Random Access

Wednesday – 24 October 2007
Two down, one in the chamber and one to go.

Last night, I met , , and Pat for dinner at Jitterbug before heading to non-Game Night. I think that I am getting addicted to the Tropical Smoothies there – I had two last night… and could have easily gone for another.

Chris wasn’t running on all cylinders last night, so there was no zombie killin’. *sigh* Oh, well… there’s always next time. Instead, we spent a couple of hours talking comics and related geekery and then played a bit of Justice League Heroes. It was a good way to spend the evening.

I got home and decided to chill on the couch with the October issue of GQ. “The best-laid plans of mice and men,” as the saying goes. I wound up falling asleep while reading the Colin Powell interview. Next stop: 3:30 AM. Right. Bed. Bed good. I slept pretty well. I slept so well that, at one point, I managed to wake up to move (i.e.: “toss off the bed”) a pillow and wound up taking out a cup of water on the nightstand. *grblsnrkx* Way to go, Robzilla.

The day, so far, has been good. We’re having a meeting today, for which we’re being required to dress “business casual” (no jeans). No problem. I even broke out one of my favorite sweaters – It’s similar to this one, but with buttons rather than a zipper.

Stray Toasters

• I had Linus and Lucy, the theme from Peanuts, running through my head a little while ago. I mentioned it to SaraRules. She countered with this article. I volleyed back with this one.
• From KUER’s RadioWest: Mothers Who Know
  

  SALT LAKE CITY, UT (2007-10-22) Earlier this month at the LDS Church’s General Conference, the head of the Relief Society Julie B. Beck praised the power in motherhood. She encouraged women not to postpone having children, and equated nurturing with homemaking. Her words re-ignited a controversy about the role of Mormon women, and within hours, LDS blogs were inundated with responses. Tuesday on RadioWest, Doug talks to LDS women about Beck’s remarks and what those say about women’s position in the LDS Church and culture.

• By way of Wired: When Geeky Goes Bad – Tackiest PC Mods
• Alienware announces Alien Exchange program
• Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime,
  where we’re working in a mine for our robot overlords.
  Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.
• Free Cake.
• The Brothers Brick – LEGO Blog

Namaste.

Monday – 22 October 2007
Another week begins. So far, it’s been good (despite a road monkey on the AF commute)… and it’s a short work week, so I’m not about to complain.

Saturday night, I finished watching Renaissance. It was good. I liked the feel and style of the movie. And I was pleased with the way it wound up; I was a little surprised by part of the ending, but in thinking about it – it made sense. I give the movie a thumbs-up with an okay.

Then, it was off to breakfast with the usual suspects… plus one: put in an appearance.

Sunday, SaraRules and I went to Temple Square to see Music and the Spoken Word – she plays cello, as does my coworker who performs with the Orchestra at Temple Square, so I figured it would be a “best of both worlds” kind of thing. So… off to the Conference Center we went. There were tons of people – far more than usual – also heading to the Conference Center. Odd, but I figured “Whatever…” When we got inside, they were handing out tickets for “Multi-Stake Conference.”

*blink blink*
Okay… definitely not what we’d gone for.

We decided to beat feet and make our way out. The problem: All of the primary entrances were being used for just that: Entrances. (After all, who would possibly want to leave when you could get a little bit o’ Jesus in your day?) So, we found an elevator bay that led to the parking garage and went out that way. Then we made our way against the tide of humanity back to the car. Along the way, we found a crosswalk that had a stone benches in the middle of the street. In case you got tired halfway across? *shrug* Who knows?

All gussied up and with no particular place to go, we realized that we were hungry. I checked the time and figured that Ruth’s Diner was going to be filling up with patrons. So, rather than sit and wait, I pointed the car to I-80 East. Park City. Cisero’s. Brunch. The food was good, as usual. And the drive, there and back, was nice.

Back to Salt Lake and on to the Capitol Theatre to see The Flying Dutchman. I enjoyed production. I was even able to restrain myself from making untoward comments to the lady who sat behind me and kept kicking the back of my seat throughout the performance. I was rather proud of myself.

