Random Access

I was playing with the cats – fun with a laser pointer – and came to a realization:

If I ever wind up in an air hockey tournament, I want one of them as my partner.

Seriously. The way they they track the laser dot? They’re all over it. With the quickness. And, let’s be honest: If I wasn’t constantly moving it away from them – AND if it wasn’t just a dot of light – they would catch it. Compared to that, a hockey puck would be a piece of cake. Hell, they could probably even play blindfolded.

The only question is: Which cat would I choose…?

Stray Toasters

• Safari for Windows already hacked
• These are pretty neat: High-speed still and motion captures
  • Milk drops in a coffee cup
  • Igniting a cigarette lighter
• Lids down, I count sheep
  I count heartbeats
  The only thing that counts is
  that I won’t sleep
  I countdown, I look around
• Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies
• I was playing with Photoshop and with an old picture that took many moons past and came up with this:
  

  

  AND it even comes in a bite-sized version, perfect for use as a topping on your favorite dessert icon:

  

• Music to walk by:
  • Queen – Princes of the Universe
  • Tupac – Changes
  • Liz Phair – Supernova
  • No Doubt – New

*voop*

Tuesday – 12 June 2007
I must have been “a little” tired last night – I fell asleep reading Vision of the Future. But, I did it in my comfy chair – thank you, Cardinal Fang – so it was alright.

This morning is proceeding apace. Up, equipped and on the road. Traffic was a little heavier than usual, but not horribly so. As I was passing out of Sandy and into Draper, Drowning Pools’ Bodies found its way into the drivetime musical oleo. I found myself reparsing the lyrics to “Let the monkeys hit the floor!” It amused me. Now that I think about it, though, it probably should have been something along the lines of “Throw the monkeys out the door!” I would also like to say that I Would Die 4 U/Baby I’m a Star make for some fine traveling music.

I’ve been toying with the WordPress portion of my site. I’m considering moving most/all/some (who knows?!) content into it and unifying the overall look of the site. Of the parts that I have played with, I like the way it looks.

Stray Toasters

• I just had a toaster pastry… from a not-so-stray toaster.
• Let me see if I got this right: First, we have a wooden marionette that wanted to be a real boy. Now we have a bicycle made of wood?
• just sent a link to this story. Words fail me.
• ATI or nVidia? What’s your weapon of choice and why?
• Superhero Celebrity Poker
• Conversations with often take amusing – if not very odd – turns:

[06:59] evangelinaarion: wow if you cross the two pics you sent me, you get the pic i sent you
[07:02] shadorunr: Yep.
[07:02] shadorunr: Like a… digital Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
[07:03] shadorunr: “You got your Catwoman in my Strawberry Shortcake!”
[07:03] shadorunr: “You got your Strawberry Shortcake on my Catwoman!”
[07:03] shadorunr: Mmmmm.

• Is the Xbox 360 Core System about to undergo a price drop?
• Papurika (Paprika) is coming to the Broadway in a couple weeks. It looks like it could be as weird as Perfect Blue. I shall have to go and see it.

  

• Oh, YEAH!
• Quentin Tarantino’s Penny Dreadful: Steampulp Fiction

Namaste.

Monday – 11 June 2007
“Waking up and getting up has never been easy…” – Elastica

This morning, it wasn’t a big struggle. Sure, I turned off the alarm and laid back down… but, I have Nomad set to start playing about 15 minutes later. And it’s in the living room, which means that unless I want really loud music playing – and disturbing the neighbors – I need to get my butt out of bed and turn it off/down. Of course, I just listened to the first two of the morning’s selections…

• Biz Markie – Just a Friend
• Malcolm McLaren – Madame Butterfly

…before getting up. Observed the hygiene rituals, got dressed, made sure that the kids had food and busted out of L7. ( and maybe will get that reference… maybe.)

Stray Toasters

• So, you think your job sucks? After reading this, you might reconsider.
• OS X upgrade, iPhone may boost Mac sales
• I would just like dedicate this song to these people.
• Eric pointed out this commercial. I laughed. You will too… most likely. And, believe it or not: It’s 99.44% work-friendly!
• Sweet Christmas!
• ..and this, too.

Back to it.

Namaste.

Sunday (coda)
The day ended well.

• I picked up from the airport and delivered her home.
• Presto has apparently forgiven me for giving her cat treats that apparently didn’t agree with her. Eleven times.
• I hung out with Perry and the kids.
• I talked with Kris for a bit.
• I didn’t die while playing CoH.
• I had ice cream.

So, all-in-all, it was a relaxing way to end the weekend.

