Random Access

Wednesday – 01 July 2009
A new month begins… with a brief rain shower.

Yesterday, SaraRules, Marci, Wes and I hit the gym at lunchtime for a short workout:

• Sit-ups: 3 sets – 20/10/10
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Incline Chest Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/110 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Post-workout weight: 185.4 lbs

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Vantage Point, by way of Netflix’ “Instant Queue” on the 360. Streaming movies on a game console… over the Interwebs.  Who knew?! The movie depicts the attempted assassination of an American President from eight points of view. It was an interesting concept and it was pulled off fairly well. We realized, after the movie was done, that this was the second consecutive movie that we’ve seen with Forest Whitaker in it wherein his character’s life intertwines with other characters’ lives in an unusual synchronicity, the first being The Air I Breathe.

After the movie, I did a little more work on my ‘Clix building. All of the walls are up, now I just need to put the main roof and the lobby roof on and add a few tiles of water and it will be complete.

This morning, I really didn’t want to get out of bed when the alarm went off. But, I did. And took care of the morning hygiene rituals. And, as I was finishing with the work-prep, I turned on the TV… and Breakin’ was on. And, yes, I did stop and watch a bit of it.

Stray Toasters

• sent me a link to Star Trek Look-Alikes Open Restaurant
• Greek mental care failures exposed
• From NPR Music:
  • A Mix for America
  • What the Heck Is That? Odd Instruments in Jazz
  • Jay Smooth: On Hip-Hop, Blogs and Race
• By way of Rachel:

  
  (click image for larger version)

• There’s a good article on ToyChop called “Good Fences,” about house rules for barriers in HeroClix.
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: “I was not prepared to see a… woodland creature… in the interview room.”
• 

• Tables turned on Russian gamblers
• dot.life: Listening to Mr. iPhone
• Also from Nyx… and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: GOP Rep. to Environmentalists: Jesus Already Saved the Planet

Namaste.

Tuesday – 30 June 2009
It’s the last day of June. I’m sure that this is important – or at least “notable” – for many reasons, but prime among them is the fact that the new IKEA bible catalog will be out soon.

Last night, we had a tasty dinner with SaraRules’ family. After dinner, and some errand-running, we headed home for some downtime. I started putting together walls for my new ‘Clix building. Of the eight main walls, I have five complete; the last three should go much faster. Then I can start in on the “lobby” section, which should go quite quickly. I’m looking forward to getting it completed.

This morning, I was at work at 0700. One of our teams has a couple of days’ worth of meetings and we had to get some networking ready for it. So, loonybin88 and I were in here – neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed – to get it taken care of.  Naturally, while we were wrapping up the setup, there was a pushy monkey who wanted to have something done his way; little did he know that he was mere moments away from having the closest live power cord plugged into a place neither God, Mother Nature nor Darwin ever intended for it to go. *sigh* Monkeys, go figure.

Stray Tourists Toasters

• June 30, 1953: Corvette Adds Some Fiber, Flair to American Road
• I have frozen mocha goodness!  And a bagel!
• L.A.’s vegan restaurants are full of egg
• Tourist Remover photoshops stray tourists out of your snaps
• Great Geek Debates: Kirk vs. Picard
• Did I mention “monkeys?”
• Jackson’s Death Puts Lucrative Beatles Copyrights In Play
  The man may have been… “odd,” to say the least, but he was a great entertainer. I had forgotten that he had a major share of the rights to many/most of the Beatles’ music catalog. I was also unaware of this performance of Come Together until yesterday:

• U.S. ‘concerned’ over cyber threat
• Force of Nature: Artist Puts Petal to the Metal for Electrifying Images
• Lord of the Rings considered as a D&D game (webcomic)
• Super Small, Super Powerful Quantum Processor Can Solve Multiple Problems at Once
  (Repeat after me: “SkyNet is now online…”)

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Friday – 26 June 2009
Hello, weekend.