From there, we headed to Sara’s parents for dinner and football. We watched the Broncos whale the tar out of the Steelers. I’m not really a Denver fan, but any team that plays the Steelers is my “favorite team” in that match-up.

Football Update

• The Ravens dropped a game to the Bills. Bah. *shakes fist*
• The Raiders lost to Kansas City.
• The Bengals beat the Jets.
• The Browns had a bye week.
• The Vikings got branded by the Cowboys.
• The Eagles lost to da Bears.

The Best: Come Together – Round 2
I put The Beatles up against Aerosmith in this match-up.

I picked up a copy of Across the Universe: Music from the Motion Picture a few days ago. I’m sorry, but Joe Cocker, singing an arrangement by Elliot Goldenthal, kicks the bejeezus out of both versions. Don’t believe it? Listen to it (unfortunately, it’s audio only – which is a shame, because the video portion of this kicks much grass) and tell me what you think.

Stray Toasters

• I had a cinnamon roll from the Garden of Sweden for breakfast, along with a large dose of frozen mocha goodness.
• Secret Agent, Salmon and 22 Seconds
• Plantation Dig Reveals Maryland Town’s Painful Past
• I am Ivory Soap sure that I will own new black hotness within the next few days.
• More US Warcraft Players than Farmers
• Salt Lake Gas Prices
• SaraRules, please show this to DJ Viking:

  

  Of course, I could have asked or (or a few others) to show it to him, too… Hm. Maybe I should make it a race: See who can get it to him first. Or, possibly even how many people can forward it to him. That would be amusing.

• By way of boingboing.net: Steampunk Shrew
• Luciana Souza: Revising Pop by Way of Bossa Nova
• 
• Anagram (for Mongo) from Mr. Shortz

And that’s that.

Namaste.

Friday – 19 October 2007
And so the week winds down.

Last night, I had dinner with lj user=”khayla”. Sushi. Tsunami. But, they were out of Ika. (KHAAAAAAAAN!) Oh, well, another time, perhaps. After that, I went to visit Kate and Perry. Then, a couple of errands and then home to try and make a little sense of the chaos before Ms. SaraRules got in.

This morning, I turned off the alarm… and turned off consciousness for an extra hour and some change. As I drifted in and out of sleep for the next little while, I phased in and out of The Dreaming. During my last excursion, I dreamed that I was playing basketball – I don’t remember with whom, though. Whomever the other guard was, we were approaching the half-court line when he lost control of the ball. I dove and stretched out for the ball…

…instead, I wound up nearly knocking my lamp off the nightstand. Fortunately, I found, I didn’t dive off the bed.

That was my cue to actually get out of bed and start the day.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with Kris for a bit yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise.
• I enjoy Instructables. I’ve found many interesting and fun things on there. However, I think that this item has to be one of the most creative articles on there.
• Whatis.com Word of the Day: Unconference
• I Got Six
• Hmm… I found a non-Rockapella version of Zombie Jamboree on YouTube, done by The Kingston Trio.
• Zombie wedding cake topper
• SaraRules and I are making a sojourn to the Garden of Sweden this afternoon.  *genuflect*
• Darth Vader Rules Hot-Air Balloon Event
• “Did I say ‘overlords?’  I meant ‘protectors.'”
• God’s Mechanics: Vatican astronomer reconciles religion and science
• Prophet 60091…

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s workout was good. I did another 300 pound 1-rep. It was a little wobbly in the middle, but it came down and went back up. That’s what counts. The rest of the workout proceeded apace:
  • Bench press: 225 lbs / 3 sets of 8 reps (which was more like 8, 8, 4-3-1)
  • Pull-ups: 2 sets unassisted; 1 set of 5, unassisted and 6 assisted (90 lbs)
  • Machine Row: 90 lbs / 3 sets of 10 reps
  • Machine Fly: 120 lbs / 3 sets of 10, with a 10-second hold at the top of the 10th rep
  • Decline Dumbbell Press: 50 lbs / 3 sets of 10 reps
  • Tricep Press and Rope Extensions: 100 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps (rope) and 1 set of 15 reps (bar)
• This past weekend, I discovered a side effect of working out: I took a couple of sportscoats with me to wear to the plays that we were attending. One was… snug… around the arms. The other was just plain too tight. *sigh* And I like both of those jackets. One should be fairly easy to replace; the other… no idea.
• I haven’t posted a link to this in a while: Echo-X – The Artwork of Echo Chernik
• Hush, hush
  Keep it down now
  Voices carry
• Helloooooo, Caps Lock.
• Tonight, God willing and the creek don’t rise, is Game Night.
• Debbie Harry in The New York Times
• 56
• “Math is hard. Let’s go shopping!”

