Random Access

Tuesday – 07 Oct 2008
Happy Birthday to :

Last night, I hung out with SaraRules and her family and watched the rollercoaster (of love… say WHAT!?!) of a game that was Minnesota vs. New Orleans. Wow. There were a LOT of impressive plays in the game:

• Saints QB Drew Brees threw for 330 yards.
• Vikings QB Gus Frerotte threw for 222 yards and engineered a couple of impressive drives, despite taking a beating from the Saints’ defense.
• Saints’ RB Reggie Bush ran for a combined 176 yards, including two (2) punt returns for touchdowns.
• Vikes’ RB Chester Taylor (former Ravens RB) threw a touchdown pass
• And where did Vikings’ CB Antoine Winfield come from?!  He was everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Special teams?  POW!  Defensive line?  BAM!  In the Saints’ backfield?  Yep. He was there, too.

Of course, there were some miscues, too:

• Martin Gramatica’s off-the-mark field goals.
• The Saints’ problems with holding on to the ball.
• Drew Brees’ interceptions.

I just noticed that this week’s NFL passing leaders are Kyle Orton (CHI) with 334 yards and Drew Brees (NO) with 330 yards. Both of them were Boilermakers.

This morning, the alarm went off at 6:20. I did my level best to ignore it. That didn’t work, so I turned off the alarm and laid in bed, pondering the prospect of starting the day.

Somewhere between “pondering” and “starting the day,” I nodded off again.

This is why I have a secondary alarm. It went off. I got up. Yay.

Stray Toasters

• LEGO Eggo waffles.
• WizKids has posted the new Batgirl figure on the Arkham Asylum page, but there’s nothing about it in their news headlines.



• In a rather geeky moment, I realized that 2’x3′ Heroclix maps will fit under the glass top of my living room table.
• 10 IT Power-Saving Myths Debunked
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Monkey waiters at restaurant
• Farewell, Opus; Hello, Pete, the Perfectly Practical Pig

Quote of the Day
Today’s nugget of joy comes from an IRC conversation:

(08:54:52) Ahpuc: When you are sitting on an airplane next to someone who is too chatty, what’s your favorite way to end the conversation?
(09:21:36) : Headphones.
(09:21:55) Xeen: falcon punch
(09:22:37) : Or open up manuals on taxidermy… and tell them you’re looking for test subjects.
(09:25:53) *** scratches their head and goes “hmmm!”.
(09:49:27) Ahpuc: A friend of mine was near a chatty 65-70 year odl woman, she was going around to everyone near here, asking what they did, etc…Like meet-me-get-to-know-me day on the damned airplane.
(09:49:55) Ahpuc: When she got to him and asked what he did he said he ran a porn site, and that they were looking for models for some of the sennior citizen porn.
(09:50:03) Ahpuc: She shut up for the whole flight at that point. 🙂
(09:50:10) : nice. 🙂
(09:50:34) : porn’s a good choice for that. It’s enough to shut people up, but not likely to get you thrown off the plane/mobbed like the other likely answers to those questions.
(09:50:37) : Win.
(09:52:50) Ahpuc: I was thinking of riffing off Fight Club: “Insurance Adjuster for the airlines. Do you know how many of these planes actually crash every year, due to poor maintenance? I mean, if it’s not near a big city, they just cover it up, it never sees the press…This airline in particular is notorious for painting over holes in the cabin. Hmm…Does it feel drafty in here to you?”
(09:54:38) : “No english. Arabic?” *fiddles with a box cutter*
(09:54:50) : CHOSEN WEAPON OF MY PEOPLE, BITCH.
(09:54:52) *** has more coffee.
(09:55:45) ***Ahpuc kicks off the airplane.
(09:56:11) : at 30,000 feet? that’s harsh.
(09:56:24) : That was my other thought – just reply only in Arabic.
(09:57:38) : or Esperanto.
(09:57:49) : or swedish chef?
(09:57:53) : klingon.
(09:58:06) : or KKKKKKKKHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!
(09:58:24) : You could just stare at her. Really up close in her face. Wide eyes. don’t say anything.
(09:58:34) : only reply with direct quotes from Airplane!. “looks like i picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.”
(09:58:49) Ahpuc: Or reply only with Biblical quotations, carefully chosen for effect.
(09:59:13) : naa. just quote ricardo montalban at ’em.
(09:59:48) Ahpuc: Matthew 10:34 – Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Namaste.

