Random Access

Damn and a half….
Rhapsody in Blue is a FINE piece of music. Period.

Tuesday – 19 June 2007
Just a couple of quick things:

• I saw something about Bat for Lashes’ What’s a Girl to Do? on boingboing.net last week, but neglected to check it out until this morning. It’s an interesting and quirky song. And, pound for pound, it has at least as many furries as Goldfrapp’s Number One or Strict Machine.
• Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t we seen this… before? And didn’t it wind up leading to something bad? As much as I hate to admit it, maybe Bruce was right. Again.

Namaste.

Monday (coda)
Post-work, I did something that I neglected/avoided doing yesterday: Grocery shopping. I was rather proud of myself for sticking (mostly) to the things on the list.

Came home and cooked – soft tacos for dinner tonight AND pasta for dinner/lunch later this week. came over; we ate and watched Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut – something we’ve been planning on doing for months, but never got around to actually doing. While Donner never finished his version of Superman II – he was fired from the production by the Salkinds and replaced with Richard Lester – this is a closer version to his vision. There were scenes that had been completely changed – and a screen test that was added as footage. I liked the feel of the “new” stuff. I think that it worked well with the story and, to be honest, I couldn’t be happier that they got rid of the “kiss of forgetfulness” scene. On the whole, I think that this version edges out the “classic” version – at least in spots. And it was a fun way to spend the evening.

Four-Color Coverage
First off: The Sinestro Corps.

They are being set up as the anti-Green Lantern Corps. (Duh.) Instead of being able to overcome great fear, their power comes from being able to instill fear in others. Fair enough. In… Green Lantern #9, I think, we see one of the Sinestro Corps rings choosing a new host: This guy. Makes perfect sense, as instilling fear is his M.O.

Tyranist made a good counterpoint though: Of all of the characters in the DCU, why doesn’t Scarecrow get a Sinestro ring?

And now, on to the reviews:

• Action Comics #850 – A look at the Man of Steel… through the eyes of the Girl of Steel (who is still temporally displaced in the 31st Century). An interesting thing here is that we get – through Kara and the Legion’s eyes – a look at Superman through the years, but we also get some insight into Kara’s feelings about her cousin.
• Avengers: The Initiative #2 and #3 – Superhero-in-training boot camp continues. Some of the cadets are hiding secrets from some of the senior Avengers. An ex-New Mutant pays a visit to Camp Hammond. Nanobots? Who are the guys in the familiar-looking red-and-gold outfits?
• Elephantmen #9 – What do you do with a drunken sailor an Elephantman with a broken leg? How does he get his groceries home? Why is that truck barrelling out of control down the road? And… was that a pick-up line?
• Green Lantern #20 – We learn more about the nature of the Star Sapphire and the Zamorans. It also seems that the Zamorans are capable of rubbing a couple of brain cells together and coming up with “a clue.” How will that bear out for the Green Lanterns? Will the Sinestro Corps find a place in the equation? Somebody get me a color wheel!
• Justice #12 – The 12-part maxi-series comes to a close. Wonder Woman is falling apart. Literally. Superman is… uncertain? Aquaman is pissed off. Green Lantern calls some friends for a sleep-over a little assistance. And Batman is, as ever, cool as the other side of the pillow. Speaking of which: Why is Toyman sporting an almost-cyberpunk look? Black Manta without his helmet is just as megalomaniacal… but just not as threatening. Brainiac’s master plan has been thought out to the nth degree, but Lex Luthor is hedging his bets… just in case. All of this AND a two-page spread of my favorite 31st Century team? Yeah, this story closes out with a bang. And a smile.
• Justice Society of America #6 – I covered this one yesterday.
• Liberty Girl #2 and #3 – I’m still trying to get a handle on this title. I like it… but trying to figure out the timeline is a bit like trying to read current issues of The New Avengers. Despite that, it’s still intriguing enough to keep me turning the pages.
• The New Avengers #31 – Wong asks Jessica Jones a breast-feeding question. (How, exactly, does one “delicately” ask a former superhero a question about breast-feeding?) Ninjas. LOTS of ninjas. And [spoiler deleted].
• newuniversal #6 – The Starbrand and Nightmask travel the Superflow. Justice is served. The President calls a meeting. And, the Project: Spitfire HEXsuit comes online. Can World War III be far behind?
• Supergirl #17 and #18 – We learn more about what’s going on inside the Girl of Steel’s head. And it’s not a very happy place. And it may just be that someone else is pushing her buttons and pulling some strings to push her farther and farther out of synch. Who would do something like that? Ask Troia, I’m sure she’d have an idea or two.
• Superman #662 and #663 – Pop Quiz: What do you do when an ancient Atlantean sorceror comes to you and basically tells you “Get off of Earth or everyone and everything dies?” Yeah… aren’t you glad that your biggest decision today is “Should I super-size the fries and drink?” All this and a surprise appearance from the New Gods. Plus, Lana and Clark get some time to talk. Plus, Lois and Clark get some time to talk.
• Superman/Batman #34, #35 and #36 – Dr. Magnus, I presume? And the Metal Men. And Brainiac…? And… wait… the last time we saw [spoiler deleted], didn’t it just about bring the DCU to a flaming, screeching, crashing halt? Right. I thought so. So… why has Batman kept this around?! Warning: Bumpy ride.
• Ultimate Fantastic Four #42 – Reed lets his father get under his skin. Again. Ben Grimm’s mom shows her poker face. Literally. And… a surfboard?!
• Uncanny X-Men #487 – The Morlocks are back. Hepzibah does her best Yoda impression. And Storm pulls rank… not only as an X-Man, not only as a member of the Fantastic Four, but as the Queen of Wakanda. How much do you want to bet that the Office of National Emergency blinks first?

