Random Access

Monday: Coda
The Ravens lost to the Bengals.

Okay. There. I said it. And with that, I’d like to offer a hearty “congratulations” to .

It was a “good” loss, though… despite some craptacular calls in the first quarter. And that’s not just my opinion: thought so, too. Some of the calls made us wonder what game the refs were watching. *shrug* Oh, well.

I don’t know who was suited up in the first quarter, but I don’t think that they were pro players. They couldn’t have been, given some of the mistakes they made. Both Nox and I were flummoxed by some of the blatant errors. Fortunately, the Ravens seemed to find their key players in the second quarter.

I’m going to armchair QB for a moment and say that I disagree with Brian Billick’s decision to keep Steve McNair in the game as long as he did… and then throw Kyle Boller in, with about five minutes to go, to try and pull it out. To his credit, Boller did a good job. He was shaky for about two plays and then settled in…

…but it was a bit late at that point. Granted, he engineered a good drive and some nice plays, but at the end, he was still “too fresh” on the field and fired a rocket shot at TE Todd Heap – at short range – that just bounced off Heap’s hands.

Oh, well. It’s the first game of the season. There are still 15 more to play.

Nox and I watched the game at Fiddler’s Elbow. Decent food. Good service. And, a decent crowd. Not too rowdy. Non-smoking. And just all-round “good.” Along with Guiness (on tap, no less) I tried their Cajun Chicken Sandwich. It was rather tasty. I tried their buffalo wings and barbecue wings, as an appetizer. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t quite as good as the ones at Moab Brewery.

Stray Toasters

• I messaged Kris, to see if she was watching the game. She wasn’t (she was in class), but she was recording it.
• Joust gets movie, graphic novel treatment… wait, what?
• 
• Batgirl concept, for .
• …speaking of whom, I talked with her for a little bit this afternoon. It was a pleasant surprise.
• “In the year 2000…”
• I’m not sure whether or not I want to give 300 pounds a shot tomorrow.
• Cogito Ergo Zoom

And now, to find some trouble to get into.
Or maybe I’ll just watch a movie.

Namaste.

Monday – 10 September 2007
New day. New week. Same old same.

After I (finally) managed to nod off this morning, I slept pretty well. I woke up, however, with a slight twinge in my left knee. Haven’t felt that in a while, but I didn’t think too much about it. As I was getting ready for work, I decided that wearing my knee brace might not be a bad idea, just for a little extra support and whatnot.

Too bad I couldn’t find it.

I believe that it is a “casualty” of the Great Closet Migration. I thought I remembered where I placed it in the chaos. I was mistaken. At least the ache hasn’t been bad and it’s far from debilitating, so I’ll hunt the brace this evening or sometime this week.

The commute wasn’t bad, but there were a few slow-on-the-uptake monkeys. The soundtrack of the drive-time commute was my Crüxshadows playlist. I have had echoes of Heart on My Sleeve running through my head this morning.

Football Update
Ravens. Bengals. Tonight. 7PM Eastern.

I think that I will, once again, watch the game at Fiddler’s Elbow. Anyone up for Guinness on tap and some football? Hit me up and let me know.

Stray Toasters

• I am pleased to announce that the LJ-to-WP migration is complete: All entries from 2001-2006 have been imported.
• TCP/IP… DNS… SSH. Oh, my!
• For : Kitty Pryde
• The .wav file that I use for “contact logging out of chat” on Trillian is a slamming door. I just noticed that it sounds like the bass drum in Hollaback Girl.
• How to explain terabytes to management
• Jason sent me a link to this earlier. People are dumn dumb.
• AMD Launches Barcelona
• 
• Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys chipmunks.
• introduced me to the Bloodhound Gang song A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When the Stripper Is Crying this weekend. Dear Lord…
• Photos: A Century of Helicopters

Quotes of the Day

• “So… you ever spend much time around sheep?”
• “My brother has a thing for goats.”

Namaste.

Saturday: Coda
I played a couple of hours of CoH this afternoon. As soon as I logged in, I was invited to join a team. Caught me a little off-guard, as I didn’t recognize the person who had asked me to join. Clarity came a few minutes later. And then it was off to adventure.

The Hand of Nefer-Tem is now at Security Level 35. And, with the new level came a new power. I decided to go for Dark Extraction, which basically allows me to extract the (waning) life essence from a defeated enemy, infuse it with energy and turn it into a “pet,” of sorts… kind of like Sparky was for Indigo Bolt.

I was feeling run-down, thanks to this lovely cold, so I decided to leave Paragon City and head to Arkham. I read a bit of Black Seas of Infinity, while chugging yet more orange juice. Reading soon gave way to sleep – I took a two-hour nap (a two-hour naaaaaap!). I felt a bit better, post-nap.

Then, it was on to breakfast.

