Sunday – 03 October 2010 Happy first anniversary to my lovely wife.
This has been a wonderful year.
I love you and I look forward to many, many more years together.
Today marks the one year anniversary of one of the best decisions that I have made. Ever. When I first told my friends, Bret and Dave P., that I had proposed to Sara and that she had said, “yes,” they literally both said the same thing:
Congratulations! Â You lucked out! Â Does… she… know that she’s getting the short end of the stick in this deal?
Both of them, despite never having met each other. With friends like these, I tell ya…
I was also blessed and fortunate enough to be able to share the day with family and friends.
Since October 3, 2009, we:
…got married…
…bought a house…
…have talked about the prospect of having children…
…have talked about our hopes, plans and dreams for the future…
I could not have found a better person with whom I can share those milestones… and with whom to find and set others.
Sunday – 26 September 2010
Last night, SaraRules and I went to Abravanel Hall to attend the debut of Thierry Fischer as the Music Director for Utah Symphony:
Last night’s program consisted of:
Igor Stravinsky -Â Fireworks, op. 4
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, op. 35
Igor Stravinsky -Â The Firebird
The violin concerto was performed by guest violinist Hilary Hahn:
Photo: (c) Glenn Ross
Before the concert, Maestro Fischer talked with patrons during a lecture. Among the things he discussed were:
A few of his  reasons for selecting Fireworks and The Firebird as his debut pieces,
His reasons for changing the seating locations of some of the sections of the orchestra,
His ideas for having the orchestra members employ different techniques in playing their instruments,
Thoughts on musical education and the role and responsibility of musicians to share their craft,
Working with young performers in the upcoming Salute to Youth concert, and
Observations about having Ms. Hahn as a musical guest and the way that she and the orchestra interacted.
The lecture was followed by a brief question-and-answer session.
Fireworks, though a brief piece, nevertheless makes a bold opening statement. Mr. Fischer guided the orchestra through the four-minute piece with passion while eliciting an amazing quality of sound from the musicians.
Next, Ms. Hahn took the stage for the Violin Concerto; I was quite taken by her performance. Her attention to detail – not only to her own performance, but to that of the orchestra’s playing, as well – was remarkable. Â (Mr. Fischer mentioned this quality during his lecture: He noted that she would often stop playing to listen to how the orchestra was playing and make comments or ask questions… before resuming and making adjustments to how she played.) Her acumen was phenomenal. Having the opportunity to see her perform was truly a treat. Â At the end of the piece, the audience gave a standing ovation through three (3) curtain calls. Ms Hahn performed a Bach partita for solo violin as an encore. This, too, was met with thunderous applause.
After intermission, Maestro Fischer and the symphony returned to perform The Firebird. If opening with Fireworks made a statement, then closing with The Firebird was the closing punctuation – an exclamation point! Mr. Fischer conducted with passion and verve — it was very easy to tell that he enjoyed conducting the piece. The orchestra, likewise, responded with a sound unlike any other Utah Symphony performance I have attended, from pianissimo so soft that you weren’t sure that instruments were actually playing to booming  fortissimo. The overall experience – and it was truly an experience – was both moving and amazing.
After being named Music Director of the Utah Symphony, Mr. Fischer had this to say:
A new Music Director should bring new energy and a new way of looking at things. I can bring a lot to the Utah Symphony, and they will bring a lot to me. As a team we can raise our level of performing to new heights.
If last night’s performance was any indication, Utah Symphony has found an excellent match in selecting Thierry Fischer. Â I look forward to watching them grow and flourish under his direction.
Friday – 24 September 2010
It’s almost the weekend.
Last night, DM’ed a Forgotten Realms game at Hastur Hobbies.
I didn’t go. Â Instead, SaraRules and I cut down a couple of trees in the front yard and then ferried the remains to neighborhood clean-up dumpsters. Â Mmm, chainsaw… There are still a couple of 3-to-4-foot tall stumps to be dealt with, but the major damage has been done. Â Who knows…? Our house might actually have some decent curb appeal when we’re done.
