Random Access

Thursday – 09 Oct 2008
Last night was Project Runway night. The four designers who started the show were pared down to the final three designers… and I was a little surprised at who made the final cut. Post-Runway, and after SaraRules headed home, it was new comics night. There were a few good books in yesterday’s haul, including a new issue of Love & Capes.

This morning, I decided to check out an Internet Radio feed on iTunes. I opted to go for a Hip Hop/Rap feed. Scrolling down the list, I saw an entry for WVEE: V-103. This intrigued me, as there was a “V-103” in Baltimore. I clicked on the station and waited for the feed to begin. Turns out that this feed originates from a station in Atlanta. A couple of songs played and then there was a newscast. The reporter was Jean Ross.

*blink blink*

There was a “Jean Ross” who was a reporter on Baltimore’s V-103 many moons past. It struck me as too much of a coincidence to let pass. I did a quick search and came up with a result on the Atlanta station’s website. I clicked through and went to their Bio page. And there it was, big as day and twice as bright: Jean Ross’ bio. Turns out that she is the same Jean Ross I used to listen to back home all those years ago.

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: Charles Atlas, Wii Fit, Health and Exercise
  (The second paragraph kills me.)
• By way of : Demonic Squirrel Motorcyle Riding Story
• 
• A few political items:
  • John McCain and “my friends”: We counted how many times he said it.
  • John McCain calls Barack Obama ‘that one’ during debate: Was it rude or not?
  • Make-believe Maverick
  • Video: Saturday Night Live‘s take on the Vice-Presidential Debate (featuring Queen Latifah)
• Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker’s Library
• There is a possibility of snow in the valley this weekend. *sigh*
• At last, Google invents something truly brilliant
• 
• Steampunk and the Macabre
• A couple of things you might not know about me:
  1. I don’t practice Santeria
  2. I ain’t got no crystal ball
• The Manga Guide to Databases

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 08 Oct 2008
Middle of the week and all’s well. In the words of the Dave Matthews’ Band, So Much to Say, so let’s get it started…

SaraRules came over after work last night. We ran a couple of errands, including picking up a barbecue chicken pizza from Papa Murphy’s and headed back to my place. We watched Senators Obama and McCain in the second presidential debate. Again, I’m not really sure that either candidate “won” the debate, but if I had to pick a winner, I’d have to go with…

Tom Brokaw.

That’s right: Tom Brokaw, the moderator. Why? He had the best lines – including a couple of snarky jabs at the candidates for not sticking to the agreed format.

After the debacle debate, we headed to the gym. Lo and behold, I still remember how to workout! Unglaublich! SaraRules did cardio; I headed to the machines and free weights:

• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets @ 100 lbs
• Close-grip pulldowns: 3 sets @ 80 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets, 1 set @ 60 lbs, 2 sets @ 50 lbs
• Overhead tricep extensions (dumbbell): 3 sets @ 40 lbs
• Side Bends: 3 sets, 25 lbs dumbbells
• Tricep Extenstions (T-Bar): 3 sets, 80 lbs
• Core: 2 sets, 45 seconds

I neglected to weigh myself pre- or post-workout. Oh, well.

We headed back to my place to catch David Letterman’s monologue and Top 10 List before she headed home. She made the comment that it seems like he’s got “…a personal vendetta” against Senator McCain and that it’s rather amusing to see what he’s going to say/do next. She’s right.

The Best: Rocket Man
I think that I first became aware of this song when it appeared on The Greatest American Hero, many moons ago. Since then, it’s been a favorite.

I apparently have four versions of it in iTunes:

1. Elton John – the classic, original version
2. Kate Bush – a synth and bass-rich version, from the “Two Rooms” tribute CD
3. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – a punk cover
4. Jamie Cullum – a jazzy piano take on the song.

