Random Access

Monday – 04 June 2007
One down, four to go.

Today was good. Quiet. No fires. And, I got to start the day in the Salt Lake office. And, I get to do it again tomorning. This evening has been a relaxing night at home with the kids. I ran a recovery mission in Talos Island with Nefer-Tem. And, I did some reading – I now have about sixty pages left in Specter of the Past. Thanks to Eric, I can move right on to the next book, Vision of the Future, when I finish. And, at some point, I need to get back into Pattern Recognition.
Stray Toasters

• Force fields, Underoos^® and datajacks.
• World of Warcraft Language Translations
  
• Dr. Steel
• Tyranist and I were discussing “the Uncanny Valley” today, because of these articles: 1, 2.
• Same Actor, Different Role 2 – A Worth 1000 contest (image heavy)
• Scotty Doesn’t Know (Damn you, Tyranist!)
  
  Okay, okay…. fine. Here’s the actual video for the song. (Can you spot Matt Damon in the video?)
• The 2012 Olympics + London + goatse = something that probably looks like this.
• Anti-DRM t-shirt design contest
• 
• Do the Right Thing recreated with Sesame Street toys

Namaste.

Sunday (coda)
I wound up heading to Jitterbug for a late lunch/early and light dinner and to get some more time with a pencil in my hand. I was successful at both. I didn’t finish the picture because I didn’t have a reference book handy, but I got a lot of other work in on it. I’m probably less than thirty minutes from completing it.

After that, I decided to take a drive. I didn’t want to simply loop the SLC Valley, my usual Parley’s/Emigration run didn’t sound appealing and I didn’t feel like going to Park City. So, I headed north. My thought: I’ll head north until I don’t want to go any farther and turn around and come back. Sounded good in theory, the practical application was a little different: I wound up going to Ogden. And, since I was in Ogden, I decided to stop in and see Dee, Kim and the boys. I’m glad that I did – it was fun to hang out with them for a while.

I headed home. After checking on the cats (they were fine) and determining that I didn’t feel like sitting at home, I decided to take in 28 Weeks Later. Not bad. Not bad at all. It did raise a couple questions that I will throw to and Tyranist, however:

Are all zombie movies inherently apocalyptic/nihilist? Or has there been a movie – other than *ack-thbppt*Undead – where the zombie hordes are defeated/eliminated and the world goes on more or less as it was?

Shortly after it started, 28WL made me think of a question and a similar one popped up about two-thirds of the way through the movie:

1. Could you make the choice to leave a loved one behind in the face of overwhelming odds or would you stick with them and take your chances?
2. Could you make the call to wipe out everyone and everything (and I do mean “everyone and everything”) in order to eliminate an otherwise unstoppable threat?

I enjoyed the movie… even though I noticed, as with Spider-day Night Fever, there were some contrivances/coincidences that without which the movie would have fallen apart. And… it reminded me of Aliens in a number of ways. But, it was a nice way to cap off the weekend.

Stray Toasters

• Is it bad that I want one of these for my desk at work? (At least for the south office.)
• …and one of these wouldn’t be bad, either.
• Heaven help me for the way that I am
  Save me from these evil deeds
  Before I get them done…
  
• Sissy’s taken to growling at the twins again. *sigh*
• While I don’t really need anything from here, my inner LEGO Maniac wouldn’t mind having the Ice Brick Tray, Coaster Set… and even the Plate and Tumbler Sets. Particularly the Ice Brick Tray, though.
• Amazing 3D Scanner Made with LEGO and Milk
• At some point today, I heard John Sugar Melonhead’s Jack and Diane. It got to the refrain, “Oh, yeah, life goes on… Long after the thrill of living is gone” and I almost immediately started laughing: I had a picture of Nefer-Tem fighting a villain and getting blasted/pummelled/whatever to the point of near-death. (Which, since he is technically a mummy, is merely a minor setback.) He gets up, casually tosses out that line… and proceeds to wail the tar out of his opponent.
• iPhone Release Date Confirmed as June 29
• While I’m on the subject of cell phones: Cell phone ‘CSI’
• Have you heard Tori Amos’ cover of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m on Fire? Check it out here, even though this is not the version I was looking for.

I should give more than “a little thought” to calling it a night…

Namaste.

