Monday: Coda
I had a quiet night in. I watched a couple of episodes of L&O: TNG L&O: SVU and last week’s episode of CSI:, which included a cameo from MythBusters’ Adam and Jamie. And, I read a bit more of Guards, Guards.
Stray Toasters
How did I not know that there’s a fourth Terminator movie, starring Christian Bale, coming out next year?
A tip of the hat to for the inspiration for tonight’s post’s title.
It’s going to be in the 80s in Florida this weekend.
Hugh Laurie (you know… the guy who plays Dr. House on House) is on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I’m not really sure that I could have pictured him as Perry White in Superman Returns.
Sunday – 04 May 2008
Last night was the last gathering (sort of) for the 2008 MFAs… at least until they come back for their Capstone defenses in August. Rachel, Josh, Tyler, Lish and a couple of his friends from NC and Anna came over and hung out. It was far more low-key than other gatherings have been, but nevertheless it was fun.
This morning was quiet (all of the roommates have already moved out) and lazy. Today, we are going to start packing up SaraRules’ things and moving them into her storage unit.
So far, everyone I’ve talked to has greatly enjoyed Iron Man. I’m looking forward to seeing it again… and it seems as though I apparently missed a reference to The Mandarin in there somewhere.
By now, most people know of Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance in the film. Most Marvel fans know Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. When Marvel created their “Ultimate Universe” nearly ten years ago, they needed a Nick Fury for that setting; they based Ultimate Nick Fury‘s look on Mr. Jackson.
Iron Man has grossed over $100M (USD), so far in its opening weekend.
By comparison, Made of Honor, which also opened this weekend, grossed $15M (USD).
loonybin88 and I had off-site training today; SaraRules went with us. Part of the training included Iron Man.
Holy cow!
The movie was FUN.
And it was pretty damned good, too.
I give it a definite thumbs-up with an okay… with a “Sweet action,” from SaraRules.
Tony Stark
Makes you feel
He’s a cool exec
With a heart of steel.
As Iron Man,
All jets ablaze,
He fights and smite’n
With repulsor rays!
A blaze of power!
Iron Man!
Amazing armor!
Iron Man!
Thursday: Coda
Post-work, I got stuck in the northbound crawl to Salt Lake. There was an accident a few miles north of where I got on the interstate, so what should have been a 30-ish minute drive turned into a nearly hour-long trek. I don’t know “when” the accident occurred, but by the time I got to the scene, the vehicles were on the side of the road and being loaded onto tow trucks. But that didn’t mean that everyone had stopped rubbernecking. Quite the opposite, in fact. Yay for road monkeys!
I met SaraRules, in town for a group presentation, at her parents’. The presentation went well, she said. We hung out with her family for a while before heading to coffee – it was nice to see and hang out with the usual suspects. Tomorrow, after work and a certain “team-building” exercise (involving personal armor with offensive and defensive capabilities), we’re heading to Cedar… where we’ll hook up with her parents again. Saturday, she graduates with her MFA.
Stray Toasters
The classic Jonny Quest still kicks much ass. Yes, there are some outdated concepts and stereotypes, but a lot of today’s cartoons could learn a lesson or fourteen from this toon.
Sarah Chalke, who portrays Dr. Elliot Reid on NBC’s Scrubs, was also (the second) Becky Connor on Roseanne.
Most of you have undoubtedly heard the phrase “…a quantum leap.” Many people assume that it means a major change. It doesn’t.
In real physical systems a quantum leap is not necessarily a large change, and can in fact be very insignificant. A good example of this can be taken from the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom, where the observed energy shifts associated with shifts of different quantum states (quantum leaps) span a wide range from large to small (when compared to the energy required to completely free an electron). In the popular sense, the term is usually applied to mean a large or significant change, which is thus not strictly correct.
Decline Oblique Crunches: 1 set / 10 reps per side
The inside of my shoulder started to twinge a bit during the first set of bench presses, so I decided to back off on the weight. That seemed to help some, but there was still a little sore-/tenderness. I’ll be keeping an eye on that.
Pre-workout weight: 172.8 lbs.
Stray Toasters
Last night, while waiting for dinner to cook, I read this week’s four-color haul. There were a LOT of reveals in different books:
Action Comics
DC Universe 0
The New Avengers
And not just throw-away stuff, either. Some good solid “Oscillating blades, meet fecal material” setup for this summer’s events.
pinged me this morning to say that he had just seen the new trailer for The Incredible Hulk. As he put it: “…didn’t realize there was going to be Hulk-on-Hulk action” I explained that it was actually The Abomination… but that it technically was Hulk-on-Hulk action.