Stray Toasters

• Velocirobs vs. T-Robs.
  “I’m learning to open doors.”
• The Elevens.
• I may try to squeeze in a trip to the driving range in the morning.
• Dremel Pumpkin Carving Kit
• While driving to breakfast, LL Cool J’s The Boomin’ System came on the iPod. What is it about that song that makes it so timeless? And just damn good and fun to listen to? I think that it has secured a place on my list of “Driving Songs.”
• Beefcake! BEEFCAKE!!!
• I can tell that I’ll be making a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden soon: I’m looking up the prices for picture frames.
• Tiny Titans…. interesting….
• Behold the inertial-dampening powers of coffee creamer!

Quote of the Day
While talking about travel, we wound up discussing the need to remove one’s shoes at airport security. This led into the best types of shoes to wear and wearing socks. This, in turn, led to talking about removing one’s shoes at various airports. On the subject of McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas:

: “There’s syphilis on the floor! C’mon… Drippy hookers!”

Namaste.

: I’m not sure if you’ve heard this yet, but…

Official: Jim Shooter returns to DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes

Thought you might want to know.

Saturday – 08 September 2007
First off, Happy Hatching Day to Sib-4, !

Last night’s Clitorati was good. Sara, in town for the weekend, put in a special surprise guest appearance. The conversations were good, but the people-watching was a little lax.

This morning, Perry called to see if I wanted to get together for coffee. Not one to pass up early morning caffeination, I said that I’d be along shortly. I rolled out of bed, came in to check my email….. and the power went off.

*blink blink* Oooookay.

I checked the breakers, they were fine. But still, no power. So I called the power company. No reports of problems in the area, but they could send someone to check it out. The agent also suggested that I check with the apartment management or maintenance. I hadn’t thought of that angle; that’s what I did. I finished getting ready and rolled out. The ladies in the front office said that others had reported outages, throughout the morning, but that they weren’t long-lasting. I asked to have someone from maintenance check, just in case I had missed something.

Coffee with Kate, Perry and the kids was good. After I had thinned the blood in my caffeinestream, they invited me to go with them to Gardner Village. I have been “to” Gardner Village before, but that was usually on Sunday bike rides along the Jordan River Parkway; and the shops are closed on Sundays. It’s a quaint little shopping… village with a couple of restaurants. It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

When I got home, the power was back on. I have seen no notifications from Rocky Mountain Power nor from maintenance as to the nature of the problem, though.

And with that: Electricity, Electricity!

• Schoolhouse Rock! version
• Goodness version, from Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks

Enjoy!
Stray Toasters

• I have apparently picked up a cold. Let me add: I am getting seriously tired of the congestion and of having my voice intermittently decide that it doesn’t want to work.
• Wired’s How To Wiki: Write a Perfect Email
• Vikki just jumped up a few spaces on my “Favorite People” list.
• I had two people come up to me at work yesterday to ask me some “getting started” questions about working out.
• The Great Closet Migration is pretty much done. I still need to tweak a few things, here and there, but I am rather satisfied with the way it’s turned out.
• WB Unveils T-Works; free, expansive online animation
• Water, Gatorade or juice…? I should probably go with juice. Orange juice.
• Oran “Juice” Jones. The Rain.
• Juice: Pulp or pulp-free? I prefer pulp-free.
• 
• I feel a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden coming up…
• Toilet paper and paper towels: Over the top or under the bottom?
• Tentacle Hentai Birthday Cake
• 
  As if we needed yet another team break-up in the Marvel Universe. Who knows…? Maybe we’ll get “The New X-Men” and “The Mighty X-Men” and “Young X-Men” spin-off series outta the deal.
• Sorry, I just found a new low: Marvel Zombie Dark Phoenix. *shakes head*

I believe that a trip to Paragon City is in order.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I drove home from work with grand designs of taking a nap. After a restless night’s sleep, it seemed like a good way to go. I even planned it out so that I would start dinner (baked chicken breasts) and doze while they cooked.

Naturally, when I got home, I remembered a couple of things that I wanted to accomplish this evening and thus… pushed dinner and my nap onto the back-burner.

About an hour later than I had planned, dinner was under way and I prepared myself to visit Morpheus and the other denizens of The Dreaming. I was apparently more wiped-out than I had thought: My planned 30-minute nap stretched into an hour. I did wake up and turn off the chicken, but I stretched out on the couch again afterwards. When I roused myself, it was time to eat: chicken breasts, angel hair pasta and what would have been “stir-fry vegetables,” had I not put them in the oven alongside the chicken… and a glass of Gewürztraminer.

Four Color Coverage
There is an article on Broken Frontier about the 50th issue of (the current run of) Teen Titans. In it, it mentions how a number of writers and artists collaborated on the issue and how long-time fans would appreciate the four pages of work by George Perez, who pencilled the Titans’ adventures for many years in the 80s. In fact, many would say that he was the definitive Titans artist.

That got me thinking: Who are my “definitive” artists for given books? Whose style stands out when you picture a given title?

For me, the list includes:

• John Byrne – Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four
• John Cassady – Astonishing X-Men
• Alan Davis – Excalibur (I’m sorry… no one drew/draws that book like Alan Davis.)
• Keith Giffen – Justice League International
• Ethan Van Sciver – Green Lantern

I’m a little torn about the Legion: I grew up with Keith Giffen’s art, but I really liked Barry Kitson’s Threeboot run.