Monday – 06 Oct 2008
Today is my father’s birthday.

His cards have been mailed and I have already called to wish him well today.

Last night, SaraRules and I went over to Chris and Mary’s for (Bad) Horror Movie Night. In SaraRules’ words: The goal isn’t to watch good horror movies, it’s to watch all horror movies. We watched Flight of the Living Dead (Think Day/Dawn/Night/Any-part-of-the-day of the Living Dead meets Snakes on a Plane and you get the idea) and The Shadow Walkers, a “We tried to create genetically engineered warriors and something got out of control… oops” movie. Flight wasn’t horrid; Shadow Walkers was – it was almost like watching Deep Blue Sea, where you started rooting for the shark about halfway through the movie.

Stray Toasters

• This weekend was grey and rainy (until yesterday afternoon, at least).
• This weekend was also LDS General Conference weekend.
• This weekend was also, on a more personally important note, marked my 10th year behind the Zion Curtain.
• By way of SaraRules: Back to black: Phoenix Dance resurrects the race issue
• From NPR: For Pioneering Black Theater, a Season-long Salute
• Sinfest: Damn It Feels Good to Be a Banksta
• By way of NPR Music: Songs for Ill-Advised Office Romances
• Chick Lit that Features Heroines, Not High Heels
  
• Barney Miller
• eBay to Drop 10% of Its Workforce
• Facebook vs. MySpace: Discuss.

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 Oct 2008
Last night was rather quiet, which was a decidedly pleasant change of pace from the way the day started. After getting home and winding down a bit, I headed back out to pick up my copy of Iron Man. While at Best Buy, I noticed that they had a few DVDs that I was interested in marked down, so I picked them up.

We didn’t have our Scion game so after returning home, I logged into City of Heroes for a bit. I was asked to join a mid-30s level group as a sidekick and we took on the Circle of Thorns. I cut my gaming a little short, as SaraRules stopped by for a while. After she left, I logged back in and ran a couple of Ouroboros missions. After that, I read Watchmen until I fell asleep.

Stray Toasters

• Rush has a song called Nobody’s Hero. If you “mis-listen” to the song, it almost sounds like they are singing “Nobody Zero,” which strikes me as a great name for a street-level, Batman-like hero. Well, maybe more like Kick-Ass or Twilight Guardian or some other non-powered, average Joe who decides to fight evil. But, it’s also got me wondering: What other song lyrics lend themselves to being turned into possible superhero names?
• On last night’s Late Show with David Letterman, Josette Sheeran was one of the guests.  She is the Executive Director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme. After discussing the WFP’s mission, Dave posted a URI for donations: http://www.wfp.org/lateshow/
• While watching for SaraRules to drive past – and watching the traffic along this section of 215 – three parts of the media-cloud in my head all came together:

1. Ants Marching, by The Dave Matthews Band
   

   Driving along this highway
   All these cars and up on the sidewalk
   People in every direction
   No words exchanged,
   No time to exchange when
   All the little ants are marching
   Red and black antennae waving

2. Synchronicity II, by The Police
   

   Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
   Contestants in a suicidal race

3. The theme from Speed Racer (the 60’s cartoon, not the recent movie)
   

   He’s off and flying as he guns the car around the track
   He’s jamming down the pedal like he’s never coming back
   Adventure’s waiting just aheeeeeeeeaaaaad

• And since this is now stuck in my head, I’m going to inflict this on share this with you:

• From NPR Music: Mambo! Afro-Cuban Takes on Jazz Classics
• Do you has?!