And it’s only four days till Friday. Apparently, Loverboy was right: Everybody’s Working for the Weekend. But, that then makes me wonder where Huey Lewis And the News’ Workin’ for a Livin’ fits in… We know that Kool Moe Dee is all about working, since he told us I Go to Work; and Big Daddy Kane said I Get the Job Done, so I’m not to worried about his work ethic. Geddy Lee is Working at Perfekt, so you have to admire his desire to get things done right… if not his spelling skills. And, he’s apparently been at it a long time – since 1974, in fact, when he told us that he was the Working Man, back from the days when he worked with Misters Lifeson and Rutsey.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, now what’s a title to fit me?
A champ like Tyson, a Captain like Kirk, no
Employee of the Month, cause yo, I do work
The K-A-N-E is on the J-O-B
An expert, cause I get it D-O-N-E
So lights, camera, action – all hail the one!
That gets the job done

*blink*

Um… sorry about that. It slipped.

Stray Toasters

• I’m craving cotton candy again.
• : I’m not sure what possessed me, but I tried posting something on ‘Opinionated… and it ate it. All of it. Didn’t even leave seeds or stems. Besides that, where did everything else go?!
• Superhero Recipe
• I bought a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream ice cream last week. It’s not bad. Tasty, even.
• “…on a train.” (which is NOT to be confused with: “To. Your. DOOR!”)
• Day Watch. Wednesday.
• …speaking of which: Tyranist, if you acquired Night Watch, I would like to borrow it tomorrow, please.
• The Stardust movie website has been updated.
• Sometimes, songs get stuck in your head. When it’s something like Brian Wilson or Scotty Doesn’t Know or Chiron Beta Prime or Code Monkey, I’m okay with that. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car? No problem. When it’s something like Pina Colada… it makes me want to perform a slow, painful frontal lobotomy on myself. You know the song…
  

  If you like Pina Coladas
  And getting caught in the rain
  If you’re not into yoga
  If you have half a brain

  That one. I had this song stuck in my head for three days once. Three. Days. Like I said, “slow, painful frontal lobotomy.”

• 
• Ed Brubaker on “The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire” – Conclusion
• Should the words “World’s cutest” and “goatse” ever be used together?
• 30 Days of Night (official site)
• M.O.D. are you out there?
  I can’t see your face
  But you left a trace on a data back-road
  That I almost erased
• : Legion Animated Cosmic Boy

Namaste.

Sunday – 10 June 2007
I’ve been emailing and texting Kris this morning – today’s her birthday. I would call… but she’s in a review class, for the Bar exam, which she will take in a few weeks. Yeah, in class. On a Sunday. It’s not exactly my idea of fun; it doesn’t seem to be her idea of fun, either. But, she’s doing well. That’s what matters to me.

I’ve also been chatting with . He’s currently in Germany. He said, “this is one emotionally cold country.” At first, I thought that it was simply an emotional detachment that could be attributed to guilt in their ancestors’ role in WWII. Then, I remembered something else:

[10:40] shadorunr: I just figured it out.
[10:40] shadorunr: Emotionally cold.
[10:41] shadorunr: Great engineers.
[10:41] shadorunr: They are going to colonize Vulcan.
[10:41] shadorunr: You’re in the midst of proto-Spocks!
[10:41] trellos: god i hope not
[10:41] trellos: i can’t see the vulcans wanting to create a master race
[10:41] trellos: i mean c’mon
[10:41] shadorunr: Those are the Romulans.
[10:41] shadorunr: Wait.
[10:41] trellos: spock is an intergalactic zebra after all
[10:41] shadorunr: [Being Romulans] would account for the warlike tendencies.
[10:42] trellos: i can see that

And, with that, we have solved one of the great mysteries of the Star Trek universe. Or what would be a great mystery, if anyone really gave a damn about it.

Stray Toasters

• I need caffeine. It hasn’t reached a critical stage yet, but I should get some soon.
• Canadian Filmmakers Festival
• MysteryNet
• Sissy is sitting on the floor starting at my hands while I type. It’s a little odd, but nowhere nearly as disturbing as this (Paragraph 2) was.
• Steam Trek – a steampunk take on Star Trek
• “Adults, a necessary evil.”
• “Parallel lines meet at infinity.”
  There are a couple of lines approaching an odd vanishing point.
• I believe that I will have to own this book: Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up
• : Does this qualify as “cross-promotion” or is it just “jumping on the bandwagon?”
• Man in wheelchair takes ride on semi’s grille
• Tyranist and : From the CS Moore Studio – The Walking Dead Statue (preorder)
• Tetris fridge magnets
• Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
  A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
  We marvel after those who sought
  New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
  Wonders in the world they wrought.
• Yep, this pretty much sums it up!
• , I think this is up your alley: Bigfoot bust for sale

Namaste.

