Random Access

Friday – 14 March 2008
First off: Happy Hatching Day to :

And, as made a post about it being Steak & Blowjob Day:

Now, on to our regularly scheduled programming.

After work, I stopped to say “Hi” to Kate, Perry and the kids on the way home. Then, it was on to Target to pick up a few things and then home. I got home a little after 8:30, figuring that I would catch the tail end of CSI: while I waited for dinner to cook. I need not have worried – it was a rerun. I channel-surfed while eating dinner. Then it was time to take it to the streets… of Paragon City. I ran a solo Vanguard mission and then joined an SG-mate and a few others for a 50+ mission. By the time I was done, I was over half-way to Security Level 47.

This morning, I got up to take the car in for an oil change and to get the driver’s side front turn signal assembly replaced. The first question Ian (the associate who usually handles my car service issues) asked was: “Can you leave it with us for a couple of hours?”

*blink blink*

The light assembly is mounted behind some restraining brackets and the bumper – which is why I’m not replacing it myself – but I didn’t think it was going to take quite that long. So, I rescheduled for tomorrow morning. Undaunted, I left the dealership and met Perry for pre-work coffee.

And it’s been snowing. Again. Yee-haw.

Stray Toasters

• was talking with Coworker DaveW about a new Pontiac commercial. I was intrigued because he said that it was a take on the old Spy Hunter game. So I checked it out for myself. The commercial is chock full of awesomeness:
  
• What are your operating system, web browser and email client(s) of choice?
  I’m an OSX and WinXP, Firefox (both platforms) and Thunderbird (bot platforms) user.
• Thanks to for the following:

  
  …and…
  
  A… cardinal… who wants to be….
  Oh, Hell… I if I have to explain it, just move 0n.

• From CNN: They would rather die than get help
• WOWIO
• PHP
• From xkcd: “Morning”
  
• This link leads to action-figure.com‘s coverage of Toy Fare 2008. It has MANY things that could be added to the Covet List there. Many, indeed.

And, thanks to putting in some extra hours on the front end of the week, today will be an abbreviated work day. Amen.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 12 March 2008
Mid-week.
(As I typed that, I heard

Midnight, and it’s raining outside…

…the opening line from “Midnight,” by Yaz (Upstairs at Eric’s) run through my head.

I went to Chris and Mary’s, after work, to play dolls HeroClix with Chris. He wanted to test a couple of figures before he plays in a tourney next month; I wanted to try out a couple of new figures. He cleaned my clock, but I learned a few things about how to better use a couple of figures, including:

• Green Lantern (Guy Gardner)
• Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and
• Time Trapper

Chris was a little disappointed with the way the new Kyle Rayner figure plays, but I thought that it was alright. And we both agreed that WizKids should do an updated (read: “less underpowered”) John Stewart figure. *shrug* Maybe in the next set…

Today has been good. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary to report.
No sushi today.
No comics. Yet. But, soon… Soon…

Stray Toasters

• I came home last night to find a package from my father waiting for me. Random assortment of things (no Butterscotch Krimpets, though), but some neat stuff, nonetheless.
• YouTube Everywhere
• Vih-Dee-Ohs
  • Star Wars, as described by a 3-year-old
  • Star Trek: Closer
  • Star Trek: The Wrath of Farrakhan
  • National Spelling Bee

  And, just for the record: “Closer” and “Spelling Bee” are quite NSFW. You have been warned.

• What Real-life Dungeon Exploration Might Look Like, Graduate Students in Tow
• I have been using this image as my desktop wallpaper in the SLC office for… three or so weeks now:

  

  I adapted it from this image, which is part of the cover for the Incognegro graphic novel. And here is an article on the book, from The New York Times.

• Southwest grounds planes, places three on leave
• Rock Me, Amadeus

  
  (click image for more information)

• Surveyor of the Superheroes: Kaveney talks new book
• ‘Oldest Profession’ updates to a wired world
• …and, in a related note, it seems as though David Paterson will be assuming the role of Governor of the State of New York as of 17 March 2008, making him New York’s:
  • …first Black governor
  • …first visually-impared (legally blind) governor and
  • …first disabled governor since FDR
• Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub
  

  * Why did Utah name its capital, Fillmore, after the president (and the county it is in, Millard, too)? The Mormons wanted to join the U.S. They wanted to be a state. Congress and the executive branch were nervous about taking in a state so large (at the time the state covered most of Nevada and chunks of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho — larger than Texas as I recall) and there was active opposition to taking in a state run by Mormons. So the Mormons moved the capital to Fillmore — more centrally located, and out of Salt Lake City where the Mormons had their temple and a lot of people. Then they named the capital after the president, hoping to curry his favor and that of the Whig Party partisans. It didn’t work. The proposed State of Deseret was carved up, and Utah didn’t get statehood until 1896 — after even Nevada.
  (from the site’s “Sources on Millard Fillmore” page)

  Fillmore is one of the towns I go through on the way to/from Cedar City.