Back to it.

Namaste.

After this morning’s madness, things have calmed down significantly. My personal threat Level has moved down to “Guarded” from “Severe.”

It was nice to get through the rest of the day without wanting to dismember service techs. Or coworkers. Or random strangers.  I skipped lunch, but that just meant that I got to go home earlier. And, as I have food in the fridge: !TANSTAAFL.

Stray Toasters

• I’m picking up a pair of Billy bookcases (Billys? Billies?) from and OnlyAly in a bit. I guess that means I’ll have to prepare for less “theory” and more “practical application” of where to put them.
• By way of Stephanie: Kimono’s Townhouse



• Game Review: LEGO Batman
• My copy of Iron Man is waiting for me at the local Best Buy.
  Online ordering + In-Store Pickup = Win.
• Moo!
• And, as it (somewhat) follows the theme of the ‘Toaster above: Guitar Heifer
• Spicy chili kills amateur chef

And tonight: Scion.

*voop*

Tuesday – 30 Sep 2008
It’s always never a good sign when you get to work and the first thing that the first two people you see say to you is: “The network is down.”

Likewise, it’s definitely not a good thing when the second person adds,”…and I didn’t find that out for myself, [our President/COO] came and asked me about it.”

*grblsnrkx*

I looked at the systems I knew to check and they seemed alright. Next, I started making phone calls. Everything seemed “green” at that point. Then we hit a system that wasn’t looking too happy. And, of course, it was a Linux-based OS… and I’ve been elbow-up in Windows for the past few months. *sigh* So, a call to was in order; fortunately, he was already aware of the issue and was on his way in.

Welcome to Tuesday morning.

Stray Toasters

• In honor of this morning’s problem: The Website Is Down

• I’ve had enough “Do you know the network is down?” questions that I’m considering changing my job title from “System Engineer” to “The Shell Answer Man.”
• Last week, I picked up the TPB of Ultra, by the Luna Brothers. It’s good – very good. It was what introduced me to their work. (I just wish that Girls had been as good…)
• And then there was the issue with the phone system… and the smug service rep who decided to tell me “…you can’t use [type of phone] with [type of conferencing unit].”  Despite the fact that: A) It says that you can in the user’s manual and B) we were sold the unit on the basis of using it with our current phone system.
• 

Perhaps taking an early constitutional is in order.

Namaste.

Monday – 29 Sep 2008
Another work week begins. I think that I’m settling in to getting up around 6:20… I just wish that I’d stop waking up at 5:20. *shrug* Oh, well. At least I’m able to get back to sleep.

Today’s another fun day in the mines, but tonight’s MNF match-up has the Ravens taking on the Steelers in Pittsburgh. One way or the other, I’m going to get (at least) two phone calls about the game.

vs.

Speaking of football, what was the deal with the Eagles-Bears game last night? I expected a decent game, but I wasn’t expecting The Turnover Bowl.

Stray Toasters

• Goodbye, Columbus Wachovia.
• From both the gaming and the Covet List categories: Arkillo and Amon Sur
  
• Why We’re Here (.pdf)



• Music Box Dancer
• Comics Reporter: The 50 Things That Every Comics Collection Truly Needs
• 
• She’s chocolate in my pocket
  She’s gum in my hair
  She’s the kind of girl that drives you crazy
  But I don’t really care
  She’s a superstar on my stage
  She the sunlight in my shade
  She’s the sweetest scent that fills the air
  You will always find her there
• Kenneth Branagh… wants to direct… the movie adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Thor?! WHAT?!?!

Bang Zoom.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 24 Sep 2008
Some of my recent forays into The Dreaming have been odd. This morning, my subconscious apparently found a rather twisted path along the wildways in a dark area of The Dreaming… and skipped merrily along its way. Thus, I’ve been awake (for the most part) since 5:30 this morning, thanks to a lovely dream about my apartment being broken into. It was “a little” disturbing. After proving to myself that it was just a dream – but being too keyed up to sleep – I wound up sprawled on the couch watching SportsCenter. I apparently dialed down enough to nod off somewhere around 6:10. Just in time for the alarm to go off at 6:20. Yay.