Sunday – 03 June 2007
It’s been a quiet day. The kids are… around. Somewhere. Sissy is curled up and asleep in the chair across the room; I’m going to assume that the twins are napping as well. There’s been some progress: Sissy isn’t hissing madly at the twins (especially Presto) when they cross her DEW Line. In fact, Sissy even let Presto sniff – and possibly lick – her a little while ago. I was shocked, but pleasantly so.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve discovered a new distraction:
• I’ve finished with the major work on ‘s pic; I got some decent time in on it yesterday. If I do the same today, I should be finished with it this afternoon/evening.
• Shoe Box
• 
• We come into the world and take our chances
  Fate is just the weight of circumstances
  That’s the way that lady luck dances
  Roll the bones…
• 
• HOWTO make an Aliens pulse rifle
• Sissy is snoring. Too bad my camera’s outside – the way she’s lying, with her head kind of lopped over, is cute.
• Does Marvel have an analogue for/of either Oracle or The Calculator?
• This looks interesting…
  
• and : Did you know about this contest?

“The night has a thousand saxophones. And nary a clarinet between us.”
(Bonus points for knowing where that comes from…)
Namaste.

Thursday – 31 May 2007
And so, another month draws to a close.

Yin: I overslept this morning.
Yang: The barista at the caffeine dispensary made a mistake and gave me a large frozen mocha… for the price of a medium.

Starting tonight, I have the kids for a week.

I talked with Mom. She doesn’t remember talking with me yesterday… which I pretty much expected. She ‘splained what was wrong and what the surgery did – including the addition of a bit of titanium. I’m gonna start calling her X-23 or Lady Deathstrike from now on. I don’t think they added claws, but to err on the side of caution I’ll make sure that I’m out of arms’ reach before I call her either of those names.

Stray Toasters

• I took my morning constitutional a little while ago. As I walked past a bird, it warbled and flew off. I had a Dr. Doolittle moment and wondered what it would be like to know what it was “saying.” That hyperlinked to a mental image of Tarzan. Then things took an even more odd turn, as the next mental image that popped into my head was NOT Shanna, the She-Devil or even Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Those, I could have fairly easily explained. No, the first post-Tarzan thought was Jana of the Jungle. Whiskey Tango…?!
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ opening date has been pushed up two days.
• Knowing his affinity for most things zombie, I pointed Tyranist in the direction of this item from Marvel’s website.

[11:16] Tyranist: Wow. I guess Zombies are marketing gold.
[11:31] shadorunr: Apparently so.
[11:31] shadorunr: Cold and (un)dead are the new “in” thing.
[11:31] Tyranist: And normally I like zombies. Just not Marvel’s version. They . . . uh . . . bite.
[11:31] shadorunr: *rimshot*

• 
• My weekly work commute just got 32.31% shorter. (Where’d I put that Ares Alpha with grenade launcher…?)
• scares me sometimes… such as when he shows me things like this.
• By way of boingboing.net: The Battle of Ham’s Deep – Helm’s Deep made with Muppets
• I was a big fan of Jonny Quest back in the day. While I get that it’s a parody/satire, I am not such a fan of Venture Bros. However, there are two things from the show that make me smile:
• Major Tom Dies
• Best Entrance Ever
• …and, speaking of Mr. Bowie: What in the Nine Hells is this?!

Time to pick up and put down heavy things.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 30 May 2007
I talked with Mom last night – everything went well.  Of course, I neglected to factor in time zones when I called, so she was already asleep.  I’m going to try again in a little while.
Last night was also D&D night.  wasn’t there, but we sallied forth without her.  Somewhat.  I ran her character.  *shrug*  Two characters, no big deal.  (I ran five in a campaign once, many moons past.  That was… interesting.)  I didn’t get her – or myself – killed, so I consider that an accomplishment.

This morning’s commute moved to the beat of my “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll” playlist.  A few songs came on that reminded me of people:

• Lola (The Kinks) – I’ve enjoyed this song for years, but the thing that always makes me chuckle about it comes from high school.  A student named Brian, one year ahead of me, held an assembly which was basically a mini-“concert”.  He played the piano… and guitar, if I remember correctly.  He closed out the assembly with a great piano rendition of Lola.  It went over pretty well with the student body; the administration…. had issues with it.
• Kiss Me Deadly (Lita Ford) – Johnny M.  He was one of the guys from my dorm, sorry “residence hall,” at Purdue.  And he had a HUGE mad on for Ms. Ford.  Massive.  Huge.  Ginormous, even.  I don’t know if it’s possible to wear out a CD, but I think that he tried to with Lita.  And he’d rock out to this song – and most of the others on the CD, too.
• Love Rollercoaster (both versions – The Ohio Players and RHCP) – I first heard the RHCP version of the song, when it was part of the Beavis & Butt-head Do America soundtrack.  I remember thinking, “How long could it have taken them to write this?!  Five minutes, if that?!”  Then, I discovered that it was a cover of The Ohio Players’ song… which meant that the only new part of the song was the “rap” that Anthony Kiedis does during the bridge.  Right.  This reminds me of a former postal coworker, Chad.  We would often share a tape player or CD player at work – it was good for saving on batteries and getting some variety in what we listened to.  Even when I wasn’t listening to the same thing as him, I could tell when this song came on because he’d lean way back in his chair and his typing – already rather fast – got even more fast.