I slept in this morning… more or less. I woke up at some very early point of the morning because of a rather odd and disturbing dream. Pre-dawn early. I wound up getting back to bed a short time later… only to have another bizarre dream awaken me. Not quite as disturbing, as I recall. I finally woke up around 0915. So far, this morning has consisted of breakfast and coffee, The West Wing… and a little bit of Avatar: The Last Airbender. All-in-all, it’s been a nice, relaxing day.

Stray Toasters

• Can Aquaman Ever Be Cool?
• Tori Amos will be performing at Abravanel Hall on 20 July 2009.
• How Nicotine Works
• Junk Steampunk Sculptures
• I cut so much
  You thought I was a D.J.
• What the non-English-speaking world is doing with science fiction

Time to run some errands and hit the Utah Arts Festival.

Namaste.

Thursday: Coda
After work, I came home. That’s usually the way that things go. It’s not a bad tradition, all things being equal.

I had a bite to eat – SaraRules made an awesome homemade Macaroni and Cheese dish – and then fired up the 360. Before getting into Covenant beatdown mode, I took a look at some things on the 360’s dashboard. Among them was Netflix Instant Queue, which allows me to watch movies on the 360… on demand. Pretty nice option, if I do say so. I added a few movies to my queue.

Then, it fired up HALO3. Last night, I saved the game (I remembered this time!!!) on the way to Voi. There were a couple of Wraiths and Choppers at the bridge as a “Welcome Wagon.” Yay, lucky me. After getting my – and the Marines with me – butt blown off and handed to me, repeatedly, I beat the defenders and got ready to Ease on Down the Road. I didn’t get far at all before I found the flying monkeys Brutes with jet packs had set up a roadblock. No problem. I backed down the road a bit and hopped into one of the Wraiths. A few well-place plasma bursts later, the Brutes (and the roadblock) were no more. I, and the lone Marine who stuck by me, headed down the hill… only to find more Marines – and more jump pack-wearing Brutes – in a firefight. Yay. That’s where I stopped. For now.

SaraRules and I headed to the gym for a workout:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Incline Press (Icarian): 3 sets/10 reps, 140 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 160 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs
• Side Bends: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/10 reps

Post-workout weight: 184.7 lbs

Stray Toasters

• From NPR’s Talk of the Nation: Why Is It OK to Say “That’s So Gay”
• 20 More Ways You Know You’re Married to a GeekDad
• Michael Jackson has died, apparently from cardiac failure. There are many things that could be said of the man, but I’ll just say that he was an amazing entertainer. May he find the peace in the next world that eluded him in this one.
• Lovecraft Meets Atlas Obscura
• Microsoft Discloses Windows 7 Pricing
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Stoned wallabies make crop circles

And now, it’s time for Burn Notice.

Namaste.

Thursday – 25 June 2009
This morning started at 0630… and restarted at 0800. How/why? Because, after showering and having a bite to eat, I decided that I wasn’t quite ready to kick off the day. Instead, I crawled back into bed and caught a little more shut-eye. And it was nice.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Liberty Park and walked the inner loop. It was nice… except for the clouds of gnats hovering around the south end of the park. Clouds of them. Literally. Bah! After we got back home, I fired up the 360 and played more HALO3. I also discovered something annoying: Apparently, I neglected to use the “Save and Quit” option on Tuesday and wound up having to repeat the last mission that I completed Tuesday night. *grblsnrkx* On the “plus” side, I remembered where I needed to go to exit that mission, rather than wandering aimlessly through the complex, so my retreat “strategic advance to the rear” was expedicious. I also added another weapon to my “favorites” list: the Plasma Cannon, the Covenant’s answer to the Machine Gun Turret.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to an excellent article: What to do if your child has superpowers. This will tie in nicely with “The Kal-El Clause” that SaraRules and I have devised.
• What’s your gamertag?  (This makes sense if you’re a Xbox Live subscriber…)
• Strip-search of U.S. girl illegal
• How to Have a Persuasive Handshake
• The website for the upcoming The Last Airbender movie is now live.
• Stephen King has a novella, Morality, that was printed in the July 2009 issue of Esquire. The synopsis of the story:
  

  Chad, an aspiring writer who is teaching school until he lands a publishing contract, and his wife, Nora, who is working as a home nurse for a retired minister are, like most people these days, struggling financially.  Nora is approached by her employer with a proposition that could make their dream of a home in Vermont a reality.  But will it be worth the moral consequences?

