Random Access

Tuesday – 22 April 2008
Last night, I had big brother/little sister time with . We decided to have dinner; Jitterbug sounded perfect to both of us. Unfortunately, when we got there the place was closed. And dark. Darker than usual. Darker than a thousand midnights. Okay, maybe not quite that dark, but you get the gist. We went to Fiddler’s Elbow instead.

Too bad neither of us had considered that there was an NBA playoff game last night.
A Jazz game.
Do the math.
We still had a fun time. People-watching is always fun, after all.

When I got home, I decided to take a trip to Paragon City. I arrived just in time for a Rikti invasion. After the aliens were repelled, I was invited to join a couple of my SG-mates for a couple of missions. Level 52+ missions. Knives of Artemis and Carnival of Shadows. Yay. We died a few times. As it stands, you don’t earn any experience after you hit Level 50 (the CoX level cap), but you can still earn XP debt from dying. But, it was still fun.

This morning, I was actually up shortly after the alarm went off. Of late, I’ve had… issues… with pulling that off.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been taking a look at some of the costumes from this year’s New York Comic Convention on Flickr. (There are “a few” tags to choose from…) Some of ’em are pretty good. Pretty good, indeed.
• SaraRules linked to Mercy, by Duffy. Good stuff. Put it in your ear:

• Markin’ Time linked to an article from Popular Mechanics: Hollywood Sci-Fi’s Bronze Age – Are Comics to Blame? This article led to the following soapbox rant:
  

  Me: Nine Hells…
  Does this guy not get “suspension of disbelief?”
  It’s a &%(%*&#( COMIC BOOK MOVIE!
  People AREN’T going to them for the science; they are going to be *GASP* entertained!
  /soapbox

  Markin’ Time: i believe he is saying that the things we are willing to suspend for our comic entertaining is dumbing down good science fiction

  Me: L.C.D.
  Let’s face it: Not a lot of the comic book/summer blockbuster readers/viewers are rocket scientists.

  Markin’ Time: ?
  true dat

  Me: Lowest Common Denominator

  Markin’ Time: ah

  Me: They aren’t going for the science.
  Sure, they might pick at the more glaring plot holes and “That couldn’t happen” points, but the bottom line is: They are going for escapism.

  Markin’ Time: but what even comes close to Blade Runner for believable extrapolation of current science. What even tries?
  I happened to LOVE Primer….but i realize thats not for everyone

  Me: Hm.
  Primer was going to be an example.
  Sunshine was good.

  Markin’ Time: he cites that in the article also sunshine, which i haven’t seen

• loonybin88 linked to an article that goes in the “People suck” file: Vandals hit in Placedo
• …he also linked me to this: Muslim call to adopt Mecca time …which almost immediately reminded me of:
  

  From a point on the compass
  To magnetic north
  The point of the needle moving back and forth

• I posted a link to this image a few months ago, not only because it shows John Stewart breakin’ of a little somethin’, but also because it contains part of an old Black boast of defiance:
  

  I don’t have to do anything but stay Black and die.

  I’ve been trying to convince SaraRules that she needs to work it into a conversation at some point; she’s considering it. But, I’m digressing from my original point: Andrew, a coworker, brought a dysfunctional monitor to me and asked if I could have it returned/replaced.

  

  I told him that wouldn’t be a problem. Then, I read the note that he had attached to it:

  

  That’s right, the monitor stayed black and died.

Quote of the Day
Last night, while looking at NYCC costumes, I found a couple and shared them with SaraRules:

Me: Okay… http://flickr.com/photos/7648924@N08/2429218357/
comic book convention == geeks

SaraRules: Umm.. yeah. Those comic book convention people kinda scare me. 😉

Me: Some of whom haven’t seen – let alone touched – a “real live girl” in years.
Then you show up dressed like this.
Mayhem ensues.

SaraRules: Yeah. They don’t need to be seeing underboob. That would cause them to explode on site.

Me: Exactly!

SaraRules: Icky. It’s just dangerous.