I’m sure that if I were to go through my collection, I’d come up with dozens more artists, but for now, this is a good start.

For those of you who read comics, who are some of your definitives?

Stray Toasters

• From the Broken Arrow file: Commander dismissed for nuclear mistake
• X-babies! (1,2)
• And, yet another addition to the Covet List: Phoenix
• , do I even want to ask about this: Nepal’s airline sacrifices goat to fix jet !?
• “A Wynn-Wynn situation”
• Psychological “torture bible” published in 1961 resurfaces online
• tried to kill me once again. This time, she tried with this. The even more odd thing: I had seen it, at behest, a couple of years ago.
• Thus, for Ms. Lightning: This.
• Or maybe…. this:

  

  (Yes, I did hear about Friday’s “Batman got beat up by a girl” conversation. Many thanks to for taking up the role of The Voice of Reason in my absence.)

• Dear Angie and John, a columnist’s introduction of a couple of friends to the world of comics.
• Partial Face Transplants – An advanced Photoshop pictures gallery
• I like Elton John’s Rocket Man; I also appreciate a good joke or comic that references it.
• COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Terra was created as a sort of parody of Kitty Pryde.
• Tyranist: It Came From the Quarter Bin: Star Brand #1
• The power just blipped out. Followed by a lovely reboot – my UPS needs a new battery or to be replaced. I thought that I had lost this post, as I hadn’t used “Save and Continue Editing.” Fortunately, Firefox somehow managed to save it. All.
• : Journey into Comics: Legion Season 2

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda / Wednesday – 05 September 2007
The post-work day has been… a bit… interesting.

I went to dinner with and a few of his friends and family. In and of itself, that’s not a bad thing. The problem was the storm that rolled in just as we were getting to the restaurant: Lightning. Thunder. Rain. Wind. Mayhem.

The mayhem came in the form of a blown transformer that took out power on 33rd South from just shy of 7th East almost all the way to State Street. So… dark restaurant. No food. Yay! We regrouped at one of the local Lone Star Restaurants. I haven’t eaten in a Lone Star in a couple of years – something about my aversion to what refers to as “cat in a dryer” (i.e.: “country”) music tends to keep me at bay. But, in the company of friends, what the Hell?! Why not? The food was good, as was the company.

From there, and I headed to Casa de for Game Night. Well, not really Game Night, per se, but we talked about where we’d like to go from this point (since we kind of, sort of killed/dispersed the major antagonist of the campaign). Nox has some ideas and we’re going to venture forth in two weeks.

Four-Color Coverage: Animated Edition
I borrowed the new Doctor Strange DVD (IMDb page) from Perry the other day. The good doctor has never been one of my A-list favorites, but I haven’t turned a title or story down just because he’s in it. I know the basics of his back story and that he’s Marvel’s Sorceror Supreme (read: “He’s the Grand Poobah of Magical Mojo in the Marvel Universe”). He’s been a part of the latest incarnation of The New Avengers, The Defenders… and he’s also part of Marvel’s Illuminati.

With that knowledge in mind, I sat down to watch the new release from Lionsgate and Marvel Entertainment.

The Stephen Strange to whom viewers are introduced is a brilliant neurosurgeon… who just happens to be aloof, arrogant and an all-around ass, quite frankly. He doesn’t have time to be “bothered” with things that aren’t going to bring a healthy fee and/or notoriety. He’s the walking epitome of hubris.Soon, he has a horrible automobile accident and loses the fine motor control of his hands, spelling the end to his career as a surgeon. From there, viewers see his descent into a broken man with no hope.

Enter: Wong, a disciple of a mystic known only as “The Ancient One.” With him, Wong brings the promise of healing for the former doctor. And hope.

And, from that point, the journey of Doctor Strange begins.

I have to admit that I was rather impressed. This movie, though given a PG-13 rating, wasn’t dumbed down. It was well-written, well-voiced and (with a couple of brief exceptions) well-animated. With the exception of young children, I’d say that this feature is something that the entire family could enjoy.

Stray Toasters

• I believe that I want to see Across the Universe.
• The word of the day, heard on Tuesday morning’s commute, is: “Superfunkycalifragisexy.”
• One of the ‘Little Rock Nine’ Looks Back
• When worlds collide, by way of Real Life Comics:

  

• Meat and greet – all the president’s lunch, by way of lj user=”dmmaus”
• “Mischief managed” and “Danger averted.”
• I believe in what I see
  I believe in what I hear
  I believe that what I’m feeling
  Changes how the world appears
• “Nucular toonami!”
• 
• Not one to avoid controversy, Whoopi Goldberg defends Vick’s dog-fighting role
• I noticed that the calendar in the… hmm, I can’t call it the HALO Command Center, as my Xbox is in the living room… “office” – a Marvel 2007 calendar, chock full o’ superhero goodness and given to me by Acolyte Derek – has September 11, 2007 noted as “Patriot Day.” I’m not going to go into my usual “Why the day shouldn’t be called that” rant here… but I thought about it.
• One of my KVMs is acting up; I can’t find all of the cords for the other one. *sigh*

It’s early and I have to get up later.