.eof

Just back from the gym. Today’s workout was easily as good as Tuesday’s. I managed to pull off two reps of 300 pounds today. The reps were spaced out: I tried one, to prove that Tuesday wasn’t a fluke, waited for Eric to try one, then did another. The second one was a little slow, but I moved it. And, I increased my standard bench weight to 225 pounds.

• Bench press: 225 pounds / 3 sets of 8 reps
• Wide-grip bench press: 135 pounds / 3 sets of 10 reps
• Decline dumbbell press: 40 pounds / 2 sets of 10 reps; 45 pounds / 1 set of 15 reps
• Dumbbell pull-overs: 40 pounds / 3 sets of 10 reps
• Side bends: 35 pounds /3 sets of 15 reps
• Crossover dumbbell curls: 20 pounds / 3 sets of 10
• Pull-ups: 10

Other than that, the work day has been good.

The day, in general, has been good.

And tomorrow is Friday. Amen.

Stray Toasters

• and I were talking about some of the traffic on his site and I decided to take a look at the traffic on mine. I checked out the monthly stats… and the daily stats… and who’s been looking at the site… and the Top 10 Search Keyphrases and Keywords.

  And that’s where I stopped.

  Because I was laughing so hard.
  Number one search keyphrase: KKK

  *FLOOR*

  The overall exchange went a little something like this:

  [10:54] : Okay… want to see something odd?
  [10:59] : sure, shoot
  [11:15] : [URL]
  [11:15] : Bottom of the page
  [11:15] : “Search Keyphrases”
  [11:15] : Look at the #1
  [11:20] : HA!
  [11:20] : Yeah.
  [11:20] : 🙂
  [11:20] : something in your closet we should know about?
  [11:20] : These are not the hood and robes you are looking for….
  [11:20] : i love irony
  [11:21] : “this don’t look like no grand wizard”
  [11:22] : Wow.
  [11:22] : Horrible crossover thought.
  [11:22] : and that is?
  [11:23] : I’ve had random songs from The Wiz going through my head. (Listened to the Broadway recording many times as a child… and recently bought it on CD for myself)
  [11:23] : There’s a song called So You Wanted to See The Wizard
  [11:24] : HA
  [11:24] : …which just got reparsed in my head as: So You Wanted to See the Grand Wizard
  [11:24] : that should be your song o’ the day

• NBN Thursday’s Theme Song: Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News
• sent me a link to this video. If the melody sounds familiar, but you can’t quite place it, try this.
• Glitter.
• 30 Days of Night. Next week!
• “Shithead granola-eating douche bags” – Jake on the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (1, 2)
• Hawk, from Applegeeks, has started a non-AG drawing journal.
• How it feels to die.
• This comic appropriately sums up my feelings about the 15-mile construction zone near Scipio:

  

  The Council for Better Driving: Utah endorses this comic.

/lunch

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 October 2007
Middle of the week and all’s well.

Last night, I made a couple of stops on the way home: One to drop off some plastic crack to Perry; another to finish configuring ‘s wireless network.

Then, home.

Being rather tired, I was rather happy to be – and stay – at home. I played a little City of Heroes last night; I “ran into” my friend, Don… whom I haven’t seen online in a while. I ran a couple of hunt missions and I even remembered that I have a “summon temporary pet” power, which came in quite handy in thinning out the ranks of Devouring Earth creatures that I had to fight. Quite handy, indeed. I need to think up a name for my pet. “Sparky” was good for Indi’s pet, but just won’t work for Nefer-Tem’s.

