Random Access

Friday – 17 April 2009
Another 9/80 “off” Friday has begun. I managed to sleep in until a little after 9:00 this morning. That was nice. After a quick bite to eat, SaraRules and I headed to the gym to get in a workout. Today’s routine included:

• Leg Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 140 lbs
• Kick-backs: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 2½ sets @ 205 lbs
  • ½ set @ 185 lbs
• Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Curl w/ Shoulder Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 20 lbs
• Bent-over Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Tricep Extension (rope): 3 sets/10 reps, 45 lbs

Post-workout weight: 182.5 lbs.

We also ran into Josh, a former coworker, while in the free weight room. That was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

Stray Toasters

• I wound up getting the Mayhem Rail and Wildwood Grove sets for my masterboard. With the other corners that I have, I can fully populate two city blocks… and then some.
• SaraRules showed me LEGO Chocolate Wedding Favors.  (If only I could find some LEGO  ice trays…)
• forwared a link to Uncomfortable Plot Summaries
• For those of you in the SLC metro area:

  
  (click image for details)

• Obama Proposes High-Speed Rail System for the US
• Motorized LEGO Mech
• CIA Officials Won’t Face Charges for Waterboarding
• Green Lantern to film in Australia in November
• 
• How did Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, get his name? Find out here (about halfway down the page).
• Trendsetters on the Streets of New York: Then and Now
• Faster Than a Speeding Bullwhip: Superman Creator’s Kinktastic Art
• 

  (click image to read the Brothers Brick article)

• From NPR Music:
  • Bringing Up Baby, As Music Lovers Might
  • How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? YouTube, YouTube, YouTube
• Device Keeps Lungs Breathing Outside Body

Next up: Errand-running and miscellaneous stuff.
Later: Clitorati

Namaste.

Thursday: Coda
Tonight was Date Night. As it was a cold evening, we wound up staying in and watching CSI: and a Redbox movie.

The CSI: episode was a tongue-in-cheek take-off on Star Trek. (Well, it was “murder at a sci-fi convention, with a Star Trek bent.”) It took me about 20 minutes to put a couple of things together. Not about the episode itself, but rather about “how” and “why” CBS was airing it:

1. The Star Trek series (all of them) were Paramount Studios/Paramount Pictures productions
2. Paramount is owned by Viacom
3. Viacom is the parent company of CBS.
4. CBS airs CSI:

It was cheesy and dorky, but kind of fun.

For our movie, we opted for The Spirit. Despite many a bad review, I still wanted to see it and SaraRules, God bless ‘er, was kind enough to indulge me.

Wow.

It was… something. I believe that loonybin88 would refer to it as “a flaming pile of poo.”

It had a couple of moments  – and in a feature-length film, that’s not a lot – where it could have been decent, but on the whole, it has earned a spot on the Cool World-Long Kiss Goodnight Scale. The low end. Maybe around the “four” range. Maybe.

We also learned a very valuable lesson: Frank Miller, while he’s a well-known and respected comic book author, should not be allowed to write and/or direct. I’m sure that Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit (comic), must have been rolling in his grave over this.

Hopefully, The Late Show and The Late Late Show can redeem the entertainment portion of the night.

Namaste.

Thursday – 16 April 2009
After the rain and snow that we received yesterday, it’s sunny (with high clouds) today. There’s a rumor that it’s actually supposed to be “nice” this weekend. We shall see…

Last night was a relatively lazy, low-key night. I started cutting a second masterboard for a new ‘Clix city block. Mmm, 6’x3′ playing area… I think that this one will include a railroad. Just because. I should also figure out what else I want on the block, building-wise. I have… 6 corners available; I am considering picking up the Mayhem Rail and either Wildwood Grove or the Mayhem Police Department sets.

