Random Access

Thursday – 27 November 2008
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Last night, I watched Tropic Thunder with SaraRules and her family. I was originally ambivalent (at best) about seeing this movie. After seeing it, I have to say that I not only enjoyed it… I laughed my ass off at parts of it. (Not a bad thing, given that today is Thanksgiving and will be a “pile on the pounds and calories” fest.) It was silly, mindless, turn-off-your-brain fare, but it was well-done. And, Robert Downey, Jr. playing an Aussie playing a Black guy was very funny, as well. If you’re looking for a light – and funny – way to pass an hour and a half, this isn’t a bad way to go.

Today, I slept in. Way in. Double-digits in. And it was good. SaraRules stopped by and picked me up for Thanksgiving dinner. And football, which I’m watching now. The Titans vs. the Lions – the best team in the NFL vs. the worst team in the NFL. I’m not sure that I’d call 35-10 “a game,” as much as a “blowout.” But, it’s football. And that’s enough. Soon there will be food. Lots of food. And sweet potato pie. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• MightyGodKing takes a look at the last year of Spider-Man in Brand New Year.
• It’s the Superman Next Door
• By way of :



• I just saw the new/latest/whatever trailer for The Spirit.  I like.
• I just spoke with , who is on his way to visit his family for the holiday – he said that it’s (nearly) time for the holiday season “stop driving like an idiot” posts from the Council for Better Driving.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Thursday – 09 Oct 2008
Last night was Project Runway night. The four designers who started the show were pared down to the final three designers… and I was a little surprised at who made the final cut. Post-Runway, and after SaraRules headed home, it was new comics night. There were a few good books in yesterday’s haul, including a new issue of Love & Capes.

This morning, I decided to check out an Internet Radio feed on iTunes. I opted to go for a Hip Hop/Rap feed. Scrolling down the list, I saw an entry for WVEE: V-103. This intrigued me, as there was a “V-103” in Baltimore. I clicked on the station and waited for the feed to begin. Turns out that this feed originates from a station in Atlanta. A couple of songs played and then there was a newscast. The reporter was Jean Ross.

*blink blink*

There was a “Jean Ross” who was a reporter on Baltimore’s V-103 many moons past. It struck me as too much of a coincidence to let pass. I did a quick search and came up with a result on the Atlanta station’s website. I clicked through and went to their Bio page. And there it was, big as day and twice as bright: Jean Ross’ bio. Turns out that she is the same Jean Ross I used to listen to back home all those years ago.

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: Charles Atlas, Wii Fit, Health and Exercise
  (The second paragraph kills me.)
• By way of : Demonic Squirrel Motorcyle Riding Story
• 
• A few political items:
  • John McCain and “my friends”: We counted how many times he said it.
  • John McCain calls Barack Obama ‘that one’ during debate: Was it rude or not?
  • Make-believe Maverick
  • Video: Saturday Night Live‘s take on the Vice-Presidential Debate (featuring Queen Latifah)
• Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker’s Library
• There is a possibility of snow in the valley this weekend. *sigh*
• At last, Google invents something truly brilliant
• 
• Steampunk and the Macabre
• A couple of things you might not know about me:
  1. I don’t practice Santeria
  2. I ain’t got no crystal ball
• The Manga Guide to Databases

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Monday – 04 August 2008
A new week is just starting… and I want it to be the weekend already. This isn’t to say that the morning has been bad. Far from it, in fact. I just find that today’s motivation is low. Despite this, I’ve already accomplished a few things and have lined up a couple of things for tomorrow.

