Random Access

Friday – 28 September 2007
It’s Friday. Do I really need to say anything more than that?

No? Somehow, I didn’t think so.

Today’s going well. I’ve had my head semi-buried in a textbook for the better part of the morning – buildin’ them job skills! Yay for learning.

Stray Toasters

• I sent a group email this morning; almost immediately, I got a response from someone asking for a clarification of the name, because he almost dumped it into his spam filter without reading it. That, just on general principle, amused me.
• I just finished copying my mp3 library onto my system in the north office.
• Corollary to the above: Damn you, Tyranist.
• By way of : Brian Dettmer – Book Autopsies
• The design below, available on a t-shirt, grew out of this case.

  

• , this might interest you: The Podcast Network Signs John Cleese for Video Podcast

• I’m a goddamn marvel of modern Rob.

  Which movie was this quote from?

  Get your own quotes:
• US Navy calls MySpace kids an “Alien Life Force”
• I am eating cotton candy.
• Apple update shuts down hacked iPhones

Whoosh!

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda / Thursday – 27 September 2007
Three down, two to go.

I cleared – or at least did some damage to – a few items on my task list today. Productivity = good. I had lunch with Jason (coworker) and Perry at Tres Hombres. It was a little more than I had planned on spending for lunch… especially since I had taken a lunch with me today, but it was good.

As I was winding up the day, Land called and asked if I was free this evening. I was, and told him to swing by the apartment and we could go in search of food-type items. We wound up at Cafe Rio. Dinner and a good conversation later, I wandered over to Office Depot to replace my broken architect’s scale. And then, on to Barnes & Noble, to introduce Land to Way of the Peaceful Warrior. He had heard of, but not seen, the movie; I told him that it was worth the price to purchase the book. He did. Mission: Accomplished.

When I checked the mail, there was a package from my father. Ô.õ I opened it to find sections from The Baltimore Sun about Cal Ripken, Jr.’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. There was also a letter in the package. An old letter. 30+ years-old old. And some note card-sized sketches. I didn’t quite get the gist of what they were for… so I called home. Dad said that they were ideas that he and a former coworker of my mother’s had come up with as a proposal for a set of stationery/seals with patriotic themes. They never really did anything with them, but he thought that I might be able to find a use for them. How cool is that?

Stray Toasters

• I still have four bags of cotton candy.
• A word and a movie
• 50 Years of ‘West Side Story’
• 26
• Titan missile silo for sale
• Wizard First Look: Millar and Hitch’s Fantastic Four
  
• 
• Why women read more than men
• A year of following all the rules in The Bible
• From the “Things We Don’t Need” file: NBC Revs Up New Knight
• Kurt Busiek on “The Third Kryptonian” and more
• …and, since we’re on the topic of Superman: Incoming: All-Star DC figures

And, with that… bed.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 26 September 2007
Yesterday was pretty good, all the way around. No real problems. I had to demonstrate my technopathic abilities to a new coworker. And, I had cotton candy. How can you beat a combination like that? You can’t.

Yesterday’s workout was good, too. My sets of 215 (10 – 10 – 9 and a reverse) were decent. My pull-ups (the exercise, not the training pants) are getting better, too: I did two-and-a-half sets (10 pull-ups, each) with no assistance. That’s a nice – and noticeable – improvement. And then, there were the side bends. *urk* Good for the obliques… in theory. I woke up this morning to pain, which is pretty normal the day after doing side bends. I keep trying to convince myself “It’s good training” and “It builds character.”

Last night was zombie-killin’ game night. We came. We saw. We dropped grenades and retreated made a hasty advance to the rear. We lived, which is a good thing… but we returned to base tas it was about to be overrun by the Chaos-infused armies of the damned. Yeah, we are screwed. Who wants to live forever?

Stray Toasters

• I talked with Adam yesterday. He pre-ordered the limited edition of Halo 3. *genuflect* And, as with almost all of the limited edition copies, his was scratched beyond the ability to be played.
• Thirty-eight degrees. That ain’t right.
• Back to the Future: Shooter talks Legion of Super-Heroes
• I’m nearly done reading V for Vendetta. I like the graphic novel, but I can appreciate the cuts that were made in the screenplay. They were necessary, to fit time constraints, and didn’t detract (too much) from the overall story.
• List of the “World’s Weirdest/Stupidest Conspiracy Theories”
• 
• Oliver Sacks explains how your brain does music
• Okay… you’re the Master of the Mystic Arts, do you really need to peep in on women in tanning booths to get your jollies?