Stray Toasters

• John Madden (yes, THAT “John Madden”) is retiring. (1, 2)
• I am connected to yet another high school classmate on Facebook. I’m finding it both weird and good to catch up with folks I haven’t seen/talked with in many years.
• Commentary: April 15 is patriots’ day.
  This use for “Patriots’ Day” is one that I can get behind.
• Sexy Star Trek Dossier Gives Your Enterprise Crew Run Down
• As part of the server room upgrades, they are doing some electrical work. There’s a worker not too far from my desk who is cutting conduit with a hacksaw. (“You can do a lot with a hacksaw…”) He was using very short and rapid movements to cut the conduit; my first thought went immediately to Charlie Daniels’ playing at the opening and chorus of The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
• Is Your Mood a Result of Where You Live?
• Showing that there’s more to Sweden than just IKEA and Volvo: Swedish church unveils LEGO statue of Jesus Christ
• Thanks to Rachel for pointing this out:

  

• Strip search review tests limits of school drug policy
• By way of MarknTyme: Homemade Wall of Death (video)
• Emerald Night (And, for the record, it has nothing to do with Green Lanterns)
• Florida to Build Solar-Powered City

Madden… retiring…
Wow.

Namaste.

Monday – 13 April 2009
Casablanca was good; I enjoyed it quite a bit. The movie holds up quite well, especially when one considers that it was released over 65 years ago. One thing that I kept coming back to was how Rick Blaine reminded me of Han Solo. Actually, it would be more proper to say that Solo reminded me of Blaine, but you get the idea. There were a couple of other Star Wars, also, but they were a bit more fleeting.

The 6:35 alarm came early this morning, or so it seemed. I barely remember waking up long enough to turn it off… and turn over and go back to sleep.

When I got into the office, I was informed that email wasn’t working. *sigh* I’d barely stepped in the door; it’s definitely a Monday, it seems. A few searches, a test or two and a phone call later, it was being worked on.

Stray Toasters

• Schoolgirl told to choose: Country or parents
• There’s a new addition to The Covet List.
• Tweenbots
• By way of : Smart Car Crash Test

• I just caught up with yet another high school classmate on Facebook.
• Game/art: See the artwork from Giant Robot’s Game Over/Continue exhibit

And so it goes…

Namaste.

Today has been a great day.

SaraRules and I got up this morning and went to Mass at St. Vincent De Paul’s Church.

In our Easter Sunday finery.

It was a nice service with a nice homily – Change and the cross as a transformative figure. There was a little boy, about 18 months or so, in the pew in front of us who was quite entertaining (to us) and a bit of a handful (to his parents). The kid was well-behaved, but when his parents weren’t looking, he would take the opportunity to scoot up and down the pew. Comedy. Straight-up comedy.

We came back home for breakfast and coffee. I changed clothes and got ready to head to Chris’ for a few hours of playing HeroClix; he was teaching the game and we started up a three-way game on the Arena map. I had a team in mind to play – Young Superman, Gamora, Wasp (from The Ultimates) and Marvel Girl – but swapped Storm, Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in for Young Superman, Gamora and Wasp. I had a great opening couple of rounds (including a great opening shot on three targets with Hawkeye), but wound up getting caught between Chris and ‘zephyr and getting worn down. Quickly. It was still fun.  Chris and I are getting together Tuesday night for an X-Men vs. The Brotherhood/Hellfire Club game.  That should be good.

I met SaraRules’ at her parents’ house for dinner and a late celebration of Logan’s birthday. Both dinner and the homemade birthday cake were delicious.

Stray Toasters

• 
• In a related note: Peeps: Are They for Eating or Entertainment?
• From SaraRules and comes this bit of oddness: Robot Programmed to Love Goes too Far
• Just for the record: Fast and Furious was fun, but don’t go into it expecting Oscar fare. I did, however, come to something of a realization: This movie (and the original) are like modern-day versions of Smokey & the Bandit. That thought put a smile on my face.
• Nominate a Name to Retire
• This one comes from both the “Monkeys!” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” files: Best Buy Sells Egregiously Crappy, 9-Year-Old Hard Drive as New, Then Refuses Refund
• Time Travel Cheat Sheet, indirectly by way of
• To Save Money, More Airlines Grounding Aircraft
• City Pollution

And now, we’re going to watch Casablanca.

