Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones…”

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Thursday – 19 August 2010
It’s the NBN Thursday before my 9/80 “off” Friday…
…which is only made better by the fact that I’m working a half-day. Boo-yah!

Today is also, apparently, National Aviation Day.  Who knew?!

Last night was D&D game night with and Jack. It was fun. We had a “somewhat socially awkward” member in our group.  (Yeah, yeah, I know.  “Socially awkward” and “game-playing geek” pretty much go together like Ronald McDonald and Grimace.)  *shrug* It happens.

BUT… the “best” part of the evening was catching sight of one of the players at another table…

…dressed in a white shirt and black pants (okay, so far)…

…and, um, “adorned” with glitter.

Yeah. Glitter. All over his arms and a TON of it on his face. “Go, Team Edward.”  We weren’t quite sure if it was sad or hysterically funny. (We went with “hysterically funny,” just to be safe.)

Post-gaming, I hit up the local blue-and-yellow electronics purveyor to get my copy of City of Heroes: Going Rogue. I looked at a few other things, too, but managed to subdue the urge to walk away with “one of everything.”

Back at home, I found SaraRules and Meliko hanging out. Other than pictures, Meliko hadn’t seen the house, so she’d come over to check it out. She approved. *whew* We took her home (i.e.: “dropped her off at the in-laws’ place”) and visited with the ‘rents for a bit.

Workout
Wednesday’s step count: 4,409

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Things from a Wednesday morning…

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Wednesday – 18 August 2010
Midweek. And that means Comics (and Sushi) Wednesday!

Yesterday afternoon, I called a local sporting goods store to see if they’d be able to do a quick turnaround on tuning up my bike. Yeah, the one that I haven’t ridden in about two years. They said that as long as I could have it there by 1000 this morning, that I could get it back this evening. It was in their store a little after 1800 yesterday. The clerk also told me that, aside from new tubes, it looked like it only needed a minor tune-up. Win!

SaraRules’ sister, Meliko, got into town last night. SaraRules and I stopped by the in-laws’ to visit with her  – and the in-laws – for a while.

The evening finished up with ice cream and an episode of Mad Men… which really isn’t a bad way to wind up a day.

There was just a major accident on the freeway outside of our building; I got a few pictures of the aftermath.  The Council for Better Driving would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to please be careful when on the roadways.

Workout
Tuesday’s step count: 5, 546

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“It’s Five o’Clock Somewhere…”

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Friday – 23 June 2010
It’s the weekeeeeeeeeend, baby!
Hello, 9/80 Friday off.  I’ve missed you.

I’m not a big modern Country Music fan, but Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet sum up my attitude about the weekend in this song:

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Park City to see Imani Winds perform as part of the Deer Valley Music Festival. It was, simply put, fantastic. Seeing musicians of color – and especially African-American artists – performing classical music is still somewhat rare… or at least uncommon. Seeing five of them perform together, even more so. But, this quintet is an excellent group of performers. It was very easy to see that they not only enjoyed their jobs, but they enjoyed playing with the others in the group, as well.

Something that SaraRules and I noted: It was interesting that even though flautist Valerie Coleman appeared to act as conductor/timekeeper for the group, there was no real “leader,” so to speak.  Everyone had a part to play – including some lovely solos – and each of the members took a turn at presenting a piece of music.

Their performance consisted of modern compositions, two of which were written by members of the quintet. I enjoyed first half of their performance, but the second half was the stand-out half for me. The performance closed with a klezmer piece that had been arranged for wind quintet and featured clarinetist Mariam Adams, who completely knocked it out of the park.

If Imani Winds perform in your area and you have a chance to hear them, I strongly encourage you to do so.

Workout
Thursday’s step count: 3,507

Stray Toasters

Time to hit the road, so I can hang out with Perry and the kids for a while.

I might even swing by Pin-up Girl for a morning pick-me-up…

Namaste.

“I been workin’ on the railroad all the live-long day…”

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Saturday: Coda
Today has been a very good day.
And, it’s not even over, yet.

