• Review of Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars #1
• Gummy worms.
• “Ah, I see you’ve got the TV hooked up. Yay for priorities.” –
• Hello humans can you feel me thinking
  I assume you’re seeing everything I’m thinking
  Hello humans nothing starts tomorrow

• The Justice League – I like his choice for Green Lantern.
• Chibi spazz
• I saw a picture of post-King Kong Peter Jackson earlier. He’s lost a LOT of weight since doing The Lord of the Rings. Had his name not been on-screen at the time, I wouldn’t have known that it was him.
• : I think that I may have found the perfect alarm clock for you.
• “drm madness” –

Quote of the Day
The Detroit-Green Bay game was a bit… lackluster, so we flipped back and forth between it and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. One of the home makeovers was for a veteran who had lost both of his legs. One of the commercial bumpers showed the soldier at a Veteran’s Hospital, talking with another amputee and they were comparing their prostheses:

Me: “My leg’s better than your leg!”
: *look of incredulity* (She thought that I was talking about my leg versus their prosthetics…then she realized that I was doing a “voiceover” for the show.)
: “Oh. They were showing off their parts to each other.”

Namaste.

Saturday : 10 December 05
I started the day at Bad Ass Coffee Co., enjoying a “Monkey Mocha” and visiting with Perry. Nothing wrong in getting the day going with a coffee drink and good company.

Later, I hung out with and her boys. This included watching Bewitched, with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. It was a cute movie… and not nearly as painful as I had thought that it would be. The little bit of Legally Blonde that I caught, however… that was just cruel (like a real green dress).

In the evening, there was dinner with and his Missus and a few other friends. I think that we’ve seen Mr. and Mrs. more in the past two to three months than in the previous year – this is not a bad thing. We ate at Charlie Chow’s Dragon Grill.

News
– The Boundless Gifts of Richard Pryor

01 December 1940 – 10 December 2005

• I get to sleep in tomorning/today, since the Ravens’ game is in the second half of tomorrow’s double-headers.
• : The Ravens-Browns matchup is on 01 January 06 at 11:00 AM. Just a quick heads-up.
• : This review is a good follow-up to our Friday night discussion about Fantastic Four
• By way of Slashdot: Christmas Shopping for a Gamer
• “Teal’c… what’s with the hair?”
• They’re doing a CHiPs movie?! This bodes ill…

Namaste.

Friday : 09 December 05
Too little sleep.
Just enough caffeine.
And the week draws to a close.

I called my uncle this morning, to wish him a “Happy Birthday.” He thanked me and then asked,”So… does this mean that you’re not going to call on the 19th?” I had confused his birthday with a friend’s birthday. Brilliant. Fortunately, my uncle found it amusing; that made me feel a little less bad about it.

The rest of the day was good; it was followed by an equally good evening, spent with The Clitorati.

Quote of the Day
From a late-morning conversation with :

(11:13:28) : so you’ve had what.. 2 hours of sleep? 🙂
(11:15:01) : Um…
(11:15:10) : About 2 and a half, give or take.
(11:17:40) : fear.
(11:18:01) : I have the willpower of 10 men.
(11:18:11) : That’s what makes me such an awesome Green Lantern.
(11:18:14) : *flex*
(11:18:30) : huh. wont those other 9 men miss their will power?
(11:18:51) : We…. don’t talk about that.
(11:19:57) : I see. So you are happy with your Will Power Transference Machine XL5000? We at ACME Super Villain Supply take great pride in our products and want to be sure our customers are happy.
(11:20:11) : Yes. Quite happy with it.
(11:20:21) : In fact, I’ve been telling the other members of the Corps about it.
(11:20:31) : You should see orders pouring in, any day now.

I’m tired. Very tired. A visit to The Dreaming and the hospitality of Morpheus is in order.

Namaste.

<get your morning started grooves>
     Goldfrapp – Strict Machine
     Walter Murphy – A Fifth of Beethoven
     The Art of Noise – Dragnet ’88
     Harry Connick, Jr. – Funky Dunky
</get your morning started grooves>

Set it off.