This morning also started in the SLC office, which is almost never a bad thing.
Stray Toasters

• I, once again, managed to not spill my mocha on the way in.
• Sisyphus
• Last night, I went to a local grocery store to pick up a package of razor blades.  Actually, I wound up going to two stores – one was out of them.  *grblsnrkx*  At the second store, I found the razor blades… locked behind a plexiglass barrier.  Ô.õ  ?!  I don’t think that I’ve seen that before.  And it was just the blades.  The razors – including the multi-packs and some of the more expensive hand razors – were sitting out in the open.  Big as day, twice as bright.  It shocked me to also note that that locked up the razor blades… but left the condoms out.  Maybe they are more worried about kids going emo than the local birth rate.
• He’s a little bit afraid of dying
  But he’s a lot more afraid of your lying…
• 
• Gear Clock
• I saw this article and the first thing that came to mind was: “What would George Clinton have to say about that?”
• I’m craving cheese fries and prime rib from Outback.
• Finally, the perfect lamp for the chiropractor – Mortal Kombat fan – on your Christmas list.

Back to the mill.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 29 May 2007
The first thing that went through my mind when I was typing the date was: “Tuesday is Blues day.” Bonus points if you remember what that meant.

A/another short week begins. Amen.

My mother’s going in for surgery this afternoon. From what I understand, it’s not a big deal, but it could/will prevent a much bigger deal. When I called her to say “Hi” this morning, she was in the salon, preparing to get her hair done. Before… going… to…. *sigh* Yeah. That’s Mom. Kris is going to call me, post-op, to give me the low-down on how it went and how Mom’s doing.

The commute was, for the most part, good. There were a couple of monkeys who made me wish that I had shock collars or a cattle prod, but the rest of the… huh, “a barrel” really is one of the names for a group of monkeys… anyway, the rest of them were fairly docile. This morning’s musical oleo came from my Rush playlist. (I’ll avoid making any other bad “Rush hour” jokes, other than that one.):

• Cold Fire
• The Spirit of Radio
• Tai Shan
  
• Grand Designs
  
• Animate
  
• Freewill

That made dealing with the road monkeys a little easier, too.

Stray Toasters

• I had a cinnamon roll and a frozen mocha… which I managed to get into the building without issue this morning.
• The Politics of Dancing
• 
• Go, Pacers!
  (Huh…? They aren’t in the playoffs? Oh. Nevermind, then.)
• “Less Human Than Human”
• Does anyone remember Gorf? I used to love that game.
• As His Chocolate Holiness, I think that Derek deserves elevation to a position above “Acolyte.” Possibly even something above “Priest.” My inner anarchist – which in this case may be “my inner Antichrist” – wants to make him “Bishop,” just because of the fact that we are in Utah.
• 
• Alter Ego: author’s audio slideshow of gamers and avatars
• Death by Pillsbury
• I have made references to satisfying my inner Kryptonian/Daxamite while taking my morning and afternoon constitutionals. This morning, I came up with a variation on that theme: Who are solar-powered heroes/villains in the MU/DCU? I came up with the following:
• Superman
• Supergirl
• Mon-El (M’onel / Valor)
• Andromeda
• Any other Kryptonian or Daxamite you’d care to name
• The brothers Summers: Cyclops and Havok (I’m not sure abot Vulcan, as his powers haven’t been fully explained.)
• Bizarro, I would assume
• SunspotI’m sure that I’ve missed a few, but those were the only ones who came to mind.
• ::: CLASSIFIED :::
• 777-9311

Namaste.

Sunday: coda
I accomplished one of the things I had intended earlier today: I made it to IKEA.

Also on the list were: drawing (, I’ll let you know when I get started on that pic… which should be tomorrow morning) and going to the grocery store.  Those two things went *pfft* because I decided to stop by and see Kate, Perry and the kids.  Time well spent… and I can still do the other things tomorning.  I also had dinner with at Sampan.