If I had to rate my favorites, it’d go in this order:

1. Elton John
2. Jamie Cullum
3. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
4. Kate Bush

The rationale (as much as there is for it) is as follows: The Elton John version is, like I said classic. To me, it reminds me a bit of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, in that its protagonist simply seems… resigned to his fate and is trying to make the best of his situation. The Jamie Cullum version seems to put a different, more upbeat spin on it: Here’s a guy who has a secret (I’m not the man they think I am at home…), but is fine with it and he gets to see all kinds of things that no one else gets to see or do. He doesn’t come off as resigned, but kind of “Wow, too bad you guys can’t be here to check this out.” The Me First version is just… frenetic and fun and full of energy. And the Kate Bush version is… Kate Bush. *shrug*

Stray Toasters

• MarkinTyme sent me a link to A Literal Take on Take On Me, in which someone… just take a look at it for yourself. Hilarious… in a “You had WAAAY too much free time on your hands” way. And, yes, it’s work-safe.
• Hey Ensign Redshirt… why don’t you go investigate that odd noise while we talk to the locals?
• It’s been a while since I’ve had a steampunk-related entry, but here we go: Steampunk Keyboard, the Mini-Me version
• Buy a LEGO Life-Sized Replica of Yourself for $60,000
• With Hallowe’en just around the corner:
  • The Zombie Apocalypse Is Less Terrifying in LEGO
  • Dismember-Me Plush Zombie
  • Zombie Brain Jell-O Mold
• 
• Democrats Still Most Tech-Savvy, Rent Digital Billboard to Text Message Sarah Palin at Rally
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: US Customs: Sketching an SUV makes you a copyright infringer
  
• I moved the speakers that I hook up to my laptop at work. It made a noticeable – and greatly improved – difference in the acoustics.
• Yokai Attack: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide
• By way of : Operation Double Y’d Targets Women
  (Um… aren’t women “Double X?”  And XYY Syndrome is a little… rare.  And “male.”  Just sayin’.)

And now, meeting time!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 Oct 2008
Last night was rather quiet, which was a decidedly pleasant change of pace from the way the day started. After getting home and winding down a bit, I headed back out to pick up my copy of Iron Man. While at Best Buy, I noticed that they had a few DVDs that I was interested in marked down, so I picked them up.

We didn’t have our Scion game so after returning home, I logged into City of Heroes for a bit. I was asked to join a mid-30s level group as a sidekick and we took on the Circle of Thorns. I cut my gaming a little short, as SaraRules stopped by for a while. After she left, I logged back in and ran a couple of Ouroboros missions. After that, I read Watchmen until I fell asleep.

Stray Toasters

• Rush has a song called Nobody’s Hero. If you “mis-listen” to the song, it almost sounds like they are singing “Nobody Zero,” which strikes me as a great name for a street-level, Batman-like hero. Well, maybe more like Kick-Ass or Twilight Guardian or some other non-powered, average Joe who decides to fight evil. But, it’s also got me wondering: What other song lyrics lend themselves to being turned into possible superhero names?
• On last night’s Late Show with David Letterman, Josette Sheeran was one of the guests.  She is the Executive Director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme. After discussing the WFP’s mission, Dave posted a URI for donations: http://www.wfp.org/lateshow/
• While watching for SaraRules to drive past – and watching the traffic along this section of 215 – three parts of the media-cloud in my head all came together:

1. Ants Marching, by The Dave Matthews Band
   

   Driving along this highway
   All these cars and up on the sidewalk
   People in every direction
   No words exchanged,
   No time to exchange when
   All the little ants are marching
   Red and black antennae waving

2. Synchronicity II, by The Police
   

   Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
   Contestants in a suicidal race

3. The theme from Speed Racer (the 60’s cartoon, not the recent movie)
   

   He’s off and flying as he guns the car around the track
   He’s jamming down the pedal like he’s never coming back
   Adventure’s waiting just aheeeeeeeeaaaaad

• And since this is now stuck in my head, I’m going to inflict this on share this with you:

• From NPR Music: Mambo! Afro-Cuban Takes on Jazz Classics
• Do you has?!

Back to it.

Namaste.