  It was a good story, but far from a happy story. It’s not often that one feels “dirty” – and possibly even “damaged” – after reading something, but this story puts you in that position.

• Oscars expand Best Film category
• ‘Charlie’s Angel’ Farrah Fawcett dies at 62
• Mania.com has an interview with former JLA writer Dwayne McDuffie
• Bettye LaVette was on The Late Late Show last night. She performed one of my favorite Sam Cooke songs, A Change Is Gonna Come; I will have to look for some of her CDs.
• Burton’s WONDERLAND Revealed
• 20 Best (and 20 Worst) Pets in Science Fiction
• Watchmen Director’s Cut Gets Theatrical Release

Namaste.

Tuesday – 16 June 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I watched Kinky Boots, a movie inspired by a true story. The movie tells the story of two people – Charlie and Lola – whose lives intertwine in an unusual way. Charlie is the son of a shoe maker… who doesn’t want to follow in the family business. Lola is… well… Lola. (Oh, and Lola’s a drag queen, too.) The pair meet after Charlie intervenes when Lola is about to get mugged. From there, the two embark on a journey to help each of them discover what they both want and need out of life.

I remember thinking that this movie sounded interesting when I saw a trailer for it a few years ago. SaraRules and I flipped past it a few month ago, but didn’t back to checking it out until last night. It was a fun movie. The characters (well, most of them) have personalities and motivations that make them human… rather than just cardboard cutouts or caricatures; I was also very pleasantly surprised at Chiwetel Ejiofor‘s performance as Lola.

Stray Toasters

• On the way home last night, it drizzled. I had to check more than one window to make sure that I hadn’t either imagined it or just gotten caught in someone’s windshield washer overspray. Nope… it was precipitate from the sky. Therefore, yesterday marked the tenth consecutive day that the Salt Lake Valley (or at least this corner of it) got something that qualifies as “rain.”
• Atlas Obscura
• June 16, 1959: George Reeves, Superman, Felled by Speeding Bullet
• LEGOland Gets 10-Foot ‘Brickday’ Cake

• When Performers Write the Program
• The art of Cliff Chiang
• For – Weird Al does Craigslist, Doors style
• Shop of Ideas: Power Girl and Fangirls
• Muslims Face Risks in Giving to Charity
• Indexed: Teachers can save the economy

  

• Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online
• Fashion industry steps out for its Oscars, the CDFA Awards
• Comedian Lange crosses the line on ‘Joe Buck Live’

Namaste.

Friday – 12 June 2009
A 9/80 Friday off begins. Well, that’s not entirely true – it started over ten hours ago. It would be closer to the truth to say that I slept in and that it’s been a lazy day so far.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away I came home from work, had dinner… and then fell asleep on the couch. For nearly two hours. I thought I’d nap for maybe half an hour. I was mistaken, for the second time this year. After I finished with my Rip Van Winkle impression, we watched Slumdog Millionaire: What is one young man willing to do to chase down a dream? What if that dream isn’t something ethereal and elusive… but the heart of a young lady? This movie answers that question. And it’s an excellent movie. I can see now why it garnered so much attention at the Oscars. AND… it ends with a Bollywood-style dance scene!

Stray Toasters

• The Bureau of Communication – Fill-in-the-Blank Correspondence
• Skipping School? Get a Presidential Excuse
• Mattel has a new Green Lantern 3-figure pack coming out. Covet.
• pointed out GroomGroove.com
• The Least Appropriete Wedding Songs Ever
• Why No Famous Scientists or Engineers?
• Both SaraRules and I are amused by this commercial:

• By way of Rachel: Surviving the World
• Out of Your Life. Their tagline kills me: “It’s time to break up with his jewelry, too.”
• By way of : Fossil Fuels Brewing Co.
• Horror Movie Shower Curtain & Bath Mat
• More Nerd Merit Badges

Time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

Thursday – 11 June 2009
Another NBN Thursday kicks off…

…with meetings. Yay. Looking at my calendar, it looks as though I only have two meetings, rather than the three I thought I had. That’s a nominal win.