Me: No good can come of it.
http://flickr.com/photos/eggrollboy/2423911917/

SaraRules: Whoa. That’s way too much leg. I think my brain just broke.

Me: Sorry, but I couldn’t suffer that one alone.

SaraRules: Oh gee. Thanks. I’m going to have to wash my eyes out with lye now. 🙁

Me: I don’t have any lye. I just have to live with that pain.

Back to it…

Namaste.

Monday – 21 April 2008
I am back in the northlands once more. Today’s commute was uneventful. There was one odd/amusing thing, though: Driving through Meadow, you pass a cattle ranch on the east side of the interstate. This morning, there was a calf outside the cattle pens, grazing along the outside of the fence. It seemed rather nonplussed about the fact that the other cattle were “over there” and just kept chewing at the grass near one of the fence posts.

I had dinner with SaraRules and Rachel last night; we invited Lish, but he punked out on us. (I’m trying to attribute his reluctance to join us to the fact that he was working on a project and not to the fact that I kind of, sort of… threw him through a door Saturday night.) Dinner was nice. After that, SaraRules and I stopped at the local Hollywood Video to pick up a copy of The Magnificent Seven, a movie which I have (somehow) managed to never see before. I liked it. Quite a bit. I will have to add it to the collection at some point.

Workout
Today saw a subtle shift in the workout: Eric wanted to give a little more focus to biceps, so we alternated bicep exercises with other exercises:

• Bench Press (barbell): 3 sets/8 reps, 225 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 70 lbs, 1 set @ 60 lbs
• Flys (Nautilus): 3 sets/15 reps, 95 lbs
• Curls (pulley): 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Military Press: 2 sets/10 reps, 85 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, Hammer grip): 3 sets, 10 reps, 20 lbs
• Dips: 2 sets, 20 reps & 15 reps

Post-workout weight: 176.8 lbs

Stray Toasters

• I need to drink more water, generally speaking.
• As I had that thought, I had another one: Aside from the fact that they are water-breathers (and, in some cases, magic-users), Atlanteans (see Aquaman, Namor and Patrick Duffy) are basically normal humanoids. The water-breathing thing is the key here, because… well… Where do they go to the bathroom?!
• Evil Monkey’s Guide to Kosher Imaginary Animals
• 
• Scientists on their “life-changing” books
• As long as it took me to plow through it the first time I read it, I’m giving consideration to reading The Difference Engine again.
• Tyranist is blaming me for his sons’ addiction to Munchkin. I think I can live with that.



• Jigglypuff.
• Scuzzlebutt.

Now to finish up a training lesson that I have had on the back burner for a while.

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 April 2008
Turns out that the Interwebs at SaraRules’ was okay… for the most part. The complex had changed a few settings and the wireless router didn’t “know” about them. So, it pretty much ignored them. A quick reset and the series of tubes were carrying information once more.

<< Rewind <<
We wound up not going to SOAPFest last night. Instead, SaraRules made dinner, Lish came over and we hung out. About the time that dinner was wrapping up, Rachel and Tyler showed up… followed shortly by Josh. We hung out and shot the bull for a while. And then a couple rounds of flip cup started. Post-flip cup, we sat around and talked until about 2:30 this morning. I gave Lish control of the camera. I take (almost) no responsibility for what he shot (pictures here).

> Play >
Today was a lax and lazy day. I believe that everyone in the apartment availed themselves of the opportunity to sleep in. After coffee and breakfast, SaraRules suggested a trip to Park Discovery where we could fly my kite. With an offer like that, I couldn’t refuse. It was sunny and windy… and a little brisk. Neither of us took jackets with us. After a couple of fair attempts at getting the kite aloft, I “untangled” (not really the right word, but it fits) the lines. Sure enough, the kite flew much better. After we flew the kite for thirty or so minutes, we headed over to the tot lot. We climbed, slid, swung and had an all-around fun time.

Once we’d had our fill of fun – and the chillier-than-expected outdoors – we headed back to the apartment. I have been watching an item on eBay for the past couple of days. I wanted to be back in time to get a bid in on it. We did. What was I so hell-bent on bidding on?

