Random Access

Thursday – 28 May 2009
Another NBN Thursday in the valley. So far this one has been quiet; let’s hope it stays that way.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched The Taking of Pelham One Two Three; I wanted to see it before the remake is released. For a movie that’s thirty-five years old, it was good. Very good, indeed. So good that I’m planning on finding a copy for our movie collection. For those unfamiliar with the story, it tells the tale of four men who stage a daring middle-of-the-day hijacking of a New York City subway and the NY Transit Authority police officer who has to deal with the situation. It was well-paced, well-thought out and (with a couple of minor exceptions) well-acted. It will be interesting to see how things in the new movie are changed to compensate for the changes in technology – computers, GPS, cell phones – in the past 35 years.

Stray Toasters

• How Comic Fans & Shops Are Stereotyped
• …speaking of which, new comics come out today! (But, I’ll probably wait until tomorrow to get mine.)
• Flying in comfort: How do the major airlines stack up?
• The trials you are now facing
  They are not greater than your will
  For there is nothing under heaven
  You cannot overcome
  See the door that lies before you
  And know this too shall pass
  The confrontation of your fears
  In strength drawn from the past
• Banks find ways to boost fees; checking accounts latest target
• Manga collector faces 15 years in jail because some of his comics included sexual images of children
• 
• Toys R Us acquires high-end retailer FAO Schwartz
• Babylonian Heritage
• The Best of Morrison/The Worst of Morrison

Ready, set… go!

Namaste.

I need to take a break.
That said, I shall take one… now.

So far, the day’s been rather good – that’s a pleasant change from yesterday’s tension. As an added bonus, I’ve been able to get some reading done. That, in turn, has given me a few ideas to adopt that should help improve some of our processes.

Today was also Sushi and Comics Wednesday. Today’s fare was good – I chose a Seattle Roll and a Spicy Tuna Roll. No comics today, as the holiday pushed shipping dates back one day. So, I’ll probably wind up hitting Dr. Volt’s on Friday.

Stray Toasters

• iTunes has been providing me with a good workday music selection.
• Same Stuff, Different Day – an interesting look at how/why comics get rebooted/retconned
  After reading this article, I had an apostrophe epiphany: The whole “Who’s a better GL: Hal or Kyle (or John Stewart or Guy Gardner)” argument – and associated viewpoints – is the same as the “Who’s a better James Bond” question.
• What do you get when you cross zombies and LEGO? Zombie Apocafest 2009
• What do you get when you cross Dance Dance Revolution with Bach’s Toccatta and Fugue in D?

• I say, nothin’ comes from dreamers but dreams
  I say, sittin’ idle in our boat
  While everyone else is down the stream
  Nothin’ comes from talkers but sound
  We can talk all we want to
  But the world still goes around and round
• Comic Book Resources had a trailer for Surrogates, an upcoming Bruce Willis movie. It looks interesting…
• Buffy minus Joss?

That’s good for now.

Back to the grindstone.

Wednesday – 27 May 2009
Yesterday was a long day. A little before lunchtime, I had a meeting that should have lasted 10 to 15 minutes. Operative words: “Should have.” Instead it ran closer to thirty and wound up becoming one person’s “rage against the machine.” That led to a second meeting – which I didn’t have to attend – which, in turn, led to a third meeting (yep, I was in this one). Between meetings two and three, Wes and I went to the gym. I needed a good way to work off some of the frustration and irritation of Meeting #1. Yesterday’s workout included:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Rotary Chest: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Dumbbell Curl (with Shoulder Press): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
• Push-ups: 2 sets/15 reps

Post-workout weight: 186.6 lbs.

It was a good workout – I was sufficiently tired (and a little sore) when we were done.

After work, I headed home for a bit and then headed over to Chris’ for a game of HeroClix with him, and an as-yet-undetermined fourth player. We decided to go with 600 points  I’d been itching to run a Legion team for a while, so I did:

• Cosmic Boy
• Karate Kid
• Lightning Lad
• Saturn Girl
• Supergirl and
• Young Superman Superboy

Supergirl brought the much-vaunted “Superman Ally” team ability – “Stealth? You have stealth?! WHAT stealth?! Did you not see the big red ‘S’ on my chest?!” The Legion, being a team of Wild Cards, could all copy that team ability.  (“Yes, Batman, all of us can see you over there. You, too Black Canary and Green Arrow.”) brought KC Shazam!, The Mighty Thor and Energizer – he wanted to see how the big guns (Shazam and Thor) played.