::: EDIT :::
One meeting down… and I just found out that I might have a third meeting, after all. It’s not the one I was expecting, however.

Last night, SaraRules and I made our weekly(-ish) trek over to The Perfect Dress to see what they were unleashing upon the world as the new, hot items in bridal and formal wear. There was only one new dress to ridicule look at. After that, we wandered through the neighborhood World Market for a bit, with side trips to Paradise Bakery and Cafe and Red Mango. The night wrapped with a bit of TV and the reading of some Stephen King (for her) and this week’s comics haul (for me).

Stray Toasters

• Buck Rogers #1 – It’s a new take on a classic character. This is your quintessential introduction issue. We meet the titular Captain Rogers, Colonel Wilma Deering… and… Ursinius. If you’re looking for Twiki, all I can say is “Sorry… bidi-bidi-bidi-Buck.” This book looks like it could be a rather fun spin on the tale of Buck Rogers and company.
  
• Fantastic Four #567 – Doctor Doom vs. his Master. Who will pay the price for the backlash from this fight? This storyline has been building nicely for the past few months, I am intrigued to see how it will pan out.
  
• The Flash: Rebirth #3 (of 5) – Can Barry Allen outrun his fate to become the new Black Flash? Would it be Barry Allen if he didn’t try?  One of the best sequences of the story includes a bit of dialogue with Superman:
  

  Superman: Barry. I’m not going to let you do this.
  Flash: You can’t stop me.
  Superman: I’ve raced you before, Barry. I even won some of those races.
  Flash: Those were for charity, Clark.  ::: speeds out of sight with a sonic boom :::

  The Fastest Man Alive, indeed.
  

• Green Lantern Corps #37 – Daxam under a yellow sun. (Never seen that one before, have we…?) GL Arisia rallies the Daxamites who want revenge on Mongul. GLs Ash and Saarek’s paths cross… at the direction of the scarred Guardian. The Alpha Lanterns make an appearance at the Sciencell riots.
  
• JSA vs Kobra #1 (of 6) – DC Comics’ cult Kobra is stepping up its game and looking become “a name” in the DCU. Their opening move: Making an attack on Mr. Terrific, member of the JSA and Checkmate’s White King… in front of the JSA’s brownstone. (“Not smart,” you say? Actually, it was quite shrewd.) What is their endgame and what are they willing to do to achieve it?
  
• R.E.B.E.L.S. #5 – Durlan shapeshifter, Ciji, states her case/mission. Astrild Stormdaughter states her case/mission.  And readers finally see the true face of Starro the Conqueror. (Or at least the updated “true face.”)
  
• Red Robin #1 – Not only are we (re)introduced to Red Robin – and the man behind the mask – but his mission. Also in this issue, we get a glimpse at the “changing of the guard” in the Batcave and of [SPOILER DELETED], who seems to have something of a vested interest in the activities of Red Robin, both in and out of costume. I was impressed with this issue – it contained interesting looks at some familiar characters and pushed at least one of them in a direction that I wasn’t expecting. I’m looking forward to see how the series progresses.
  
• Uncanny X-Men #511 – The X-Men split into two teams to battle the Red Queen and the Sisterhood… and this time, they bring their “A” game. And friends. And they’ve even managed to work up a couple of surprises. The question is: Will it be enough? And, by the end of the fight, a familiar face returns to the pages of UXM.
  