Time to go “politely explain” why my someone needs to come take a look at/fix my furnace -  today – to the lovely ladies in the leasing office.  *sigh*  No rest for the wicked, I tell ya.

Namaste.

Sunday – 23 September 2007
Another weekend draws to a close.

Sara got here as I was winding down cleaning mode yesterday. I finished up and we hung out for a bit before heading to and onlyaly’s, where I met (again, I think) ‘s mom, a very nice woman. I watched as introduced Chris to the joys of the liquor cabinet; I wonder what his head felt like this morning or if she was kind enough to tell him to drink lots of water before hitting the rack. All-in-all, ’twas a good bit of fun. By the way, : Who made that Merlot and the Shiraz?

This morning started lazily, as any good Sunday should. I called Perry to see what he and the family-unit were up to and tossed out the idea of meeting for coffee; he liked the idea and the day was set in motion. Introduced Sara to Perry, Kate and company. It was amusing to watch as the baby nearly leaped out of her high chair to jump into Sara’s lap. Followed very shortly thereafter by the middle boy. We hung out and chatted for a while…

…and when we left, I decided that it was time for a trip to CompUSAirways. I walked out empty-handed, although I was tempted to pick up a few items. One of the items was new memory for Intrepid, since I lobotomized it to up ‘Nine‘s memory. Something told me to hold off a bit, so I did. Then I saw the recently-reduced-in-price Mac mini. Mmmmm, Apple-y goodness. Again, I resisted. I also held off on a set of PC speakers and a secondary iPod speaker system.

From there, it was off to see if one of the seventy-leven area Barnes & Noble stores had a copy of The Prophet of Akhrahn. They didn’t have it. *shakes fist* I know that I saw it in one of their local stores around, I just have to remember which one it was.

Next on the docket: Follow-up ride up Emigration Canyon to see the foliage. There were more hints of reddish tones, but it still hasn’t changed much. It might be a little more vibrant in another week or so. Back down Parley’s and on to Jitterbug for lunch…. where we ran into Spydr and Uriah. Pleasant surprise, that.

Back home. I asked Sara’s opinion on the frames from yesterday’s Garden of Sweden excursion, since I was 50-50 on the matter. She thought the black one looked good with the pictures. I’ll probably wind up exchanging the silver frame for another black one. (And I still need to assemble the bedside tables.) Since, as lj user=”everydave” is fond of saying, I have the metabolism of a ferret on crack, I started getting hungry a short while later, so I started cooking dinner. And, I went at it in a two-birds-one-stone fashion: I grilled chicken thighs and then added some stir-fry vegetables to the pan and fixed rice in chicken broth, while I baked a couple of chicken breasts. Dinner. Lunch. Dinner(s) later in the week. Hoo-AH! Sara headed back to Cedar shortly after dinner…. and the bedside tables have still not taken the initiative to magically assemble themselves.

Football Update

• – Beat the Cardinals. At home. Selah.
• – Took it to the Hawks… in Atlanta.
• – Beat down the Lions. ‘Grats, !
• – Dropped one to the Sea-chickens.
• – Lost to the Raiders. The Raiders! C’mon, , what’s up with that?!
• – Lost to the Chiefs. Sorry, .
• – Scalped the Redskins. ‘Grats, !

Stray Toasters

• I just made a pretty damned good coffee milkshake. Then I spilled it all over the kitchen counter. *grblsnrkx*
• I just made another pretty damned good coffee milkshake. I did not spill this one all over the kitchen counter.
• “Madlessly.” I think this is my new favorite word.
• 
• Dr Volt’s is now open… on… Sunday?!
• “What’s a Nubian?” (NSFW)
• “Shower foul.”
• Someone with way too much free time compiled a list of Legion Action Figures., including HeroClix… although not all of the ‘Clix have been added, yet.
• Naomi Wolf on Colbert Report: 10 Steps to Fascism
• 
• From Worth 1000: Fake It Till You Make It
• HOW TO: Bleach-Stencil a Shirt
• Tyranist: Shaun of the Dead will be The Tower’s midnight movie on 12-13 October 2007.

Since the bedside tables don’t have the gumption to assemble themselves, I guess I’m going to have to do it.

