Random Access

Thursday – 29 May 2008
A couple of things that started the morning nicely:

1. I Am LEGO



2. Sent to me by CoworkerJG, who knows my proclivity for City of Heroes/Villains:

I think that these were good ways to kick of any NBN Thursday. And this morning’s coffee didn’t hurt, either. Nor did “The Boys in Brazil,” the behind-the-scenes movie from Disc Two of Rush in Rio, made during the Vapor Trails tour, playing on my port side monitor; it’s not only a cool look at what you might not otherwise see or know about putting together a concert and/or a tour, but it’s fun, too.

So, all together, I guess that it would be “No Bad News Sushi and Comic Book ‘Wednesday’,” too.

Stray Toasters

• I am “this close” to ordering a set of HeroClix Giants. It has Colossal Boy and Validus ‘Clix. Must have.
• Terminator Salvation: The Future begins principal photography
• principal != principle
• sent me a link to an article about Nepal abolishing it’s monarchy. In honor of that, I dedicate this Schoolhouse Rock! toon:

  No, it’s not entirely the same thing, but it’s as close as I could get.

• also (indirectly) had to deal with a monkey today:
  

  : there was a goddamn monkey in my yard today
  : O.o
  : while the movers were packing things up
  : Did it get packed into the truck?
  : you assume there was a moving truck
  : Oh.
  : the 9 crates are still in my yard
  : Right.
  Wait…. WHAT?!
  : they have to take them to the airport one by one in a tiny little jeep
  : …
  Wow.
  : yea
  so this little fucker is running around trying to bite the movers
  he climbed inside the crates while they were packing boxes into them
  i was laughing my ass off
  but admittedly
  i was laughing from behind the window inside
  those things are freaking mean

• NBC launches horror anthology series Fear Itself
• Does anyone else remember Tales of the Gold Monkey?
• Private Donor Saves Fermilab
• Update: I bought the ‘Clix Giants.
• Tyranist: James Bond Book Covers
• Ken Jennings, the man who holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!, has written a blog post about Mike Allred’s Madman!, whose protagonist is apparently Mormon. I recall reading many rains past that The New Mutants’ Cypher was supposed to be Mormon, but the only other character that I knew was definitely LDS was Dr. Deseret (1, 2) from Will Shetterly’s Captain Confederacy.

/lunch

Namaste.

There are things that I could be doing around here:

• …cleaning up the dining room
• …finish sorting my ‘Clix (including the new ones I picked up last night)
• …cleaning my office and making room for a new desk
• …cooking dinner (although there are leftover Sloppy Joes in the fridge)

…instead, I’m doing none of the above.

were talking about comic books earlier. He’s been asking questions about different characters and even brought up the classic “Who would win if Character X fought Character Y?” question. One of the combos he asked about was Doomsday (the creature that killed Superman) versus Galactus, devourer of worlds. I said Galactus. Hands down. And a very short fight, at that.

Then I looked over at my Galactus ‘Clix.
And tried to remember where my Doomsday ‘Clix is.

versus

I stopped short of getting the figures to duel it out, though. Just barely.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
I have proof that God, in His infinite wisdom, knew what he was doing when he didn’t grant me infinite cosmic power:

Read this article

He must have known that when I read it, I would be compelled to use my power to give Michelle Malkin a telepathic lobotomy. Come ON, people… it’s a scarf. A SCARF!

Is the next thing that someone’s going to get outraged about jeans, if we happen to see a picture of someone we don’t like wearing a certain brand?! But, why stop there? Pants! ANY pants! Let’s get outraged because someone – somewhere – who may or may not be connected to… oh, Hell… ANY organization (not even a terrorist organization)… might be wearing pants!

Dammit, Ethel! Didn’t you see for yourself that (fill in a person/archetype) was wearin’ pants?! PANTS, I say! I’ll be damned and in my grave before I ever wear pants ag’in!

Now, George… don’t say such things. You know there’s nothing wrong with…

Nope! My mind’s made up! I’m never wearin’ the damned fool things ag’in! Ever! Do you think I want ever’body in town thinking that I associate with people like that! Pants-wearing people?! Hell no! My daddy didn’t raise me that way and I’m damn sure not goin’ along with all that foolishness! In fact, I’m goin’ upstairs right now and throwin’ all them pants right out!

That kind of thinking is utterly ridiculous and asinine.