This morning started off slowly. I turned off the main alarm… after I finally figured out what it was. I then drifted in and out of consciousness for another hour. I got up, got ready and hit the door in under 30 minutes. A quick stop for a frozen mocha jumpstart and I made my way to the office.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been hunting for some old files for the past few days. I found them this morning… along with a few things that I had completely forgotten about.
• SaraRules sent me a link to the transcript of Saturday’s talk with Condoleezza Rice.
• Morgan Freeman injured in car accident
• 
• sent a link to Solar LED ‘Leaf’ Streetlights. They look pretty neat.
• LEGO Robot Sends Pictures from Space, Wishes It Had Lasers to Annihilate Us All
• 
• For Want of a Transporter
• I have Power Pack ‘Clix on my work monitor. This amuses me.
• How to Tell Time Without a Clock

I think I’ll be spending part of this evening’s pre-The Middleman time trying to wrangle some of my ‘Clix extras into eBay-able lots.

/lunch

Namaste.

Friday – 25 July 2008

It’s SysAdminDay!

In honor of this, I once again bring your Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie’s System Administrator Song.

Last night, I hung out with Allie and her friend, David; I haven’t seen her in close to a year, I guess. She’s in town for a CF treatment. When I talked with her earlier in the week, I told her that I’d come visit her. I asked if she wanted anything. Her response: Tiramisu. So, I picked some up and took it to her. It was a fun visit.

I got back home around 11:00. I turned on the TV and watched the tail end of The Late Late Show. I thought about hopping on PokerStars, but realized at 12:30 that I was tapped. So I called it a night.

Stray Toasters

• If the weather stays decent, I may head to a driving range this weekend.
• From the Council for Better Driving: Utah comes Utah Code Section 41-6a-801 – Turning – Manner – Traffic Control Devices

  Loosely translated: “To the road monkey in front of me this morning: You could have turned left – into your designated lane, even though there was oncoming traffic turning right… into their designated lane.”

• No, I don’t play for the 49’ers
• Last Lecture Professor Randy Pausch, 47, Dies
• Wizard People
• 
• Oil paintings of computer cables
• The Shining recreated with WowWee robots

• LEGO Beijing Olympics

Namaste.

Monday – 09 June 2008
Here comes the work week.

I can’t complain about the weather, though.

It’s supposed to get up to the upper 70s. I can deal with that… especially since SaraRules just told me that it’s cold enough in Aspen that she had to wear a sweater this morning. In June. That just ain’t right.

I played a little CoH last night. I may switch over to CoV in the next day or two and show Mr. Dhoruba some love. Speaking of whom, I need to get a screenshot of his updated look… as well as a shot of my new Hero-side character, Kurigari.

This morning, I apparently woke up long enough to turn off the alarm… and roll back over. I don’t really , remember it, though. I was up about twenty minutes later, though. It didn’t take too long to kick the morning into gear. And the frozen mocha didn’t hurt, either.

Stray Toasters

• WWDC.
• SaraRules and kind of bonded over a common… um… “lack of bonding” experience.
• Have you ever listened to Space Oddity with only one channel (right or left)? Try it sometime.
• I have started trying a couple of new layouts of items in one of the display cases:

  

  I know that this leaves a lot of empty space on that shelf, but I really like the way it accents the figure. The only better thing that I could imagine would be to have an LED in/on the figure, similar to the McFarlane HALO3 Cortana figure. I also wish that I had about a half-inch more height to work with – Galactus would look nice behind Jean.

• New rocket car spotted in Silver Lake
  (Why does this many me want to hum the theme from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?)
• My coworker Robert came over a little while ago to ask me if I had seen Stuff White People Like. I told him that I had and that I found it amusing.
• I find this particularly apt, especially given many Utah drivers’ aversion to roundabouts:



• Okay… this is a little uncanny (and weird): Without any input/coercion from me, a dialogue clip from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang just played on iTunes.
• Joshua Ellingson Fine Art & Illustration

Whee!!!!

Namaste.

It’s not often that The Council for Better Driving has praise for UDoT. A more truthful statement would be: “The Council for Better Driving has had few good things to say about UDoT.” However, the adage “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is not always true, because UDoT has done something rather praiseworthy:

Click image to be taken to the “Know Where, Know Why” site.

