Random Access

Monday – 08 October 2007
Annnnnd, I’m back.

The trip, though short, was good. Saturday, the weather was intermittently craptastic… just the thing for a night-time drive.  Fortunately, there were clear patches on the way, and you could see stars.  LOTS of stars.  I don’t think that I’ve noticed quite so many stars since my last trip along I-80 on the way to Carson City.

Yesterday, Sara and I made a trip into Cedar Canyon, near Kolob Resevoir to the “C” Overlook (pictures to come in a follow-up post).  And, I had yet another encounter in “Why Rob Likes Roads with Guardrails.”  It wasn’t Butterfield Canyon bad, but I had a few moments of “Oh, look! No cars are coming the opposite direction, I can move to the inside a little. “  After that, we headed to a barbecue and I got to hang with some of the grad students I met a few weeks ago; they’re a fun bunch – I think that they’d fit in with the Clitorati gang fairly easily.  And the guy who hosted the barbecue…?  He is apparently very serious about s’mores.  He had at least four kinds of marshmallows, two or three kinds of chocolate, and two types of graham crackers.  Game on!

Last night, we watched the last quarter of the Bears-Packers game.  For 15 minutes, I was a Bears fan.  It was a good fight.  Of course, it’s easier to watch a close game when “your team” isn’t playing.  (And, for the record: The Ravens squeaked past the ‘Niners.)   After the game, we were going to double-feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm with Shadow of the Vampire, but only made it through Phantasm when two of Sara’s roommates came in.  We decided to fore go Vampire and hang out with them; that turned out to be a fun option.

Today’s commute wasn’t bad.  Blue skies and light traffic.  I had no problems with road monkeys… until I got to Utah County.  Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• I have been receiving text messages from Adam about his exploits in HALO 3.  The boy cracks me up.
• Phone booth.
• Starfish Goldfish and Coffee
• “He’s still wearing his super-pants.”
• Glitter.
• I need to assemble my Stikfas ninjas.

That’s good enough for now.

Namaste.

Saturday – 06 October 2007
Today’s my father’s birthday. I called him this morning to congratulate him on avoiding the embrace of the Dark Lady for another year. He laughed at that. When I asked what he had on-tap for the day, he said nothing, other than enjoying the day. I told him that sounded like a good way to spend the day.

Today is also ‘s birthday:

…and tomorrow is ‘s birthday:

So far, the day has been lazy. I’m waiting for Legion of Super Heroes to come on so I can do some premium couch-surfing, while enjoying a nice bowl of Honeycomb.

After, I can get “right on to the friction of the day” and do things like running errands and cleaning and getting on the road.

::: cartoon break :::

Four-Color Coverage: Animated
Today’s Legion episode was “Cry Wolf.” It spotlighted Timber Wolf, who had been convicted of murdering his father – the man responsible for turning him into an ordinary young man into the feral Timber Wolf. The episode had a good deal of “inner monologue” voiceover, which was used rather effectively. Secondary characters in this episode were Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy, the only Legionnaires who refused to believe the charges against TW. There was an interesting moment between Timber Wolf and Superman-X (Kell-El) where ‘Wolf challenged Superman about doing what he thought/knew was right versus blindly following Cosmic Boy’s orders. Another scene, between Timber Wolf and Phantom Girl reminded me of a few panels from “A Cold and Lonely Corner of Hell.”

I followed up the LSH by watching today’s episode of The Batman, “Vertigo.” The episode introduced Green Arrow and Count Vetigo to this version of the DCAU. There were a couple of minor tweaks to the Green Arrow origin, but they stayed fairly faithful to the original story. I liked the way that they portrayed Green Arrow and his civilian identity, Oliver Queen – the once-proud, now-humbled rich guy looking out for the “common man.” The interaction between Batman, Robin and Green Arrow was also handled well… especially as Green Arrow began to piece together Batman’s secret identity.

Stray Toasters

• I need to get moving… but the motivation isn’t fully there yet. Given the state of disarray around here, you would think that the motivation would be kicking me squarely in the tuckus. Repeatedly.
• James Sturm on Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
  My father actually saw Satchel Paige play. I’m going to have to track down a copy and get it sent to him.
• Acolyte Derek has been promoted to “Deacon.” Selah and groove on.
• Blog Action Day
• From the XXXenophile card game: Oh No, There Goes Tokyo!