Namaste.

Sunday – 02 September 2007
I don’t know what it means, but I had a dream with the following people in it:

• Rick James
• Eddie Murphy
• Bob Barker – in a blue-and-white seersucker suit… telling jokes (Whiskey Tango…?!)
• Will Smith

There were a other people in the dream, but I can’t remember whom nor can I remember the details of the dream beyond the fact that it was some kind of party. Bizarre.

, Chris and Perry are coming over in a bit to play dolls HeroClix. I’m finally getting a chance to test out my new Legionnaires. Or maybe I’ll just use Phoenix and call it a day. I do, however, need to figure out who I want to use, given the number of points we’re playing with.

Stray Toasters

• I neglected to get Rana’s opinion on something for Dad’s birthday. I didnt’ realize it until close to midnight. *sigh*
• “Did you just say ‘nut rolling?’ “
• Last night, Shelley, Kris, Jon (all former VI workers) and Gary (Shelley’s husband) popped in to VI while we were having breakfast. It took me a few moments to recognize who was who until I saw Jon – he reminds us of Tom Welling; in fact we nicknamed him “Clark,” due to the resemblance.
• By way of Tyranist: Why superheroes always win
• I have Nomad on Shuffle. Ezekiel 25:17 just played. It’s Sunday and it is derived from a couple of actual scriptures, but for some reason that verse, as done in Pulp Fiction, just seems a little… “not right”… especially with the punctuating gunfire at the end. But it did put a smile on my face. Yeah, yeah… I know: Hell. Handbasket. Gasoline drawers.
• I want to go to the Garden of Sweden. I don’t really need anything. But, I still want to go.
• Top 100 Undiscovered Sites

Errand-running, a frozen mocha and some cleaning are in my not-too-distant future. I should probably get a move on… or something that approximates it.

Namaste.

Back.

And, because of some delay, I even beat the family-unit home.

It was a good trip. Though short, it was well worth it on all accounts.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to Rana, I am now (once again) in possession of one of the last items I wanted from my grandmother’s house; I believe that there is only one more thing that I want.
• I found out a couple of things that are going to require some deliberation.
• “Not a star,” along the same lines as a “not-sheep.”
• I caught a couple of commercials/previews for the upcoming seasons of Legion of Super-Heroes and The Batman. They both look interesting.
• I had sushi last night. Naturally, I ordered Ika. This recipe was a bit different than others: It had a bit of lettuce between the squid and the rice… and a bit of wasabi.
• Great. As soon as I typed “wasabi”, this popped into my head:
  

  Hot like wasabi when I bust rhymes
  Big like LeAnn Rimes
  Because I’m all about value

• I decided to hang with the sibko rather than see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy last night. It’s a lot easier – and generally far less expensive – to see BBVD on tour than it is to fly to Nepal. And I had fun.
• Heading out of St. George, I passed a Highway Patrol officer who had stopped to assist a motorist. As he was waiting for traffic to pass, so that he could get out of his vehicle, he rolled down his window and flicked ashes off his cigarette. Seeing that, a line popped into my head:
  

  He reached out the window and flicked ashes off the end of his cigarette. The motion looked almost angry or disdainful, as if the mere presence of the ashes somehow offended him.

• Last year, Rana developed an… affinity… for I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, by Shirley Temple. If I remember correctly, and I derived a bit of amusement from that.

  A week or so ago, I found a small toy hippo.

  2 + 2 = evil

  I gave it to Rana, before they left this afternoon. , when he saw what it was and as I explained why I was giving it to her, turned away to grin/laugh without being seen and possibly hit for it. Fortunately (for both of us), Rana laughed, too. Although, it may have been more of a smirk. But, I’ll take what I can get.

• People-watching is fun, as borne out by this image from Indexed:
  
  People-watching at the MGM and pretty much anywhere in Vegas probably falls somewhere between “airport” and “shopping mall” AND it adds new dimensions and twists to things.
  People-watching with Rana and : Priceless.
• By way of : Who watches wears the Watchmen?
• The Knight Shift. This is in the same system in which my mother and ‘s husband work. I have to ask one of them if they’ve heard any of the hullaballoo about it and/or the outcome of the election.

And I believe that’s that.

Namaste.

Thursday – 30 August 2007
This morning, getting up wasn’t a problem. Deciding what to do was. For about five minutes.

I was on the fence about taking a partial day or the whole day, as I am heading in the general direction of Las Vegas in a few hours.

I decided that I’m taking the day off.

City of Heroes/Villains
As I’ve been playing this game for a little over two years now, it’s pretty safe to say that I enjoy the game. I think that would refer to it as one of my “warm, happy places.”