Stray Toasters

• Sissy the Wonder Kitty strikes again!

She was in the master bathroom.
She walked out, next to the cabinet under the sink…
Raises a paw to open the cabinet door…
Looked down the hall to see if I’m watching her…
Saw that I was…
And walked off like she never planned to touch the door in the first place.

• John Williams’ Superman Theme is a great piece of music.
• For :
  
• HOWTO knit a baby Viking helmet
• Instant Karma’s gonna get you
  Gonna knock you off your feet
  Better recognise your brothers
  Everyone you meet

  …which reminds me of…

  Take a walk outside myself
  In some exotic land
  Greet a passing stranger
  Feel the strength in his hand
  Feel the world expand

Namaste.

Monday – 18 June 2007
Another week begins.

So far, the day has been rather quiet and uneventful. This morning’s excursion to Ye Olde Shoppe of Coffee yielded an improper elixir. I didn’t really notice it until after I had gotten into the car and was preparing to leave – apparently, the machine that makes the “frozen” part of the “frozen mocha” was not working properly. It just gave out mocha-colored liquid, far from frozen. You would think that I would have noticed that the triple-shot of espresso just… sank to the bottom of the cup beforehand. Nope. Ok, well. I went back in, asked about it and Niki went about fixing a new – frozen – drink from another dispenser.

Yesterday, post-pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden, I went home and hung out with the kids for a few hours… after which, I decided that I wanted to get out for a bit. I headed up Fort Union Boulevard and towards Wasatch Drive. Then, I noticed that I was getting hungry. Not ravenously so, but enough to allocate a couple of brain cells to the task of figuring out what I wanted and where to get it. I called Angela, with whom I haven’t spoken since God was a boy, to see what she was up to. Not much, it turned out… and she hadn’t eaten, either. We opted for Redrock Brewing Co. They have a very smooth Oatmeal Stout. And calamari. And “Maryland Crab Cakes.” The calamari was good, as always. The crab cakes were alright… but I’m pretty picky about anything claiming to be “Maryland Crab Cakes” or “Maryland-Style Crab Cakes.” After dinner, we headed over to The Gateway to check out the remnants of the Chalk Art Festival. Most of the drawings along the south end of The Gateway had been removed, but the north end was still cordoned off and the drawings were mostly intact. Mostly. There were footprints in a lot of the drawings and – this was irritating – people were taking the beadwork off of the picture (based on this piece) drawn by Gina Jrel. Some peoples’ children…

The Scales of Justice
After I got back home, I decided to see what was going on in Paragon City. I’d already missed (most of) Double XP Weekend, but I had finally worked up the desire to play. I started the CoH loader and was greeted with a notice about Issue 10: Invasion. Wait… Issue 10?!?! We just barely got Issue 9 and they are already talking about Issue 10!? Sweet! Looks as though the Rikti are back… and they’re not happy about having been repelled.

I was invited to a team shortly after logging in. I played for a couple of hours and managed to get two levels under my belt before logging off. That’s right: Security Level 30. Which also means a new costume slot. Which also means that I have to figure out what I want to do for the new costume.