• While looking through CYMK, I saw the following ad for a drink called Sinalco:

  

• 6
• Click for art.
• From the Scrubs musical episode: Everything Comes Down to Poo
• It appears as though the Stepford Cuckoos are going to be a part of the upcoming HeroClix “Mutations and Monsters” set.

Quotes of the Day
From last night’s Clitorati gathering came the following:

1. You hit the jerky spot… and I don’t mean “beef.”
2. Speaking of “third time,” did you have the three-way?!

Okay, time to get a move on.

Namaste.

I just received this notification in an email and thought I’d share…

On Tuesday, November 13, the two-part Star Trek Remastered version of “The Menagerie” will beam onto the big screen in a special engagement with selected theatres. The screening — a first for episodic Star Trek on this scale — will be seen in nearly 300 venues across the U.S. and Canada. This one-night-only event will also feature a special introduction by Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, plus an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Remastered series.

In Utah, the screening will be held at Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing. Check here for listings in your area.

Friday – 05 October 2007
The morning started off about an hour after I had planned on it starting. And even then, I only woke up because the phone rang. *sigh* The rest of the morning has gone well, though. And there was frozen mocha goodness to help speed the day along.

Last night was quiet. I made it to The Garden of Sweden. And I was in and out of there in about 15 minutes. That almost never happens. I guess that’s the way it goes when you go in with a mission to get one specific thing. Only. (Of course, I walked out with two, but why quibble?) When I got home, I had a few grand designs on actually being productive and getting some cleaning done. Instead, I paved a little more of my road to Hell. And I’m okay with that. Besides, there’s always tonight or morrowmorn.

Stray Toasters

• Schoolhouse Rock! is providing the soundtrack – and some video – for the workday, so far.
• goofydopey
• 34-minus
• Someone turned Utah’s thermostat down again.  Yesterday, it was nearly 80°… it’s a hair above 60°.
• Carpe diem!
• After hearing part of this segment of Talk of the Nation yesterday, this comic was even more amusing:

  

• We the people, in order to form a more perfect union…
  (Admit it, you just started singing that.)
• Zero Punctuation review of Halo 3.  (Check out the review of Peggle, too.)

*voop*

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• For (and/or anyone else who’s interested): Someone made a set of custom New Mutants figures.
• 68
• *cackle*
• Today’s workout was good. My flat bench was okay for the first two sets, but I had to break up the third set into: 9 – 1 (reverse) – 1 – 1. But, on the plus side, my pull-ups are getting better: I can do two sets, unassisted, without much problem. And today, I fought my way through the third set of ten, unassisted. It was closer to: 8 – 1 – 1, but I didn’t have to use the machine assist.
• After I got back from the gym, Acolyte Derek asked me to come join a push-up “contest” with some of the developers. (Why they keep deciding to do these challenges on the days when I work out is beyond me.) Oh, well. Mine “is not to reason why…” So, I went to that side of the office and joined in. I did 57, topping the then-leader by two.

Quote of the Day
I have the following picture set as my desktop (this size, centered) in the Salt Lake office:

I received the following message from Dave, who sits next to me, when I’m in SLC:

(10:48:00 AM) Dave: hey man
(10:48:12 AM) Dave: I got my 5yo here and I was wondering if he could use your desk to do some coloring?
(10:48:23 AM) Dave: and by coloring, of course, I mean cracking into your computers…
(10:48:25 AM) Me: Sure!
(10:48:30 AM) Dave: chewing on your stuff…
(10:48:37 AM) Dave: no, that’s the 3yo, sorry, he doesn’t chew anymore
(10:48:39 AM) Me: Well, that’s a given with a 5y0 isn’t it?
(10:52:23 AM) Dave: thanks alot, man.
(10:52:29 AM) Me: Anytime
(10:52:38 AM) Dave: btw, he saw your ‘cute little picture’ on your monitor and I think it left a lasting impression…
(10:52:50 AM) Me: Oh, dear…
(10:52:56 AM) Dave: 🙂
(10:53:03 AM) Dave: I’ll tell you about the nightmares later
(10:53:07 AM) Me: Please. 😀

.eof

04 October 2007
The morning commute started well; actually, most of it was good.

Then, I hit Lehi.