What I don’t enjoy is racking up over 60,000 points of XP debt in one mission, because the team’s Tanker (built like a brick house – OW!) and one of the Blasters (long-range damage-dealer) were a bit… “overzealous”… in their play. The Blaster would run into rooms with multiple villains, get them riled up and then lead them back to the group. And the Tanker, according to another team member, “…leaks aggro like a sieve.” In other words, his job was to basically stand around and look pretty… and to take abuse from the bad guys while we mopped them up. Unfortunately, this became a case of “practical theory vs. real-world application.” In fact, he even had an ability to hold the villains’ attention, just for that purpose. Did he use it? Not that any of us saw. *sigh*

I was asked to join another team later. That one went much better. Not only did I manage to get rid of my accrued debt, but I am probably…. 7/10 to 8/10 of the way to Security Level 35.

Stray Toasters

• I’m not sure if I’m going to see BBVD tomorrow night; it depends on whether or not Sib-1 and want to go.
• With a write-up like this, I may have to see if I can get a copy of 5.
  

  This comic will give you pet tigers, chained artists, lizard eggs, space ships, mutated dogs and kung fu blaxploitation sci fi craziness. It will give you joy. It will make you want to create your own comics. And that is the highest praise I can give it. Highly recommended, if you can find it.

• : Three words – “Sunday. Night. Football.” Oh, add a fourth: “Beer!”
  Think about it.
• I had a couple of blasts from the past last night.
• Tires are not inexpensive.
• FLCL (because the pillows are playing on the iPod).

Up out.

Namaste.

Monday – 27 August 2007
Another work week begins.

Yesterday, I saw The Bourne Witch Project
The Blair Witch Ultimatum
I mean The Bourne Ultimatum. with . It was a good movie, but damn-and-a-half…. someone needs to buy Paul Greengrass a Steadi-Cam mount. Hell, buy him two, just in case one of them breaks.

Post-movie, we stopped in to say hi Kate, Perry and the kids. One thing about playing with the kids: I don’t need to worry about needing a workout – they keep me pretty busy. (Not a bad thing at all.) From there, it was on to ‘ place for a cookout. Mmm, pork loin.

I also framed the tourbooks for R30 and Snakes and Arrows yesterday afternoon. In “an unfortunate mishap,” I managed to break the glass in the frame for Roll the Bones. Yep, two great glass events in three weeks. I’m batting 1.000. Fortunately, the glass didn’t shatter; it just fractured into large, easy-to-clean-up pieces. I still need to hang the books. Maybe I’ll do that tonight.

Four-Color Coverage / Reeling by on Celluloid
I’m not sure exactly where this fits best, as it covers both categories. Rather than try to sort it out, I’ll just make it a combined entry.

Code Monkey BB and I went for a constitutional Friday afternoon and a snake was slithered across the walkway.

I’m not a fan of snakes.

After it had gone on its merry way and we continued walking, an odd thought crossed my mind: Would Indiana Jones have made a good Green Lantern?

I’m not saying that the erstwhile Dr. Jones was a slouch in the bravery department, but let’s face it: Most of the time, he was probably either dusting off artifacts on a dig of fending off the advances of a co-ed during a lecture. Neither of those is the most courage-consuming of tasks. (Well, I guess that depends on the co-ed, really.) But, I digress…

Fairly early in Raiders of the Lost Ark, we discover that Indy is afraid of snakes. We see it again, when he drops into the Well of Souls… next to a cobra and its friends. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, we learn the origins of his phobia.

Green Lanterns derive their power from their willpower, as channeled through their rings. The reason that rookie Lanterns are still affected by “the yellow impurity” is their inability to overcome fear. Once their fear has been overcome, their constructs are only limited by their willpower and imagination.

I posed the Indy/Lantern question to lj user=”everydave” Friday night. He pondered it for a moment and noted that in the scene where Indy and Jock are taking-off after Jones’ daring escape from the Aztec (or was it Mayan?) temple:

Indiana: There’s a big snake in the plane, Jock.
Jock: Oh, that’s just my pet snake Reggie.
Indiana: I hate snakes, Jock. I hate ’em.
Jock: C’mon, show a little backbone, will ya?

‘s point was: He apparently was able to overcome his fear, in that he dealt with the fact that the snake was in the cockpit rather than leap out of the plane.

Then there’s the scene in the Well of Souls:

[Upon opening the Well of the Souls and peering down into it]
Sallah: Indy, why does the floor move?
Indiana: Give me your torch.
[Sallah does, and Indy drops it in]
Indiana: Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?
Sallah: Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.

…and he did.

So… I guess that Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. would have made a potentially good Green Lantern.

City of Heroes/Villains: The Scales of Justice
The Hand of Nefer-Tem made the rounds in Paragon City last night. I teamed with some upper 40s and 50s on a couple of Praetorian missions. By the end of the night, I was about a bubble-and-a-half away from Security Level 34.