I am going to miss CSI: tonight, as SaraRules and I are going out with friends, but this amuses me:
As I neither saw a mushroom cloud nor heard calls for evacuations from the valley, I am going to take it on good faith that now has his PS3 and GTA4… and that no innocents were unduly harmed in the process of him acquiring it. The guilty, however… well… sometimes, you just have to set an example.
Speaking of GTA4: For everyone who is so worried about its content, repeat after me: “It’s a GAME. I really should get over it.”
I decided to take a slightly different tack on my PHP program. I’m seeing some progress, but I am still getting hung up on trying to pass one – kind of important – variable to a form. I may wind up posting to a few forums and see if anyone can point out where I’m stuck on stupid.
Speaking of forums, I decided to do a little digging and look up a nagging question about the Power Cosmic team ability and Outwit, namely: “Can Outwit negate Power Cosmic?” And it seems as though it cannot. Which means that Galactus should have been a lot more of a force to reckon with than we were playing last night. (When I called Chris with the new information, I could almost picture the wince.) Good to know for next time.
I got an instant message from someone in our California office… saying that their Internet connection was down. An instant message. (Their intranet still worked.) But, I don’t know what she expected me to do from almost 1000 miles away, other than pass the message along to someone else. Which is what I did. I really need to work on that “wiggle your nose and magically fix problems” power.
transitive verb 1a: to give free rein tob: to take unrestrained pleasure in :gratify 2a: to yield to the desire of :humor<please indulge me for a moment>b: to treat with excessive leniency, generosity, or considerationintransitive verb: to indulge oneself
That’s exactly what I did this morning: Indulged myself with staying in bed. Forty-five whole extra minutes. Alarm? Yep, it was set. And it went off. A few times.
Didn’t matter.
Didn’t care.
This morning was about enjoying the last vestiges of the first full good night’s sleep that I’ve had in almost a week. And it was totally worth it. As an added bonus, I got to spend a little more time with SaraRules. Can’t beat that at twice the price, either. Sure, it meant a later start to the commute. And a later end to the work day, but like I said:
Didn’t matter.
Didn’t care.
Workout
Coming back to a workout after a week off is not fun. Today was no exception. We pretty much did (most of) last Monday’s routine:
Sunday – 27 April 2008
All-in-all, it’s been a quiet day. Not a bad way to spend a day…
I slept in this morning.
Talked with my mom and uncle.
SaraRules and I went on an excursion to St. George.
When we got back, SaraRules did homework and… I forgot that her complex hates City. Instead, I read a couple of Gotham Central trade paperbacks:
and
(click the titles for more information)
I have to thank Markin’ Time for his suggestion to pick these up. I’ll have to pick up the rest of the series… even though, thanks to a couple of other DC series, I know what happens to a couple of the characters.
Saturday – 26 April 2008
It’s always that last 10-15% that gets you. Thursday and Friday, I felt phenomenally better than I did Wednesday. But, still not completely better. Today, I would actually say that I’m in the 95-97% of normal range.
There’s still this… one… thing: Gas.
Seriously. I’m thinking of changing my name to Exxon. I don’t know how or why – it’s not like I’ve eaten a whole lot in the past three days, but here it is. Yay.
I miss having an appetite.
Aside from that, I’m doing well. I made it to southern Utah without any problems or monkeydom. I always consider that a “good” thing. Yesterday/last night was pretty low-key. Today, I think we’re heading to the Braithwaite to check out the Senior BFA Portfolio Show. Other than that, no idea what’s on tap for the day.
Stray Toasters
SaraRules made me a Mickey Mouse pancake for breakfast, since I haven’t been feeling well. How cool is that?
I found two items on Comic Book Resources that are nice takes on Marvel’s “Secret Invasion”: This article, by Eric Larsen and this comic by Chris Giarrusso
Friday – 25 April 2008
Last night was very low-key. After work, I paid a visit to my four-color crack dealer. There were a few books – and one figure, Scarab Assassin – in my hold… so I treated myself to a box of plastic crack. I pulled a couple of decent figures:
Not a bad take, I have to say. In fact, it was better than a couple of the books. Especially Countdown to Final Crisis: 01. If you’re going to wrap up a year-long, weekly series… you’ve got to bring your “A” game. The only – ONLY – thing that could pull this out of the fire (and NOT make if feel like a complete waste of time/money) would be if they pull out all the stops and answer a LOT of questions next week in DC Universe 0. If. Big “if.” Right now, I’m not sure how likely that is to happen… but I can hope, can’t I?