Stray Toasters

• I finally finished the picture of :
  

  

• CNet Top 5 Worst Things About the iPhone
• Cover to Cover: Deja vu All Over Again – A Crisis of Infinite Homage Covers
• For <lj user=”trellos”> and Carmen: Nepali “Living Goddess” is rather into gadgets
• Starfish and coffee
  Maple syrup and jam
  A butterscotch cloud
  A tangerine
  And a side order of ham
  
• What Steampunk Means
• By way of Wired: Steampunk gallery
• 1408 opens this weekend…
• …as does the Utah Arts Festival

Namaste.

Sunday – 17 June 2007
Again: Happy Father’s Day to the dads out there.

So far this morning I have:

• Fed the kids
• Observed the hygiene rituals
• Worshipped at the Temple of Sweden with and … for three hours!
• Talked with the paternal parental units.

…and it’s just a little after 2:00 PM. Still plenty of time to find some trouble to get into!

Yesterday was good. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was fun. They did a good job of retelling/retooling the origin of the Silver Surfer and making it mesh with the movie version of the FF. The characterizations were good… although, I felt that Julian McMahon’s Doctor Doom was a little “too” over-the-top in a couple of spots. But, he’s a classic character and there have been more than “a few” times when he’s been over-the-top in the comics. So, I can let it slide. While this movie was not on the same level as Gladiator or The Shawshank Redemption, in my opinion it did what it wanted/needed to do: Put a comic book on the screen in as believeable a manner as possible. And, as I said: It was fun. I give the movie a big ol’ thumbs-up with an okay.

I also went to The Gateway to check out…

I missed and the rest of Team Chalk-o-Licious – thanks to dealing with Sprint (more on that later), but I did get a photo of their piece and some of the other works.

I need to finish resizing the rest of the pictures; they should be up in the next few days.

Sprint. *sigh* I have just about had enough of them. Until roughly 10:00 PM last night, I did not have access to the Power Vision service (Sprint/Nextel’s internet). I kept getting an error message whenever I tried to connect. I have probably talked with more people at Sprint/Nextel in the past two days than more people talk with over the course of their entire service contract. For the longest time, no one could figure out what the problem was. Someone was finally able to tell me something late Friday evening: The two companies use different billing systems and they are in the process of merging them – My bill showed up as paid and up-to-date in one system, while it didn’t in the other. That system being the one that the Power Vision service is apparently tied to. Okay, great! Problem identified. Now, to solve it. Right… More time on the phone AND a trip to one of the local Sprint Stores. *grblsnrkx* Sidebar: Jennie, the Sprint rep who helped me in the store, did everything that she could to try and get through to someone to get the problem straightened out. And, I could tell that she wasn’t happy with the answers that she was getting from the people on the other side of the phone. AND, she maintained a pleasant disposition throughout the whole ordeal. I appreciate good customer service and she deserves recognition – I have NO complaints about her customer service skills and will go back to the store this week to make sure that her manager is aware of this. It still took me another… hour-and-a-half to two hours on the phone AGAIN to finally get someone to push whatever button needed to be pushed to get things up and running again.

After that, breakfast was a welcome respite. And, Patryck put in an appearance, too. That was a nice surprise.

Four-Color Coverage
This is just a (fairly) quick hit. I’m still enjoying “The Lightning Saga,” the crossover storyline in JLA and JSA. In Justice Society of America #6, they keep it coming. In this issue they throw in a bit of Legion trivia of which I wasn’t aware:

Timber Wolf: Thom’s still a couple planets short of a system. Is it the safety blocks?
Dream Girl: I’m afraid not, Brin. The medicine of this time period is unbelievably primitive. They still use pills to help schizophrenia.
Starman: I took my pills today.
Timber Wolf: I didn’t know he was schizophrenic.
Wildfire: He told me about it once. He said he spent years in a hospital after his gravity powers popped up.
Dawnstar: Brainiac 5 didn’t give him medical clearance to travel. That’s why Thom tricked Colossal Boy and took his place. Since the time beam wasn’t calibrated for him, something went wrong. I can only belive his unanticipated path to the past worsened his health problems.
Karate Kid: What unanticipated path was that?
Dawnstar: I can see it on him, Val. The mark of the multiverse.
Starman: Hi, Swamp Thing. (to a snake coiled around a tree limb)
Timber Wolf: The multiverse?
Dawnstar: Before he came to this time period, he was accidentally shunted to a parallel Earth.
Starman: Earth-22? Meh.
*cut to scenes from the Kingdom Come miniseries*
Starman: No one liked each other there very much!
Wildfire: Thom always did call himself the “unluckiest” Legionnaire.
Dream Girl: I should have seen this coming.
Karate Kid: You can’t dream up every event that’s going to happen, Nura.
Dream Girl: I’m not talking about my precognitive abilities. I know Thom better than anyone. Health problems or not, he would never hesitate to risk his life to help his friends.
Starman: You’re my dream girl. I did it because I love you.
Dream Girl: I love you, too.