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• I checked my mail this morning, on a whim. (Mostly because I couldn’t remember whether I checked it yesterday…) I’m glad that I did – there was a letter waiting in there that made for a great start to the morning.
• Sara posed an interesting – and somewhat unusual – question last night: “What is your favorite texture?”
  My counter was “Tactile or other, such as ‘food texture,’ for example?”
  “Tactile.”
  So, I started thinking about it. The one that I’ve come up with so far is: Skin. It is common and similar… yet it can also be so varied: rough, smooth, calloused, pitted, wrinkled.
• Last night, I continued my reading of the graphic novel V for Vendetta, on which the movie was based. I had the iPod playing in the living room. I was reading the scene where Evey is being tortured in “prison” and Madonna’s Die Another Day started playing. It reminded me of the opening scenes of Die Another Day (the movie), where Bond is being tortured in time with the song.
• Along those same lines, I had forgotten that the fight between the pirates and Prince Septimus’ guard in Stardust had been choreographed against Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld (“Can-Can”), until seeing the movie again this past weekend.
• By way of CNet: Blocking memorable scenes with LEGOs
• The drive-time commute included Van Halen’s Dreams. I like the video for the song, it features the Navy’s Blue Angels. The song started playing just as I was coming to the summit of I-15 on Traverse Mountain. When I looked to my left, there were paragliders floating around the ridge. Sure, they aren’t F/A-18 Hornets, but the overall effect was good enough for me.
• , Comics2Film has a few stills from the upcoming season of Legion of Super Heroes.
• If you haven’t heard about Warner Brothers upcoming adaptation of New Frontier (1, 2), a graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke, check out this teaser/preview.
• Tonight, God willing and the creek don’t rise, I’m going to a preview of Resident Evil: Extinction. Zombies!!!

Quote of the Day
I responded to a department email with lyrics from Working in a Coal Mine, by Lee Dorsey:

Working in the coal mine
Going down down down
Working in the coal mine
Whoop about to slip down

This was the IM response I received from :

(10:38:03 AM) : Oh LORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD.
(10:38:12 AM) : I am SO TIRED.
(10:38:20 AM) : 🙂
(10:38:21 AM) : How long can this GO ON?
(10:38:41 AM) : Good morning, Mr. B.
(10:38:53 AM) : (ps- damn you for getting that song stuck in my head this early.)
(10:39:07 AM) : Could have been worse.
(10:39:13 AM) : I could have gone with Sixteen Tons.
(10:39:15 AM) : …or…
(10:39:20 AM) : The Pina Colada Song.
(10:39:21 AM) : 😀
(10:39:24 AM) : eh, sixteen tons wouldn’t have been…. FUCK YOU

Back to it.

Thursday – 13 September 2007
A new NBN Thursday begins.

Last night was a lazy, do-a-lot-of-nothing kind of night. And you’ll hear no complaints from me about that. I got home, figured out what to do about dinner and just… hung out. And, I talked (actual vox) with . Twas fun. The conversation ranged from silly to serious, with quite a few stops everywhere in between.

This morning, I actually did something that I haven’t done in a very long time: I wrote a letter. A real-life, honest-to-God, pen-and-paper letter. Not an email. Not a few lines on a greeting card. A letter. Granted, it was a bit short, but that’s not the point here. The point is: I wrote a letter. Not only that, I folded it, put it into an envelope, sealed, stamped and addressed it and put it in the mailbox.

City of Heroes/Villains: The Hand of Nefer-Tem
Since it had been a few days, I decided to do some crime-fighting in Paragon City. I logged in right as a Rikti invasion fleet was attacking the zone where I usually park my characters. So, I joined the fray. I was invited to join an invasion team and we started beating on things. After that portion of the invasion was repulsed, we went to another part of town to fight. After the invasions broke off, the team broke up.

A short while later, a member of my supergroup messaged me and asked if I wanted to join a team and run a few missions… some of my missions, at that. Hm… let me think about that… I joined. I had a few Devouring Earth missions to run. The first one kicked our collective asses eight ways from Sunday. After numerous deaths and some team restructuring, we muddled our way through it. We ran another D.E. mission, after that; it wasn’t nearly as disastrous.

Stray Toasters

• Aside from a little congestion – and a little frog in my throat – I am pretty much done with this whole cold thing.
• How to Survive a Horror Movie
• Have I mentioned how much I like this whole “Save and Continue Editing” feature? Lots.
• And, in continuing coverage from our “Tony Stark Is a Dick” file comes this gem, by way of Wizard:
  

  TONY’S TOY COLLECTION
  Unimpressed by G.W. Bridge’s houseboat, Stark feels the need to run down the inventory of his garage, which includes a boat, some planes, a spaceship and a flying submarine. Arrogant as always, he does, to his credit, segue very awkwardly from his brag session into his real business with Bridge. It’s hard to understand where Bridge’s reluctance comes from with a proposal that begins like this.