They have created a guide documenting the upcoming and ongoing construction along the major roads of Utah. There are twenty-two (22) projects listed in this guide; the detailed information about each project includes:

• Location of the construction;
• When the construction will take place – and, in the case of lengthy projects, estimated completion dates;
• Impact of the project while the construction is taking place; and
• Result of the new construction.

It should be noted that the guide does not offer suggestions for alternate routes around the construction zones.

This guide is also available as a tri-fold pamphlet.

Friday – 07 March 2008
The re-piping project in my apartment started bright and early (8:00 AM) yesterday. When I got home, the first phase was pretty much complete… leaving a number of holes throughout the walls and ceiling of the apartment. This included a hole in the wall between the bedroom and the maintenance closet (outside). This meant that I had a rather drafty hole that allowed a good deal of cold air into the bedroom… almost directly over the bed. So, I jerry-rigged a light cover to try and keep some of the air out. It was nominally effective. Pictures here.

SaraRules came into town last night. We headed to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Cheese Fries. Prime Rib. Very tasty. We had a great server, as well. Her name was Jennifer. She was attentive, helpful, very pleasant and just all-around “good.”

Workout
Yesterday’s workout – the first in nine or ten days – was good… but painful.  “Good pain,” despite how oxymoronic that sounds:

• Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 55 lbs.
• Dumbbell Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs.
• Push-ups (elevated): 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Dips 3 sets/15 reps
• Rows (upright, barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs
• Tricep Press (cable): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs

Yesterday’s post-workout weight: 172.4 lbs.
Stray Toasters

• Yesterday, I got the Wizard Universe Store weekly email for new toys and comic-related merchandise. In it was an item for an advance order for the ‘Coming of Galactus’ Limited Edition HeroClix figure. This is basically a re-issue of the older Galactus figure… with a new paint job:
  • Old and busted:
  • New hotness

  And, yes, it is firmly entrenched on the Covet List.

• New Jack Kirby coffee table art book
• The Council for Better Driving: Utah gives a “thumbs-down” to UDoT for its lack of attention and care given to Salt Lake City metropolitan area streets. They are atrocious! Anyone who has driven on either 33rd/35th South and/or 90th South, for example, will know exactly why.
• This Is Your Brain on Jazz: Researchers Use MRI to Study Spontaneity and Creativity
• 
• By way of GQ: Clean Start
• I was just thinking about something:
  • In Justice League/Unlimited, there are a few episodes that feature Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet.
  • In Justice League: The New Frontier, another version of the plane was “shown,” but the way that it was “seen,” by the viewer, was by way of blood in the cockpit.
  • In both the comics and in animated versions – and even in the 1974 Cathy Lee Crosby made-for-TV movie, it has been noted that neither the jet – nor people inside the jet – cannot be seen by bystanders.

  So… how in the Nine Hells does she know where to get in or where the controls – or anything else – are?!

• Geoff Johns: Secret Origins and Blackest Night
• “What’s a Nubian…?”
• xkcd: Ultimate Game

Namaste.

Thursday – 14 February 2008
First off: Happy Valentine’s Day.

Now that we have that out of the way…

Yesterday was…interesting. On many levels. I started the day in SLC, so that I could work on a couple of server issues. The biggest headache of the issues was replacing a mainboard and a couple of sideboards. That took longer than planned, but I got it done.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get it finished before the latest snow storm to hit Utah – not just SLC – rolled in. I left the SLC office, popped home to pick up a couple of things I needed for the trip and got back on the road. It took me two-and-a-half hours to get from SLC to AF. This was due mostly to the fact that UHP and UDoT had closed a couple of roads that branched off of I-15 in Utah County. And, let me tell you, a gridlocked I-15 at the top of South Mountain is not where you want to be when you’re having an Wakko Warner-like potty emergency. *sigh* I made it to the AF office, took care of the two things I needed to and got back on the road.