Stray Toasters

• I’m (still) taking suggestions for new musicians/bands to put on my radar.
• Cat Saves Japanese Railway
• Galactus is a force of nature. Well, he’s a cosmic entity (like Phoenix… but not, by the same token.) This goes a long way to explaining normal beings’ perception of him. Sort of like Cthulhu… but without the insanity.
• And, since I brought up Phoenix, this provides a great answer to Jean Grey’s relationship to/with Phoenix:



• Ballmer and Gates Demo Windows 7
  I’m not hawking Windows; I was just amused by some of the mid-article comments/asides.
• Green Beret electrocuted in shower on Iraq base
• Fact: Galactus has been prevented from eating Earth… by Hostess Twinkies.
• MacBook Air sharp enough to slice bread, bone human flesh
• I don’t need a hand-held mixer, but I want one.
• Iron Man Rockets Into Space: For Real

Okay, time to heat up some Sloppy Joes and give some thought to hanging out in Paragon City.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 28 May 2008
This morning’s stay in The Dreaming was an odd one.  I had a couple of mildly annoying dreams, followed by one humdinger of a disturbing dream.  The disturbing one actually woke me up.  Twice.  I managed to fall back to sleep after waking the first time… and went right back into the same dream, almost at the same spot where I woke up the first time.  Not fun.  Looking at the clock didn’t make things any better: It was 5:38 AM.

I did fall asleep again a few minutes later.  When the alarm went off at 6:30, I was still tired, so I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.  I woke up around 7:44 and put the day in “Go” mode.

Other than that, the day – short, though it’s been – has been good.  Let’s hope that it stays that way.  In order to hopefully help it along, I have the Rush in Rio DVD playing on one of my monitors.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 27 May 2008
The rain is gone.
The boxes are no longer in my car.
SaraRules is on her way to Colorado for summer camp The Aspen Music Festival.

Today’s going pretty well. For today’s workout, I wanted to do a few back-related exercises, as I feel like we’ve been ignoring that area. So, it went a little something like this:

• Leg raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench press: 3 sets/12 reps, 185 lbs
• Reverse fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 82.5 lbs
• Decline press: 3 sets/12 reps – 135 lbs (first and third sets), 155 lbs (second set)
• Rows (standing, barbell, close grip handle): 3 sets/12 reps – 45 lbs (first set), 70 lbs (second and third sets)
• Leg raises: 3 sets/10 reps
• Back extensions: 2 sets/12 reps

All-in-all it was a good workout. Today’s weigh-in weight: 174.4 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been trying to convince a coworker to buy a (at least one) MacBook. He’s considering it.
• Pain Lies on the Riverside
• Do whites need training before raising black children?
• Happy 5th Birthday to WordPress.
• Plants, for your health
• I may have to make a trip to Aspen to attend this.
• If Will Smith had one of these, I Am Legend might have been a (slightly) different movie.
  (Thanks to for pointing this out.)
• Adult balloon-twisters and gospel balloon-twisters battle
• SaraRules just called; she made it to camp Aspen safely and is getting settled in.

Quote of the Day
Just when I think that conversations with can’t get any better, he proves me wrong:

: bot/bit made it to US soil. not to DC yet tho
: Good deal.
They still have about 1:30 to go before they hit DCA, right?
: give or take. she said they were running late but not sure if it was them being late or the planes
: Gotcha.
: How are you this evening/early morning?
: eh…didn’t sleep last night. probably won’t sleep much tonight. frazzled. and in the middle of a packout. no pressure.
: Packout?
: yeah, movers came and started to pack and crate all our stuff
: ah.
: Dude. Condi… on the piano?
In Aspen?
: yeah she’s actually really good
: HAVE to see if SaraRules can score tix for that.
: wait…black person? in aspen?
: *ding*
: is that allowed?
: We’ll find out in 3 weeks.
I’ll send detailed reports.
But… Condi’s there in August. Performing, apparently.
http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com/index.cfm?&swf_plugin=0,9,0
: she going to take over any small countries full of brown people w/oil on her way over?
: No idea.
: there are brown people in texas. maybe we can make arrangements
: True enough.
And there are a FEW in Kansas.
: doubtful. it’s kansas.
: Seen ’em.
Been in a couple of rib joints.
: people see bigfoot too, rob
: But…
*sigh*
FINE.
: lol i think we have the makings of a really offensive comedy sketch
“crikey…i’m on the lookout for a negro…”
: By Jove! Kansas!
: i believe you. really i do
next thing you’ll tell me is that there are black people in utah.
: No.
There aren’t.
Just me.
And I tell people that I just had a really bad sunburn.
: damn. that’s some 4th degree shit
: You’d be amazed what people believe here.
*rimshot*
: dammit. now you have me thinking of ribs.
: 🙂
: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/27/tranracial.adoption.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
: so….moral of the story is that it’s better to leave the little black kids in orphanages/foster homes?
: Apparently.
: i noticed no mention of any white kids being adopted by non-white families
: What self-respecting “person of color” wants to adopt a white kid?
Hell…
Bruce Wayne didn’t even want to.
He just made Dick Grayson a “ward.”
: well if you’re looking for well adjusted, master wayne isn’t the way to go
: I’m just saying…
Mr. Drummond adopted two!
: yes but one of them was a sassy midget
who wouldn’t take that kid?
: Touche.
: he’s the rich man’s webster
: And there’s another case: Webster.
White folk.
Black kid.
Adopt a white kid?
No way, man.
: big fat greek guy.
: I see…
Greek guys want to have black kids.
Is that why you married Bot?
: lol yes, we’re all infected with the fever
: (I’ll allow you to decline to answer that)
: me? decline? please.

Tonight: ‘Clix and Scion.

Namaste.

sent me a link to Emomelon:

I countered with Best Buy Dance Off.

Best Buy Dance Off – Watch more free videos

Derek, in an unrelated – yet oddly fitting – note, sent a link to Marion Theme on Bottles Played by RC Car

Thursday – 22 May 2008
It’s a wet and rainy morning in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.
After Tuesday’s 90° high and yesterday’s (possible) 60° high… today’s projected high is 50°.
Fifty. Five-zero.
Unglaublich!

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Poolhall Junkies. Christopher Walken. Rod Steiger. Chazz Palminteri. Lex Luthor Michael Rosenbaum. And where in the world has Carmen Sandiego Ernie Reyes, Jr. been?! Somehow, I had managed never to see this movie. That’s a shame – it’s a good movie. And, although they never overtly say it, it was filmed (and set) in Salt Lake City – you can even see the SLC LDS Temple in an exterior shot. (That, I did know before seeing the movie, though.) Being a film about a young hotshot pool player, it reminded me of The Color of Money. I even considered watching both of them for a better juxtaposition. And, if I do that, I am Ivory Soap sure that I will add The Hustler to the mix, just for good measure.

Not only is it NBN Thursday, it’s also “Sushi Wednesday.
And “Comic Book Day-After-Wednesday.”

Stray Toasters

• I’m not a fan of “reality TV,” generally speaking. I think I’ve made that fairly apparent over the years. However there are two things that have come to my attention this season that are somewhat noteworthy:
  • American Idol. I didn’t watch the show, but I caught a couple of episodes at Kate and Perry’s over the past couple of months. I mentioned David Cook back in March as having caught my attention. And, as of last night, he was chosen as American Idol’s champion for the 2007-2008 season.
  • Deion and Pilar: Prime Time Love. Kris (Sib-2) brought this show to SaraRules and my attention when we were in Florida. This show is… to call it “a trainwreck” doesn’t do it justice. You just can’t help but stare at, mouth agape. And laugh. Doubled-over on the floor, holding your sides laughing. And the opening theme? Comedy. Pure comedy. , I take back (just about) everything I ever said about your fascination with The Anna Nicole Smith Show after watching Deion & Pilar.
• Claire Beale interviews Apple’s Jonathan Ive
• I am looking for suggestions of new musical artists/bands.
• Pirate’s Booty: An ex-Jack Sparrow spills on life at the Magic Kingdom
• Getting ‘Nine back into shape is becoming… tedious. Certain things don’t seem to want to install properly. It’s getting a little annoying, in fact. And, it really is making me give more consideration to picking up a Mac Mini or an iMac this year, maybe as a second birthday present or Christmas present to myself.
• Sushi Jihad!
• The Secret History of Star Wars
• SaraRules left me a message: My friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man letter carrier brought me a package chock full of plastic crack. Selah.