And the traffic slowed to a crawl.

And, just at that point, my technopathic link with Nomad kicked in and the next song that came up was The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) by Liz Phair and Material Issue – the theme song from The Banana Splits. With that, I didn’t care about the traffic any more.

Yep… no ordinary moments.

Stray Toasters

• I have a bag of cotton candy to enjoy after going to the gym and eating lunch.
• Where the Great Old Ones Are
• I need to stop at The Garden of Sweden on the way home. (Just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen…)
• Supercalifragisexy
• And, while we’re at it: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
• Doll on a Music Box, not to be confused with Music Box Dancer

Back to it.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
Today was apparently “Have a Meal with a Cop” Day – Perry joined us for lunch and I had dinner with Pat.

I remembered to pick up birthday cards for my father; and I took them out to the AMF to get them in the mailstream tonight.

Four-Color Coverage

• Astonishing X-Men #22 – The X-Men face Danger, Kruun and a missile the size of a small moon. Think they’re getting out of this one without a scratch? Think again (spoiler warning). From the looks of things, it’s going to take a giant Band-Aid^® to make this better. The dialogue is solid. The situation is – in typical X-Men fashion – dire. Once again, Whedon and Cassaday bring an excellent story to the table.
• Countdown: 36, 35, 34, 33, 32 and 31 – Mary Marvel, spoiled brat. Eclipso, wearing a lovely Jean Loring skin. Karate Kid and Una, still in search of answers as to what’s killing the ‘Kid. All this, plus Klarion, Monarch and the return of the new – and expanded – Crime Syndicate Society of America. Some of the storylines are beginning to wear a bit thin for me; and I’m also starting to get… distracted… by the inconsistency of the artwork: Granted they are doing a weekly series, so they are distributing the art duties to different teams, but the artwork runs the gamut from “good” to “tolerable” to “I paid good money for this?!”
• Green Lantern Corps #15 and Green Lantern #23: The Sinestro Corps War – Parts 5 and 6
  

  War.
  What is it good for?
  Absolutely nothing.”
  

  Getting Lanterns dead, that’s what it’s good for. Readers are given a rather blunt example of what happens when an irresistable force (The Sinestro Corps) meets an immovable object (The GLC).

  In this issue, the battlefront has moved from Oa to Mogo, the planet-sized Green Lantern. Leading the charge is the SC’s answer to Mogo: Ranx, the sentient city. And what will Green Lantern Hal Jordan do when his power ring loses its charge? Oh… this.

  Sinestro: This is amusing. Hal Jordan struggling to access the power of fear.
  Jordan: I can thank you and Parallax for showing me how, Sinestro.
  Sinestro: Showing you how? You are only capable of opening the ring and releasing its energy. You have no idea how to manipulate fear.

  How bad do things get? Bad enough for the Guardians to rewrite the Book of Oa, including ten new laws:

  Guardian: Officers. We have all suffered a great loss during this horrific incursion of fear. Many are dead and wounded. Many more are missing-in-action. The Sinestro Corps fight without mercy. They torture those they capture. They revel in the pain they cause. And now they approach.We understand the limitations both our code of conduct and the power rings themselves have.

  It is for these reasons we have rewritten the Book of Oa. Rewritten it to include ten new laws effective immediately.

  The First Law of Ten within the Book of Oa…

  …the power rings are now authorized to used lethal force against the Sinestro Corps.

  And, it looks like the battlefront is moving. Again. The new front line: Earth.