As we were without a fourth player, Chris brought his tournament team (OOTS Batman, Green Arrow and The Flash) along with KC Superman. When we noted that our fourth had bailed on us, we chose to let Chris play at 1200 points, because 3-way battles kind of suck. He decided to bring more Justice League members, giving him 1200 points of JLA hurt. When I saw Chris’ lineup, I probably should have changed my team, but I really wanted to play the LSH, so I stuck with them… and then the beatdown started.

Opening moves were good, but the overwhelming force of Chris’ JLA team wore down Shazam… and Thor… and 2/3 of the Legion, before we called it quits. On the plus side, we took out… wait… we didn’t take out ANY of his pieces. No plus side. FAIL. (We did damage a couple of them, though! Pyrric moral victory? Silver lining?) After the game, Chris looked at his team – and the feats that he had on them – and realized two things:

1. We pretty much didn’t stand a chance against that strong of a single-themed team
2. He used too many feats on his figures

There’s a “10% Rule” in HeroClix that says that 10% of your points can be assigned to feats. He was “a little” (about 40 points) over that total. I don’t think that it was a total game-breaker, but it might have affected a couple of things.

This morning, I woke up stiff and sore. As I said, yesterday’s workout was a good one. I also realized that I woke up a few times during the night due to workout-induced achiness in my back and shoulders. But, it’s good training and it builds character… I guess. All-in-all, so far, it’s been a good and relatively quiet day. I like that.

Stray Toasters

• Dance Dance Immolation – “Dance Dance Revolution. With Flamethrowers. Pointed at You.”
• Final Word: The rebirth of cool suits him to a T
• Salt Lake Valley Health Department: Public Health Inspections
  See how your favorite local restaurant scored.
• Bayou: chilling ghost story, a graphic novel about race and haunts in the deep south
• Think you know Ensign Chekov? Guess again.
• We stand our ground, we are young, we rely on our defiance just to lose what we have found
• 
• For – Fear and Loathing: The Board Game
• Burris on wiretap: ‘Keep me in mind’ for Senate seat

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Monday – 25 May 2009
Today is Memorial Day. Thank you to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives – or portions thereof – to ensure our safety and security.

After we got back from IKEA, I went to hang out with Perry for a bit. I came back home and hung out while SaraRules started dinner: Barbecue chicken, green beans and cornbread. Logan came over for dinner and we watched Transformers, as kind of a refresher before the new movie comes out. After Logan left, SaraRules and I watched a few epsidoes of Justice League before she called it a night.

Human of the Day
Today’s HotD citation goes out to the servicemen and women – past and present – of the Armed Forces, with a special nod to friends and family.

Four-Color Coverage
I finished reading Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, a hardcover graphic novel I picked up a couple of weeks ago, on Saturday. It’s a horror/suspense story about the Locke family, who moves to Lovecraft, Massachussetts, following the death of the father and move into the house where he grew up. A house full of secrets – some fun and good, but others dark and almost palpably evil. The story primarily follows the Locke children and their attempts to not only reconcile their father’s death, but to also cope with the new changes in their lives.

This volume collected the first six issues of Locke and Key and was a solid read. I didn’t find the story wholly predictable and enjoyed the twists that the author, Joe Hill, threw at the reader. If you’re looking for a comic that’s not your usual “cape-and-tights slugfest,” I recommend giving this book a once-over.

Stray Toasters

• Obama pays tribute to all vets – Rebels and slaves, included
• Powell: In GOP, says party must be more inclusive
• Today is also Towel Day.

  

• Superb fan-made Green Lantern movie trailer
• Royal chauffeur suspended after alleged palace security breach
• I have at least four theme ideas that I need to pare down to one idea for a ‘Clix team to use tomorrow.
• In Civil War, Woman Fought for Freedom Like a Man
• , this one’s for you: Alaska Hosts Battle of the Beards

That’s a good stopping point.

Namaste.

Saturday – 23 May 2009
Last night, Jess’ family joined us at Clitorati. In fact, it was one of the largest turn-outs we’ve had in a very long time. It was quite a bit of fun; hopefully, Jenny and Julie will be at least semi-regulars. After coffee, many of us headed to get a bite to eat.