Of the books I picked up this week, there were a few that didn’t make the cut… but one that really didn’t do anything for me was Uncanny X-Men: First Class #1. It was a “behind the scenes” look at the transition from the original X-Men team and the post-Krakoa team. More specifically, it was a collection of stories from each of the new X-Men (minus Sunfire and Thunderbird) about their lives before joining Xavier’s cause. Of the stories, the only one that really struck me as “good” was the Storm story, which recounted one of her adventures as a child thief in Cairo. Other than that, it was a waste of $3.99, in my opinion; if I could give negative bricks for this, I might consider it.

Stray Toasters

• Two bits of coolness, by way of SaraRules’ parents:
  1. Her mother got me a Justice League Unlimited coloring book… and crayons!
  2. Her father gave me a box of HO Scale train stuff!
• By way of :
  • Dance United: Ballet West dancers leap to the aid of Oregon ballet company
  • Charity report: Musicians live on less to help symphony, opera
  • Tyra Banks… as a Jedi.  (Win-Win!)
  • 9,000-year-old brew hitting the shelves this summer

• Make It Work: Writers Talk Models, Inc.
• Letterman fires back at Palin’s comment
• Lucy Knisley’s zombie invasion poster
• Y’all gon’ make me lose my mind
  up in here, up in here
  Y’all gon’ make me go all out
  up in here, up in here
  Y’all gon’ make me act a fool
  up in here, up in here
  Y’all gon’ make me lose my cool
  up in here, up in here(Now why do I have an almost-overwhelming urge to watch Jesus Christ Superstar…?)
• Back to the Future wedding cake
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Dress made from meat
• Buck Up: Life Lessons from Three Young Heroines

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 June 2009
Today is my kid sister, Kristen’s, birthday:

Last night, Chris called me. We had talked about getting together for a ‘Clix game, but neither of us could remember what day/date we’d agreed on. So… we played last night. I took a couple of boxes of figures to choose from; I wound up using:

• Apocalypse (with Fortitude and Trick Shot)
• Fantomex (with Outsmart)
• Scandal Savage and
• The Joker

Chris, wanting to use his custom “Lamppost Batman” figure, basically built his old tournament team (Flash and Green Lantern)… and brought his custom KC Superman (with Fortitude), to round out the points. He also picked “The Prison,” a map that I don’t like playing on (read: “Hate”).

Then it was game on. I maneuvered Scandal and Apocalypse into position and waited for Chris to move in. He did and put Batman in jeopardy:

1. He didn’t count how far away he was from Apocalypse
2. He forgot that Apocalypse had Trick Shot – which ignores characters, terrain and (most importantly) stealth.

Batman took a quick 5 clicks of damage. I managed not to grin like a fiend; Chris was not grinning at all. There was a lot of jockeying back and forth, and I was able to remove Batman from the game shortly thereafter. I even did some decent damage to Green Arrow and The Flash before Superman came in and saved the day pummeled Apocalypse (and the rest of the team) to death.

I wound up losing, but… I learned that Trick Shot is a good Feat card (Must get more…) for characters other than archers – I will have to try it on Storm… or Professor Xavier.

Stray Toasters

• I found out why Wordbook “wasn’t working” until last night: My host allows users to choose whether they use PHP 4.x or 5.0 and my account was still set at 4.4.7. After I switched it to 5.0, things worked according to plan… or so it seemed.  *grblsnrkx*
• The Ogden Arts Festival is coming up this weekend.
• Shockpuppet sent me a link to 60 Marvelous Superhero Wallpapers
• I just introduced Sean to The Best Page in the Universe and The Alphabet of Manliness.
• NTSB: Pilots ill-trained for water landings
• By way of NPR:
  • Get to Know: The Cole Porter Songbook
  • Vivaldi: A Man for All Seasons
  • From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: $1 Million Hidden in Mattress Gets Thrown Out with the Trash
• 
• Also from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Cop Tasers 72-Year-Old Granny
• Eddie Bauer may be heading into bankruptcy court
• Do we really need a remake of this?
• Bland New Day

And, it’s Sushi and Comics Day.

Namaste.

I started this a little after 1300. It’s now after 1700, and I’m just getting done with meetings for the day. *sigh* No rest for the wicked, I guess.