That’s right: A Green Lantern John Stewart Minimates figure (1, 2). These were given out as convention promotions at the 2006 San Diego Comic Convention. With the release of other DC Minimates figures, including various GL figures, I had wondered why there wasn’t a John Stewart figure in the mix. A little digging showed why. So, I was bound and determined to see if I could get this one. And I won it.

Not sure what’s on tap for the rest of the day/evening.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with for a bit this afternoon. All is well in his, Bot and Bit’s corner of the world. He also posted new pics of Bit:

  
  (click image to see other pictures)

• Your Claim to Fame LEGO Challenge
• Bit ‘o Honey candy
• Legion turns 50
• BET has landed the upcoming Black Panther animated series.
  (I wonder if the fact that Reggie Hudlin is BET’s President and writing Black Panther for Marvel had anything to do with it…?)
• Carne Asada is not a crime!
• Shakespeare’s Pulp Fiction
• I watched a few trailers on Apple’s site today, including Wanted, Boarding Gate, Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Chaos Theory… and Zombie Strippers.

Quotes of the Day
As heard during and after last night’s Flip Cup Challenge

• Darillyn: “I just need to fill my pockets full of vibrators”
  (to SaraRules, about a bellydance move that SaraRules was trying to teach her)
• Rachel: “I’ll drink just about anything.”
  Me: “Not in a Two Girls, One Cup kind of way, but almost anything.”
  (about Rach’s choices of beverage for flip cup)
• Steve: “You could totally do me”
  (to me, about being able to bench press him)

And that’s a wrap!

Namaste.

So far, the day is cruising along nicely. The lunchtime workout was good:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 60 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Rows (T-bar style, with a barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 55 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/12 reps, 70 lbs (Body Masters machine, facing away from the pulley system)
• Core: 4 sets – 2 sets/full extension, 45 secs.; 2 sets/elbows, 30 secs.

Today’s pre-workout weight: 176.8

We followed the workout with a trip to Subway. Oven-roasted chicken breast. With pepperjack cheese. On Italian Herbs and Cheese bread. Tasty.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to , I have three new icons:
  • 
  • 
  • 
• sent a me a link to “The Day After the Marathon”
• Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Iron Man videogame

• From BBC News: NY tower plans found in rubbish
• What Would Tyler Durden Do? had (they were “asked” to take them down by Paramount) cast photos from the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. The last three lines of the lead-in were classic:
  

  You may note that almost every one of these sets has a shot from the back. This entire movie is asses. It’s like a two hour Hot Buns contest.

• Truly, truly, truly outrageous!
• From Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper: Think twice before taking pictures in public

*ZOOM*

Thursday – 17 April 2008
NBN Thursday in the valley. Sunny, trying to be warm.

Today has been pretty good. I have been trying to figure out a (better) way to build a list with checkboxes, pulling data from my database. Slow-going, but it’s coming along. It is also “Sushi Wednesday.” I had a Seattle roll along with Ika and Ebi (shrimp) Nigiri.

There is construction on 33rd South. There’s a deep trench running down the middle of the street. On the way to the restaurant, Joe asked what they were doing. I responded: “Laying pipe… and in this case, it’s not a euphemism.” A little later Mike showed up and asked,”What are they doing out there,” to which Joe quickly retorted: “Laying pipe,” at which we just ran with the joke:

“Laying pipe.”
“Yep, lots of men… laying pipe.”
“Pipe so big they need heavy equipment to lay it right.”

Hilarity ensued.
Stray Toasters

• I hung out with last night. She was having an issue with pools of water collecting on the carpet outside her bathroom. (Hm, that sounds vaguely familiar.) She called maintenance to look at it; the guy did what he could, but noted that he would have to check the apartments above hers for signs of leakage. (That sounds familiar, too…) After he left, we went out for dinner. Aside from the plumbing issue, it was a nice way to spend the evening.
• Two Minutes and 42 Seconds in Heaven
• By way of Markin’ Time: Coolest Fighter Jets… EVER!
• Superman and Superboy: Newsarama takes a look at the ongoing cases
• I just received the following email from my mother:
  

  Slap Your Co-Worker Day Is Coming!