• PHP and arrays.

Namaste.

Sunday – 09 March 2008
So far, it’s been a quiet day here in the greater SLC metro area. After waking up to find more “mystery leak” water – and a wet section of carpet – I called maintenance (again). This time, I got some satisfaction out of the deal: Dave (the maintenance guy on-call) came in and checked four other apartments behind mine, but found nothing. He asked if this had been a problem since before SageWater came; I told him that it had. I then asked if someone could take a look behind the drywall. He said that they’d have to cut (more/new) holes in the ceiling. I told him that if they found the leak, they could cut as many holes as it took. They start tomorrow.

After some lazy time watching Ninja Warrior on G4, SaraRules and I headed to the Garden of Sweden for lunch and a bit of shopping. I have the second display case, a couple of lights for inside the cases, a new picture frame for my Roll The Bones tourbook and a new wine rack, among other goodies.

Stray Toasters

• I have cinnamon rolls from IKEA.
  (Now, if I could just figure out what in the Nine Hells I’m cooking for dinner tonight, I’d be set…)
• Geek Love – an Op/Ed piece from The New York Times (check out the flowchart)
• From Slashdot: New book cuts through violent video game myths
• For ….
  

And that’s all the news from Lake Saline. For now.

Namaste.

Friday – 07 March 2008
The re-piping project in my apartment started bright and early (8:00 AM) yesterday. When I got home, the first phase was pretty much complete… leaving a number of holes throughout the walls and ceiling of the apartment. This included a hole in the wall between the bedroom and the maintenance closet (outside). This meant that I had a rather drafty hole that allowed a good deal of cold air into the bedroom… almost directly over the bed. So, I jerry-rigged a light cover to try and keep some of the air out. It was nominally effective. Pictures here.

SaraRules came into town last night. We headed to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Cheese Fries. Prime Rib. Very tasty. We had a great server, as well. Her name was Jennifer. She was attentive, helpful, very pleasant and just all-around “good.”

Workout
Yesterday’s workout – the first in nine or ten days – was good… but painful.  “Good pain,” despite how oxymoronic that sounds:

• Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 55 lbs.
• Dumbbell Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs.
• Push-ups (elevated): 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Dips 3 sets/15 reps
• Rows (upright, barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs
• Tricep Press (cable): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs

Yesterday’s post-workout weight: 172.4 lbs.
Stray Toasters

• Yesterday, I got the Wizard Universe Store weekly email for new toys and comic-related merchandise. In it was an item for an advance order for the ‘Coming of Galactus’ Limited Edition HeroClix figure. This is basically a re-issue of the older Galactus figure… with a new paint job:
  • Old and busted:
  • New hotness

  And, yes, it is firmly entrenched on the Covet List.

• New Jack Kirby coffee table art book
• The Council for Better Driving: Utah gives a “thumbs-down” to UDoT for its lack of attention and care given to Salt Lake City metropolitan area streets. They are atrocious! Anyone who has driven on either 33rd/35th South and/or 90th South, for example, will know exactly why.
• This Is Your Brain on Jazz: Researchers Use MRI to Study Spontaneity and Creativity
• 
• By way of GQ: Clean Start
• I was just thinking about something:
  • In Justice League/Unlimited, there are a few episodes that feature Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet.
  • In Justice League: The New Frontier, another version of the plane was “shown,” but the way that it was “seen,” by the viewer, was by way of blood in the cockpit.
  • In both the comics and in animated versions – and even in the 1974 Cathy Lee Crosby made-for-TV movie, it has been noted that neither the jet – nor people inside the jet – cannot be seen by bystanders.

  So… how in the Nine Hells does she know where to get in or where the controls – or anything else – are?!