Wait. Star Boy/Starman…? Schizophrenic?! Huh. Who knew? This is followed up with a great scene of the new Liberty Belle (formerly Jesse Quick) trying to play matchmaker for Wonder Woman…

Liberty Belle: You’ve never thought about marriage?
Wonder Woman: Marriage isn’t a concept I grew up around, Jesse.
Liberty Belle: What about Superman? You two were made for each other.
Wonder Woman: He’s unavailable.
Liberty Belle: How about Dr. Mid-Nite?
Wonder Woman: A little too quiet for me.
Liberty Belle: Wait! I got it! We just heard about him the other day. He’s cute, vigilant and your costumes would look so great together. *sly grin* Have you met the new Mr. America yet?

This is good stuff. And we learn the identity of the seventh Legionnaire. The storyline concludes in Justice League of America #10. Can’t wait.

Stray Toasters

• I am getting hungry… but I’m not sure what I want for dinner.
• Ten days to the new Legion ‘Clix set.
• Don, we may need to rename the scale…
• As much as I love playing City – and despite the fact that it’s Double XP Weekend – I am not motivated to play right now.
• I was just looking at JSA #6 again. I have an idea of who’s going to die. I think. I just noticed something about the group of Legionnaires that makes one of them a… “better candidate”… than the others to be sacrificed.
• 9% of cell phone users want the iPhone
  (I just want a cell provider whose system actually works the way it’s supposed to!)

• 

Namaste.

Friday – 15 June 2007
So far, it’s been a pretty good day. Of course, any day that starts “Fri-” us usually pretty good.

Unless it’s 1929.
And October.
And the last Friday of the month.

But, it’s not. So we’re good.

I’m working in the Salt Lake office today and that’s a good thing because a semi driver decided to play chicken with an overpass – the one at the exit I take to get to the A.F. office – and lost. Big time. He was hauling a pre-fab home. I guess that he technically is still hauling it… but it now has one hell of a sunroof:

Picture courtesy of Acolyte Derek

Yeah. Not so good there.

Last night, I went to a taping of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! with KHAYLA. I had a ball! I was expecting it to be fun, but nowhere near as much as it was. The whole taping took about two hours… of which only forty minutes or so will make it on the air. That’s a shame, because I’m willing to bet that some of the really funny stuff is going to be edited out. Your loss. The panel was Paula Poundstone, Mo Rocca and Tom Bodett and their celebrity guest for “Not My Job” was Donny Osmond (by phone from L.A.). I have never been the biggest Donny Osmond fan, but I have nothing against him, either… and he was quite funny. DANGERMOUSE_UT: You were right – Peter Sagal is not a very tall man. But, he knows how to work a crowd, has good comedic timing AND he knows when to just let the panel – and Carl Kassel – just go off on their riffs. Last night’s taping will air on Saturday, 16 June 2007, check your local NPR station for the time.

Stray Toasters

• I lost the original version of this post this morning. *sigh*
• I’m getting the urge for prime rib from Outback. Maybe I’ll satiate that desire sometime this weekend.
• Jan, yet another coworker, has introduced me to KLOV – Killer List of Video Games… like I needed another distraction.
• Giant snake terrorizing Pennsylvania – Okay… are we sure that this isn’t just an American chupacabra story? TIPHASAURUS, would you look into this?

• 

• Wooden robot toys!
• Getting an iPhone, but not an iTunes Music Store fan? Better rethink that.

Tonight: Clitorati
Tomorrow: Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer with Perry and Max and the Chalk Art Festival… and, at some point, a trip to IKEA.

Namaste.

Thursday – 14 June 2007
Today is Flag Day.

Yesterday was Blog Like It’s the End of the World Day.

My last four posts – and ‘s comments and posts – were part of that. Salt Lake City has not succombed to “mass hysteria, dogs and cats living together” …. or even the zombie apocalypse. This time. C’mon, we’re talking about the Land Behind the Zion Curtain, after all. Do you think something like a zombie uprising is going to stop the faithful?