This afternoon, and I had an excursion that took us up to Ogden. Or “b’Ogden,” as some people have referred to it. Ostensibly, we went to check out the Ogden Art Festival. What really happened was this:

We first went to a place called Wonderful World of Trains & Hobbies. It was located a small, remodeled house; most of the first floor had been turned into a store… with railroad layouts all over: Two shelf layouts; a middle-of-the-floor layout with six (6) tracks, done in three (3) different gauges; a small Lionel Thomas the Tank Engine layout on the floor for kids; and a couple of BRIO-scale Thomas the Tank Engine sets on the floor, just to the sides of the main entrance.  I think that I was able to wipe the drool from my chin before anyone else noticed.  I think.  They had something for just about every level of model railroading enthusiast:

  • Garden (G) Scale
  • O Scale
  • S Scale
  • HO Scale
  • N Scale and even
  • Z Scale.

and I spent nearly an hour just ogling the merchandise and being amazed at the variety of items displayed.  I found an old C&O caboose that I couldn’t pass up (partly because it would go decently with my engine and tender combo and partly because it’s rare/odd to find things with B&O/C&O/Chessie System road markings in the middle of Union Pacific territory). That also meant that I needed a section of track to display it on… which also meant that I needed a section of track for the Maryland boxcar I got at the Train Expo a few months back.


Dale, the employee on duty, was knowledgeable, courteous and friendly — an unfortunately rare combination to find in some hobby shops. Aside from the caboose and track, the place had many other items that would go nicely on The Covet List. If we hadn’t made it to anyplace else in Ogden, stopping in that store made the entire trip worthwhile.

From there, we headed up to Union Station. We dispensed with all pretense and immediately headed into Warren’s Train Shop, the model railroad shop in the station. Most (99.5%) of their items were HO Scale, which neither of us are looking to get into. That didn’t stop us from browsing, though.

After we finished there, we headed into the main part of the station to finally see the Arts Festival. It was a small affair, but there were some interesting pieces. Of particular note for me was a piece called Father, done by a high school student. It wasn’t that the painting was phenomenal or amazing (though it was very good), but it was the attached description that made the piece even more moving.

We came back to SLC to meet OnlyAly for dinner at the Midvalley Old Spaghetti Factory; I hadn’t eaten at an OSF in many years. I had the Italian Sausage with Meat Sauce over spaghetti. The dinner and the company were very good.

I should be preparing to finish sanding and painting the last wall, but that doesn’t sound particularly fun. Meh. It is something that needs to get done. So, I’ll do it. Soon. Or, in the words of St. Augustine:

…but not yet. Not yet.

Namaste.

“Giant steps are what you take… walking on the moon.”

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Wednesday – 02 June 2010
Midweek and all’s well.
Today is NOT Comics and Sushi Wednesday, however. There may be sushi, but comics will not arrive in stores until tomorning. Of course, that just means that NBN Thursday will be that much better.

Last night, I spent some time at the local B&N, doing some drawing. I’m not sure how soon it will be done, but I am rather happy with the direction this piece is taking. While at the store, I indulged in a Mocha Frappuchino…

…which may have contributed to my staying up later than planned — I was up until 0100 this morning. Granted, I wound up watching my first Doctor Who episode in more than fifteen years, but still… I hadn’t planned on being up quite so late. Serendipitously, I managed to catch “The Eleventh Hour,” the first episode of the newest Doctor’s incarnation, Matt Smith. It was… fun. My friend Dana has been telling me that I should watch the show for months now. I might just have to add it to the DVR’s queue.

After getting to bed somewhere around 0120 or 0130, I woke up this morning at 0543. *sigh* When I woke up around that time yesterday morning, I told myself that if I was up again that early this morning, I would go to the gym. The decision to actually get out of bed and do something was much harder to make this morning, though. But, I persevered and went to the gym.

Workout

  • Elliptical: 5 min, avg speed 5.5 MPH
  • Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
  • Bench Press (decline): 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs
  • Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
  • Curls (dumbbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs

For the second trip to the gym in a row, I couldn’t get on the fly machine that I like… and I didn’t feel like trying dumbbell/bench flies. Maybe next time…

Yesterday’s step count: 3250 steps.
I already have nearly 2000 steps logged today.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder…”

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Tuesday – 20 April 2010
It’s another warm, sunny day in the valley. It’s supposed to get into the mid 70s this afternoon.  I tell you, a guy could get used to this…

Last night, I ferried some boxes to the house. And, in prep for moving more boxes, I cleaned out the trunk of my car. It needed it. Desperately. On the plus side, I found a CD that I’d thought had gone AWOL. I count that as a “Win.”

Back at home, I tried to make some sense of the chaos that has become the living room. I’ve become painfully aware of how… difficult… packing can be with out a large area – like a garage – in which you can stage things. My best solution was to clear out a section in the office and use that to store boxes that have been packed. That helped a bit. We packed ten more boxes, mainly of books and things from the office bookcases. (That makes for heavy boxes, but them’s the breaks…)

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

NBN Thursday musings

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Thursday – 08 April 2010
NBN Thursday rides again!