Namaste.

Saturday – 11 April 2009
It’s a lazy Saturday in the valley.

So far, we’ve had breakfast, watched a little TV and addressed some of our “Save the Date” announcements. We’re off to do some errand-running and we’re going to see Fast & Furious in a couple hours.

Stray Toasters

• pointed out this item: Zombies Are the New Vampires
• 
• Remember Olestra, the wonderful fat substitute used in potato chip manufacturing from the mid-90s?  The one that didn’t add fat, calories, or cholesterol to products? The one that also led to “anal leakage?” Guess what… It’s back. And this time, it’s being used as an “environmentally friendly” industrial lubricant.  (Yeah, this is definitely one for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file.)
• Indie Chinese art/music/culture site
• Tesla Roadster runs for 241 miles in e-rally

Off to see the wizard…

Namaste.

Shortly after this morning’s post, our phone system decided to go belly-up. Not really sure “why,” but it did. It took a long while to get things back under control; it took the better part of the morning, in fact.  Now, it seems as though “Crisis on Infinite Phones” has come to an end. Thankfully. (Call Geoff Johns and George Perez.)

Stray Toasters

• Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate-covered Espresso Beans. *thumbs up*
• Nyx and I might do some drawrin’ this evening.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Jam Out With Your Clam Out
  
• We’re going down, down, down, if that’s the only way
  2 make this cruel, cruel world hear what we’ve got to say
  Put the right letters together and make a better day
• By way of comes another item for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Grandma dies trying to stop sword fight
• 
• I just got a message from Stephanie: “Well, it’s official. The Green Lantern pony is finished.   Now all I need is a lantern.  😛 “
• Dan Aykroyd on the Return of Ghostbusters, by way of
• Zipper Dress, which I believe was originally shown to me by SaraRules
• Pill for Alcoholism May Also Dampen Urge to Steal

YYZ

Namaste.

Friday – 10 April 2009
Another 9/80 “on” Friday. There are rumors that it’s supposed to be in the 60s today.  We’ll see how that pans out.

Last night was a lazy Date Night: We had pizza and watched this week’s NCIS (Thanks, On Demand!), CSI: and then Aladdin, which is still one of my favorite modern (pre-Pixar) Disney movies.

Stray Toasters

• Island DIY: Kauai residents don’t wait for state to repair road
• The Girl in the Window
• By way of Not Always Right:
  • Best Idea I’ve Heard All Day
  • Speechless
• What’s Your Zombie Contingency Plan
• …and, speaking of zombies: CompUSA Comes Back From the Dead
• Banks asked to keep quiet on stress tests
• IGN has a trailer for the upcoming Green Lantern: First Flight
• ABC to conclude Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies this summer
• A simple case of over-egging
• “Science to do” t-shirt
• Sims creator Will Wright leaving Electronic Arts
• I’ve finished Queen & Country Volume 02; moving on to Volume 03.

Time to see what kind of trouble I can get into today…

Namaste.

Thursday – 09 April 2009
It’s overcast, rainy and… cool (not really “cold”) and I find myself thinking: “We left California… and the sun… and the warmth… for this?!” Oh, well.

The drive back was just as long as the drive down, although it was shorter in terms of time, because we didn’t make quite as many stops; we did stop at the In-N-Out in St. George, though. I phased in and out of sleep, many times. (I realized later that was due to a sleeping poorly Tuesday night.) On the whole, the trip was uneventful.