I had something of an epiphany yesterday, also. SaraRules’ family includes some “extended family” from when her father was previously married. This family includes the aunt and uncle we visited when we went to California in March. My epiphany: I realized that my extended family, in a similar manner, includes Jess’ family. That made me smile.

This morning has been lazy. Just the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I like it (uh-huh, uh-huh). SaraRules fixed blueberry muffins. We watched last night’s episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold… featuring Robin and the tail end of an episode of NCIS that we recorded. There’s a rumor that we might head to the gym in a bit. And we’re heading to see Terminator: Salvation in a couple of hours. Robots. Blowin’ stuff up. Win-Win.

Four-Color Coverage
This week’s haul was particularly good. So good, in fact that every book I picked up this week has earned at least a nod in this week’s Four-Color Coverage. With that in mind, let’s get it started:

• Booster Gold: 52 Pick-Up (TPB) – I’ve been a Booster Gold fan since the 80s, when the character was introduced. He was pretty much a mirror of the greed-hungry times: A flawed man with no future who came back to the past for the two-fold purpose of becoming famous and becoming rich. In the 90s, the character became more of a joke — still good-intentioned, but a little more… well… buffoonish, too. With DC’s 52 Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster looked like he was taking things more seriously again. After all, when you’re a hero from the future, you kind of have a lead on when some of the more serious disasters and tragedies will occur. Of course, this is still Booster Gold, so why not pick up a few accolades along the way.

  This trade paperback covers the first six issues of the new on-going Booster Gold series. It opens nobly enough: Booster trying to make amends… and earn his way back into the Justice League, many of whom still only see him as a glory-seeker. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be — Rip Hunter and the multiverse have plans for him. BIG plans. It turns out that Booster – because the world at large views him as a relatively incompetent clown – is perfectly suited to become a time-traveling guardian of the multiverse, correcting flaws in history, much akin to Dr. Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap. And you know what?  It’s a fun ride.
  

• The Brave and the Bold #23 – This issue features a… non-team-up of Booster Gold and Magog, heroes with very different methods and ideologies. And they are both attempting to difuse a hostage situation.
  
• Captain America #50 – Bucky is in a fight. Nothing new there. The difference is: It’s his birthday… and he’s feeling a bit nostalgic and introspective: About his time in WWII-era army. His time as The Winter Soldier. His time as the new Captain America. Now, only if these guys would stop shooting at him…
  
• Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #3 (of 5) – Reed Richards continues to search the Marvel Multiverse for answers as to why the Civil War failed to bring peace to Earth 616 as Norman Osborne and H.A.M.M.E.R. lay seige to the Baxter Building.
  
• Fantastic Four # 566 – A dead Watcher washes up on the shore of Thailand. Ben Grimm gets an unexpected comeuppance on TV. Dr. Doom is feted by the masses of Latveria as his master puts in an appearance. Many things are going on and it looks as though the FF is going to be heading down a bumpy road before things start getting better.
  
• Supergirl #26 – Cat Grant smells a story. The identity of Superwoman is finally revealed… and it only opens up more questions.
  
• Superman/Batman #60 – Superman and Batman are shunted into a world where things are a little “off” from norm. No one and no place is quite the same: Gothamopolis. The Justice Titans. Commissioner Perry White. Who’s behind it all? Stay tuned.
  
• Tiny Titans #16 – The Tiny Titans, under orders from Coach Lobo, race around the world. The winner is… [SPOILER DELETED].
  
• Uncanny X-Men #510 – Madelyn Pryor, The Red Queen… and Cyclops’ supposedly dead ex-wife, and her Sisterhood continue their attack on Greymalkin. Emma Frost gets a visit from [SPOILER DELETED]. The younger X-Men prove their mettle. And what was in the little silver box?
  

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: Hollywood eyes $70 zombie movie wowing Cannes
• Crawling Zombie Torso Gelatin Mold
• By way of : The Space Game, a tower defense-style game.

And… no gym.

But, we’re heading to see Terminator in a few.

Namaste.