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I knocked out the last bit of the primer-ing. I need to touch up a three-inch strip near the ceiling in the living room, but other than that… it’s done. We set a timetable for what we want to do and when we plan to have it done. We’re in a good enough position that we’re taking the next couple of nights off from house-prep. Come Saturday, painting begins!

After we left the house, we hit the local Five Guys for dinner. Next, it was back home for some couch time. Okay, couch time for me; quilting time for SaraRules. I finally got around to watching the season finale of Burn Notice. (YES, I know it was on a month ago. Sue me!) I followed that up with an episode of Human Target. I’m slowly but surely getting through the backlog on the DVR…

This morning, I had The Blues, by Tony Tone Toni, running through my head. When I got in the car this morning, I was treated to Word Up. And, quite frankly a video with Reading Rainbow‘s Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge as a fedora-wearing detective can’t be all bad (if you overlook Larry Blackmon’s bulging red codpiece, that is…)

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Mother Nature has a cruel sense of humor

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Thursday – 01 April 2010
It’s April Fools’ Day.

I intend to abuse your kind, trusting nature for the sake of my own moderate, short-lived amusement

In her inimitable charming manner, Mother Nature sent March out a little less lamb-like than many cared for. We were graced with new snow. Seeing the humor in making it an April Fool’s Day prank, she allowed the snow to continue to fall this morning. The Council for Better Driving: Utah reminds drivers to use caution when commuting today.

Today is also NBN “Technical Friday.”   Win.

Last night, SaraRules and I rented kids for the evening. I guess that it would be more accurate to say that we watched the kids while Kate and Perry took a belated anniversary night out. As usual, the kids were fine. And, for the first time in many, many years, I got to change a loaded diaper. (I’m sorely out of practice with those, it seems…)

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“I am the smiling face on your TV…”

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Tuesday – 23 March 2010
This morning there was… well… to call it a “flurry” would be a bit of an overstatement. Yes, there were snow flakes. Yes, they were falling. But, no, they weren’t falling en masse. And, you sort of had to look to see that there really was snow falling and that it wasn’t an illusion or trick of light.

Last night, I needed some “down time.” I got it. It was good. I spent a portion of the time assembling a team of ‘Clix for tonight’s game with Chris.

I am often amused and stymied by the randomness of the music that pops into my head first thing in the morning. Today was no exception. This morning’s “Song Stuck on Repeat” was Only In My Dreams, by Debbie Gibson. Yeah. Really. And, to be honest, it wasn’t even the whole song. It was mostly just a few lines from the first verse. I blame my old dorm-mate, Mark D., for this one — he was a pretty big fan of hers, back in the day.  Thanks, Mark.

Stray Toasters

Back to the grind…

Namaste.

“We running with the shadows of the night…”

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Tuesday – 09 March 2010
Another workin’ day in the valley…  This one begins with a few high clouds, but they’re moving eastward and they seem to be leaving sunlight in their wake.  I’m good with that.

Last night, I treated myself to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I had been craving their bad-for-you-but-oh-so-tasty Aussie Cheese Fries for about a week and decided that it was time to do something about it. So… I decided to go. Stag. When I mentioned this to a couple of people I got the “raised eyebrow” treatment:

“You’re going… by yourself?”
“Yep.”
::: blank stare :::

I don’t understand why it is that going out to eat alone is such an alien concept. People go shopping alone. They go to the movies alone. It seems, to me, a natural progression that one might choose to eat out alone. *shrug* Oh, well.

Dinner was good. I got the full order of cheese fries, which means that I have a fair-sized portion of left-overs waiting in the fridge.  My steak was good, despite originally brought to the table slightly undercooked. I sent it back so they could do more than just scare it with the flame. Both my waitress and the manager we quite amenable about the whole thing. All-in-all, it was a rather pleasant dining experience.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Rainy Saturday in the valley

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Saturday – 13 February 2010
Saturday. Thank Heaven.

This morning, I’m heading off to run another tournament in a bit. But, first… coffee with Chris and Perry.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s spotlighted person is: Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel was born June 10, 1895, in Wichita, Kansas, to former slaves. She was the youngest of 13 children. In 1900, the family moved to Colorado, living first in Fort Collins and then in Denver, where Hattie grew up and graduated from Denver East High School.