The snow wasn’t hellish through Provo, but – to their credit – drivers weren’t behaving like heroin-addicted monkeys, either. That was a pleasant surprise. Outside of Utah County, the roads were a mixed bag: Some were well-cleared, others were not-so-cleared, but passable. I managed to get behind a couple of snow plows, which was nice. Falling in behind a few semis wasn’t bad, either…

…but it still took me SIX HOURS to get to Cedar City. *gah*

I had planned to get up and go to the gym when SaraRules headed to work this morning. Yeah… “theory vs. practical application” at its finest. I didn’t wake up until nearly noon.

Now, it’s final packing prep and on the road to Vegas.

And then… Baltimore.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 January 2008
This post is brought to you by The Council for Better Driving.
(…and The Society for Keeping Me from Snapping My Foot Off in a Monkey’s Ass)

Turn signals.

I believe that all cars are equipped with them. As a standard feature, no less. When properly used, they indicate a driver’s desire to either initiate a lane change or to make a turn. Note that I said “desire,” and not something like “God-given right.” There is a reason for that. To illustrate this reason, I’ll give an example:

This morning, while commuting from the SLC office to the AF office, I was traveling along I-215 (westbound), heading for the I-15 interchange. Just before the 15/215 interchange, there is an on-ramp from 280 East that merges into 215 westbound. And here, we arrive at the crux of the matter.

I was less than a mile from the I-15 exit, preparing to merge one lane to the right and turn onto I-15. A silver car – oddly, I remember the license plate moreso than the make/model of the car – came down the 280 East on-ramp. The car arrived at the merging area just behind me – just off my left rear bumper.

I continued to drive normally.

The driver sped up until it we were roughly eye-to-eye… and then she looked at me, as if to say, “Well…?! Are you going to let me over?!”

It was at this point, I noticed that her turn signal was on.

I continued driving. Again, the turn signal indicates “desire” – or even intent – to initiate a change, not a mandate to get out of the merging/turning car’s way. In fact, let’s look at the Utah Traffic Code on this matter:

• 41-6a-804: Turning or changing lanes — Safety — Signals — Stopping or sudden decrease in speed — Signal flashing — Where prohibited.
• 41-6a-903. Yield right-of-way — Vehicle turning left — Entering or crossing highway other than from another roadway — Merging lanes.

Rather than slowing to merge in behind me – for which there was more than ample room – the driver sped up and passed me. In and of itself, I would have been alright with this. More or less. The irritating thing was: The entire time that she spent speeding up, passing me and merging two lanes to the left, she was staring me down in her rear-view mirror, as if to say, “You ass… You should have let me over before!” *sigh* Some people’s children.

Therefore, It’s time for a new rule:

Rule #3: Use your turn signals.
Please remember: Using your turn signals does not bestow upon you carte blanche or noblesse oblige driving privileges.

Let’s also take this opportunity to review Rules #1 and #2, as well:

Rule #1: Don’t be a rude or discourteous driver.
(This has been amended from the previous “Don’t be a fucker,” at the recommendation of our Director of Marketing, in order to facilitate more… “palatable”… ad campaigns.)

Rule #2: Slow down and let’s ALL get where we’re going in one piece.
You might be immortal, but the rest of us on the road aren’t.

Thank you.

Namaste.

Monday – 07 January 2008
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

Remember the snow I mentioned last night? It didn’t stop until this morning. Given this, you would think that UDoT would have sent a plow or two to take care of clearing I-15 Northbound. Nope. And, if… IF… they did, it must have been in the wee hours of the night and not since. Therefore, the drive from Cedar City to Beaver – which usually takes about 35 minutes – took over an hour. *sigh* There were a couple of small patches of clear road up to Beaver, but each of them was less than a half-mile long. I should also mention that for most of the Cedar-to-Beaver trip, only one lane was decently drivable. Yay. And then there was was that driver from Nevada who decided that she could/would not be passed: When I made a go of it – on one of the rare clear stretches of two clear lanes – she sped up to pace me… until I hit the next slushy/icy patch. Monkey.