• Justice League of America: Wedding Special #1 – Black Canary and Green Arrow are tying the knot. Fun, happy times and joy for everyone, right? Tell that to Firestorm, who’s getting the holy bejeezus kicked out of him. After a fight with Killer Frost, Firestorm hears the hum of a teleporter:
  

  Good evening, Firestorm. My associates are The Joker and Cheetah. And of course you know me, I’m Lex Luthor. Did you just wet your pants? I can’t say I’d blame you. We’re really quite terrifying.
  Firestorm: I’m supposed to be impressed? I was hoping you were Darkseid, so I could bust your skull.
  Luthor: You should perhaps consider working your way up to that. *blasts Firestorm*
  Firestorm: Uhnnn…. Okay. Caught me by surprise. But you can’t hurt me with that stuff…
  The Joker: You’re ruining the gag. You’re supposed to think it’s a regular flower. Or at the very least, just a gag flower with a squirt gun inside. *sprays Firestorm*
  Firestorm: AH!
  The Joker: But here’s the twist. It’s not harmless water. It’s my specially prepared venom.
  Firestorm: HA-HA-HA-HA… I can’t neutralize it… HA-HA-HA… but my powers…
  The Joker: See? Funny.
  Cheetah: *slashes Firestorm* You mean the same powers that should protect you from my claws? ‘Cause I don’t think they’re working.
  Firestorm: HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! HA-HA! Please, DON’T! HA! AHHH! HA-HA-HA!
  *off-panel slashing effects*
  The Joker: Life is all about perspective. If I get a hangnail, it’s tragedy. If you fall into an open manhole and die, it’s comedy.
  Firestorm: *screams*
  The Joker: Nobody gets me.
  Luthor: *to Cheetah* That’s enough.
  Cheetah: Matter of opinion.
  Luthor: *to Firestorm* You were helpless from my first shot. If you don’t want your enemies to neutralize your powers, refrain from publishing scientific papers explaining them.

  And where’s Wonder Woman? And Hawkgirl? And Geo-Force? (And Where’s Waldo, while we’re at it?!) And what happens when the rest of the League finds out what happens to Firestorm? Let’s just say that the phrase “Break one off…” comes to mind. To be continued in…

• Justice League of America #13 – Picking up where JLA: Wedding Special #1 left off, the JLA goes on the offensive. The teams split up, with Black Lightning monitoring the action from the Hall of Justice:
  

  Green Lantern (John Stewart): Team Two, checking in.
  Black Lightning: Roger that — I’m reading you loud and clear.
  Green Lantern: Have I mentioned that it’s good to be working with you again? Although, I do miss your afro.
  Black Lightning: Ho. Ho.
  Green Lantern: I’m serious. Why’d you cut your hair off?
  Black Lightning: I’m trying to be more contemporary.
  Green Lantern: Good move. Welcome to the Nineties. I know why you did it. It’s a negative combover.
  Black Lightning: A what?
  Green Lantern: You’re going bald and you’re hiding it by shaving your head.
  Black Lightning: I am not going bald. I happen to look good this way.
  Green Lantern: No, you don’t. I would, though. Maybe grow a little goatee to add a little funk…

  And more of the JLA fall to the Injustice League. And the hits keep coming as Luthor, in his battlesuit, teleports in to bat clean-up.

  What I love most about the Lantern/Lightning scene is that Dwayne McDuffie (1, 2) seems to be having fun with Green Lantern, a character for whom he wrote many episodes on Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Static Shock. But, it doesn’t stop there: He seems to have a good handle on all of the characters – both in the JLA and the Injustice League – featured in these two books (Wedding Special and Issue #13).

• Justice Society of America #9 – Power Girl’s having bad dreams. The JSA helps out at a pancake breakfast/charity fund-raiser. And help put out a fire. And… who is the “strange visitor from another planet dimension” that just showed up? More importantly: Why is he here now?!
• The New Avengers #34 – After what seems like eleventy-seven issues of “Are you or are you not a Skrull,” Dr. Strange, Master of the Mystic arts that he is, finally pulls a rabbit out of his hat (apparently that trick does work when not being performed by a moose) and proves to himself and the rest of the New Avengers that none of them are Skrulls… just in time for the team to go up against [message redacted].
• Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #33 and #34 – The search for Cosmic Boy continues… and concludes. Brainiac 5 proves, once again, that he is the most intelligent sentient in the room. Tenzil Kem proves that Bismollians can – and will – eat just about anything. Atom Girl is on the hunt for a man. And we get a retconned origin story for a very pissed-off Wildfire.
• Tales of the Sinestro Corps #1 – Parallax: The Fall of Kyle Rayner – In the Ion mini-series, readers were introduced to a painting of a young boy in a field that used to hang in the home of a then-young Kyle Rayner. He and his mother would make up stories about the boy.That is where this story starts. Sort of.
  The painting is in a room.
  In Kyle’s mother’s house.In Kyle’s mind.YeahbuhWHAT?!Kyle is “riding shotgun,” as the Parallax entity uses his body, tearing its way through the Green Lantern Corps. An aspect of the entity pays Kyle a visit. And that’s where the fun starts.