Stray Toasters

• NX Server. I like.
• Comics Should Be Good’s Top 100 Marvel and DC Characters
• Jeff: I’m going to be sitting there, trying to convince them that I’m a safe choice for Senior Accountant… and suddenly, I’m a naked man saying, “Vulva!”
  Steve: You’re just going to sit on a chair and talk. It’s not difficult.
  Jeff: Not diffi… not difficult?! I’ve got accidental words to worry about… thanks to Patrick here, I’ve got nudity projection. And there’s the giggle loop, of course.
• Original Haunted Mansion documentation
• “plot synopsis”
• By way of Dwim: Nixon-Peabody’s ego masturbation (click on the “MP3” link) *shakes head*
• Sad news for denizens of The Dreaming…
  

  I understand that, to celebrate Sandman’s 20th Anniversary, Neil Gaiman was to write a “Sandman” mini-series. However, recently the project was pulled.

  When asked, Neil told me, “We couldn’t come to an agreement that would allow me to do a new six issue Sandman story for DC, and many people at DC and my agent tried hard to make it happen. Pity.”

  I understand that certain people at DC are quite upset – though not with Neil or his agent. Given the performance of the “Endless” hardcover volume, this could have been expected to be a No.1 best seller in the direct market for all six months and the No.1 in the bookstore bestseller lists.

• 
• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak LEGO playset
• Patrick: What’s the matter?
  Jeff: I can’t turn off the naked people.
• 
• Michael Vick (finally) plead “guilty” to federal charges. Great. Can we move on to other news now? PLEASE?!
• Steampunk in the Boston Globe

Namaste.

Sunday – 26 August 2007
Yesterday was good. I mean… come on… the day started with coffee and IKEA and ended in Park City watching India.Arie. How could that not be a good day?! I’ve listened to some of her music before, but seeing her live was very cool. She had great stage presence and just seemed to be having a good time. The crowd really seemed to enjoy her performance, as well.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
At last night’s concert, India.Arie played/sang bits of many different songs – songs made popular by other artists, including a really good cover of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s Tell Me Something Good. But, she put her own twists on them and changed the way they came off… and, in that way, made them her own.

That made me consider something that I wrote a couple of years ago:

I’m having a bit of a John Stewart moment, not to be confused with a Jon Stewart moment.

When I say that I’m having a John Stewart moment, I don’t mean that I’m dressing up in a black and green outfit (I did that last Hallowe’en) and saving the world (I do that in City of Heroes). What I do mean is that I think that I am in the middle of rediscovering/redefining what makes me tick.

I used to use a lot of quotes when I was young. To make me sound mature. To make me sound serious. To make me feel like I wasn’t the second-class entity I’d always thought I was.

But the courage to use your own voice, that’s the test of maturity. That’s the proof of seriousness. Maybe that’s my mission here.

To find my own voice.

To find a voice for all these creatures and let them speak in harmony.

Yeah. Maybe. But in the meantime… there’s business.

I don’t think that I have changed that much since I started writing in this. Maybe I have. Maybe I’m “too close” to it to see. I do know that this journal has changed – it has a flavor that is distinctly mine, but does it speak with the full timbre of my voice? Or the voices in my head – past, present and future? I don’t know. Quite possibly so. But, there are still questions to be asked. And voices that need to be heard.

I should find that voice. My voice. And then, I can find the voice for this journal. Will it change the way that I write in here? Possibly. It’s hard to say until I undertake the process. Maybe it will metamorphose into something new. Perhaps it will revert to something like it was before. We’ll see how it goes.

One of the things that I had been worried about was using others’ quotes to express my thoughts, feelings and/or opinions. Listening to the way the India.Arie used other artists’ songs and wove them into and through her own pieces made me realize something: The things that I listen to and read have become a part of my voice.

They are things that have found an anchor and resonated within me. They’ve made a connection. Brought life to some spark. And, eventually, provide a pathway that I can use to relate/convey what I’m thinking or feeling. Even better, they aren’t the only weapons in my arsenal. They are handy, sometimes even convenient, but I have a versatile array of tools at my disposal. No matter which one I choose, it is mine to use.

That’s something that I think I have known – at some level – for a while. But, sometimes, it takes a different lens to help bring things into focus.

And I like the view.

Stray Toasters

• I have Honeycomb cereal. Before this last grocery run, I don’t think that I could tell you when the last time I had bought Honeycomb was.
• As promised: Pat, here is your mention in my blog.
• The War(s) They Fought
• By way of comes “proof” that I’m Chinese. (Which isn’t really true… I’m Negro-Saxon.)
• From NPR: My Cancer
• Tori Amos is apparently coming to SLC in November.
• 
• If they were to make a Sandman movie, I think that Tori Amos would make an interesting Delirium. Or maybe Evanna Lynch, the young lady who played Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
• 
• I need to hang my banner. Of course, that means cutting it and prepping it for hanging. And that requires effort.
• In this picture, we see U.S.Agent (at one point chosen to be Captain America’s successor) getting ready to tear into… someone. (I don’t read Omega Flight, so I’m not sure who that is.) But, that’s not what struck me. ‘Agent’s costume is based on Cap’s. I thought that I had read somewhere… somewhen… that Cap’s tunic was chainmail. That picture looks more like scale mail. And, according to the Wikipedia entry I just found, apparently it is supposed to be scale mail. Now I want to see if I can track down the source that made me think it was chain.
• I am craving a frozen mocha. But that requires a bit of effort, too.
• 
• Great. Just found an item that said Cap’s tunic is chainmail.
• Speaking of which: I remember playing Chainmail many moons past at The Armory.
• The Armory used to make the best miniatures paints, too…
• I need to get some paints: I am going to do custom ‘Clix for Hand of Nefer-Tem and Corvus Nox. Because I’m a geek like that. To date, the miniature paint job of which I am most proud was the tattoo I did on Alias‘ arm. I wish I still had the miniature, but I think that it fell prey to one of Mom’s cleaning sprees many years ago.