Friday – 22 May 2009
It’s almost the weekend, and it’s a long weekend, at that. Win-Win. I’m Ivory Soap sure that there will be even fewer people than usual in the office today. I should have brought in my Xbox…

Last night, SaraRules and I had over for dinner. Ms. ‘Rules fixed spaghetti, with homemade sauce and garlic bread… and chocolate chip cookies! We also had a rather good Chardonnay from Sebeka Wines. We watched Planet Earth: Fresh Water and Food Network Challenge: Bartenders Battle as we ate. After each episode of Planet Earth, there is a feature called “Planet Earth Diaries,” in which they detail some of the methods used in filming that particular episode. In “Fresh Water,” there was a segment about The Amazon, in which they filmed pirahna during a feeding frenzy. The cameraman was in the water, just a few feet away from the frenzy… “shooing” away pirahna that roamed away from the underwater buffet with his bare hands. I made a comment to the effect of “I hope that they paid their camera crews really well for this.”

Stray Toasters

• Early Morning Dance Break (extended remix)
  • Mai Yamane & Seatbelts – Tank!
  • Blackstreet (ft. Mya and Ma$e) – Take Me There
  • Was (Not Was) – Walk the Dinosaur
  • Robbie Williams – Feel
  • The Cruxshadows – Carnival
  • Indigo Swing – Regular Joe
• Get The Hint’ mini sticky notes
• pointed out a couple of interesting items:
  • 100 Layer Cake and
  • Web site sparks creative ideas for city’s vacant lots
• Sherlock Holmes trailer released
• The title of this article says it all: Tim Gunn, Agent of Marvel… what?
• 15 Wonderful Uses for Witch Hazel
• Fliptop Twister
• Dan Aykroyd says ‘Ghostbusters 3’ may start filming in winter
• Celebrity Vampires
• 
• ‘Star Trek’ director J.J. Abrams on tribbles and the ‘Galaxy Quest’ problem
• Whites become minority in Kansas county
• Gadgets Gone Wild – Top 10 AIs Run Amok

And so it goes…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 20 May 2009
Last night, Chris came over to play HeroClix. We decided to just play a 1000-point free-for-all brawl. (Pictures here.)  Chris brought a five-man team, with a bunch of heavy-hitters; I fielded a ten-figure team, with a decent assortment of abilities. My entire game plan (can’t really call it a “strategy,” as it was based on accomplishing one goal) was based on something I’ve been wanting to try for a few weeks: Using two figures to telekinetically move a third figure into position to beat someone down. Badly. That’s exactly what I did:

• Turn 1: Green Lantern TK’ed Marvel Girl ahead of the main group.
  A few other figures advanced across the map.
• Turn 2: Green Lantern TK’ed KC Superman next to Marvel Girl.
  Superman picked up a heavy object.
  Marvel Girl TK’ed Superman further across the board.
  Superman picked up a second object and charged Proteus.
  Superman used Flurry (make 2 attacks) – missed the first one, hit the second one.

The look on Chris’ face when he realized what I was about to do was priceless… and, it was pretty much exactly the reaction I expected. I went on to have a few more really good dice rolls – while Chris’ dice were cold – before the tables turned. I wound up losing on points (by about 300 points), but percentage-wise, we did about the same damage to each others’ teams. We’ll be playing again on next Tuesday; I should start considering team options.

Stray Toasters

• For no reason that I can find, I’ve had Erasure’s A Little Respect running through my head at random moments. Again, I blame .
• posted a link to: 12 illegal immigrants found hiding in chemical tanker
• A century of most popular baby names
• Superhero cakes and more superhero cakes, although I don’t really consider Tom & Jerry “superheroes,” but there is a pretty cool-looking old school Legion cake in the group:

  

• …which leads into The Revenge of Young Darkseid very nicely, as well as these other Silver Age Elseworlds stories
• Microsoft downplays IIS Bug Threat
• Beyond the Fringe: From Purdey to the Rachel – 50 years of iconic hairstyles
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Country doctor uses household drill on patient’s skull
• Star Trek: What it teaches film makers about special effects
• By way of Dwim: President Obama Vetoes the Mutant Registration Act

Namaste.

Monday – 18 May 2009
Today is apparently International Museum Day.

It’s also a day that I’ve taken off from work. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing today… possibly a museum visit will be added to the non-existant agenda.

We didn’t wind up watching a movie last night, but we did manage to catch up on episodes of NCIS, CSI:, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold that we’d missed. While watching B:TBTB, I picked out Michael Dorn‘s voice as the main antagonist. (SaraRules looked at me a little askance, I told her that I watched a lot of Star Trek: TNG and DS9 and that Michael Dorn had done a lot of voiceover work.) I checked when the credits came on; I was right. Something that I wasn’t as sure of was the voices for Booster Gold and Skeets – they sounded like the actors who filled the roles on Justice League Unlimited. A couple of IMDb searches later and I had the answer. The roles were done by the same actors, Tom Everett Scott and Billy West, respectively.

Stray Toasters

• Sims Trek – A… trailer… of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, done with The Sims 3
• Handed Keys to Kingdom, Gamers Race to Bottom
• From the “Monkeys!” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” files: Robber uses banana as gun
• In search of Europe: Sweden (or “What can Europe’s politicians learn from Ikea?”)
• Christopher Walken: What I’ve Learned
• Mens Suit Buying Tips and Hidden Details to Find When You Shop for Clothes

Time to find some trouble to get into…

Namaste.

Friday: Coda
Earth was good. It runs for ninety minutes and follows the journeys of three animal families: Polar bears, elephants and whales. The imagery is stunning and deserving to be seen on the big screen.

On the ride home, SaraRules and I decided to (finally) break open the Planet Earth DVDs that she got me a few months back. We started with the first DVD, first episode: “Pole to Pole.” We were a little stunned to see footage that looked incredibly similar to some that we had just seen at the theatre. After that happened a couple more times, I consulted IMDb and discovered something: Planet Earth and Earth are, more or less, the same thing, with a couple of differences.  Basically, Disneynature is simply distributing Earth in the U.S., as it has been released in other countries as long as two years ago, by other local distributors. Other things I learned:

• Richard Attenborough narrated the original BBC version of Planet Earth, which is the version we own).
• Sigourney Weaver narrated the version which aired on The Discovery Channel, which is what we originally saw.
• There are (at least) three narrators for Disneynature’s Earth:
  • James Earl Jones, in the U.S.
  • Patrick Stewart, in the U.K.
  • Ulrich Tukur, in the German version
• The narration for Earth uses much/most of the text from Planet Earth.
• Earth “changes”/creates some of the story of the animal family seen in Planet Earth. Specifically, when discussing the polar bears – there are references to a father and his journey in Earth… that aren’t seen in Planet Earth…. or, at least not in the part we’ve seen.
• Earth simplifies some of the narration, making it a little more accessible to families and children, whereas Planet Earth takes a more scientific, “here is why/how this happens” approach.

On the whole, am I upset that we spent money to see Earth? No. As I said in the opening paragraph: It deserves to be seen on the big screen. And, I enjoyed it enough to recommend others to see it in the theatre as well. If it helps, think of Earth as a prelude or teaser to the more in-depth coverage provided on the Planet Earth DVDs.

After the movie, SaraRules and I headed to coffee. We hung out with some of the usual suspects, but were surprised, pleasantly so, to see Victoria and Jim (her father/Jess’ stepfather) come in a little while later. Coffee was good. Following that, some of us went to Applebee’s for dinner. Shannon, our normal waitress, had prepared something for us: A framed copy of Jess’ obituary. It was very sweet of her. After giving it to us, she asked what had happened and how — all she had known was that Jess was “sick,” but not to what degree; we gave her a rundown of the past few months. The company of friends was good, very good indeed.

Stray Toasters

• There is a new addition – or four – to The Covet List.
• Airman Spots Jetliner Fuel Leak at 35,000 Feet
• Girl Scouts have a Comics badge!
• Open Letter to J.J. Abrams About the Star Trek Sequel

Time to call it a night.

Namaste.

Friday – 15 May 2009
Another 9/80 Friday off begins. I seem to have slept well last night – that’s always a “good” thing.

After work, SaraRules and I went to Chris and Mary’s to celebrate Mary’s birthday. and , and and their kids were their, as well as Chris’ brother, Ryan, whom we hadn’t met before. It was a nice get-together… and, before all was said and done, we hammered out some rough details for another bad horror movie night. And… AND… Chris and I are playing dolls ‘Clix on Tuesday. Win-Win!