After that – and a bit to eat – it was time for the season premiere of Fringe. I daresay that this is going to be an interesting season. Next, SaraRules watched the latest episode of Project: Runway, while I finished reading the last of Wednesday’s comic haul.
Human of the Day
I know that I often tout SaraRules as being the coolest/greatest/most awesome wife. Ever. Well, quite frankly: She is. On top of everything else she does to prove it, today she (once again) brought something to me, at work, that I was too addle-brained to remember to bring with me. And, I have to admit that getting to see her once more in the morning isn’t a bad thing, either.
I love it when you call a vendor, tell them “I’m having a problem with (fill in the item)” and they say “Let me see who we have that’s available to come look at it and I’ll call you right back…”
…and “right back” expands to nearly an hour. Â *sigh* It’s not like I have anything else that I need to get done today. Â No, I’d much rather sit here and babysit the phone. Idiotsticks.
Thursday – 23 September 2010
Last night SaraRules and I went to Capitol Theatre  and saw The Lion King.
Simply put: It was fantastic, from the opening number to the closing curtain. I had been told that it was an impressive production, but I fear that assessment was a gross understatement. The costuming, the staging, the performances — everything was amazing. Among the items that struck me were:
…the way the scenery moved — Pride Rock, the grasslands and the jungle;
…the birds;
…the cheetah;
…the way they portrayed the animals interacting with their environment;
…the use of aerials in the performance;
…Simba’s run with wildebeests/Mufasa’s death scene;
…the transition from young Simba to the older Simba;
…the ghost of Mufasa;
…the final battle between Simba and Scar;
..and… and… and….
Suffice if to say that there were MANY things that I enjoyed about the performance.
If you have the opportunity to see a performance of this musical, I recommend it very highly.
Many thanks to SaraRules for getting us tickets for this.
Stray Toasters
Have I mentioned lately that I have the world’s most awesome wife? Â No? Â Well, I do.
I’ve had to ask two people “Is it plugged in…?” with relation to problems with two separate systems this morning. One was plugged in; the other was “kind-of” plugged in. I love my job.
Wednesday – 15 September 2010
It’s the middle of the week.
It’s the middle of the month.
And, it’s Sushi and Comics Wednesday.
Triple-score win.
Last night, SaraRules and I went to Kingsbury Hall for an event:
Mr. Lee talked about his background, his introduction to film and his reasons for wanting to get into film. He also discussed how he has used the director’s chair to make films that deal with race relations as well as other subject matter. Following his roughly hour-long talk, he did about forty minutes of Q&A. He prefaced the session by saying that he would entertain “intelligent questions, but wasn’t here to take auditions, screenplays, mix-tapes” or other “Hey, notice me!” fare. His answers to the questions seemed sincere and direct, but were also rather no-nonsense. Â It was a great event and a fine way to spend the evening.
We tried a new place for sushi today: Sushi Groove. We liked it. A lot. It had a lot of things going for it: Good atmosphere, good food, and some of the former Oh Sushi staff. It was full of “Win” all around.
Stray Toasters
Have I mentioned that I have the Coolest Wife in the World lately? Â No? Well, I do.
Today is another suit day: Black suit, light blue shirt, black tie with gold and blue swaths and a gold pocket square. Â And, yes, it has raised the obligatory “What’s the occasion?” questions.
Tyranist was in the north office yesterday. We chatted about a number of things, including our mutual affinity for Cee-Lo’s new song. A short while later, Tyranist told me that I had gotten the song stuck in his head; I told him that was payback for getting Scotty Doesn’t Know stuck in my head a year or two ago. We then noted that the two songs were actually complementary sides of the same figurative coin.
This was a game for which I had great expectations…
…and was ultimately let down. It wasn’t the game I expected, nor was it a really memorable game. And that’s kind of sad, given that this game was, effectively, a rematch of last season’s NFC title game.
