Random Access

Wednesday
I don’t know what my body does while my mind is in The Dreaming, but whatever I did last night hurt. I woke up this morning – and not for the first time – with a painful knot in my upper back. tried massaging it out, but she said that it feels like one of my vertebrae is slightly out of alignment. Joy. She said that I have a VERY tight muscle cluster near my right scapula and that it might be nudging things out of their proper alignment.

Other than that, the day was good. And it included coffee and a bite to eat at Jitterbug (that’s 1855 S 700 E, for those of you in the SLC Metro area) with Nyx. She, and I headed to Trolley Square to check out a game store. It’s a pretty decent place. And they had Heroclix® singles. I picked up a Booster Gold (“Thank you, Green Lantern…!”) figure along with a Checkmate medic.

And tonight was Game Night. The game was a bit disjointed, so there wasn’t a lot of progress. Hopefully, our next session will prove more fulfilling. After the game finally broke up, Chris and I got into discussions about what’s gone wonky with the Star Wars series (George Lucas + crack = bad), comic book-based movies, gaming and a few other topics of geekdom. We also gave Nyx a crash course in a couple of comics-related topics. And her head didn’t go all ‘splodey. At least, it didn’t while we were there.

News
Morning Edition: Sing Sing Seeks Temporary Guests
Morning Edition: The Hidden Costs of Rooting for the Yankees
Talk of the Nation: Beginnings of the Calendar
Day to Day: Tabla Master Aloke Dutta

USA Today: Wreck costs three Tennessee salt trucks

The Ledger: Washington Judge Nixes Pregnant Woman’s Divorce

Stray Toasters

• I had planned on recording tonight’s season premiere of Alias. But, I got so engaged in a couple of things that I wound up spacing it off. To be honest, I’m not sure that was such a bad thing. I’ve missed the last season and a half of the show. Maybe I should catch up with what’s going on in Sydney’s World (Party time! Excellent!) before trying to jump in at this point. *shrug* Then again, I might just try to play “Guess WTF’s happened while you weren’t watching.”
• “What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?”
• : I have a 6/12 Amp battery charger, if that would help. Let me know if you could use it.
• : legionnaires.com
  Not all of the year links (top of the page) work, but the ones on the left side of the screen do.

• “Okay, I think I’m drunk enough now… –
• In today’s “Resistance is futile…” news: It seems as though LiveJournal has acquired by Six Apart. People have been archiving their journals as though the Seventh Seal¹ has just been broken. Here’s a novel idea: Rather than quiver with fear, why not wait until the dust has settled and then decide whether or not LiveJournal is still for you.
• For …
  

• From National Geographic Magazine: Caffeine
• “nucular Toonami”
• Comic Book Goddess: The World of Comics, Through the Eyes of a Girl – A new column from Broken Frontier

Quote of the Day
Two quotes, two sources.

Quote #1:

Once upon a time, history was made on the battlefield.

Heroes chose to fight for justice… for honor…

…for glory and for faith…

…for survival. And, in time…

…all the fighting was done.

With the help of interstellar alliances, the Earth entered a millennium of utopian peace.

Now, at the dawn of the 31st century, all we, our parents, and their parents have ever known is security, stability and order.

We’re so sick of it, we could scream.
   – Introduction from Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (v6)

Quote #2

Life is a diamond you turn into dust.
Some people can’t deal with the world-as-it-is, or themselves-as-they-are, and feel powerless to change things — so they get all crazy. They waste away their lives in delusion, aimless rage, and neuroses, and in the process they often make those around them miserable too. Strained friendships, broken couples, warped children. I think they should all just stop it. That is called wishful thinking.
   – Neil Peart from Rush’ Roll The Bones tour program

Namaste.

¹ – Those of you familiar with The Book of Revelation will be one-up on the kids who skipped school that day.

Tuesday
There’s something about waking up a few minutes before it’s time to actually roll out of bed and just lying there and enjoying the warmth of the bed, covers pulled up to your chin. Knowing that you’re stealing those last few moments of bliss before joining the race.

Semi-cocooned.
Impervious, if only for a short while, from whatever exists outside your door.
Outside your bedroom.

Then, in seemingly too short a span, it’s time to get moving.

A couple of highlights of the day included dinner with , and . And a Heroclix® figure of The Shade (complete with top hat).

Stray Toasters

• I am out of cotton candy and caramel popcorn. I shall have to remedy that. I do, however, have pistachios. And Toblerone white chocolate. So all is not lost.
• The spell-checking function wants to be your friend. You should let it.
• Neurotica
• Will Eisner, best known as the writer/creator of The Spirit, passed away on Monday. Neil Gaiman had this to say (excerpted):
  

  I interviewed my friend Will Eisner a few year ago, at the Chicago Humanities Festival. At one point I asked him why he kept going, why he kept making comics when his contemporaries (and his contemporaries were people like Bob Kane — before he did Batman — remember) had long ago retired and stopped making art and telling stories, and gone.

  He told me about a film he had seen once, in which a jazz musician kept playing because he was still in search of The Note. That it was out there somewhere, and he kept going to reach it. And that was why Will kept going: in the hopes that he’d one day do something that satisfied him. He was still looking for The Note…

  Will Eisner was better than any of us, and he kept working in the hope that one day he’d get it right.

  You can read the rest here. Wizard Universe had this to say about Eisner’s passing.

• In a related note: Former science fiction, MAD Magazine and comic book illustrator Frank Kelly Freas passed away on Sunday. More information here.
• 
• Just weeks after Todd McFarlane Productions filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Dreawmwave Productions announces that they will be shutting down operations.
• : Broken Frontier’s review of Legion of Super-Heroes #1
• An artist on the C2F Digital Concept Gallery came up with a manip of Colm Meaney (ST: TNG/ST: DS9) as Banshee. Interesting concept. I could actually buy him as Mr. Cassidy.
• I’ve posted images of Image Comics’ Ultra in here before. You can read the entire first issue here, courtesy of Newsarama.com.
• Extreme Ironing. I… don’t know what to say.
• By way of Backwash: Switch Zoo.

Quote of the Day
I mentioned yesterday that I was rather taken with the newest incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as writtten by Mark Waid. Here are a couple of examples of why:

Science Police Officer: This won’t cheer you up. A team of Legionnaires has just been spotted in the A.I. District. They’re fighting an experimental macrobot gone wild.
Science Police Chief: Then get our men on it! Tell them I want them to assess the scene, give me projected alpha and beta strategies, compute a valid situation contingency, and await my orders!
Officer: Right awa– Hmm. Its’… taken care of, sir… The Legionnaires nullified the threat.
Chief: HOW? What did they do?
Officer: Apparently, they… they hit it, sir.

…and after defeating the macrobot and facing down a squad of Science Police officers…

Shadow Lass: Think the Science Police will bill us for their weapons?
Star Boy: They’re free to pick them up whenever they like. They’re right here. They’re in plain sight.
Shadow Lass: You gave them the mass of a white dwarf star.
Star Boy: They might need a crowbar.
(The team flies off, back to headquarters)
Star Boy: Hey, let me be the one to tell Cosmic Boy we won this one, okay? I’ve been on his bad side ever since the Fusionstrike case.
Shadow Lass: If I were leader, you’d be on my bad side, too.
Star Boy: It. Didn’t. Look. Like. A. Bomb.

…and…

A team of Legionnaires has beaten back an army that has been “punishing” (read: “attacking with their full force of infantry and weaponry”) teens who espouse the Legion philosophy.

Victory plus one day.
Star Boy and Invisible Kid are standing atop Legion HQ looking out over a plaza full of 31st Century youth.
Invisible Kid: What happened to you?
Star Boy: Macrobot head.
Invisible Kid: Ow. What are your powers, again?
Star Boy: Increasing an object’s mass and ignoring bombs.
Invisible Kid: That would explain the pit in the east plaza. How far did you sink it before it detonated?
Star Boy: To about natural-gas-pocket level.
Invisible Kid: That would explain the fire in the east plaza. Hey, you’ve been with the team a while. I have a question about all the kids down there. All the time. Living outside our headquarters. Why don’t we just let them inside?
Star Boy: Let them–? Do you not remember, like, six months ago? Aaah. I probably shouldn’t be shocked that ther was no newslink to it on the infogrid. It made us look too good. The Science Police had reached the end of their extremely exhaustible patience with us. They were past the point of caring who had a right to be where. They just wanted the Legion gone.

So we woke up one morning to the sound of grav-impact bulldozers headed for this building. I’m talking about machines that could level a moon. There was no way that even we could have taken them down in a fight.

But we didn’t have to.

Those guys down there stood up — I mean to a one, they stood up — and they marched forward and they formed a human shield around the whole plaza. It was the second-most amazing thing you can imagine.
Invisible Kid: What’s first?
Star Boy: That they’d do it again if it came to it. They’re free to come inside whenever they like. They choose not to. There are a lot of cool things about being with the Legion, my friend, but never forget the coolest…

They’re not here because of us…

…we’re here because of them.

And that’s all there is from Lake Saline today.

Namaste.

Monday
Land stopped by this morning. He was out trying to find a replacement DVD-ROM drive for his laptop and was in the area. We sat, had coffee and tea and chatted for a while.

Errand day. Although, today also included “Comics Day.” I (finally) picked up my copy of Legion of Super-Heroes #1. And it was definitely worth the wait. I really like what Waid and Kitson have done with it. Earth of the future, as Kitson draws it, looks interesting. And I like the fact that there seems to be some serious thought given to the political aspect of the 31st Century DCU. The Legion. It’s not just a group of kids anymore. It’s a movement. I haven’t been this excited about waiting for the next issue of LSH for a long time.

Poker night was tonight. And we actually played poker. *stunned* , Matt and Dave came over. We played until somewhere around midnight, and then we just sort of drifted away from the game.

News
Morning Edition: Dave Barry Calls It Quits, Unless…
Morning Edition: Detroit Struggles to Overcome Urban Blight
Morning Edition: Shirley Chisholm, First Black Congresswoman, Dies at 80
Morning Edition: Moral Values Seemingly at Odds with Popular Culture
Day to Day: A Celebration of Boston’s Unique Accents
Day to Day: The Marketplace Report: Delta Air Lines Fare Changes
All Things Considered: Harvard Law Professor Draws Crowds to Class

BBC News: First Black US Congresswoman Dies

Stray Toasters

• I just picked up a new (and long overdue) hard drive for DS9. Which means that there’s going to be a lot of file shuffling going on. Maybe I’ll finally get rid of some of the files and folders that I haven’t used since God was a boy. Other bonuses include, but are not limited to:
  a) Consolidation from two HDs in DS9 to one
  b) Replacing the Enterprise‘s HD with one of DS9‘s old drives (more space).
  c) Still having two drives available for “whatever.”
• LEGO® GOOOD! *gesture*
  LEGO® movies AMUUUSING! *gesture*
  BrickFilms and Oblong Pictures

• Three words that I would have never expected to hear together:
  Indoor. Tropical. Island.
  Leave it to German engineering to come up with it. and , did either of you ever hear anything about this during your time in Germany?

• By way of Broken Frontier: Red Sonja Returns
• From the Comics2Film DCG: Mr. Incredible and Dash as Batman and Robin
• “Orca colon” and “It always hurts later.”
• Here’s a little behind the scenes peek at the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Quote of the Day
From Astonishing X-Men #7: The X-Men are returning home from a mission when a large subterranean creature decides to do its best Godzilla impression in midtown Manhattan. The X-Men are in the process of beating the creature into painful submission and a hasty retreat when the Fantastic Four arrive on the scene:

The Thing: See! I told you they wuz in our soup!
Mr. Fantastic: Sorry to break into your frequency, Mr. Summers, but I’d be grateful for a sit rep…
Cyclops: Big monster came out of the ground. Thought we’d send it back.
The Thing: We do big monsters! Big monsters in Manhattan, that’s our signature piece!
The Invisible Woman: Ben…
The Thing: Well, perhaps we can lend a hand…

Thus, the FF and the X-Men proceed to teach the creature a lesson about stepping on other peoples’ property. After all was said and done…

Mr. Fantastic: Probably one of the Mole Man’s creations. They pop up from time to time, head straight for the Baxter Building. Still not sure what brought you people out here — this is a little off your beat, isn’t it?
Wolverine: Oughta be grateful.
The Thing: Grateful?
Wolverine: Monstro was practically capped ‘fore you bothered to show.
The Thing: Didn’t they come up with a cure for your kind?
   (referring to a current plot running through the X-books…)
Wolverine: You got a problem with mutants?
The Thing: I meant Canadians.
Cyclops: — just trying to get out there more, do the work we should be doing.
Mr. Fantastic: Your team’s saved the world more times than they know.
The Invisible Woman: But not with the Fantastic Four at your side and dozens of news cameras running.
Cyclops: (smiling) Well, that wasn’t exactly a drawback, no…
The Invisible Woman: That came out wrong. Of course we’d be nothing but pleased if this helps the mutant community.
The Human Torch: But what if it backfires? What if the press brands us a menace?
Wolverine: Then you’ll get a much more interesting bunch of groupies, kid.
The Human Torch: *thinks* Reed? Can we be evil now?
Mr. Fantastic: Maybe after dinner.

One thing that wasn’t shown in this exchange, however, was the fact that the FF and the X-Men are “off-duty” friends, as well. Mr. & Mrs. Richards have consulted with Professor X about their son, Franklin, and his (not always) latent mutant abililties and the X-Men’s Wolverine and Angel are semi-regulars at The Thing’s poker games. But, there was only so much space for the story… and I liked how the guest appearance was handled otherwise. The X-Men seem to be in very capable hands with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator and scribe Joss Whedon.

That’s it.
I’m ghost.

Namaste.

Sunday
I woke up this morning a little after kickoff. I quickly got myself out of bed, down the stairs and into a comfy chair for the game.

The early part of the afternoon was spent being rather lazy. After that, it was off in search of a new XBox. What neither and I were aware of was the latest XBox shortage. We checked a few stores and came away with the same answer from each: “Yes, we have no bananas XBoxes.” Nor did they know when to expect any new ones. So, we went grocery shopping. We were far more successful in that endeavor.

News
Weekend Edition – Sunday: N.H. Adoption Disclosure Policy Draws Fire
Weekend Edition – Sunday: Sunday Puzzle: World Capitals
Weekend Edition – Sunday: ‘Like We Care’: Marketing to the MTV Generation

Washington Post: Finding a Home for Old Computers
Washington Post: Same-Sex Couples Get Legal Boost

Football

Miami at Baltimore 23 – 30 The Dolphins came to Baltimore with nothing to lose and gave the Ravens more of a fight than I expected. The Ravens went into halftime with a 20 – 7 lead… and let the Dolphins chip away at it in the Third Quarter. Throw in an almost-touchdown by the ‘Fins in the Fourth (it was reversed)… but led to a safety on the Ravens and you will understand why my blood pressure was rather high around 1:30 PM MST. A couple of highlights: FS Ed Reed had his NFL-leading ninth INT in four games and RB Jamal Lewis had his fourth 1000+ yard season. And despite a fractured wrist suffered two weeks ago, ILB Ray Lewis seems to have more or less escaped the “Madden curse” (1, 2, 3) – he sat out today’s game, but did play last week. There was a mathematical way for the Ravens to get a Wild Card spot, but it didn’t pan out. However, this was still a winning season – the team was 9 – 7 and there will be five (5) Ravens on the AFC Pro Bowl team.

Stray Toasters

• I finally decided on my 2005 calender. While out with the other day, I came across the Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross calendar. On sale. As I am a fan of Ross’ work (and since I have the Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross book) and it’s chock full o’ comic book superhero goodness, it was s no-brainer.
• A few months ago, I posted a link to a Flash animation done to Tism’s Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me. From the flip side of the coin, I found POA, from jennicartoon.com and Sugartalk.
• From the Baltimore City Paper: Making God Laugh – “Ten Resolutions What Got Boogered Up Again This Year”
• A friend of mine from Backwash, ADeadHeart, “interviewed” her daughter recently; it’s a semi-regular feature in her BW Journal. Anywho, sit back and take a look. It’s cute and a bit amusing.
• Peelable Auto Paint (Just the thing for those fast getaways!)
• 
• Biblical Curse Generator
• How do you learn?
• A Modest Destiny is back! And it’s all-new! And in honor of its return, here are a few fillers from its last run:

  

  

And that’s going to do it for now.

Namaste.

Saturday
Good 2005 to you.

As snow fell in Salt Lake City, we spent a quiet and fun New Years’ Eve at and ‘ place with a few other friends. We sat around, chatted, drank a little, played games and had an all-around good time.

I slept in like a (crypt) fiend this morning. It was very nice. Even nicer was to find that someone had apparently shoveled our driveway this morning or that last night’s snow had melted. Either way, there’s no snow on the driveway and that makes Rob verra happy.

and I went out for lunch… only to find the place that we wanted to go to was closed for the day. Fine. There were other places. We’d choose something else. We called Land and Catherine to see if they wanted to go with us. They said that they would need a little prep time, but that they would otherwise be up for joining. This worked well because it afforded us a time to look at printers; the one that I have is about eight years old. Yeah, I’d say that it’s time for a new one… We checked a couple of places and now have a couple of front-runners. We met Land, Catherine and their friend (and ‘s coworker), David for late lunch/dinner. A long dinner. I think that we were there for close to two-and-a-half hours. But the company and conversation kept it from feeling that long. We headed back to Land and Catherine’s for a bit; they had a networking problem that they wanted me to look at.

Next on the agenda: Bowling. I opened with a 167 but couldn’t match it in any of my next eight games. From there it was on to breakfast. and met us at V.I. We were later joined by , Matt, Dave, Brent and Pat. A few weeks ago, ‘ sister gave her a huge wall scroll with Marvel Comics characters to give to me. I got it tonight. This thing is massive; it’s going to take some time to figure out where I’m going to put it or if I’m going to find an alternative use for it, like turning it into a blanket.

Stray Toasters

• : I’m sorry that I missed you this evening. Give me a call and we’ll try to get together sometime this week.
• Top 20 Gaming Lows of 2004
• Former G4TechTV employee Dan Huard blows the whistle on G4.
• has been talking about getting another XBox. w00t!!! She wants one so that she can play DDR without having to commandeer mine. (: I’m sure that you will immediately recognize the added benefit of this: Cooperative (or competitive) Covenant eradication… at full screen for both of us!)

Namaste.

Friday
New Year’s Eve.
The last day of 2004.

This has been an interesting year. There have been highlights and low points, but on the whole, I will say that it has been “good.”

Random Access
It’s method on the edge of madness
It’s a balance on the edge of a knife
It’s a smile on the edge of sadness
It’s a dance on the edge of life

and I were riding around this afternoon and heard that New Year’s celebrations were being canceled in various parts of southeastern Asia, near areas where last week’s tsunamis struck.

My thoughts on the matter: I have viewed New Year’s Eve/Day celebrations as affirmations of life and of having survived another 365/366 days on this planet with six billion other people. I don’t think that the casualties and destruction of the storms should be diminished. On the contrary, I think that the celebrations could serve as an excellent way for people to come together and commemorate those who were lost in the floods.

After I mentioned this, told me the following: A member of his high school class died shortly before graduation. Rather than cancel all events, they used the opportunity to reflect and remember their friend. There was a somber note, but they celebrated the person that he was as well as the class’ accomplishment in matriculating.

It is possible to honor the dead with celebration. There are many cases of it throughout history and from many different cultures. Rather than dwell on the loss, we should try to remember what it was about the people that made them special to us and be thankful that we were able to share even a brief portion of our lives in their company.

So when you celebrate the end of 2004 and the arrival of 2005, be joyous in your celebration but also remember those who are no longer here to share in the festivities.

Coda: 2004
I hope that everyone has a safe and very Happy New Year and wish all the best for you in 2005.

Namaste.

Thursday
First off: Hullo and welcome to and .
It’s about time you two joined.

It’s been cold and windy. Although, there is an up-side to that: The wind has blown most of the inversion and smog out of the valley. It doesn’t look like a dirty fishbowl around here. For now. But that’s all right, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. Even if it’s cold.

Today, and I got to play a forty-minute-long game of Airport-Go-Round. was returning from a vacation with her family and needed a lift home. Unfortunately, her plane was delayed. But, we didn’t know that. So, “round and round and round she goes…” After she got in, we collected , took him back to work (he had a project that he needed to complete this evening), and then went to dinner at Cracker Barrel. I haven’t been there in at least two years, since the announcement of their discrimination suit; the suit has since been settled.

I had a long-overdue chat with this afternoon, too. It’s pretty sad that we live about twenty minutes from each other, but I see my family more often than I see him and . Measures will have to be taken to rectify this.

News
Morning Edition: Poker Champ Fights off Heist Attempt
Morning Edition: A Pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal, a ‘Poem in Stone’
Morning Edition: Moody Bluegrass: Rocking Through the Hills
   (And no, , Nights in White Satin isn’t about the Klan.)
Talk of the Nation: ‘Sloth’: A Send Up of the Self-Help Genre
Day to Day: ‘Rappers Delight’ Turns 25
All Things Considered: Civil Rights Commission Set for New Leadership
All Things Considered: Bandleader Artie Shaw Dies at 94
All Things Considered: Brian Eno Albums Remastered for Compact Disc

Technology Resource News: Top Picks – Technology Research Advances of 2004

Stray Toasters

• My love for Whose Line Is It Anyway is pretty well known. Someone posted a link to this segment on IRC earlier. I don’t think that I have laughed so hard in a long time. (NOTE: I’d recommend having broadband if you’re planning on taking a look at this.)
• “I suddenly feel all warm and tingly inside. For no apparent reason.”
  

• I haven’t drawn today… but I did play DDR with .
  (*shakes fist* at )

• Happy 2nd Anniversary to one of my favorite webcomics:
• If you ever had (and loved) a Commodore Vic-20, C-64 or C-128, you will want to read this.
• As her quote from X-Men: Next Dimension says: “Feel the burn…”
  
  And speaking of the apparently not-so-late Mrs. Grey-Summers, let’s take a look at her widower. Um… well, if she’s not dead (again), then it would be “her husband,” wouldn’t it? Um… Oh, Hell. Here’s Scott. (This is more than slightly reminiscent of this classic DC cover from 1985.)

• Perry gave me an idea for designing a GL Power Battery using a plasma lamp. Great (and slightly warped) minds think alike.
• and/or : Feel free to pick this apart.

Quote of the Day
From tonight’s episode of Futurama:

Alright… It’s Saturday night, I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix tape. Let’s rock. – Fry

Namaste.

Wednesday
The middle of the last week of 2004.
A cool, rainy day in Salt Lake Valley.

Last night brought another interesting dream. It was not necessarily a “bad” one, but it definitely made the Weird Shit-o-Meter move a few notches. In the dream, my grandmother and grandfather were having some sort of ceremony. As best as I can figure it, they were renewing their vows. This didn’t strike me as odd – not even when you take into consideration the fact that may grandmother passed away last year and my grandfather has been deceased for over fifteen years. Things went relatively smoothly. And, as one would expect, family and friends whom I hadn’t seen in years showed up to celebrate the occasion.

and I got together this afternoon for coffee. We both did some drawing: she worked on post-Christmas “Thank you” cards, I decided to do some figure drawing. I picked up a few assorted Heroclix figures on the last trip to The Bookshelf; Perry also gave me a few of his extras. They make decent figure models. I sketched a couple figures with ‘s guidance.

News
Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer Tuesday evening. Although he got his start in the theatre, I know him best for two roles:

• Capt. Zachary Fox (Sr.) from The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
• Detective Lennie Briscoe from Law & Order

He left Law & Order at the end of last season, but was set to star in the newest member of the franchise: Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Additionally, many may remember him from Dirty Dancing (as Jennifer Grey’s father) and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as Lumiere. More information (1, 2)

Morning Edition: The Swiss Fight for St. Bernards
Morning Edition: Unmarried Mass. Gay Couples Losing Health Benefits
Morning Edition: Lionel Trains Maintain Appeal Despite Troubles
Morning Edition: Classic Films Added to National Film Registry
Morning Edition: Dudley Williams, A Life Spent Onstage

Stray Toasters

• I can see most of my desktop again. Not my Windows desktop, my actual desktop. I had let far too many things come to rest there and hadn’t put forth the effort to do anything about it. Until today. Apparently, I hit some sort of breaking point. Things have now been filed, thrown away or otherwise displaced from my desk. Elbow room. Who knew?!
• In today’s “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” news, someone has created a blog dedicated to “The Blonde Girl from the Old Navy Commercials.”
• : I saw this user icon and thought of you.
• – Free. Stuff. What are you waiting for?! Click!
• Legion of Super-Heroes #1 hit the shelves today. I didn’t get a copy. Yet. But, I shall. Oh, I shall, indeed….
• Faux Newz’ Past Sponsors Archive (borderline worksafe)
• Sign Language – “A collection of photos containing humorous, bizarre, and or confusing signs from around the world.”
• “…stop using your crazy female logic on me.” –
• Monkey Business – Captain Memo!
• Calvin & Hobbes + snow = ???

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Perry came over this morning and we made our way north to visit The Bookshelf; he seemed to like it. A lot. I also showed him the way to Pineview Reservoir; I had told him that it made for a nice, get-out-of-the-Salt-Lake-Valley drive. He seemed to agree.

I met up with for coffee and chat this evening. It was a good way to spend a couple of hours.

News
Morning Edition: ‘Ordinary Wolves’: Tales from the Alaskan Wilderness
Morning Edition: Encountering the Old Racism in a Bar
Talk of the Nation: Making and Keeping Resolutions
All Things Considered: In Defense of High Ideals

Random Access
“Those who know what’s best for us must rise and save us from ourselves.”

I’m watching Wolf’s Rain on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim.” It’s anime. And it’s unabashedly violent, as are many, although not “all,” anime programs. That made me think about other non-anime toons that I enjoy, such as Justice League Unlimited, The Batman, classic Jonny Quest, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers and the various cartoons linked to the X-Men and Spider-Man universes. They are “violent,” but in a totally different way. The violence is kept to an minimum on-screen, although silhouettes and shadows can be used to “show” an off-camera act of violence.

I’m not sure exactly when American censors decided to step in and minimize the violence on TV, but I think that it was somewhere in the mid-70s. I’m not trying to say that kids should necessarily be subjected to Grand Theft Auto-like violence in cartoons, but by the same token, they shouldn’t be told that the world is just “smurfy” all the time. That’s right kids… go out, pick smurfberries, skip and sing; and all will be right in the world.

Maybe I missed something, but… when did the “parent” get taken out of “parenting?” I’ve heard and read many adults bemoan what’s become of the next generation and blame it on everything from Britney Spears to Grand Theft Auto to Dungeons and Dragons… but I can’t recall hearing any of the naysayers opine: “Maybe I should have spent more time getting to know my kid, the things that she or he likes and what makes my kid tick.”

I’ve said this before – and feel that it bears repeating – I think that parents should take responsibility for knowing what their kids are watching, reading or seeing online. It’s part of that “parenting” thing. If there’s something that they don’t want their kids to see, most electrical/electronic devices come equipped with an “On/Off” or “Power” switch. Give the kid a book. Send them outside to play. Play games with your kids! (What a concept!) Take them to the local amusement park. Or museum. Or library. Miniature golf course.

But, no. That’s apparently not a viable solution. Let’s pass off the “parenting” to someone else. No. How about… a group of someone elses? Yes! That’s the ticket! And… we’ll let them come up with what they think is best for our kids to watch. Yeah! That’s a great idea! We can just plop the kids in front of the electronic babysitter and walk away! Why didn’t we think of this sooner?! Now we don’t have to do any thinking at all! Brilliant! Smashing!

Four of the most well-behaved and well-rounded kids that I know belong to , and my friends Kate and Perry and Tyanna and Joe. (There are others, but I’m telling this story, so I get to pick and choose. Thank you. Move along.) The one thing that those kids have in common is the fact that their parents take an active role in their lives. They know what their kids watch, read and play with. They take part in their kids’ lives rather than just watch it from the sidelines. It isn’t always “easy,” but they know that it’s for the better development of their children and they don’t make themselves out to be martyrs in the process. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they enjoy it. And, I’m Ivory Soap sure (that’s 99.44% for the slow kids) that if the kids don’t fully appreciate that interaction and involvement now, they will in the future. My parents did it; I didn’t fully understand it then, but I surely appreciate it now.

And that’s my 2¢ for the night.

Stray Toasters

• I’m an overgrown kid; I freely admit that.
  I like football. *duh*
  I like LEGO®. Also *duh*
  But, I think that it’s a borderline sign of addiction that I am trying to think of friends who have daughters so that I can justify getting this watch just so that I can have purple links for my watch… thus allowing me to make a watch with the Ravens’ colors. (And I still want to know how a monkey made it into the Community Workers set.)

• Someone on IRC posted this link to a graphic representation of the shockwaves of the Sumatra earthquake. Wow.
• Ladies and gentlemen… I present to you: RoboShrub
• Moab Brewery’s Scorpion Pale Ale. *swig*
• Child’s Play Part II Kids say the darnedest things. And, there’s even a link to the original article (November 2003)
• The other day, I saw – and had to try – some Bacon and Cheese-flavored popcorn. Despite how it might sound, it was very tasty. It reminded me of Chili Cheese Fritos.

I shall now finish my fine frosty malt beverage and contemplate the benefits of a trip to The Dreaming.

Namaste.

Monday
My father cracks me up. Since I live in the land of “Eight Months of Winter,” I have gotten in the habit of calling him when it snows here. The calls usually go something like:

Dad: Hello?
Me: Hi, Dad. It’s snowing. Again.
Dad: *laughs*

I’ve been doing it for a couple of years. I don’t call every time it snows, but often enough to keep the joke running.

A couple of years ago – and taking me completely by surprise – Dad got DirecTV at the house. His rationale: He’s retired and should be able to relax and enjoy whatever he wants to watch. Which is great. But considering that we never got cable there when I was growing up, it was a bit of a shock. One of the channels that he watches is The Weather Channel. So, now, half the time when I call him about snow, his response is something like: “Yes, I saw that,” followed with him asking how badly we got hit.

This morning, he had apparently been watching and saw that there had been some snow in Utah. This time, however, he called me. It made me laugh.

The rest of the day was fairly peaceful. and I spent about an hour folding and putting away laundry. And, in doing so, we also came up with a few things to take to Deseret Industries – it’s the LDS Church’ version of Goodwill. And they’re all over the valley, too.

Then it was off to get . We got a bite to eat and then headed to the Sandy location of Nickelcade to meet up with Kate, Perry and Max. As I’ve said before: It’s a great way to spend some time and not pay an arm and a leg to do so. (: They do have a DDR Extreme machine there. There was a kid there playing it who might have given you a run for your money. But he also had a tendency to hold on to the back railing as he danced. I think you could take him.) Then we all headed to Baskin-Robbins to partake of tasty iced creams. After that, , Nox and I came back here where Nox and I proceeded to play The Ray Lewis Game. Uh… I mean “Madden 2005.” It was the first time that either of us had played it. We’re hooked.

News
USA Today: How much would make you smile?

Stray Toasters

• I have not only cotton candy but also caramel popcorn!
  Bow down. Be jealous.

• and : I hope that you’re feeling better soon.
• I had an apostrophe epiphany about the iTunes mp3 renaming dilemma this afternoon. It made the prospect of tackling that project a lot less daunting.
• : The New Legion World: Barry Kitson talks “Legion of Super-Heroes” And, don’t forget that Issue #1 hits the stands Wednesday.
• : New eps of Teen Titans start on 08 Jan 05.
• By way of The City Paper: Stranger Than Fiction

I get the feeling that there was something else that I wanted to add, but I can’t figure out what it was. Oh, well. I should hit the rack as tomorrow marks the return to the gym.

Namaste.

Sunday
Today was a fairly relaxed day around the house. And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. Highlights of the day include a quick trip to the nominally-local Best Buy, phone calls from my uncle and Bret (mostly to say “hi,” but also to talk about the Steelers-Ravens game; I expected the calls, though) and picking up from the airport and hanging out with him for a bit.

Football

Baltimore at Pittsburgh 7 – 20 The Ravens headed to Steeltown to take on the Steelers on their home turf. Pittsburgh is the only team that I consistently worry about in the AFC. The first half was close; it was 10 – 7 at halftime. After that, the Steelers went to work and made the Ravens’ chances at seeing the playoffs even more dim. At this point, there’s still a mathematical chance to make it, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. It was a loss to a team on fire. Nice job by the guys from the Pitt.

Random Access
This time, it’s a slight change of pace. I present “Seasonal Affective,” a column from my hometown’s independent weekly, Baltimore City Paper. Okay… it’s not a complete change of pace – the column actually makes a nice corollary to last week’s “Whose Holiday Is It Anyway” diatribe. Enjoy.

Stray Toasters

• While out this afternoon, we were stopped at a traffic light next to a car with five passengers, all in their mid-to-late teens. A young lady and young man in the back seat leaned over and looked over at me… and waved. I waved back. *shrug* Why not? The smiled. I’m not sure that they expected me to respond to them. As the light turned green, they waved again as we took off. They restored a bit of my faith in humanity’s potential for goodness.
• I spent most of the afternoon – and a good portion of late last night/early this morning – working on ‘s computer. It’s been sporadically running a bit slow. I think that I found and dealt with the problem.
• Eve and Gina and the meaning of “Sorry.”
  

• I like this pic of Marvel Comics’ “First Family”
• 1 part HALO 2
  1 part Metroid Prime: Echoes
  Mix well.
  

• I need to pick up a few LEGO baseplates. I don’t know what I want to build, but I want to build something.
• A Writer’s Block: With Words and Pictures, Author T.P. Luce Brings his East Baltimore Block Into A Slice Of Gritty City Life
• I like cyberpunk novelist William Gibson‘s work. Neuromancer remains one of my all-time favorite reads. But before Neuromancer, he wrote a short story called Johnny Mnemonic. It was a good story. When I heard that it was being turned into a feature film, I was rather happy.

  Until I saw it, that is.

  It starred Keanu Reeves as the title character. I don’t have anything against Mr. Reeves, but he wasn’t Johnny. The movie just didn’t work; nice try, but not quite what we were after. Again, I don’t blame Keanu – when a movie goes south, I think that the director should step up and admit, “Hey, I screwed the pooch on this one. Sorry.”

  Now, Keanu is starring in Constantine, a movie based on another favored read of mine, Hellblazer (1, 2). This marks Francis Lawrence’s first time directing a feature film; his previous experience lies in music videos. I’ve heard some positive press for the movie, but I’m not going to hold my breath over it until I see it… and how badly the changes affect the overall story and feel of John Constantine.

• Sign up for the free online course: Retool Your Home Office, from CNet.com.

Namaste.

This is the first time in many years that I can recall sleeping in on Christmas Day. It was nice. We woke up, called our folks and then got down to the business of seeing what Santa brought us.

If there was any question as to whether or not I’m an overgrown kid, this Christmas should have removed all doubt. This year’s gifts included:

• Lego 1000 block Creator set (w00t!!!)
• Green Lantern 10″ figure
• Green Lantern 4″ figure
• Baltimore Ravens RB Jamal Lewis figure
• Family Guy Season 1 & 2 box set
• Wireless XBox controller
• Madden 2005
• Rollercoaster Tycoon 2
• DVD of classic cartoons (incl. Max Fleischer Superman toons!)
• DVD of Birds of Prey
• DVD of Witch Hunter Robin
• Two pairs of jeans, two pairs of corduroy pants and a very swank suede overshirt

I may take some pictures of this year’s gifts later, but I need to go straighten up so the house looks presentable when company gets here in a few hours.

I hope that your Christmas has been, is and continues to be merry and safe.

Namaste.

P.S.: I just had an amusing “dilemma,” of sorts: I had to decide which icon to use for this post – Green Lantern or LEGO. Decisions, decisions…

   

<edit>
Kate and Perry brought over Elf, which we watched while dinner was cooking – I prepared Cornish Game Hens again this year). I’ve never really been a big Will Farrell fan, but I liked this movie. We also watched The Year Without a Santa Claus! It’s all about Heat Miser and Snow Miser, baby! After Kate, Perry and Max left, Jess and I headed to her sister’s to take presents to her and her son and hang out for a bit.
</edit>

Friday
Christmas Eve 2004.

It hasn’t really felt terribly like the Christmas season to me until just a couple of days ago. I’m not really sure “why,” but it didn’t. And that’s even after I’ve heard Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth, too. It’s also odd to think that 2004 is just seven days (not to be confused with Seven Days) from being over.

and I headed up to b’Ogden in search of a book and game store so that I could complete my Christmas shopping. What we found was far more than I expected. The store is The Bookshelf, located in downtown Ogden. Two floors of goodness. If you’re in the greater Salt Lake Metro area, it’s worth a trip up there. We made a few other stops, including the Clearfield Toys ‘R’ Us… where Nox surprised me with a McFarlane Sports figure of Ravens’ RB Jamal Lewis. (Thank you, again.) I think that TRU is my favorite of the four stores in the immediate area. But fond memories of Funnoodle fights through the store might have something to do with that.

Then it was back to Smog Valley. I dropped off Nox, picked up a couple of pies for post-Christmas dinner snacking and tooled around with as we finished up the last of our shopping. And then, it was back home for the last of the present-wrapping.

News
Morning Edition: Claus, Inc.: The Business of Being Santa
Morning Edition: Christmas Has Long History as Day for Role Reversal
Talk of the Nation – Science Friday: Diagnosing and Treating Celiac Disease (for )

Stray Toasters

• I picked up four bags of cotton candy earlier. But, one of them is for Max; it has Spider-Man on it. The kid is a three-year-old Spider-Fan. So, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get him a bag o’ cotton candy with the web-slinger on the package.

  And remember: Cotton candy has no cholesterol and it’s fat-free!

• Cinescape has a couple of images from the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie.
• Time out to give a nod to and tell you folks to check out his webcomic, Detective Boogaloo – Hip Hop Cop. It’s hosted on Kevin Smith’s (Yes, that “Kevin Smith.”) Movie Poop Shoot site.
• “Scared of Santa” Photo Gallery
• Showtime’s Dead Like Me may not be as… um… “dead” as had been previously reported.
• An article on BBC News’ site lists the top 10 U.S./Canada Tours of 2004 (although The Cow, #2 on the list, isn’t touring now that she has her cushy deal with Caesar’s Palace). I wouldn’t have thought that Bette Midler would have been that high on the list. Go figure.
• By way of …
  

• She clings to me like cellophane
  Fake plastic submarine

• The headlines you WON’T see in 2005
• For Nyx and Nox: A couple of Irregular Webcomic Christmas strips (1, 2) Don’t forget to check the annotations!

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from Gail Simone, the newly-announced writer on Superman (the comic, not the movie), when she was asked what her approach to writing the character would be:

“I actually put this in my pitch, that Clark and Kal El can be very complex. But I sum up Superman with that famous line from the Jim Croce song…

“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.

“This is a guy who can thread a tank through the eye of a needle. He can see the weather in Beirut and he knows what air freshener you used in your house six months ago by the smell of your clothes. You don’t mess with this guy.

“Sure, Batman’s scary. But no one wants Kal-El mad at them. Don’t start none, there won’t be none.”

I hope that all of you have a safe and enjoyable Christmas (or the celebration of your paradigm of choice).

Namaste.

Thursday
Twas the day before the day before Christmas
And all through Salt Lake
Christmas shoppers rushed about madly
As though Armageddon was upon them
And their last-minute supplications would garner them a break.

Or something like that.

Today was “Get some shoppin’ taken care of” day. And, I was able to find everything that I sought except for one item. One. Uno. Singular. Tomorrow, I’m making a trek up to Ogden (or as would say: “bOgden”) to see if I can find it there. If not, it’s no big deal. After taking the presents for her and , I managed to drag her along for some of the shopping fun. After we finished, we picked up and Nox and headed out for dinner. After dinner, we headed to their place to hang out for a bit.

Then, it was off to the grocery store to get the makings for Saturday’s dinner. We ran into Val, another regular at Cheers. It was unexpected but good. In the course of spreading Christmas cheer yesterday, we had a few extra goody boxes left. I went back to the car, got a box and gave it to Val. He was stunned, complete with accompanying “WTF” look. He smiled – really big – and said, “This… is really unwarranted.” I simply told him to “Have a Merry Christmas” and walked away. It’s nice to put an unexpected smile on someone’s face.

News
Morning Edition: PC Users Warned of Unwanted Gifts from Hackers
Morning Edition: Immigrants’ First U.S. Christmas: The Montagnards
Talk of the Nation: Holiday Travel: How to Survive It
Talk of the Nation: The Stupidest Angel
Day to Day: ‘A Front Yard View of the Holidays’ in America
All Things Considered: Play Closes in England After Sikh Protests
All Things Considered: A Reprieve for St. Mary’s

Yahoo! News: Cloned Cat Sale Generates Ethics Debate
Yahoo! News: Homeless Honored Around the Country

NewScientist.com: Mystery of Mars rover’s ‘carwash’ rolls on

Stray Toasters

• I still have cotton candy. And you don’t. Booyah.
• sent me a link to this. It makes a great follow-up to yesterday’s “Random Access” rant.
• Also from yesterday’s post: I mentioned that told Nyx and me about a parody of Adam Sandler’s Chanukah Song. I mentioned the wrong song – apparently, there are two songs: The Mormon Thing (which I mentioned) and The Fireside Song, which is the one she was referring to. Well, it looks like she had a few things of her own to say about it.
• Looks like another Farscape alumn will be joining the cast of Stargate SG-1. This time, it’s Claudia Black, who portrayed ex-Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun.
• TV Cream’s Top 100 Toys I remember some of these. 49, to be exact.
• By way of Backwash (and the “Yes, I’m Going to Hell” file): Santa’s Lil’ Gimp
• Band Geek Glossary
• : An article about… well… synaesthasia
• 50 Things to Eat Before You Die I’ve had 30 of these.

Quote of the Day
Nyx and I were driving along 9th East and I was recounting the story of scaring people sitting at a light next to me (here, third paragraph). I noticed a huge pothole in the road. Approaching fast. That, naturally, elicited a rather sharp “FUCK!” as I swerved to avoid it. There was a slight problem, however: I had just started telling the story. So, it wound up coming out sounding like this:

“So, the other day, I swung by to see Kate and… FUCK! …Perry.

Nyx looked at me like Ô_õ and then burst into laughter. When I realized what I said, and how it sounded, I laughed, too.

For those of you who will not be reading LJ over the weekend, let me take this opportunity to say: May the joy and peace of Christmas (and/or whichever holiday you celebrate) be with you and your families.

Namaste.

Wednesday
I talked with John and Rana this morning. Well, it was evening for them, but why quibble? I found out something very amusing: My site is blocked in China… but Maddox’ site is not blocked. I don’t understand it, but it makes me laugh. I’ll have to be sure to pass that along to Maddox.

Most of the afternoon was spent spreading a little Christmas cheer – , and I delivered Christmas presents to a few folks. Then it was off to Borders while did some Christmas shopping for me. Nyx and I had a good chat over coffee and I got a new drawing started.

Tonight was RPG Night at Nyx and Nox’ place. No one died. That’s a good thing. It started snowing (again) this evening as I was on the way to their apartment. Apparently, it snowed for a while. I like being able to see the lines in the road; unfortunately, they weren’t always visible. But I made it home in one piece. That’s a good thing, too.

News
Morning Edition: 30 Years of Garrison Keillor
Talk of the Nation: House of Explorers: National Geographic
Day to Day: An Atheist’s Faith in Christmas
All Things Considered: Ancient, Complex Peruvian Communities Explored
Fresh Air: Rapper and Actor Mos Def

Space.com: Asteroid Buzzes Earth, Highlighting Cosmic Blind Spot

Random Access
Whose Holiday Is It Anyway?

I don’t think that I can adequately put into words how asinine I think that the current wave of holiday-related lawsuits is. But that’s not going to stop me from trying.

After listening to yesterday’s Day to Day story about Nativity Scenes Spark Not-So-Jolly Suits, I decided that I wanted to vent my spleen. The story mentioned a number of different cases including, but not limited to:

• FL: A federal judge orders a town to allow a Nativity after a menorah was allowed to be displayed.
• NJ: The singing of Jingle Bell Rock is allowed in schools… but not Silent Night.
• NY: A New York City school policy allows menorahs to be displayed for Hanukkah and crescents for Ramadan, but does not allow Nativity scenes for Christmas.
• CT: A Nativity scene was ordered to be taken down because atheists felt that it infringed on the separation of church and state.

It seems as though displaying Santa Claus and trees is allowable as they are secular icons, but Nativity scenes – being religious in nature – are not.

On the other side, there are also suits in favor of religious expression:

• CA: There is a group boycotting any store where employees say “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
• TX: A boy got a court order allowing him to give out candy canes – with the story of Jesus attached – to his classmates.

The bases of these suits is basically this: You can’t permit the display of Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa symbology but not permit Christmas ones – that is considered persecuting one religion. According to the Day to Day story, many problems come from “Lemon Test” from the 1970s which was supposed to clarify when the states has gotten entangled with religion but has instead created a morass of different rules around the country.

*** deep breath ***

America the Beautiful.
Home of the free and the brave.
And the incredibly stupid.

Unless everything that I recall learning in U.S. History was a clever fabrication, this country was created with a foundation that included freedom of religion. “Of. Religion.” That does not mean “freedom from religion.” Also, we often hear talk of “separation of church and state” being in the Constitution and/or the Bill of Rights.

Guess what…

It’s not.

What it does say is:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In layman’s terms: Congress can’t tell you “Religion X is the official religion of the United States of America.” Nor can it tell you that your religion is “wrong.” Period.

I was raised Baptist, with a good dose of Methodist and a smidgen of African Methodist Episcopal. When I’m home for certain holidays, I attend Catholic Mass with my uncle. I went to a predominantly Jewish, but not parochial, high school. One of my best friends converted from the Baptist church to Islam a few years ago. I have a couple of friends who are practicing Buddhists. I currently live in Utah, the seat of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I think that it’s fairly safe to say that I have had a fair amount of religious influence in my life. I won’t say that my faith is better than your faith… or yours… or even yours. I won’t even say that it’s better than someone’s lack of faith. All that I can say is: My faith works for me. If you ask me questions about it, I’ll gladly answer, but I’m not going to try and force it down your throat just because you don’t believe the same thing that I do.

Neil Peart, drummer for the band Rush, had the following to say in the liner notes for the program for the band’s “Roll the Bones” tour:

Be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metalist
Yep — no matter what kind of song you choose to play, you’re betting your life on it, for good or ill, and what you believe is what you are. So there. However you slice it, you’re taking a chance, and you might not be right. (Just this once.) No one can ever be sure, in this best of all possible universes.

That’s why the essence of these songs is: if there’s a chance, you might as well take it. So what if some parts of life are a crap shoot? Get out there and shoot the crap. A random universe doesn’t have to be futile; we can change the odds, load the dice and shoot again.

And there’s no escaping the dice; even if you try to take the sting out of a random universe by embracing the prefab structure of Faith, you still have to gamble that it’s the right one. Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars. For anyone who hasn’t seen Groucho Marx’s game show “You Bet Your Life,” I mean that no one but Groucho knows the secret word, and one guess is as good as another. You might have lived a good long life as an exemplary Christian, only to be met at the gates of heaven by Mohammed…

Anything can happen. That is called fate.

Simple. Direct. And a pretty accurate summation of my opinion.

There’s no good reason that I can think of to give another person grief about their paradigm. To be honest, each of us has more than enough on our own plates to deal with. If you can find the time to belittle someone else’s beliefs, you might really want to take a look at your own and make sure that there aren’t any chinks in your own armor. (And, I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that you’ll find a few imperfections if you look closely enough. I’m sorry, I should have said “…if you’re willing to look closely enough.”)

As I mentioned earlier, this country was created with a foundation that included freedom of religion. Just because some members of a given faith commit an atrocious act that the same desires burn in all members of that faith. Radicals exist in every religion. And, guess what: There are even secular radicals. It comes as part of the whole “being human” package. It’s listed under “Factory Options” as “Free will.” Whether you choose to act like an idiot is up to you, but be sure that you are aware of the possible consequences and that you’re fully willing to accept said consequences if your actions step outside of acceptable bounds.

Here’s an outrageous concept: Why not take the time to learn about different religions and/or non-religious beliefs? What do you have to lose? Well, you might lose a few inaccurate preconceived notions, but is that really a “bad” thing? I don’t think so. You might even find that there aren’t as many differences in the core concepts as you might have thought.

So, the next time that you – or someone that you know – is faced with a different belief system, don’t be so quick to take offense. Try to act like a rational, reasonable person (yes, I know that this will be hard for some people) and listen. If you don’t agree, say so. Chances are better than even that the other person will respect you more for being willing to admit that you disagree than for just portraying yourself as an insensitive and closed-minded prick.

And, by the way: Merry Christmas.

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I stitched a couple of holes in a jacket that I haven’t worn in a couple of years. Aside from the holes, the jacket was in great condition, but the holes weren’t exactly small. I think that I did a pretty decent job… especially since I used thread that’s not the same color as the jacket. But, unless someone is standing inside my personal D.E.W. line, the chances of them noticing are pretty slim.
• It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned it, but I still want to build a ‘Mech. This morning, CNet News had this story about Giant Robots in the Backyard. And that’s pretty neat, too.
• By way of : Echo
• This is the way that John Constantine should look!
• told Nyx and me that she was channel surfing the on her radio this morning when she heard something that made her stop. It sounded like Adam Sandler’s The Hanukkah Song… but it wasn’t. It was a parody. And, in her opinion, it was a poor one. Nyx then sought out the offensive ditty. What she found was The Mormon Thing.
• From Broken Frontier: Why do you love comics? and Stay Awake for Lullaby
• Westbound and Down along with Eastbound and Down
• : Click here (…and here and here and here and here).
  : Two words: “Tom. Welling.”

• “You are so full of crap.”
  

Namaste.