Thursday : 08 December 05
Another “No Bad News Thursday” where all of the kids behaved. Gotta like those.

And, since I apparently haven’t sacrificed enough sleep this week, I decided to catch a 12:10 AM showing of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I never read the book and I only have vague recollections of an animated feature from many years ago, so I was basically coming into this cold. I understand why it’s been getting good press. I might even have to check out the book and find out what I missed.

Stray Toasters

• I am desperately going to need massive amounts of caffeine tomorr… um.. later this morning.
• Fandango. They may have funny/silly/stupid ads, but the service is good.
• Survey: Most home PC users lack security
• It’s cold outside. Again.
• “Our floors run white with the Styrofoam blood of my corrugated foes.” –
• Christmas Story in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies
• Rumours are going around about Bob Hoskins playing The Penguin in the sequel to Batman Begins.
• The music of Jon Schmidt
• 
• The Diane Rehm Show – Bart Ehrman: Misquoting Jesus

Quote of the Day
Forwarded to me by a coworker, excerpted from a Conan O’Brien monologue:

“This year, President Bush and the First Lady sent Christmas cards to the leaders of 200 countries. Apparently it would have been 201, but someone told the President that Legoland isn’t a real country.”

Namaste.

Wednesday : 07 December 05
Today started off slowly. Which isn’t a bad way to start the day. It picked up a little while later, but it wasn’t something that had to be done at a breakneck pace. After lunch, however… I started on something that almost made me want to pull my non-existent hair out. Almost. But, I dealt with it. And life went on. And I didn’t have to put together a string of expletives to adequately express how I felt. Although, I thought about doing it… just for kicks.

Tonight was Call of Cthulhu night at ‘. And, I was neither a bullet-magnet nor a chew toy for some creature’s fangs. It was a nice change of pace.

I’m not sure that I’m down with this whole “winter chill” thing that’s going on here. It’s 12:39 AM and it’s 2°F here. Two degrees. And we’re still two weeks away from the official start of winter. *sigh*

Stray Toasters

• I am almost finished with Bad Business; there have been parts of the book that have made me literally laugh aloud. I think that I have another Spenser book on mp3… but I don’t remember whether or not it’s on the laptop. I need to (re)locate my The Salmon of Doubt mp3s, too.
• One of my coworkers came across a link to Exploring Whiteness and Privilege (pdf file) this afternoon while we were looking up possible uses of the word “unintentional.” It’s… interesting.
• I want to go on a train trip. It doesn’t have to be a long one – SLC-Denver or SLC-Reno would be fine. I “blame” a few Amtrak ads, featured in the current issue of Communication Arts, for rekindling my interest in taking such a trip.
• NASA’s job – or at least one of its primary goals – is space exploration… or just getting things into space. So, you can imagine how odd I found it that they want to outsource space missions to the private sector.
• Is this what cats – and dogs – think about us?
  

• Weird DNA products
• Did I mention that it’s cold outside? Really cold. Well, it is.
• Like a rhinestone cowboy thug boy….
• This makes me happy.
• “One of every item, in reinforced bags please. I’ll need some of your laborers to bring them around to my wagon in the parking lot.”
  “Uhhh… And how’re you going to be paying for that, little girl?”
  

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

<video break>
     MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
     Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity
     Blues Traveler – Runaround
     Madonna – Don’t Tell Me
     Will Smith- Switch
</video break>

Tuesday : 06 December 05
I don’t know who put in an order for snow, but they got their money’s worth. And a lot more. It must have been “Buy one, get five free” day, because it snowed from… roughly 9:30 this morning until sometime after 7:00 tonight. And, of course, I called my father to let him know…

Then there was the snow-impeded homebound traffic. Joy. I must say that most people behaved and didn’t try to drive as if the roads were dry. That was a definite plus. Taking nearly an hour to make a normally twenty-five minute trip, however…? That was a minus.