This evening, looking for something to do, I decided to check out Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.  I have to admit that it wasn’t the movie that I was expecting.  I felt that Dead Man’s Chest (or “Pirates 2: Electric Boogaloo”) was a decent movie… but it suffered from sequel-itis, to me.  And scenes like the swordfight-on-a-waterwheel – all forty-five minutes of it (yes, I know that it was shorter than that, but it just seemed to go on forever) – seemed like they were trying too hard.

I didn’t get that feeling from AWE.  The story actually moved.  And, I was especially taken with the opening scene: The subtle, somber-to-almost-uplifting defiance of the crowd was handled very well.  Yes, I can understand some peoples’ comments about too many interweaving plots, but I don’t feel cheated.  And, probably most importantly: The movie surprised me.  In more than one spot.  Just when I thought I’d come up with “viable solution x” to a problem in the movie, they pulled a Kobayashi Maru and came up with a different answer.  I’m not going to spoil the movie for those who haven’t seen it, but I will note that viewers should stay through the credits.  Additionally, there was a trailer for The Golden Compass before AWE that looked rather interesting.

Stray Toasters

• I have just confirmed (once again) my geekiness: In the new issue of LEGO Magazine, they have a list of winners of their LEGO Clubhouse Building Challenge.  Quite frankly, they had some good nice concepts.  My first thought after looking at it: “I wonder if I have enough bricks to do Legion HQ…?“
• Homework sucks: The case against homework
• By way of Derek: Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels
• While web-crawling, I came across The Greatest Harry Potter Theory Ever?  It makes a couple of interesting points…
• LEGO.com Star Wars Homepage
• Since I’ve already indirectly referenced Mr. Shatner, I’ll go ahead and link to William Shatner: The Dancehall Remix
• Skidmarks 3: Burnin’ Assphalt – Silly, but amusing stop-motion movie.
• I thought that this was funny: Ten New Rock n Roll Ice Cream Flavors for Ben & Jerry
• Tyranist, click here.
• They should release Pirates of Dark Water (1, 2, 3) on DVD.  Wait… maybe not.  I remember how much I anticipated the release of Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1, 2, 3) on DVD and how poorly the animation and looping held up.  Maybe they should just redo both series.
• I’d buy a ticket to see this.
• and , click here.

Namaste.

Friday – 25 May 2007
Aside from dropping my mocha – 23½ ounces of pure frozen mocha goodness – on the way into the building this morning, it’s been a good day. Quiet. Only a couple of very small fires to put out. And, I got a headstart by starting the day in the SLC office.

But there is still that whole “I dropped 23½ oz. of frozen mocha goodness” thing. *sigh*

Last night, some of the Clitorati got together for dinner at Olive Garden. I had one of the new featured dishes: Stuffed Chicken Marsala. It was rather good. I recommend it. After dinner, I went home, with the intent of checking my email and then spending some time on the mean streets of Paragon City. I made it as far as checking the email and starting the CoH loader. While waiting for a new patch to be applied, I went into the bedroom and stretched out on the bed, ostensibly “just for a minute.”

Three hours later…

Yeah, the only thing left to do at that point was turn off the lights and go to bed. And that’s what I did.

Stray Toasters

• I have spread the Gospel According to IKEA to and onlyaly. They have seen the light. *genuflect*
• knows of my… affinity… for IKEA. We were talking yesterday and this came up:

[15:23] asdf_cat: so i’ve realized something that might be a serious problem.
[15:23] shadorunr: ?
[15:23] asdf_cat: you.. drive by IKEA twice every day.
[15:23] shadorunr: Yeah.
[15:23] shadorunr: I know.
[15:24] asdf_cat: that just doesn’t seem safe for you or IKEA.
[15:29] shadorunr: http://www.applegeeks.com/comics/viewcomic.php?issue=165
[15:29] shadorunr: It’s kind of like that.
[15:30] shadorunr: http://www.applegeeks.com/comics/viewcomic.php?issue=166
[15:30] asdf_cat: yeah. a problem!
[15:31] shadorunr: Potentially.