Last night was very uneventful. I played my guitar for the first time in weeks. Adam called while I was cooking dinner – baked chicken over spaghetti, with a side of spinach; he had picked up The Invincible Iron Man animated movie that came out last year and had a couple of questions about it and how it related to the mainstream Iron Man. That led to questions about Watchmen – he’d seen the trailer and wanted to know if it was based on a comic. I told him that it was and that he should check it out. He then suggested the new Fox series, Fringe, to me. The show happened to be just starting as I finished cooking, so I watched it. It was good, but it may take a week or two to fully grow on me.

I also read two-and-a-half TPBs of Gotham Central (1, 2, 3). I had read the first and second ones before, but it has been a few months; I’d forgotten their storylines. I like what I’ve read of the third book, which I will probably finish tonight.

Stray Toasters

• Jeff came by – to ask if SaraRules had already gone by (she had) – and noticed a pile of hard drives near my desk. He asked what we were planning on doing with the dead ones. I told him that we were keeping them aside and preparing them for destruction/disposal. He said that if it involved thermite or shredding, he wanted to watch. That reminded me of a video of a BMW getting shredded. I contacted Oracle for information on the video, which was on YouTube. But, there was a link to the main shredding site, where I had originally seen the video – SSI: Watch It Shred!
• Blend-Tec: Will It Blend?
• By way of SaraRules and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: PETA Urges Ben & Jerry’s to Use Human Milk
• By way of : Former National Review Editor Endorses Obama
• I think that I need this t-shirt.
• SaraRules, Tyranist, and could probably use this t-shirt.
• What is the nature of an IT worker?
• For the gamers: World’s largest wargaming table art installation

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 23 Sep 2008
Guess who’s having Eggo LEGO waffles for breakfast.
Mm-hmm, that’s right.
I am.

Last night’s tourney was a wash: Only Chris and I showed. So, Keith basically rolled the dice: I “won,” Chris got Fellowship. The prizes were a Johnny Storm LE ‘Clix. With the “formalities” over, Chris, Keith, Nano and I played a four-way free-for-all. Since it was a just a fun game to kill some time, I tried a random team:

• Batman
• Captain America (Ultimates)
• Deathstroke and
• Psycho-Pirate

Chris rolled with his usual Batman team, with a special guest star:

• Batman
• The Flash
• Green Arrow and
• Johnny Storm LE

Nano played with:

• Batman and Robin (dual figure)
• Big Barda and Mister Miracle (Green Lantern)
• Green Arrow

Keith brought the Fantastic Four (starter set), including the Sue Storm and Johnny Storm LE figures. I have two things to say about this team:

1. Watching someone play the FF as a team – and play them well – is a thing of beauty.
2. Getting beat down by that same someone/team is a bittersweet pill… though still fun.

I think that my dice thought that we were playing a game of “Suicide ‘Clix,” because I couldn’t hit my target numbers half the time. I wore down a couple members of the FF, but Keith wound up taking me out. Chris and Nano duked it out on the far side of the board, with Chris winning that fight. Then it came down to Chris and Keith. They danced around the playing field a bit, but Keith finally wound up taking Chris out.

After the game, I headed over to SaraRules’ to hang out with her and her family and watch Monday Night Football. (Four shots at a two-point conversion – FOUR – and you THROW it?! ALL FOUR TIMES?!?) Her parents just returned from a ten-day Oregon excursion and it sounded like they had a lot of fun. And, as an unexpected bonus, they brought back some smoked Brie.

Back home. Chilled on the couch… started nodding off on the couch… called it a night. However, before I hit the rack, I watched a little of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. One of his guests was Marianne Jean-Baptiste, from Without a Trace. I don’t think that I’d ever heard her speak out of character, so I was “a little” surprised to hear a British accent.