Another plus was saving me from sitting at Borders for a few hours because the people in charge at ‘s job saddled them with four hours of overtime tonight. I knew that there were reasons why I don’t miss working there… I hung out with Eva and her boys, including watching Fosters Home for Imaginary Creatures. Interesting toon. And, it made me laugh.

picked me up and we headed for home. Pulling into the circle, we saw one of our neighbors starting to shovel our driveway; that was very nice and very appreciated. I put on some more appropriate clothes, grabbed a shovel and got to work on the rest of the driveway. He stayed outside and helped me finish the job.

I’m not sure what I want to do for the next couple of hours. I could take a trip to Paragon City or the Rogue Isles…. or I could take a hot bath and finish off a few more chapters of Bad Business. Although, my recent track record for reading in the tub without falling asleep isn’t very good. So far, I’ve managed to keep my books from falling into the tub, but a couple of those instances were very close calls.

Stray Toasters

• Despite my desire to stay away from X3-related items before seeing the trailer – no, I don’t want to see the trailer online first; I want to catch it on the silver screen – I have seen pictures of Kelsey Grammar in costume as Dr. Hank McCoy, The Beast. He looks pretty good.
• There are all kinds of goodies on the way from Diamond Select.
• Multiverse – Create your own MMOG.
• From the “Island of Misfit Toys” file: Bicycle Riding on Square Wheels
• …and, in a related note: Bike helmet covers shaped like brains, frogs, mohawks, etc.
• Deflexion seems to be a non-virtual version of Reflections, but with an Egyptian twist.
•    –   Forging a Bond with the Chain Gang
• DC Comics Superhero Stamps Coming
• , and anyone else who might be interested: We’re All Mad Here – The Looking Glass Wars
• “Dear God! It’s the boxes!! They’ve found us!! –
• posted a link to this video. I really dunno what to say about it other than: It’s nominally work-safe… if you listen to it with headphones.
•     –    Shaping Character and Destinies: John McCain
• 20 Years of Tetris
• For the Stephen King fans: Here is a little more info about his forthcoming project at Marvel Comics.
• For : Poison Ivy
• From TechNudge: Who Watches the Terrorist Watch List?

I think that will do it for now.

Namaste.

It’s snowing. Again. But that’s okay… I have my music and it’s getting me through.

<dance break>
     Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen – Theme from Mission: Impossible
     Amuro Namie – Come
     Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll
</dance break>

Monday
It was a good day… although it was colder that I like. The day passed quickly enough. Nothing extraordinary to report. Tonight, and I watched the Seahawks demolish the Eagles… in Philly. 42-0. It was not a pretty sight.

And did I mention that it’s COLD outside!? Well, it is.

Stray Toasters

• I received a phone call from my father around 9:30. He was calling to tell me that it was snowing. I doubled over, laughing, when he told me that. In the… seven years that I’ve been here – and been calling him when it snows – this is the first time that he has called to tell me that.
• Thanks to for the link to Artists for Literacy
• Linux Inspirational Posters
• “Oh, you’re still alive…?”
• Dice-rolling machine made from LEGO® bricks
• WizKids has announced the winners of the polls for their MechWarrior Army Builder Kits and the HeroClix Collector’s Sets:
  • MechWarrior – Republic of the Sphere
  • HeroClix – DC HeroClix: Alien Green Lantern Corps
  • HeroClix – Indy HeroClix: Invincible

  The sets will be available in the summer of 2006. Time to start saving up those pennies…

• “We’re not cool, Eben.”
  

• , , : Click here
• …and, as if getting beaten up by almost everyone in the DCU wasn’t enough: Guilty or Innocent: Batman and the OMACs
• Caffeine May Help Reduce the Risk of Liver Disease
• The sun is a mass of incandescent gas…
• Blues Radio Stations, Shows and Programming in the United States

Namaste.

This isn’t so much a Dance Break as it is a list of some of what Winamp has served up this morning:

• Drowning Pool – Bodies (FIRST song out of the gate)
• The Rolling Stones – Paint it Black
• The Sylvers – Boogie Fever
• Cookie Monster – C Is for Cookie
• Brassed Off Soundtrack – Colonel Bogey’s March

With a lineup like that, even a Monday can’t be so bad.

What is your media player sending your way?