Stray Toasters

• My copy of Battlefield 2142 (for Mac) showed up yesterday. I’m REALLY rusty at that game.
• ‘Exiled for life’ in Somali camp
• Lauren Montgomery talks Green Lantern: First Flight and Victor Garber talks Green Lantern: First Flight
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Scouts training to fight immigrants and terrorists
• Texts From Last Night, by way of
• Personal Freedom, by State
• 
• …along the same lines, SaraRules has taken to watching Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?
• Adding Incompetence to Insult
• Was 1971 the best year to be born a geek? (I think they’re off by a year, personally)
• Texas Is Under Seige From Zombies!
• The Metropolitan Museum brings out American art again
• The All-Time Top 10 List of Best – and Worst – Mothers in Comics
• Ten Beautiful Computers

So far on the afternoon’s agenda: A trip to the gym and we’re going to see Disney’s Earth.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 12 May 2009
Today is apparently Limerick Day.

Yesterday, loonybin88, Sean and I headed over to the driving range at Old Mill for lunch. I had a few good  drives, but it was apparent that it has been “a while” since I’ve teed off. I foresee more trips to the range in the next few weeks.

Last night, SaraRules and I played Trivial Pursuit. She kicked my trash, eight ways from Sunday. Seriously. In about twenty-five minutes. We both started off slowly… then, next thing I knew, she had four wedges. I managed to get four by the time she got her sixth wedge, but then she headed for the center space and wrapped things up.

Stray Toasters

• In Turnabout, Iran Releases U.S. Journalist
• Before yesterday, it had been a while since I’d been to Broken Frontier; they’ve had a facelift.
• Mountain Game: Craig Adams’ Kurosawa-inspired Artsy designed, Alpinist
  (I actually own the movie that this was based on.)
• Their Name Is Legion
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: 747 sucks a baggage container into its engine at LAX
• Dear Spike, by way of
• Rachel sent me a couple of amusing items:
  • A quote from QDB and
  • A Shortpacked comic strip
• Thanks to Dana, from Galaxy of Comics, for pointing this out: Fathers’ Day: 2 Legendary Comic Creators Proud of WOLVERINE
• For , a couple of New Mutants-related articles:
  • New Mutants: Birth of the X-Babies
  • Mighty Week of Marvel #29
• One shot: Harvard College founder, UNSC soldier, HALO destroyer
• By way of : Vitamins Found to Curb Exercise Benefits

Quote of the Day
From an IRC conversation:

[23:23]  : blizzcon 2009 noncombat pet reward : grunty, the space marine murloc.
[23:24]  :

[08:26]  : nah, not going to blizzcon.  i was planning on buying the PPV broadcast on directv anyway though – grunty is an excellent bonus to go along with that. 🙂
[08:30]  Ahpuc: “grunty” ?
[08:30]  : The 8th Dwarf
[08:30]  : He was sick on the main day of filming, so they cut him out of Snow White altogether.
[08:31]  Ahpuc: Huh. I always thought the 8th dwarf was Sodomy, and they had to censor him out.
[08:32]  : Sodomy, or “Dom” as he was known in some circles, was replaced by Dopey… in an effort to make the movie more “family-friendly.”
[08:33]  Ahpuc: Family-friendly, because sodomy == contraception?
[08:33]  : Family-friendly as in “less therapy-inducing for small children”

Attack the day
Like birds of prey

Namaste.

Sunday – 10 May 2009
Happy Mother’s Day

Seeing Star Trek a second time was every bit as enjoyable as seeing it the first time.  (And I still want to see it in IMAX…) And, this time, I caught the reference to Captain Admiral Archer and Porthos. And, thanks to for posting a link to this, which I would have otherwise missed:

After the excursion, SaraRules and I had lunch/dinner at Porcupine Pub and Grill. As usual, the food (Cajun Chicken Alfredo) was quite good, as was the chocolate stout I had to wash it down.

Back at home, we lounged the early evening away, then decided to go for a walk around the complex. That wound up getting expanded to include a trip to Red Mango for dessert. We got back and I felt the yen to watch a few episodes of Justice League… and we did:

• Hereafter (Parts I & II)
• The Terror Beyond (Parts I & II) and
• Comfort & Joy

It was fun to see the original – and longer – episodes. SaraRules commented that she wasn’t aware that Hawkgirl was such a bad-ass.