  

• By way of contrast: From the “Before Tony Stark was a complete dick” file: the Iron Man movie trailer.
• And, from the trailer: Would the Iron Man (Mark I) suit qualify as “steampunk?”
• By way of : IKEA room planners
• For the Bruce Campbell fans out there, Comics 2 Film is having a The Man with the Screaming Brain giveaway.
• For : Morris Day and The Time – 777-9311 and Color of Success
• From NPR: John Ridley’s Visible Man – Life After the NF-Hell
• 
• Apple, AT&T: Bosom buddies or odd couple?
• Jake, a coworker and workout partner, came over to ask a question about work and noticed that I have a Green Lantern figure on my desk. He asked if that was my inspiration/goal for working out. I looked at it and told him, “No, but I would have filled out my Hallowe’en costume a lot better if it had been!”

And, that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I drove home from work with grand designs of taking a nap. After a restless night’s sleep, it seemed like a good way to go. I even planned it out so that I would start dinner (baked chicken breasts) and doze while they cooked.

Naturally, when I got home, I remembered a couple of things that I wanted to accomplish this evening and thus… pushed dinner and my nap onto the back-burner.

About an hour later than I had planned, dinner was under way and I prepared myself to visit Morpheus and the other denizens of The Dreaming. I was apparently more wiped-out than I had thought: My planned 30-minute nap stretched into an hour. I did wake up and turn off the chicken, but I stretched out on the couch again afterwards. When I roused myself, it was time to eat: chicken breasts, angel hair pasta and what would have been “stir-fry vegetables,” had I not put them in the oven alongside the chicken… and a glass of Gewürztraminer.

Four Color Coverage
There is an article on Broken Frontier about the 50th issue of (the current run of) Teen Titans. In it, it mentions how a number of writers and artists collaborated on the issue and how long-time fans would appreciate the four pages of work by George Perez, who pencilled the Titans’ adventures for many years in the 80s. In fact, many would say that he was the definitive Titans artist.

That got me thinking: Who are my “definitive” artists for given books? Whose style stands out when you picture a given title?

For me, the list includes:

• John Byrne – Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four
• John Cassady – Astonishing X-Men
• Alan Davis – Excalibur (I’m sorry… no one drew/draws that book like Alan Davis.)
• Keith Giffen – Justice League International
• Ethan Van Sciver – Green Lantern

I’m a little torn about the Legion: I grew up with Keith Giffen’s art, but I really liked Barry Kitson’s Threeboot run.

I’m sure that if I were to go through my collection, I’d come up with dozens more artists, but for now, this is a good start.

For those of you who read comics, who are some of your definitives?

Stray Toasters

• From the Broken Arrow file: Commander dismissed for nuclear mistake
• X-babies! (1,2)
• And, yet another addition to the Covet List: Phoenix
• , do I even want to ask about this: Nepal’s airline sacrifices goat to fix jet !?
• “A Wynn-Wynn situation”
• Psychological “torture bible” published in 1961 resurfaces online
• tried to kill me once again. This time, she tried with this. The even more odd thing: I had seen it, at behest, a couple of years ago.
• Thus, for Ms. Lightning: This.
• Or maybe…. this:

  

  (Yes, I did hear about Friday’s “Batman got beat up by a girl” conversation. Many thanks to for taking up the role of The Voice of Reason in my absence.)

• Dear Angie and John, a columnist’s introduction of a couple of friends to the world of comics.
• Partial Face Transplants – An advanced Photoshop pictures gallery
• I like Elton John’s Rocket Man; I also appreciate a good joke or comic that references it.
• COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Terra was created as a sort of parody of Kitty Pryde.
• Tyranist: It Came From the Quarter Bin: Star Brand #1
• The power just blipped out. Followed by a lovely reboot – my UPS needs a new battery or to be replaced. I thought that I had lost this post, as I hadn’t used “Save and Continue Editing.” Fortunately, Firefox somehow managed to save it. All.
• : Journey into Comics: Legion Season 2

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Monday: Coda / Tuesday – 04 September 2007
And so, the day (and the holiday AND the long weekend) comes to a close.

I found a few things to do that, while not “labor,” per se, were nevertheless good and fun:

• I had a craving for sushi for lunch, so I met at Tsunami. Today’s fare included: a Steak and Chicken Teriyaki lunch combination, with Ika nigiri and a Bonsai roll. All of it was quite tasty.
• From there, I visited Kate, Perry and the kids. (Who needs a workout when you have adopted nieces and nephews?!)
• Perry and I snuck out to check out a few stores. Okay, we didn’t “sneak,” but saying “…and we heading to a few stores” doesn’t have the same ring to it.
• I went to Murray Parkway Golf Course, to swat a bucket o’ balls on the driving range. They had closed a little before I got there…
• …so, I headed to Golf in the Round. They were still open! I got a large bucket and was on my way. I mixed my use of the irons, rather than just the 2, 4, 5 and 7. I need some work with the 9-iron, but on the whole, I think things went well. The 2- and 5-irons did well. And, I had a few really decent drives with the 5-wood and my driver. I tried to incorporate the things that told me (which helped quite a bit) and I tried to be more aware of how I was positioning myself relative to the tee and how I was swinging the clubs. Still not perfect, but getting better.