Wes and I hit the gym again today:

• Sit-ups (decline bench): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Lower Back Extension: 3 sets/15 reps, 160 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Shoulder Press (machine): 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Overhead Tricep Extensions (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 45 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Post-workout weight: 188.2 lbs

::: MEETINGS :::

And then there were none. It’s always great when you (re)discover that there’s a meeting you’re supposed to attend… twenty minutes before the meeting is scheduled to start. And I wouldn’t even have known that if I hadn’t overheard someone else talking about it.

Stray Toasters

• I’m trying out the Wordbook plugin for WordPress. Ostensibly, my posts should be getting mirrored in my Facebook account. We’ll see how that works out.
• Boy, 11, graduates from college
• , and : I’d be interested in your opinions, if any, of this article: Blacksmiths of Intellectual Property: The Rise of Originality in MMOs; not necessarily limited to MMOs, but to gaming in general.
• By way of – Star Trek: The Wrath of Chaka Khan

• Apple iPhone Users Cry Foul Over AT&T Upgrade Policy
  (or, as showed me earlier in the day: Stupid Apple, You Suck!)
• Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument
• By way of :

  

• Also from – Paradise on a Hanger is having a (going out of business?) sale.

That’s all f-f-f-folks!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 09 June 2009
Last night, we went to dinner at Tandoor Indian Grill for ‘s birthday. It’s a nice place, with good food and decent prices. I had the Tandoori Chicken and was not disappointed. After dinner, we headed back to SaraRules’ parents’ house for dessert. (Back-to-back days with birthday cake == good.) After dessert, SaraRules, , Logan and I played a couple of games of Bocce.

When I got home, I wrestled with the smoke alarm and changed its battery. Then, all I wanted to do was sprawl on the couch… and I did. I was so tired that I started nodding off watching Jonny Quest. I made it through Letterman’s monologue, but decided that I needed sleep more than I needed entertainment; I was in bed before 2300.

I slept much better last night than Sunday night… but I had a series of odd dreams. Nothing horribly “disturbing,” but they were unusual combinations.

The Best: Crazy
Seal vs. Alanis Morrisette

For the past week or so, I’ve been trying to recall who did the cover of Seal’s Crazy that had been at the edges of my memory. I was fairly certain that it was Alanis Morrisette, but I wasn’t positive. Yesterday, I finally remembered to look it up… and it was, in fact, Ms. Morrisette. With that, I checked out the music video for her version. Not bad. Then, I checked out the Seal version. Again, not bad.

Seal:

Crazy – Seal

Alanis:

Alanis Morissette Crazy

The Verdict: This one comes down to a draw for me, with a possible edge going to Seal.  While the Alanis version is good, it might have been more interesting to hear what she might have done had she put more of her own spin on it.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules pointed out a couple of items:
  • If They Can Find Time for Date Night…
  • Barack Obama, Stop Ruining My Marriage
• SaraRules’ father is hooking me up with some HO-scale trains and equipment.
• Shooting deaths of Oklahoma girls remain a mystery a year later
• Insider Appointed Chairwoman of Lincoln Center
• With Apple’s newly-announced 13″ Macbook Pro, I suddenly find myself wanting a new laptop…
• New York City unveils new park made from elevated rail line
• Pop and Rococo Meet and Greet
• Robot Sidekicks: Sci-Fi’s Long Line of Nuts-and-Bolts BFFs
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Neeson, Cooper Join A-Team Film
  (Although, it makes me wonder who they’d consider for B.A. Baracus…)

Namaste.

Sunday – 07 June 2009
Today is my mother’s birthday.

I woke up early enough – and just long enough – to wish her a happy birthday before she headed out for the day.

Then, I promptly turned over and went back to sleep.