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Saturday – 09 June 2007
For some, as yet unexplained reason, I was up at 6:30 this morning. Six. Thirty. On a Saturday. *blink blink* Not cool. In fact, it was about as far from cool as Heaven is wide. (With apologies to Garbage…) I can’t even pin this one on the cats – unlike a couple of days ago, when Sissy decided that it was a good idea to use the wicker laundry basket as a scratching post… at 4:15 AM. I did manage to get back to sleep after a while.

I officially started the morning with a shower, “Legacy,” today’s episode of Legion of Super Heroes and a cup of coffee. It was an interesting episode: In the pre-credits opener, Superman saves a red-headed young woman in a powered armor flight suit from impending doom. After the save, she thanks him… and walks away. *roll intro* We later discover that her name is “Alexis” and that she’s functionally the… hm, I don’t want to call her “Paris Hilton,” but it’s the closest analogue I can think of at the moment… of the 31^st Century. And she has an eye for Clark. But, Alexis has a few problems that we learn about over the course of the episode:

The trouble with Alexis is: She’s a spoiled rich brat.

The trouble with Alexis is: She’s used used to getting her way.

The trouble with Alexis is: She has no friends… and is willing to do pretty much anything to make/keep Superman (as) her friend.

The trouble with Alexis is: Her last name is Luthor.

The reveal of Alexis’ last name is not revealed until the very end of the episode – and it’s only noticeable if you read Interlac.

And therein lies the rub. Clark doesn’t know anything of his future with Alexis’ ancestor, Lex; so to him, she’s just a pretty girl with whom he likes to hang out and have some downtime from his duties with the Legion. Over the course of the episode, Clark shirks his responsibilities as a Legionnaire in order to… just be a teenager. He misses patrols. He shuts off his communicator… and, in doing so, winds up missing a confrontation with The Scavengers, episode’s other villains (who also bore an interesting resemblence to Star Trek‘s Borg, although more human). And, that incident winds up costing Brainiac 5 an arm.

Alexis shows her true colors about two-thirds of the way through the episode. In a move that was very reminiscent of John Byrne’s Man of Steel #4, Alexis concocts a scheme to get Superman to “save” her. When the ruse is exposed, Clark flies off angrily, stating that he needs to spend time attending to his responsibilities to the Legion. This is something that does not sit well with Alexis. Thus, she decides to make Clark’s decision – spending time with her or the Legion – for him. She has him sent on a wild goose chase and then attacks Legion HQ in a new, and heavily-armed power suit… with the help – and numbers – of the Scavengers. Superman realizes that he’s been had and returns to Earth and the fight. In the end, Alexis’ power suit is destroyed; Superman flies in to rescue her. When the smoke clears, we see that the fight and explosion has cost Alexis her hair. She looks up at him and says, “What have you done…,” which was another nod to Superman’s past with Lex (1, 2).

All-in-all, it was a solid episode. And it explains Alexis’ appearance on Takron-Galtos in “Sundown (Part II).” There was even a cameo of Lobo, for the sharp-eyed observer.

Stray Toasters

• I finally upgraded to WordPress 2.2. Not bad. And, it was a far easier upgrade than I had feared it would be.
• Sissy, who likes to climb into drawers, has discovered a couple of empty ones in the master bathroom.
• sent a link to this picture, which amused me greatly.
• The creative works of Alfred Wong. ( and , check out his Sculpted Figures section.)
• An infomercial from a parallel universe – Steampunk Rayguns
• 
• , click here.
• , guess who’s “Today’s featured article” on Wikipedia. C’mon.. guess! Okay fine, it’s this person.
• 

Namaste.

Thursday (coda)
Despite a traffic back-up (from 126th South up to 114th South… because of an accident off to the side of the road), the evening hasn’t been bad. I’ve been playing with the cats and watching Game 1 of the NBA Finals. At one point, Lightning jumped up on the couch and curled up in my lap and watched part of the 4th Quarter. I have the fur all over my shirt to prove it.
I think that I might try to find some trouble to break up in Paragon City in a little bit. Or play some poker.