You would think that with a (roughly) four-mile commute, I wouldn’t have to deal with monkeys. At least, that’s what I thought. Boy, was I wrong. There were two of them this morning. And, both were encountered within the middle two miles of the commute. As I’m fond of saying: “With monkeys like these, who needs pets?”

The work day has been good. There hasn’t been anything too bad to deal with. Hopefully, that trend will continue through the day.

Stray Toasters

• A Slurpee® would be good right now.
• CNet’s Weekly Hit List
• Not-a-star. (Definitely not to be confused with Baby, I’m a Star)
• Sara sent me a link to this video. One word: Zombies.
• Battlefield 3 details leaked?
• sent me a link to this video. Compound word: Bear-blasting!
• From MMORPG.com: City of Heroes – Issue 11: A Stitch in Time – Interview with Matt “Positron” Miller
• 51
• Copacabana. That’s right, I said “Copacabana.” And I meant it, too.
• Jimmy Carter calls Cheney a “disaster”
• From the “Unintentional Porn in a News Item Title” file: Robot Masseur Gives Facials
• I’m still a bit torn about what to do for a Hallowe’en costume this year. I have a few ideas/options, but need to settle on one. Soon.

Quote of the Day
From an IM conversation this morning:

(11:57:09 AM) [name withheld]: At any rate, I was writing to tell you that IKEA was a scary, scary place.
(11:57:21 AM) Me: The Garden of Sweden is a WONDERFUL place.
(11:57:34 AM) [name withheld]: Think about it this way:
(11:57:52 AM) [name withheld]: You love books. LOVE them. You walk into the showroom where there are books on every shelf.
(11:57:59 AM) [name withheld]: Feels a bit like heaven, doesn’t it?
(11:58:06 AM) Me: Indeed.
(11:58:25 AM) [name withheld]: But then you start pulling books off shelves at random and you notice that you can’t read a single one of them because they’re all written in gibberish.
(11:58:33 AM) [name withheld]: Suddenly, paradise seems like hell.
(11:58:42 AM) Me: Are there pretty pictures?
(11:58:45 AM) [name withheld]: No.
(11:58:48 AM) Me: Oh.
(11:58:48 AM) [name withheld]: Just words.
(11:59:09 AM) [name withheld]: Then you look up from the books and notice that the whole place is really a bit soulless.
(11:59:19 AM) Me: I don’t need my store to have a soul.
(11:59:25 AM) [name withheld]: Empty kitchens with place settings that will never be filled.
(11:59:32 AM) [name withheld]: Bedrooms that no human could ever sleep in.
(11:59:37 AM) Me: If I did, I would never enjoy a Toys ‘R’ Us or a Best Buy.
(11:59:37 AM) Me: Ever.
(11:59:42 AM) [name withheld]: Couches that are smiling just a bit too much.
(11:59:51 AM) [name withheld]: Hell.
(12:00:00 PM) Me: Couches that smile…?
(12:00:09 PM) Me: You’ve been watching too much Pee Wee’s Playhouse.
(12:00:19 PM) [name withheld]: I couldn’t watch that show.
(12:00:23 PM) [name withheld]: It scared me too much.
(12:00:32 PM) Me: Wait.
(12:00:55 PM) Me: [You]…. scared… by Pee Wee’s Playhouse?
(12:01:07 PM) [name withheld]: Let’s see.
(12:01:13 PM) [name withheld]: All of the furniture talks.
(12:01:18 PM) Me: You’ll excuse me if I relish this for a moment or two…
(12:01:22 PM) [name withheld]: The house itself is vaguely alive.
(12:01:52 PM) [name withheld]: And the whole thing is orchestrated by a man who seems like all he really wants to do is strip the meat off your legs for his Sunday dinner.
(12:02:09 PM) [name withheld]: That voice.
(12:02:11 PM) [name withheld]: That smile.
(12:02:27 PM) [name withheld]: I still can’t watch anything featuring Paul Reubens without shuddering.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 09 October 2007
Last night’s sleep was… broken. I was up and down all night. When the alarm went off this morning, it was immediately shut off, and I lazed in bed until the iPod started to play. Then it was time to face the day. Work prep was relatively quick and painless, but I had to skip the “Have a bowl o’ cereal” part of the agenda as I had neglected to pick up some milk. *shakes fist* I did brew coffee so that I could start thinning the blood in the caffeinestream.

The commute wasn’t painful and, so far, the day hasn’t been bad.

::: gym break :::

I hit a new max benchmark on my bench press today: 300 pounds. One – and ONLY one – rep, but I did it.

Stray Toasters

• I should start thinking about what I want for lunch.
  (EDIT: I figured it out – Fazoli’s Rigatoni Romano)
• There was an item on boingboing about this cutlery set. After seeing the boingboing article, I followed the link to the Flying Peas site. And there began the downward spiral into madness, culminating in: The Camo PeePee Teepee, for which I have no joke or punchline.
• M is for Monkey.
  C is for Cookie Chimpy.
• From NPR: Keeping Gospel’s Legacy Alive
• allmusic.com
• respond, vibrate, feedback, resonate
• Eve figure
• 

/lunch

Namaste.

Monday: Coda
I called this afternoon to ask her a work-related question. We haven’t spoken in a few months – we’ve had an email or two and some random blog comments here and there, but we haven’t actually spoken to each other since I was home in May – and she mentioned something that caught me flat-footed. I asked her if there was something that I should know about. She said, “No… you already know about this.”

I’m glad that she couldn’t see the blank/lost expression on my face.

After a few moments, I managed to wrangle a couple of brain cells, rub them together and come up with something that approximated “a clue.” *sigh* Slowly, the details came back to me. Genius I am.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with too many other “thinky things” as the day wound down.

Post-work, I stopped off to see Perry, Kate and the kids… and to drop off my Sentinel for Perry to use in a game this week. Perry gave me my birthday present, a little early. I now have more toon-related and geeky goodness than you can shake a stick at.

Home.

Off to Jitterbug for dinner and coffee with , , and Pat.

Home again. Home again.

Stray Toasters

• I should really be giving more than just “consideration” to going to bed.
• The pictures from this weekend’s excursion to The “C” Overlook are up.
• A key in the door
  A step on the floor
  A note on the table
  And a meal in the micro…
• 
• While the man may have gone right ’round the bend, Michael Jackson is/was quite the entertainer. As a case in point, I present Remember the Time – featuring Eddie Murphy, Iman (still my first choice to play Storm in an X-Men movie) and Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
• By way of : IKEA hacker
• Sequins != Sequence
  (Learn the difference. Please.)
• Than != Then
  (Learn the difference here, too. Seriously.)
• Happy 30th Birthday to the Atari 2600
• From the “This Has to Be Fifteen Kinds of Wrong” file: Anna Rexia Hallowe’en Costume
• Do you want/need to stand out at your next company party or high school reunion?
  Would rolling up in new hotness set it off?
  Rent a tank.
  Guaranteed to turn heads… and if it doesn’t, blow ’em away.

Alright, time to try this “sleep” thing.

Namaste.

Friday – 05 October 2007
The morning started off about an hour after I had planned on it starting. And even then, I only woke up because the phone rang. *sigh* The rest of the morning has gone well, though. And there was frozen mocha goodness to help speed the day along.

Last night was quiet. I made it to The Garden of Sweden. And I was in and out of there in about 15 minutes. That almost never happens. I guess that’s the way it goes when you go in with a mission to get one specific thing. Only. (Of course, I walked out with two, but why quibble?) When I got home, I had a few grand designs on actually being productive and getting some cleaning done. Instead, I paved a little more of my road to Hell. And I’m okay with that. Besides, there’s always tonight or morrowmorn.

Stray Toasters

• Schoolhouse Rock! is providing the soundtrack – and some video – for the workday, so far.
• goofydopey
• 34-minus
• Someone turned Utah’s thermostat down again.  Yesterday, it was nearly 80°… it’s a hair above 60°.
• Carpe diem!
• After hearing part of this segment of Talk of the Nation yesterday, this comic was even more amusing:

  

• We the people, in order to form a more perfect union…
  (Admit it, you just started singing that.)
• Zero Punctuation review of Halo 3.  (Check out the review of Peggle, too.)

*voop*

Namaste.

04 October 2007
The morning commute started well; actually, most of it was good.

Then, I hit Lehi.

And the traffic slowed to a crawl.

And, just at that point, my technopathic link with Nomad kicked in and the next song that came up was The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) by Liz Phair and Material Issue – the theme song from The Banana Splits. With that, I didn’t care about the traffic any more.

Yep… no ordinary moments.

Stray Toasters

• I have a bag of cotton candy to enjoy after going to the gym and eating lunch.
• Where the Great Old Ones Are
• I need to stop at The Garden of Sweden on the way home. (Just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen…)
• Supercalifragisexy
• And, while we’re at it: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
• Doll on a Music Box, not to be confused with Music Box Dancer

Back to it.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 02 October 2007
Road monkeys. Fast lane, slow car. Days like this make me (somewhat) glad that I wasn’t granted infinite cosmic power at birth (or by being visited by a fiery cosmic force as I piloted a space shuttle from a space station). Although, the idea of displacing the driver in question to midtown Manhattan at rush hour does hold more than “a little” appeal.

Reeling by on Celluoid: The Punisher
Last night, I watched the 2003 version of The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta. It was definitely “an adaptation” of the origin of the Marvel Comics character.

This isn’t to say that the movie was entirely “bad,” but let’s just say that there was room for some improvement. The characterizations were good – you understood what drove Frank Castle (Jane) to pursue his brand of justice, just as you understand what drove Howard Saint (Travolta). Yes, there was some over-acting. And the fight scene with The Russian…? Um, let’s just say that it was more over-the-top than it needed to be, but c’mon… you’re talking about a scene with a WWF/WWE wrestler – over-the-top is par for the course.

I might it on the Cool World–Long Kiss Goodnight Scale, but all things considered, it was a decent distraction. I might even call it “mindless fun.”

Four-Color Coverage
I started in on some of my four-color haul from the weekend. I’m up-to-date on Countdown and “The Sinestro Corps War,” as well as a few other titles, but there are still things in my hold box at the shop.

Stray Toasters

• I should reread Inferno, the one by Dante Aligheri, not the 80s Marvel X-book crossover.
• Coworker John “The Flash” Fox (hero to millions) pointed me in the direction of this video: Amazing Grace – Wintley Phipps. Not only does he sing the song; first, he gives an interesting background lesson in the song’s history and a little music theory, as well. I knew the story of John Newton, so that didn’t surprise me. What I didn’t know was that most Negro spirituals were written in the pentatonic scale. And, I like his rendition; I might even have to add this to “The Best” list.
• Don’t use the magical
  Mysterious, intoxicating, joy fantastic
  Fascinating word called love
  Unless u love me 2 the 9s
• Herbie Hancock Talks Math, Music and Mastering the Tech Toolbox
• From Computerworld: Five free Web apps we can’t live without
• I need to finish Season 2 of Coupling.
• Charlie Stross’ Halting State: Heist novel about an MMORPG
• 
• 7 Deadly Sins,7 Heavenly Virtues
• Said Superman had come to town to see who he could rock
  He blew away every crew he faced until he reached our block
  His speakers were three stories high with woofers made of steel
  And when we brought our set outside, he said “Ha! Be for real!”
  He said, “I’m faster than a speedin’ bullet when I’m on the set,
  I don’t need no fans to cool my amps, I just use my super breath.
  I could fly three times around the world without missin’ a beat
  I socialize with X-ray eyes, and ladies think it’s sweet.”
  And then he turned his power on and the ground began to move
  And all the buildings for miles around were swayin’ to the groove
  And just when he had pulled a crowd and swore he won the fight…
  We rocked his boat with a 12 inch cut called Disco Kryptonite
• Things you shouldn’t do in science fiction/fantasy fiction writing
• Do you have any idea how amusing it is to have people stop to look at comics I posted (start with that link and read the next nine or ten) on one of the cube walls… about starting a new religion? In Utah? And the new “religion” is based on video games? Hint: It makes me grin like a fiend.
• Russinovich finds his place at Microsoft

/lunch

Namaste.

Sunday – 30 September 2007
Yesterday’s move went well. And quickly. I believe that the “official” time was three (3) hours, start to finish. That doesn’t include unpack and organize time, but still… that’s pretty damned impressive. (And, it covered any “need” for a weekend workout, too.) After the move, we went out for brunch.

And it started to snow. Yes, snow. Not even in October. *grblsnrkx*

Came back home for a much-needed nap.

Sara and I went to see Across the Universe; more on this below. After the movie, we headed to Cheers: South for breakfast. The restaurant was rather busy, which made for some rather “interesting” people-watching.

Today started off lazily. When we finally got in gear, Sara and I met Perry for lunch at Jitterbug. Post-lunch, the three of us headed to Dr. Volt’s to pick up my four-color shwag and a half-brick of plastic crack… and a box of Stikfas that I had forgotten thatI had ordered. Next, a quick stop at REI to make sure that hadn’t fallen off the face of the planet. (He hadn’t.) And then, a trip through Parley’s and Emigration Canyons to see the fall colors. The foliage was making progress towards the red end of the spectrum… but it wasn’t as prevalent nor as vibrant as I had expected. Oh, well.

Reeling by on Celluloid: Across the Universe
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?

There’s a saying that goes “Parallel lines meet at infinity.”
There’s a variation of it that says “Parallel lives meet at infinity.”

This movie is about those parallel lives, their meetings and is told through the use of the music of The Beatles. I was pleasantly surprised at how it all came together. I was, likewise, pleased to see that there was more to the movie than the simple “boy meets girl” love story implied by the trailer.

The music, as I mentioned, was by The Beatles, but the songs were deftly re-arranged by Elliot Goldenthal and sung by the characters/actors. Not only that, but the songs also tied-in to the events of the movie, similarly to the way that Orpheus in the Underworld (Can-Can) and Die Another Day, were used in Stardust and Die Another Day, respectively. I believe that my two favorite pieces were Let It Be and Come Together… so much so, that I might have to reconsider my choice for “The Best” from a few weeks ago.

At two hours and twenty-one minutes, the movie is long… without feeling long. The casting was good. The plots/subplots were good. And with one exception, the stories didn’t feel forced or contrived.

I give the movie an enthusiastic “thumbs-up with and okay.” And it has renewed my interest in seeing Cirque de Soliel’s Love.

Football Update
Just a quick hit here: Congrats to on his Browns 2.0’s win over the Ravens today. Operative words: “Beat down.”

Stray Toasters

• I still have three bags of cotton candy. I shall put a dent in that tonight, while I am saving the world.
• “Greenie Weenies”
• Sara’s Deviataion vs. Rob’s Deviation.
• Monkey of the Day: While in Dr. Volt’s, Perry and I were talking about our plastic crack purchase (part of which is supposed to be Kate’s Christmas present to him). We were tossing jibes back and forth when another customer decided to chime in with: “Wow, I can’t believe all the testosterone and posturing being tossed around over here…” I had my back to him, but Perry said that he looked at me and straightened up a bit when I saw my build; then he looked at Perry, who was wearing a his badge and his holster. The guy then said “But, since I don’t know either of you, I think I’ll just keep my mouth shut.” And he walked to another aisle.
• I’m thinking of rearranging the office. I might put my eight-foot table up in there… and possibly throw my LEGO train and the Rokenbok Monorail up on it.
• 

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

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

No? Somehow, I didn’t think so.

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

Stray Toasters

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

  

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

• I’m a goddamn marvel of modern Rob.

  Which movie was this quote from?

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

Whoosh!

Namaste.

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

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

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

Namaste.

The Best: Under the Boardwalk
The Drifters vs. Bruce Willis with The Drifters vs. Rockapella with True Image

The Drifters.  No contest.

However… there is one version that I didn’t list that always brings a smile to my face: This one.  I just wish that I could find a video of it.

Stray Toasters

• Alexandra and her Uppity Bitch Stick
• Darth Grom
• Yar!
  • Revenge!
  • Tasha!
  • Ishara!
• 
• Fates of real-life advertising icons
• By way of Bunny: IKEA – universal furnishings

Back to it.