When the alarm went off this morning, I wasn’t exactly ready for it. (Something about staying up far too late last night/this morning…) But, I got out of bed, ate, did the morning hygiene rituals and got ready for the day. SaraRules and I went downtown to the parade for the Utah Pride Festival. The forecast called for rain, which we got in intermittent spurts that ranged from drizzle to moderate. Oh, well. That’s why we took an umbrella!  met us there and Mr. and Mrs. strolled past a few minutes after that and joined us. The parade was good and the wet weather didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s festive mood. Near the end of the parade, my superpower kicked in, too: I ran into Paul, a former coworker from the USPS.

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday, SaraRules wanted to go to a park and walk, so that we could get in a little exercise. I upped the ante a bit and suggested getting a Frisbee^® and tossing it around. She agreed. The next step was to get one. A trip to Wal-Mart proved (semi-)fruitless: They had them, but wanted $9.00 for it. O,o ?!? It’s just a piece of molded plastic…  (And, to be honest, I really wanted an Aerobie^®.) So, while taking care of another errand, we stopped at Sports Authority where – lo and behold – they had Aerobies. I got an Aerobie Pro for the same price as the Frisbee^®. Win-Win. On to the park! As we were only a few blocks from his house, I called Land to see if he wanted to join us; he did. We spent the next hour or so tossing the disc and chatting. And, it was a pretty good workout, to boot.

Back home for badly-needed showers and downtime. We also started to tackle another project: Cleaning up the office. I finally unpacked the shredder we got a few months ago. It works like gangbusters. I also decided to resort some of my HeroClix that currently have no real rhyme or reason to the way they were tossed into some boxes. While I was doing that, SaraRules decided to see what was on TV. She found Independence Day on A&E. She wasn’t aware that we own the movie, so I asked if she wanted to watch the DVD and not have to deal with commercials. She did… and I stopped sorting ‘Clix to watch The Fresh Prince and The Fly save the world. Again.

> Play >
Not a lot happening now, but we’re heading out to have birthday dinner with Chris (of Chris and Mary) a little later. Beyond that… who knows?

Four-Color Coverage
I picked up Incognegro as part of last week’s comics haul.

I’ve wanted to read it, since hearing about it roughly a year-and-a-half ago, but hadn’t gotten around to it. The story tells the tale of Zane Pinchback, a reporter in 1930s New York whose articles give first-hand accounts of lynchings in the South.

The twist: Mr. Pinchback is a Negro.

He gets away with covering the stories and writing his articles for two reasons:

1. He is passing – his complexion is fair enough to let him appear white.
2. He writes his stories under the nom de plume “Incognegro.”

The story takes an odd turn when Zane is given an assignment go to Tupelo, Mississippi. It appears that Zane’s twin – and darkly-complected – brother is about to be lynched for the death of a white woman.

Incognegro, written by Mat Johnson (1, 2, 3) – a light-skinned Black man, himself – is adeptly written.  Its characters aren’t just stereotypical caricatures; they have depth. The settings aren’t just backdrops, they add to the flavor of the scenes. The story also contains a few interesting plot twists, as well.

All-in-all, this was a solid read, and it’s one that I recommend.

Stray Toasters

• I have come to the conclusion that I want to get (back into) model railroading. Not immediately, but possibly in the next year or so. I think that I want to do O Scale, probably a mixture of Lionel and MTH. (What can I say?  It’s roughly ‘Clix-scale. Win-Win.) I started looking at some of the pieces I want and their prices. This could be a pricey hobby.
• A Giant Awakes in Nantes
• Flashmobs + gold pants = ?!?

  Thanks to for forwarding this to me.

• 8 Things Modern Vampires Could Learn from ‘The Lost Boys’
• On a sadder note: Parents rammed cars into burning day care
• Naturally 7: Where Voices Become Instruments of Soul
• , this might be of help to you: How to Choose Headphones
• The Mother of All Potato Cannons

Namaste.