Stray Toasters

• I like traffic lights, but not for the same reasons as Terry Jones.
  
• Asteroid renamed for George Takei
• 83 or 71
• I asked about sheets of comic book stamps while at the AMF. They were out, but should have some after the weekend.
• Richard Garriott owns a Sputnik
• Four tabs, not three.
• Learning about The War
• For – World’s worst Hallowe’en costume: “Poopie Shorts”
• By way of Applegeeks: Adam West as Batman, with dialogue from Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns.
• Toys ‘R’ Us 2007 Hot Toy List
• Sopapillas.

.eof

Wednesday – 03 October 2007
Mittwoch and all is well.

Game night was canceled last night, so I found myself faced with deciding what to do with my evening. After a bit of mental meandering, I finally decided to log into CoH/V and see what was happening in either Paragon City or the Rogue Isles. I checked to see if either of ‘ alter-egos were online. They weren’t, but he was. I mentioned a field trip to the Isles and he was down with the idea. A short while – and a few deaths – later, Dhoruba had hit Level 14. And with Level 14 came a (real) travel power: Superspeed. Thank God.

I had a couple of odd dreams last night. One of them included an… invasion/uprising (?) of crab-like robotic creatures, similar to Stargate SG-1’s Replicators. I woke up just as a wave of them was overruning me. There’s a great/weird feeling.

Otherwise, the morning has been good, relatively quiet and fairly uneventful.

Stray Toasters

• I finally got around to depleting my stores of cotton candy by one. Something about running a Council mission, beating on bad guys, well… “even-worse-than-me” guys, while eating cotton candy is amusing.
• Artist gets probation for building secret mall apartment
• No one gets to their heaven without a fight.
• By way of Disinformation: Everything You Know About God Is Wrong: The Disinformation Guide to Religion
• NCSoft has released information about the upcoming expansion: Issue 11 – “A Stitch in Time.”
• Snorg Tees
• The upgrade to WordPress 2.3 is complete and was rather painless.
• lj user=”lostbear” pointed me in the direction of a LEGO-built Serenity.
  
• Weirdest Sex Stories of 2007
• Stylized Star Wars line-art t-shirts

…and I had sushi for lunch, at a place that frequents. Not a bad place and the prices were good. AND, added bonus: It’s a few doors down from the good Dr. V’s. (And I escaped with only two pieces of plastic crack: Firehawk and Lex Luthor.)

Namaste.

Random Access has gone Pink for October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

• American Cancer Society
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure
• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Namaste.

Tuesday – 02 October 2007
Road monkeys. Fast lane, slow car. Days like this make me (somewhat) glad that I wasn’t granted infinite cosmic power at birth (or by being visited by a fiery cosmic force as I piloted a space shuttle from a space station). Although, the idea of displacing the driver in question to midtown Manhattan at rush hour does hold more than “a little” appeal.

Reeling by on Celluoid: The Punisher
Last night, I watched the 2003 version of The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta. It was definitely “an adaptation” of the origin of the Marvel Comics character.

This isn’t to say that the movie was entirely “bad,” but let’s just say that there was room for some improvement. The characterizations were good – you understood what drove Frank Castle (Jane) to pursue his brand of justice, just as you understand what drove Howard Saint (Travolta). Yes, there was some over-acting. And the fight scene with The Russian…? Um, let’s just say that it was more over-the-top than it needed to be, but c’mon… you’re talking about a scene with a WWF/WWE wrestler – over-the-top is par for the course.

I might it on the Cool World–Long Kiss Goodnight Scale, but all things considered, it was a decent distraction. I might even call it “mindless fun.”