*ponders a missionary vs. zombie cage match*

As a result of yesterday’s little exercise, I recieved:

• Three comments
• Two IMs and
• One phone call

…to make sure that everything here was alright. That made my inner writer feel good. “Better than James Brown” good. And I didn’t want to come right out and say “Hey, look! Zombies!” I thought it better to slowly build up some suspense and tension – I hate it when they give everything away in a story or movie right after it starts. Where’s the reason to keep going, if you already know what’s up from the get-go?!

If you’re interested in seeing what others who participated wrote, click the link at the top of the page. Or click here. Or don’t. It’s your call.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, I went to a test/preview screening of Day Watch with Liz, Tyranist, Rish (the other contributer to the Horror Film Compendium), and . Interesting movie. This morning, Tyranist asked me what I thought, as I have not yet seen Night Watch. I told him that liked it and that it had enough “what came before” flavor to help fill in some of the gaps. One thing that was very cool about it: The subtitles were not just “static.” They did some rather interesting things with them that went along with what was happening on-screen. I would like to see both Night Watch and Day Watch, together, to see how the story flows as a more-or-less complete piece (there’s supposed to be a third movie, at some point).
• Screensaver of Old Comic Book Ads
• From Dwim: FlÅ“jte Hero
• Etched in Time
• 
• Steampunk Computing

Tonight: Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me… the taping!

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• Safari for Windows already hacked
• These are pretty neat: High-speed still and motion captures
  • Milk drops in a coffee cup
  • Igniting a cigarette lighter
• Lids down, I count sheep
  I count heartbeats
  The only thing that counts is
  that I won’t sleep
  I countdown, I look around
• Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies
• I was playing with Photoshop and with an old picture that took many moons past and came up with this:
  

  

  AND it even comes in a bite-sized version, perfect for use as a topping on your favorite dessert icon:

  

• Music to walk by:
  • Queen – Princes of the Universe
  • Tupac – Changes
  • Liz Phair – Supernova
  • No Doubt – New

*voop*

Tuesday – 12 June 2007
I must have been “a little” tired last night – I fell asleep reading Vision of the Future. But, I did it in my comfy chair – thank you, Cardinal Fang – so it was alright.

This morning is proceeding apace. Up, equipped and on the road. Traffic was a little heavier than usual, but not horribly so. As I was passing out of Sandy and into Draper, Drowning Pools’ Bodies found its way into the drivetime musical oleo. I found myself reparsing the lyrics to “Let the monkeys hit the floor!” It amused me. Now that I think about it, though, it probably should have been something along the lines of “Throw the monkeys out the door!” I would also like to say that I Would Die 4 U/Baby I’m a Star make for some fine traveling music.

I’ve been toying with the WordPress portion of my site. I’m considering moving most/all/some (who knows?!) content into it and unifying the overall look of the site. Of the parts that I have played with, I like the way it looks.

Stray Toasters

• I just had a toaster pastry… from a not-so-stray toaster.
• Let me see if I got this right: First, we have a wooden marionette that wanted to be a real boy. Now we have a bicycle made of wood?
• just sent a link to this story. Words fail me.
• ATI or nVidia? What’s your weapon of choice and why?
• Superhero Celebrity Poker
• Conversations with often take amusing – if not very odd – turns:

[06:59] evangelinaarion: wow if you cross the two pics you sent me, you get the pic i sent you
[07:02] shadorunr: Yep.
[07:02] shadorunr: Like a… digital Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
[07:03] shadorunr: “You got your Catwoman in my Strawberry Shortcake!”
[07:03] shadorunr: “You got your Strawberry Shortcake on my Catwoman!”
[07:03] shadorunr: Mmmmm.

• Is the Xbox 360 Core System about to undergo a price drop?
• Papurika (Paprika) is coming to the Broadway in a couple weeks. It looks like it could be as weird as Perfect Blue. I shall have to go and see it.

  

• Oh, YEAH!
• Quentin Tarantino’s Penny Dreadful: Steampulp Fiction

Namaste.

Sunday (coda)
The day ended well.

• I picked up from the airport and delivered her home.
• Presto has apparently forgiven me for giving her cat treats that apparently didn’t agree with her. Eleven times.
• I hung out with Perry and the kids.
• I talked with Kris for a bit.
• I didn’t die while playing CoH.
• I had ice cream.

So, all-in-all, it was a relaxing way to end the weekend.