Friday – 05 June 2009
Another quiet skeleton crew Friday in the office. After starting the day with 2112, I spent about 30 minutes talking with our CTO about some of his experiences with international travel. That was followed up by a conversation with our CFO about our meeting yesterday and the direction that we (IT dept) need to go to make sure that things we discussed yesterday continue to move along.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Ball of Fire, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck – a screwball comedy. In it, Cooper plays Bertram Potts, a professor who is part of an 8-man team working on a new encyclopedia. Professor Potts is working on a section on “slang,” but realizes that despite his masterful knowledge of the English language, he knows next to nothing about modern slang; he sets out to find people who know and use it. One of those people is Katherine “Sugarpuss” O’Shea, a nightclub performer… and gangster’s moll. And from there, hijinks ensue. It was a fun movie and, though despite showing its age in a few places , a good way to spend an evening.

Stray Toasters

• Bruce Campbell was interviewed on Talk of the Nation yesterday.
• Apple Above, the Pack Below
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Bacon gumballs
• Festival for New York, That Muslim City
• The Shrinking Majority – Rise & Fall: Mormon Majority Is Slipping Away, by way of
• Database of all the toxins in your cosmetics and personal care products
• 
• The Green Fairy
• The Civic Value of a Bold Statement
• By way of :

  

• D&D-style map of C++
• Ending a 60-Year Gig at the NY Philharmonic

Namaste.

Thursday – 04 June 2009
Last night, I had a couple of new ideas about HeroClix masterboards. While I’ve liked the foam insulation-backed boards, they are thick and, especially in the case of the first one, difficult to transport. (I didn’t cut the first board so that it could fold.) After looking at the multi-level (and multi-layer) board on ToyChop, I started rethinking my ideas about baseboards.  A quick jaunt over to Office Depot gave me what I think is a good idea: Using a project board as the base. The first – and, in my opinion, most advantageous – benefit that it offers is that it is thin. Next, it is light. Third, After I cut off one of the sides, it will fold down to 12″x36″x½”. Win-Win-Win. (Granted, that will still leave 1½” of overhang for the corners, but that’s pretty easy to deal with.)

This morning, I had a meeting that was scheduled to be 3½ hours long. Fortunately, we were done in under two hours. Hallelujah.

Wes and I made it to the gym this afternoon:

• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/20 reps, 140 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (dumbbell, overhead): 3 sets/12 reps, 40 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Post-workout weight: 188.1 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• Armstrong’s ‘poetic’ slip on the moon
• OAS revokes 47-year-old suspension of Cuba
• Obama in Egypt reaches out to Muslim world
• SaraRules, and tipped me to some sad news: Actor David Carradine found dead and Police rule out foul play for now. I remember watching Mr. Carradine in reruns of Kung Fu when I was growing up.
• Another tip of the hat to Nyx for pointing out: Comics Grammar and Tradition
• The opening to last night’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson featured They Might Be Giants’ Istanbul

• How to Sustain Motivation When You’re Struggling
• It’s apparently “Wear Some of My Old Ties” and “Wear a Themed Tie” week for me. Yesterday, I wore a World Wildlife Fund dolphin tie and today I’m wearing a Save the Children puppet show tie.
• Tetris Turns 25, and It’s Still an Addictive Pleasure
• The new season of Burn Notice kicks off tonight.

Allez-oop!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 June 2009
Today is Sushi and Comics Wednesday, as there were no holidays to disrupt the comics shipping schedule. It’s apparently also National Tailors Day.

I’m still feeling pretty well this morning. I’m not sure what yesterday’s mystery malady was, but I’m glad that it’s gone. (Or some reasonable facsimile thereof.)

Stray Toasters

• I had a few odd dreams last night. It happens. But, in one of them, my subconscious apparently came up with a very cool two-part, a capella version of If You Believe, from The Wiz.
• T-shirts that amuse me:
  • Care and Feeding of Your Zombie
  • There is no Pac-Man. There is only Zuul.
• Crucial Air France crash data may be lost at sea
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and “Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow” files: iBoobs
  (Seriously, who comes up with things like this?!)
• 
• How To… Tip Around the World, courtesy of
• Also from Nyx: What happened to me and the new girl (or “The Girl Who Cried Webmaster”)
• Why Apple can afford to phone it in on the next iPhone

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.