Random Access

Monday – 06 April 2009
Day One of the Sunny Southern California Adventure. Well, I guess this is technically “Day Two,” since we got in last night. *shrug* We’re here to:

1. …visit SaraRules’ aunt, uncle and cousin
2. …see her sister and
3. …to let her get in a bit of dress shopping with her mother, sister, aunt and cousin.

I’m hanging out with her father and uncle (or, as SaraRules calls it: “Listening to them sit around and tell lies…”). We’ve been having a good time while they’re out gallivanting.

Yesterday, SaraRules and I got up, watched an episode of The Brave and the Bold, packed up, ran a couple of errands and then headed to her folks’ place to get on the road. We stopped at the In-N-Out Burger in Vegas. (Tasty burgers and fries, with chocolatey shaked milk!) The trip, while long, was rather uneventful… although, we did encounter many road monkeys. (Uneventful pictures here) When we got L.A., I met the family: Marie, Stan and their daughter Angela.  And then… SLEEP! (It’s amazing how tired just riding in a car can make a person.)

Today has been fairly low-key. We started off with breakfast and a fair bit of catching up, then the ladies were off to hunt for dresses. So far, we (the guys) have gone to Target, Best Buy – where Steve and I introduced Stan to the joys of Mac – and an Italian deli. Amusing side story: Steve and I were talking about the different flavors of Mac (Mini, iMac, Pro and MacBook) and discussing some of the features when a sales associate walked up… whom we effectively ignored. He just stood looking while we talked up the machines and their software to Stan. He silently wandered away at some point, because I turned around again and he was gone.

I’m not sure what’s on tap for the rest of the evening.  I’m good with that, though; that’s what “vacation” is all about.

Stray Toasters

• Obama reaches out to Muslim world
• 10 Best Geeky Last Words
• Top 10 Home Office Hacks
• Aim that rage against the corporate fee machine
• Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics
• 
• Paris liberation made ‘whites only’
• Tyranist, you might be interested in this: Six good technological ideas for improving publishing
• How scratching can stop an itch
• Jazzy covers of Mister Rogers songs

The weather’s here
Wish you were beautiful.

Back to that “relaxing” thing.

Namaste.

Friday – 03 April 2009
It’s my 9/80 “off” Friday, but I’m working today – I’m shifting my day off to Monday.

Last night, SaraRules and I headed over to visit . I knew that and would be there, but we were surprised to find there; he had dropped in before heading to the airport. showed up a little later, too. Nyx was doing henna on and when we got there:

SaraRules and I had dinner with and after leaving ‘s.

Back at home, SaraRules and I hung out in front of the TV – she quilted while I played on the Interwebs. David Letterman had Michael J. Fox as his guest on The Late Show. I was impressed to find that Mr. Fox hasn’t let his bout with Parkinson’s Disease get/keep him down. In fact, one of the things that he discussed was a trip he took to Bhutan, including hiking up mountains there. It was a good interview.

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I woke up with Chicago’s Stay the Night running through my head.

• We got the proofs back on our “Save the Date” announcements.  They look good. Really good.
• Angry Villagers Run Google Out of Town
• Mow the Lawn – I don’t have the words to do this justice, you’ll just have to watch it.
• I was pleasantly surprised to find that LilFormers has grown into a full-blown webcomic:

  

• …speaking of LilFormers, while at dinner last night, made a comment that reminded me of this toon. I decided to do a little digging, because my Transformers knowledge wanes from the period just before the movie. One thing led to another and I wound up looking up information on Transformers: Beast Wars, that’s when I came across this gem:
  

  The later plot was developed following the discovery of a message made by the original Megatron for any Decepticons who would uncover it within the Golden Disks.

  I shared it with Nyx, along with the following question:

  By this rationale, it’s not too much of a stretch to wonder: Were the Decepticons Mormon?

• Batman Icon’s Mutation – a look at the bat-symbol through the years
• By way of Nyx and Not Always Right: There Can Be Only One Insane Customer
• Gorillaz go Bananaz
• Flurries. Again.
• After Sweden’s New Law, Drop in Internet Traffic

That’s a good start for the day.

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda
This afternoon, Wes and I headed to the gym to get in a late lunchtime workout. After we got out on the floor, SaraRules came over to say “Hi” and chat for a few minutes.  Today’s routine consisted of:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 300 lbs (1 rep); 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Lat Pulldown: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 2 sets/15 reps, 160 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Chest Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 90 lbs

Since I did another rep of 300, it’s time to decide what’s next. It’s either going to be:

• 2+ reps at 300
• Bumping the weight up to… 310 or 315

We’ll see how that goes.