This morning, I saw SaraRules drive by as she headed to work.
In a rare occurrence, she apparently saw me – and Jeff, a coworker with whom I was talkin – as well.

Stray Toasters

• Bit is speaking!
  Her first word: “Dada”
  Bot is not so amused.
  From last night’s conversation with :

  11:00 hahaha bot is ragingly annoyed
  11:00 and thusly i am ragingly amused
  11:00 bit’s first word today
  11:00 or in the words of rana
  11:00 I SPEND ALL DAY WITH THIS CHILD
  11:00 I CHANGE HER DIAPERS
  11:00 I FEED HER
  11:00 EVERY
  11:00 DAY
  11:00 EVERY NIGHT
  11:01 AND WHAT’S HER FIRST WORD?!!?
  11:01 DADA!!!
  11:01 lol life is good

• A new trailer for Quantum is Solace is out.
• SaraRules pointed out a video that I neglected to check out from yesterday’s Muppet ‘Toaster:

  Watch it all the way to the end…

• Some 640,000 Texans still without power
• Did Howard Mackie and John Byrne plan on pulling a “One More Day/Brand New Day” kind of stunt in the 90s? You bet they did. Details here.
• 15 train robbers killed by poison gas
• MarknTyme: You’ll have to check this out when you get home: Habenera

And that’s that… for now.

Namaste.

Monday – 22 Sep 2008
Another work week begins.
And it’s a grey, wet morning.

Yesterday was a 2/3 good day, in terms of football:

• The Ravens beat the Browns 2.0, in Baltimore.
  28 – 10, and Ed Reed had yet another INT for a TD.
• The Dolphins beat down the Patriots, 38 – 13.
  Yes, those Dolphins and those Patriots; Ronnie Brown was a machine yesterday.
• The Panthers, however, took one on the chin from the Gus Frerotte-led Vikings.

There was a lot of good football yesterday, but I don’t think that anything amused/pleased me as much as seeing “Big Ben” Roethlisberger and the Steelers drop a game to the Eagles. Of course, ANY Steelers loss makes me smile, but the Steelers never found the end zone and were held to two field goals. We’ll see if they’re still playing this “well” next week, when the Ravens make a trip to Steeltown and face them.

SaraRules and I finished The Orphanage last night. Good movie, but not quite what we were expecting. Given the Guillermo Del Toro name, I think that we were expecting a little more “horror.” There were definite horror elements, but I wouldn’t call it a “horror movie.” I’m sure that Tyranist would disagree with me, though.

Stray Toasters

• Math is hard. Let’s go shopping!
• Kate Perry != Jill Sobule
• Sexist pigs earn more than normal men
• I’ve read some complaints about the “I’m a PC” commercials that MicroSquish is now running. Personally, I find them amusing… and far more palatable than the Bill & Jerry commercials. What I would really love to see would be a new wave of Apple “Mac vs. PC” commercials where they start off:
  

  PC: I’m a PC.
  Mac: I’m a PC, too… but I’m running Mac OS X.
  PC: *sputter* What?!
  Mac: Yeah, I’m a PC. I just happen to run a different OS. But, when you really look at it, our hardware isn’t really that different.
  PC: But, that’s just going to confuse people. Just say you’re a Mac and be done with it. People don’t want to have to think.
  Mac: *stares at PC* Are you saying to just keep the sheep quiet and happy…?
  PC: *deer in headlights look* No… no! I’m not saying that. I’m saying that you’re just going to… confuse them.
  Mac: So… they’re too slow to understand the difference between hardware and software?
  PC: I…. You…. oh, forget it! *throws hands up in the air* There’s just no talking to you!
  Mac: Actually, there are lots of ways! Wireless networking. Wired. Even good, old-fashioned SneakerNet.
  PC: *rolls eyes and walks off-camera*

• SaraRules just pointed out the following: Microsoft is pushing Seinfeld away too soon
• 
• Feds Tighten DNS Security on .gov

Today: Work… work… work…
Tonight: ‘Clix tourney.