Now, I’m about to put in a little time on (what will hopefully be) the actual lyric-to-drawing piece for Ed’s Song, as opposed to the dry runs and fly-bys that I’ve been practicing on.

Stray Toasters

• I may make a decaf and Irish cream nightcap, to cap off the long weekend with a (minor) flourish.
• leucism vs. albinism
• I’ve added everydave.com to the blogroll on Random Access; I don’t know why I hadn’t done it before.
• laughter is infectious
  excitement goes to my head
  winds are stirred by planets in rotation
  sparks ignite and spread new information
• Nepal’s gadget-loving, 10-year-old Living Goddess: Interview
• I need to find a copy of The Prophet of Akhran, the third book in The Rose of the Prophet series. A trip to Mecca might be in order.
• Huh. Mentioning a possible trip to Mecca made me consider the following:
  • I refer to Utah as “The Land Behind the Zion Curtain.”
  • I refer to The Bookshelf as “Mecca”
  • IKEA (*genuflect*) is affectionately referred to as “The Garden of Sweden.” (Maybe I’ll start writing that as “SwEden.”)

  The only thing missing is Totem (click “Totem” for lyrics) playing in the background.

• From NPR: Dad Finds Answers to Kids’ Darndest Questions
• For some reason, The Who’s The Seeker just popped into my head. It was immediately followed by a random Harry Potter thought (as Harry was a Seeker on his Quidditch team). Then the two, like some horrible Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup accident, combined to form the following question: I wonder if any aspect of the song played a part in the outline that became the story of Harry Potter?

And, that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 22 August 2007
It’s not Tuesday.
This isn’t Belgium.
But I am in Amurric’n Fark today. Unexpected trip to the south forty, but work is work. So, I can’t complain.

Last night’s game went… well. Translation: “We didn’t get our asses handed to us. Much.” Sure, we took some damage. But the Luck Lords of Ventura smiled upon us (along with a bit of goodwill from lj user=”nox_aeternus”) and we survived. Thus, our characters live to adventure another day.

Stray Toasters

• I need to make or find a Master Chief icon.
• Tyranist brought in his copy of Black Seas of Infinity, a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories. So much for catching up on other reading…
• “I’m sorry… I don’t speak Blonde.”
• From the “How NOT to Use The Internets” file: An IM Infatuation Turned to Romance, Then the Truth Came Out
• One day I feel I’m on top of the world
  And the next it’s falling in on me
  I can get back on
  I can get back on
  One day I feel I’m ahead of the wheel
  And the next it’s rolling over me
  I can get back on
  I can get back on
• sent me a link to this; I shall have to print a copy of it and put it on my cubicle wall.
  
• Most Dangerous Object in the Office This Month: $2 Pocket Shots
• From the “Almost Too Absurd to Be True” file: China to Tibetan Buddhist monks: no reincarnating without our ok
• Cheesecake from The Fresh Market (GSO) would be very good right now.
• Halo 3: How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play
• Sweet Mary, mother of Jesus… A friend has a couple of kids who will be going to this school. Brand-spankin’ new school. State of the art. Green. Check out the information brochure (.pdf) on it.
• NMKY (Finnish cover of YMCA)

Quote of the Day

: Wow. You could teach the Japanese something about polite rudeness.
Me: *bow* I’m going to take that as something of a compliment.
: You should.

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 August 2007
So far, today has been extraordinarily lazy. I’m not saying that it is a “good” or “bad” thing; it simply… is. The most productive things I’ve done so far are:

• Got out of bed.
• Dealt with some of the hygiene rituals.
• Installed Empire Earth, Locomotion and Railroad Tycoon II on ‘Nine.
• Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I’m still in need of food and coffee. And a shave. And did I mention coffee? I did? Okay, good.

My company’s summer party was yesterday. It was a decent affair, but there wasn’t as much… punch… to it as last year’s event. I still had a bit of fun and it was a decent way to spend a couple of hours. And I still have two bags of cotton candy to show for it!