• Shortly after this conversation, I remembered that my weekly Status Report was due. And, since it has to go to Mr. , I attached the following to my report. And it took almost NO time to come up with. Apologies to Misters Lee, Lifeson and Peart…

We’ve taken care of everything
From food to eat
To sheets you clean
And hooks on which
Your wet linen can dry

Poäng for all, Amon for one
Put together
Groove and tongue
Lack – tables or shelving
Hung up high…

We are the priests
Of the Temples of Sweden
Our great furniture
Fills the hallowed halls.
We are the Priests
Of the Temples of Sweden
Sofas, beds and lights
Are held with in our walls

• Derek sent me a link to this story, with the following commentary, which made me laugh:

[16:44] Derek: the title made me laugh more than anything
[16:44] shadorunr: Wow.
[16:45] Derek: now we know who let those mother freaking snakes on that mother freaking plane

• just sent me a link to following “news story” (link below) from Utah ABC4. Could they sensationalize this any more?! Or researched it any less?! Monkeys.

[14:54] janietrain: You should be so rpoud of your locals.
[14:54] shadorunr: Hiya.
[14:54] shadorunr: Um…
[14:54] janietrain: http://www.abc4.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=65333
[14:54] shadorunr: MD or NC locals?
[14:54] janietrain: Utah locals
[14:54] janietrain: Check out that video.
[14:54] janietrain: You shall laugh until you pee.
[14:55] shadorunr: Very little that they do makes me proud.
[14:55] shadorunr: 🙂
[14:55] shadorunr: *watches*
[14:55] janietrain: hehehe
[14:55] janietrain: This is possibly the most out of touch, reactionary thing I’ve ever seen in the history of TV news.

• J.A.F.O.
• Eric sent me a link to a story on NPR called ‘Rethinking Thin’ and the Myths, Realities of Dieting. It’s about a book by Gina Kolota. When I read her name, the first thing that came to mind was…

If you like Gina Kolota
Getting caught in the rain…

• Demented kids’ book photoshopping contest
• 
• Steampunk turntable

And I’m going to hit “Publish” before Firefox decides to firmly insert its head up its ass. Again.

Namaste.

Thursday – 24 May 2007
Another day at the desk, but yesterday’s excursion was a nice break to the middle of the week. This morning’s commute was relatively painless, and it was made better by the fact that Nomad seemed to be in a good mood:

• Billy Ocean – Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car (which reminded me of… this, again)
• The Wiseguys – Start the Commotion
• Snoop Dogg ft. Bootsy Collins – Undercova Funk
• Outkast vs. Modjo – The Way You Move
• Stevie Wonder – Superstition
• Atomic Kitten vs. Geri Halliwell – Ladies Night
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Soul to Squeeze
• Girls Aloud vs. Madonna – Some Kind of Beautiful Stranger
• Rhythm Heritage – Theme from S.W.A.T.

Then, I got to work and found the following on my dry-erase board:

…which made me nearly double over laughing when I figured out what it was. For those who need a translation: “…just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen.”  Now, I just need to figure out who put it there.

Namaste.

< groove>

• David Bowie – Modern Love
• Prince – Starfish and Coffee
• Jonni Lightfoot – WindowSill

< /groove>

What’s on your playlist today…?

Monday – 21 May 2007
Another week begins.   A short week, although I’m not sure how short it will be:  The Temple of Sweden opens on Wednesday and I think that I want to be one of the early morning teeming masses.  If that’s the case and I wind up taking the day off, I may work a full 8 – 10 on Friday.  We shall see.
Yesterday was very lax.  Uber lax.  Lax-tastic.  I went for a drive up through Parley’s and Emigration Canyons; I hadn’t done that in a while.  I capped it with a trip to Jitterbug.  I headed home and made an amazing discovery:

As a Green Lantern in training, I’m pretty familiar with the uses of willpower.  With proper focus, you can use it to create pretty much anything.  (Yeah, there’s a good reason that they call GL rings “the most powerful weapon in the universe.”)  For the past few months, I had taken it for granted that the items around my keyboard and monitors were being held up through force of willpower alone.

I was mistaken.

There was actually a desk under the accumulated debris.  The desk is still there; the debris is not.

The Scales of Justice
The Hand of Nefer-Tem spent some time in Paragon City.  The person leading the team decided to run one of my missions.  Great!  The more, the merrier.  Apparently, I should have said: “The more, the deadlier,” because we got our collective recta kicked.  A lot.  So much so that the team abandoned the mission and disbanded.  Oh, well.  I led a small group on the same mission a little later.  Yes, we died a few times… but we cleared the mission.  Now, I just need to clear that 13K of XP debt…

Stray Toasters

• I have Goldfish.  Both pretzel and cheddar.
• The Reverend Al Sharpton is in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain today, meeting with members of the LDS Church – trying to (re)build some bridges after a few… less-than-thoughtful… remarks he made over the past few weeks.

