Random Access

Friday – 27 April 2007
This is it.  The end of the week.  Amen.

So far, the day’s going fairly well.  I am thinning out the blood in my caffeinestream.  I didn’t have to wrangle road monkeys – PoW or otherwise – this morning.  There were people paragliding off Traverse Mountain.  And it’s been quiet here at the ranch.
I spent a portion of last night hanging with Kate, Perry and the kids.  It was a nice way to wind down after work.  Then I went home and vegged.  And it was good.  I even managed to catch the rare and elusive online; we chatted for a bit.  She makes me laugh… even if she did say that the outfit that I (currently) have Dhoruba in makes him look like a gay Mr. T.

Winged Justice
After that, I took Corvus Nox to Paragon City.

You know it’s hard out there for a pimp Level 10 hero.  I couldn’t find anyone from my supergroup online, so it took some time to find a team.  I was invited to join a group for missions in The Hollows.  My big complaint about The Hollows: They expect low level characters to run – RUN – across the zone to a mission… and avoid higher-level bad guys in the process… and not die.  *sigh*  Or in my case: Hover.  We had a member with teleport for one of the missions, that was a boon.  WHen he left, however… it was back to hover-ifficness.  Wa.  Hoo.
The team – actually “teams” – I was on was/were good.  I was worried in a couple of cases because we were heavy with Tankers and Defenders… and only one blaster, at one point.  Typically, you want to have a well-rounded team – especially one with members who can do some ranged damage, hence my concern.  I shouldn’t have been quite so worried – we did pretty well.  Yes, we died a few times, but not as frequently as I had originally feared.

I even managed to add a couple more levels and make it to Security Level 12 before I logged out.

Stray Toasters

• I am craving something.  I think it’s cotton candy.
• Why isn’t the new Legion set of ‘Clix out yet?!?  Oh, wait… it’s not June.  *sigh*
• Super-Ventriloquism.  This may actually push Hover out of the “second most-stupid superpower ever” slot.   Tyranist disagrees; he thinks it is the – and I quote – “Worst. Power. Ever.”
• Speaking of Tyranist, he introduced me to a song from EuroTrip called Scotty Doesn’t Know.  It cracked me up.  Even worse: About halfway through the song, I started picturing Cyclops as the Scotty in the song… and Jean and Logan as Fiona and the lead singer.  That made me laugh even more.
• 301 Useless Facts (not all of which have been verified, so take them with a grain of salt)
  I found these most interesting: 11, 20, 29, 37, 49, 53, 92, 104, 111, 117, 124, 126, 145, 149, 168, 175, 176, 179, 183, 204, 246, 256 and 289.
• By way of Wired: Is ‘Internet Normal’ the New ‘Sex Normal’?
• – Jack Valenti dies at 85
• I was able to find (because I finally remembered to look for) the long video for Janet Jackson’s Alright, featuring Heavy D.
• Chuck Berry’s My Ding-A-Ling makes me laugh.  And sing along.  Every time.
• The 52 Most Important Video Games of All Time

Back to it.

Namaste.

Wednesday: coda
I spent more time than I really care to admit trying to bend the Wireless Network Connection settings in MicroSquish Vista to my will… and that of ‘s network.  I swear, setting that thing up was like going around your ass to scratch your nose.  I finally got it set up… I think.  Of course, I thought that I had it set up once… and it wound up dropping the connection a short while later.  *braincramp*   I need to take some time and tinker with Vista more.  But it will be a long while before it winds up on any of my boxes as the standard OS.  I may be getting a chocolate cake out of the deal, too.  That ain’t bad.

After Vista-aerobics, I hung out with Liz for coffee.  Unfortunately, B&B was closed so I had to fall back on one of the local embassies of the Seattle Coffee Empire.  Beggars.  Choosers.
Thursday is the last day of Suit Week… because we can’t justify suits on Friday.  Not that we really need to justify them, but we’re talking Friday.  If ever there was a “not a suit day” day, it’s Friday.  So, to cap off Suit Week: Tuxedos.  And, we even talked one of our other coworkers into joining us.  Yowza!
Stray Toasters

• I am taking suggestions for lyrics to use as the basis for my next few drawings.
• I also need to make some time to get in some freehand drawrin’ practice with my Wacom.
• For some reason, Signe – the opening track from Eric Clapton: Unplugged – is running through my head.
• 
• …and we’ll throw in a “Felgercarb,” at no extra charge!
• By way of Slashdot: How Wii Is Creaming the Competition
• 
• , this one’s for you: Amateur Batman movie destined to become cult favorite
• “I… I… I… want the knife!”   *spin prayer wheel*
• – Australia bans Snoop Dog
• Tom’s Diner, the way it was meant to be… and with an introduction by Suzanne Vega

Namaste.

Tuesday – 23 April 2007
So far, it hasn’t been a bad morning. When the alarm went off, I was up… hit the deck… made it into the kitchen and started my coffee…

…and then went back to the bedroom and laid back down.

The alarm on the iPod – set to music – went off a few minutes later. I listened to it as I faded in and out of sleep for the next forty-five minutes. I got up, observed the hygiene rituals, ironed my shirt, took out the trash, grabbed my gear and headed out.

I had to take some equipment to the north office before making my way to A.F. While there, I talked with , who suggested that I check out two of the stop signs near the parking deck before I left. He said that it would be worth my time. When I got there, this is what I found: 1, 2. Definitely worth it. Then I was on the road.

Along the way, I discovered a new form of road monkey: The PoW monkey. “PoW” being short for “Piece of Work.” I was fortunate enough to see two of them this morning! Both within… a half-mile to a mile of each other. I was coming up the north face of Traverse Mountain when I encountered the first one – a lady in the fast lane… on her cell phone… not looking out the windshied… going about 59 MPH. Did I mention that she was in the fast lane? I did? Okay. She was completely oblivious to the line of cars stacked up behind her. That must have been one HELL of a conversation. A number of us passed her, on the right – we couldn’t get around her fast enough. The second PoW monkey was driving some large, boat-sized car. Also in the fast lane. Also oblivious. This monkey was an older gentleman, so I was willing to cut him a little more slack. Just a little, though.

It’s Day Two of Suit Week. Today’s choice:

• Olive double-breasted suit
• Cream and white cotton/poly blend shirt, long-point collar
• Olive, brown and gold abstract tie
• Tan woven leather tassel loafers.

Brett’s looking rather dapper in a rather nice black-and-white Glen Plaid single-breasted suit, with a black shirt. Once again, there were more comments from coworkers. Although, there have been fewer “Where’s your interview” comments and more “You guys look nice” or “You guys are making us look bad” ones.

Stray Toasters

• Derek has erected a Code Monkey shrine at his desk. It amuses me.
• YouTube has deleted the Code Monkey/Stargate: Atlantis video from its servers. Last night, I discovered that I had… creatively acquired… a copy of it a few weeks ago.
• I found a new way to look at Marvel’s Civil War: It was really a thinly-veiled version of Pokemon. Think about it.
  • Tony Stark (Iron Man) would be Ash (NOT to be confused with Ash from Evil Dead)
  • In Pokemon, the motto is “Gotta catch ’em all” and they capture the creatures in little balls. In Civil War, that’s what Tony and company were trying to do – catch all of the non-registered metahumans… and put them in little cells in the Negative Zone.
  • Pokemon has Team Rocket, the “bad” guys… with that annoying cat. Civil War had the New Avengers, portrayed as the bad guys… with the often-annoying Spider-Man.
  • I’m sure that there are others, but that is a good enough starting and stopping point.
• GamerZ. What in the Nine Hells..?
• This week’s Homestar Runner ‘toon even comes with an NPR reference. (Don’t forget the Easter egg at the end…)

Namaste.

Monday – 22 April 2007
So far, the day hasn’t been bad.

Today is the first day of Suit Week. Brett and I, for no other reason than “because we can,” are wearing suits. My weapon of choice:

• Black and white houndstooth single-breasted suit
• White cotton shirt, spread collar
• Black, red and white tie
• Black cap-toe lace-up oxfords

Of course this has led to a number of “why are you wearing a suit” questions. Although, I did one exchange was rather amusing:

Dave: Are you trying to upgrade the quality of fashion around here?
Me: I’ve been trying to do that for the past two years.
Ty: After all that time, without any success, he’s still trying.
Me: No. I just got to the point where I don’t care about the rest of you. You can all go float rocks for all I care.

The morning commute wasn’t bad either. The monkeys were fairly well-behaved. I had a large cup of triple-shot laden frozen mocha goodness. And, Nomad found a good selection of songs… and apparently was on a bit of a Will Smith/Men in Black kick, too:

• Duran Duran – Notorious
• Harry Connick, Jr. – Funky Dunky
• Will Smith – Nod Ya Head (remix)
• Will Smith – Men in Black

Back-to-back, although in reverse order, MiB themes. I think that the only thing that could have made it more amusing would have been if the theme from the animated series had made it into the rotation.

Stray Toasters

• I’m tempted to email this article around the office: Esquire’s Guide to Shirts and Ties
• Vindication is a wonderful thing.
• will be on the Treasure Valley Rollergirls team that will be here in June.

Namaste.

Sunday – 21 April 2007
If anyone can explain to me why I was up this morning before 9:00 – even though I couldn’t fall asleep until after 4:00 – I would be very grateful.

So far this morning, I have:

• Chatted with Nyx
• Surfed the Interweb
• Looked up – and watched – videos by Hooverphonic, Jane Child , White Town and The Spice Girls on YouTube
• Installed Thunderbird on Intrepid.  (After years of being a Eudoran, I’m trying an old favorite again.)

Yep, I’m chock full of productivity!  (Nevermind the fact that my office needs a thorough cleaning.)  And now, I’m killing time until , possibly and a few others of us head to the driving range.  *taps vein*

Stray Toasters

• I decided to do a search for “top 100 videos of all time,” for some reason.  The top entry on Google led to a link from Stylus Magazine.  Click here to see what they picked.
• Goldfish.  So… tasty…
• I still have no idea what song to use for my next lyric-to-drawing picture.
• Phoenix vs. Cthulhu…  Hm.

Off to the range.

Namaste.

Friday (coda)
The work day ended well.  No coworkers were harmed.  No road monkeys were harmed on the way out of Happy Valley.

I headed to Borders directly from work.  I worked on – and finished (for the most part) – the drawing I’ve been working on; this drawing was based on Jim Croce’s You Don’t Mess Around with Jim.  I’m mostly happy with it, but I still want to do some work on the rightmost picture.  Shading mostly.  But, it’s done for now.  And I can move on to the next drawing… if only I had a lyric in mind to work with.  I also realized that I don’t think I posted a link to the last drawing: It was based on Barenaked Ladies’ When I Fall.

The rest of the Clitorati showed up a little while later.  And hilarity ensued.  As usual.  A former coworker, from the REC, joined us tonight.  And, we had a special surprise guest: .  It’s kind of funny: The original groundwork for Clitorati came from the Friday nights that she and I would spend drawing.  Okay… let me amend that: She would draw and she would coach me in developing my drawing skills.  That was… about six years ago.  Then, we started inviting people to come join us and hang out.  And they told two friends.  And so on.  And so on.  And so on.  And now, we’re here.  Roll the bones.
Stray Toasters

• This song came up in the iTunes rotation at work.  It makes me laugh… and sing along.
• Coworker Matt sent me the following, after learning about a new Firefox plugin:
  

  Matt: http://digg.com/software/Firestorm_Adds_BitTorrent_Support_to_Firefox
  Matt: Super hero
  Matt: College student
  Matt: Multiple-personality disorder
  Matt: And now…
  Matt: Firefox developer!

• The 28 Days Later Survival Test
  My results:  The Handyman -  81% Combatives, 71% Survival, 80% Judgement
  I showed the test to Tyranist…

  Me: How’d you do?
  Tyranist: 99% in all three categories.
  Me: …
  Me: Wow.
  Tyranist: Too many horror movies.
  Me: Okay.
  Me: You’re one to keep around.

• Quotes from The Long Kiss Goodnight
• I am about 153% sick of pop-over ads.

Namaste.

Thursday – 19 April 2007
So far, the day’s been good.

I woke up… and realized that there was no need for me to rush to get ready and out the door.  So, I didn’t.  It was nice.  And, I was still in the SLC office a little after 8:30.  I opted to wait until I got to the office before thinning out the blood in my caffeinestream.  Irish Creme coffee.  Tasty.

Last night, it snowed.  Again.  Nothing really stuck in the valley, but… it was still snow.  I called Dad to tell him that it was snowing.  Again.  When he stopped laughing, he made his usual request:  That I enjoy the snow, but not to feel under any obligation to send it eastward.  I went to Borders to try and polish off my latest drawing.  The theory was sound, but the practical application was lacking one thing – a picture that I had intended to use as a reference for the last part of the drawing.  *ARGH*  So, I did what I could and then just… sketched a couple of other things.

Stray Toasters

• I still have six (6) Cadbury Creme Eggs.  They really do need to make – and sell – them all year.
• Esquire’s list of things worth shortening your life for
• Attacking does not cause Serra Angel to tap.
• Spin Spin Sugar (Sneaker Pimps) and Sugar Sugar (Mary Lou Lord and Semisonic)
• I just don’t get Crocs; they make no sense to me.
• Slashdot Poll: Worst Sci-Fi Sequel
• When I saw this cover, the first thing it reminded me of was Rick James’ Bustin’ Out
• For ….
  

And now, it’s time to pick up and put down heavy things.

Namaste.

< dance break>

• MC Hammer – 2 Legit 2 Quit
• Madonna – Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
• The Cruxshadows – Ariadne

< /dance break>

Monday – 16 April 2007
Back on the chain gang… (with apologies to The Pretenders).  So far, it’s been a pretty decent day, for a Monday, that is.  If nothing else, it’s Mocha Monday at B&B.  This means thirty-two ounces of triple-shot laden frozen mocha goodness.  Amen.

I just got back from my morning constitutional.  Nomad kept me on a good pace with the following offerings:

• Duran Duran – Wild Boys
• emmet swimming – Judas
• Poe – Angry Johnny

I remember seeing Poe live at The Big Shindig in June of 1997.  Before she started her set, a guy with an electric cello came onstage, sat down and started to play.  I don’t recall what he played, but it was classical… definitely a bit “out of sorts/out of place” for an all-day concert.  He played a few songs and then… he… broke into the bass line of Angry Johnny.  You could see the looks of disbelief on peoples’ faces – mine included – as they realized what he was playing.

I don’t know exactly what I did yesterday, but I did something to my right arm while at the driving range yesterday: My right bicep hurts.  It’s roughly the same feeling I get after a good workout with dumbbell/barbell curls.  But, there’s just something… wrong… about saying that you injured yourself playing golf.  I mean, is there a less-intensive sport out there?  It’s golf.  And not even “real golf.”  Just the driving range.  Stand.  Swing.  That’s it.  My sides hurt last week, from the twisting motion.  That was understandable.  But, this…?  I got nothing.

Today’s musical offering: Hooverphonic – 2 Wicky

Namaste.

Saturday – 14 April 2007
So far, it’s been a very lazy day. It started with a rebroadcast of “The Substitutes” on Legion of Super Heroes. I slept through one episode of The Batman and half-watched the second.

I’m not sure what to do with the rest of my afternoon. I’m tempted to grab the clubs and find a driving range.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been playing Boomshine, introduced to me by Matt. Simple… yet somewhat addictive.
• “katana and cake and champagne!”
• Wizard Magazine’s Star Wars 30th Anniversary Poll Results
• : “You fixin’ to raise up and get your travel on?”
• Pepperidge Farms’ Pretzel Goldfish are just as tasty – and addictive – as the cheddar cheese ones.
• What’s the Name of That Song?
• Woo!
• I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon – I like this song, but I really want to find a video of the Shawn Colvin version of it.
• And, as if those weren’t enough: foldedspace.org has a list of Sesame Street video clips
• Alan Kistler’s Profile on: Donna Troy
• Oh, boy… this can’t be a good sign.

Time to play in the sunshine.

Namaste.