Four-Color Coverage
I was watching one of my favorite parts of Superman: Last Son of Krypton (the three-part beginning of Superman: The Animated Series) a few days ago and realized something: All of the modern (since 1978) major introductions of the character have involved a sequence involving the saving of an airplane/space shuttle:

• Superman: the Movie (movie, 1978)- Air Force One is struck by lightning, losing an engine and part of the port wing.
• The Man of Steel (comic, 1986) – The Space Shuttle Constitution experiences a system failure and is about to crash-land in Metropolis.
• Superman: The Animated Series (television, 1996) – A commercial airliner is struck by an errant missile while Superman is attempting to apprehend four criminals who have hijacked an experimental LexCorp aircraft.
• Superman Returns (movie, 2006) – The launch of an experimental space shuttle, being piggy-backed on a Boeing 777, proves nearly disastrous after Lex Luthor conducts an experiment with Krpytonian crystal shards. The shuttle’s engines engage – while it is still docked to the jet – melting off the tail.

My theory on this is: You’re dealing with a character “…with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men,” one of which is flight. Sure, you could have him stopping a runaway bus (just think of how much shorter Speed would have been…) or stopping a train, but an airplane? It just seems… more natural. For, you know… a… flying guy.

Something that I really like about the saves from S:TAS and Returns is that Superman doesn’t always come up with the “right answer” right off the bat. In fact, in both cases, his first attempt seems to do more harm than good. Thus, he has to deduce a better method for saving the passengers and bystanders… in a hurry. And since we’re talking about Superman…

They say that Superman is one bad…
Shut yo’ mouth!
I’m just talkin’ about Superman.
We can dig it.

…you know that he’ll figure something out.

Stray Toasters

• I found a very simple recipe for Jambalaya a little while ago. I might have to try it this week.
• The Ravens have a preseason game tonight. I believe that I shall have to watch it.
• Girls at risk amid India’s prosperity
• The DCAU
• 
• Lethal blaze at Twin Towers site
• From boingboing.net (and the “Too Much Free Time” file): Alien made of vegetables
• Missile dumped at US gun amnesty
• 
• From BBC News and the “Too Strange to Make Up” file: Beijing’s penis emporium
• Sony plans to recycle electronics for free

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Namaste.

Stardust

Based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman, this is another story that comes under the heading of “modern fairy tale.”

The movie tells the story of Tristan Thorn and his quest to bring home a fallen star to win the heart and hand of his beloved.  I know that this is going to sound like a bit of a cop-out… but to tell you much more about the story beyond what I stated above would be telling too much.

I can say that the story – and the way that it was presented – was quite simply… magic.  The acting, the casting, the costuming, the sets and scenery… all of it… was great.  Charlie Cox did an excellent job of bringing Tristan to life.  Claire Danes was great as Yvaine, the fallen star.  Michelle Pfeiffer was delightful as the witch, Lamia.   And then there’s Robert DeNiro, with a little bit of what you expect… and a lot of what you never saw coming.

I will most likely see this again in the theatre… and will definitely be adding it to the DVD collection, when it is released.

All-in-all, I can’t recommend this movie enough.  Go see it.  Take friends.  Take family.

But most of all… enjoy.

Saturday – 11 August 2007
So far, it’s been a good day. Blue skies. High clouds. Temps in the upper 90s.

The day started with me hanging out with Perry and Max. Coffee. Cinnamon rolls. Dolls. Mini-figures. We hung out and chatted/geeked out for a couple hours; as Max started getting a bit restless, I remembered that I had my GameBoy in my backpack and further cemented my role as “best adopted uncle ever.”

After they headed home, I put in a few hours with pencil and paper. I finished off She Talks to Angels. I’m happy with the way it turned out. I also decided on a couple of changes to Ed’s Song. And, I’m now toying with the idea of redoing 8:45 as a drawing; I would probably use the same basic “content” that I did in the Poser/Bryce one, more or less. Or maybe not. We’ll see…

Stray Toasters

• I’m still craving chocolate milk like a fiend.
• Report: Gamers largely clueless about next-gen console media capabilities.
• Slowly, but surely, I’m making my way towards the end of Deathly Hallows.
• WizKids is starting to release images and info for the upcoming Justice League set.
  • Is it just me or does this figure scream, “Hey, look! I have a crotch! Wanna see it?!
  • , you will want to see this figure.
• This is Ethan van Sciver, probably best know as the artist behind Green Lantern: Rebirth and Green Lantern Corps: Recharge and Sinestro Corps Special #1. This image, taken at Wizard World Chicago (a great-huge comic convention), amuses me greatly on many levels:
  • Ethan is LDS (That’s “Mormon,” for those of you outside the Zion Curtain).
  • His t-shirt says: “I’ve tried polygamy!” (That in itself is amusing enough.)
  • The shirt – and slogan – are for Wasatch Brewery’s Polygamy Porter.