Time to do… something.

Namaste.

Saturday – 25 August 2007
Any day that starts with coffee and a trip to IKEA can’t be all bad. This was no exception. The unusual thing is that this trip was not for me and I walked out with nothing new. Well, except for a new bible. I mean “catalog.” I then spent the better part of the afternoon helping Perry to assemble his newly-purchased bed frame… and then hanging out with him and the family.

Home now.

Soon, I’m off to Park City for the Park City Jazz Festival. (Thanks, !)

Stray Toasters

• For :

  

• While standing in the checkout line at IKEA, a couple walked up behind me and the guy said something to the effect of: “Oh my God…” when he looked at how crowded the lines were. I turned around and asked: “First time…?” He said,”No, I was here last weekend, but it wasn’t as bad as this.” I nodded. He asked me, “How long have you been doing this.” I smiled and said: “About 15 years.” He wrinkled his brow and said, “Not here…?”

  INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Of course, not here, idiotstick. The IKEA here has been open for what… three months? *sigh* Common sense, unfortunately, isn’t.My response: “No, not here. There was one back home.”

  INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Idiotstick.

• So… let’s take a quick look at some Civil Bore items a bit of the aftermath:
  • Tony Stark gets the wild hair to turn into Ash from Pokèmon and get people to sign up to play for his team… or get thrown in jail. (Gotta catch ’em all!)
  • As part of his master plan, he takes a bit of DNA from the late God of Thunder, Thor.
  • …and he makes a clone of him, not-so-affectionately referred to as “Clor.”
  • Clor, is.. um.. “a little” unstable.
  • Clor kills the former avenger, Goliath.
  • Civil Bore wraps up.
  • Thor… comes back from the dead. (Maybe he’s part-Vulcan or part-Kryptonian… who knows?!)

  Now, I mentioned Ash… I mean Tony Stark… at the beginning of this, right? Okay, good. So, when you first meet up with (read: “confront”) your former comrade-in-arms, especially an Asgardian god… AND the same Asgardian god that you, in your infinite wisdom, decided to clone, how can you expect that meeting to go any way other than this: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) ?!? Oh, that’s right… you’re Tony Stark. Iron Man. A futurist. You don’t have to think about the rules.

  Or you’re just plain stupid.

• Transformers in IMAX? Hmm…
• Guy Gardner may not be my favorite Lantern, but WizKids got his ‘Clix figure and stats right.
• I should eat something. Soon.

Up out.

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 August 2007
So far, today has been extraordinarily lazy. I’m not saying that it is a “good” or “bad” thing; it simply… is. The most productive things I’ve done so far are:

• Got out of bed.
• Dealt with some of the hygiene rituals.
• Installed Empire Earth, Locomotion and Railroad Tycoon II on ‘Nine.
• Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I’m still in need of food and coffee. And a shave. And did I mention coffee? I did? Okay, good.

My company’s summer party was yesterday. It was a decent affair, but there wasn’t as much… punch… to it as last year’s event. I still had a bit of fun and it was a decent way to spend a couple of hours. And I still have two bags of cotton candy to show for it!

Four-Color Coverage
I was watching one of my favorite parts of Superman: Last Son of Krypton (the three-part beginning of Superman: The Animated Series) a few days ago and realized something: All of the modern (since 1978) major introductions of the character have involved a sequence involving the saving of an airplane/space shuttle:

• Superman: the Movie (movie, 1978)- Air Force One is struck by lightning, losing an engine and part of the port wing.
• The Man of Steel (comic, 1986) – The Space Shuttle Constitution experiences a system failure and is about to crash-land in Metropolis.
• Superman: The Animated Series (television, 1996) – A commercial airliner is struck by an errant missile while Superman is attempting to apprehend four criminals who have hijacked an experimental LexCorp aircraft.
• Superman Returns (movie, 2006) – The launch of an experimental space shuttle, being piggy-backed on a Boeing 777, proves nearly disastrous after Lex Luthor conducts an experiment with Krpytonian crystal shards. The shuttle’s engines engage – while it is still docked to the jet – melting off the tail.

My theory on this is: You’re dealing with a character “…with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men,” one of which is flight. Sure, you could have him stopping a runaway bus (just think of how much shorter Speed would have been…) or stopping a train, but an airplane? It just seems… more natural. For, you know… a… flying guy.