  I think that they should have him meet with members of the clergy and the laiety.  And my top pick for the secular member for him to talk with: Gladys Knight.

• I wasn’t sure if there would be one, but I was glad to see that Wikipedia does have an entry for “…said the Actress to the Bishop.“
• …and then, there’s always the Brian Bolland poster.
• galilieo’s head was on the block
  the crime was looking up the truth
  as the bombshells of my daily fears explode
  i try to trace them to my youth

  then you had to bring up reincarnation
  over a couple of beers the other night
  now i’m serving time for mistakes
  made by another in another lifetime

• Poang
• Duran Duran White Lines
• :  Thanks!  That made me smile.
• …which reminds me:  While having a comics-related conversation with Tyranist and Jason earlier, Tyranist said “Stop…” to which I replied “Hammertime!”  And then, a horrible image passed through my head:  Thor, swinging Mjolnir, doing Hammer’s “Chinese Typewriter” dance.
• 
• NOTE TO SELF: Northern Strike
• Topsy-turvy Bus

Back to it.

Namaste.

Saturday – 19 May 2007
WHY was I awake at 8:06 AM?!  There’s no discernable reason that I’ve come up with, so far.  None.  But, there I was -  my time in The Dreaming at an end.  Although, given some of the dreams I’ve had lately, being awake isn’t such a bad thing.

Yesterday was a good day.  Because I didn’t sleep well/much Thursday night, I stopped for a triple-shot laden cup of frozen mocha goodness on the way to work.  I got to the office, put out a few small fires, did some reading and then the day was done: The IT department had “offsite training” – lunch at Cafè Trang and Spider-day Night Fever Spider-Man 3.   After the movie was over, a couple of guys asked what I thought of it; I repeated what I had said a couple of weeks ago: “It wasn’t Amazing.  It wasn’t Sensational.  It wasn’t Spectacular.  But, it was fun.”  A couple of them looked at me and asked: “You saw this already!?  Why did you see it again?”  My answer was simple: “Because I didn’t have to pay for it.  And I can spring for a bucket of popcorn for a free movie.”  (I did kick myself for not taking my refillable cup, though.)  After the movie, I stopped by to see Kate, Perry and the kids for a bit.  Then, I was off to dinner with Jenn at Yamato.  Teriyaki beef with sushi… which turned out to be pretty tasty California Rolls.  I also had a couple of pieces of Ika (squid) nigiri.  Then, back to ‘ders for Clitorati.  But, by the time I got there, the party had already moved to Applebee’s.  But, I ran into Gin and Roger, a couple I know from Jitterbug; I talked with them for a few minutes.  As I was getting ready to head out, showed up… so we headed to Cheers: North to hang with everyone else.

Did I mention that I still have no idea why I was up so early this morning?  I did?  Oh.  Alright.  Just checking.

The only thing on the day’s agenda was Tristan’s birthday party this afternoon.  Operative word: “Was.”  Seems as though I may be heading to the zoo shortly – Liz wants to go, I have an open schedule and I haven’t been in a while.  After all, it’s the zoo.  Speaking of which, I need to make a foray to the Living Planet Aquarium – I want to see how it stacks up against the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Hmm… since I’m going to the zoo, can I use “monkeys!” as a tag for this post…?  Oh, what the Hell.  Why not?  It’s my blog.  And, just like Bobby said: “It’s my prerogative.”

Stray Toasters

• I have coffee.  All is becoming right with the world once more.
• UTFO
• “Fuckmuppetry.”   (And, no, this is not an Avenue Q reference.)
• Tyranist and I were discussing this the other day: While we realize that flashy costumes are part and parcel of the four-color comics superhero world, why don’t more heroes wear costumes/outfits that are easily replaceable?  Something off-the-rack, for example.  Look at how often a hero’s costume gets torn to shreds in the heat of battle.  Wouldn’t it be much easier to pop into Kohl’s or The Gap or Dillard’s, pick up a new shirt (or jacket or pants) and get back on the job?  Instead, they either have to whip up a new costume or go see their tailor/costumer and wait.  (Of course, no one ever waits in comic-time, but you know what I mean…)
• : I don’t know if you’ve gotten into HeroClix, but has a new item about the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes set, if you’re interested.
• There were a few videos I wanted to look for on YouTube, but I can’t remember what they were.  Frustrating.
• 

Zoom!