Friday – 12 Sep 2008
Last night, SaraRules came over and fixed dinner (fajitas!) and we watched The West Wing and 21. Nice, quiet evening in. After SaraRules left, I hopped on the nerd and surfed for a while. Then – in a stroke of genius – I decided to stretch out on the couch “for a few minutes.”

That turned into 3 hours.

I woke up and dragged myself to bed. That’s when the odd, 21-inspired dreams set in. Thugs, money and lots of running. Whoop-de-damn-doo.

So far, the work day hasn’t been too bad.
And, it’s Friday. A short Friday, to boot.
Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

• As 2008 Multicultural Week draws to a close, I am reminded of this post that sent me back in July.
• Folks were talking about WoW‘s Harvest Festival in a chat forum this morning; that reminded me that it’s almost time for the 2008 CoH Hallowe’en Event.
• Speaking of Hallowe’en: Dress up your PS3
• 
• The CrüxShadows 2008 US tour brings them to SLC on the 28th. Hm.
• Sunday’s Ravens game has been moved to Monday night, thanks to Hurricane Ike. I’m not sure if there will be coverage outside the Baltimore and Texas areas.
• Your Mama Don’t Dance and Your Daddy Don’t Rock and Roll
• Vintage Monkey Cartoons
  
• 
• LEGO Album Covers on Flickr

Soon: Hometime
Next: Lunch with SaraRules
Later: Errands… and maybe a pickup game of ‘Clix

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 September 2008
Two down.
One in the chamber.
Two to go.

So far, it’s been a quiet morning. I’m not complaining about that. I have a few tasks on my “to do” list that should keep me occupied – if not “busy” – for the better part of the morning.

Last night, I headed to Far West for a HeroClix tourney… but the judge didn’t show. So.. um.. yeah. Chris, Ma’afu, Nano and I just decided on a two-on-two game. 1000 points per team. We played on the Castle Doom map that came with the Fantastic Four Starter Set. I am not a fan of that map. In fact, I’d say that it’s in my top three least-favorites. Ma’afu and Nano brought some bruisers to the dance; Chris and I brought Perplex and Outwit users. Chris lost a couple of figures in the fight, but we wound up winning.

After the game, I headed up to visit SaraRules for a bit before heading home. And, in the course of talking about quilting, I think that I’ve been drafted to help her with at least one upcoming project. That should prove interesting.

Stray Toasters

• Diversity Milk. That still cracks me up.
• Thanks to , I have a new icon:



• How to Dress Like a Rich Man in a Recession
• From NPR Music:
  • Make Peace, Make Jazz
  • Radiohead: Live in Concert (downloadable podcast)
• Mommy, Why Is There a Server in the House?
• 
  …and…
  
• From BBC News: The white priestess of ‘black magic’
• To Odin, Thanks For Everything! – Loki

Namaste.

Tuesday – 09 September 2008
After work yesterday, I played ‘Clix with Chris. We played 400-point teams; I went with:

• Lex Luthor (with Outsmart)
• Merlyn (with Point Blank)
• Psycho-Pirate and
• Invisible Woman

Chris lined up with:

• Batman (Knightfall)
• Bishop
• Dr. Polaris
• Wolverine

The game started off with a bang: I was able to use Psycho-Pirate’s Perplex to dial Bishop’s defense value down by -2, Lex’ Outwit to get rid of that pesky Energy Deflection and Merlyn’s Ranged Combat Expert to do four clicks of damage right out of the gate. It was a beautiful thing to behold. My dice ran hot-and-cold throughout the game, and I wound up losing at the end (Merlyn vs. Dr. Polaris and Bishop, who had been hiding behind Batman), but I think that this was the closest that I have come to beating Chris in a one-on-one game. I was rather happy with it.

After ‘Clix, I headed up to visit SaraRules and her family to watch the Broncos-Raiders game. Talk about a good, old-fashioned ass-whoopin’… Damn, Gina! Denver was ON last night. And, like I mentioned in the previous post, I think that I have a new favorite (for now) videogame commercial.

After that game, I went home, plopped on the couch and vegged out to classic Jonny Quest. And I defy anyone to tell me that the show’s theme song isn’t one of the best cartoon themes – if not possibly TV themes – of all time.

Stray Toasters

• Damn and a half… this Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, is bad-ass. He’s the “Buy It By the Brick” figure for the upcoming Arkham Asylum set.
• John Hodgman: More Information Than You Require
• 
• Best and Worst Cities for Salary Growth
• By way of :



• World’s Finest has a list of the guest stars on the upcoming The Brave and The Bold series.
• And, speaking of The Dark Knight Detective: Caine fuels up Batman casting rumors.
• Leviton gives the gift of extra outlets

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 September 2008
Butterscotch Krimpets and coffee for breakfast. Truly, this is the best of all possible worlds!

This morning, I woke up with the theme from Darkwing Duck running through my head. It’s continued to pop up, intermittently, for the past little while.

When I got to work, I set my things down and looked out the window… just in time to see SaraRules’ car driving past. How can I be sure that it was her? I called her to ask if it was her. Geeky, yeah… but that’s just the way I’m wired.

Stray Toasters

• Dr. Horrible Reign Continues
• Thanks to loonybin88 for pointing out this story: Aged Tires: A Driving Hazard
  If you drive, you should watch this story.
• “Hot Pockets are the American empanada.”
• From NPR Music:
  • The 80s: Were they really that bad?
  • Nine-Minute Road Trip
    
• Chickenfish!
• South Carolina sheriff buys tank to conduct raids

Back to the grindstone.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 02 September 2008
And so, another – thankfully short – work week begins. I’m going camping with SaraRules and her family this Friday. That should prove… interesting. And undoubtedly fun.

Yesterday was a low-key day, as a holiday should be:

• Sleeping in.
• A couple of episodes of The West Wing.
• Tooling around town, including a stop at Gardner Village.
• Dinner with SaraRules’ family.
• City of Heroes.
• The Middleman season finale.

All-in-all, it was a good day.

Stray Toasters

• Congrats to SaraRules on starting her new job!




• We have a new guy starting in IT today. Selah.
• Sunday’s trip to IKEA bore some fruit… including some geeky fruit. I picked up a KUBBO light. I got a green globe to go on it. Why? Because then, I could do this:

  

  …and this…

  

• I was surprised to read news items about Governor Palin’s daughter in the news.
  I was even more surprised – pleasantly so – to hear Senator Obama’s reaction:

  “Let me be as clear as possible,” Obama said. “I think people’s families are off-limits, and people’s children are especially off-limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin’s performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president.” (Full story, from CNN)
  

  I was similarly impressed with the way that he reminded the media that he was born to a young mother and that reporters should “…back off these kinds of stories.”

• How to make a papercraft Masonic Lodge
• By way of BoingBoing: Hot 8 Brass Band
• How to make a 3-D printer out of LEGO

Attack the day like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Friday – 29 August 2008
I made a good call in deciding to take the day off. Sleeping in this morning, though peppered with a few odd dreams, was a good thing. Today, I have a few errands to run, but after that, in the words of the DJs from Power 97: “It’s the weekeeeeeend, baby!”

It turned out that I could have gone to sushi yesterday – my 2:00 meeting got pushed back. Oh, well.

After work, I met SaraRules at her parents’ place. She accompanied me to Dr. Volt’s, where I fed my four-color crack addiction; I picked up one box each of Avengers and Mutations & Monsters, ‘Clix as well. We headed back for dinner and to hang out with her family. We watched the Jags take on the Redskins as we ate dinner.

After the game, we flipped over to coverage of the DNC. More on this later. After the fanfare and fireworks were over, SaraRules and I headed back to my place. We were going to make a batch of brownies, but the couch and television – along with general laziness – won out. The cable box decided to cooperate last night, so SaraRules was (finally) able to catch an episode of Project: Runway. Last night’s episode, Fashion That Drives You, contained an interesting challenge: The designers had to come up with outfits constructed out of materials used in the making of Saturns – seat covers, seatbelts, dashboard accessories, floor mats, et al. There were a lot of inspired designs… and a few duds.

Next up: Burn Notice. I had seen part of this episode, False Flag, before… but not from the beginning. There was a twist that occurred just before I started watching it (the first time) that had me a bit confused. Seeing the whole thing play out cleared up the confusion, though.

When Ms. SaraRules went home, I toyed with the idea of playing City of Heroes or hopping on PokerStars.
I just called it a night, instead.

Food for Thought: Chew on This
As I mentioned above: We watched coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night.

Once again, I have to say: “Wow.”
Not at the staging, though impressive.
Not at the turnout, which at 80,000+ people was amazing.

I say “wow” to the fact that, once again, Senator Obama delivered an amazing speech.

I liked the fact that the speech played to peoples’ hopes and dreams and not their fears. I also appreciated that Senator Obama didn’t just make it a “sunshine and rainbows everywhere” kind of speech, but that he acknowledged that it was going to take work – and time – to get the country back on track. I agree with ‘s assessment that Senator McCain may pick up a few new speechwriters after last night’s oratory.

I’m also sure that it was no small coincidence that the speech occurred on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. Senator Obama referenced that speech and, it seemed to me, fell into the cadence of a preacher for a few minutes while delivering that portion of his speech.

Over the next eight weeks, it will be interesting to watch as the Obama/Biden campaign takes to the trail to deliver their message and to see how the masses – Democrat, Republican and Independent – respond to them.

It is also of interest to note that Senator McCain has chosen a running mate: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She is in her first term and is little-known outside of Alaska. If people were concerned about Senator Obama’s lack of age and experience, I would like to know what their reaction to the even-younger and seemingly less-experienced Governer Palin is/will be. Could her selection be “See, we’re kind’a progressive, too!” spin? I would hope not and I’ll reserve judgment on this until I hear more from and about her.

Stray Toasters

• Comcast to make monthly Internet use cap official
• Mythbusters + 1,100-barrel paint gun = Mona Lisa? Yep. Check it out here.
• Jesus Tries to Save Your Soul, but Windows Stops Him
• 
• By way of The BBC: Jackson turns 50: Highs and Lows
• 10 WordPress Hacks to Make Your Life Easy
• For an as-yet-unknown reason, I had the theme from the 60’s Spider-Man cartoon running through my head a few minutes ago.
• Air Canada shaves fuel costs by eliminating life-jackets

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Happy Hatching Day to !

And, I’m even going to name Ms. today’s Human of the Day, too.
Because I’m The Pope.
And I can.

Just like that.

Pow!

Wednesday – 20 August 2008
After work, I picked up Chris and we headed to Far West for this week’s HeroClix tourney. We played a new (for us) format: “300-Point, Floor: 50% Restricted.” This means that we had to build 300-point teams, with at least half of our force built from the latest release: Secret Invasion. Aside from Chris, we had a couple of other people show up, too: Ma’afu and Chris2, both of whom are fairly new to the game, but were pretty eager to dive in with both feet. I wasn’t sure if we would have to draft (buy a booster pack) our first 150 points; we didn’t. We were able to pick from our existing figures. This was good for me, as I had been wanting to test out a couple of figures, especially the Susan Richards figure… so I did. My team consisted of:

• Batman
• Nick Fury
• Susan Richards

I played Chris2 in the first round. He brought a four-figure team:

• Nick Fury
• Ringmaster
• She-Thing
• Spider-Girl

Matt and Nano helped coach him, since it was his first real game, I think. Spider-Girl and She-Thing got up front and personal, fairly quickly. I learned that Susan Richards’ Barrier power is a great thing… especially when you want to make someone go through Hell and half of Georgia to get at you, rather than make a bee-line for your and whomp on you. And, having three characters with Outwit didn’t hurt, either. I took out Spider Girl, She-Thing and… either Nick Fury or Ringmaster (I forget which), before time ran out. Win.

Next up: Chris. *sigh* At least it wasn’t a first-round game. His team consisted of:

• Batman
• Doctor Strange and
• Gamora

And he went to work. Having played a game with Chris where he used Gamora, I assessed her as the first/biggest threat. I wasn’t necessarily wrong in considering her a threat, but Doctor Strange is no slouch, either: He can see through Stealth(!) and, thanks to his team ability, is able to copy others’ team abilities. In last night’s case, he took on the Batman team ability. Gamora stepped up and wailed on Nick Fury… but, being the master spy that he is, I used his LMD ability, reducing his damage and got him out of Dodge. That still left Batman and Sue as targets, but I managed to take Gamora out before Chris’ Batman and the good Doctor took me completely out of the game. Loss.

Next up: Ma’afu. He actually said that he had been waiting to play me. I was a little surprised by the compliment – I don’t think that I’ve had someone who wanted to take me on (Take on me! I’ll… be… gone…. If you don’t taaaaaaaake….) like that. Comments like that are usually reserved for people waiting to test their mettle against Chris and his team du jour. His team consisted of:

• Gee
• Human Torch and
• Ms. Marvel (Human)

Ma’afu also got a little sideline assistance from Matt. My first assessment: Take out Ms. Marvel. I neglected to Outwit her Hypersonic Speed in the first round, but I didn’t make that mistake again. After she punched Nick Fury (and I LMD’ed him to a far corner) I made sure that Batman and Sue didn’t let her pull a stunt like that again. Nick took out his frustrations on Gee. I should have probably felt guilty about having a WWII vet gun down a little kid, but this was war (sort of), so he was fair game. Nick’s next target: the Human Torch. It took a few rounds, but I managed to snuff him out. And that just left Ms. Marvel. I beat on her a bit, but didn’t manage to take her out before time ran out. Win.

All-in-all, coming in second to Chris wasn’t bad. And above all, it was fun.

After the game, I dropped Chris off and headed home. I had no time to tarry: SaraRules got back into town about 8:00. And, aside from needing to go to Cedar City tomorrow to do her Capstone defense, she’s back for good. (That pretty much comes under “Win,” too.) I got home a few minutes before she got there. We hung out and talked about her last few weeks in Aspen, the overall experience and bidding farewell to her former coworkers. Then she had to get a few things ready for meetings she had today.

I was completely tapped from the lack of sleep Monday night, so when the alarm went off, I turned if off and rolled over. The second alarm, was not ignored, though. We got up, observed the necessary hygiene rituals, made coffee(!) and got ready for the day.

I had planned on doing Round 3 of server inventories today. I still plan on doing that. However, the first part of my morning was spent moving Julie from her old desk to one behind mine. No rest for the wicked.

Stray Toasters

• should be in around dinnertime. Now, to figure out where to take him for dinner…
• Did The Banana Splits inspire Bob Marley?
  (Regular readers may remember that I’ve asked this before.)
• Wild monkey loose in Japanese subway eludes police
• Apple tries to debug iPhone

…right on to the friction of the day

Tuesday – 19 August 2008
I was up far too late last night.
FAR too late.

Coworker Eric came to SLC last night to pick up my old desk: I wanted something different, he wanted a desk. Win-Win. I discovered that it is much easier to make a mess when clearing out furniture than it is to return the same space to a nominal sense of order and coherence. Hence the reason that I was up late last night/this morning. Let’s just say that caffeine and I are on a first-name basis this morning.

I watched some of the Olympic Summer Games last night. I watched Men’s and Women’s 400M hurdles. For those who didn’t see the USA Men’s team take gold, silver AND bronze, it was a pretty amazing race.

The women’s races were equally stunning – especially the event in which Jamaica’s Melaine Walker ran. I also watched some of the gymnastics events… and, after seeing He Kexin, I can now understand why some people question whether or not some of the Chinese gymnasts are of official competing age.