Whether or not Ethan has actually sampled the beverage (which is unlikely, given his religious beliefs…) I don’t know, but I admire and applaud his sense of humor.

• 
• For Acolyte Derek: Stephen Colbert portrait in 768 mini Rubik’s Cubes
• U.S. Gov’t plans changes in air passenger screening
• LIEFELD!
• Coworker Tommy shall henceforth be referred to as “Code Monkey Build Bitch” or “Code Monkey BB.” Thus it is written, thus shall it be!
  Code Monkey BB sent me the following message yesterday, it amused the geek/gamer in me:

  [16:11] Tommy: graffiti seen (among many others) on the granite walls of a pit-fall
  [16:11] Tommy: In Dwarven: “Durembar Ironshanks was here and killed more orcs than he could count.”
  [16:11] Tommy: In Elven (below the preceding): “That means eleven.”

• Tyranist: At least it’s not a “space maggot.”
  
• The Great Data Migration proceeds apace.
• So… is this guy the new Phoenix?
  If so, does Jean know? Cause we all know that Scotty Doesn’t Know.
• Damn you, Tyranist. *shakes fist*
• Wow… they’re recruiting ’em young these days.

Time to go save the world. Or something.

Namaste.

Friday – 10 August 2007
Last night, I finished Discs 3 and 4 of Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. It was a series, based on the movie Starship Troopers, which in turn was based on a book of the same name, by Robert A. Heinlein. The movie was of the “check your brain at the door” type; the book on which it was (loosely) based, however, was brilliant… even more so when you consider when it was written. The series was intended to have a 40-episode run, but due to production issues, ended after only 36 episodes. Like the book, the series follows the members of the Mobile Infantry under the command of Lt. Jean Rasczak/Razak, most importantly: Juan (Johnny) Rico. We follow Rico’s rise from student to enlistee to non-com-to lieutenant over the course of seven campaigns. The series loosely followed the movie, but differed in a few details. All-in-all, I enjoyed the series – and even the late-90s CGI that it employed.

Today has been a decent day. Nothing too bad… other than an IT task for Monkey #2. Really, it’s a no-brainer. And I had to work on a system that used to belong to the Monkey Formerly Known as Monkey #1. (I have since moved the former Monkey #5 into the #1 spot.)

Stray Toasters

• I found a quote from a review of a Star Trek: TNG episode, “Coming of Age,” on Wikipedia that I found interesting:
  

  Worf (to Wesley Crusher): “Only fools have no fear.”

  It made me think of both the Green Lantern Corps and Daredevil. It brought the Corps to mind because, in order to be a ring-bearer, one “…must have the ability to overcome great fear.” I think that Geoff Johns has done a good job of portraying this in the way that rookies are still susceptible to “the yellow impurity,” which was how The Guardians explained away the taint of Parallax, the embodiment of fear, in the Central Power Battery. Once they master their fear, they have no problem in handling things colored yellow – the one thing that a power ring has been unable to deal with according to GL canon… until Green Lantern: Rebirth.

  Daredevil came to mind as he is called “The Man Without Fear.” While Matt Murdock has done a number of foolish and/or foolhardy things, I doubt that he could truly be called a fool.

• Giant LEGO man found in Dutch sea
• Maybe it’s just me, but how difficult is it to wipe the countertop around the sink if you splash inordinate amounts of water on it? If I were to gauge by the amount of water left sitting on the counter over the course of the day in the AF office, it’s apparently a nigh-Herculean task.
• Hot Stormtroopers in love
• The Hardest Bosses of All Time (I didn’t make up the title, I just find it amusing…)
• I was humming IKEA the other day when it occurred to me that there was a flaw in the lyrics:
  

  Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen

  Um… there’s a reason I call it “the Garden of Sweden” and not “the Garden of Norway.” Sure, they’re both Scandinavian, and “…a handful of Swede-men” doesn’t roll easily off the tongue, but come on. *shrug* Oh, well.

• Steampunk maker Datamancer video
• 
• Big Man on Mulberry Street
• mayhem
• “GOD BLESS AMERICA! WOOOOOO!!!”
  “Um… they’re Canadian.”