In addition to performing, Hattie was also a songwriter, a skill she honed while working with her father’s minstrel show. After the death of her brother Otis in 1916, the troupe began to lose money, and it wasn’t until 1920 that Hattie received another big opportunity. During 1920–25, she appeared with Professor George Morrison’s Melony Hounds, a touring black ensemble, and in the mid-1920s she embarked on a radio career, singing with the Melony Hounds on station KOA in Denver. In 1927–1929 she also recorded many of her songs on Okeh Records and Paramount Records in Chicago.

Two years after McDaniel’s film debut in 1932, she landed her first major part in John Ford’s Judge Priest (1934), in which she had an opportunity to sing a duet with humorist Will Rogers. Her role as a happy Southern servant in The Little Colonel (1935) made her a controversial figure in the liberal black community, which sought to end Hollywood’s stereotyping. When criticized for taking such roles, McDaniel responded that she would rather play a maid in the movies than be one in real life; and during the 1930s she played the role of maid or cook in nearly 40 films, including Alice Adams (1935), in which her comic characterization of a grumbling, far-from-submissive maid made the dinner party scene one of the best remembered from the film. She is probably most often associated with the supporting role of Mammy in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, a role for which she became the first African American to win an Academy Award.

It was her role as the sassy servant who repeatedly scolds her mistress, Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), and scoffs at Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), that won McDaniel the 1940 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first African American to win an Oscar. She was also the first African American ever to be nominated. “I loved Mammy,” McDaniel said. “I think I understood her because my own grandmother worked on a plantation not unlike Tara.” Her role in Gone with the Wind had scared some in the Southern audience; there were complaints that in the film she had been too familiar with her white employer.

At the end of World War II, during which McDaniel organized entertainment for black troops, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and other liberal black groups lobbied Hollywood for an end to the stereotyped roles in which McDaniel had become typecast, and consequently her Hollywood opportunities declined. Radio, however, was slower to respond, and in 1947 she became the first African American to star in a weekly radio program aimed at a general audience when she agreed to play the role of a maid on The Beulah Show. In 1951, while filming the first six segments of a television version of the popular show, she had a heart attack. She recovered sufficiently to tape a number of radio shows in 1952 but died soon thereafter of breast cancer.

McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood: one for her contributions to radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for motion pictures at 1719 Vine Street. In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and in 2006 became the first black Oscar winner honored with a US postage stamp.

Stray Toasters

I may do more later. Right now, I’ve got to get ready to get my game on!

Namaste.

Tuesday morning musings

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Tuesday – 02 February 2010
It’s Groundhog Day.
Be on the lookout for Bill Murray.
According to Punxsutawney Phil, looks like six (6) more weeks of Winter. Of course, being here in The Land Behind the Zion Curtain, we can most likely expect something more like… 12 – 16 weeks of potentially winter-like weather. Just saying.

Last night I had an… odd.. dream. I only remember three specific things about it:

  1. Part of it took place in my grandparents’ house,
  2. My father was in it, and
  3. Someone was listening to the Jackie Mason at some point in it.

I’m okay with the first two things; the third, however… I have never really been a Jackie Mason fan. In fact, the only thing that I ever recall liking him in were The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons, that were part of the old Pink Panther cartoons.

EDIT: I just looked up info for The Ant and the Aardvark. It turns out that it wasn’t Jackie Mason, after all. It was John Byner impersonating Mason. Huh.

Last night was a lazy night in. I was at work late – hooray for 10.5 hour days! – and stopped off for Chinese food on the way home.  Once in, I sat down to dinner and an episode of Burn Notice. Win-Win. SaraRules got home a little later; we rounded out the evening with a couple of episodes of Top Gear on BBC America.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s person of note is Grace Bumbry:

Ms. Bumbry, is an American opera singer (mezzo-soprano). She was a member of a generation of singers who followed Marian Anderson in the world of classical music and paved the way for future African-American opera and classical singers. She was particularly noted for her fiery temperament and dramatic intensity on stage.

Her international career began in 1960. She sang Amneris in Aïda–an epic challenge even for the most seasoned mezzos. She was just 23 years old and this was her operatic debut, at the Paris Opera. It was an unconditional triumph that led to another major career milestone the following year and a performance that would change the face of opera forever.

In 1961, Wieland Wagner, grandson of Richard Wagner, cast Bumbry as Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser. As the Goddess of Love that seduces Wagner’s noble hero, Bumbry would be the first black opera singer to appear at Bayreuth, the world’s most revered shrine to the great composer and his art.