Namaste.

A few things that crossed my path in the past few hours:

• posted a link to the new Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix trailer.
• Four-year-old drummer
• A retcon of Of Mice & Men… with Superman and Bizarro.  (watch the entire clip, even after the credits)

And with that, I’m ghost.

Thursday (coda)
The work day ended.  Blah blah blah.

I came home, cooked, watched two… two… two! episodes of CSI:.   Yadda yadda yadda.

Four-Color Coverage
Wow.   I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d done one of these.  Let’s get rolling:

• The Ultimates 2: Issue 13 – It’s been… months… since the last issue of The Ultimates came out – something on the order of four to six months, I think.  But, it came out.  And I bought it.  And… and… and… yeah.  So, let’s say, hypothetically, that you’re going to invade America.  Let’s say that you’re going to send in legions of troopers, some metahumans… and the Norse God of Lies, just for good measure.  It should be a piece of cake, right?  Roll in, snap ’em off a little something and…. voila!  New land acquisition!  Right?  Right?!  Wrong.  Oh, so very wrong.  Because, you apparently forgot about Captain America and his intrepid band of heroes.  Oh, and that Norse God of Thunder.  Six months in the making… and worth the wait.
• Ultimate Fantastic Four #41 – The UFF versus Diablo.  Time travel.  Alchemy.  Magic.  Science.  And a new look for The Thing.  The only thing (no pun intended) that would have made it better would have been if Ben had said, “What a revoltin’ development!”  Oh, well… can’t have it all, I guess.
• Ultimate X-Men #81 and #82 – Sentinels, Morlocks and Beast!  Oh, my!  Wait… Beast?!  Didn’t he die about 30 issues back?!  *blink blink*  Okay.  Fine.  Moving on… I’m not sure about this title.  It seems to have lost… something.  I know people who practically say that Robert Kirkman can do no wrong.  I’m not necessarily of that opinion.  Yes, he has shaken up the status quo.  He’s pulled rabbits out of hats.  He made the book interesting… for a while.  But, I fear that my time with this title may be approaching an end.
• The Mighty Avengers #2 and #3 – What happens when Tony Stark’s armor reshapes itself into the newest incarnation of Ultron… with Tony in it?  This.  Wait…  Isn’t…um… wasn’t…. Tony a… guy?!  And why does he… she… it… look like… The Wasp?!  Oh, boy.  So, you have Ultron, the Mole Man and a bunch of the Mole Man’s creatures duking it out with the newly-minted Mighty Avengers.  In midtown Manhattan.  This brings to mind two words: “Collateral damage.”  And, there was a lot of it.  But, this is what people pay for: A book with people in costumes beating on other people in costumes.  And, as an added bonus: We find out who’s a Level Ten Agent with S.H.I.E.L.D. and just how much power that person potentially wields.
• The New Avengers #30 – More backstory on how the team wound up in Japan and their encounter with The Hand, led by Elektra.  Readers also learn who the new face is behind Ronin’s mask.  On the down side: I’m sorry, but Leinil Yu’s artwork isn’t really doing anything for me; it’s almost enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story.
• Uncanny X-Men #486 – “The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire” comes to a close in this issue.  And it goes out with a bang.  The X-Men and the Starjammers fight against the Shi’ar Imperial Army and the Imperial Guard.  And, Vulcan lashes out and kills [spoiler deleted].
• Green Lantern #19 – What do we know about Star Sapphire?  Not enough, apparently.  This issue serves as a history lesson.  We learn a little more about the “emotional spectrum” of the DCU (Green for willpower, Yellow for fear): We see that Violet represents love… as (mis)understood by the Zamarons.  We are shown how the Star Sapphires – yes, plural – choose their hosts and discover their roles, relative to the Zamarons.  I’m still getting used to Daniel Acuna’s artwork.  It’s not bad… in fact, it reminds me of Stuart Immonen’s early work in Legion of Super-Heroes, which also took me a while to warm up to.
• Justice League of America #8 and #9 and Justice Society of America #5: “The Lightning Saga” – Wow.  Seriously, wow.  This storyline is supposed to cement the ties between the JLA and the JSA… and tie their legacies to the Legion, as well.  (So you know I was hooked from the get-go.)  Seven Legionnaires trapped in the 21st Century.  For an as-yet-unrevealed mission.  Long-time Legion readers will recognize certain items that appear in the third chapter  of the story.  Hint: The last time we saw these items, it involved a dead Legionnaire.  I think that my favorite exchange, so far, comes in Chapter Two, between Superman, Stargirl, Red Tornado and Cyclone:
  Stargirl: I’d never heard of the Legion of Super-Heroes before today.  Who are they?
  Red Tornado: The Legion is a team from the 31st Century made up of representatives from dozens of different alien worlds.  They stand as a symbol of unity in a universe plagued with separatism and xenophobia.
  Superman: They were my friends.
  Cyclone: Wow.  You had a lot of friends.
  
