Random Access

Sunday : 05 Sunday 2006
Today started as a lazy day. Then there came preparations for…

Oscar Party 2006 at Steve and John’s. Once again, I’ll say: “These guys throw the Best Oscar parties.” I think that John said that there were roughly 100 people there. And “there” has changed a lot since the last time that I visited: They have completely redone the walls and ceilings in a couple of the rooms (one room took 14 coats of paint!) and the effect is simply astounding. And the back yard… Wow. Plenty of food and drink. Our table had a fun group of people at it, which made the event fun. As a added bonus, I got to see a few people from the REC with whom I had lost touch; that was cool. And, I even won one of the post-party prize baskets; it wasn’t one for the most number of correct Oscar guesses, it was one of the “raffle” ones. But, I still won one. And that’s pretty cool to me.

Stray Toasters

• I talked with both my dad and my uncle today. Both are doing well.
• The Simpsons come to life – Live-action Simpsons
• While reading Newsarama’s “Crisis Counseling” article for Infinite Crisis #5, I saw this comment that made me laugh. It was about Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who left a Mass-like service of most of DC’s heroes:
  

  Q: Why did Hal Jordan take off before the Amen, though?

  A: Good question. Hals a complex cookie, especially since his return to this world. But lets consider he went mad and killed a lot of his friends (so you could argue that he still has some guilt about it and doesn’t feel like he belongs in a house of God); he served as the host for the Spectre, which gave him a rather intimate look at the workings of Gods mysterious ways as he exacted justice (which is probably akin to liking sausage, but then not liking it after you see how its made); or heck, maybe he had to pee.

  …and then there was this quip about Lex Luthor’ fashion sense:

  Q: Uh, Luthor’s duds?

  A: Yeah apparently, hes only a super genius in certain areas, and fashion is not one of them. Sure, sure, putting Luthor in the purple and green is a nod back to the Silver Age stuff, and Luthor’s original bad guy costume, but jeez. Could we have seen the moment where Luthor was constructing his suit, thinking, Green unitard, purple overshirt, high collar, straps across chest.GENIUS! (that last part is really a lot funnier if you say it out loud, getting more excited as you go, and then kind of sing “GEEEEN-IUS!”. Trust us.)

• Adult Gamers and Their Ulterior Motives for Gaming
• New Avengers: Illuminati Sneak Preview
• 
• No Backdoor to Windows Vista
• Battlestar Galactica set visit with Mary McDonnell
• By way of Wired: The Best: Accidental Discoveries

And with that, the curtain goes down.

Namaste.

Saturday : 04 March 2006
I slept in this morning and when I awakened, Presto was sitting at the side of the bed. Staring at me. I wasn’t quite ready to get out of bed, so I motioned for her to jump onto the bed… which she did. With the quickness. She sat there and kept me company for a few minutes.

After collecting some four-color shwag and getting a bite to eat at Jitterbug, it was off to Ogden with . The first stop was to help her look for a car. Fairly painless task. She found one that spoke to her fairly quickly.

From there, it was on to Union Station to see the HMRRC Train Festival 2006. It was basically the same show as the one at Thanksgiving Point, but a lot more spread out. I picked up a HO-scale state boxcar for North Carolina. got me a couple of N-scale C&O Railroad cars. They had relegated the LEGO train system to an upstairs room. It was laid out a little differently than before, but it was still very cool. I took a few pictures of the set; I’ll post them soon. On the whole, I liked Union Station and want to go back (minus the crowd) and explore its museum and “rail yard” when I am not constrained by time limits.

Next: Mecca. I mean “The Bookshelf.” I found a few pieces of plastic crack to appease me, but not nearly as many as I was expecting to find. Oh, well… not the end of the world. Everything went pretty smoothly until I was ready to check out. The clerk almost double-charged me for a few ‘Clix. Those I caught and she voided and re-entered them. She did wind up double-charging me for a book; that one I didn’t catch until after she had run my card. *braincramp* Rather than have her void and re-ring everything, I just took the difference in a store credit.