Tonight, SaraRules and I stayed in and watched NCIS and Food Network Challenge… and then set about the task of making decisions on our “Save the Date” announcements. We also looked at a few photographers, but I’m not sure which of the three gets my nod.

Stray Toasters

• Happy 20th Anniversary to my coworker, Drew.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Mom’s plea deal includes ‘resurrection clause’
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome exercises that really work

And now, The Late Show with David Letterman.

Namaste.

Monday – 30 March 2009
The new work week began with a new dusting of snow. There was a little slush on the streets, but nothing insurmountable. I came in a little early this morning because I had a “special project” to work on:

Our department has had a running… practical joke… for the past couple months: “An object” will magically appear at someone’s desk (usually in their chair or in a drawer) when they are away from their desk. I wound up with it about a week ago; Sean, one of my employees, tagged me with “the gift.” I promised him that I’d get even. And I waited…

This past Thursday and Friday, Sean was out of the office. He was having surgery…

…and that was when I formulated my revenge. I figured that I could kill two birds with one stone: Payback for getting “the gift” and “welcome back” all in one.

Last night, I went out and picked up the things I’d need. This morning, I came in and set them up. The time and effort were worth the investment for the expression on Sean’s face when he came in this morning. Pictures can be seen here.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. And it is very cold in space…
-Khan Noonian Singh

This morning also brought with it some server troubles. It took a bit to suss out where the problem started, but once we got that figured out, it was just a matter of getting the right people on the task. So far, it looks like things are working the way they’re supposed to.

Stray Toasters

• The wedding website is getting under way. Ms. SaraRules said that she didn’t really want anything elaborate, mostly she just wanted a centralized place for people to be able to get information about the wedding and what have you. We agreed to just go with a WordPress blog and be done with it. Now, we just have to add content…
• Last night, SaraRules and I watched Pride & Prejudice. I’d never seen it before. It was cute… although, I wanted to wring the neck of Mrs. Bennet almost every time she was on-screen. And, in more than a few scenes, Keira Knightley reminded me of a young Winona Rider.
• Welcome to LEGO. These are your business cards
• 15 vintage household ads in which women are not entirely condescended to
• 
• Obama gives car firms deadlines
• The gaming computer you dreamed of in 1983
• By way of : Reader Roundtable Survey: Here Comes the Cavalry
• found this icon, which amuses me:

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Sunday – 29 March 2009
Today has been a quiet and slow day… and that’s good.

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday morning, SaraRules and I got up, picked up her mother and headed to South Towne Expo Center for a bridal show. We stood in a short line to get in and, then, it was “Game On.” The show was smaller than I had expected – far smaller, in fact. There were, maybe… 40 exhibitors in all. I think that we were in and out of the show inside of 30 minutes.  However, in that time, I put a deposit on my tuxedo rentals with Men’s Warehouse; they were running a special that I couldn’t pass up: $30 off each rental. Win.

There was a car show at the other end of the Expo Center, so we checked out the cars they had outside the main hall. That was when I also noted the differences in admission to the events:

• Bridal Show:
  • Brides: Free
  • Other guests: $5.00
• Auto Show: $14.50

I began to wonder which show would actually make the most money. I’d like to see the final numbers.

After dropping off SaraRules’ mom, we headed to Oh Sushi for lunch. Tasty, tasty sushi… Next: Dr. Volt’s.  From there, we headed to Wheeler Farm for an afternoon walk. The weather was perfect for it – sunny, a light breeze and high clouds. Next, we headed to Best Buy to pick up a copy of Quantum of Solace. Then, back home for a bit…

…and then off to OnlyAly and ‘s for poker. It was a good crowd and I played in some good games. Despite some decent hands, I got outplayed in both of the tourneys. At least it was fun and a good way to spend the evening.

> Play >
As I mentioned, today has been quiet and relaxing.  I got a good night’s sleep last night, following Friday night’s rather poor-quality sleep. We watched an episode of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?, featuring Baltimore Ravens’ TE Daniel Wilcox. We also caught an episode Top Gear that featured a Ford Fiesta storming a beach along with the Royal Marines AND being chased – through a mall (video) – by a Chevrolet Corvette . (I swear, they get away with more cool stuff on that show…)

Next up: Errand-running.
(Misson: Accomplished)

This evening, I’m not sure what’s on tap. I believe that we’re doing Date Night tonight, as we aren’t having dinner with SaraRules’ family until tomorrow night.

Stray Toasters

• There are not many satisfying WordPress themes for “wedding” or “marriage.”
• SaraRules picked up the new Prince 3-CD set today.  So far, it’s pretty good.
• Did Builder’s Clout Trap Couple in Dream Home?
• Steampunk Chronulator
• Courtesy of : Welcome to the Bizarro World
• Obama: Auto Industry Needs To Do More To Get Help
• Shock #1: Comic book author Greg Rucka has a LiveJournal account.
  Shock #2: He spilled the beans about a new Question feature that he and Cully Hamner are working on in said LJ.
• The Voice of CN’s Batman Talks Season 2



• Is the Bat out of the bag?
  This “Battle for the Cowl” article contains spoilers. You have been warned.
• Darth Vader + hula girl = ??? (video)
• Amazing art made with old cassette tapes

Namaste.

The tasting went well.  It was also beneficial for something that I hadn’t considered: Seeing how the space “flowed” when it was full of people. Even with tables set up and people throughout the building, there was a good deal of space in which people could move around. The food was good and we came up with a few ideas for our menu.

Stray Toasters

• By way of Nyx: Shirts My Way, custom-made men’s dress shirts
• I’m running a new screen saver on my work PC called Electric Sheep. It’s… interesting, in a good way. I’m just glad that I’ve never been been one who is inclined to partake of “herbal cigarettes” (as Craig Ferguson refers to them). Because doing that and then looking at this would most likely be world-changing. Electric Sheep is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Gizmodo ran an article about Miniatur Wunderland. After checking it out, I passed it along to a few people. Drew shot back with a video of Madoradam, in Holland.
• , I know what you mean. I get That Time Is Now (the Superfriends bump) stuck in my head…
• Inspriation for Super Friends’ Hall of Justice
• There are far too many of these on The Covet List.
• Ian McKellen: The Player, by way of
• Disney hasn’t released Song of the South in the U.S. on DVD or video; it’s been deemed racist. *GASP* A few days ago, I found this site, offering the unedited movie on DVD. I’m leery, but curious. Very curious, indeed…
• Mafia Wars
• Komodo dragons kill man

Back to it.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 25 March 2009
After dinner last night, while SaraRules was at her book club, I went to visit . Sissy the Wonder Kitty was being social last night, as well.

When I got home, MarknTyme was online. We spent the better part of the next hour talking about bands and music and whatnot. In that time he introduced me to a couple new bands:

• Tokyo Brass Style
• Youngblood Brass Band

One of my retorts was the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain.

This morning, I woke up with the theme from Josie and the Pussycats (the cartoon, not the movie) running through my head. It’s not a horrible song, in fact, it’s rather catchy. All the same, I’m listening to Hemispheres to purge it.

Today would normally be Sushi and Comics Wednesday… but SaraRules and I are attending a tasting at our reception center, so this week’s raw fishes and four-color haul will have to wait.

Stray Toasters

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Are Kidnapped Children Tax-Deductible?
• Problems Persist, But Art Advocates See Progress Under Obama
• Chimps Have a Built-In GPS
• …and, in a related note from Applegeeks:

  

• Sorry, : Browns will make Quinn, Anderson compete for QB job
• NPR Music has an article on the Gyuto Monks, a group that MarknTyme introduced me to many years ago.
• 
• Remixing the London police’s insane, paranoid terrorism scare posters
• By way of comes Apartment Therapy
• Model railway’s global uber-view

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 24 March 2009
After work, SaraRules and I went to visit . After that, we had dinner with and (I know!), who is on her way to California. told us about her trip to Africa, some of the people she met and the things she experienced; it sounded like an amazing adventure. I believe that we’re in for quite the slideshow when she comes back from California. And… she also hinted that she had some ring designs to show us, as well.

The Best: A Whiter Shade of Pale
Procol Harum vs. Annie Lennox vs. Sarah Brightman

I’ve been a fan of this song for… so long that I don’t even remember how long it’s been. Yeah, that long. I’m good with all three of the versions that I have, but there are distinctions:

• The Procol Harum version, the original, is… just… classic. I love the sound of the Hammond organ in this. And, Gary Brooker’s vocals sound like someone recounting a strange tale over a drink in a bar or in someone’s sitting room.
• As rich and nearly melancholy as the Procol Harum version is, the Annie Lennox version is… almost spartan in its synthesized sound. Parts of the arrangement are rather evocative of a music box, even. Ms. Lennox’ mellow contralto vocals provide a nice counterpoint to the synth sound.
• The Sarah Brightman version is… over-orchestrated. This isn’t to say that it’s a poor arrangement – it is rather well-done. (Although, and I just noticed this: It sounds like something that I’d expect to hear on a CD from Enigma.) Ms. Brightman’s soft (though strong) soprano vocals come off a bit ethereal… which works well with the arrangement, but still leaves me wanting a little something more.

So, for my taste, it shakes out like this:

1. Procol Harum
2. Annie Lennox
3. Sarah Brightman

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules and – Prince turns a brilliant sonic triple play: 3 albums in 1 day
• 
• Strip-Search of Girl Tests Limit of School Policy
• Contraception Pill Strictures Are Eased By a Judge
• London cops reach new height of anti-terror poster stupidity
• Princeton Student Finds Bug in LHC Experiment
• 
  
• Super Bowl on Presidents’ Day? Longer NFL season in reach
• NASA Tests Heaviest Chute Drop Ever

Unintentional Porn Overheard at Work
Part of our office is undergoing a remodel. We have electricians here today and, a few minutes ago, I was treated to the following:

Jr. Electrician: What’s going on?
Sr. Electrician: Just trying to get this 3″ in here…

…and…

Sr. Electrician: We ever gonna get this up?
(Talking about running some conduit in the ceiling)

Yep, just another fun-filled day…

Namaste.

Thursday – 19 March 2009
After work yesterday, I hooked up the new cable receiver. There was still heavy pixelation on the screen and intermittent sound. *sigh* I decided to get back to it later. Next, I went to visit . I hung out for a couple of hours and then went to get a bite to eat with and Mr. and Mrs. … during which time I got to play 20 Questions with respect to a lot of wedding plans.

When I got home, I decided to check on the cable box one more time. Still “No Go,” Flight. *grblsnrkx* On a whim, I tried bypassing the box and plugging the cable directly into the television. Lo and behold, I had a picture – and sound – with NO pixelation. All the same, I should be getting a visit from a technician this afternoon to try and track down the source/nature of the problem. I wound up watching The Late Late Show and then the Janeway and the Barbie Borg Show (for the first time in many, many months). Realizing that it was closing on 0200 – and that I had been up since 0530 – I figured that I should call it a night.

Falling asleep was no easy task: My neck and shoulders were achy and I couldn’t find a comfortable position to alleviate any of the pain. But, I managed to nod off. I woke up a little after 0400 and the pain felt just as bad – if not worse. Enter: Aleve. Back to sleep. I neglected to set my normal alarm (BAH!), but woke up with my secondary went off… for a minute. I decided to catch a few more minutes of sleep. When I got up, my neck and shoulders felt MUCH better and I figured that I could pretty much start the day. And I did.

Stray Toasters

• I have been blessed with some very cool friends.
• Egyptian women blog for their rights
• I forgot to post my 2009 NCAA brackets last night; here they are, for better or worse:


(click image for larger version)

• Drawn!
• On a whim, I decided to see if there was a site called “Quartered,” too. Turns out there’s… something… at quartered.org.
• Competition committee aims to change ‘Hochuli Rule,’ others
• By way of Jake Theis: Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress
• 
• Austrian Fitzl sentenced to life
• Robo-Voice’s Greatest Hits, or How Advanced Spy Tech Topped Music Charts
• One of the better LEGO interpretations I’ve seen: LEGO iPod Racer, powered by Mac Mini

Back to it.

Namaste.

SaraRules here:

Wedding countdown has commenced. T-minus 206 days and counting! 🙂

Tuesday – 10 March 2009
Last night, after NCIS and 24, I did something that I haven’t done… well, pretty much in a few years: I did a cardio workout. Thirty minutes on a recumbent bike. I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing some cardio. Yay. It wasn’t hellish… until about 20 minutes in, when I hit the control panel and somehow wiped out the data for my session. *grblsnrkx* Fortunately, my watch has a stopwatch feature, so I used it to count down the final 10 minutes. With roughly 40 seconds left in the ride, I did something equally brilliant: Pointed the toes on my right foot. That brought me the exquisite ecstacy agony of a cramp in my right calf. Go me! I limped along for the last few seconds and was quite glad to have the whole ordeal come to an end.

Stray Toasters

• I think that I’m going to start referring to Tuesday and Thursday as “Meeting Day 1” and “Meeting Day 2,” respectively.
• Pending confirmation from our venue, it looks like we have a date.
• I chatted with for a bit last night. Among the other news he shared was the note that Bit is not quite walking by herself, but is “…pulling herself up on things and shimmying.” Or, as he added: “…she’s no longer crawling like G.I. Jane.”
• Obama to address U.S. education woes in speech
• I’ve started work on my Sodam Yat/Ion ‘Clix figure. I feel like Dr. Frankenstein.
• In related news, Jake Theis posted an update about the future of HeroClix.
• 
• CGSociety’s steampunk art contest winners and Steampunk Fairy Tales CGI
• Jack Hanna was on The Late Show last night. It was just as amusing as most/all of his other visits to the show. He also had a pair of cheetah… kittens (?)… that were very cute with him. (Of course, they’re only “cute” until they start eyeing you as a potential snack or meal.)
• Dremel, Dremel, Dremel
  I made it out of clay…
• A handful of people will get that reference.
  Two, possibly three, of those people know why I find it so amusing.
• 

Namaste.

Saturday – 07 March 2009
Yesterday, SaraRules and I settled on a venue for the wedding.  Next step is to pick a date.

After that, we picked up Perry (which he knew about) and kidnapped him to go to see Watchmen (which he didn’t know about). We met ,  and shockpuppet, Jana and Jason. I went in expecting to see the new Star Trek trailer… and was disappointed to find that it wasn’t in front of our feature. We did see the latest trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which was good. Watchmen was an excellent adaptation of the graphic novel, in my opinion.  Zach Snyder did a good job of bringing the comic to film… but, I can understand the complaint that it might be a lot for people to take in if they haven’t read the book.

After the movie, SaraRules and I stopped at a hobby shop, where I finally found a few sheets of dry-transfer letters that I used on my Winter Soldier/Captain America ‘Clix.  Speaking of which, I finally got around to taking pictures of both Shado (my first mod) and the new Cap:

and

More them can be seen here.

Stray Toasters

• What would a real life Barbie look like?
• Button gaffe embarrasses Clinton

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from Rachel and bash.org:

SergioThree: there’s other fish in the sea, man, she’s just a girl
Beatsfromkorea: no dude, that’s bullshit.
Beatsfromkorea: Think of it this way. if your precious copy of street fighter third strike broke and i told you “it’s ok man, there’s other games in the sea. here, play mortal kombat instead” what would you say? you’d be like, “fuck that, gimme third strike.”
SergioThree: …
SergioThree: you just reached me on a level that i never thought possible

And that’s a wrap. We’re off to visit and her family.

Namaste.

Friday – 06 March 2009
It’s a little after 8:00. (Or, rather, it was when I wrote that…)
On my Friday off.
Why am I already awake?

Could it have something to do with the fact that I slept poorly?
Or the weird dreams I was having?

I wish I knew.  But, there it is. The coffee pot is going, so I should have some liquid motivation in a few minutes. Or, as Dolly Parton put it:

Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life

This morning agenda has a couple of items on it:

1. SaraRules and I are heading back to Heritage Gardens. As it’s on “The Even-Shorter List,” we want to confirm a few things about the venue.
2. We’re off to see the Wizard Watchmen in a few hours.

This afternoon… who knows? And there’s Clitorati this evening.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
This I Believe: Finding Freedom in Forgiveness

Stray Toasters

• While I’m avoiding most reviews of Watchmen, I did read ‘s – she saw it last night. She reviewed it favorably, but she did say that someone in her group had not read the graphic novel and was a bit disappointed. She also noted that she didn’t mind the changes that had been made. I’ll take those as good things.
  
• By way of MarknTyme: Saturday Morning Watchmen

• Last night, I read JLA: Earth-2. Again. (I owned a copy years ago…) It was a good read. Again. The book tells the tale of a parallel Earth whose version of the Justice League is the Crime Syndicate of Amerika and whose Alexander Luthor is the world’s only hero. It’s an refreshing take on the classic “good vs. evil” story.
• In a related note, I ordered the last three (3) ‘Clix I needed to complete my plastic CSA.
• The Gospel Truth: Sometimes a Little Hazy
• For :
  
• Despair, Inc. is having their annual Retirement Sale.
• Unemployment Rate Jumps to 8.1 Percent
• Have any other long-time NPR listeners noticed that Joe Palca and Ira Flatow’s voices sound eerily similar?  Ira’s voice is “just a tad” higher-pitched than Joe’s.
• Zombie brains hoodie
• If the weather makes up its mind whether it wants to be hot or cold, it soon might be time to start thinking about getting over to the driving range…

Time to get this day moving along.

Namaste.

I decided to wear a button-down collared shirt and tie to work today. (On days when it’s under 70F outside, like today, I often/usually wear a (mock) turtleneck.) I’ve gotten a number of questions/comments, including but not limited to:

• “Got an interview?”
• “Bucking for a raise?”
• “Going ‘East Coast’ on them today?” (from a normally out-of-the-office employee)
• “What’s the occasion?”
• “You make me nervous when I see you in a tie…” (from our CEO, which made me smile)

At one point, Paul (My boss, 2 rungs up the ladder) made a comment about my tie and quipped back,”No, I have a meeting with my Bishop… oh, wait… I’m not LDS.” To which he responded – without missing a beat: “No, but you are getting married…. and it would probably shock the Hell out of one if you went in as a non-member and asked to meet with him.” I couldn’t argue with his logic.

Stray Toasters

• I think that SaraRules and I have selected two of the songs we need for the three first dances of the reception.
• 
• Mental Floss has provided a number of interesting items:
  • What’s a Hulu? The Origins of 8 High-Tech Names
  • 9 People, Places & Things That Changed Their Names
  • 8 Successful People Grateful They Got Canned
  • What Your Favorite Teams Were Almost Called
• Gizmodo also had some fun items:
  • If You’d Used the Human Relations Calculator, You Wouldn’t Be in This Divorce Mess
    (Hell, with this, who would need eHarmony?!)
  • Rebirth of the Big Wheel: Matias Conti’s Transformable Spin Vehicle
• Micro Battlestar Galactica Hangar

Back to the grind…

Monday – 02 March 2009
And March, at least for Utah, comes in more or less like a lamb. That’s apparently not the case back home, where the east coast has been hit with a winter storm.

This weekend’s highlights included:

• Heading to Red Butte Garden to take a look at the Fragrence Garden and The Orangerie as a possible ceremony and reception event. I like it… more than I had expected, actually. It’s on my (very) short list of sites.
• Chris, who had an unexpected opening in his schedule, came over Saturday night and played HeroClix – the Justice League (Chris) vs. the Injustice League. We played on the masterboard  and used the multi-building cluster. Chris cleaned my clock, but it was fun.
• I dragged SaraRules to a few places in a fruitless search for vellum rub-on letters – I need them for my Shado ‘Clix figure.  If I had been thinking about it, I would have taken pictures of her last night. But I wasn’t. So, I didn’t.
• I also started on a new figure mod: James “Bucky” Barnes/Winter Soldier as Captain America.
• Last night, we had dinner with SaraRules’ family and watched The Golden Compass. I’ve owned the movie for a few months, but this was the first time we’ve watched it. I liked it. I found a number of parallels to many archtypical hero myths, as well as a couple of direct comparisions to the Star Wars mythos.

All-in-all, it was a good weekend… and I’m already looking forward to next weekend. Fortunately, it’s a short work week.

Stray Toasters

• My affinity (obsession/man-crush/whatever) for Avery Brooks began long before his tenure as Captain Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It started in the mid-80s when he played Hawk on Spenser: for Hire. SaraRules knows of this and, while channel surfing yesterday, stopped on a network called TV One, which was airing a marathon of A Man Called Hawk, a short-lived spin-off of the Spenser series. Yes, it was “a bit” dated, but it still made me smile.
• Born to Kvetch: Yiddish as She Is Spoke
• Who needs a utility belt when you have a Bat-hoodie?  (By way of )
• One More Story, also by way of Nyx
• From USAToday: Fine arts in survival mode as funds dry up
• From the “Math is hard… Let’s go shopping!” file:

  

• Cake Wrecks, as always, is good for a laugh.
• I could think up people for whom I could use a few dozen stickers from this site…
• Unusual custom guitars

Namaste.