  (click image for larger picture)
  Superman: I didn’t for a long time.  When I was your age, there weren’t any other kids around that could fly.
  Stargirl: I can’t even imagine you as a kid.
  Superman: You two are lucky to have each other.
  Cyclone: Totally.
  Superman: My powers were hard to get under control when they were developing.  I broke a boy’s arm playing football when I was twelve.  For years, the only people I could be myself around were my parents.  Then one day, these three showed up.
  Stargirl: Saturn Girl?
  Superman: Cosmic Boy told me when I was older I’d become the inspiration that would help found the Legion.  They brought me to their future to make me an honorary member.  They had a clubhouse.  And “flight rings.”  Every single one of them could fly.
• Astonishing X-Men #21 – Joss Whedon is writing a book that lives up to its title: “Astonishing.”  The X-Men are on Breakworld to stop a prophecy from occuring: A prophecy that foretells of Colossus destroying Breakworld.  A world where almost every living creature wants Colossus dead.  On sight.  Bargains are made.  As are new discoveries.  And a couple of shocking revelations, too.  All-in-all, this was a solid issue with great art.  Whedon and Cassady will be a tough act to follow.
• Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #29 – We finally learn the reason behind the Dominators’ attack on Earth.  Through a bit of a history lesson, it is tied in nicely with the mid-90s Invasion crossover/mini-series.  And there’s a major tie to 52.  And there’s a lot of fighting.  A lot.

Stray Toasters

• I should have been in bed hours ago.  Oh, well.
• Street lockdowns proposed for Baltimore  WHAT?!?
• By way of : Worst Movie Scenes Ever
• Dwim sent me a link to this.  Make of it what you will…
• Marvel Comic artist defends suggestive statueette of Spidey’s girlfriend
• 
• North Korean rollercoaster
• Chinese crime blotter reports recreated as art photos

Namaste.

Thursday – 17 May 2007
Post-work yesterday, I (finally) went to pick up my four-color crack… for the past two or three weeks. Yeah. I needed my fix. I didn’t get everything, just the important stuff. Okay, the really important stuff. And, Dave was kind enough to save the Free Comic Book Day items that I had requested… which is good, because he apparently ran out of stuff quickly. AND… I even got the limited edition FCBD plastic crack: Batman.

After that, back home for a bit and off to dinner and a movie with Liz. Tres Hombres. I need to remember to travel with Tums – the food was tasty, but it came back with a bit of a vengeance a few hours later.  *sigh* The movie was Disturbia. I enjoyed it. I would call it “a thriller,” but I fear that a certain Tyranist would pelt me with office supplies over the cube walls. The movie did a good job of building suspense and holding it. I even jumped a time or two because I didn’t see something coming. I give the movie a thumbs up with an okay. It might even make it into the collection someday… And, there was a life-sized, 3-D Silver Surfer… mannequin/standee in the lobby.  It’d make a great lawn ornament: “Oh, sure… anyone can get a cement statue; we decided to do something different!”
Three days and change down… one to go. This morning started, once again, in the SLC office. Followed by another trip to the caffeination dispensary. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• I’m craving crab cakes. From Phillips, of course.
• Woman survives internal decapitation
• Shucky Ducky quack quack!
• Quiz: Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?
• Matt – who shall hereafter be occasionally referred to as “Dwim,” – pointed me in the direction of Chris Dimino’s Cuckoo Clock… based on The Shining.  Check out some of his other stuff, too.
• More scary old ads about Lysol: Nazi babies and Spider-Crotch
• 
• Microsoft to Dump 32-Bit After Vista
• 2 Legit 2 Quit (Hey! Heeeey!)
• Usenet is my friend.   It brought me more episodes of Legion of Super Heroes.  *genuflect*
• Guy who remodeled his flat to Star Trek specs finally sells it

Just getting back from the gym; it was good.  Very good: Three sets of 200.  Ten reps each set.  Hoo-AH!

And now, food.

Namaste.