Random Access

Monday
It snowed.

Actually, it started last night. But there seems to be a little flurry activity going on. On the up side, it seems as though someone swept/shoveled our driveway and sidewalk this morning. And, it had to be a “by design” act because the part of the drive in front of the RV pad had not been cleared. Of course, it snowed throughout the day, so I got to clear the driveway and sidewalk this evening. I also helped our neighbor to the north with her drive/walk.

and I had lunch with this afternoon. Olive Garden. We also made an excursion to Jo-Ann Fabric. And a quick pass through Toys ‘R’ Us. While at Jo-Ann Fabric, I saw Justice League Valentines cards. Naturally, I could not pass them up. And soon… they shall be scanned!

There was no poker tonight, so evening was wrapped up with this past Saturday’s JLUepisode, “The Cat and the Canary,” and the new episode of 24.

News
Morning Edition: The Barrons: Forgotten Pioneers of Electronic Music
Talk of the Nation: (Un-)Happiness in the Modern World
Fresh Air: Tommy Chong: Free and Back on the Road

USA Today: Office memo: Blogging can get you bounced

Stray Toasters

• I had one of last night’s leftover bratwurst for dinner tonight. Damn but it was tasty. If you’re in the SLC metro area and like sausage (get your minds out of the gutters), you should check out Colosimo’s on 7th East, near 85th South.
• Captain Murphy must have had Jack Bauer in mind when he came up with his famous ‘law’: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
• I saw the What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have? meme in ‘s post and decided to try it out.
  

  Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

  You shine in your ability to relate to and understand others. Good at seeing others’ points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

  What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

• Building the iAtariMac – a Mac mod for the Atari 2600.
• , something tells me that this is something in which you might be interested: Maryland Education Looks to Comics to Help Boost Reading
• From Broken Frontier: Komikwerks Looks at Black Roots
• forwarded the link for Worster Album Covers Ever II. It’s definitely not a misnomer.
• “Women will get sterile just looking at you.” – Charles De Mar
• , there’s another something else you might want to take a look at: Journey into Comics: Legion Now.
• PopCultureShock has a seven-page preview of Phoenix: Endsong #3. I have the first two issues; they are beautifully drawn and written. This issue seems to be no exception.
• As if the Magnetic Poetry on our fridge wasn’t enough crack: Just Letters. All I can say is “Holy Soul Train Scramble Board, Batman!” Thanks to for the heads-up on this.
• I was a big fan of the DeMatteis/Giffen era of Justice League (International). They have brought back members of the team a few months ago in a mini-series called Formerly Known as the Justice League. Well…. they’re back again in a story arc JLA Classified called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League” You can check it out here.

Quote of the Day
gave us both of today’s quotes:

I’m Mary Poppins, with the “fuck” word inserted.

…and…

It’s like a bunny on a stick!

Namaste.

Sunday
And, lo, it came to pass… and rush… and play-action fake…

Today was “Super Bowl Shindig 2005.” We got up this morning and put the finishing clean-up touches on the house, in preparation for the event. We had, if we counted correctly, twenty-one people show up for the festivities. Surprisingly, everyone watched the game, more or less. Everyone watched the commercials. Natch. And, was it just me or should this have been ‘The Ford-Pepsi Super Bowl?’ After all, we saw the ‘Mustang Convertible at the Intersection’ commercial and the ‘P. Diddy in the Pepsi Truck’ commercial at least three times each. *shrug* The trailer for Batman Begins, however, looked good. Very good.

There was also plenty of food. I cooked out. We had loads of snacks. Lots of beverages, including ‘ very tasty Pirate’s Tea. We still have a lot of the snacks left. And soft drinks. And stuff.

Thanks to everyone who came over and spent the afternoon. We had a great time and hope that you did, as well.

Stray Toasters

• Many rains past, I had the idea of making a chess set using RPG miniatures for the pieces. It never got past the “theory” stage.

  I have started a Heroclix® chess set. So far, I’m two pieces away from having the “evil” side of the board completed. It’s not “perfect,” but it’s that close. The “good” side, however, still needs a little bolstering. But, I’m getting there.

• New quotes from the fridge:
  • Believe in my cleavage.
  • I farted.
  • Marry an angel, go home, smile, die happy.
  • Stupid people wearing astronaut pants are being insignificant in public, but I bet your thoughts are a message of a happy and rude personality disorder.
  • All people look great the first time, your problem is: You look like a dwarf inflatable girlfriend.
  • Didn’t I see you humiliate yourself?
• I just watched the trailer for Battlehymn. Haven’t heard of it? I’m not surprised. It’s not a movie. It’s a comic book. That’s right: “A comic book with a trailer.” And, it’s an impressive trailer, at that. You can download the trailer (35MB .zip file) here. If the trailer is any indication, Image could have a hit on their hands.
• “Is it better than the peanut butter plan of Hill Town?”
  

• Custom Star Wars Blinds
• I don’t understand peoples’ gripes against widescreen/letterbox format.
• “With Macs, violently obsessive robots are a thing of the past!”
  

• HALO Heading Towards Big Screen

Namaste.

Saturday
It was a semi-lazy day.

For a while this morning, I thought that one of our neighbors dumped garbage in our can this week. Apparently, the garbage collection was early and it seems as though a lot of people in our circle didn’t get their cans out in time. It was almost enough to make me want to stick a couple of X10 cameras on the front of the house. Almost. The real answer turned out to be something much more simple and less insidious. And that made me happy.

Getting to watch two episodes of JLU also made me happy.
Knowing that I set the VCR – correctly, this time – to tape a third episode adds to the happiness factor.

Stray Toasters

• I bowled 10 games tonight, with a high of 183 and a low of 98.
• : I saw this and immediately thought that you might appreciate it: Power Rangers: Why it was the best 80s cartoon ever!
• Many of you will remember the Kenya Flashtoon from last year. Well… someone did a live-action Kenya. (A semi-sarcastic) “Thanks” to pointing this out. Of course, she also pointed me in the direction of Choccy. I will never look at Cadbury Creme Eggs the same way again. Oh, I’ll still eat them… I’ll just never look at them the same.
• From Comics2Film: This is a rather well done animated gif of Jennifer Walters transforming into She-Hulk. There’s also a larger, less-grainy version here.
• “Late at night, while you’re sleepin’, Poison Ivy will be creepin’ around…”

Tomorrow: Super Bowl Shindig 2005! We’re throwing a little bash. I should get some sleep so that I can wake up and take care of some of the last-minute pre-party stuff.