Back to it.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 16 Sep 2008
I just had the old NBC tagline: “Tuesday is Blues day” run through my head. For those of you not old enough to remember, that was how NBC used to promote its series Hill Street Blues.

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I watched the Philly-Dallas shootout. The first half of that game was just a romp. I’m not a big Dallas or Philadelphia fan, so I didn’t really care who won, but some of the plays – or lack thereof – were just… sad. The second half looked more like an NFL game.

Stray Toasters

• Reginald Hudlin leaves BET Networks
• “I’ll be all the props!”

• posted a link to The Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator. I had to give it a whirl. Here’s what it came up with:
  Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Slaughterhouse 5 and Invader Zim. The story should use getting sucked into the “real world” as a plot device!

  Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

• Just Past the Horizon: Wonders Never Cease
  • What’s What with… Lynda Carter
• By way of Wired: New Aluminum MacBook Shipping Already?
• A Girl’s Guide to Dating a Geek
• By way of :
  • 
  • 

Quote of the Day
From World of Warcraft to Prince… gotta love IRC:

(08:46:40) Ahpuc_: You know the worst part about having so many damned alts? Having to read the class-specific patch notes for EVERY CLASS.
(08:47:21) : heh
(08:47:28) : Gotta play ’em all!
(08:47:31) : Gotta play ’em all!
(08:49:04) Ahpuc_: Well…basically, yeah. 🙂
(08:49:08) Xeen entered the room.
(08:49:31) : PokeWoW
(08:50:05) Ahpuc_: I may be fooling myself, but I think I play my rogue better because I also have tanks and healers, and I understand what they are focused on better as a result.
(08:50:12) : “Level 58 Troll Shadowknight, I choose you!” *throws ball*
(08:50:36) Ahpuc_: Deathknight, you mean? Not til the next expansion is out. 🙁
(08:50:42) : Death.
(08:50:45) : Shadow.
(08:50:47) : *shrug*
(08:50:48) : 🙂
(08:51:12) Ahpuc_: If you don’t know the difference between death and shadows, I don’t want to be near you on a sunny day. 🙂
(08:51:30) Ahpuc_: Like the old joke about the difference between a man and a shower. 🙂
(08:51:42) : There are shadows in the rain, according to Sting, too…
(08:51:55) Ahpuc_: And death in the rain.
(08:52:14) : Death of a Salesman… in the Rain.
(08:52:18) : Wait.
(08:52:20) Ahpuc_: Hmmm…But doesn’t Death cast no shadow?
(08:52:55) : Death of a Salesman in the Purple Rain, a new heart-touching movie… coming soon from Oxygen
(08:52:59) Ahpuc_: And shadows never die, they just move, or expand to envelop the entire hemisphere at night.
(08:53:15) Ahpuc_: Don’t touch my heart!
(08:53:19) Ahpuc_: BAD TOUCH! DO NOT WANT!
(08:53:31) ***Ahpuc_ goes into cardiac arrest.

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Monday – 15 Sep 2008
Another day at the grindstone. It’s been fairly painless for a Monday… so far.

Stray Toasters

• It seems as though the NFL, in its infinite wisdom, has given Baltimore and Texas a “bye” this week, rather than have them play the game that was Ike-delayed from yesterday until today. The game has been rescheduled for 09 Nov 08.
• United Airlines doubles second-bag fee to $50
• 
• By way of BBC News: Haven’t we seen this election before?
• Russian prosecutors in bid to ban South Park
• sent me links to a couple of shirts on Threadless that we both find amusing:
  • Amazon Addiction
  • A city built on rock and roll would be…
• Star Trek‘s Takei marries partner
• Bank of America is set to take over Merrill Lynch. Wow.
• Microsoft says IE8 phoning home is “pretty innocuous”

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Sunday – 14 Sep 2008
I had a ‘Clix tourney yesterday afternoon. I tied (2-1) with another player, but he KO’ed more figures – higher total points – so he won the day. I took the Fellowship prize, so I got a Sue Storm Limited Edition figure. Not bad.