  

  Do you have a co-worker who talks nonstop about nothing, working your last nerve with tedious and boring details that you don’t care about?
  Do you have a co-worker who ALWAYS screws up stuff creating MORE work for you?
  Do you have a co-worker who kisses so much booty, you can look in their mouth and see what your boss had for lunch?
  Do you have a co-worker who is SOOO obnoxious, when he/she enters a room, everyone else clears it?

  Well, on behalf of Ike Turner, I am so very very glad to officially announce tomorrow as SLAP YOUR IRRITATING CO-WORKER DAY!

  There are the rules you must follow:

  • You can only slap one person per hour – no more.
  • You can slap the same person again if they irritate you again in the same day.
  • You are allowed to hold someone down as other co-workers take their turns slapping the irritant.
  • No weapons are allowed…other than going upside somebody’s head with a stapler or a hole-puncher.
  • If questioned by a supervisor [or police, if the supervisor is the irritant], you are allowed to LIE, LIE, LIE!

  Now, study the rules, break out your list of folks that you want to slap the living day lights out of and get to slapping…..and have a great day!

• D&D Ability Score Quiz
  • Strength: 12
  • Dex: 15
  • Con: 13
  • Int: 15
  • Wis: 15
  • Cha: 15
  • Special Abilities: Sarcasm
• Young Me / Now Me

And that’s a wrap… for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 April 2008
Another midweek day in the valley. After yesterday’s snow (yes, SNOW), there are blue skies and scattered high clouds today. Go figure. Most of the snow in the valley has melted, but there are still remnants on the benches (def. 5) and mountains.

I managed to get out of bed – and out of the apartment – at a decent hour today. I even stopped for a cup of frozen mocha goodness and a copy of The Gray Lady on the way into the office. I thought of a couple of ways to modify my database UI this morning… and I’m trying them out. So far, I’m making decent headway in getting them established; turning the page into a self-referencing form shouldn’t be (too much of) a problem. And, I have to say that I’m pretty happy with the progress I’m making.

And, it’s new comics day.
Can’t beat that with a stick at twice the price.

Stray Toasters

• I have (yet) another new addition to the Covet List: Superman vs. Darkseid Statue

  

  I have been a Darkseid… fan, I guess… ever since The Great Darkness Saga (a Legion story, go figure). I have a few ‘Clix figures and a Superman: The Animated Series production sericel fromfeaturing him. I just wish that I had been able to get one of the 1999 Darkseid statues, though.

• From the “Why, yes, it IS rocket science” file: Schoolboy Corrects NASA’s Math on Killer Asteroid
• I’m a little scared by this: Children’s book about plastic surgery
• 
• I enjoy my comics and figure collections.  But, compared to this collection, I have next to nothing.  Unglaublich…
• Maverick Swedish Rock Star Reveals What Britney Could Have Been
• Moviehole has an interview with Iron Man director Jon Favreau
• Woman goes on YouTube to air divorce grievances

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote is an “Ole and Lena” joke, that Coworker Jan told me.  He usually tells me a couple of these a week and they’re made even better because Jan affects a great Scandinavian accent. The version of the joke that I found online was written phonetically, so you will get the idea of how it sounds.

Ole was out working in the field when his mule squares off and kicks him right in his wedding tackle.  Writhing in agony, he falls to the ground. As soon as he could manage, he took himself to the doctor.
“How bad is it doc?  I’m getting married next veek and my fiance, Lena, is still a wirgin – in every
vay.  I vant her to know that I’m right there with her.”

The doctor told him, “Everything looks okay, but I’ll have to put your Willie in a splint.  It should be okay next week.”  He took some tongue depressors and formed a neat little splint, and taped it all together quite an impressive work of art.

Ole mentions none of this to Lena.  They get married and go on their honeymoon. That night in the motel room, Lena rips open her blouse to reveal her beautiful untouched breasts. She said,”No vun has EVER seen deez. You’re the first vun.”

Ole immediately drops his pants and replies,”Look at dis… still in da crate!”

Namaste.

I’m not usually a big LOLcats fan, but..

Monday – 14 April 2008
Another week begins.

Alarm clocks are a necessary evil. That said, the day started with me hitting snooze more times than I had intended. After the hygiene rituals were observed and the car was packed, I began my journey back to north-central Utah. The drive was uneventful. And there weren’t any monkeys to speak of.

I got into the office and checked my email. Among them was one from Friday morning, asking me to submit my time card. *blink blink* Then, I checked the timestamp on the email: It was sent roughly two minutes before I submitted my time card, which means that I was already on the system and preparing to submit it before the email was sent. *sigh*

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday afternoon, SaraRules and I headed to the MFA house so that she could do some work… and I could use the connection there to make my way to Paragon City. We were both successful in our endeavors. Nefer-Tem is now a little less than 2 bars away from Level 50.

Steph and Kim decided to have a Taco Fiesta for dinner last night. Chicken and beef. Hard and soft shells. When dinner was done, we played Buzzword: The Not 5s (the roommates) vs. The 6-7-8s (honorary roommates). The 6-7-8s won. Barely.

Mark and Lish came over a little later. Mark asked our opinions about the Ballroom Dance Concert (he’s the director of that program); we gave him feedback. Then… it was time to play 3-way Slayer HALO. Selah. (Mark pwned both of us. Repeatedly. I need to practice.)

I showed Steph how to make the s’mores brownies. Lish said that he might try making them himself… and that he wanted to get a chef’s torch, so that he could toast the marshmallows. Ah, pyromania. A little later, Darillyn and Lish played shot glass checkers:

Lish won both games. However, Darillyn came up with a number of “Unintentional Porn Overheard in…” quotes.

> Play >
I found out that I need to add some more systems to my db and tweak the UI to be able to select from any/all systems.

Workout
Back in the saddle again:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets – 1 set, full extension; 2 sets, bent leg (lowered to only 45°)
• Bench Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 60 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/15 reps, 130 lbs
• Rows (T-bar style, with a barbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 55 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/12 reps, 120 lbs
• Core: 4 sets – 2 sets/full extension, 45 secs.; 2 sets/elbows, 30 secs.

Pre-workout weight: 175.6 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• There was an interesting discussion about Emperor Popetine Pope Benedict’s visit to the U.S. on The Diane Rehm Show this morning.
• Secret Invasion: Who do you trust?
• 
• Conductor Hero?: Touring game rocks concert halls
• 
  While I’m not overly taken by most of the figures, the Warrior Isis figure is nice.
• Microsoft: Vista feature designed to ‘annoy users’
• Scotty Doesn’t Know
• …and I don’t know what I want for dinner. *blah*
• Sillof’s Workshop

Quotes of the Day
As I mentioned above, Darillyn made some special “Unintentional Porn Overheard in…” quotes while playing checkers with Lish:

• “I can’t reach that with my face”
• “I was so waiting to jump you there.”
• “You get confused about a lot of things, but I’m not going to point them out.”
• “Hold on, I can’t get him out – he’s sticky.”
• “I got it out this time.”
• “You just jumped me. It’s my turn.”

Checkers and alcohol. Who knew?!

Namaste.

Saturday – 12 April 2008
Today has been a lazy day, for the most part. Sleeping in. Breakfast. Reading the best Batman stories… that aren’t Batman stories: Confession, an Astro City trade paperback.

The stories were told from the perspective of Brian Kinney, a small-town boy who sought something more out of life than his hometown could give him. The story starts with him hopping a bus to Astro City… and the adventure takes off from there.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book also contained “The Nearness of You,” possibly my favorite Astro City story. I have a 1/2 issue with this story in it, but to find it collected in this TPB was a great bonus.

Later in the day, SaraRules and I popped out for an ice cream cone at the local DQ. After that, I hit the driving range with Lish. The range had a ton of gophers down near the distance markers. You’d see them exit their holes, run a few feet or yards and then… disappear into another hole. While I didn’t have many excellent drives, I did manage to hit the ball retrieval cart once. Post-driving range, Lish and I played on the XBox for a bit.

Stray Toasters

• I discovered that access to a number of sites is being blocked, either by the local ISP (doubtful) or the management at SaraRules’ complex. Not adult sites. Nor anything controversial. I can’t find rhyme or reason to explain why these sites are blocked. (And I still don’t have access to CoX from here. Good thing I brought my XBox.)
• Last night, I asked what did the item in this picture remind people of:

All answers agreed: A bat’leth.

• By way of :



• Thanks to for a link to Superman as a Scion.
• Will DC lose Superman?

Tonight’s fare: Ballroom Dance concert… maybe. We shall see.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
Lunch with the guys was good… even if our server wasn’t so hot. In the forty or so minutes that we were there, I think he hit our table twice – possibly three times – after bringing our drinks. “Unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks?” Not so much today. I had to actually keep myself from leaving the tip that I had originally estimated leaving.

It snowed, intermittently, this afternoon. Code Monkey and I went out for our afternoon constitutional. We made it around the campus as the stormfront rolled in. It started coming down just as we got back to the building.

After work, I headed to Dr. Volt’s. I picked up this week’s four-color crack when I noticed something on the wall: New packs of Crisis boosters. Before I checked out, I gave in and decided to get a box. Ever since seeing Dave do his “weigh the box” trick that scored me Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy, I’ve been using it to pick out which boosters I want to buy. I picked up five boxes, felt the way they balanced and picked Box #2. After paying for it, I opened the box. Guess who was waiting inside:

That’s right: Earth-2 Superman. Super-Rare. Unique. I was shocked. Very happy, but shocked. (I was even more shocked when I looked it up on eBay.) Or, as put it, when I told him about the figure and its going rate on eBay:

: blink
Me: I will remind you that this is a piece of plastic. Less than 3″ tall.
: For…The…MOTHERFUCKING…Win.

Feeling jazzed by my pick, I decided to get another box. Two decent figures in this one: Monarch and The Spectre. Neither of them was quite the catch that Superman was, but they are still good pulls.

Home. Laundry. Puttering about. Reading of this week’s four-color haul… and a lot of the books were good, solid slug-fests. Hero, meet Villain. Villain, Hero. FIGHT!

Stray Toasters

• By way of NPR: Old-fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
• I talked with Markin’ Time for a bit this evening. I think we’ve talked more in the past two weeks than we have in the past six months! (Not that I’m complaining, by any stretch of the imagination.) He pointed me in the direction of InstaPundit.
  • He specifically mentioned that I should check out his item on Gaming while Color-Blind
• also pointed out a video on the disassembly of an iPhone
• The Gray Lady had an interesting article about willpower: Tighten Your Belt, Strengthen Your Mind.
  (I wonder if the Guardians and/or Kilowog know about this one?)
• As a part of “CustomCon,” someone made – MADE – Steampunk Star Wars figures

I think that I should track down something dessert-like.

Namaste.

I finally got the preliminary form of my database up and running, thanks to a key bit of help from in getting around a DNS issue. Now, I’m playing around with it, trying to be a bit more selective of the displayed data. Once I get that taken care of, I can work on making it look pretty.

After my post this morning, welcomed me to “Tie Tuesday.” And it was, apparently, a purple day, too. As part of my response to his post, I took a shot of myself… which also counts as (yet) another self-portrait:

In other news, Diamond Select Toys has a couple of things that I found interesting (and one possible addition to The Covet List):

1. Captain America figure – Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes version
2. Civil Bore War Minimates.

I should make more s’mores brownies.

Tuesday – 08 April 2008
Some days you just wake up and feel like wearing a tie.
Just because you can.

Okay… maybe you don’t, but I do.

Today was one of those days for me. Of course, this meant breaking out the iron so that I could knock the rough edges off the shirt I’m wearing. I don’t mind ironing, so it wasn’t a big to-do.

Late-Morning Dance Break
Diamonds – Herb Alpert featuring Janet Jackson

Stray Toasters

• While I know and understand that English is a language that is constantly evolving, I still miss the adverb and/or “…to be…” in common usage:
  • “The dog needs walked” != “The dog needs to be walked.”
• Hypergrammar
• From Comic Foundry: 25 Most Influential Moments in the Past 25 Years
• , click here.
• , click here and here (third pic).
• Another item to be added to the Covet List: LEGO X-Wing Fighter
• Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper has crossword puzzles online! They have Sudoku, too.
• While I realize that it could come under the heading of “career-limiting moves,” yesterday I was dangerously close to telling someone up my chain-of-command to “GFY.” Multiple times. With something serrated.
• And speaking of serra…



• For those who don’t get the connection between the two ‘Toasters above: “serra” is Latin for “saw.”
• I think I just ruined part of Scott’s (coworker/boss) childhood. We were talking about the old school Battlestar Galactica, and I called it “Mormons in Space.” His reaction: “What?!” So, I went to Google and searched for “mormons in space” The first – FIRST – link it brought back “(a.k.a. Battlestar Galactica).” He said that he’s going to have to go back and watch the series and look for the signs.

Back to it.

Namaste.

Sunday – 06 April 2008
Sunny, a little cooler than I’d like, but otherwise a rather nice day.

<< Rewind <<
This weekend’s SOAPFest featured four plays:

1. Elegy for a Lady, by Arthur Miller
2. When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet, by Charles George
3. Laundry & Bourbon, by James McClure
4. Lone Star, by James McClure

Laundry & Bourbon and Lone Star are complimentary pieces – two of the characters in L&B are married to two of the characters in Lone Star. Of the four, I was most taken with Laundry and Bourbon. I thought that the performances and characterizations were pretty solid. My next favorite was Shakespeare’s Ladies, a rather tongue-in-cheek play with some of the Bard’s famous leading ladies stopping in to give young Juliet some sage words of advice about love. This play was just.. fun.

Post-SOAPFest, we came back and watched The Iron Giant (1, 2). I like the setting (1950s, Cold War/Red Scare-era America), the animation style, the soundtrack, the voice acting… the whole nine yards.
This is a fun film for me; I would probably have to list it in my Top Ten Movies (a list for which I should try to figure out the other eight movies…)

> Play >
I woke up and started the day after a few odd dreams made me realize that I was done with attempts at sleep. There wasn’t really a lot on TV this morning, either. So, I hopped on the nerd. Ah, the Interwebs… SaraRules woke up shortly and fixed a tasty breakfast. After breakfast – and observing the daily hygiene rituals – SaraRules started in on some homework; I decided to take on some of Paragon City’s worst criminals.

My heroic endeavours were not meant to be: I kept getting a “Can’t connect to DBServer” error. No matter which server I attempted to access. I tried disabling my firewall. I checked my network settings. Nada. Zip. Zilch. No go, Flight. I called Markin’ Time and Perry to see if they were experiencing the same problems (all of us usually play on the same server). Their connections were A-OK. Hrm. I even went to the NCSoft site to make sure that nothing was screwy with my account. Nope. Everything was peachy there, too. So, after a bit of digging, the best answer that I could find was that there seems to be a problem… somewhere… between the ISP that her complex uses and the CoX servers. So, no CoH/CoV for me this weekend.

Stray Toasters

• I talked with Adam for a bit this afternoon. Aside from it being cooler than he likes, all’s well in his neck of the woods.
• In today’s “Go, Boilermakers” news: Purdue’s 156-Step Burger Maker Wins Rube Goldberg Contest
• I think that this was a rather apt review of Action Comics #863.
• Tori Amos’ Comic Book Tattoo
• 
• went to Metropolis. I am slightly jealous; I haven’t been there in almost ten years.
• …speaking of which, I may watch Superman: Doomsday a little later.

Super-Special Stray Toaster from SaraRules

• I consider most soap operas to be boring, long-winded, vapid, and completely devoid of any plot whatsoever. The exception is the fabulous South American Telenovelas which entranced and entertained me in Georgia. I heard of a new one today, Sin Tetas, No Hay Paraíso, which translates to Without Tits, There is No Paradise. Now that is quality programming.