And it’s only four days till Friday. Apparently, Loverboy was right: Everybody’s Working for the Weekend. But, that then makes me wonder where Huey Lewis And the News’ Workin’ for a Livin’ fits in… We know that Kool Moe Dee is all about working, since he told us I Go to Work; and Big Daddy Kane said I Get the Job Done, so I’m not to worried about his work ethic. Geddy Lee is Working at Perfekt, so you have to admire his desire to get things done right… if not his spelling skills. And, he’s apparently been at it a long time – since 1974, in fact, when he told us that he was the Working Man, back from the days when he worked with Misters Lifeson and Rutsey.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, now what’s a title to fit me?
A champ like Tyson, a Captain like Kirk, no
Employee of the Month, cause yo, I do work
The K-A-N-E is on the J-O-B
An expert, cause I get it D-O-N-E
So lights, camera, action – all hail the one!
That gets the job done

*blink*

Um… sorry about that. It slipped.

Stray Toasters

• I’m craving cotton candy again.
• : I’m not sure what possessed me, but I tried posting something on ‘Opinionated… and it ate it. All of it. Didn’t even leave seeds or stems. Besides that, where did everything else go?!
• Superhero Recipe
• I bought a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream ice cream last week. It’s not bad. Tasty, even.
• “…on a train.” (which is NOT to be confused with: “To. Your. DOOR!”)
• Day Watch. Wednesday.
• …speaking of which: Tyranist, if you acquired Night Watch, I would like to borrow it tomorrow, please.
• The Stardust movie website has been updated.
• Sometimes, songs get stuck in your head. When it’s something like Brian Wilson or Scotty Doesn’t Know or Chiron Beta Prime or Code Monkey, I’m okay with that. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car? No problem. When it’s something like Pina Colada… it makes me want to perform a slow, painful frontal lobotomy on myself. You know the song…
  

  If you like Pina Coladas
  And getting caught in the rain
  If you’re not into yoga
  If you have half a brain

  That one. I had this song stuck in my head for three days once. Three. Days. Like I said, “slow, painful frontal lobotomy.”

• 
• Ed Brubaker on “The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire” – Conclusion
• Should the words “World’s cutest” and “goatse” ever be used together?
• 30 Days of Night (official site)
• M.O.D. are you out there?
  I can’t see your face
  But you left a trace on a data back-road
  That I almost erased
• : Legion Animated Cosmic Boy

Namaste.

Sunday – 10 June 2007
I’ve been emailing and texting Kris this morning – today’s her birthday. I would call… but she’s in a review class, for the Bar exam, which she will take in a few weeks. Yeah, in class. On a Sunday. It’s not exactly my idea of fun; it doesn’t seem to be her idea of fun, either. But, she’s doing well. That’s what matters to me.

I’ve also been chatting with . He’s currently in Germany. He said, “this is one emotionally cold country.” At first, I thought that it was simply an emotional detachment that could be attributed to guilt in their ancestors’ role in WWII. Then, I remembered something else:

[10:40] shadorunr: I just figured it out.
[10:40] shadorunr: Emotionally cold.
[10:41] shadorunr: Great engineers.
[10:41] shadorunr: They are going to colonize Vulcan.
[10:41] shadorunr: You’re in the midst of proto-Spocks!
[10:41] trellos: god i hope not
[10:41] trellos: i can’t see the vulcans wanting to create a master race
[10:41] trellos: i mean c’mon
[10:41] shadorunr: Those are the Romulans.
[10:41] shadorunr: Wait.
[10:41] trellos: spock is an intergalactic zebra after all
[10:41] shadorunr: [Being Romulans] would account for the warlike tendencies.
[10:42] trellos: i can see that

And, with that, we have solved one of the great mysteries of the Star Trek universe. Or what would be a great mystery, if anyone really gave a damn about it.

Stray Toasters

• I need caffeine. It hasn’t reached a critical stage yet, but I should get some soon.
• Canadian Filmmakers Festival
• MysteryNet
• Sissy is sitting on the floor starting at my hands while I type. It’s a little odd, but nowhere nearly as disturbing as this (Paragraph 2) was.
• Steam Trek – a steampunk take on Star Trek
• “Adults, a necessary evil.”
• “Parallel lines meet at infinity.”
  There are a couple of lines approaching an odd vanishing point.
• I believe that I will have to own this book: Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up
• : Does this qualify as “cross-promotion” or is it just “jumping on the bandwagon?”
• Man in wheelchair takes ride on semi’s grille
• Tyranist and : From the CS Moore Studio – The Walking Dead Statue (preorder)
• Tetris fridge magnets
• Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
  A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
  We marvel after those who sought
  New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
  Wonders in the world they wrought.
• Yep, this pretty much sums it up!
• , I think this is up your alley: Bigfoot bust for sale

Namaste.