Stray Toasters

• should be here tomorrow evening… assuming that he doesn’t get distracted by bright, shiny objects between Kansas City and here.
• 10 Great Webcomics You Should Not Share With Your Kids
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Cake Wrecks
• The art of Andrea Gianchiglia
• From the “I have an opinion and I’m not going to keep it to myself” file: Robert Downey, Jr: ‘Fuck DC Comics.’
• Shocka-locka-BOOM!
  What was that?
  Aftershock.
• By way of : Top Secret Drum Corps from Basel, Switzerland:

  
  Top Secret Drum Corps Basel Tattoo – A funny movie is a click away

• There’s a new Lara Croft in town.
  • Photo shoot pictures
  • Interview
• MarknTyme introduced me to BabySmash last night; he said that his youngest son loves it.
• I know that some people really their cars, but this takes it to a new level:

• Virtualization eSeminar. *nod*

Namaste.

Monday – 18 August 2008
On the way to the office, Chiron Beta Prime started playing over iTunes. I’m not sure if Nomad was just mocking me through our technopathic link; I’m Ivory Soap sure that it knows I refer to work as “CBP.” As a follow-up, it played Inside Out’s Jackie Chan… and follwed that with Monty Python’s I Like Chinese*.

We finished Round Two of the server upgrades yesterday. We also noted a… discrepancy: There were nineteen servers for which we did not account. So, there will be a reckoning Round Three. Which is fine with me. It’s all part of the job. We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I had the calamari appetizer and the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta entree. Holy cow… it was GOOD. And, a piece of cheesecake followed me home.

I got home last night and considered rearranging the office. The fact that it was 10 PM didn’t phase me… at first. Eventually, I came to the realization that I had just put in nine hours of work and that I didn’t really feel like making that much more work for myself. Instead, I played City of Heroes.

This morning, I was back in the office at 7:40. Aw, yeah!

Stray Toasters

• WARNING (for Firefox users): Clipboards hijacked in web attack
• How to Be Good
• Is there a way to justify shuriken as an “office supply?”
• Pakistan’s Musharraf Steps Down
• Michael Phelps: 8 Gold Medals, 7 world records.
  He’s only 23. I think he’s got at least one more Olympic Summer Games in him
• How to Hypermile
• 
• Reasoning is partly insane
  Image just an eyeless game
  The night is turning thin
  The saint is turning to sin
• What was your videogame system of choice, back in the day?
  I was an IntelliVision and Sega Genesis kid.

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Thursday – 14 August 2008
It’s Thursday.
Thor‘s Day.
Thor had a hammer.
It was called Mjolnir.

John Henry, steel-driving man that he was, had a hammer, too.
I don’t believe his hammer had a name.

Beta Ray Bill – also known as Beta Ray Thor – has a hammer.
It is called Stormbreaker.

Stray Toasters

• Not only is it NBN Thursday, it’s sushi day.
• I keep trying to like From Russia, with Love, as performed by Matt Munro… but it really doesn’t do anything for me.
• I also keep forgetting to take screenshots of Kurigari when I’m playing City of Heroes.
• “My mon Bats, he don’t shiv.”
  For those of you who don’t get this, the dialogue is from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.

Stop! Hammertime.

The Cruxshadows’ Defender (1, 2) is playing on iTunes.
The video game Defender (1, 2) popped into my head moments later

The song seems to refer to the loss of the singer’s significant other.
The premise of the game is that a lone pilot protects a few humanoids against an alien invasion/attack.

The two combined in my head, like a darkly twisted Reese’s Cup, in the following manner:

• The woman referred to in the song is captured by alien landers.
• The pilot, in rage/grief/frustration, fires up his trusty starfighter and takes to the skies to fight the aliens.
• The song plays in the background as he flies through the invasion force, blasting alien ships out of the sky and saving the remnants of humanity… in the hopes of either saving or avenging his lost love.

The scary thing is that the connection was made – and played out – in my head within seconds.