Something that I really like about the saves from S:TAS and Returns is that Superman doesn’t always come up with the “right answer” right off the bat. In fact, in both cases, his first attempt seems to do more harm than good. Thus, he has to deduce a better method for saving the passengers and bystanders… in a hurry. And since we’re talking about Superman…

They say that Superman is one bad…
Shut yo’ mouth!
I’m just talkin’ about Superman.
We can dig it.

…you know that he’ll figure something out.

Stray Toasters

• I found a very simple recipe for Jambalaya a little while ago. I might have to try it this week.
• The Ravens have a preseason game tonight. I believe that I shall have to watch it.
• Girls at risk amid India’s prosperity
• The DCAU
• 
• Lethal blaze at Twin Towers site
• From boingboing.net (and the “Too Much Free Time” file): Alien made of vegetables
• Missile dumped at US gun amnesty
• 
• From BBC News and the “Too Strange to Make Up” file: Beijing’s penis emporium
• Sony plans to recycle electronics for free

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Namaste.

Saturday – 18 August 2007
The morning started with some errand running. One of which seemed to go smoothly, but I discovered a gross error and had to go back to correct it. It was handled quickly, fairly efficiently and effectively.

On to coffee with Perry. dropped in a short while later. The three of us chatted for a bit before we decided to make a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden. Of course, it was a bloody madhouse. But, we basked in the glory of “the land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size.” We ate lunch in the restaurant and then it was off to the races: I picked up the last two frames I need for my tourbooks and a couple of curtain rods for a banner I have been wanting to hang.

Four-Color Coverage

• Action Comics #854 – The secret’s out. (I’ll cover this more in the Countdown bullet.) Mr. Action, Superman and… Krypto take on the Kryptonite Man and Titano. And, young Jimmy Olsen asks his buddy if he can get a try-out for the JLA.
• Booster Gold #1 – When Booster Gold first appeared in the post-Crisis DCU, he was a definite sign of the times: A self-aggrandizing hero who was all about appearances and what he could do to earn a fast buck. Sure, he actually managed to pull off some actual heroics, but it was all about the glory game. Over the years, he managed to get into the Justice League… but was mainly written off as comic relief. Second-rate. “Crowd control.” (That last one will make more sense if you’ve seen the Justice League Unlimited episode, “The Greatest Story Never Told.” But, following the events of 52, Booster’s back and trying to do the right thing. Too bad that no one will ever know…
• The Brave and the Bold #6 – Batman, Green Lantern, Supergirl and Adam Strange face off against the Lords of Luck. The prize: The Book of Destiny. And time’s running out. No, time’s changing. So, the heroes call in some help. Maybe it will be enough.
• Countdown: 38 and 37 – Oracle vs. The Calculator. Zatanna and Mary Marvel vs. Deep Six. Robin vs. Mr. Action?! All of this plus: The reason that Karate Kid and Una broke into Oracle’s lair. And, as I said above: The secret’s out – Jimmy Olsen finds an astounding discovery about Clark Kent.
• Green Lantern #21 and #22 – The Sinestro Corps War rages on. Lanterns continue to fall before the onslaught of the newly-formed Sinestro Corps. And it looks as though many more will fall before the war’s end. Guardians Ganthet and Sayd recruit Hal Jordan to undertake a secret mission. He’s going to need help. Unfortunately, the Lost Lanterns – GLs whose rings Hal took (and whom he left for dead) when he was possessed by Parallax – still have axes to grind with Jordan, so it doesn’t look like he’s going to get much assistance from them. And just what is it that Hal Jordan fears? Plus, Hal takes on a Parallax-possessed Kyle Rayner. And, Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg-Superman, asks the Anti-Monitor for a boon.
• Justice League of America #12 – I actually bought two copies of this… so I could have both halves of the Alex Ross cover. This issue deals with two shadow figures watching the JLA as they deal with… “Monitor Duty.” The duo are voicing their opinions about the various members, what each brings – or could potentially bring – to the team. And they look at how those various elements, no matter in what combination, serve to make the team stronger than the sum of its parts.
• The New Avengers #33 – Welcome to another rousing round of “Are You a Skrull?!” The team, already under stress from the events and aftermath of Civil Bore War, shows how tightly wound they are as the lack of trust grows. And who’s that making shadowy deals with crime lords (and a lady)…?
• Superman/Batman #39 – Scarecrow. Desaad. Darkseid. And a brainwashed Superman. Yep, the Dark Knight has his hands full with this one. Very full.
• Ultimate X-Men #85 – Bishop’s all-new, all-proactive X-Men take on Sentinels. Jean’s talking to her imaginary friends again. Dazzler pulls a new trick out of her sleeve. And a couple of someones may be getting visitors from their pasts. While this book is still rather hit-or-miss, I’m intrigued enough by the new story to stick it out a little longer.

I should probably decide which brand of trouble I’d like to get into this evening.

Namaste.