Once I got a few miles north of Beaver, you would have never known that there had been snow on the roads. Seriously. The roads were bone dry. I made up a little time, but didn’t really drop the hammer.

Work was quiet and low-key today. This was a good thing. I was asked a few questions; I gave a few answers. Not everyone went away happy, but they knew what was up.

Stray Toasters

• I’m (finally) reading Batman: The Long Halloween. It’s pretty damned good.
• Interesting mashup: Thuggy Stardust and the Hustlers from Mars
• The X-Files Are Coming Back, But They Never Left
• If you have kids, watch this video: TED Talks – Gever Tulley: 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do
• LEGO pictures (clickable), by way of The Brothers Brick:
  • 
  • 
  • The next pair are for :
    • 
    • 
  • 
• Bob Staake Works in Adobe Photoshop 3.0
• World Series of Poker. Mmm…
• and Tyranist: Storm

Okay, that’s enough for now. Time to go save the world…

Namaste.

Friday – 04 January 2008
And the work week – the short work week – comes to an end. Thankfully. Today, I started off in the SLC office, planning on finishing up the task I was working on yesterday and heading down to AF. “The best laid plans of mice and men…” I didn’t get out of there until 3:00. Then, I was off to AF… for the first time I’ve been in that office in a shade over two weeks.

I left the AF office and hopped onto I-15 South for a weekend in Cedar City. The weather was far more cooperative than it had been the last to southbound trips. And there were road monkeys – of special note was the Dodge Ram 1500 driver who got on the road in Fillmore. He decided that I was NOT going to pass him. Under (almost) any circumstance:

• Did he drop down below the speed limit?
  By the time I got halfway past him, he’d speed up.
• Was he stuck behind someone and I passed them both?
  Come Hell or high water, he was going to make sure that he passed me again.

The Council for Better Driving would like to take this opportunity to remind readers of Rule #1.

I finally passed him – and stayed ahead of him for a while – a little north of Cedar City, but I slowed down again, due to some rather strong winds blowing out of the canyons. AHA! The opening he needed! He zipped around me… only to slow down as the winds buffeted his truck. (And the Highway Patrolman in front of him may have had a little to do with it, too.) Idiotstick.

I’ve been hanging out with SaraRules, Steph, Darrilyn and Vince (and Darrilyn’s younger brother and sister, who arrived a little later). I’m looking foward to a nice, relatively quiet and relaxing weekend.

Stray Toaster
As I noted last night, I installed City of Heroes on the Windows partition on Defiant. When I went to run it, it kept giving me an error during the loading process. Today, I tried a couple of diagnostic tools, but they wouldn’t tell me why it was erroring out.

So, I uninstalled City.
And reinstalled it.

Still no go.

Eventually, I had an epiphany: Check the device manager to see if there was a noticeable problem there. Nope. Everything was hunky-dory. On a whim, I decided to look up information on the troublesome .dll file that kept throwing the error. It was tied to the video chipset. Hmm… I checked the display driver.

It was one of Microsoft’s generic “This should work!” drivers.

I immediately went to the Intel site and looked for a newer, better driver. I found it rather quickly and easily – kudos for good site navigation! I installed the driver, rebooted and decided to try City again.

Lo and behold, it loaded on the first go. I logged in, to be sure that everything else was working properly. Not only did it work properly, the framerate was a bit faster – and smoother – than I get on DS9. I logged out, with a satisfied smile on my face: Paragon City (and the Rogue Isles) just became my Kandor.

I’m a happy camper.

Namaste.

Friday – 21 December 2007
Another work week draws nigh to a close.

Last night’s storm dumped between four and eight inches of snow in most of the valley. For comparison, take a look at pictures taken yesterday, just before the storm hit, and today. It also made for some long and treacherous commutes last night and this morning: The Utah Highway Patrol had logged over 200 accidents by 10:00 AM. The Council for Better Driving would like to take this opportunity to remind motorists of Rule #1.

I was supposed to go and play dolls HeroClix with Chris last night. After the 4-mile/35-minute commute, I took that option right off the table. Instead, I stayed at home and watched CSI:, Without a Trace and episodes of Coupling with SaraRules. We even had hot chocolate and biscotti (one of her parents’ neighbors made it… and it was GOOD!).

I talked with and Don a little while ago. They are doing well, as are their boys. also related an amusing story:

A short while ago, was reading my blog. Their older son, who is six-years-old, was reading, alongside her. She got to this post… and the “I’m so happy…” picture.

Their son saw the picture and started trying to spell out the word he didn’t know.

And couldn’t understand why Mom – who quickly clicked away from the page – wouldn’t help him sound it out.

The answer came back as: “That’s a word for big people, dear.”

That’s right: I’m corrupting my Godchildren from across the country… using the wondrous power of the Interweb! As I told Don: “That’s what Godparents are for!” (SaraRules, however, disagrees with me on this point.)

Stray Toasters
Maybe later.

Namaste.

Saturday – 08 December 2007
Ahhh… another lazy Saturday morning.

The drive down was wet and rainy… until I got down near Beaver. It was snowing heading into and out of Beaver, but not in Beaver. Go figure. And, the other drivers actually drove with a modicum of care and common sense. The Council for Better Driving would definitely have approved of their behavior.

Last night, we went to see Steph perform in Student Dance Concert: Breaking Bounds. There were thirteen pieces; Steph danced in six of them. Most of the pieces were good, although there were a few… um… “not so great” ones. After the Concert, SaraRules and I came back and watched Smokin’ Aces. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I enjoyed it.

This morning started with breakfast, coffee and (of course) cartoons. Today’s episode of Legion of Super-Heroes was a rebroadcast of “The Karate Kid.” The Batman, however, was new: “Ring Toss,” featuring Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). The episode also had Sinestro, and they did a good take on him. The addition of The Penguin was, in my opinion, something of a throw-away, but what are you gonna do? Kim and Steph came in and watched ‘toons with us and then we switched over to What Not to Wear: Mail Call. THAT was amusing.

Nothing really on-tap for the afternoon, but we are heading to see A Christmas Carol: On the Air this evening. After that, I believe that we are having a flip cup competition. Should make for a fun and… interesting… night.

Stray Toasters

• I think that I have a potentially viable workaround for Christmas travel. Now to see if the other people involved will comply…
• Well, it’s been rumoured for a while, but it seems as though it’s moved out of the “rumour” category and moved into the “it’s really going to happen” category: End of the Line for CompUSA.
• 
• Steampunk gift guide and Steampunk Anthology
• sent me links to Dog Armor and Squirrel Armor… and the first think that came to mind was: “Man, I bet SCA geeks would love something like this! Now their pets can share in the fun with them!”
• From Something Awful’s Photoshop Phriday: Pop-Up Books
• Dark Horse Comics will present Serenity: Better Days, a 3-issue comic series, in 2008. The story will be written by Joss Whedon.

Quote of the Day
From Stacy London to a participant on this morning’s What Not to Wear:

You look like you’re trying to compete with 18-year-olds… but 18-year-olds always win, because they’re 18!

This met with a lot of laughter from everyone in the room.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 05 December 2007
Tuesday ended better than it started. Chris came over around 8:00 and we played dolls HeroClix. I brought out a squad of Justice Leaguers, Chris used various X-people. We played a time-limited game; he kicked my ass – he took out four of my team to the one of his that I got. But, it was fun. After that, we played Covenant Beatdown… I mean “HALO 3.” *genuflect* Quite fun.

This morning started with a wake-up call from SaraRules. The morning hygiene rituals followed. And then, the monkey-laden commute to the southern compound.

Is it really a radical concept to wipe the snow off of your hood (and roof) when scraping snow and ice from your windows? Does it really take that much more time to do? The Council for Better Driving, through extensive research and simulations, has concluded that it does not. So, next time you’re breaking out the ice scraper to wreck shop on the snow and ice on your windows, take an extra minute or two to knock off the snow and ice on your hood, roof and trunk. The people around you will appreciate it.

So far, the day has been fairly quiet. And, it is the birthday of Derek, my former Acolyte:

Today’s workout was good. Today’s routine:

• Bench Press: 3 sets / 10 reps, 185 lbs (slow, controlled descent)
• Lateral Pull-downs: 3 set / 15 reps (broken into 5-5-5), 100 lbs
  • Wide-grip, behind-the-head (5 reps)
  • Wide-grip, overhand/standard (5 reps)
  • Close-grip, overhand/standard (5 reps)
  • **Close-grip, underhand/reverse-grip (done as an additional 5 reps on the third set)
• Shoulder Press (Dumbbell): 3 sets / 12 reps, 40 lbs
• Seated Curls (Dumbbell): 3 sets / 10 reps, 25 lbs
• Standing Wrist Curls (Barbell):
  • Forward: 3 sets / 15 reps, 40 lbs
  • Reverse: 3 sets / 15 reps, 40 lbs
• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps

It was a bit short/abbreviated, but I can feel it. That’s a good thing.

Stray Toasters

• I downloaded the new drivers for my Graphire4. I think I’ll start doodling more. That might actually lead to me drawing more often.
• Star Trek: The Tour
• Speaking of which: Avery Brooks was on Talk of the Nation today, promoting the performance of Tamburlaine at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
• By way of : Former NFL player gears up for spaceflight
• By way of shockpuppet: Footprints (WoW version) and COLOURlovers
• 
• Have you been looking for a way to integrate your worship of the Old Ones with the trappings and trimmings of the modern holiday season? Well, how about Cthulhumas?
• And what better time to throw in a link to Carol of the Old Ones?
• Happy Holiday from Parallels
• The break room in the south office has been getting stocked with Welch’s Orange-Pineapple Juice. It’s good. (I’m still a Welch’s Grape Juice kid, at heart, though. And, yes, we have that here, too.)
• iBlade

/lunch

Namaste.

Friday: Coda
Sweet frozen zombie monkey-squeezin’ Jesus…

I’m in Cedar City. That’s a good thing. The trip down here was… not entirely hellish, but the Utah’s “It should be Winter now” weather was in rare form. It started drizzling this afternoon, around the time I got done with my workout. It continued through the afternoon. By the time I got between Filmore and Beaver, the rain decided to turn into snow.

<sarcasm> Yay. </sarcasm>

This, of course meant that most of the people on the road slowed down to a bit below the speed limit. The Council for Better Driving considers this a adherence to Rules #1 and #2. Nuff’ said. There were, however, a few monkeys who decided to roll the bones and drive at approximately the same speeds that they would in dry weather. The Fates must have smiled upon them, as I did not see any of them upside-down on the side of the road. After I got a little past Beaver, the snow turned into intermittent rain again.

I got to SaraRules’ around 6:30… and fell almost immediately asleep. Her parents got into town about forty-five minutes later and we went to dinner at Cafe Orleans. Tonight, I tried their crab cakes (they were “okay,” but I’m not sure that I’d order them again), a grilled chicken po’boy and the chicken and sausage gumbo, both of which were good. After dinner, we came back to the apartment and watched Blade: Trinity. It was alright, not “great,” but a nice way to kick back at the end of the day.

Stray Toasters

• I just learned that Evel Knievel died today. He was 69. If you were born after… 1980 or so, that name might not mean a lot; but if you were a kid in the late 60s/early-to-mid 70s, you are probably at least passingly familiar with his exploits. And the toy line that he inspired. (And I had quite a few of those toys, back in the day…)
• Did you know that Kris Kristofferson (yes, the country and gospel singer/actor) is a Rhodes scholar. He was also a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. And, he dated Janis Joplin.
• 
• Uranium ore for sale on Amazon.com

*voop*