As we were getting stuff out of SaraRules’ parents’ car, it started to sleet. That urged us to hasten our efforts to get things into the house, oddly enough. We said our goodbyes and headed off to pick up the apartment key from . (Thanks again for keeping an eye on things!) Next, a quick stop at Rumbi to get some dinner and then home. We were both beat; we watched last week’s CSI: while we ate. We watched a bit of The Late Show and called it a night.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to for pointing out Dr. Funkenberry.
• The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You
• In world news: Georgians rally against president
• Gentleman in New Orleans Loses Chunk of Arm in Possible Zombie Attack
• Sandy Collora, possibly best known for his Batman: Dead End fanfilm, has a trailer out for his upcoming fanfilm, Hunter Prey

• Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator Arneson Dead at 61
• Self-Resucing Princess t-shirt
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Women Meat Pioneers
• By way of comes “Your Business Card Is CRAP!”

Quote of the Day
Julie, our Property Manager, was asking me how our trip went.  I was recounting it and told her that SaraRules had found her dress… but that I couldn’t tell her anything about it, because I haven’t seen it and won’t see it for six months. That led to the following exchange:

Julie: That’s right, you’ll be getting married on the next Conference weekend.
Me: Oh… yeah… Well, there goes about half of our guest list.
Julie: That’s what TiVo is for!

We both got a good laugh out of it.

And, with that, back to the grind…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 07 April 2009
It’s another good morning in Granada Hills.  I don’t get why Superman moved to Metropolis; this place was made for Kryptonians and Daxamites: It’s 1030, sunny and already 61°F.

It seems as though SaraRules has found “The Dress.”  In fact, she and her parents just left to pick it up. I’m not sure what all is going on today. Various and sundry forms of “shopping” are going to be involved, as far as I know. *shrug* I can live with that.

Stray Toasters

• Beware the perils of caffeine withdrawal
• Top 10: Shows in Danger, courtesy of
• 
• …and I really want a sign like this for my cubicle.  (Is that a “bad” thing?)
• Columbia Developing MIB3?
• Newspapers are dumb to blame Google for their problems
• iTunes tiered pricing goes live
• What you should be afraid of instead of terrorists
• 
• Jackie Earle Haley is Freddy
• Stan and Jan Berenstein’s mid-century illustrations
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Stolen single-engine plane intercepted by US fighter jets
• Nimoy Stuns Austin Crowd with Secret Star Trek Premiere
• Nine Words From Science Which Originated in Science Fiction
• nom nom nom Lunchbag

…SaraRules and company just got back with the dress. (Which I will see in six months.)

Namaste.

Thursday – 02 April 2009
Sushi Wednesday was postponed until today. But, I’ll have to miss it, as I have a lunch meeting. I may also have to fore go (or maybe just postpone) today’s workout, for the same reason. On the plus side, I stopped by to visit for a bit, after work.

Next, home for dinner and a movie with SaraRules and her mother.  Dinner was shrimp jambalaya, the movie was Australia. The movie was… interesting. It looked really nice. Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman did well in their roles. The main problem was… no, “problems were”… that:

1. The movie was long, nearly three hours. (Granted, it didn’t feel long.)
2. It felt like they tried to shoehorn too many movies – not just stories – into that time.
3. It was a bit disjointed – the movie seemed to take a huge left turn about 2 hours in.
4. Elton John’s closing song.  (He should not be allowed to write lyrics. Ever.)

Despite these things, I did enjoy the movie; although, as SaraRules put it: “It’s not like I need to see it again.” It was an entertaining way of spending an evening. And, at one point, I even broke out a “Wolverine in a cowboy hat” ‘Clix, just to get a smile/eyeroll out of SaraRules. It worked. (Thinking about it, with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, I could actually see Nicole Kidman as Emma Frost, the White Queen (1, 2)… especially after her turn as Mrs. Coulter in The Golden Compass.)