(Back to ShadoRunr)

I just realized that I am really quite hungry. I should probably do something about that. Immediately.

*vapor trail*

Saturday – 05 April 2008
The drive down was fairly uneventful. I saw three UHP officers on the way down… which still pales compared to the fourteen that SaraRules saw on her way back Monday.

Shortly after I got in, we headed to Rachel’s for a get-together with some of the MFAs. Food. Random chat. Wii. It was fun.

I found out that Hilary and her husband, Jeff, had been to Baltimore a few times, so we talked a bit about some of the things they liked there. Then, Jeff noticed my LEGO watch and asked if I had picked it up in LEGOland; I told him that I had it long before that. But, I showed him something that I did pick up in LEGOland:

He got rather wide-eyed and started to ask questions about trips to LEGOland. It was rather amusing. Then, the Wii came out. Liz (one of the MFAs) had never played Wii before. Watching her play Wii Boxing was pure, straight-up comedy. She was ALL over the place.

Today was the last episode of Legion of Super Heroes.  For the most part, the episode was good, but the ending was a bit… anti-climactic.  I have no idea if WB or DC or any of their affiliated entities are planning a follow-up series, but if so, hopefully it will be more in the vein of “Far From Home.”  But, all-in-all, it was still a Legion series.  Post-toonage and breakfast, SaraRules and I did some errand-running. Then, we hooked up with Rachel, Steve and Tyler for bowling. Tonight, we’re heading to SOAPFest.

Stray Toasters

• I got bored again. So… more pictures with the Sentinels! (1, 2)
• Celebrity D&D Characters, Rolled by Readers
• 
• “So, is that a guitar in your pocket or…?”   Oh, wait.  It is.
• Greatest MacGuyvers of Science Fiction

Namaste.

Friday – 04 April 2008
Another week comes to a close. And at the close of the day, I’ll be heading down to Cedar City… for the first time in five or six weeks.

Last night I didn’t really feel like doing much when I got home from work, so I pretty much spent the evening doing my best impression of a couch potato. I think I did a pretty good job at it. CSI:, Without a Trace, Law & Order… it was nice to just chill and surf and just generally hang out.

On the way into the office, I ran into loonybin88. He needed to pick up his truck from one of the nearby dealerships; I gave him a lift over rather than have him hoof it over there. When we got there, I remembered that my friend Shane, whom I haven’t seen in ages, said that she worked there… but that that was months ago. But, since I was there, I figured why not see if she was still there. Turns out that she was; it was a nice way to kick off the morning.

Workout
So, I apparently DO remember where the gym is and how to use the equipment there. Eric and I hit a decent all-around workout:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Chin-ups: 1 set (just to kill some time)
• Incline Press: 3 sets/10 reps (2 sets, 155 lbs; third set: 155 lbs/8 reps, 135/3 reps)
• Cable Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Shrug (Nautilus): 3 sets/10 reps, 180 lbs
• Cable Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Decline Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 40 lbs (each)

Pre-workout weight: 174.8 lbs

Stray Toasters

• I have brownies!
• Rush To Begin Work on New Album Next Year
• CCH Pounder was on an episode of L&O: The Next Generation L&O: SVO I watched last night. She’s a damn fine actress. (And she was also a great choice for the voice of Amanda Waller on Justice League Unlimited.) I have yet to see her in a role where I don’t enjoy her performance.
• Comic Book Resources has a couple of fun interviews with:
  • Robert Downey, Jr.
  • Terence Howard
• And, in an unrelated note, they have a multi-part interview with Geoff Johns on…
  1. Green Lantern
  2. Action Comics
  3. Justice Society of America
  4. Booster Gold
• Newsarama has a Geoff Johns interview (1, 2) that delves into a bit behind this summer’s “Legion of Three Worlds” event.
• MONKEYS! >.<
• Study: Violent Video Games Relax Players
• Did I mention: MONKEYS!?!?
• We just introduced a coworker to Cthulhu. Pray for his soul.

And now, it’s time to burn the breeze.

Namaste.