• Geoff Johns: Secret Origins and Blackest Night
• “What’s a Nubian…?”
• xkcd: Ultimate Game

Namaste.

Monday: Coda
Ten-and-a-half hours.

That’s how long my Monday work day wound up being. Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not complaining. Sure, it was a long day and I had a fairly boring and rote task that took up the back half (or more) of the day, but I was not a bad day by any stretch of the imagination. Just… long. And, on the “plus” side of the equation: That gives me an “extra” two-and-a-half hours to play around with on this week’s schedule, if I want.

After work, I came home for a short bit and then headed back out to take care of a couple of errands before heading over to Mary and Chris’ so that Chris and I could play dolls HeroClix. As usual, he cleaned my clock, but I had a lot of fun. The first game (400 points), I tried a team with something of a Green Lantern focus:

• Green Lantern (John Stewart)
• Sentinel (Alan Scott, the first of Earth’s Green Lanterns)
• Star Sapphire (GL Hal Jordan’s ex-flame… and later arch-enemy)
• Hawkgirl (I needed to fill in the points. Sue me.)

This was something of a war of attrition, but Chris’ tactics and skill wore me down. We decided to play one more game (200 points) before calling it a night. I decided that I wanted a “fun” team, so I went with a Justice League International theme. (I deserved to get my ass kicked just on principle for that one.) This team’s lineup included:

• Blue Beetle
• Booster Gold
• Fire
• Ice
• Rocket Red #7

Chris brought out Nick Fury and agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And Blade. Between some rather craptacular dice rolls on my part and some pretty good ones on his part, he picked my team apart. It was almost as funny to watch/play as the JLI comic series. Almost. But, again, it was fun.

We loosely talked about getting together again and playing in the not-too-distant future. I had a couple of ideas for themes, based on the point values we decide on: The Earth GLs, The New Mutants or the Captain Marvel family.

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: Adult Brains Wired to Go Ga-Ga Over Babies
• The 10 Coolest LEGO-Inspired Gadgets
• 
• pointed me in the direction of this article on BoingBoing: Interview with producer of swords and sorcery themed porn…
  • …which led to this article, The Magical World of Warcraft Erotica, in The Village Voice
  • …which included this gallery (some of which is NSFW)
• SIW
• 
• Alex Ross’ Age of TV Heroes cover (first look)
• Toll the bell
  Pay the private eye
  All’s well
  20th Century dies…
• Giant comic collection donated to U of Minnesota

That’s close enough for jazz for tonight.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I came home and cooked dinner. Not fish fillets and fries. Not ramen. Not soup. Not spaghetti. I actually fired up the stove and the oven. Tonight’s fare:

• Baked chicken
• Rice, cooked in cream of mushroom soup
• Corn
• And a glass of milk. (Milk, it does a body good. Pass it on!)

Not only that, but I watched last week’s CSI: (kind of hard to watch live at 35,000 feet) and tonight’s Law & Order (well, I’m watching it now). AND I read this week’s four-color haul. And I may still make a trip to Paragon City. All-in-all, not a bad evening.

Stray Toasters

• I found the following articles while looking up some completely unrelated information this afternoon…
  • How to Know if You Are Irritating
  • How to Not Be Annoying

  I hung a copy on my wall in SLC; I’m doing the same in AF tomorrow.

• I also want this bumper sticker. Lots of them.

  

• I found a home for Sao Paulo (the laptop formerly known as Defiant): It’s going to my father.
• Are you using Windows? You might want to check this out – Killer Download: The Big Three free security applications
• FAA investigates whether go! Airlines flight crew fell asleep
• Microsoft… makes… action figures. I think my world just collapsed a little.
  (But, you should read some of the character bios. Dear Lord…)
• CNN Fires Producer Over Personal Blog
• Is your King James or New International Bible too boring for you? Give The Manga Bible a try.
• Nautilus-themed steampunk home theatre
• Geek-to-Geek: ‘grats to on your new flying mount.
• Old school:

  

  

  If I need to explain this, you just need to skip on to the next ‘Toaster. Seriously. Right now.

• The Century’s Top Engineering Challenges

Time to go fight some evil.

Namaste.

Monday: Coda
The work day wasn’t too bad. It was fairly quiet, so aside from dousing a couple of small fires, I got some reading done. I also stayed a little later at work than I had originally planned, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I may put in a few extra hours tomorrow and Wednesday so that I can shave a few hours off the PTO I am taking.