Ms. Bumbry also performed at the White House, before President and Mrs. Kennedy:

“If I go to dinner,” said the diva. “I’ll eat and not sing very well.” But this was no ordinary invitation, and so Mezzo-Soprano Grace Bumbry, 25, took her place at President Kennedy’s table in the state dining room of the White House, dutifully nibbled at the first course and at the dessert. Then she adjourned with the other guests to the East Room and soared flawlessly through the most important recital of her career.

Singing magnificently in her rich, bronzelike voice, she began with O del mio dolce ardor, by Gluck, went on to Quella fiamma che m’accende, by Benedetto Marcello, Ständchen and Zueignung, by Richard Strauss. Invitation au Voyage and Le Manoir de Rosamonde, by Henri du Pare, Boatmen’s Dance, by Aaron Copland. Out in the Fields with God, by William Dawson.

Jackie Kennedy had extended the invitation after hearing from friends of Mezzo Bumbry’s triumphs in Europe. (from Time Magazine article)

In the 1990s, she also founded and toured with the Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble, a group devoted to preserving and performing traditional Negro spirituals.

Her last operatic appearance was as Clytemnestra in Richard Strauss’s “Elektra” in Lyon in 1997. She has since devoted herself to teaching and judging international competitions; and to the concert stage, giving a series of recitals in 2001 and 2002 in honor of Lehmann.

More recently, she has also become known as a recitalist and interpreter of lieder, and as a teacher. From the late 1980s on, she seemed to concentrate her career in Europe, rather than in the US.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Monday, Monday…”

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Monday – 01 February 2010
Not only is it the start of a new work week, it’s the beginning of Black History Month. (More on this below.)

This past weekend was pretty well chock full of action. Saturday, I ran another ‘Clix tournament at Dr. Volt’s. I stole borrowed creatively acquired liberated in the name of the people (yes, that’s much better) the format from – HeroClix Extreme Wrestling Federation:

Each player’s team was comprised of six (6) figures, one at up to each of the following values: 75, 125, 175, 225, 275 and 325 points. Each player rolled a d6 to see which of their figures started the game – this created a few interesting dynamics, as some players’ lowest-point figures went against others’ highest-point figures.  🙂 Whenever a figure took damage from an attack, it had to “tag out,” so the player would roll the die to see which figure replaced the “old” one.

There were eleven players (ten teams again, as the two youngest played as a team). The format seemed to go over quite well. I wasn’t sure that I would get a chance to play, but I took a team, just in case:

  • 75 points – Gamora
  • 125 points – Susan Richards (Skrull)
  • 175 points – Ms. Marvel (Skrull)
  • 225 points – Crispus Allen (LE), with Fortitude
  • 275 points – Apocalypse, with Fortitude
  • 325 points – Superman (Earth-2, Crisis)

It was a good thing that I took them, as one player had to leave early and I played a bye round. Wayne, the player I faced off against, tossed in the Malice Feat

I have determined that I am not a fan of this card… at least not in one-figure-on-the-table format. It’s a killer. But, it’s one that I might have to consider using in future games. I won the game, pretty handily – I only lost Cris Allen, but Wayne got the win, because of the bye.

After gaming was done, I headed home and changed. SaraRules and I then headed downtown for dinner (Olive Garden) and an evening at the symphony. They performed Shostakovich’ Tenth Symphony, under new Music Director Thierry Fischer. The program consisted of:

  • Dmitri Shostakovich – Festive Overture in A Major, op. 96
  • Johannes Brahms – Concerto for Violin in D Major, op. 77
  • Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, op. 93

I’d never heard the Festive Overture, but it was the perfect piece to introduce “the new sound” of the Utah Symphony under Mr. Fischer’s guidance. It was brash, a bit ballsy and afforded the audience a great presentation of the orchestra’s range, from pianissimo to fortissimo. Mr. Fischer is a… dynamic… conductor.  I am looking forward to the seeing where Utah Symphony goes in the coming seasons.

Sunday, I woke up and headed to the local Borders to get in some drawrin’ time. I haven’t sat down to seriously focus on drawing in over a year. That’s bad. I took a few ‘Clix figures with me as models – they don’t complain about holding poses and they are easy to carry from place to place.  After a couple hours, I was satisfied that I’d made a decent foray back into the realm of applying pencil to paper.