Stray Toasters

• I heard part of an interesting cover of Major Tom on a Lincoln ad last night. You can see the ad here. The ad made me want to look up trivia about the song. And, by the power of Greyskull with the power of the Interwebs, I did:
  • Wikipedia
  • The Straight Dope
• By way of : Umbrellas for the Civil but Discontent Man
• The Beats: A Graphic History
• Cute and amusing: Bunnysong (video)
• 
• The title of this is self-explanatory: Giant Star Wars pool toys and kites
• What would President Obama look like as an action figure? Something like this, I’d suspect.
• Marvel prepares to showcase Wolverine from a very different perspective
• I found Code Monkey: Stargate Atlantis online again. Now, I must find a way to procure it for my collection…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Lindon (UT) police bust family-run prostitution ring

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 April 2009
Welcome to the first day of April and April Fool’s Day. As I was getting ready this morning, I tried to think of a AFD prank/joke to play, but drew a blank. Shortly after that, I discovered that Mother Nature had decided to join in the AFD fun: It’s snowing.

Stray Toasters

• New variation on a theme: I almost typed “Stray Taosters” for the heading.
• French museum posts Concorde hoax
• While watching The Late Show last night, they ran a promotion for Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change. At first I thought that I might have misheard something or that it might have been a joke, so I did a little digging. It wasn’t a joke:
  

  Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, is producing, in association with David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants Incorporated and Lookalike Productions, a new PBS primetime special, Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change, featuring Queen Latifah, John Mayer and Elmo. This half-hour HD special tells stories of service members who return home with injuries, visible and invisible, and explores the heroic struggles their families face in discovering a new way of finding a “new normal.” It salutes the extraordinary courage and strength of these military families and offers the general public a powerful glimpse into what they often must endure. The special will air on PBS on April 1, 2009 at 8PM (check local listings) in conjunction with April as the “Month of the Military Child.”

• Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed Interactive Entity, courtesy of
• 
• Tobacco tax hike for US smokers
• New book on the market: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

  

• From NPR Music:
  • Brahms’ Best: The Violin Concerto
  • The Year’s Best Jazz (So Far)
  • Rockabilly’s Wanda Jackson Hits Hall of Fame
• Medicine crisis hits Russia’s poor
• HALO + LEGO = This.

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda
This afternoon, Wes and I headed to the gym to get in a late lunchtime workout. After we got out on the floor, SaraRules came over to say “Hi” and chat for a few minutes.  Today’s routine consisted of:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 300 lbs (1 rep); 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Lat Pulldown: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 2 sets/15 reps, 160 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Chest Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 90 lbs

Since I did another rep of 300, it’s time to decide what’s next. It’s either going to be:

• 2+ reps at 300
• Bumping the weight up to… 310 or 315

We’ll see how that goes.

Tonight, SaraRules and I stayed in and watched NCIS and Food Network Challenge… and then set about the task of making decisions on our “Save the Date” announcements. We also looked at a few photographers, but I’m not sure which of the three gets my nod.

Stray Toasters

• Happy 20th Anniversary to my coworker, Drew.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Mom’s plea deal includes ‘resurrection clause’
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome exercises that really work

And now, The Late Show with David Letterman.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 31 March 2009
It’s hard to believe that March is nearly over already.

Last night, SaraRules and I had “Sunday dinner” with her family. We also watched Quantum of Solace. I still enjoy the movie and, to a lesser degree, the theme song… but the theme still sounds a bit too disjointed and/or like it’s trying too hard to be a Bond theme. *shrug* While there, her father offered me a taste of something new at Whole Foods: Double Cream White Chocolate Milk. Wow. It was good. VERY good, in fact.

Back at home, SaraRules did some quilting and I read last week’s comics. The standouts of the haul were:

• Captain America #48 – In this issue, Bucky/Winter Soldier/Cap, Namor and Black Widow wrap up a few loose ends from Cap’s time as the Winter Soldier. And, while he’s never been a favorite character of mine, it was nice to see Namor’s wrath directed at a target who deserved it for an actual affront, rather than a perceived one.
• Fantastic 4: #565 – This was the second part of a holiday story that saw the FF and family on vacation in Scotland. To be honest, the first half of the story didn’t exactly wow me; the finale, however, was good. I was also surprised at how the issue ended: A “thank you” letter from someone the FF saved during the issue’s adventure.
• R.E.B.E.L.S. #2 – More adventures of Vril Dox (Brainiac 2) and his attempt to wrest control of his L.E.G.I.O.N. operation from his usurpers. Supergirl and the LSH’s Brainiac 5 are on-hand to lend assistance, as well.
• Wonder Woman #30 – Readers finally meet The Olympian, whose arrival has been hinted at for a while. We also learn just how far Dr. Barbara Minerva, the Cheetah, is willing to go to try and break Diana. (Hint: It’s pretty far.) But, readers also see just how far Diana is willing to let herself be pushed… and how far she’s willing to push back.