Workout

• Chin-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Incline Bench Press: 3 sets/12 reps @ 135 lbs.
• Curls (standing, hammer grip): 3 sets/10 reps @ 30 lbs
• Bench Dips: 3 sets/15 reps (with additional 25 lb plate in the lap)
• Decline Bench Press (wide grip): 3 sets/10 reps (1 set @ 135, 2 sets @ 155)
• Pull-overs: 3 sets/10 reps @ 45 lbs.

Today’s weight: 171.0 lbs

Stray Toasters

• I upgraded the back-end of WordPress to 2.3.3 today. It went much more smoothly than the 2.3.2 upgrade/debacle.
• In a related note: Over the past few weeks, I have been weighing the pros and cons of moving all commenting to my main site, rather than splitting it between LiveJournal and my site. At this point, I’m Ivory Soap sure that I’ll be making that move in the next week or two. Consider this your friendly, neighborhood “warning shot across the bow.”
• Tertiary note: I have been relocating some pictures in the gallery in a manner that (hopefully) makes more sense. If you find that a picture is no longer where you once found it, let me know and I’ll (try to) point you in the right direction.
• sent a couple of new pictures of Grace; click here to see them.
• I took a few new pictures of my new display case and its contents.
• 
• The 20 Worst Foods in America
• Newsarama had a few interesting articles today:
  • Geoff Johns re-ups with DC Comics
  • Sterling Gates on the Alpha Lanterns in GLC
  • The Q: What brought you in?
• By way of BoingBoing: Which Book Should Neil Gaiman Post Online for Free?
• ThunderLOLcats

I should have called it a night long ago. Time to rectify that.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 29 January 2008
Last night, after the ordeal of the afternoon commute – it took about 75 minutes to get from AF to SLC – thanks to post-storm, near-whiteout conditions – and finishing out my day I went home and watched the State of the Union address. I had a few things go through my mind as I was watching:

1. When GW turned his head a certain way, he reminded me of Johnny Carson.
2. I don’t get why the Peanut Gallery Congress feels the urge/need to give a standing ovation for some of the most mundane bullet point items in a speech. It reminded me more of a pep rally than a presidential speech when they did it… even though I’ve seen it many times before.
3. I wound up watching the C-Span broadcast, because I got tired of the way the networks would always try to find Senator X, Y or Z for a “reaction shot” whenever GW was applauded for a particular note – especially Senators Obama and Clinton.
4. I want to download a transcript of this speech and – over the course of the next year – see how many of the stated/proposed items come to fruition.

After the speech, I took the Hand of Nefer-Tem on a field trip to Paragon City. I hooked up with members of my SG and we took on The Council and the Circle of Thorns. Over the course of the next couple of hours, I not only racked up the points I needed to make Security Level 39, but got about… 4.2 bubbles on the way to Level 40.

I stopped playing a little before midnight. I stretched out on the couch with the intent of watching a little TV before calling it a night. I was out in less than ten minutes. I’d be willing to bet that it wasn’t even five minutes.

Next thing I know, it was 5:00 AM.
I stretched… and nodded off again.

Phone alarm. 6:15. Ignored.

I finally managed to leave the gates of The Dreaming at 8:00. I got up and started the day.

I headed to the SLC office to take care of a few things. Then on to the AF office… and the gym. Today’s workout was good (but a little short):

• Bench press: 3 sets/8 reps (2 sets @ 205 lbs; 1 set/7 reps @ 205 lbs, 3 reps @ 185 lbs)
• Rows (cable): 3 sets/12 reps @ 120 lbs
• Shoulder press (seated, dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps @ 40 lbs
• Bent-over row: 3 sets/10 reps per arm @ 35 lbs
• Curls (cable): 3 sets/10 reps @ 50 lbs

And, when I did my weigh-out: 169.4 lbs, which is down from Thursday’s 169.8. I’m not necessarily trying to hit 170 lbs, but I won’t cry if I do.

The Best: I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Gladys Knight & The Pips vs. Marvin Gaye vs. Creedence Clearwater Revival vs. The California Raisins.

The song was originally performed by Gladys Knight and, shortly thereafter, by Marvin Gaye and in the nineties, it was used by the California Raisin Advisory Board (no, I didn’t make that up) to promote… well, if I really have to tell you what it was for, you should just turn off the computer now. Seriously.

In my book, it comes down like this:

1. Marvin Gaye
2. Gladys Knight & The Pips
3. The California Raisins
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival

I don’t really have anything against CCR, but I don’t particularly care for their cover of this song… hence, the Raisins knocking them out of the Number Three spot.
Stray Toasters

• I got a call from Land this afternoon. Turns out he’s still in town. We may do dinner this evening.
• Coworker DaveW mentioned The Power of Two: A Twin Triumph over Cystic Fibrosis to me this afternoon. Turns out that he grew up with the authors.
• Bug (be sure to hover over the image for “ALT” text)
• Sock Zombie: Like a Sock Monkey, but undeader
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Apple Prohibits Movie Rentals on Recent iPods
• Eight promising games for ’08
• “the return of the revenge of the son of jones”

  

• Video Games Live is coming to Utah Symphony in March. I think that this would be a lot of fun. And, I want to go.
• “Wii the people, in order to form a more perfect union…”  (Sorry.  It slipped.)
• Casas’ ballpoint pen artwork

Namaste.

Saturday – 26 January 2008
Last night, SaraRules and I went to my company’s “Winter Party.” It was held at Snowbird’s Cliff Lodge. We mostly hung out with with and shockpuppet and a few other coworkers. And, I was finally able to introduce SaraRules to my coworker who plays cello and performs with the Orchestra at Temple Square; they talked about string-y things and whatnot. Our keynote speaker for last night’s party was Richard Marcinko, former commander of Navy SEAL Team Six; he was an interesting person, but he wasn’t exactly a great public speaker. And, at the end of the affair, we got new company jackets and a copy of Mr. Marcinko’s book, Rogue Warrior.

After driving out of the canyon, we met up with the usual suspects – plus Land – at Cheers: North.

This morning started slowly and quietly – i.e.: “Sleeping in!” I don’t know what happened – or who put in the order for it – but it was a very nice, bright and temperate day: Temps were in the 40s! As there were no new ‘toons to watch, SaraRules and I decided to head out for breakfast. We went to the local Paradise Bakery and Cafè, but they stop selling breakfast at 11AM. Curses! So, we opted to go elsewhere… but not before SaraRules made a stop at Simply Mac to pick up a pink Speck case for her MacBook.

We wound up having breakfast in Holladay at a place called Sharon’s. SaraRules’ parents joined us. We sat, ate and chatted for a while. Post-breakfast, we headed up to the parents’ place for a bit to meet Loomis, their recently-adopted cat. Their newly-adopted, large cat. He’s on the order of 21 pounds. Cute cat, though. And rather friendly… as long as you don’t mess with his paws – I saw some of his handiwork in proving to others his dislike for having his paws messed with.

From there, we headed down to visit Kate, Perry and the kids. When we left there, we stopped in the Sandy Red Balloon. I was in a mood to possibly pick up something to add to the Rokenbok collection… but nothing they had caught my eye. So I didn’t.

Pictures of the day… so far.

Now, it’s time to figure out what to do for dinner.

This evening… we may just have to play some miniature golf. Just because we can.

Namaste.

Monday – 14 January 2008
Back in the proverbial saddle again.

I had a good weekend in Cedar City with one notable exception: The Internet in SaraRules’ complex went tits-up Friday night. In and of itself, this wasn’t a hellish thing… BUT, there was one – exactly one – thing that I was looking forward to doing this weekend that required an Internet connection: Playing City of Heroes with Perry on Saturday morning, while SaraRules was at a seminar.

No Internet = No City
*grblsnrkx*

Instead, I watched Saturday morning toonage. LSH was a rerun, as was The Batman, but it was an episode of The Batman that I hadn’t seen, so I was satisfied with that.

In the afternoon, we headed down to St. George for a bit of shopping. I hit a good sale at the Eddie Bauer outlet and found some movies I wanted at the Best Buy; SaraRules found Mouse Trap – which she hadn’t been able to find in our previous shopping excursions – at the Target. One thing about the Target: It reeked. We walked in the door and were assailed with a stench so foul that we though someone had decided to skip the whole “going to the bathroom” thing and just relieved themselves on the front carpet. It was that rank. (Turns out that it was just REALLY badly burnt popcorn from their snack counter.)

Saturday evening, we went to see Art. It was interesting to see this again… and every bit as enjoyable as the first time. The actors whom we saw perform it in the fall reprised their roles; there were a few subtle changes in their performances – a little more… personalization, if you will – despite it having been three or four months since the play was staged.

Sunday was rather low-key. We watched football and watched a couple of movies. We watched 3:10 to Yuma (the new one) and Fantastic Four (at Ms. SaraRules’ request). I enjoyed 3:10 quite a bit. It was a good, old-fashioned western. I might even be inclined to agree with the tagline that it was “…the best western since Unforgiven,” which I thoroughly enjoyed. I do want to see the original 3:10 to Yuma, for juxtaposition. FF was as fun to watch this time as it was the eleventeen times before. I picked up the “Extended Edition,” with additional footage. While not all of the added footage was “necessary,” there were a couple of parts that I think would have gone well in the U.S. theatrical release.

This morning’s commute was uneventful. The odd/notable thing was the fog that I had to drive through from just south of Scipio to Mills. Pea soup. Visibility was cut down to less than a quarter-mile – it was thick enough that all you could see was white-grey nothingness. When I got down into Scipio, visibility cleared to maybe a half-mile, but there was still thick dense fog hovering about 500 feet above the ground. By the time I got to the Mills exit, the fog had thinned enough to see blue sky… and visibility extended for a few miles.

Stray Toasters

• I plowed through more of I Am Legend (the story) this weekend.
• As I mentioned above, SaraRules picked up a copy of Mouse Trap this weekend. She, Steph and I played it Saturday night. It was rather fun, in a Rube Goldberg contraption kind of way. (And it made me covet the Tower of ROK Mania even more. *sigh*
• Harbin Ice and Snow World 2007
• Wired reports that the highlights of tomorrow’s MacWorld keynote were leaked on WikiPedia. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow how accurate this is/was.
• 
• SimCity goes free software
• For : Gonzo: the Life of Hunter S. Thompson
• US Policy Would Allow Government Access to Any Email
• I had completely spaced off the fact that the Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight DVD goes on sale tomorrow.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Ford Slaps Brand Enthusiasts, Returns Love with Legal Punch
• Ten Strange Keyboards

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.
Time to get comfortable and relax.

Namaste.

Friday – 28 December 2007
Yet another lazy day about town. I have to say that the downtime has been nice.

I woke up and puttered around the apartment for a bit this morning and early afternoon, while SaraRules went to lunch with an old friend. I was nominally productive though: I hung the LEGO key rack she got me for Christmas.

After she got back, we headed out for a bit to get lunch (for me) at Go Sushi. I had their Teriyaki Rice Bowl Combination (with chicken). It was just the right mix of food:

• Miso soup
• Teriyaki chicken and vegetables over rice
• Gyoza (potstickers) and
• California roll (half order)

I had a couple of pieces of Ika nigiri and some green tea to wash it all down.

Next, over to Dr. Volt’s… only to find that the shipment that should have been in yesterday was delayed again and now most likely will not be in until next Wednesday. And that’s on top of the already scheduled-to-be late shipment that’s due next Friday. To console myself, I got a couple of boxes of ‘Clix and the hardcover edition of The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes, to replace the (signed) softcover edition I can’t find. *shakes fist* Although, I was able to find it with the last printing’s cover, so it matches the softcover copies of Dream Country and The Wake that I have. A few pieces of note from the plastic crack haul include:

• Granny Goodness (unique)
• Power Ring (super-rare)
• Toyman

Then, we popped over to see SaraRules’ parents for a bit. We’re having brunch with them tomorning. Now, all we need to do is figure out “where.”

Back home for a bit… and some time in Paragon City.

Stray Toaster
Just one thing, for the moment: Solid!
(Click on the picture… you have to see the larger version. Comedy.)

And now… off to Clitorati!

Namaste.

Thursday: Coda
SaraRules and I headed up to Ogden this afternoon. We were going to The Bookshelf… or, if was right, to where it used to be. The store was still there. But, they are in the middle of a “quitting the business” sale. This is a shame, as it is the overall best used book store that I have found, so far, in Utah. (There’s a much smaller, but decent, store in Cedar City called Braun Books.) We went… we looked around… we bought a few things. I may head back up there in a few weeks to see what’s left and if they’ve upped the discount on merchandise; they are currently selling things for 20-25% off and up to 50% on videos (VHS). All-in-all, it was worth the trip up there… and it was nice to get out of SLC for a bit, too.

We came back to town and after an unsuccessful trip to Dr. Volt’s – the new stuff isn’t coming in until tomorrow – we had dinner at Spaghetti Mama’s. Quite good and very filling. And, we got to see Kate, though only for a couple of minutes.

Next, we met , , , Jana and Chris for I Am Legend. It was good. I knew that it had been adapted from a book of the same name, but I had forgotten that it had also been adapted twice before as a movie: The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man. Will Smith did a very good job. And they did a very believable job of rendering “The City that Never Sleeps” into a quiet, desolate and very lonely place. I definitely recommend the movie.

Thursday – 27 December 2007
Another lovely day in the valley. It’s a tropical 24°F outside, but there are partly cloudy skies, which means that the sun is putting in an appearance.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Mirrormask. She liked it, overall, but thought that the story was a bit weak. She did like the visualizations, though.

Today, we’re still deciding what to do, but heading up to Ogden and making a pilgrimage to Mecca (known to the locals as “The Bookshelf”) may be on the docket. And there will also be a trip to Dr. Volt’s, as today is new comics day; the shipment is off by a day because of the holiday.

And tonight: I Am Legend.

Stray Toasters

• Benazir Bhutto killed in attack
• 
• Online games battle for top spot
• From the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot file: Jackson has ‘surgery’ after [being] hit by son
  

  Michael Jackson reportedly underwent emergency surgery after his young son accidentally punched him in the face. The Thriller hitmaker – who has undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries on his face in the past – was recently photographed in a Los Angeles bookstore wearing numerous bandages around his mouth. But sources tell Finditt.com the singer’s son, Prince Michael II, caused the injury: “He was whacked in the face accidentally by his younger son Prince Michael II while playing around and part of Jackson’s upper lip collapsed. “That mishap led a hysterical Jacko to make a beeline for the plastic surgeon for a bit of quickie repair work.”

• …and keeping it in the family, somewhat:

  

  (For those who don’t remember: Michael and Lisa Marie Presley were married for almost two years in the 90s)

And that’s a wrap for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 25 December 2007
So the big man in the red suit with the magickal reindeer apparently showed up and dropped off goodies and whatnot. This year’s haul included:

• The Art of the Japanese Garden
• LEGO Key Rack
• Gift certificate to IKEA
• Gift certificate to Dr. Volt’s
• Metallic dice
• One World, Many Cultures CD
• Ocean graphic novel
• “Grow a Pirate” toy
• Little Flip Book of Crosswords
• Subscriptions to Esquire and GQ
• Green Lantern paperweight (…and it’s even John Stewart!)
• AoA Cyclops HeroClix
• The Superhero Handbook

There are still other goodies to open (they’re back at my place and there are couple of things that are in transit)… but this has already been great.

What did Sanity Clause bring you?

Tuesday – 18 December 2007
Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with her family, including an aunt and uncle who stopped by on their way to visit family in Idaho. It was a nice way to spend the evening.

So far, it’s been a good day. In the words of the boys from Liverpool: “Nothing to get hung about.” The lunchtime workout included:

• Bench Pres: 3 sets/8reps, 225 lbs.
• Nautilus Cable Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs (hold for 10 seconds on 10th rep, each set)
• Tricep Extension (Rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 6 plates (60 lbs?)
• Overhead Tricep Extension (Dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 35 lbs

I tried – operative word: “tried” – 300 lbs on the bench press again today. The problem was that I tried it after I had already done my three normal sets. Needless to say, the bar didn’t move. Oh, well… there’s always Thursday.
And tonight is game night; we moved it up a week as Christmas is next week.

Stray Toasters

• I have been reading – and enjoying – Hundred Dollar Baby, one of the newer Spenser novels.
• Brisa 2000 Fan Looks Crazy, Does the Job in Steampunk Style
• I managed to catch the Matriarch online… AND chat with her.
• bn.com and amazon.com == online shopping goodness
• PS3 Game Developer Claims to Have Crossed Uncanny Valley
• 
• Woman gropes mall Santa
• : Click here.
• For the Futurama and beer-loving fan in your life: Beer-Brewing Bender
• The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek: TOS
• 
• I’ve found yet another something to add to the Covet List.

Namaste.