This isn’t to say that I know anyone who enjoys being sick, but I am just asserting that as a preface to the following:
I started feeling a little “off” yesterday around lunchtime. While it wasn’t doing somersaults, my stomach felt a bit queasy. I finally decided to go to lunch around 1:00. Since I was working in the north office, I figured that I’d just go home, take a nap have something light to eat and then head back to the office.
“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” as the saying goes.
I got home and had a difficult time falling asleep. It felt as though as soon as I did, the alarm went off. BAH! I was also feeling a bit cold. I figured that a hot soak would help. It did. Kind of. But I still wasn’t feeling top-of-the-line when I got out, so I crawled back into bed.
Three-and-a-half hours later, I felt a little better. Not great, but enough to function to head back to the office long enough to gather my personal belongings and head back home. Which I did. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things that would be considered “bland food.”
I got home, put away the food and took up a position on the couch. I watched S.W.A.T. and most of Law & Order before it felt like I needed to spend a little “quality time” in the sanfac. (Bonus points to those who know where ‘sanfac’ comes from.) The chills that I had felt earlier began to give way to sweats. Yay! When I felt up to it, I decided to have another hot soak session. That seemed to help a bit. After finding something comfy – and warm – to put on, I put on some soup, grabbed a Gatorade and resumed my post upon the couch. I watched a bit of David Letterman and Jonny Quest. I don’t remember seeing the end of Jonny Quest…
…I don’t really remember much of anything until The Snorks came on. I checked the clock. 6:00 AM. Hm. Okay. I ignored The Snorks – and pretty much everything else – until the alarm went off at 6:35. I headed for the bedroom, turned off the alarm and sprawled across the bed. I fell asleep again. When I finally woke up, I noticed something: I was feeling much closer to baseline “human” than I did last night. I started milling around the apartment. There was a definite improvement in the way I was feeling. A definite fringe benefit of my metabolism (“ferret on crack,” as puts it) is that I don’t tend to get really sick very often; and when I do get sick, I don’t tend to stay sick very long. And, to be honest: Last night/this morning was one of the times I was very glad of that. I’d say that I’m feeling probably 85-90% of normal.
Tonight, I’ll probably wind up on the couch again, watching CSI: and generally taking it easy. I think I can handle that. Besides, I have Jell-O! “There’s always room for Jell-O.”
Stray Toasters
loonybin88 pointed out this article to me yesterday. My response: “It’s a fucking bear! DUH!” Let me first say that I feel badly for Stephan Miller’s family’s loss. But… IT WAS A BEAR! No matter how many safety precautions one takes, at the end of the day it’s still an animal that acts on instincts; the bear may have just been playing, as far as it was concerned. The consequences of its actions, however, have now raised a quandary as to what should be done with the bear:
Should it be put down? In my opinion, “No.”
Should it be released into the wild? I don’t think so… are its survival instincts refined enough to deal with being returned to its “native” environment? I don’t know.
Could it possibly be donated to a zoo? I don’t know, but this seems like the possible “best of both worlds” option to me.
One of the last things you feel like doing when you’re sick is check your mail. I didn’t check mine yesterday. Had I, I would have found my Green Lantern John Stewart Minimates figure. That would have been something to smile about yesterday.
Wait… I did have something that not only made me smile, it downright made me laugh: invited some folks to dinner at Jitterbug and a showing of Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. When I got her message, I told her that I wasn’t feeling well and would have to take a raincheck. That spawned the following messages:
applevenus: Sorry about your herpes. applevenus: Spydr says sorry about your herpes. me: I’ll get some ointment. applevenus: Ha. Ha. Ha. Have fun.
Wednesday – 23 April 2008
It’s grey-ish with a good chance of rain today. But, considering that I heard the words “chance of snow” earlier in the week, I’ll gladly take rain.
I received a late-afternoon call from Bret. A bit of a surprise, but a very pleasant one. It’s a uncertain whether or not we’ll be seeing him next week, but we made tentative plans for October… if not sooner.
Last night’s Scion game was… abbreviated, but we managed to get the new storyline moving. Globe-trotting. Saving the world. All in a day’s work. I also took dessert to the game.
Not pie…
Not s’mores brownies…
S’mores Brownie Pie
Oh, no he didn’t!
Did he just say…?
He couldn’t have!
Oh, but I did….
That’s right, kids: The next step in dessert evolution.
And it was good.
Double-plus good.
Squared.
Thanks to for sending me this:
(Click image to see the entire photo set)
Songs to get the day started:
ABC – The Jackson Five
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
Boom! Shake the Room – The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff
I believe that I will introduce a few coworkers to Munchkin today.