Quote of the Day
Somehow, Christopher Walken always manages to get both some of the most random – and some of the most cool – lines in any movie he’s in:

Mike: You watch those nature documentaries on the cable? You see the one about lions? You got this lion. He’s the king of the jungle, huge mane out to here. He’s laying under a tree, in the middle of Africa. He’s so big, it’s so hot. He doesn’t want to move. Now the little lions come, they start messing with him. Biting his tail, biting his ears. He doesn’t do anything. The lioness, she starts messing with him. Coming over, making trouble. Still nothing. Now the other animals, they notice this. They start to move in. The jackals; hyenas. They’re barking at him, laughing at him. They nip his toes, and eat the food that’s in his domain. They do this, then they get closer and closer, bolder and bolder. Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody. Runs like the wind, eats everything in his path. Cause every once in a while, the lion has to show the jackals, who he is.

/lunch

Namaste.

Wednesday – 21 May 2008
It’s raining.
It’s currently 49° outside.
Not only that, today’s projected high is 60°F.
Yesterday’s high, according to The Weather Channel, was 92°.

Last night, after dinner, I stretched out on the couch for a bit. What I had intended to be a few moments’ rest turned (almost immediately) into a nap. Go figure. After watching CSI: and L&O:SVU, SaraRules and I watched Kingdom of Heaven. I had not watched it since its theatrical release, but remembered it to be a solid movie; I did not misremember it.

Stray Toasters

• A few minutes ago, a kid getting ready to catch the bus was humming the theme from Super Mario Bros. If you have to pick a theme song for the day, I suppose that’s not a bad one to choose.
• Morpheus has led me into strange corners of The Dreaming lately.
• From CNN: Commentary: Make wearing a flag pin the 28th Amendment
• Does this offend you? Why or why not?
• At lunch yesterday, Naked Eyes’ (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me played over the sound system. Code Monkey, Scott and I remembered the song… but couldn’t name the band. We mentioned it to and stumped him, too. Wikipedia to the rescue! What none of us knew was that the song was co-written by Burt Bachrach. In the ’60s. And the demo was recorded by Dionne Warwick.
• 
• Yes, the new iPhone will be on sale 09 June.

Time to finish getting ready and get on the way to work.

Namaste.

Sunday – 18 May 2008
Today has been quite nice. It started off with sleeping in. That’s always a good way to kick off a weekend morning. We had a couple of options of how to start the morning: A trip to the Garden of Sweden or brunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

We opted for The Cheesecake Factory. This time, we actually got in and got seated. The decor, as SaraRules commented, was an odd combination of art deco, Tuscan and Egyptian. It… “works,” but it was a little odd to see all together. I had the French Toast with a side of ham; I thought that it was pretty good. And our waitress, Brandy, was rather attentive and had a pleasant demeanor. All-in-all, I’d give it a thumbs-up.

Next on the docket: Utah Opera’s production of Don Giovanni (1, 2). The production was very good. The principals all did an excellent job, especially Christopher Schaldenbrand, as Don Giovanni – he made the rakish Don both likable and detestable. As added bonuses, we ran into ‘s aunt, a coworker and an ex-coworker of mine.

Next, we stopped in to say “Hi” to SaraRules’ family-unit. Then, home. SaraRules fixed a very tasty lemon chicken, with rice pilaf and broccoli.

Don’t know what’s up for the rest of the evening, but I’m pretty sure that we’ll come up with something.

Stray Toasters

• I stumbled across this on Engadget, it made me laugh:

• How to Pack Everything You Own in One Bag
• I just made a really bad She Talks to Angels joke to SaraRules. She didn’t shake her head at me or pat me patronizingly.
• The new teaser poster for the upcoming Punisher: War Zone movie:



• Pulp Non-Fiction: I don’t care for pulp in my fruit juice.
• If I wanted to do my third Samuel L. Jackson-based Hallowe’en costume in four years (Mace Windu and Neville Flynn, from Snakes on a Plane), I could go as either Nick Fury, from Marvel’s Ultimate line and the recent Iron Man movie or The Octopus, from the upcoming The Spirit movie.



• Donald Soffritti has an amusing look at superheroes in their old age in his blog.

And, that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Friday – 16 May 2008
Another week draws to a close…

Last night’s (first) CSI: episode was, thankfully, much better than last week’s episode; I didn’t watch the season finale as SaraRules wanted to see The Office season finale. (And, thanks once again to On Demand, I’ll be able to watch the CSI: episode at my leisure.) While she watched The Office, I finished reading this week’s four-color shwag. I’ll come back to that in a few.

I believe that jet lag – and just general weariness – caught up with me last night, too. While watching an episode of L&O: SVU, I started getting tired. With twenty minutes left in the show, I realized that there was pretty much NO way that I was going to make it that long. We got up, got ready for bed and I was out within minutes of my head hitting the pillow…

…which must have been fairly hard, because I woke up with a lovely headache. *blah*

Four-Color Coverage
Part of this week’s comic haul included a couple of books that I didn’t get last week because of the trip to Florida. A few of the books included Secret Invasion tie-ins/crossovers. While I really hope that Marvel isn’t taking a cue from Staples and just pushing the “Easy” button…

…I have to admit that I am finding the storyline rather interesting. So far, we know that:

1. Some heroes are not who they appear to be.
2. The Skrulls have a SERIOUS mad on for Earth.
3. October 12th is important to Hawkeye.
4. Johnny Storm’s ex-wife has some… unresolved issues.
5. Tony Stark is still a jerk (at least in the comics).

I’m waiting to see how this storyline plays out and what it means for the Marvel Universe after the dust clears.

I also read the long overdue Action Comics Annual, which wrapped up the “Last Son” storyline which began over a year ago in Action Comics. Unfortunately, there have been so many problems in getting that story to print that DC had actually gone ahead and run stories that followed the “Last Son” story… which means that we already know how things wound up. Sure, we might not know all of the “hows” and “whys,” but we can connect the dots fairly easily.

I have a similar problem with Astonishing X-Men, by the way. Joss Whedon’s run was supposed to be 24 issues, but because of delays it ran to 25 issues… with the final issue still not on shelves yet. But, once again, we know how things wind up, to some degree; there are just a few loose ends to tie up.

Stray Toasters

• I have been greatly amused by some of the Lil ‘Formers cartoons, including this one:



• BET Struggles to Relate with Black Viewers
• From NPR Music: Esperanza Spalding – Voice of the Bass
• Cracking open the Atari 2600
• When it was introduced, the 2600 was known as the “Atari 2600 VCS.” Bonus points if you know what “VCS” stood for… without having to look it up, of course.
• Fullscreen Multitouch Mac OS X Is Here (but not from Apple)
• I think I’m going to have a go at making a character card for Phoenix.
• Upcoming Star Wars minifigs

Quote of the Day
Quote #1 comes from conversations with shockpuppet and :

Me: If you and shockpuppet ever get to this point, you HAVE to get it on video: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_fe_st/odd_frying_pan_assault_3
: oh. we do that for fun every friday night.
shockpuppet: totally
shockpuppet: I prefer a panini maker though
Me: Huh.
shockpuppet: it’s a little harder to get swinging
shockpuppet: but

1. it’s heavier
2. it leaves a funny pattern on his face

Me: Best of all possible worlds, huh?
shockpuppet: Well, I’m a believer in efficiency and aesthetics.
Me: I see
: mmm. panini face.

Quote #2 comes from another conversation with :

Me: Did you tell loonybin88 that he’s on point for [project]?
: That’s what I’ve been trying to do.
Me: Is he trying not to hear you?
: Yeah, I think so, actually. But, I figured that I’d go ahead and volunteer him for it and just ask forgiveness later.
Me: What is this… “forgiveness?”
: You wouldn’t understand. It’s like a haircut.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 07 May 2008
Midweek. Grey and Rainy.

Vacation starts tomorrow. Or tonight, depending on your point of view. Florida. Forecast is sunny and hot (upper 80s). Yeah, I think I can deal with that.

Stray Toasters

• Pink Floyd’s Money just turned up in my iTunes rotation. I like have liked this song for many years. I even used it as the theme for my radio show in college.
• In order received, , and got the right answer.
  (Technically, only got half of it, but she still got her half right.)
  The answers were: Vasco da Gama and Amerigo Vespucci.
• loonybin88 pointed me in the direction of Not on the Test. Amusing… and sadly true, in many cases.
• Duck season!
  Wabbit season!
  DUCK season!
  WABBIT season!
  Zombie season!
• Yay for Windows Server 2003 manuals! ZzzzzzzZZzzzzz…
• Webcomic WTH takes an amusing look at City of Heroes.
• I haven’t played City in… at least a week. *taps vein*
• While I’m happy with Senator Obama’s performance in last night’s primaries, I’m not so naive as to think that he’s an automatic shoe-in for the Democratic Party nomination, as some news sources seem to be reporting. The race isn’t over and there is still a long way to go.
• I ‘Toastered Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno yesterday; the link led to stills from the videos. The Sundance Channel’s website has posted the videos.

Quote of the Day
has been chatting with one of our robot overlords (Did I say “overlords?” I meant “protectors.”) about an email issue. This was part of the conversation:

Robot Overlord: “I’ve sent your request on to Adam and Jamie to see if they know the right people to contact.”
: “You sent it to the Mythbusters guys!? How can they help with an email forward problem??”

He didn’t get a reply. Sad. Humorless robot overlords.

Anyway…

I just got back from lunch with SaraRules and Perry. While out, I took a couple of pieces of equipment to be exchanged for an RMA. I went to a new place to take care of this. The young lady at the store, God bless ‘er, didn’t quite understand what to do. So, what normally took about five (5) minutes to do took on the order of twenty-five. Yay. But, it’s done.

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 May 2008
Okay, I didn’t wake up in my clothes again this morning, but it made for a good subject line. And, I did wake up on the couch. I apparently nodded off while watching TV last night. At some point, I must have turned off the TV… but didn’t muster the muscle power to get up off the couch. Until nearly 4:00 AM.

A few minutes ago, I was sitting here staring out the window and the thought “Marco…? POLO!” ran through my head. It was immediately followed by:

• Vasco…?
• Amerigo…?

Bonus points to anyone who can remember their last names… without having to look them up.

Stray Toasters

• I have Bit-O-Honey candies.
• What are some of your favorite sources for news:  TV?  Radio?  Internet?  Smoke signals?  I’m not generally given to watching news on TV; I find too much of the coverage to be “human interest” stories and not “news,” especially when looking at local news.  I tend to get most of my news from NPR, BBC News and various sites on the Internet.
• By way of BoingBoing TV: Sneak Attack and Magic Ink:

• The Tim Burton Batmobile Is for Sale
• Win Server 2k3.  Yay.
• Breastfeeding ‘helps to boost IQ’
• Mission: Impossible IV?
• Drivers fined for slow-drive on scenic bridge
• 

Namaste.

Monday – 05 May 2008
Cinco de Mayo.

Last night, after we moved some of SaraRules’ things and had dinner, we watched Night Watch and Cloverfield.  It’s been a while since I’ve seen Day Watch; I need to watch it again to get the full story.  Seeing Cloverfield on the small screen was good as it didn’t have the same overwhelming sense of “Blair Witch cam”-induced sensory overload that seeing it on the big screen had.  (No, sitting on the fourth row of the theatre had nothing to do with it…)  It was also good because of the special features.  There was one interview that mentioned something about the story of which neither of us was aware.  Knowing this item changes the dynamic of the movie a bit.

Meanwhile, back in northern Utah…

The commute wasn’t bad this morning.  The monkeys were pretty well-behaved.  This is not to say that there wasn’t action:

I had just crossed into Beaver County when I got passed by a red Mazda or Acura or Infinity.  The lady driving it looked like she was on a mission.  I was doing somewhere around 80 MPH and she cruised right on past me.  She didn’t exactly leave me in the dust, but she was moving at a good clip.  I decided to ghost her, lagging behind about seven to ten car lengths.  We drove through Beaver, no problem.  Just north of Beaver, she crested a hill as she cruised up behind a van and a truck.  Approaching the top of the hill, I decided to back off the gas a little.

Good thing, too.  As I hit the summit, there was a UHP Dodge Charger in the middle of a U-turn.  I backed off a little more; he completed his turn a few lengths behind me.  He cruised along, off my driver’s side rear quarter panel.  Then he sped up a bit.  Just after he passed me, he dropped the pedal and hit the lights.

Target: Red car.

He rolled up behind her.  She was apparently oblivious to this fact.  He must have stayed behind her for nearly a half-mile before she rubbed a couple of brain cells together, mustered up a clue and pulled over

Other than that, the drive was uneventful until I got to NEHPI Nephi – there was an overturned tractor-trailer just south of Exit 225.