Next, SaraRules and I made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. We went.  We shopped. We left… without cinnamon rolls. *shakes fist*

From there, we dropped off the new stuff at home and then headed up to the in-laws’ for dinner and the Pro Bowl. After they were done, we returned home… and did our taxes. Yay.

Chew on This: Food For Thought – Black History Month
As I mentioned above, today kicks off Black History Month. With that in mind, I thought that it would be interesting to do something along the lines of “The ABCs of Black History.” Today, we will kick off with The A&T Four:

On, 01 February 1960, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan (formerly known as Ezell Blair Jr.) and Joseph McNeil and the late David Richmond sat at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth’s store.

The store’s manager told his staff to leave the students alone, hoping they would eventually leave. However, Harris grew nervous that violence would soon ensue so he went to the police. Although he did not have the men arrested, assuming their demonstration would soon end, he did have several police officers stationed in the store.

The following morning the four students, along with 23 other men and 4 women showed up at Woolworth’s to protest. As the days went on, more and more students participated in the Woolworth sit-in. The number of students grew so large that by February 5, four days after the sit-in began, 300 students arrived at Woolworth’s to take part in the peaceful protest. On February 6, tensions mounted between the blacks and whites at the lunch counter. As white reaction to the demonstration grew more violent, a bomb scare forced the protesters out of Woolworth’s and C.L. Harris closed his store for over two weeks.

All four would emerge unscathed and eventually be recognized as heroes of the civil rights movement.

For more information, see http://www.sitins.com

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“I spin around, with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race…”

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Friday – 08 January 2010
9/80 Friday… and I don’t have anything on the agenda. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; I will probably wind up doing some cleaning, especially since I’ve been avoiding it for the past few days.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched another movie that’s been in our Netflix Instant Queue for a while: Vanishing Point (1, 2). It was a car chase movie from 1971… and it was… something. Neither of us was quite sure “what,” though. Although, I think that we both agreed that “good” wasn’t it. It was severely disjointed, as if a two or three movies were mashed together, without rhyme or reason. There were not only plot holes, but a distinct lack of continuity in a couple of places – things just seemed to happen and the audience was left to make the connections on their own… if they could. And, despite the addition of a Jerry Reed song on the soundtrack, it’s no Smokey and the Bandit (but, then again, what is?).

Stray Toasters

I should probably give some thought to lunch, too.

Namaste.

Another lazy Sunday in the valley

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Sunday – 03 January 2010
It’s the last day of vacation and tomorrow it’s back to the workday grind. I have to say that it’s been nice to have the downtime, though. Very nice, indeed. Last night was quiet and low-key. I wound up taking a nap, because I was so tired from the lack of sleep and the early and long day.

I completely neglected to note a minor milestone from Friday: SaraRules and I hit the gym for the first time this year. And… it was my first time in the gym in nearly a month (03 Dec 09, from what I wrote down). It was a short workout, but it was a good start:

  • Treadmill: 10 minutes (Yeah.. I know! Me, doing cardio!)
  • Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
  • Sit-ups: 3 sets/20 reps
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs
  • Core (plank): 3 sets/30 seconds
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes (Even more cardio..? What’s wrong with this picture?!)

Post-workout weight (fully dressed): 190 lbs

It was good to get back in the swing of things, but I can definitely feel the effects of the treadmill and elliptical on my quads. But, getting more cardio into my workout routine is something that I plan on doing more this year.

Stray Toasters

  • By way of : Green Lantern LEGO
  • And, in a related note, this is going on The Covet List.
  • I don’t know what’s going on with Comcast, but I’m getting “a little” tired of the way that my Internet connection just… drops out – for no reason – every so often. Having talked with a few other people over the past few days, I discovered that it’s not just my connection that it’s happening to, either.
  • It seems as though Jitterbug Coffee Hop has a new logo and a new website.
  • Harmonographs
  • posted a link to this Mad Cat ‘Mech.  So, I posted a link to this one.
  • Thousands of dead octopuses wash up on Portugal beach
  • 100 Extraordinary Examples of Paper Art
  • Speaking of “paper art,” I have assembled nearly enough tiles to have a 30″x30″ one-level map of WorldWorksGames TerrainLinX Himmelveil Streets terrain. I realized that I can still utilize some of my older terrain with the new stuff, even though the new streets and walls have a medieval look/feel – cobblestones and flagstone – and the TLX walls are only 2″ high, as opposed to the 3″ Mayhem City stuff that I’ve built.

Maybe I’ll play a little City of Heroes this afternoon…

Namaste.