This morning has been lazy. So far we’ve had breakfast, watched the tail end of the History Channel’s coverage of a Star Trek auction held by Christie’s Auction House and Thursday’s episode of CSI:.

Next on the docket: A trip to The Garden of SwEden.  Selah.

Namaste.

Friday – 08 May 2009
Today is my stepmother and younger brother’s birthday(s):

…and…

I slept poorly last night. I attribute it to the fact that I had to be up early this morning – earlier than usual – to get into the office early. The first few hours of sleep were alright, but from about 0430 on, it was rather touch-and-go. And that was annoying. But, here I am… with a large, triple-shot-laden frozen mocha to help me not rip peoples’ throats out make it through the day.

Nathan was also in early. We spent a good bit of time talking about the Star Trek movie, our likes and dislikes. As a bigger fan of Star Wars, there were a few things that he didn’t grok in fullness, but he thought it was a very good movie – enough so that he’s planning on seeing it again.  *nod* I approve of that.

Stray Toasters

• By way of comes: Ada Lovelace – The Origin
• National Guard to cut forces after recruiting creates surplus
• Minority youngsters dying weekly on Chicago streets
• Pope begins Mid-East pilgrimage
• Real supervillains don’t use CraigsList
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Chinese provincial government orders local officials to smoke more
• Zombie Snack Bib
• Disney stokes publicity engine with ‘Christmas Carol’ train
• Lady Liberty’s crown to reopen
• Rubik’s Cube Salt and Pepper Mills

Unintentional Porn Overheard at Work
They are still wiring in a few new electrical connections to finalize our server room upgrade. I just heard the following, between Mike (lead electrician) and Aaron (his assistant), while running new wire:

Aaron: Give me more, Mike…
Mike: Six inches more?
Aaron: Yeah, that’s good… whoa!  Whoa!  Stop!  That’s enough!

And, yes, it made my inner teenager grin like a fiend.

Have a great day!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 06 May 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I went to see Simply Ballroom, an exhibition put on by the Southern Utah University Ballroom Dance Company.

(Part of the reason we went is that the company’s director, Mark Baker, was in SaraRules’ MFA class.) It was a fun show – we’d seen some of the routines before, but there was enough new material to make it fresh. And, it was good to see Mark before the company sets off on tour.

Stray Toasters

• Apple Racks Up Gaming Patents
• For those of you who haven’t looked at “the fine print” in the “Legal Copy” Mac ad, here it is.
• Japanese mother seeks boxing record
• By way of comes: UK publishes list of ‘least wanted’ people
• Ginsburg: Court Needs Another Woman
• By way of NPR Music:
  • Mother’s Mix: It’s The Least We Could Do
  • Hard Up: Jazz For Empty Pockets
• From Trek to Terminator – Actor Anton Yelchin’s Big Month
• 
• Apple Snags Former XBox Exec
• I think that this is a pretty damned good review of Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds
• Tesla’s New York Laboratory Up For Sale
• A Conductor Arrives, With a Nymph Who Flees
• A History of Rogue

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Sunday – 03 May 2009
Yesterday was a long day on the road. SaraRules and I drove down to Cedar City for the CPVA Commencement at Southern Utah University. Rachel and Tyler were graduating from the MFA program; Tom’s younger brother, Scott, was graduating from the BA program… and I had completely spaced off the fact that Vince was graduating from the BA program, as well.  It was good to be able to make it down and see everyone. We also saw Mark, who was in  SaraRules’ class and who will be choreographing our first dance. Pictures here.

After the ceremony, we had a late lunch/early dinner at Cafe Orleans with Anne and Dominic, rising second years students in the MFA program. Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and Shrimp Etouffe. Delicious. After eating, we picked up a few things that SaraRules had in storage, got ice cream at the local Dairy Queen and then got on the road back to SLC.

Once we got home, the evening involved a lot of sitting on the sofa. I played a little CoH before calling it a night, too. And, I finally figured out where the Mac client stores screenshots. Thus, I present my new Peacebringer, Khnurn:

…and…

Today has been lazy. We watched a special on The History Channel called Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked, which covered the history of comic books. It was rather good. Next were a couple of rounds of a nine-ball pool tournament. And now, the Miami-Atlanta NBA playoffs.

…and in a few minutes, we’re heading out to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Yeah, I’d say it’s a good weekend.