Stray Toasters

• Trekker recreates classic Star Trek scenes with LEGO
• Star Wars considered as an episode of Dallas

  …and then there’s also Star Trek: Love Boat and Star Trek: The A-Team, if you need more.

• Chernobyl Today: A Creepy Story Told in Pictures
• 
• Green to the Corps
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Bank pushing 120% APR loans
  I think that it could/should even be considered for “monkeys!” too.
• Top 50 WTF Moments in Comics
• Astro Boy trailer online

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Sunday – 29 March 2009
Today has been a quiet and slow day… and that’s good.

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday morning, SaraRules and I got up, picked up her mother and headed to South Towne Expo Center for a bridal show. We stood in a short line to get in and, then, it was “Game On.” The show was smaller than I had expected – far smaller, in fact. There were, maybe… 40 exhibitors in all. I think that we were in and out of the show inside of 30 minutes.  However, in that time, I put a deposit on my tuxedo rentals with Men’s Warehouse; they were running a special that I couldn’t pass up: $30 off each rental. Win.

There was a car show at the other end of the Expo Center, so we checked out the cars they had outside the main hall. That was when I also noted the differences in admission to the events:

• Bridal Show:
  • Brides: Free
  • Other guests: $5.00
• Auto Show: $14.50

I began to wonder which show would actually make the most money. I’d like to see the final numbers.

After dropping off SaraRules’ mom, we headed to Oh Sushi for lunch. Tasty, tasty sushi… Next: Dr. Volt’s.  From there, we headed to Wheeler Farm for an afternoon walk. The weather was perfect for it – sunny, a light breeze and high clouds. Next, we headed to Best Buy to pick up a copy of Quantum of Solace. Then, back home for a bit…

…and then off to OnlyAly and ‘s for poker. It was a good crowd and I played in some good games. Despite some decent hands, I got outplayed in both of the tourneys. At least it was fun and a good way to spend the evening.

> Play >
As I mentioned, today has been quiet and relaxing.  I got a good night’s sleep last night, following Friday night’s rather poor-quality sleep. We watched an episode of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?, featuring Baltimore Ravens’ TE Daniel Wilcox. We also caught an episode Top Gear that featured a Ford Fiesta storming a beach along with the Royal Marines AND being chased – through a mall (video) – by a Chevrolet Corvette . (I swear, they get away with more cool stuff on that show…)

Next up: Errand-running.
(Misson: Accomplished)

This evening, I’m not sure what’s on tap. I believe that we’re doing Date Night tonight, as we aren’t having dinner with SaraRules’ family until tomorrow night.

Stray Toasters

• There are not many satisfying WordPress themes for “wedding” or “marriage.”
• SaraRules picked up the new Prince 3-CD set today.  So far, it’s pretty good.
• Did Builder’s Clout Trap Couple in Dream Home?
• Steampunk Chronulator
• Courtesy of : Welcome to the Bizarro World
• Obama: Auto Industry Needs To Do More To Get Help
• Shock #1: Comic book author Greg Rucka has a LiveJournal account.
  Shock #2: He spilled the beans about a new Question feature that he and Cully Hamner are working on in said LJ.
• The Voice of CN’s Batman Talks Season 2



• Is the Bat out of the bag?
  This “Battle for the Cowl” article contains spoilers. You have been warned.
• Darth Vader + hula girl = ??? (video)
• Amazing art made with old cassette tapes

Namaste.