Workout
Today’s workout focus was shoulders:

• Flys (Nautilus): 3 sets/15 reps – 95 lbs, 125 lbs, 95 lbs.
• Shoulder Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Upright Rows (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs
• Lateral Raises (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 12 lbs
• Back Extensions: 2 sets/15 reps, using 5 lb. weights to do flys at the top of the extension

Post-workout weight: 170.4 lbs.

We tried a few shoulder presses with 50 lb. dumbbells.  They felt awkward and too heavy.  We also tried them on a couple of benches – The first one, a preacher curl bench, just felt “wrong;” the second was a flat bench, which provided no back support.

Stray Toasters

• Florida in t-minus three days and counting…
• The Evolution of Video Game Music
• Iron Man wound up making $101M (USD) over the weekend.  Somehow, I think that they’ll easily recover the costs of making/marketing the movie.  Call it a hunch.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Woman without hands asked for fingerprints
• #000000 Power T-shirt



• The 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of All-Time

/lunch

Namaste.

Sunday – 04 May 2008
Last night was the last gathering (sort of) for the 2008 MFAs… at least until they come back for their Capstone defenses in August.  Rachel, Josh, Tyler, Lish and a couple of his friends from NC and Anna came over and hung out.  It was far more low-key than other gatherings have been, but nevertheless it was fun.

This morning was quiet (all of the roommates have already moved out) and lazy.  Today, we are going to start packing up SaraRules’ things and moving them into her storage unit.

Tonight: We’re watching the second half of Night Watch and Cloverfield.

Stray Toasters

• So far, everyone I’ve talked to has greatly enjoyed Iron Man.  I’m looking forward to seeing it again… and it seems as though I apparently missed a reference to The Mandarin in there somewhere.
  • By now, most people know of Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance in the film.  Most Marvel fans know Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  When Marvel created their “Ultimate Universe” nearly ten years ago, they needed a Nick Fury for that setting; they based Ultimate Nick Fury‘s look on Mr. Jackson.
  • Iron Man has grossed over $100M (USD), so far in its opening weekend.
    By comparison, Made of Honor, which also opened this weekend, grossed $15M (USD).
• Markin’ Time: You might want to check out HotRants Political BlogReport.
• 
• Long-lost Vivaldi opera performed for the first time since 1730
• Integrous Quiche!
• LEGO is communication.

Quotes of the Day
As jotted down by Rachel last night:

• “I got my ‘This Little Piggy’ fix for the day, I’m good.” – Me.
• “I thought I did everyone.” – Lish
• “It sounds like they’re a pretty non-traditional poly bunch…” – Josh
• “You got little squatty feet, though.” – Anna

And on to the packing!

Namaste.

I use iGoogle as my home page.
I formerly used the classic Google search page as my home page, but I’ve come to like the iGoogle one more.

When I loaded a new browser window, I glanced at the CNN.com headlines, as I usually do when the page opens. And there it was, big as day and twice as bright:

Barbara Walters: I had affair with U.S. Senator

Do we really care – or need to know – about this?!

*sigh* And people still wonder why I always think of Dirty Laundry (1, 2) when I think of news.

We got back a little while ago from seeing the Utah Valley Handbell Choir perform; a friend of SaraRules is a member, so that was added incentive to go.  The performed ten pieces:

1. Allegro Glorioso, by Catherine McMichael
2. Grazioso, Arnold Sherman
3. Staccato Giocoso, Cathy Mokelbust
4. Psalm Nine, Carl Wiltse
5. Pirates of the Carribean, Hans Zimmer
6. Takeda Rhapsody, T. Kanzaki
7. Hava Nagila, Traditional Israeli
8. Colonel Bogey March, F.J. Ricketts
9. Fantasy on “Lasst Uns Erfreuen”, Traditional German (arr. by Glen Hicks)
10. Hymn to Joy, Ludvig van Beethoven

The performance reminded of drum corps productions, in the timing and the similar tonalities.  It was also a little amusing to find that I remembered all of the words to Hava Nagila, which I haven’t really sung in over 30 years.

Stray Toasters

• As of Round 2, Baltimore has drafted Joe Flacco (QB) and Ray Rice (RB).
• Babies seized by Robert Mugabe’s forces as Zimbabwe hounds voters
• I just bought three (3) pieces of plastic crack:
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Mighty Thor
  • Vlad the Impaler

Quote of the Day

SaraRules: “I love you more than garlic.”

Namaste.