Four-Color Coverage
I haven’t picked up this week’s four-color goodness (or some of last week’s), but I saw a preview of Justice Society of America #6, the latest installment of “The Lightning Saga,” and it made me smile:

The JSA and JLA are trying to figure out where the six Legionnaires have gone. Their only clue is a duralim rod, from Wildfire’s belt. Superman explains…

Wildcat: Ya act like you’ve seen that thing before.
Superman: I have, Ted.
Wildcat II: What is it?
Superman: It’s a lightning rod.
Black Canary: A handheld lightning rod?
Superman: It’s 31st Century science, Canary, way beyond anything I could explain. Even Kryptonian science. Mr. Terrific’s trying to identify how it works, but…
Flash: You already know.
Superman: I know what it’s used for. One of the founding members of the Legion, Lightning Lad, was killed stopping an alien invasion. We searched the universe for a way to bring him back. We found one — but it was a bizarre game of Russian Roulette. By activating the rods with lightning, we could sacrifice one of our lives and give it to Lightning Lad. We all volunteered. We raised the rods around him. And we waited for lightning to strike one of us. In the end, Chameleon Boy’s shape-shifting pet, Proty, secretly took Saturn Girl’s place and gave its life for Lightning Lad’s.
Geo-Force: That is not only ridiculous, Superman, it is insane.
Superman: Our devotion to each other was unexplainable.
Batman: You were kids.
Superman: No, Batman. We were Legion.

The next two-page spread shows the missing Legionnaires flying through the night…

Dawnstar: We agreed before we left that we would complete our mission here in the past and return home. Superman and his teammates were never supposed to get involved… we’ll find the last Legionnaire this way.
Timber Wolf: If they hadn’t gotten involved, I’d still be racing dinosaurs with a bunch of talking gorillas.
Wildfire: I’m surprised you didn’t find a girlfriend, Brin.
Timber Wolf: ‘Least I didn’t think I was a statue. ‘Course, I like you better that way.

That’s just good stuff. And, the panel of the Legionnaires at Lightning Lad’s coffin was done in the style of the original story, way back in Adventure Comics #312. I need to ease on down the road and head to Dr. Volt’s and pick this up.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with the rare and elusive this evening.  She is well.
• As usual, cracks me up. Today, he proved his mastery of the “Two birds, one stone” concept.
• Tom DeSanto Looking to Adapt City of Heroes
• : Legion Animated Ferro Lad from the Comics2Film DCG
• The kids are silly. Most cats like using scratching posts. Not these three. Instead, they love using my 12″x12″ LEGO base plates as scratching mats. I’m pretty sure that it has to do with the studs on the plates feel against the pads on their paws, but it’s still damned amusing to watch.
• 
• Secrets of Contrails
• Hmm… Ben & Jerry’s or ice cream sandwiches?  Decisions, decisions…
• UK physics teacher says British physics sucks
• I haven’t read Daredevil in a few years. But, I just read this article – Will Daredevil’s Wife Survive? – and it made me wonder exactly what in the Nine Hells is going on at the so-called “House of Ideas?”

  I know that Joe Quesada has never liked the fact that Peter Parker’s life got “easy” (steady job, supermodel wife), but come on, as the saying goes: “Every dog has his day.” Or, as I prefer to put it: “The sun shines on a dog’s ass, too.” Sure, in the time-altering “House of M,” Peter wasn’t just “a guy,” he was a superstar. And a publicly known one, at that. But when the House of M ended, so did that life for Peter. But the worst part: He remembered it. All of it. And starting with “Civil Bore,” Marvel proceeded to turn Peter’s life upside-down. Again.

  Now, it seems as if they are about to pull the rug out from Matt Murdock. Again. *sigh* “Everything old is new again.” But, they didn’t bother to dust it off or polish it or anything. I would like to be surprised and find out that they are actually giving someone in the Marvel Universe a break. Anyone. Hell, at this point, I’d be happy if it’s anyone but Tony Stark. Even Power Pack. Or the Great Lakes Avengers.

• This was so bad that I was compelled to include it:
  
  (from xkcd.com)
• “How do you circumcise an orange brick?”  (Bet that got your attention, didn’t it?)
• : I saw this and it reminded me of you.
  
• Nintendo creates new disease… “Wiiitis”

Namaste.

Thursday – 07 June 2007
Day Two of the “Great Salt Lake Temperature Drop.” This just ain’t right.

I finished Specter of the Past last night. It ended on an interesting note; I’m looking forward to seeing how the story advances in the next book.

The kids are doing well. Sissy is still trying to be the alpha… but only at certain times. When I had the laser pointer out, she actually played with the twins, without too much fuss. Speaking of which, I took what I think is, to date, the best picture of all three cats:

(click picture for larger view)

…and it shows their affinity for IKEA, to boot! I have seen both Sissy and Presto sit/lie/stretch out in the chair many times over the past few days. (One thing that doesn’t show in the picture: How much fur Sissy has shed over the cushion. Oh, well, that’s what lint rollers and vacuum cleaners are for.)