Sunday : 04 December 05

I slept in a little later than I had planned this morning. That may have been somewhat attributable to the fact that I didn’t toss myself into bed until after 4 AM. Maybe. I woke up and got ready for today’s football action. Kate, Max and Perry dropped in for a while around 11:30; they were picking up their ladder and some props they left from the Hallowe’en party. We talked for a while before they had to take off.

came over to watch the Texans-Ravens game. Post game, she, and I headed out to Jordan Landing for lunch and a little shopping. Later in the evening, I hung out with and watched a strange oleo of football, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Law & Order: SVU.

Football Update

Houston at Baltimore
15- 16
Dom Capers and the Texans rode into M&T Bank Stadium to take on the Ravens. And the Ravens WON. It was a low-scoring, primarily defensive game, but it was a solid sixty minutes of football action. It was far too much of a nail-biter for my taste: The game was decided in the last minute and ten seconds. A Texans’ field goal, putting them ahead 15-13, was followed by a Matt Stover FG… with six seconds left on the clock. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. And I’m not going to argue with that. In other football news: – The Colts have advanced to a perfect 12 – 0. – The Bengals whooped up on the Steelers. ‘Grats, ! – The Steelers lost. (I just can’t say it enough.) – Cleveland took a loss and rejoins Baltimore at the bottom of the AFC North.

Stray Toasters

• I was looking through a few back entries and came across the links a couple of online games that I enjoyed playing:
  • Gridlock and
  • Reflections
• A lot of the current wave of television commercials make me laugh.
• There was a line on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in which the host said “In just seven days…” and the first thing that popped into my head was “…I can make you a ma-a-a-a-an,” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I nearly doubled over in a laughing fit.
• Little tiny swimmer kicks!
• 
• One of my coworkers used to work for Union Pacific Railroad and is still a big train buff. I am presenting him with a copy of Railroad Tycoon II tomorrow. Something tells me that he might enjoy it.
• The Monkees’ I’m Gonna Buy Me a Dog is a silly song, but I like it.
• I would like to purchase a new pair of black jeans, but neither Eddie Bauer nor Old Navy wish to cooperate with me. Does anyone have suggestions of where I might find a decent pair?
• Hot Tamales® candy.
• The HALO Command Center has a floor again, more or less.
• 

Quote of the Day
From Law & Order: SVU – Detectives Tutuola and Munch, canvassing an assisted living center, are approaching an elderly gentleman to ask him some questions about one of the nursing assistants:

Tutuola: “Mr. Jackson…?”
Mr. Jackson: “Are you the nude models I ordered?”
Munch and Tutuola exchange quizzical looks

And that’s all the news from Lake Saline.

Namaste.

Saturday : 03 December 05
After a leisurely start to the day, I had lunch with . As we were riding to the restaurant, it started to snow (yet again). So, I took a necessary course of action: I called my father to tell him (yet again) that it was snowing. He laughed, which was my intent. We talked briefly; all seems to be well on the northern homefront.

After lunch, it was on to visit ; he was watching ‘s girls. Eva, Nox and I chatted for a while, as the girls bounded about the living room… with enough kinetic energy to power a small Third World country for a month. Kids. Go figure. I left to pick up from work, picked up this week’s four-color shwag and headed home.

Back to Nox’ for poker, coffee… and Guinness. My poker skills are a bit rusty, but I am apparently quite adept at flipping poker chips into my coffee mug. My still-full-of-coffee coffee mug, that is. *sigh*

And then, it was on to breakfast. Decent turnout, but not too much going on with the people-watching. Oh, well. The company was good. , I gave something for you; I hope that you like it.

Stray Toasters

• The Forbes Fictional 15
• From Wired: The 10 Best Dystopias
• glarkware
• I wish I could fly
  From this building, from this wall
  And if I should try,
  would you catch me if I fall?

• Purple monkey dishwasher!
• To Boldly Go Where No Fan Has Gone Before
• Innocence, meet Purity.
  Purity, Innocence.
  *handshake*

Since the Ravens have another early game, I should probably give more than “a little” consideration to calling it a night.

Namaste.