And that’s that.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 07 August 2007
First off: The Rush concert was fun. My one gripe would lie in the hands of their sound engineer: He couldn’t seem to find the right balance of treble and bass… and wound up cranking the treble WAY up. Vapor Trails up. But, other than that, I had a blast! I was surprised at the range of ages present, but they were (more or less) all into it. The set list featured a nice mix of the old and the new, including a few surprises. They were surprises to me, as I had avoided seeing/hearing about the set list. I was also surprised to discover that the Maytag dryers were no longer part of the stage equipment. But, what they were replaced with made me laugh, especially when I finally sussed out exactly what they were. AND, they were a recurring gag throughout the show. But, one of the best surprises of the night was this. All-in-all, it was a great way to kick off the week.

Today has been… not bad. The workout was decent, but I had problems on the flat bench – I couldn’t get my 3rd set at 205 pounds. So, I did six reps of 205 and five reps of 185. But, after the rest of the workout was done, I went back and banged out three more reps at 205… and a slightly less-impressive fourth rep. But, I got all ten reps in. And that made me feel better.

Tonight is D&D night. I will finally get a chance to play after… a month away, I think. Holidays and other things and whatnot. We’re still at a bit of a crossroads as to what to do. And I think that at least one of us may/will die. But, as the song says:

Why are we here?
Because we’re here.
Roll the bones.

And that’s just what we’re gonna do.

Stray Toasters

• Turtle cheesecake. I had some. It was tasty.
• Isn’t she just terminally cute? I must have her.
• Civil War mail art: envelope illustrations from mid-1800s
• It’s been 10 years since Lady Lara Croft first graced videogame screens. Gametap is celebrating this with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – Gametap Collection. Check out the Re\Visioned animated shorts. The first three episode arc, “Keys to the Kingdom,” by Peter Chung, is good. The fourth episode, “Revenge of the Aztec Mummy,” by Brian Pulido, is weak – both in writing and animation. The fifth and sixth episodes, “Angel Spit (Parts I & II)” were written by Warren Ellis… and are good. The seventh episode, “Legacy,” also written by Brian Pulido had a pulp feel… and was not only MUCH better than “Revenge,” but might have even made up for it.
• How to make Windows XP work for the next seven years.
• reminded me of this comic from VG Cats. It makes us laugh.
• I’m still chugging along through Deathly Hallows.
• Penny Arcade + Empire Earth II = this.
• I know it’s not quite time for them, but I am craving pomegranates.
• Pencil removed from woman’s head 55 years after accident

This post was brought to you by the letter “E,” the number “4” and the Omega Concern.
(c) 2007 – National Midnight Star

Namaste.

Tuesday – 31 July 2007
Last night, I made a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden. I exited empty-handed – I realized that I needed to take a few measurements of a banner that I want to hang before buying the hardware to hang it. Somehow, that just made an odd kind of sense. Go figure. I saw plenty of other things that made me go,”Hm… that would look nice in (fill-in-the-room).” But, willpower won out, once again.

The pre-work morning moved along rather nicely except for two things:

1. One of my contact lenses tried to make a jailbreak shortly before I woke up. I put it in solitary confinement in a saline bath. It has seen the error of its ways and has been successfully rehabilitated.
2. PoW monkeys. Two of them. Driving slowly. In the “left general purpose lane” on the way up Traverse Mountain.

The Scales of Justice
I decided to patrol the mean streets of Paragon City for a while. Most of the members of my SG who were online were in the middle of a task force – a long series of missions – so they weren’t available for teaming. I hooked up with a Blaster and we headed to Founders Falls to take on The Council. And, just before we got to the mission entrance, Founders came under attack by a Rikti invastion force. Yay. Thanks to the fact that there were not many available Controllers or Defenders, we got our clocks cleaned – repeatedly – on the mission. So, we switched to a Council of Thorns mish. We picked up a meat shield Tanker to pull aggro and take the heavy hits while we beat on things. That went much better. After that, I joined a Rikti invasion team in Talos Island, to repulse an invasion force there. That went pretty well too.

Stray Toasters

• Carmen’s home, safe and sound… and jet-lagged to Hell and back, I’m sure.
• Multitask
• posted a link to Chore Wars last night…
• …I will counter with this lovely post, from Craigslist.
• Discard regret, that in this debt a better world is made
  That children of a newer day might remember, and avoid our fate.
• Luminent Designs – Brassy Lamps
• Cocoa butter, hot sauce and… souvlaki? Two words: “grey” and “confused.”
• 10 Alternative Gadgets for Your Home
• 
• Exiern
• I’m up to Chapter 13 of Deathly Hallows and was just reintroduced to a character whom I thought met with… an unfortunate circumstance a book or two back. I need to go ahead and finish it so that I can get back to Pattern Recognition.