The Saints, after a great opening drive, sputtered their way through the next couple of quarters, but managed to get more things “right” than the Vikings. Drew Brees threw for over 230 yards, but there wasn’t really much of a run game until Pierre Thomas found some holes in the defense in the second quarter.
Speaking of the Vikings, they just couldn’t seem to pull it together. The offense’s timing was off. WAY off in some cases. QB Brett Favre couldn’t synch up with his receivers in the way you’d expect. The running game, while not completely stopped, was definitely stunted. This wasn’t the team that I expected to see taking the field.
And the refs didn’t seem to help the Vikings’ cause at all; Minnesota couldn’t buy a good call. My boss messaged me after the game:
How did you like the four-hour long NFL tribute to the Saints? Refs and all.
And I can’t really say that his assessment was off.
It will be interesting to see how both teams fare as the season progresses.
Thursday – 09 September 2010
Another NBN Thursday kicks off in the valley… with somewhat overcast skies. Â It’s been interesting to watch the sunlight peeking through holes in the cloud cover.
Happy New Year (5771) to those celebrating Rosh Hashanah today.
Today is also “Comics Thursday,” which gives the day a little Win-Win cachet.
Last night was the HeroClix “Web of Spider-Man” release night event at Dr. Volt’s.
It was a sealed box tournament — 300 points. Jeremiah ran the event, which meant that I got to play. Â (I still fielded a couple of rulings questions, though.) Â This set is a little different in that it’s much more… street-level. After the “grander scale” of “The Brave and the Bold” and “Hammer of Thor,” it makes for an interesting change of pace.
Stray Toasters
Od tir’eh, od tir’eh
Kama tov yihiyeh
Bashana, bashana haba’ah.
Monday – 06 September 2010
Today is Labor Day.
I hope that everyone has a safe – and very enjoyable – end-of-summer whatever it is you choose to do.
In honor of the day, I woke up early… well, “early-ish”… and, with the help of , worked on my sprinkler system. I had a few heads that needed to be replaced, one that needed help and just some general maintenance all around. This involved two (that’s right: TWO) trips to the local Home Depot. But, two-and-a-half hours and some elbow sweat grease later, it was done and things were working the way they were supposed to.
Yesterday was another lazy long-weekend day. We slept in. I played a little CoH: Going Rogue — I created a new character; SaraRules did some quilting. Later in the day, we headed over to SaraRules’ parents for dinner and a movie. Â Last night’s fare was Clash of the Titans, the new one. Again, it was a decent action flick. And the in-laws liked it. Win-Win.
Friday – 03 September 2010
It’s my 9/80 “off” Friday.
I consider that a good way to kick off a long weekend.
Last night was rather quiet and low-key. The highlights included: Mowing the yard and watching more of Mad Men, season 2. I’ve been trying to follow a tip I saw on DIY Network (I really watch that channel FAR too much…) and have been cutting the grass in different directions each time I mow. The landscaping in the front yard makes it… difficult… but I persevere. The back yard isn’t nearly as annoying to mow, fortunately. And, I also got the mower back behind the gazebo — there was a LOT of ivy/ground cover growth — to see what I was dealing with back there.  Uneven ground. A couple of stumps. A raised planter box.  Yeah, it needs a little attention.  We’ll see what we can do about that.
Stray Toasters
I just finished chatting with my mother… on Facebook. She seems to be enjoying retirement… for the most part.
The Ravens played the Rams last night… and lost. I didn’t see the game, as it wasn’t televised, but ESPN’s Game Center told the tale of the tape. Â And these reporters’ comments clarified any further questions. Oh, well… at least the regular season starts soon.
Wednesday – 25 August 2010
It’s midweek, which means it’s Comics (and maybe Sushi) Day!
The “and maybe” is because the usual suspects all seemed to have punked out today. Oh, well.
Today is also ‘s birthday:
Last night, SaraRules and I had a lazy night about the house. I worked on a HeroClix mod, while she read. After a bit, we gathered to finish up Season one of Mad Men. (Sidebar: I think I may have just had an item from Season 2 or 3 item spoiled for me. Bah!) I went back to working on my figure, but somehow wound up starting to organize the past… year-and-a-half’s comics, which had neither rhyme nor reason to how they were being stored.
NOTE: About two years ago, SaraRules spent nearly a full week organizing my comics. There were something like 2,500 when she did. And that number doesn’t include the nearly… 3,500+… others still on the east coast. (Although, I think that some of those are in some semblance of “order.”) She did a bang-up job, too.
The problem with starting to organize the comics last night was: I started close to midnight and got sidetracked by reading a few. D’oh! And, after calling it quits for the night, I went back to working on my mod. Yeah, it made for a late night/early morning.
Stray Toasters
I have just run out of my Honey Nut Cheerios stash at work. This must be rectified. But, I was at least able to get a full bowl of cereal before it ran out.
Sunday – 15 August 2010
It’s going to be a great day.
This isn’t to say that it hasn’t already been a good one, but… “as it is written, so shall it be!”
Post-Craft Lake City, SaraRules and I stopped in to say “Hello” to the in-laws. We also chatted about dinner plans for this evening. And movies. And music. And stuff and things and whatnot. Once we got back home, it was, as The Fresh Prince put it,”…time to sit back and unwind.”
This morning, SaraRules fixed a great breakfast — pancakes and eggs, with a side of coffee. Win. After breakfast, we decided to tackle a little yard work. (It’s not going to get any cooler as the day wears on.) The lawn has been mowed. The garden has been tended to. And now, we’re looking ahead at a lazy rest of the day… including going to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World this afternoon. Amen.
I’ve been looking at some home automation items. The idea of a “smart home” is kind of appealing. (Yeah, big surprise. I know. “Geek.” Â Duh.) I don’t want a SkyNet-smart home; just something where, if need be, lighting and maybe even heating systems could be remotely controlled.
Soon, there shall be yet another British import that gets an American take: Top Gear. Most of you know of my affinity for the show from across The Pond. I’m sure that guys talking about cars translates fairly well in any language – even if it’s just the accent that’s different – but the thing that doesn’t always make the transition is “chemistry.” The Top Gear UK guys have it. While their American cousins may have it – or acquire it as the show progresses – it just won’t be the same.
This morning, I slept in! All the way until 08:30!  (That is ‘sleeping in’ for me, considering what time I get up during the week.) I made my way to the couch downstairs and flipped on the television. After some surfing, I landed on Octopussy. I don’t think that I’ve seen that movie all the way through in a long time; I may have to do something about it one of these days. After about thirty minutes, I got up and headed into my office — I needed to get things together for this afternoon’s tournament.  After a shower and a quick breakfast – and a quick stop at Pin-up Girl – I headed out.
Today’s tourney theme was “Femme Fatales,” meaning that players’ teams could only be comprised of female figures. I threw a couple of options together; the team I played in one bye round was a Skrull Team:
I came home and met up with SaraRules. We headed to the local Whole Foods for a bite to eat. As we walked into the store, Sean, one of the employees saw me and seemed…. rather…. ecstatic… that I was wearing one of my Green Lantern shirts. Â He yelled over at a coworker something to the effect of:
See!? Â There’s a regular guy… and he likes superheroes! Comic books are alright!
It made me chuckle a bit. Â Sean came up to me a couple more times and basically told me that he appreciated the fact that someone else not only liked comics but also Green Lantern. (When I showed him the GL symbol in my wedding band, he said it was one of the coolest things he’d seen.) He also expressed a little concern about Ryan Reynolds being cast as Hal Jordan in the upcoming feature film. Â I suggested that he track down the SDCC footage of the Green Lantern panel, in which Ryan Reynolds not only talked about the film, but recited the GL oath for a young audience member:
He jotted down the info. Sean also happened to be at the check-out, as we were preparing to leave; he told me that I was “…welcome in [his] store anytime,” and to look him up if I ever needed any assistance. It was oddly charming.
Back at home, I put chicken kabobs on the grill and SaraRules prepared a salad and some quinoa. Very tasty combination.
Thursday – 12 August 2010
Not only is it an NBN Thursday…
But there’s an NFL preseason game tonight…
The Baltimore Ravens take on the Carolina Panthers, in Baltimore.
As these are my #1 and #2 teams, this comes out as a “Win-Win” for me.
vs.Â
Additionally, The Wizard of Oz was released on this date, in 1939.
SaraRules and I, along with her parents, attended the “Epic Dining” at MacCool’s last night. There was a five-course meal, in which each course was paired with a beer from Epic Brewing:
The whole evening was great. Â We sat that the table with Dave and Peter, co-owners of Epic, Dave’s wife, Susan and Michael, Peter’s assistant. We got to talk with them about how they decided to start brewing beer, what they enjoyed about it, and whatever else popped into our heads. It was a great evening, with good company and a fantastic dinner. Pictures of the courses – minus the salad, because I neglected to shoot it before devouring it – can be found here.
Just as dinner wrapped up, I got a call from one of the guys on my team: He had been receiving notifications from a wetness sensor in one of the cooling units. This would make the third time in under three months. Not good. As I was closer to the office than he was, I told him that I’d check it out. And with that, SaraRules and I headed left MacCool’s and headed to the office.
When I got there, I took the front panel off of the unit in question and looked inside. Nothing.
::: grblsnrkx :::
I removed the rear panel and checked there. Nothing.
::: braincramp :::
I went back to the front and looked again… just in case I had missed something. This time, I noticed the remnants of a splash of a water droplet next to the sensor cord. I checked the cord itself — it was damp. Okay, this was progress. The only problem: I couldn’t find any sign of a leak or spill. Upon further investigation, I noted that one of the copper pipes was damp with condensation… and it took a bend just above the splash point. Apparently, enough there had been condensation to form a drop and landed next to/on the wetness sensor cord. It was enough for the sensor to register, but not enough to cause a problem – other than sending out alters – that would affect the unit’s operation. Disaster: Averted.
Back home for comfy pants and comics-reading time.
Monday – 09 August 2010
The weekend has ended and a new work week has begun.
And, quite frankly, I could use another weekend; this last one was packed pretty full.
Saturday morning, SaraRules, , and I attended the funeral for our friend, Dave. It was a nice service. Dave’s brother, Tommy, delivered the eulogy/life reflection. Correction: He delivered two of them — one that was the “family approved” version and one that he had originally written, but been vetoed on giving. Both were good, but I think that Dave would have particularly appreciated the unexpurgated version.
After the service, we headed back home. I needed to change for a tournament; SaraRules, and were going out for lunch. The tourney went well, as did the lunch, from what I gathered. Later, came over for dinner and a movie; we watched Batman: Under the Red Hood, which she hadn’t seen. After she left, SaraRules and I watched The Royal Tenenbaums. It was an… interesting… movie. Like other Wes Anderson movies, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it after seeing it.
Sunday, after a tasty breakfast, SaraRules, , and I headed up to Park City to attend the Kimball Park City Arts Festival. As I noted on Facebook:
[I am] getting ready to head to the Park City Kimball Arts Festival with three lovely ladies. It’s kind of like being Bosley from ‘Charlie’s Angels,’ but without the bad 70s fashion.
It was a good event. We wandered up and down Main Street, looking at the various items. We wound up coming home with four (4) new pieces of art:
One piece (Cafe Society) by Audrey Heller, from whom I’ve wanted to purchase something for a few years,
Later in the evening, SaraRules and I went up to her parents’ for dinner and a movie. We watched From Paris With Love, which turned out to be better than any of us had anticipated. There was a nifty in-joke that made us laugh rather heartily about halfway through the film.
After we got back home, SaraRules and I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). I had never seen it, but SaraRules remembered it with nostalgic fondness. (I did, however, remember watching the Filmation cartoon series adaptation of the movie, however…)
Workout
Saturday’s step count: 817 (I neglected to put on the pedometer after changing pants Saturday afternoon)
Sunday’s step count: 4,792
Friday – 06 August 2010
It’s a bright and sunny 9/80 “off” Friday.
Amen.
In a little while, I’ll be going with my father-in-law and to check out the model railroad gear at a hobby shop in Orem. I consider that a good way to start a day off.
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way now: I had a great time at the Rush “Time Machine” concert last night.
I went with , his brother and sister-in-law and a friend of the family. Â Despite ridiculous post-rush hour traffic, we made it to the amphitheatre with plenty of time to spare. Â I also ran into my coworker, Drew and his wife, Cheri. (I just found out this morning that my friend, Peggy, was there, too… and only two sections away from where we sat.) The weather looked… ominous, but there was no rain. There were, however, some amazing lightning flashes in the center-to-eastern parts of the valley that made for nice offsets to 2112 and Far Cry. Â This tour’s set design had a heavy retro/steampunk look and feel about it, including the amps behind Alex and Neil’s drum kit:
From the tourbook’s liner notes:
I told the guys about an idea for a fictional world that had interested me lately, thinking it would make a great setting, maybe for a suite of songs that told a story. A genre of science fiction pioneered by certain authors (including my friend Kevin J. Anderson) had come to be called “steampunk,” seen as a reaction against the “cyberpunk” futurists, with their scenarios of dehumanized, alienated, dystopian societies. Our own previous excursions into the future, 2112 and “Red Barchetta,” had been set in that darker kind of imagining, for dramatic and allegorical effect, but I was thinking of steampunk’s definition as “The future as it ought to have been,” or “The future as seen from the past”-as imagined by Jules Verne, for example, in 1866, when he was writing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
When I was nine or ten, my dad took my brother and sister and me to see that movie at a Saturday matinee, and images from it had always stuck with me. The fearsome destructiveness of the Nautilus had a kind of monstrous beauty, contrasted with the cultured opulence of Captain Nemo’s quarters, and the massive pipe organ on which, he played with mad rapture. The captain may have been insane, but it was a romantic, idealistic bind of madness-his mission was only to destroy ships of war, because his beloved family had been killed in wartime.
The guys seemed intrigued by the concept, and at home in Southern California, I started working on a story and some lyrics along those lines, set in a world driven by steam, intricate clockworks, and alchemy-“a world lit only by fire” (title of a history of medieval times by William Manchester).
…and…
While I put together some ideas for cover art with Hugh Syme, for the song releases and the tour, Geddy was working with his film collaborators Dale and Allan on the rear-screen movies, recruiting Alex and me as comedic “actors”-to pursue our long-term goal in live performance: “More Comedy, Less Music.”
While we never seem to get away with “less music,” it’s true that as the years go by we do have more laughs.
The concert was roughly three (3) hours long and the band played the entirety of Moving Pictures in the second set. They also played Caravan and BU2B, from the upcoming Clockwork Angels release. There were also some fan favorites and a few pieces that I don’t believe I’ve heard in previous concerts.
All-in-all, it was a great way to kick off my three-day weekend.
And, for today’s musical fare, I’m going with Far Cry, from the Snakes & Arrows CD:
Tonight, we’re heading to the Deer Valley Music Festival to hear the Utah Symphony perform Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture…. complete with live cannons. Â (Tickets may still be available.) Â Because, how often do you get to hear symphonic music – in a great venue – performed with real cannons?! Why aren’t you calling the ticket office already?! Â Did I mention “cannons?!” Â Go! Â Dial! Â Now!
vs. 