Four-Color Coverage
I started in on some of my four-color haul from the weekend. I’m up-to-date on Countdown and “The Sinestro Corps War,” as well as a few other titles, but there are still things in my hold box at the shop.

Stray Toasters

• I should reread Inferno, the one by Dante Aligheri, not the 80s Marvel X-book crossover.
• Coworker John “The Flash” Fox (hero to millions) pointed me in the direction of this video: Amazing Grace – Wintley Phipps. Not only does he sing the song; first, he gives an interesting background lesson in the song’s history and a little music theory, as well. I knew the story of John Newton, so that didn’t surprise me. What I didn’t know was that most Negro spirituals were written in the pentatonic scale. And, I like his rendition; I might even have to add this to “The Best” list.
• Don’t use the magical
  Mysterious, intoxicating, joy fantastic
  Fascinating word called love
  Unless u love me 2 the 9s
• Herbie Hancock Talks Math, Music and Mastering the Tech Toolbox
• From Computerworld: Five free Web apps we can’t live without
• I need to finish Season 2 of Coupling.
• Charlie Stross’ Halting State: Heist novel about an MMORPG
• 
• 7 Deadly Sins,7 Heavenly Virtues
• Said Superman had come to town to see who he could rock
  He blew away every crew he faced until he reached our block
  His speakers were three stories high with woofers made of steel
  And when we brought our set outside, he said “Ha! Be for real!”
  He said, “I’m faster than a speedin’ bullet when I’m on the set,
  I don’t need no fans to cool my amps, I just use my super breath.
  I could fly three times around the world without missin’ a beat
  I socialize with X-ray eyes, and ladies think it’s sweet.”
  And then he turned his power on and the ground began to move
  And all the buildings for miles around were swayin’ to the groove
  And just when he had pulled a crowd and swore he won the fight…
  We rocked his boat with a 12 inch cut called Disco Kryptonite
• Things you shouldn’t do in science fiction/fantasy fiction writing
• Do you have any idea how amusing it is to have people stop to look at comics I posted (start with that link and read the next nine or ten) on one of the cube walls… about starting a new religion? In Utah? And the new “religion” is based on video games? Hint: It makes me grin like a fiend.
• Russinovich finds his place at Microsoft

/lunch

Namaste.

Monday – 01 October 2007
New week.
New month.
T-minus 25 and counting.

This morning, after about ten seconds of thinking “I really could just lie here for a while,” I actually rolled out of bed after the alarm went off. Pre-work hygiene rituals went off without a hitch and I was out the door. I picked up a cup of frozen mocha goodness and was in the office by 7:40. Not too shabby.

With one exception, the commute wasn’t bad. Which brings us to the Monkey of the Day: I was heading up Traverse Mountain in the middle lane when a pickup truck, hauling a large horse trailer decided that he wanted to be in my lane. The fact that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time came to mind. *sigh* Physics, go figure. So, I put on my blinker, gunned it and pulled into the so-called “fast lane.” I apparently forgot that putting on a blinker in Utah means “Hey, I’m trying to move over, so speed up just enough so that I can’t…” to the nearest driver in the lane into which you’re trying to merge. The idiotstick in the lane sped up – but not enough – to try and block me out. Then, he proceeds to dog my six all the way to American Fork. Every lane change and speed variation. Some peoples’ children, I tell you.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with Sib-2 last night; she’s doing well.
• Shakespeare and coffee. (Not to be confused with Starfish and Coffee.)
• pointed me in the direction of these items.
• M.C. Escher
• Dwim made this over the weekend. His brother, Acolyte Derek, submitted it to Digg. Start the clock on Dwim’s fifteen minutes, please.
• The World’s Languages Are Fast Becoming Extinct
• 
• HOWTO make a robotic ElmoSapien chimera
• What is your email client of choice? I have recently switched (back) to Thunderbird after years of Eudora use.
• Bose Founder Discusses Audio Perfection and Digital Music
• I gained a new-found appreciation for my car’s seat warmers over the weekend. The cold, wet, snowy weekend.
• The Adorkable Nizlee
• The Most Irksome Employee Poll, by way of TechRepublic

/hunger

Namaste.