Saturday – 09 June 2007
For some, as yet unexplained reason, I was up at 6:30 this morning. Six. Thirty. On a Saturday. *blink blink* Not cool. In fact, it was about as far from cool as Heaven is wide. (With apologies to Garbage…) I can’t even pin this one on the cats – unlike a couple of days ago, when Sissy decided that it was a good idea to use the wicker laundry basket as a scratching post… at 4:15 AM. I did manage to get back to sleep after a while.

I officially started the morning with a shower, “Legacy,” today’s episode of Legion of Super Heroes and a cup of coffee. It was an interesting episode: In the pre-credits opener, Superman saves a red-headed young woman in a powered armor flight suit from impending doom. After the save, she thanks him… and walks away. *roll intro* We later discover that her name is “Alexis” and that she’s functionally the… hm, I don’t want to call her “Paris Hilton,” but it’s the closest analogue I can think of at the moment… of the 31^st Century. And she has an eye for Clark. But, Alexis has a few problems that we learn about over the course of the episode:

The trouble with Alexis is: She’s a spoiled rich brat.

The trouble with Alexis is: She’s used used to getting her way.

The trouble with Alexis is: She has no friends… and is willing to do pretty much anything to make/keep Superman (as) her friend.

The trouble with Alexis is: Her last name is Luthor.

The reveal of Alexis’ last name is not revealed until the very end of the episode – and it’s only noticeable if you read Interlac.

And therein lies the rub. Clark doesn’t know anything of his future with Alexis’ ancestor, Lex; so to him, she’s just a pretty girl with whom he likes to hang out and have some downtime from his duties with the Legion. Over the course of the episode, Clark shirks his responsibilities as a Legionnaire in order to… just be a teenager. He misses patrols. He shuts off his communicator… and, in doing so, winds up missing a confrontation with The Scavengers, episode’s other villains (who also bore an interesting resemblence to Star Trek‘s Borg, although more human). And, that incident winds up costing Brainiac 5 an arm.

Alexis shows her true colors about two-thirds of the way through the episode. In a move that was very reminiscent of John Byrne’s Man of Steel #4, Alexis concocts a scheme to get Superman to “save” her. When the ruse is exposed, Clark flies off angrily, stating that he needs to spend time attending to his responsibilities to the Legion. This is something that does not sit well with Alexis. Thus, she decides to make Clark’s decision – spending time with her or the Legion – for him. She has him sent on a wild goose chase and then attacks Legion HQ in a new, and heavily-armed power suit… with the help – and numbers – of the Scavengers. Superman realizes that he’s been had and returns to Earth and the fight. In the end, Alexis’ power suit is destroyed; Superman flies in to rescue her. When the smoke clears, we see that the fight and explosion has cost Alexis her hair. She looks up at him and says, “What have you done…,” which was another nod to Superman’s past with Lex (1, 2).

All-in-all, it was a solid episode. And it explains Alexis’ appearance on Takron-Galtos in “Sundown (Part II).” There was even a cameo of Lobo, for the sharp-eyed observer.

Stray Toasters

• I finally upgraded to WordPress 2.2. Not bad. And, it was a far easier upgrade than I had feared it would be.
• Sissy, who likes to climb into drawers, has discovered a couple of empty ones in the master bathroom.
• sent a link to this picture, which amused me greatly.
• The creative works of Alfred Wong. ( and , check out his Sculpted Figures section.)
• An infomercial from a parallel universe – Steampunk Rayguns
• 
• , click here.
• , guess who’s “Today’s featured article” on Wikipedia. C’mon.. guess! Okay fine, it’s this person.
• 

Namaste.

Thursday – 07 June 2007
Day Two of the “Great Salt Lake Temperature Drop.” This just ain’t right.

I finished Specter of the Past last night. It ended on an interesting note; I’m looking forward to seeing how the story advances in the next book.

The kids are doing well. Sissy is still trying to be the alpha… but only at certain times. When I had the laser pointer out, she actually played with the twins, without too much fuss. Speaking of which, I took what I think is, to date, the best picture of all three cats:

(click picture for larger view)

…and it shows their affinity for IKEA, to boot! I have seen both Sissy and Presto sit/lie/stretch out in the chair many times over the past few days. (One thing that doesn’t show in the picture: How much fur Sissy has shed over the cushion. Oh, well, that’s what lint rollers and vacuum cleaners are for.)

The Scales of Justice
I took Hand of Nefer-Tem out on patrol last night… but couldn’t get into soloing. Nor could I find a team. So, I decided to let Paragon City’s other defenders of justice handle the crimefighting for the night.

Stray Toasters

• I called Mom this morning (something about it being her birthday or some such thing). All’s well; she has her first post-op checkup later today. (I forgot to call her “Lady Deathstrike” while she was on the phone.) Assuming that her doctor clears her, she and my uncle are heading “down to the hills,” as Dad would say, to get some things out of the old house.
• Scott: Uh-oh…
  Jamie: What?!
  Scott: Big tunnel.
• – 25 Trends that changed the way we live
  USA Today is running lists of “25 things that…” in celebration of their upcoming 25th anniversary. Some of the lists – and the selections therein – are rather interesting.
• To quote and : “People suck.”
• Last week, I saw that someone had created a MySpace page for their City of Heroes character. I thought that it was a bit odd. Granted, I have CoH and CoV links on my site, but I haven’t gone so far as to create MySpace pages for any of my characters. When I logged into City last night, there was a notice on the front page for this.
• “Did I win?!”
  
• Smoke Camels, be a better sniper
• and everyone will say “I told you so”
  yeah they’ll all just nod and sigh
  but I’ll make a run at something real
  and they’ll never even try
  and everyone will say “I told you so”
  yeah they’ll all just nod and sigh
  as I go down in a ball of flames
  they’ll just watch, i wonder why
• Internal workings of a mechanical watch video
• : 27 June 2007 (1, 2, 3)
• Steampunk Monitor from the Steampunk Workshop
• By way of ZDNet: Why DRM won’t ever work
• “More Parachute! RAAWR!!!” –

Namaste.

Wednesday – 06 June 2007
It’s the middle of the week.
It’s the first week of June.
And I’m actually wearing a turtleneck.

Because someone decided to turn down Utah’s thermostat again. By at least 30°. It’s raining here in the valley and there is some fresh snow on the mountain tops.

Did I mention that it’s June? I did? Well, I don’t think that I mentioned that I’m not in the Southern Hemisphere, because that does make a bit of a difference.

Aside from that – and the fact that I called the ‘rents to tell them the same – things are going well.

Last night was a game night: All Flesh Must Be Eaten. We attacked a cathedral. Well, not really the cathedral, per se; we attacked the people inside. For some reason, they weren’t exactly happy to see us… and they shot back. How rude. In the end, we took some bumps and bruises (and a couple of laser burns), but we kicked their collective recta. So far. We still have some places to explore and there is still the slight problem of having to find and rescue some hostages. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” as the saying goes.

Stray Toasters

• Did I mention “turtleneck” and “June” before?
• At Tyranist’s behest – and because I can’t seem to get Scotty Doesn’t Know out of my head – I watched EuroTrip.    I had summarily dismissed it as “too stupid for the Cool World – Long Kiss Goodnight Scale” when it was released.  I was wrong.  VERY wrong.  I may actually have to buy this movie.

  I kept looking at the guy who played Scotty and trying to figure out why he was so familiar.  It didn’t come to me until I looked at IMDb and saw that he was the lead in this movie.  *duhr*

• Dwim pointed me in the direction of this, which included this picture:
  
• Script review: Wonder Woman
• “Just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen…”
• By way of PC Magazine: 10 Wicked Awesome Webcomics
• 
• Interview with Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer director Tim Story

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• Clitorati Question: Since our usual hangout will be undergoing renovations over the next few weeks, do we want to relocate? Drop me a line with your suggestions and I’ll let you know the concensus on Thursday.
• I have a toaster pastry that would be a Pop Tart… if it was made by Kellogg’s.
• Madonna’s Secret played in the morning musical oleo during today’s commute. It made me laugh because when it got to the following part:
  

  Happiness lies in your own hand
  It took me much too long
  To understand how it could be
  Until you shared your secret with me

  I had the horrible thought of that being repurposed and used as the background music of a Secret deodorant/anti-perspirant ad.

• Check out the videos and information on the SawStop: 1, 2
• I was showing Tyranist the video for Hooverphonic’s 2Wicky a little while ago.  Today was the first time that I paid attention to the lottery balls shown near the end of the video: 6-0-0-9-1.  This ties back into the first lyric of the song: “Prophet 60091“  Nice touch.