The Scales of Justice
I took Hand of Nefer-Tem out on patrol last night… but couldn’t get into soloing. Nor could I find a team. So, I decided to let Paragon City’s other defenders of justice handle the crimefighting for the night.

Stray Toasters

• I called Mom this morning (something about it being her birthday or some such thing). All’s well; she has her first post-op checkup later today. (I forgot to call her “Lady Deathstrike” while she was on the phone.) Assuming that her doctor clears her, she and my uncle are heading “down to the hills,” as Dad would say, to get some things out of the old house.
• Scott: Uh-oh…
  Jamie: What?!
  Scott: Big tunnel.
• – 25 Trends that changed the way we live
  USA Today is running lists of “25 things that…” in celebration of their upcoming 25th anniversary. Some of the lists – and the selections therein – are rather interesting.
• To quote and : “People suck.”
• Last week, I saw that someone had created a MySpace page for their City of Heroes character. I thought that it was a bit odd. Granted, I have CoH and CoV links on my site, but I haven’t gone so far as to create MySpace pages for any of my characters. When I logged into City last night, there was a notice on the front page for this.
• “Did I win?!”
  
• Smoke Camels, be a better sniper
• and everyone will say “I told you so”
  yeah they’ll all just nod and sigh
  but I’ll make a run at something real
  and they’ll never even try
  and everyone will say “I told you so”
  yeah they’ll all just nod and sigh
  as I go down in a ball of flames
  they’ll just watch, i wonder why
• Internal workings of a mechanical watch video
• : 27 June 2007 (1, 2, 3)
• Steampunk Monitor from the Steampunk Workshop
• By way of ZDNet: Why DRM won’t ever work
• “More Parachute! RAAWR!!!” –

Namaste.

Wednesday – 06 June 2007
It’s the middle of the week.
It’s the first week of June.
And I’m actually wearing a turtleneck.

Because someone decided to turn down Utah’s thermostat again. By at least 30°. It’s raining here in the valley and there is some fresh snow on the mountain tops.

Did I mention that it’s June? I did? Well, I don’t think that I mentioned that I’m not in the Southern Hemisphere, because that does make a bit of a difference.

Aside from that – and the fact that I called the ‘rents to tell them the same – things are going well.

Last night was a game night: All Flesh Must Be Eaten. We attacked a cathedral. Well, not really the cathedral, per se; we attacked the people inside. For some reason, they weren’t exactly happy to see us… and they shot back. How rude. In the end, we took some bumps and bruises (and a couple of laser burns), but we kicked their collective recta. So far. We still have some places to explore and there is still the slight problem of having to find and rescue some hostages. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” as the saying goes.

Stray Toasters

• Did I mention “turtleneck” and “June” before?
• At Tyranist’s behest – and because I can’t seem to get Scotty Doesn’t Know out of my head – I watched EuroTrip.    I had summarily dismissed it as “too stupid for the Cool World – Long Kiss Goodnight Scale” when it was released.  I was wrong.  VERY wrong.  I may actually have to buy this movie.

  I kept looking at the guy who played Scotty and trying to figure out why he was so familiar.  It didn’t come to me until I looked at IMDb and saw that he was the lead in this movie.  *duhr*

• Dwim pointed me in the direction of this, which included this picture:
  
• Script review: Wonder Woman
• “Just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen…”
• By way of PC Magazine: 10 Wicked Awesome Webcomics
• 
• Interview with Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer director Tim Story

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• Clitorati Question: Since our usual hangout will be undergoing renovations over the next few weeks, do we want to relocate? Drop me a line with your suggestions and I’ll let you know the concensus on Thursday.
• I have a toaster pastry that would be a Pop Tart… if it was made by Kellogg’s.
• Madonna’s Secret played in the morning musical oleo during today’s commute. It made me laugh because when it got to the following part:
  

  Happiness lies in your own hand
  It took me much too long
  To understand how it could be
  Until you shared your secret with me

  I had the horrible thought of that being repurposed and used as the background music of a Secret deodorant/anti-perspirant ad.

• Check out the videos and information on the SawStop: 1, 2
• I was showing Tyranist the video for Hooverphonic’s 2Wicky a little while ago.  Today was the first time that I paid attention to the lottery balls shown near the end of the video: 6-0-0-9-1.  This ties back into the first lyric of the song: “Prophet 60091“  Nice touch.