Namaste.

Friday
I was a good little consumer today. The day started with a trip to Mecca… I mean:”The Bookshelf”… with Kate, Perry and Max. I had originally loaded up with stuff, but trimmed it back a bit before checking out. I think that the cashier undercharged me for a few things, but didn’t realize it until we were back on the road to SLC. We also made stops at End Zone (in Trolley Square) and Dr. Volt’s. I returned home with a Mechwarrior Cougar (so I can start scaling the dimensions for my Yard’Tech mech) and many new Heroclix, including three Legionnaires: Live Wire (w00t!), Brainiac 5 and Chameleon. This makes for a happy Rob. Now, I just need to find Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy. That will make for an even more happy Rob.

I stopped at and ‘ place to help Nox with a networking problem. After tweaking a few settings here and playing with a few things there, we got it resolved.

Tonight, we met for the traditional Friday Night Coffee with a few of the usual suspects. It was the typical good time with good company that always adds to the enjoyment of the end of the week. I got some reading in. There were good – and twisted – conversations, caffeinated beverages and snacks.

News
Reuters: Actor Ossie Davis Dies at Age 87

Stray Toasters

• I didn’t get cotton candy today. But, that’s okay. There’s always tomorrow.
• Spider-Man 3. Featuring…. Venom? This could be interesting. Especially since they will have to adapt the origin. Maybe they will go with the Ultimate Spider-Man origin and make it the creation of Peter’s deceased father. Because I don’t think that they have the budget to even attempt the original Secret Wars origin.
• While at Dr. Volt’s Perry pointed out the new Handbook to the Marvel Universe 2005 books. I took a look at the Handbook to the Women of the Marvel Universe 2005 issue. Flipping through it, I came to the entry for Hepzibah (1, 2). She’s the mate of Corsair (1, 2), father of the X-Men’s Cyclops and Havok. I looked at Perry and asked: “Do you remember the movie: My Stepmother Is an Alien?” And I pointed to Hepzibah’s bio. He laughed.
• “Repro-ducks-tion.”
• Life-sized Candy Land. Right.
• For the North Carolinians: noda.org
• I saw an ad for crossword puzzle contact paper in this month’s issue of Budget Living magazine. I thought that it was rather neat, but I can’t find any information on it. I’ll have to check the issue and verify the URL that it listed. I did, however, find this. Wow.
• For (and all of the other gamers out there…)
  

I planned on being in bed about an hour ago.
Time to take that plan from “theory” to “practical application.”

Namaste.

Thursday
We’re ba-a-a-a-ack.

It was a good trip. On the way down, we saw an elk, deer and… a fox. I don’t think that I have ever seen a fox on the hoof, outside of a zoo. This one was running through the desert along I-70. We also had an Italian lesson on the way. Yep, an Italian lesson. Rich and family are going to Europe this spring; everybody’s learning a language – Rich is tackling Italian. So, now, I know un po Italiano.

We did both an underground and above-ground installation. I didn’t get to use the Milwaukee saw this time, but I did get to use the Hilti nail gun. Oh. My. That is a “power tool.” It uses a load of 22-caliber blanks to drive nails. We punched 1″ nails into the concrete foundation; they went in very easily. And we weren’t even using the strongest load.

Rich said that I’m getting a little faster at finishing some of the work. I took this as a good thing. He also showed me a few things to help speed the process along. Naturally, these helped, too. Something that he said got me thinking: I tend to be a bit… cautious/meticulous when working on/with certain things. I think that is attributable to my training with an architectural firm as a high school and college student. This isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing, but it gave me food for thought. Introspection. It can be a good thing and a useful tool.

Random Access

February is Black History Month (1, 2).

As usual, I suggest that everyone take some time to learn a little something about a part of American history and culture of which you may not be familiar. I suggest your visiting your local libraries, bookstores and perusing the Internet. If possible, see if there is a Black History lecture series in your area. And, there is always the “low tech,” old-fashioned method: Talk with people in your community. Sometimes, the best way to learn about something is listening to someone else’s experience.

With that out of the way, let’s get straight on to tonight’s diatribe.

I’m not so concerned with the fact that Black History Month is relegated to the shortest month of the year. I think the fact that it gets recognition is good… even if it’s only 28/29 days’ recognition. My issue comes with the fact that it’s only celebrated for one month. Is it not considered “worthwhile enough” to be celebrated alongside the rest of American history during the other eight to ten months of the school year? Before someone comes in and asks, let me add that I feel the same way about any minority-American history. (For more information on other “Heritage Months,” see the Smithsonian Institution’s Heritage Month Home Page.)

Why should the contributions that they made only be recognized for one month?
Why should any group’s contribution be so denigrated?

The simple answer: They shouldn’t.

We are all Americans. Native-born or naturalized. We have a rich, diverse culture. We should celebrate it as a whole. Although we don’t always act like it, we are “…more than the sum of our parts.” Every culture in the American population has brought something unique to the table: African. Asian. European. Native American. We have all borrowed from each other yet we often fail to recognize our similarities, focusing instead on what it is that makes Group A different from Group B.

Isn’t it about time that we stopped treating each other with kid gloves or thinking of one another as “fill-in-the-ethnic-blank”-Americans and started acting like the “…one nation, indivisible” of which the Pledge of Allegiance¹ speaks?

I think so.

But, until then, please take the opportunity to learn more about cultures and ethnicities other than your own. I am confident that you’ll learn something interesting. And you may even find that we all have more in common than you may have thought.

</diatribe>

Stray Toasters

• I have no cotton candy. This will be corrected tomorrow.
• By way of : Stop…!
• From : Sylvia Pichler Airbrush Makeup and Quest for the Crown
• From emedicine.com: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
• “I knew those air holes would be trouble…”
  

• Top 10 Apple Flops
• : Tellus and Chameleon
• : The Man Who Laughs
• The Institute of Official Cheer
• : Kinky Friedman for Texas Governor
• Sony’s PSP handheld game system will launch in the U.S. on 24 March. Details.

That’s enough for now.

Namaste.

¹ – In it’s original draft, the Pledge of Allegiance was worded: “I pledge allegiance to [the] flag [of the United States of America,] and [to] the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The phrase “…under God…” was not added until 1954. (source: Pledge of Allegiance and its “under God” phrase)

Tuesday
Quick hit from southern Utah.
(Thinking about it, Moab is like an embassy of the real world behind the Zion Curtain. An small-town, outdoorsy embassy, but it’s more of a slice of “normal” than upstate Utah.)

It’s barely 8:30 and I’m tired; it’s been a long – and productive – day. Last night, I was in bed before 10:00 PM. Which almost never happens, unless I’m sick. I actually nodded off during the 9:00 news. One minute, I was watching the news, the next minute, the news was watching me. I looked at the clock; it was only 9:37. I almost laughed. But, I got up and dragged myself to bed. And slept pretty much like a rock.

It looks like we will button things up tomorrow and be SLC-bound on Thursday morning. There’s an off chance that we’ll be leaving tomorrow afternoon, but that’s pretty unlikely. I’m good with leaving Thursday morning; I should even be home around noon or 1:00. Ain’t nothin’ wrong wit’ that!

Let’s see… there was something else…
Oh, yeah:

1. Adam: I wasn’t ignoring your call last night. (See above.)
2. , check your email.
3. : No killing anyone. Unless I get to pick a couple of choice targets.

That’s it for now. It’s time to go veg on the couch for a bit.

Namaste.

Sunday
The “Weekend of Laziness” continues!

Tomorrow, however, I’m on the road to Moab again. This will be another two-site trip: One sub-grade, one inside. The weather forecast looks promising. That’s a plus.

Today was hang-around-the-house day, with a minor excursion to pick up a few items I’ll need for the Moab trip. And a package of Heroclix. Of course. I was pleased with three of the four figures; the fourth was all right, but not one that I really care about. C’est la vie. and came over to hang out for a while this evening.

I discovered something amazing this afternoon: There is a floor in the HCC. A real, honest-to-goodness floor. I had heard rumors and legends about it being there. But, I had nearly given up hope of ever seeing it. At least in this lifetime. I was so amazed, I took a picture of it with my new phone.

Make that “I discovered TWO amazing things today:” I found out that a very good friend of mine from home has started an LJ. Please drop a welcoming “Hullo” to . We met many rains past, through her husband. And in related “It’s a small world, after all” news: It seems as though and “know” each other, from a Yahoo group. Who knew?!

Since I’m going to be away for the next few days, I’ll go ahead and say “Happy Birthday” to the February-born LJers now:

Stray Toasters

• I sat down to watch Saturday’s episodes of Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited this afternoon. Only to see that I had recorded an hour’s worth of static. And not Static Shock. I remember setting the VCR last night. I even made sure that the DSS receiver was set to Cartoon Network. But still… nothing.

  The problem: After moving the DirecTV receiver last week, I changed the VCR’s signal input from coaxial to composite. I neglected to change the input source in the recording program. Now, I have to wait for the episode to show up on Usenet. *sigh*

• From Electric Ferret Studios: Comic Book Universe Battles
• “Howie,” a member of the Yahoo! Group “lilguyz” created this micro of the animated Teen Titans‘ Cyborg. I like it.
• Why Apple Makes a One-button Mouse
• The latest additions to the fridge’s Magnetic Poetry:
  • The hamster may be stupid, but it has an asshole which will always be smarter than you.
  • When you kiss me, I try to forget that you are nothing but a happy moron with a beautiful body.
  • You taking your clothes off makes me want to throw up.
  • And, from : Kiss my big, beautiful sex organ.
• By way of boingboing.net: Song of the South fansite
• Nox and I were talking about comics this evening and he brought up a very interesting point: Despite the fact that Wolverine is in so many Marvel Comics titles, he’s not written as well as he could be. An almost unlimited healing factor? Unbreakable bones? Dogged determination? And, let’s face it: He’s not exactly “Mr. Sunshine.” Given all that, the powers-that-be could do a lot more with him.

  I countered with the fact that since Marvel has taken the… “initiative” (?) to “clean up” their heroes (no smoking, limited drinking, etc), it isn’t as easy to portray a truly bad-ass Wolverine, although it might be possible in Marvel’s “MAX” (their more mature themes/stories) line.

• The Lurid Fridge
• Military Terms of the Modern Era
• “This first invention is called a ‘rifle’…”
  “A rifle? BRILLIANT!!     What’s it do?”
  

• “Choose wisely.” (featuring Alice, Eve and Hawk)
  

Quote of the day

: How’s your day going?
: sfsg
: ok, I’m a little slow today. all I get out of that is “same ducking shit god”
: “so far so good”
: ahh…yeah. I think I need a nap. =/

Considering what time I have to get up in the morning, I should have been in bed long ago. Time to fix that. See you on the other side of Wednesday.

Namaste.

Saturday
Five years.

As of today, that’s how long and I have been together. We were talking about it this morning: It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. We also get odd looks from people when we tell them that we have never had a fight in all that time. We’ve had disagreements, but they’re usually rather minor. I’ve been blessed to have met someone who’s willing to put up with me. Most of the time. And, to think: I have the U.S. Postal Service to thank for meeting her. I guess that something “good” came out of working for them, after all. Who knew?!

We spent the day being lazy, for the most part. And that worked out well for both of us. Apparently, the fifth anniversary is “the videogame anniversary.” I got a copy of X-Men: Legends, Jess got Sonic 3 for her GBA. We were both happy.

We went out to dinner with Jen, Monica, Brian and Bill. It was nice, as we don’t see Monica and Brian that often. They seemed surprised that we were willing to go out with other people on our anniversary. We reminded them that we had spent the day together and that spending time with friends is always a good thing.

After dinner, we headed up to see and . The four of us went to see White Noise… but could not find parking at the theatre… so we decided to try another cineplex. We wound up at The Ritz/Hollywood Connection. With lots of time on our hands before the next showing. We spent an hour or so playing video games; it was fun. In something reminiscent of the old movies where a couple would go to a carnival, play games and win prizes, won a mini football for me. A mini-Ravens football. I will have to find a place for it next to my signed football. Then, we were off to the movie. It was a decent movie, but the ending was a bit anti-climactic.

Back to Nyx and Nox’ place, to get the car and then we were off to breakfast. Nyx, Nox, and met us there. Alisa, Bill and Brent showed up shortly thereafter. Breakfast, the company and the conversations were good. It was a good way to round out the evening.

All-in-all, this has been a good day.
Five years.
Wow.
No, make that “A wonderful five years.”
Yeah. That’s a much better way of putting it.

And, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next five have in store.

Namaste.

Friday
The sun and a few traces of blue sky made an appearance today. There were a lot of high clouds, but the inversion wasn’t around. You could actually see all the way across the valley. It was a beautiful sight and a much-needed change of pace.

and I headed to Park City to see a screening of
(click the ticket to go to the Mirrormask Official Site)
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, along with Jim Henson Productions, have created a wonderful family film. During the Q&A session that followed the movie, Neil Gaiman noted (of movies that fall in the “family film” genre): “…if you were to water them down, they would taste like slightly-sweet cardboard. We wanted to make a movie with taste. He also said that ‘family films’ are also assumed “…to have no content. We wanted to make a movie with content.”

They succeeded on both counts.

It was a great mixture of “real life” and fantasy that was reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz, Labyrinth, Time Bandits and the like… but with a dark edge. I am not sure if most younger children will be able to appreciate it (dark, scary imagery), but there is, otherwise, something for the whole family. It even included a very interesting rendition of one of my favorite songs, Close to You. I highly recommend seeing it when it opens in wide release.

After the movie, Nox and I met the usual suspects for coffee; and joined us, as well. We sat, chatted, drank our assorted beverages and had an all-around good time.

News
Morning Edition: First Combat Psychologist Recognized
Morning Edition: Your Ad Here: Tattoo as Living Billboard
Day to Day: The Hidden World of Aliens of the Deep
Day to Day: Slate’s Teachings: Musicians Learn to Improvise
All Things Considered: Mixed Results for Cities’ Efforts to Cut Murder Rate
All Things Considered: Nazi Camp Survivors Deliver Their Take on Modern Threats

BBC News: Debut for unknown Beethoven work
BBC News: Actors hail quirky Sundance roles

Stray Toasters

• I had a chat with Rana for a bit tonight. All’s well on that side of the IDL.
• Alex Ross will be doing a new Justice League of America series, called “Justice,” starting this July. And, for the villains, he’s creating a new Legion of Doom. While the group will feature many of the same familiar faces as the Challenge of the Superfriends animated series, these characters will be different. Led by Lex Luthor and Brainiac, they will be villains who will definitely be… um… “a challenge” for the JLA. You can check out some of the character designs here.
• : Click here, then click on the second picture.
• Arthur and Vogons and Ford! Oh, my!
• “Did you just say ‘Ahoy?'” –
• Songs from the 80s That Have Been in Commercials
• “…said the Actress to the Bishop.”
• For : Everything You Need to Know about Cirque du Soleil

Quote of the Day
Newsarama has an interview with DC Comics Vice President Dan Didio. In it, they talk about the recent “Identity Crisis” series and the upcoming “DC Countdown” series and how they will change the DCU (that’s “DC Universe,” :P ) Didio went on to discuss his views of DC’s “trinity:” Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman:

Dan Didio: Absolutely. Honestly, when I looked at that, I felt that was an attitude that we had to bring to our heroes. There should be two reactions when a superhero walks into a room. The first reaction is, “Oh shit, they’re here for something,” and the second reaction is, “Oh shit, I hope they’re not here for me.” No one should be taking a step forward to pat them on the back – they should be taking a step backward, thinking, “Something bad is about to happen here.”

Newsarama: This is kinda of along the lines of what Howard Chaykin said when I spoke with him about Legend he’s doing for WildStorm with Russ Heath – that, as a species, humans don’t normally treat the special or the different as something to be cherished. They’re usually pushed into isolation by society out of fear…

DD: Absolutely. So what happens is that when you look at it that way, from the “outsider” approach, they band together as a group because they share a common goal – to make the world a better place. When you peel that away, though, what’s everybody’s definition of “a better place?” what are they going out and trying to achieve? Now what we’ve done is brought in a level of conflict in how our heroes go out to do their business. That aspect makes up a lot of what we’re going to be exploring over the next year – what might be good for one might not be good for another…or for a third.

We’ve broken up the trinity – Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are no longer standing shoulder to shoulder. And now they’re the focal points of everything that’s about to happen, because they should be.

NRAMA: Let’s go into those three, and how the other heroes seem to fall under one of them in terms of their respective approaches. How do you see them as being different?

DD: If you want to break it down into the simplest terms: Batman is the policeman; he goes out on patrol and tries to prevent crime. If a crime happens, he finds the person, apprehends them, and brings them in. Superman is the fireman – he goes out and is waiting for a problem. When something does happen, he’s the first responder. He’s there to help; he’s there to save people. He’s not there to affect change or pass judgment; he’s there to help whoever is in trouble.

NRAMA: And Wonder Woman? Don’t say postman…

DD: [Laughs] No, no – Wonder Woman is the activist of the DC Universe. She has a social purpose, a social cause, a direction, and an opinion. She is going out to affect change to make a better world through her social beliefs.

Each one of these three – if you look at them individually, they’re all working to make the world better, but they’re approaching it in different ways. It’s only natural that those approaches might bring them into conflict in how they help people, and work to make the world better.

That’s it.
I’m tapped.

Namaste.

Thursday
It’s been raining and snowing today. Ordinarily, I’d complain about this. But, if it helps to clear the otherwise smog-laden air, then I’m all for it. Aside from last week when we headed up the canyon, I don’t think that I’ve seen the in about a week-and-a-half. It’s getting old.

The morning started with a visit from Kate, Max and Perry. Kate needed to use our connection for an online course that she needed for work. While she did the coursework, Max watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Perry and I delved into game-related geekiness. Perry also brought me a nifty carrying case for my Heroclix paraphernalia… and it’s also just big enough to store the folder in which I keep my tabletop game supplies.

It looks as though all systems are “Go” for and I to see Mirrormask in Park City on Friday. I’m looking forward to it. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that I’ve attended a Sundance function since January 1998.

News
Morning Edition: Paris Combo’s Multicultural Motifs
Morning Edition: Student Takes Homework to Court
Day to Day: David Was: Legal Music Downloads on the Web
All Things Considered: Japanese Panel Weighs Possibility of Female Monarch
All Things Considered: Wiggle While You Work: Fidgeting May Fight Fat
(I’m sorry, But I think that would have to be a LOT of wiggling.)
All Things Considered: Oklahoma Lawmaker Eyes Legal Cockfighting
( made a post about this last night. It didn’t make sense then, either.)

BBC News: US staff sacked over smoking ban

Stray Toasters

• I want a snack… but I’m not sure what I have a taste for.
• Kudos to for the link to Cows With Guns.
• DC on Film – a site about upcoming big and small screen adaptations of DC Comics characters.
• found this on a Bollywood/Hindi music site she frequents. In Nyx’ words: “A few people made a really good point when they said that if anyone had ever made a song in this vein about 9/11, we would have kicked their butts.”

  I’m not advocating The Tsunami Song, which plays in the last couple of minutes of this clip; I find it more than “a tad” offensive. I do, however, support the DJs’ rights to make the song. I also support “Miss Info” ‘s right to opt out of the song. The on-air in-fighting, however, I could have done without.

• I’m not a fan of Avatar Press, but I will admit that the premise of the upcoming Unholy mini-series is interesting:
  

  Set in the crummy under-crust of modern day Detroit, Unholy is the story of Penny, a stoner, rebel, teen who is a non-believer in God. After a fatal accident, she’s drafted by God to be His assassin, a God she doesn’t even believe in. As a fallen angel, she is caught in a shadow war waged on city streets, in plain clothes, between Heaven and Hell. With her new found allies, a dominatrix, an ex-mob hit man and an alcoholic priest, she is dumped into the front lines of the war for salvation. But can she even survive her first twenty fours hours as a newborn fallen?

       

• I am stuck on Band-Aid…
  Cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!
  Well they hold on tight in the bathtub
  And they cling in soapy suds!
  I am stuck on Band-Aid…
  Cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!

  I just realized that this jingle could apply to both the adhesive strip and to groupies.

• suggested that I try the following meme:
  1. Comment with any subject about which you would like to see me rant.
  2. Watch my journal for your rant.
  3. Post this in your own journal, so that you may rant for others.
• Seeing this article reminded me of the following:
  

  The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
  Large Man with Dead Body: Here’s one.
  The Dead Collector: That’ll be ninepence.
  The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
  The Dead Collector: What?
  Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There’s your ninepence.
  The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
  The Dead Collector: ‘Ere, he says he’s not dead.
  Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
  The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not.
  The Dead Collector: He isn’t.
  Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he’s very ill.
  The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m getting better.

• Are you trying to find a special Valentine’s Day (also known as “Loneliness Awareness Day”) gift for your significant other? Well, look no further. This is just the thing for that hard-to-shop-for person.
• In a comment to yesterday’s post, mentioned that Dr. Seuss wrote erotica. In response to her comment, I wrote this.
• From howstuffworks.com: Head Trips: How Dreams Work
• For :

Quote of the Day
I watched “Wake the Dead,” the JLU episode that featured the return of Solomon Grundy… and Hawkgirl. It was interesting to see the dynamic between Shayera and her former teammates. And Vixen, Green Lantern’s new girlfriend.

Grundy was “resurrected” as a mindless engine of destruction through the machinations of some college kids casting a summoning spell. Watching him battle the League to a standstill reminded me of Marvel’s Incredible Hulk: There was no malice in his attack, it was an outlet of simple, primal rage.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I think that JLU is one of the best-written shows out there. This episode was no exception. A couple of key motifs in this episode were loyalty and sacrifice; they used Hawkgirl’s loyalty to both Grundy and to the League and the sacrifices that she made to/because of both as the foci. And, they were handled very well.

Green Lantern and Vixen, heading to the disaster area that is downtown:

Green Lantern: Dr. Fate called it: Solomon Grundy’s back.
Vixen: The zombie guy? A heavy-hitter; I read about him in the files.
Green Lantern: Yeah, he’s tough, but we can take him. Funny thing is: He’s supposed to be dead.
Vixen: Aren’t all zombies, by definition, dead?
Green Lantern: Umm….

After Hawkgirl, piledrives Grundy into the sewer system with her mace, the Leaguers gather around the impact crater:

Green Lantern: I don’t see him.
Superman: Neither do I. There must be lead in those old sewer pipes.
Vixen: Guy tends to leave a trail. We’ll find him. And then, Pretty Polly can bash him with her magic mace.
Hawkgirl: Why does it hurt him?
Dr. Fate: It’s made of N^th metal. Your people’s technology was developed specifically to repel magical creatures. It disrupts the magic that animates him. The creature knows only rage and seeks only oblivion. Your mace may be the one object on Earth that can grant him peace.
Green Lantern: What are you saying?
Hawkgirl: Your favorite movie’s Old Yeller, you know exactly what he’s saying. Is this my destiny: To be a destroyer? To betray yet another friend?
Dr. Fate: It’s not that simple. It never was.
Vixen: Hey… how about we discuss this for another couple hours? That way, he’s sure to escape.
Aquaman: *to Hawkgirl* Only you have the power to put that creature out of its misery and to stop it before it hurts anyone else.
Green Lantern: You don’t have to, Shayera. I’ll do it for you. Give me the mace.
Hawkgirl: Forget it, John. He was my friend. It’s my responsibility. I’ll do it myself. *flies into the hole*

Namaste.

Wednesday
Today was pretty lax. Except for the stress. Well, it was not really “stress.” It was more along the lines of “frustration.” I spent a few more hours trying to figure out why ‘Nine wouldn’t accept the printer installation when Defiant would. Even after flashing the BIOS and updating the chipset drivers, it wouldn’t work. So, I started looking for differences in the two systems’ configurations.

And found nothing.

So, I tried the installation.
Again.
It stalled.
Again.

I went to the Task Manager to kill the installation. That’s when I noticed that the “Audio HQ” program for my sound card was running. And it shouldn’t have been. So I killed it first. And that closed the printer installation.

*boggle*

Could it really be that easy?
Yep. It could.

I ran the installer again. Lo and behold, it ran. Without stalling. So, for the past two days, I’ve been fighting a rogue sound card problem. *sigh* But, the printer works. Beautifully.

This makes for a happy Rob.

News
Morning Edition: Heard Any Good Books Lately? An Industry Booms
Morning Edition: StoryCorps: A Father’s Memories of Auschwitz
Morning Edition: Evidence of Sex in Single-Celled Organism
Morning Edition: Razzies Fete Film’s Worst
Talk of the Nation: Spy and Tell: Ex-CIA Agents Write What They Know
Day to Day: Arranged Marriages Vie with Love in Modern India
Day to Day: Slate’s Examiner: ‘Dot Net’ Domain Up For Sale
All Things Considered: Roberto Juan Rodriguez Fuses Jewish, Afro-Cuban Music
Fresh Air: Classical Music: Dueling Handel Arias
Lost and Found Sound: Liberace and the Trinidad Tripoli Steelband

Stray Toasters

• We received a “Thank you” card from Rana and John today. I called home to let the ‘rents know that it arrived. They had apparently spoken with the newlyweds yesterday; all seems to be well with them.
• An asteroid has been named for the late Douglas Adams. Details here.
• I watched Challenge of the Superfriends on Boomerang this afternoon. It was an episode with Solomon Grundy… and he spoke. He sounded like a backwoods hick. Straight out of Deliverance. And not a dead hick, either. Yep. Like he was just sitting on the Barcalounger with his 12-pack of Natty Light, waiting for the next NASCAR race to start. Hell, I half expected to hear the late Jackie Gleason pop in and reprise his role as Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Chalk this up as another reason that I appreciate Justice League Unlimited.
• By way of : Asshats.
• From Comics2Film’s DCG: Wonder Woman. Check out the rest of Albea’s work on his site.
• From ThinkGeek comes… HTTPanties and ThinkGeek Monkey
• Comic book legend Stan Lee did an interview on Fanboy Radio this weekend. If you’re interested in listening to it, just click here
• Slashdot Poll: Video game you had the most dreams about?
• According to National Geographic, scientists have created a chimera: part human, part animal. And, thank Heaven, Rob Schneider was nowhere near the lab.
• High-Tech Spacesuits Eyed for ‘Extreme Exploration’
• I’ve got a pocket full of Kryptonite a bag full of Peanut M&M’s.
  That’s right: “Pure milk chocolate joy in a candy shell.”

• From the “Now, I think I’ve seen everything” file: Cum Kleen Personal Wipes
• Celebriducks
• Do you collect anything? It’s pretty well-know that I collect comic books and LEGO® (and Heroclix and Ravens paraphenalia and…). This lady collects swizzle sticks.
• I didn’t know that Dr. Seuss had a nearly-banned book? It wasn’t actually banned, but this and I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo have been taken out of print.
• Death Jr’s Grim Future
• From boingboing.net: How To: Kick someone’s ass with an umbrella
• Even if you aren’a comics fan, you should take a look at this preview of The New Avengers. The writing on the last two pages – and the art on the last page’s inset – make it all worthwhile.
• “You just need to come to grips with the fact that I’m one smooth operator.”
  

• What’s the problem with laser swords? Ask these folks:

Quote of the Day
I taped last weekend’s episode of Teen Titans and JLU (that’s “Justice League Unlimited”, …), but I hadn’t gotten around to watching them until this evening. I don’t know what the problem was, but the feed to the VCR was horrid. Atrocious. Just plain bad. But, still watchable. I watched ‘Titans. I had noted earlier that someone had posted a copy of “The Once and Future Thing (Part One: Weird Western Tales),” last weekend’s episode, on Usenet. So, I downloaded and watched that.

In it, Wonder Woman, Batman and Green Lantern are swept into the animated DCU’s Wild West. They met up with old DC heroes Bat Lash, El Diablo (not the same gimp as on Superfriends), Ohiyesa “Pow Wow” Smith and Jonah Hex. It was fun. At the end of the episode, they wound up in the Batman Beyond timeline where they met up with members of that time period’s JLU: Batman (Terry McGuiness, from Batman Beyond), and older Static and Warhawk, that time’s “Hawkman.”

After Wonder Woman, GL and Batman arrive in the past, they are held up by three outlaws. After handily taking care of them, they realize that they can’t just walk around in 19th Century Oklahoma in their costumes:

Batman: We can’t go anywhere dressed like this.
Wonder Woman: No, we can’t.
They stare at the unconscious outlaws.
::: cut :::
Wonder Woman: These shoes are killing me.
Batman: You fight crime in high heels.
Wonder Woman: High heels that fit!
Green Lantern walks up, holding the third outlaw’s clothes.
Wonder Woman: Are you going to put those on, John?
Green Lantern: *sniffs at the clothes* Has the shower been invented yet? Somebody should tell this guy. *uses his ring to create suitable clothes*

While riding in search of the man who took over the town, using future technology:

Jonah Hex Fancy gun belt you got there. I’m thinkin’ you folks are time-travellers.
Batman: Where would you get a crazy idea like that?
Jonah Hex: Experience. I’ve had an interesting life.
Ohiyesa Smith: We’re getting close. I want to warn you: There some downright unusual activity going on here’bouts. Don’t let it throw you.
Green Lantern: Don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of experience with unusual…
A gunman flies overhead… riding a pteranodon.
Green Lantern: I’m sorry… you were saying?

And, the best quote of the night came just after the trio arrived in the future. They were met by Jokerz, a gang whose members dress up like The Joker… and the new JLU showed up to head off the gang:

Jokerz member: We’ve been expecting you.
Static: But I bet you weren’t expecting us.
Green Lantern: *recognizing the older Static* Static?! What’s going on?!
Warhawk: *looks at GL* Dad…?!
Green Lantern: *shock*
::: fade to black :::
To Be Continued.

Given the fact that Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl) has just come back to the Justice League (and to a good bit of hostility, to boot) and that GL is now dating Vixen, I can’t wait for this weekend’s episode to see how this turns out.

And with that…

Namaste.

Tuesday
This has been a mixed day.
The early part of the day was good.
The later part… not as good.

The day started with meeting Perry for coffee. We went to Bad Ass Coffee Company. I’ve been in SLC for six years, I even lived about four blocks from the place, but this was my first time going there. Not bad. I picked up a business card for the local business webpage that and I are putting together.

As we were finishing up our caffeinated gifts from God, I got a call from Bill. He was in the area and wanted to grab some lunch. So we did. I’ve eaten at Chili’s restaurants for years and this was the first time that I’d actually had a burger there. If you’re in the mood for something different, try their “Build a Burger” option. They even have non-meat options available.

I came home and wrestled with the printer installation. For a device that is supposed to be pretty much a “Plug and Play” device, it seems more like a “Plug and Pray” one. No, that’s not entirely true… For it to be “Plug and Pray,” I would have needed to get to the “plug in the printer” stage. For some reason, the installer keeps stalling before I get anywhere close to that point. So I tried… and I tried… and I tried…. and I tried… But I can’t get no… Satisfaction…. Hey-hey-hey! Hear what I say! So, I tried HP’s “Real-Time Chat.” Twice. And even called their tech support line. (Just once, but a long once.) I am not 100% positive, but I’m at least Ivory Soap sure that the CSRs in the chats, “Laurie” and “Johnny,” were not in the U.S. There were minor things in the ways that they formed their sentences that lead me to believe this. The gentleman on the phone was most definitely not in the U.S.

NOTE: I know that many people have problems with outsourcing. While I understand their issues with it, I also see the cost benefits for companies to do so. Let me go on the record and say that “Laurie” and the gentleman on the phone were both great; no problems whatsoever. “Johnny,” however, left me wanting to “reach out and touch someone.” In a pain-inducing way.

On a lark, I decided to try and install the printer software on Defiant, my laptop. My old, slow, memory-deficient laptop. And, with one exception, it took the software without missing a beat. So, I now get to fiddle around with settings and see if I can deduce the reason that ‘Nine doesn’t like the installer. (Read: “There’s a BIOS upgrade in this little PC’s future.”) Hopefully, that will solve it – as much as I’d love to get a new ‘board and processor, it’s not in the financial cards at this time.

News
Morning Edition: New York Mulls Kendra’s Law Extension
Morning Edition: Yahoo Baby Story Too Good to Be True
Talk of the Nation: NOVA Science Now
Talk of the Nation: Preserving History When Survivors Are No More
All Things Considered: Guarding Parking Spots with Furniture in Boston
All Things Considered: Five Milwaukee Democrats Accused of Slashing Republican Vehicles’ Tires

New York Times: Your Call (and Rants on Hold) Will Be Monitored

MediasharX: Minnie Driver Interview

Stray Toasters

• I am Jack’s raging bile duct.
• Radio Diaries
• Movies and You (pssst! , you’ll want to click this.)
• From Comic Book Resources: Battlefront: Taking a Look at Battle Hymn – “What would the government have done if super-heroes really existed during World War II?”
• Movie buffs might not want to skip the Super Bowl. Why not? Movie trailers will be shown during the commercial breaks. Among the trailers you’ll be able to catch: Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Series, War of the Worlds and The Longest Yard.
• And speaking of “The Bat,” Clayface makes his debut on The Batman this weekend.
• The Age of Apocalypse is back for a one-shot, available this March.
• Many of you will remember Vin Diesel as Xander Cage in xXx. Well, they’re doing a sequel. Of sorts. xXx: State of the Union will be out this year. But, while one Mr. Samuel L. Jackson will be in it, Mr. Diesel will not. This time around, Ice Cube will be taking the lead role.
• Matt Groening Apple Ad
  Yes, that Matt Groening.
  Yes, that Apple.

• “Look who I found wandering in the park. He’s an EA employee, I call him ‘Doormat.’ Can I keep him?”
  

• “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to kill we go…”
  

Namaste.

Monday
It was cold and rather dreary. It was also Errand Day. and I had lunch with at Noodles & Co. On the way out of that complex, we stopped in the Thomasville Furniture store. It was something of a compulsion: I grew up about 25 miles from their headquarters. One of the sales associates approached us and asked if we, and I quote: “…had a project.” I told her that we did, inasmuch as we have a house. Then I informed her that I had lived in NC and she looked at me and said: “You don’t sound like you’re from North Carolina.” That made me happy; not picking up a southern accent was one of the things that I worked hard at when we moved to NC. Nice to know that all the effort paid off.

I made another few changes in the HCC. I moved my DSS receiver to the top of my monitor. I figured that when I watch TV, it’s usually on the PC, so it made sense to move the receiver and not have to do all manner of inhuman contortions when I wanted to change the channel. Logic, who knew!? Thanks to a couple of PS/2 extension cables, I was able to move Enterprise. I think that it was a printer cable constraint that kept me from moving DS9, but now that we have the new printer, it may be relocated as well.

>> fast forward >>

Poker night. There were only five of us: , , Matt, Dave and me. Tonight’s standings:

2. me
3. Dave

To say that she kicked our asses would be a horrible understatement. Even saying that she mopped the floor with us wouldn’t be enough. She was the modern-day Spanish Inquisition (Nooo one expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!) And I do mean “no one.” She just eliminated us one-by-one and her chip stack kept growing.

Venit. Vidit. Vicit.
“She came. She saw. She royally kicked our asses… and laughed.”

News
Morning Edition: Agribuisness Boom Brings Change to the Amazon
Morning Edition: Web Site Publisher Prepares to Defend Against Apple Suit
Morning Edition: San Francisco Fights Paper and Plastic
Day to Day: The ‘Spiral Jetty’ Re-Emerges from Great Salt Lake
All Things Considered: Ohio Universities Continue Domestic Partner Benefits, Despite Referendum
All Things Considered: Supreme Court Declines to Intervene in Schiavo Case

BBC News: World ‘must learn from Holocaust’
BBC News: Why didn’t the Allies bomb Auschwitz?

Stray Toasters

• It turns out that I will not be going to Moab on Wednesday, after all.
• I’m glad to be able to use Semagic again, rather than the web interface. ‘Nine is up and running again. I haven’t installed everything yet, but that will come over the next couple of days. One change that I did make: I switched from the Mozilla suite to just Firefox and I have gone back to using Eudora for my mail client. Now I need to remember how to use Eudora again…
• Just when everything in the world seems topsy-turvy, something comes along that restores my faith that there is a God.
• The next two Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers DVDs will be released in April. *covet*
• By way of comes this: Screen Clean
• For writers: 50 Strategies for Making Yourself Work
• and I often send each other… “odd” links. I sent her this video clip; in return, she sent this one. We probably shouldn’t be allowed to play on the Interweb without supervision.
• “So how does making crop circles help with invading Earth?” –
• Let Them Sing It for You
  Insert the lyrics to your favorite song and enjoy. And laugh. A lot.
• I have a few friends in the food service industry. One of their common complaints is that people often don’t consider how much they leave for a tip… IF they leave one. In light of that, I present: How Tipping Works. When talking with a friend’s father-in-law, I found out that tipping isn’t “expected” in Australia. One major difference is that wait staff is paid a “maximum wage,” I believe he called it. In other words, waiters in Oz are making something on the order of $8.00 (AUS) an hour, instead of the $2.13/hr that their U.S. counterparts make.
• “Bobby, so help me, if you don’t knock this crap off right now, I’m going to string you up the flagpole by your weiner and play pinata!”
  
• Real-snow versions of Calvin and Hobbes’ gory snowmen

Namaste.

Sunday
I slept in today.
It felt great.
After rousting myself from the bed, I made it down to the HCC. I puttered around for a while, making minor inroads to upgrade DS9‘s hard drive.

After a short while, and I headed to the big blue-and-yellow store to pick up a new printer. We went to the one closest to the house because it didn’t seem unreasonable to do so. Unfortunately, they didn’t have our printer of choice in stock. *BAH* I will give an amused nod to Mike, the associate who was helping me: He asked why I was interested in this particular printer. I told him, after listing a few of the other reasons, “…because I’ve had an HP printer since God was a boy.” He looked at me and without missing a step said: “HP hasn’t been around that long. And you don’t look that old.” To which I retorted: “I just hide my age well.” He took a second and then said that he wanted to know what I did or used to stay so young. I just chuckled. He then suggested going to the Sandy location, as they had the printer in stock. And so we did. And picked up the printer… and picked up more than “a few” DVDs.

We headed north again to pick up and for dinner. We went to Outback. Mmm. 12oz Prime Minister’s Prime Rib. Very tasty. And we even had a booth that allowed me to watch the smackdown that the Patriots laid upside the Steelers. Mm-hmm. That’s right. And even on the Steelers’ home turf. In front of all their fans. A good dinner. With good friends. And a good football game. Heaven, itself, couldn’t be much better than that. Following dinner, we headed back to Nyx and Nox’ place and played Scattergories. I’d never played it before, but had a good time with it.

I also took a cue from the old AT&T commercials and took some time to “reach out and touch [a couple of] someone[s].” I talked with my friend David, in Charlotte for a bit; I realized that I hadn’t spoken with him since I was at home this past May.. We used to work together (well… I worked for him – he was the department manager) many rains past. We gave each other the Cliff’s Notes versions of what we’ve been up to for the past few months. I also spoke with my uncle (before and after the Steelers’ game). All’s well there. I tried calling another friend, but he wasn’t in. I’ll catch up with him later this week.

News
All Things Considered: Johnny Carson, 30-Year ‘Tonight’ Host, Dies at 79
All Things Considered: ‘Worlds of Difference’: Latter-day Saints and Indians
Weekend Edition – Sunday: Art Project Decodes Ads in Times Square

Stray Toasters

• God willing and the creek don’t rise, and I will be at the Sundance screening of Mirrormask this coming Friday.
• Cotton candy.
• Issue #2 of The Legion of Super-Heroes hits shelves on Wednesday.
  I will be on my way to Moab Wednesday morning.
  I will have to get my copy of LSH #2 next weekend.

• And, speaking of Moab… On the last trip there, I heard something that made me shiver: A country cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Brilliant Disguise. I didn’t shiver because someone chose to cover a song The Boss. It was the fact that it was a county cover.

  And, while on the subject of “Country Music,” I had a conversation with a friend this week about my dislike for the genre. He made me realize something: I can tolerate – and even like – older country music (i.e.: “Country and Western” as done by Johnny Cash, for example), but it’s the newer “Pop Country” that makes me want to stab at my eardrums. As he put it: “New country music sounds like a cat in a dryer.” (Note for the PETA and ASPCA people out there: We have not introduced cats to the inside of a dryer; but I do still wonder if a Teflon-coated cat, traveling at high speed, can stop a semi.)

• “Except, see, that would require me to actually be patient…” –
• I enjoy IRC, but sometimes… *shakes head*
• Now there’s no more Oak oppression
  For they passed a noble law
  And the trees are all kept equal
  By hatchet,
  Axe,
  And saw…

• I’m a little upset that I can’t pick up copies of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers DVDs at any of the local Best Buy stores. Apparently, Best Buy only has available online. That’s way too much “delayed gratification” for me. I’m far more inclined to head to Media Play and pick them up.
• It’s amazing how much attention cats want when you’re elbow-up in computer parts.

Namaste.

Saturday
Another grey – and very lazy – day in the grey fishbowl that is the Salt Lake Valley.

To break the monotony of the day, I headed to Borders for a change of scenery and a Caramocha. met me there and we chatted for a bit over warm drinks. I also did a sketch from a photo magazine ad. Must be more regular in my drawing practice…

After collecting from work, I came home and began the hard drive migration. I had a minor issue in dealing with the new 80GB drive, but a quick IM to a friend had me on the right track. Now, all that I need to do is to transfer all of my pertinent files from their old drives/folders to their new homes.

I don’t know what happened, but my bowling was good tonight. I bowled nine games: 156 – 140 – 103 – 144 – 160/193 – 147/153 – 155. I was mildly irritated that I missed a 200 game because of a bad pinfall on the first ball of the ninth frame of my sixth game; but a 193 isn’t anything to be ashamed of. There was a… girl (mentally, if not physically) on the lane next to us who had to be the “life of the party.” Her friends seemed to think that she was the cat’s pajamas, but we just found her to be annoying. VERY annoying. It was almost as if she needed the attention – as if it was some sort of validation through extroversion.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, picked up Magnetic Poetry: Pick-up Lines. Today, I sorted the new tiles into groups with the older ones, from the “Put Downs” set. I came up with a few new quips:
  1. I think your inflatable girlfriend’s initial misconceptions about you were dead on.
  2. I’m sorry, but you remind me of the dumbass fairy.
  3. When I imagine your mind & your body in the gene pool, I just want God or the aliens to please come back with the anal probe for the earth.
• My father called today to offer us some of the snow that was falling in Baltimore today. I told him “Thanks, but no thanks.” Besides, we have this… lovely… smog/fog going on here.
• There’s a real-live, modern-day treasure hunt going on! Right here in the U.S. Details here.
• : From the DGC – Naomi Watts as Saturn Girl
• Think that your local weather forecaster doesn’t know what’s going on? Just be glad that you don’t have this guy.
• Can he swing from a web? Take a look overhead!
• It’s these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
  Nothing remains quite the same.
  With all of our running and all of our cunning
  If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.

• I was showing a friend the captions/manips that I did of Lucasfilm Games from last October. They made him laugh. Hell, they made me laugh again, too. With that in mind, here they are for an “encore presentation.”

I’m tapped. Something about getting three hours of sleep last night this morning and going all day long with the notable exception of the forty-five minute period where I phased in and out of consciousness…

Namaste.