Back to SLC to get ready for a couple of get-togethers. We hit the parties and had a good time at both. I saw a couple of people at each party whom I hadn’t seen in a while. (Note: might have a future as a bellydancer. That’s all I’m sayin’ about that…) We noted how different the two were, but that both were fun. Thanks to the hosts of both for their hospitality.

Quote of the Day
While at Jitterbug, we met June and Roger, a couple of regulars there. At one point June started talking about the degree that Roger had and that she had wanted to pursue a certain field, but that the mathematics that were required were a bit over her head:

“They started talking about ‘imaginary numbers.’ I’m a woman; imaginary numbers, to me, are: 36-24-36.”

Namaste.

Friday : 03 March 2006
The end of the week.

I spent part of the work day doing *gasp* manual labor (sort of) and the rest of it troubleshooting. I was productive with both things – in each case I identified problems and went about solving them. I still have a little bit of the troubleshooting to deal with, but I should be able to wrap it up nicely on Monday.

I hung out at Borders for a bit after work, pre-Clitorati. I got in a couple of sketches. I really need to be more consistent in setting aside time to draw… I was happy with one sketch and see where I could stand some improvement with the other. People started showing up around 7:00. We had a good group, although not quite as large as the past couple of weeks. Nevertheless, it was good company. ( and , you need to visit soon and join in the frolicking.) I spent some of my time going over some of the new rules in the Shadowrun sourcebook. Plenty of changes, but I think that they will actually enhance the gaming experience. I also informed , and Chris that I’m taking GM’s license and hitting the fast forward button in the campaign: I’m tying up a couple of old plots, moving them ahead a few years (to the timeframe of the fourth edition) and picking up the current storyline, in progress, in the new timeframe. They didn’t seem to mind.

Tomorrow: Train show and a visit to Mecca. *genuflect*

Stray Toasters

• I own a copy of Dragon Magazine Archives, from the company formerly known as “TSR.” I got it a few years ago from a comic shop that I used to frequent (they have since then gone out of business). I got it for a really good deal. The CDs are no longer in production. Every once in a while, I’ll look around the Interweb to see how much it is selling for. Today, I saw it going for $183.75. Wow.
• 
• almost made me snort garlic mashed potatoes tonight at dinner. That would have been interesting.
• Unintentional Porn Overheard at Work: “I grabbed it and it came out…. and it stopped before I was ready to stop.”
• Things To Shoot

That’s it for now.

Namaste.

Thursday : 02 March 2006
A good Thursday, indeed.

The workday was good and it came without any fires or wanting to banish anyone to the far side of Jupiter. I stopped in the SLC office to pick up a couple of things… and wound up with a lot more than I had intended. It was like Christmas in March. The sad thing is that I wound up requesting even more stuff, later in the day. Oh, well… nature of the beast, I guess. We skipped today’s lunchtime workout, so Tuesday’s workout will be a lot of “Yep, we haven’t been here in a week” fun. Bring on the liniment!

Tonight, I had dinner with . We gabbed for a while and then headed to her place for a bit where we hung out with , and BabyArmadillo42. We started watching River’s Edge. Odd movie. But, it had Crispin Glover, Dennis Hopper and Keanu Reeves in it… so what do you expect? In an amusing turn, I picked up my Schoolhouse Rock! CD set from while I was there. The CD set that I was positive was here at the house. So much so that I had been looking all over for it, because “…it [had] to be in the (fill-in-the-room).” It made me laugh to discover that I had completely forgotten that I had loaned it to him.

Stray Toasters

• I know that it will be a definite “Please disable/turn off/remove brain before entering” affair, but I kind of want to see Ultraviolet.
• Bring on the Bad Guys – “What would comics be without supervillains to make us worry for the hero’s well-being?”
• …and with that in mind: “I tell ya, hombre… it just ain’t easy being a supervillain.” –
• 
• Disney Main Street built from LEGO bricks
• : I still like “Conjunction Junk-Jen” and “Jenetic Defect.”
• – The Diane Rehm Show: Michelle Singletary: Your Money and Your Man
  I listened to this on the way to work. It was a really good segment on financial planning. Michelle Singletary was funny and personable, yet still imparted some rather solid information. I know that Diane Rehm’s voice doesn’t appeal to everyone, but I recommend listening to this segment.

• Steampunk + Transformers = ???
• Do you ride public transportation in Orange County, California? If so, you might want to read about how a young lady was given a citation on a bus… because she was listening to her iPod.
• : Long-lost Penn and Teller videogame available for download
• Marvel Comics has been setting up a storyline – spanning a few titles – in which the Black Panther is looking for a bride. Storm, of the X-Men, has been touted as the odds-on favorite to become the Queen of Wakanda. I’ve known about this for months. However, it took reading this blurb…
  

  “‘Bride of the Panther,’ Part 1 of 5. Every King needs a Queen — and that’s exactly what the Black Panther is searching for! Hop on board here, True Believer, as the King of Wakanda embarks on an epic quest to find a wife — the outcome of which will send reverberations throughout the whole Marvel Universe.”

  …for me to think of it in terms of Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America… and it made me laugh.

• So What Really Happens When You Shoot Yourself With a Stun Gun?
• Used animatronic prop animals for sale
• “Something tells me that I’ll never be ready, but let’s get on with it…”
  

Namaste.

Wednesday : 01 March 2006
Midweek and all’s well.

Work was good today. No monkeys were punched and there were no fires to put out. Those are the definite signs of “a good day” at work.

Tonight brought the Call of Cthulhu game at ‘. We fought. We lived. (We went a little insane… but some of us got nominally better.) All-in-all, it looks as though we’re heading for a pretty big fight next game session. In the words of Quantum Leap‘s Dr. Sam Beckett: “Oh, boy…” I was apparently far more tired than I thought tonight – I found myself drifting off towards the end of the Cthulhu game. More than once.

Stray Toasters
::: closed for remodeling :::
(Check back tomorrow.)

Namaste.

<audio stimulation>
     Bone Thugs & Harmony (ft. Henry Rollins and Flea) – War
     Rush – Crossroads
     Cruxshadows – Binary
</audio stimulation>

Groove. Boogie. Sway.

What does your morning playlist look like?

Tuesday : 28 February 2006
Sleet. There was actual, honest-to-goodness sleet in the air – and on the ground – this afternoon. A lot of it, too. When I saw the sky this morning, I braced for the possibility of either rain or snow. Sleet never even entered the realm of possibility. That’ll teach me.

This morning, I called my… hm… he pretty much falls into the “uncle” category, as far as extended family goes. My “aunt,” his wife, was my (and my sibs and my childhood friends’) babysitter. But, like I said: They’re family. Always have been, always will be. But, enough of the digression… His birthday is on 29 February, but since there won’t be one of those this year, I figured that I’d catch him while it was still “February.” Even better: I completely surprised him. He even said that it made his day… which put a very large smile on my face. The three of us talked for about ten minutes. It was good to connect with them.

The rest of the evening has been pretty quiet and relaxing.

Stray Toasters

• I have a bag chock full o’ LEGO bricks, thanks to my friend, Chris.
  (I just noticed that there are LEGO Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul figures in there, too.)

• Adjective Girl versus the Stupid Ugly Dumbheads
• Smithsonian Preparing for Hip-Hop Exhibit
• This comic made me smile:
• : I liked that song. Thanks!
• Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Directory – You can learn the correct pronunciation and meanings of musical terms here.
• You may remember the Sony Bravia ad where they dropped 250,000 ‘superballs’ down San Francisco streets.
  Apparently, a bunch of Battlefield 2 players remembered it, too. Check it out.

• What are the lessons of MMORPGs today?
• Scrubs. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.
• Dear Lord… I just saw a Pizza Hut commercial with Jessica Simpson. “Performing” her version of These Boots Were Made for Walking as she serves up a hot and fresh pizza. Fortunately, they saved the commercial at the end with cameos by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.
• : Click the image for a preview of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16
  

• This is the story of two sisters: Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell.
  These are the Tates.
  And these are the Campbells.
  And this is… Soap!

• Do you think that MS Paint is pretty useless? Take a look at this; you might reconsider your opinion.
• “Ethan, your mind has brought professional psychiatrists to tears.”
  

Namaste.

<groove>
     Moloko – Fun For Me
     Geri Halliwell – Look At Me
     Cruxshadows – Citadel (In Strict Confidence Remix)
     Garbage – Androgeny
     Inside Out – Jackie Chan
</groove>

Monday : 27 February 2006
One down, four to go.

Have you ever been working on a project, attempted to save it… only to lose all of your work? I did, this morning. A couple of hours’ work went down the tubes when I wound up overwriting some files that I’d been working on. *braincramp* I was able to recreate the files fairly easily, but I was still annoyed at having to do so. (And I did discover what I had done incorrectly that caused me to overwrite the files… so that I hopefully won’t make that mistake again.)

Tonight was an extra session of D&D. Our party ventured into the tower of a wizard. A wizard with a BIG axe to grind against our party’s benefactor and one of our party members… who, by a not-so-strange twist of genetic fate, is our benefactor’s daughter. But, in the words of Bill Murray’s Dr. Peter Venkman: “We came. We saw. We kicked its ass.” And no one died.

Stray Toasters

• I still don’t have any Creme Eggs… but I do have gummy worms.
• Thanks to for pointing me in the direction of .
• After seeing Darth Vader on the wheels of steel, it seems as though Mr. Spock wanted to show his skills.
• From Slashdot: Da Vinci Code Author Sued
  

  riptalon writes “Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, is being sued in the UK for using ideas from a previous non fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail in his novel. The Bangkok Post states that ‘The question the court is facing is whether you can copyright an idea, a conjecture.'”

• I was listening to music at work this afternoon and had a horrible image pop into my head: Bobby Darin’s Rockin’ Robin came into the shuffled mp3 lineup. I had gotten about halfway through the song when the image of Teen Titans Robin and Raven (both of whose namesakes are birds that are mentioned in the song) popped into my head. Swing dancing. Together. It was sad…. and a little scary. Even worse: It took me a couple of minutes to stop chuckling about it.
• I saw this quiz in ‘ journal and was intrigued. I took it and came up with:
  You belong in the Cat Who Walks Through Walls. You
  
  are creative and cunning. Your works often
  
  feel empty to you, though others love them.
  
  You suspect that the universe and everyone in
  
  it are just characters in someone else’s
  
  story.

  Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
  brought to you by Quizilla

• Stick Michaelangelo’s David on your blog to protest censorware
• Finland, Finland, Finland…
• 
• Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Photos
• .nemA

Namaste.

Sunday : 26 February 2006
It’s been a good – and pretty relaxing – day. I slept in this morning and went to a joint birthday party for ‘s boys. Food, cake, ice cream, balloons. The whole nine yards. The phrase “They made out like bandits” comes to mind. Bandits, I say.

This evening has been fairly quiet. Aside from a poor mission against Lusca in City of Heroes. I joined the mission to get rid of some of my experience debt. I wound up accruing more. *sigh* Oh, well.

Stray Toasters

• I didn’t get any Cadbury Creme Eggs this weekend. I will have to get some in the next day or two.
• Presto is stretched across my lap. She’s cute. And big. Lightning may outweigh her (a little), but she’s longer than he is. I didn’t really notice by just how much until a couple of days ago.
• Sure to put a smile on Ms. ‘s face: All-Star Batcave Foldout
• Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Part 4: A Conversation with Reginald Hudlin
• Both Don Knotts and Darren McGavin passed away this weekend.
• This, from a DC Comics panel at the New York Comic-Con, struck me as interesting:
  

  [Dan] Didio invited DC President Paul Levitz to make a major announcement: Warner Brothers Entertainment and Sony Interactive are currently developing a Massively Multi-player Online Game featuring the DC Universe that’s being developed by Sony.

  Can you say: “City of Heroes 2: Electric Boogaloo,” boys and girls?

• Also, from NYCC, comes some interesting news about the upcoming Blade TV series.
• H&R Block Goofs on Its Taxes
• This is the cover of New X-Men #26. Does anything about it look at all… familiar?
• Genndy Tartakovsky to direct Power of the Dark Crystal
• While checking out Applegeeks, I hit a link that led to Power Girl in “The Classifieds”. (Story background and a downloadable version can be found here.) Amusing, with a lot of nods to the DCU. Who’s Power Girl? Click here for her bio.
• “Waitaminnit… how did my fur grow back so fast?!”
  “Why, the Magic Cat Fur Fairies, of course.”
  

Namaste.

Saturday : 25 February 2006
Today was good. It was sunny… and relatively warm. Mid 50s. Can’t really complain about that, especially since it’s still Winter and it’s Utah. I started the morning with coffee with Perry. That was followed by some errand-running and a stop by ‘ place. I had lunch with and did some more errand-running. The evening was capped with Toy Story 2.

Breakfast was a relatively small affair, but nevertheless fun. It was a slow night at Cheers, so we were able to focus on some quality people-watching. Fortunately, there were enough people to watch and still have it be interesting. There were a lot of fashion risks/fashion don’ts to be found.

Stray Toasters

• I want to Hostlers Model Railroad Club Festival 2006 on Saturday (04 Mar 06). Anyone else interested in going? (And for those in the know, it’s a hop, skip and a jump from Mecca. That’s all I’m sayin’.)
• 10 Reasons Cops Are Different
• I saw this user icon in an LJ community and was amused by it:
• : I’ll try to remember to bring Azrael and The Iron Giant next week.
• The real reason for underwear… (.wma format)

Namaste.

Friday : 24 February 2006
Today was an all-around good day.

This evening at Clitorati was good, as well. We had another fairly large group; not as large as last week’s, but still rather sizable. Included in tonight’s mix were a few new faces. I don’t think that we scared anyone off… at least, I hope that we didn’t.

I also managed to get in some drawing time tonight. From this picture, I drew this one. I am fairly happy with the way that it turned out.

At last week’s Clitorati, I acquired a couple of 30% off coupons. I used one to pick up a copy of the Shadowrun (Fourth Edition) sourcebook.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt and “Sparky,” the Ball Lightning Wonder –
I patrolled the streets of Paragon City tonight. I didn’t find anyone with whom I could team, but I (again) received a few invitations to join supergroups. I ran and flew around Dark Astoria, Founders’ Falls and Independence Port and Talos Island. I wound up heading to Astoria to beat on some of the Banished Pantheon. And then… I logged off.

Stray Toasters

• Given my lack of sleep last night, I’m surprised that I’m not dead on my feet.
  I’m tired and winding down fairly quickly, but, I’m still pretty coherent. At least for the moment…

• “Chain-snorting.”

Time to call it a night.

Namaste.

Thursday : 23 February 2006
Another “No Bad News Thursday” comes to a close.

I’ve been asked where I got the idea for “NBN” Thursday. Its origin comes, more or less, from The Wiz (the Broadway production, not the Diana Ross-Michael Jackson version). In it, Evillene, The Wicked Witch of the West, (along with “the Winkies”) sings the song Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News. I took the song and adapted its concept to the work environment. I’ve informed my team (and most of the Team Leads at work) that they are allowed to bring me bad news until I leave on Wednesday… or they can hold it until Friday morning. Thursdays are mine. Why Thursdays?

• Wednesday is the middle of the work week (for most people); if you’ve made it to Wednesday without a problem, you’re on the downhill slide.
• If someone brings you bad news on a Friday, you can – in a lot of cases – put off the problem until Monday.
• Everyone knows – and expects – that any given Monday (just because it is “Monday”) is going to suck.Thus, by choosing Thursday as your “No Bad News” day, you can usually delay the doom until Monday, the day that was created for work-related doom and sucktasticness.

Today was a good Thursday. Selah.

The Dark Trespasses of Dhoruba –
Tonight, I roamed the streets of Port Oakes. Despite the fact that I was invited to join three supergroups – all within ten minutes – it was a slow night.

I was asked to join a group for a mission… which was nearly over by the time I joined the team. Thus, I got no extra experience or infamy at the mission’s end. So much for “honor among thieves.” I wandered a little longer and was invited to join another up-and-coming evil-doer. I did and we went on one of his missions – rescuing a mob boss’ daughter from a rival family. It went fairly smoothly. He had to leave after we safely returned the girl to Port Oakes.

I checked the newspaper for leads on a new caper and noted that Fire Fist was out of the Ziggurat, Paragon City’s prison. There was some… “bad blood” between the two of us. I figured “Why not spill some… of his?” And I did. And some of his thugs’ blood, too. It felt good.

Stray Toasters

• I am out of Cadbury Creme Eggs. I must acquire more.
• US online retailer selling Perplex City cards
• 
• Example of what not to do…
• I do love a good pun:
• Worth 1000’s Mate a Movie 11 Photoshop contest: “Two or more movies, combined to make one much funnier movie.”
• New Orleans: LEGO Builders of Tomorrow
  

  ENFIELD, Conn. — Feb.11, 2006 — Dig into your toy chests and pull out your LEGO bricks to help children in New Orleans imagine and rebuild for the future! LEGO Systems today issued a nationwide call to children and parents in towns across America to share their LEGO bricks with the children of New Orleans. The company will collect the bricks and make a brick-for-brick matching donation to New Orleans schools. Some of the bricks will be used to construct a model of the rebuilt city, as envisioned by local New Orleans children and kids across the country, to be donated to the city as a public work of art.

• I find it mildly amusing that I used the <blockquote> tag in an entry about LEGO bricks… which are sometimes referred to as “blocks.”
• “That’s boring. Aquaman boring.”
  
• NationStates
  

  NationStatesis a free nation simulation game. Build a nation and run it according to your own warped political ideals.Create a Utopian paradise for society’s less fortunate or a totalitarian corporate police state. Care for your people or deliberately oppress them. Join the United Nations or remain a rogue state. It’s really up to you.

• Alternate Reality Game Woven into ClothesQuote of the Day
  From a Wednesday conversation with Mike B.:

[10:43] : Hoi.
[10:43] Mike: Hola!
[10:43] Me: Y’know… I’m enjoying playing CoV, but I am remembering how much of a pain – despite being useful – hover is.
[10:44] Mike: *gasp*
[10:44] Me: Again: Despite being useful.
[10:44] Mike: It does have its uses.
[10:44] Me: …but I don’t think that Mr. Dhoruba will be a flyer.
[10:44] Mike: Ah, I think that’s wise. Strike out, explore new territory, etc etc.
[10:44] Me: I’m thinking that he’ll go the superspeed or teleport route.
[10:45] Me: I mean… it’s bad enough that he has a do-gooder brother who flies.
[10:45] Me: And who wants to live in their brother’s “heroic” *eye roll* shadow.
[10:46] Mike: bwahahahahahhahahahhaa!
[10:46] Me: There are much better ways to use one’s powers.
[10:46] Me: And, in the process, get a little something for yourself.
[10:46] Mike: It’s only fair, really.
[10:46] Me: Indeed.

Namaste.

<boogie>
     The Wiz – Original Cast Album
</boogie>

Easin’ on down the road….

Have a good one.

Tuesday : 21 February 2006
Today was a short week’s “Monday.” That didn’t keep it from being a good day. Work and the lunchtime workout were good.

This evening was the Shadowrun game. New story arc. *gasp* (Yeah, I know… who’d’ve thunk it?!) No one died. Well, none of the PCs died; a couple of NPCs died “off-screen.” The team is now in search of someone who is eliminating friends of two of the player characters. And, despite earlier threats, I didn’t saddle any of the PCs with new pets. Yet. I still say that someone needs a dragonmouse for a pet; besides, came up with the best idea for dealing with one that I had heard in years.

The Dark Trespasses of Dhoruba
As of 2:20 this morning, there seems to be a winner in the Dhoruba icon poll:

I took to the streets of Port Oakes and knocked over one of the local casinos tonight. Why? It was there. And they had money. Do I really need more of a reason than that? Besides, it increases my infamy. Later, I teamed with another couple of up-and-comers and we took on The Lost. In the sewers. (It’s going to take WEEKS to get that smell out of my clothes…) There were a few player deaths involved, but we (finally) emerged victorious.

Stray Toasters
I had quite a few items selected to use as ‘Toasters… but they will have to keep until tomorrow.

Namaste.