After the game, I had dinner with SaraRules before heading off to Chris’ for the first Dark Heresy game I’ve been to in… probably a month to a month-and-a-half. Back home… to find that SaraRules wasn’t feeling well. We decided not to go to breakfast and called it an early night.

This morning, we got up and watched football. SaraRules fixed breakfast while we flipped back and forth between the early games. After the first group of games, we headed to the Garden of Sweden – she wanted something for her office and I wanted to look at some new desk and bookcase options. After that (and lunch), we went to the Utah State Fair – Attractions. Exhibits. Food. Livestock. People on parade. Rides. The usual. And cotton candy. Sweet, sweet cotton candy.

Back home for the late game and then over to SaraRules’ parents’ for a bit.

All-in-all, it’s been a good weekend. Can’t really ask for more than that.

Stray Toasters

• I saw this shortly after waking up this morning; I think that this is my new favorite Sinfest cartoon.



• We watched The Running Man tonight. I haven’t seen that in many, many rains. And it’s so ripe for being MST3K’ed, too. And we did.
• DIsk Inventory X
• I showed Logan, SaraRules’ younger brother, a picture of the Burger King mascot from when I was a kid. I do believe that he found it just about as creepy as the current mascot, if not more so.
• By way of BoingBoing.net: Sarah Palin: Spammer and Digital Secrecy Scofflaw
• , did you find a copy of Watchmen?
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Mom accused of stealing daughter’s identity to attend highschool and become a cheerleader
• The new Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads are… something.
  (And “good” isn’t the word I’m looking for.)

Namaste.

It’s been a bit of a busy day.
That’s not a bad thing.
It’s job security.

For some reason, despite being busy, the day seems to be creeping past. Oh, well.

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules:
• By way of : Olbermann Slams Republicans for Exploiting 9/11 (video)
• Putting Lipstick on a Pig
• For Meliko and Tyranist: Fear And Hatred: Van Lente & Calero on X Men Noir
• Op/Ed: Forget the Rumors, Will Smith Should Be Captain America
• Coming soon from ITV4: No Heroics

• The Kid’s Comic Book Reviews – Comic book reviews… by a seven-year-old
• From NPR: Early-Onset Schizophrenia Has Never Been More Adorable

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 September 2008
Two down.
One in the chamber.
Two to go.

So far, it’s been a quiet morning. I’m not complaining about that. I have a few tasks on my “to do” list that should keep me occupied – if not “busy” – for the better part of the morning.

Last night, I headed to Far West for a HeroClix tourney… but the judge didn’t show. So.. um.. yeah. Chris, Ma’afu, Nano and I just decided on a two-on-two game. 1000 points per team. We played on the Castle Doom map that came with the Fantastic Four Starter Set. I am not a fan of that map. In fact, I’d say that it’s in my top three least-favorites. Ma’afu and Nano brought some bruisers to the dance; Chris and I brought Perplex and Outwit users. Chris lost a couple of figures in the fight, but we wound up winning.

After the game, I headed up to visit SaraRules for a bit before heading home. And, in the course of talking about quilting, I think that I’ve been drafted to help her with at least one upcoming project. That should prove interesting.

Stray Toasters

• Diversity Milk. That still cracks me up.
• Thanks to , I have a new icon:



• How to Dress Like a Rich Man in a Recession
• From NPR Music:
  • Make Peace, Make Jazz
  • Radiohead: Live in Concert (downloadable podcast)
• Mommy, Why Is There a Server in the House?
• 
  …and…
  
• From BBC News: The white priestess of ‘black magic’
• To Odin, Thanks For Everything! – Loki

Namaste.

I don’t often read Penny Arcade, but with nuggets of joy like this one, I might have to add it to the daily queue: