Random Access

Sunday
I didn’t sleep incredibly well last night. I kept waking up, for no apparent reason. I got to bed around 3:30 and was back up a little after 9:30. Sure, that was pretty much a full night’s sleep for me, but I had figured on easily sleeping in until at least 10:30 or 11:00.

I headed to Borders for a few hours for coffee and to (finally) do some drawing. There were a couple of kids sitting behind me playing a CCG; I didn’t recognize the cards, so I’m going to assume that it wasn’t Magic: the Gathering. For the most part, they were pretty quiet. Towards the end of their game, one of the boys got loud. And whiny. And VERY irritating. I can’t say that I was sad to see them go after that.

Then, it was back home for cooking out; Kate, Perry and Max joined us. And, Kate helped me to replace the faulty wax ring on the new toilet… which went from “Oh, this should only take a few minutes” into a :40 ordeal. *braincramp* But, we got it done.

Football

Baltimore at Indianapolis 10 – 27 Baltimore v2.0 headed to the RCA Dome to face Baltimore v1.0… uh… I mean the Colts. The first half was a defensive battle, but in the third quarter, the Colts broke out of the corral and ran wild. After that, it was all downhill for the boys from B-more. Given the way that the Colts have been playing, and the fact that they have already clinched their division, I wasn’t too sure whether the Ravens would come away with a win. And, with this loss, Jacksonville moves ahead of the Baltimore in the standings. There’s still hope for a Wild Card berth, but it’s slim.

Stray Toasters

• Jonny Quest. The 1960s version. Aw, yeah.
• EarthSeeds
• I still think that Michael Jackson is an incredible entertainer, despite his current legal battles. But there’s just something about the fact that he still can’t stay away from kids that’s more than a little unsettling. According to this story, he recently hosted 200 children at a party at Neverland Ranch. This exchange may have been innocent, but I couldn’t exorcise the thoughts of how incorrectly this could be taken:
  

  “I hope you have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas. I love you,” the pop singer called out to the children Friday from the driveway of his estate.

  One of the youngsters shouted, “We love you!”

  “I love you more,” Jackson replied before putting an umbrella over his head and walking back toward his house.

  And I also wonder about the parents who are letting their children go to Neverland. *shrug*

• : The Secret Origin That Wasn’t
• Little Known Fact of the Day: Barry Manilow did not write I Write the Songs. It was written by Bruce Johnston, a member of the Beach Boys. Manilow did, however, write the McDonald’s theme You Deserve a Break Today.
• I just finished eating a huge pomegranate. It was tasty.
• Making a Federal Case Out of Almost Everything
• Mama’s got a squeeze box
  Daddy never sleeps at night.

• World Literature Today
• I was going through Adbusters’ 2004 Best of.. issue this afternoon and came across a pair of ads for AGT-Seven that made me laugh:
  • Little C:5  M:90  Y:100  K:0 Riding Hood
  • A Clockwork C:0  M:60  Y:90  K:0
• The Center for Public Integrity
• There was another ad in that issue of Adbusters (above) that made me laugh, too:
  

  “Confession” :30

  SFX: Sentimental piano under.

  (Open on a nervous young man talking to his parents. He has red hair and freckles. He fidgets and stammers as he tries to reveal a secret to them.)

  Young Man: Mom… Dad… there’s something I need to tell you. For a long time now… I’ve had these feelings. Like I’m different. I don’t know… like I’ve been living a lie. I think I might be… no… I am.

  (He pauses and takes a deep breath)

  Young Man: Mom, Dad… I’m Gaelic.

  (Cut to his parents. They are both African-American. They both just stare at him. Finally the dad speaks.)

  Dad: Gay what?

  SFX: Hardcore Irish music kicks in.

  (Cut to a frosty pint of Finnegan’s Irish Amber.)

  Announcer (VO): Finnegan’s. As Irish as it gets.

• Gilles Barbier’s Nursing Home

Quote of the Day
I caught up with a friend of mine this afternoon to thank him for a book (and accompanying note) that he sent me last week. This was from the tail end of the conversation:

[11:42] [Joe] Anyways, gotta run… Got tix for the Bucs game today…
[11:42] NICE.
[11:42] *jealous*
[11:42] Enjoy.
[11:42] Have fun.
[11:42] [Joe] Ahh, I’m not a big football fan, but they were free. 🙂
[11:42] [Joe] I shall.
[11:43] [Joe] Will try to get good pics, too. 🙂
[11:43] Not a big football fan?
[11:43] I’m not sure that we can remain friends.
[11:43] 😛
[11:43] [Joe] LOL
[11:44] [Joe] Hey, I overlook your inability to recognize the superiority of the Yankees, don’t I????
[11:44] Ouch.
[11:44] Touchè.

And with that…

Namaste.

Saturday
“Laziness” must have been the word of the day.

The day started with a two-hour long soak/bath. It was great. I was even so lazy as to move the spare television into the hallway so that I could watch cartoons while I lounged in the tub. It’s amazing what one can do with an aerial antenna (left on the back of the house by the previous owners), enough coaxial cable (also left by the previous owners, attached to said aerial) and an old pair of rabbit ears. The rest of the morning and afternoon were similarly lax – I think that the highlights were watching football and doing a couple of loads of laundry.

In the evening, , and I went to Sampan for dinner. Then it was off to bowling; met us there and bowled with us. (I don’t remember my high score, but I think that it was around 165; I’ll verify it tomorrow.) dropped by to say “hi,” as well. The ever-popular, but seldom seen met us at V.I., as did and a few other friends whom we haven’t seen in a while.

Stray Toasters

• I spoke with Dad and Rana today. For the most part, things seem well in their respective parts of the world.
• Rassm frassm Utah drivers! *shakes fist*
• A pea-soup fog has settled in over the Salt Lake Valley. It’s almost claustrophobia-inducing.
• For my favorite red-headed Bat-fan: This. Gotta love Alfred.

Keeping my eyes open has just become a monumental task. Time for me to find the path into The Dreaming.

Namaste.

Friday
After a night of erratic sleep, I wound up taking a nap this morning. It was good. And, it was apparently necessary. While out and about this afternoon, I stopped had coffee with Perry.

Then there was tonight’s coffee get-together. and were there. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten together with Ms. , hopefully it won’t be that long until we see her again. We were also joined by an unexpected guest: an ex-coworker from the Dungeon of Doom the REC. We caught up on what had gone on in our lives over the past couple of years. And then, it was on to dinner at Cheers North. It was an well-spent evening.

Stray Toasters

• When I got in from Moab last night, Jess told me that my package from Amazon.com had arrived. This caused me a bit of concern as I didn’t recall having ordered anything from them. So, I opened the box. It didn’t explode or shower me with acid, so I took that as a good sign. Inside was a book. Sent by my friend, Joe. Along with a note that made me laugh.
• Unrepentingly “creatively acquired” from :
  

  The Friday Five for December 17, 2004: A Dash of Holiday Fun

  1. What is a fond holiday tradition from your childhood?
     There are a few. One is going to Christmas Eve Mass with my uncle, when we’re both at my mother’s. Another is getting to open one gift on Christmas Eve. And the last would be… staying up past midnight to open the rest of the gifts.

  2. If you could start a new holiday tradition, what would it be?
     I don’t know, but it would not be “Christmahanukwanzakah” (although, I have to give credit to Virgin Mobile for the amusement factor alone).

  3. What is your favorite Christmas song and who sings it?
     Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth by Bing Crosby and David Bowie

  4. Is there a certain event, food, television program, etc. that makes your Christmastime complete?
     Event: Other than opening presents (and not having to put out fires), not really.
     Food: No.
     TV Program: Not really, but I can always make time to watch A Year Without Santa Claus, because who doesn’t like the Heat Miser and Snow Miser songs!?

  5. Does is traditionally snow where you live at Christmastime? If not, do you wish that it did?
     Most winters, yes.

  Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers.

  If you’d like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so here:
  http://www.livejournal.com/community/thefridayfive/1466.html

• I looked at calendars tonight at coffee. I still don’t know what I want for my 2005 calendar, but I did have an epiphany: I’m waiting until after the first to get it. It’s amazing how much they’ll cut the price on them after the beginning of the year.
• Gummy worms!
• K-3P0 *cracks up*
• DC Comics’ Christmas card this year feature Jim Lee’s rendition of the Batmobile from Batman Begins.
• Top Ten Science Advances of 2004
• : If you haven’t done so already, you might enjoy signing up for and checking out Legion World. New LSH artist Barry Kitson has been posting some costume design sketches in the forums.
• You’ve undoubtedly seen a car with fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror, but now there’s something for the gamer’s car.
• …and on the subject of dice, check these out, too.

Namaste.

Thursday
Oy.

I got back from Moab earlier this evening; I am tired and sore. Very. My shoulders and back are a bit achy from this week’s installations. My quads hurt and I have “biker butt” from today’s ride on Klondike Bluffs Trail. ‘s father took me riding up there this afternoon. The ride kicked my ass eight ways from Sunday. I have no problem admitting that Rich rode circles around me. Hell… he rode dodecahedrons around me. But, I rode. Slowly. And with stops. And I walked the bike up some of the hills. But I made it. And it was fun. I’ll try to get the pictures up this weekend.

<Note to self>
Next time you ask about a slickrock ride, remember that her idea of “not a bad hill” doesn’t necessarily match your idea of “not a bad hill.” Also remember that she and her family like uphill climbs. Do more leg work and cardio.
</Note to self>

Other than that, all seems to be pretty much well with the world.

News
Morning Edition: Celebrating the Music, and Humanity, of Beethoven
Talk of the Nation: Study Urges More Diverse Teachers
Day to Day: ‘Ancient Marks’: Charting Sacred Origins of Tattoos

CNET News.com: Unnoticed fee could raise Net domain costs
Guardian Unlimited: 2004 Bad Science Awards

Stray Toasters

• I still need to decide what I’m going to do for my 2005 wall calendar. I may do another Ghosts of the Skies calendar, but I’m also partial to classic locomotives/trains calendars. And we won’t even go into comics-related calendars…
• Now through 20 Dec 04, you can get two-day shipping from Lego for as little as $5.00 (USD).
• Card on Ultimate Iron Man Orson Scott Card, that is.
• History of Star Wars Video Games
• EA Sports’ current slogan is “It’s in the game.” Previously, it was: “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game?” (Weren’t consumers savvy enough to effectively parse the older slogan? *duhr*) Well, according to this, as far as EA and the NFL are concerned, it really is in the game. And the game.
• Merry Christmas…. bitch.
• : Click here.
• : Click here and here.
• Does anyone else remember The Great Space Coaster? I’m not sure why, but it popped into my head a couple of days ago.
• 19-Page Preview of Image’s “The Gift” #9

Namaste.

Sunday
This morning started off a little later than planned. I decided to sleep in until just before kickoff. I woke up with a few minutes to spare. But, I woke up from a semi-recurring dream. “Semi-recurring” because I’ve had the same basic dream, but it’s ended three different ways. It starts off with me and some woman being chased down a fairly crowded city sidewalk by a guy who looks somewhat like Tobey Maguire or Michael J. Fox; I don’t recall the face very clearly. Then it takes a turn through The Twilight Zone: The guy is apparently a lycanthrope and starts changing (in a transformation reminiscent of An American Werewolf in London) in the middle of the street. Then, he resumes the chase. And this is where the dream diverges:

• The first time, the werewolf caught us on the sidewalk.
• The second time, the woman got stopped (or hit by a vehicle) on a crossing street. I kept running and woke up just before being caught.
• This morning, the woman got stopped/hit again, but I made it into an alley and into the back entrance of a church. The pursuit ended and I wound up wandering through the halls of the church before waking up.

I’m not sure what to make of the dream or any of its endings.

Then there was football.

Around 2:30, I had the brilliant idea of moving the PCs around. I figured that I could clear up a little space on my desk. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions… It turned into a project. And, I still need at least four more cables to fully make my vision a reality. But, that can wait for the time being.

had , Kate, Perry, Max and a couple of her other friends over for dinner this evening; I had a great time. She fixed a delicious leg of lamb served with asparagus and mulled wine. and , I hope that you are feeling better; we missed you (and ) this evening. Next weekend, if the weather permits, I’ll probably make offerings to the Lords of Grilling.

News
KTRK-TV (Houston): Robbers scared off by PlayStation game get jail time
New York Times: The Year in Ideas: A to Z
PhysOrg.com: The best meteor shower of 2004 peaks on Dec. 13th

Football

New York Giants at Baltimore 14 – 37 Jim Fassel’s (Ravens’ Senior Consultant and former NYG Head Coach) former team came to M&T Stadium looking to improve their 5 – 8 standing. They didn’t. Ed Reed had his fifth INT in five consecutive games (and eighth on the season), QB Kyle Boller threw a career-high four touchdowns and the Ravens’ defense forced six turnovers. And we’re still in the Wild Card race for the AFC Playoffs.

Stray Toasters

• Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
  Hot, fresh-off-the-rack Krispy Kreme doughnuts, at that.
  You may now be jealous.

• and : Gotham Penn – Catwoman
• : Shikari
• I’ve been on the fence about not reading Megatokyo any longer, but this amused me…
  

• Shakedown.
  Breakdown.
  Takedown.
  Everybody wants into the crowded line.

• : Click here
• Babylon 5: The Memory of Shadows for .
• In today’s “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and “Art Imitates Life” news files: Calvin Broadus, better known to most people as “Snoop Doggy Dogg,” apparently has/had a second job: Little League Football coach. He helped coach his son’s team to a 13-0 season and league championship title. 20th Century Fox has decided to adapt this story into a feature film about an overworked hip-hop star who coaches his son’s sports team.
• Girls Night Out – a crossover art piece featuring Megatokyo‘s Ping and Applegeeks‘ Eve, the robot girls from the respective comics.

Holiday Shopping Note for those in the greater SLC Metro Area
If you’re looking for unique/different holiday presents, check out the Utah Art Barn, in Reservoir Park (near the University of Utah). It’s open from 1:00 PM until 7:00 PM through 19 Dec 04. It contains the works of local artists, from stuffed hand puppets to handpainted silk scarves. And they accept checks and credit cards.

Directions:

Take 13th East to South Temple.
Go one (1) block east, then a half-block south to Finch Lane (the small road that dips down into the park).
Get out of your vehicle.
Shop.

Tomorrow morning, it’s back down to Moab for three or four days. Not sure if I’ll be posting while I’m down there or not. , I’ll try to get a picture of the snow-covered redrock.

And with that, I’m outta here.

Namaste.

Saturday
After taking Jess to work, I came home and thought I’d catch a catnap before heading to ‘s to help her set up her wireless connection. I got to “catn…” because someone called me at 9:30. It wasn’t a “tear someone a new hole” offense, as I wasn’t in serious need of the sleep. It was a couple of friends asking if I wanted to catch a movie later; I told them that I would have to see how my day shaped up, but possibly.

A bowl of Total and two episodes of Teen Titans later, I was on my way to Sugarhouse to slay the wireless dragon. The setup was a snap. I then recommended and installed my preferred suite of “If you don’t have these, you need to get/use them” programs: Firefox, AVG and Ad-Aware. Firefox installed with no problems. So did AVG. But, running the scan on AVG took forty-five minutes! It was worth it, though – it found a virus. Ad-Aware installed easily, too… but I didn’t run a scan.

From there, it was on to Sandy to pick up my new contacts. I swung by and said “hullo” to Kate and Perry on the way home. I left as they were heading to a friend’s house. We wound up heading the same way on State Street. We also both wound up in the 2nd positions in our respective lanes at a traffic light. Perry got a stern look on his face and shoved his hand down into his coat like he was reaching for a gun or something. I dove across the front seat… as much as the seatbelt would allow. We all got a good laugh out of it. The people in the van on the other side of me, on the other hand, got a little… worried. After that, they would only look in our direction very tentatively – and very surreptitiously – until the light changed. Which made us laugh even more.

Jess and I went out to dinner with Land and Catherine. There was… a mix-up, I guess… about who our server was. We sat for a few minutes without drinks or without anyone coming to our table. They finally figured it out; when our waitress showed, she was very apologetic but very attentive to our needs.

Bowling was good. My games were less-than-stellar; I bowled six games, with a high game of 176. The other five scores were significantly less impressive. , , , Cody, Patryck and Laurie also came out to bowl. and Brent met us at Cheers for breakfast. Many amusing conversations ensued. (But our lawyers are now telling us that we aren’t allowed to talk about them.)

News
InformationWeek: Penn State Tells 80,000 To Chuck IE

Stray Toasters

• I finally heard Bing and Bowie’s Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth tonight. At the bowling alley, of all places. I guess that means that it really is the holiday season.
• Cartoon Network’s Johnny Bravo can be hit or miss. One of the episodes that aired today was “Cookie Crisis,” where Suzy tries to sell Johnny a box of Girl Scout cookies. And, it’s done in the style of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. Classic.
• As a-friend-who-shall-remain-nameless recently learned: “Fo’ shizzle my nizzle” is not a euphamism for “suck my cock.” Although it made me laugh when they told me that’s what they thought it meant.
• Rurouni Kenshin. *nod*
• I heard Bruce Springteen and the E Street Band’s rendition of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town this afternoon. I like most of The Boss’ stuff, but I will also admit that he’s not the best singer in the business. However, I really like this song and the way that it’s performed because you can tell that they were having fun when they did it.

Quote of the Day

Me: She has a bigger forehead than I do!
Patryck: That’s not a forehead, that’s a five-head!

Namaste.

Friday
The weather was unseasonably nice today. I think that it made it up to 50°.

I did a little running around this morning and then went to lunch with my friend, Tamarah, whom I haven’t seen in a month of Sundays. We ate at Olive Garden; it was good. After that, I did a little more running around. Coffee was a very small affair tonight: Jess, Perry, Max, one of Jess’ stepsisters and myself. And that was fine. We skipped going to Applebee’s after, though.

Today’s crowning achievement: I finished working with the pictures from the Thanksgiving/wedding trip. They can be found here. There are three sub-galleries:

1. Pictures from our trip to Arlington National Cemetery. When we went there a few years ago, we didn’t get the chance to see The Tomb of Unknown Soldiers. This time, Adam, Jess and I made a special trip to D.C. just to see it. We saw the changing of the guard; it was a very solemn experience.
2. Pictures from a get-together with three of my God-siblings. This marked the first time in at least ten years that all four of us have been in the same place at the same time. It was a lot of fun.
3. Pictures of Rana and John’s wedding. ‘Nuff said.

Speaking of whom, I just chatted with Mr. . They will be leaving for Beijing later this morning and all is well.

Stray Toasters

• I feel like having a snack. But, once again, I have no idea what I want. Gummy worms to the rescue!
• : Kid Quantum (v5)
• By way of TechDeals.net: Internet Archive is offering classic public domain movies and shorts for viewing and/or downloading.
• Also coming to a theatre near you next summer:
• Likewise, check out the new War of the Worlds trailer.
• Eric Harshbarger and his LEGO® grandfather clock.
• ::: this space for rent :::
• Three more weeks and I’ll have to replace my wall calendar. I should start giving thought to what calendar I want for the next year.
• The theme from The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan is running through my head for some reason.

Namaste.

Thursday
Happy Chanukah.

I really can’t complain about not heading to Moab today. Instead, we’ll go down there on Monday and stay for three or four days.

Nyx and I did some running around this afternoon, capped off with dinner and coffee with and . We brought Nox’ computer back from being an overgrown – and rather costly – paperweight. Again. And, as he made a post a little while ago, I’ll take it that the overall prognosis is positive.

I caught online earlier. He and Rana are back from the honeymoon and will be heading to China this weekend. (And, no, I haven’t gotten around to working on the pictures… but I have transferred them from the camera to the PC. That’s some progress, at least.) I don’t know when they’ll be back in the States again, but it was good to see them over Thanksgiving.

News
Morning Edition: Dogs Living with Cats

It’s official, dogs can now live with cats in Provo, Utah. The city has repeals its law against cats and dogs cohabiting. The antique ordinance was discovered when a family tried to adopt a kitten at an animal shelter and was turned down because they already owned dog.

Morning Edition: Dr. John, Dis Dat or D’Udda
Day to Day: Slate‘s Hey Wait a Minute: The Origins of ‘Hip’
All Things Considered: Canada High Court Backs Gay Marriage
All Things Considered: Remembering Beverly Hillbillies Crooner Scroggins

News.Com: Study: Laptop heat a threat to fertility

The Screen Savers: Phishing Protection
(If you don’t know what “phishing” is, you should read this article.)

Stray Toasters

• I realize that we are just over two weeks away from Christmas, but it still doesn’t feel like the holiday season is upon us to me. Even with radio stations playing every Christmas song known to God, man and beast. At this rate, I’m going to have to break out my copy of Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth.
• Pistachios. Very tasty.
• SNEAKYCHEAP: 100 Ways to Cheat “The Man”
• From Wired: Gift Guide for Game Geeks
• Looking for a free photo host? Check out Flickr.
  (Article from Wired about Flickr.)

• Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-ne
  Jock-a-mo fee-na-ne
  (Bonus points to those who know what that’s from without looking it up!)

• I don’t really know what to make of this, someone posted it on IRC. I figured that I’d share the pain with others.
• Tweety’s Self Indulgent Rant Page
• Coming to a theatre near you next summer:
• By way of G4TechTV: A User’s Guide to DEL.ICIO.US
• By way of Backwash: Drug Money Cost Calculator

Namaste.

Wednesday
I don’t know when sleep and I became such distant friends, but last night’s excursion to The Dreaming was not as smooth as I would have liked. I got to bed about an hour-and-a-half after I had planned. I didn’t fall immediately to sleep, as I usually do, but I wasn’t awake for very long, either. The problem is that I kept waking up for no apparent reason. The best way to describe the feeling would be to say that it was like being anxious about oversleeping for something.

The morning was made better with back-to-back calls from my uncle and father. My uncle is tentatively coming out here in February. For Super Bowl weekend. That should be fun. And, there’s the additional plus of us having room for him to stay here, as opposed to the last time he came out here – while we were still in the apartment – and he had to stay in a hotel downtown.

—> Fast Forward —>

Did some errand-running this afternoon. I also found out that we’re not going to Moab this week. They closed Spanish Fork Canyon, which is on the route to Moab, earlier this afternoon. So… we’re heading out Monday for three or four days.

The night ended at Nyx and Nox’ place for a new RPG. The game started a couple of weeks ago, a session that I missed, but the premise seems interesting. We shall see how it goes.

News
Morning Edition: Program Matches Poor Mothers with Nurses
Morning Edition: Take Two: Goodbye, City Life
Morning Edition: Smithsonian Struggles with History

The Museum of American History is presenting “The Price of Freedom,” a controversial war exhibit that starts with the American Revolution and extends to present-day Iraq. But some historians — and members of the Smithsonian’s advisory board — worry that the museum is telling only part of the story.

Media Matters for America: Coulter: Canada is “lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent”; Carlson: “Without the U.S., Canada is essentially Honduras” (Thanks to for pointing this out to me… and my apologies to friends north of the 54° 40′ for the insipid rantings of a couple of idiotsticks with national media exposure.)

Stray Toasters

• I’m kind of particular about covers of songs that I like. My feeling is: If you can’t do something to make the song “your own” or do something to enhance the song, don’t cover it. Natalie Merchant does an excellent cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. A prime example of a cover gone horribly wrong: Britney Spears’ version of My Prerogative.
• Since her birthday does not appear on LJ’s birthdays page: A very happy birthday to .
• Back for a return engagement: Disturbing Auctions
• : I still have your sunglasses. They say “hi” and they miss you, but they’re doing fine.
• Let the Good Times Roll, the opening musical track from Quincy Jones’ Q’s Jook Joint CD just played on Winamp. Ray Charles was one of the vocalists on the track. If you haven’t gone to see Ray yet, do so.
• By way of Broken Frontier: An Ever-Ending Battle
  

  Superheroes and Mortality are the focus of the new comic book research study launching this week, entitled the Ever-Ending Battle project. Sponsored by A. David Lewis’ Caption Box and already receiving support by organizations such as the International Comic Arts Association, the Broken Frontier news site, and Silent Devil Productions, Ever-Ending Battle plans to explore the “the curious and unique relationship between mortality and the superhero comic book genre,” says its new website.

  The website is: EverEndingBattle.com

• “Fuzzy Casanova.”
• By way of : The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the l33t
• : Click here.
• : Ultra Boy (v6)

Quote of the Day

She hopped in and she asked “Where we going?”
Yo, we like a twig in the Nile: We just flowin’.

Namaste.

As much as I enjoy using LiveJournal, I was ready to fly to Portland and pimpslap the database admins this morning. I logged in around 7:15 to check my friends’ overnight entries. No problem. I tried logging in again around 10:45. Problem. Big problems. Apparently, EVERY entry that I made from June 2001 until this morning at 1:30 had gone *poof*.

This did not make for a very happy Rob.

When I was finally able to log on, I was able to see friends’ entries, but mine were still AWOL. My blood pressure continued to rise. After all, with a paid account, I don’t expect to log in and find everything gone… especially when I had seen it just a couple of hours before.

::: braincramp :::

Nearly an hour-and-a-half (and a support request) later, I discovered what the problem was: My journal had been moved from one cluster to another. And the new cluster was undergoing maintenance. BUT… there had been no notification of the maintenance (I had checked during my info hunt). A notification appeared on about 00:45 after I had started looking.

But, everything is back in order now. For the most part. I reset the color scheme back to one of the LJ defaults when it said that there was an error in my journal’s format. *shrug* That’s fine. I was going to make some changes anyway.

–> fast forward <–

The day ended nicely. Jess and I went to California Pizza Kitchen at The Gateway for dinner. From there, we headed to Cocoa Caffe for coffee and conversation with friends. As an unexpected bonus, Maddox was there, too.

News
Morning Edition: Stressed-Out Game Designers Sue Software Maker
Morning Edition: Congrats to the Cat
Morning Edition: After Rutles, Monty Python, Innes Still Sings (for )
Talk of the Nation: The Debate over Tasers and Police
All Things Considered: Foreign Musicians Hampered by U.S. Visitation Restrictions
All Things Considered: New Generation Brings Edge to Crafts
Fresh Air: Singer David Johansen: Return of the N.Y. Dolls (Some of you may remember Mr. Johansen’s alter ego, Buster Poindexter.)

Stray Toasters

• 
  From the 2004 Ghosts Calendar:

  1941: At 7:55 a.m. on the “Day of Infamy,” the backbone of the American Pacific Fleet is broken before World War II has even begun. Without a declaration of war, Japanese aircraft from Admiral Isourku Yamamoto’s carrier task force successfully carry out surprise attack on strategic air and naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

• Some of you may have heard of this already, but given the holiday season (and the commemoration of the attack at Pearl Harbor), I felt that it was a good time to bring it back to the forefront: Operation AC has an Adopt a Soldier program. Thanks to for the heads-up on this.
• Rush hour traffic in South Salt Lake is… tedious… at best. Today, there was a power outage in a part of SSL. That made driving even less fun. And, I’m Ivory Soap sure that it wasn’t exactly a field day for the residents of the powerless areas, either.
• By way of comes…. this.
• There are some houses in our neighborhood that are festively adorned with holiday lights and decorations. We don’t have any lights up yet, but we will probably put some up in the next week or so. Some, including me, might consider some of our neighbors’ displays as “overkill” or even “gaudy.” But, it also gave me a horrible idea: I don’t want to match the tackiness factor… but that doesn’t mean that I can’t outpenis them in luminosity. I’m discovering a new affinity for LEDs. The buggers don’t take a lot of power and they put out a lot of light. And, if done properly, the rigging for them could be left up year-round. I have a year to decide how serious I am about this…
• The 2004 Good Gift Games Guide
• Does anyone else remember Beakman’s World? Well, here’s the Beakman and Jax website.
• : I’m pretty sure that you’re already up on this one, but Crusade is now on DVD.

Namaste.

Monday
The day started with another odd dream. And this was about 35° left of center: Pop star Jessica Simpson and her joined-at-the-hip hubby Nick Lachey were in it. They were talking about getting a divorce… but how they’d still be friends. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!? After waking up from that, it was an easy bet that the rest of the day could not possibly get any worse.

And then I tried to get out of bed.

Turns out that I was wrong; there was something worse than the dream: The headache that I woke up with. And it was a bell-ringer. Fortunately, we had some Aleve on hand to quell the rebellion at the back of my head. And then, life was good again.

The day ended with “Dinner and a Movie Double Date Night” with Nyx and Nox. We went to see National Treasure. It was a fun movie and we were in good company.

Happy (belated, in some cases) Birthday to LJ’s December kids:

Stray Toasters

• I had cotton candy tonight. Spun sugar bliss abounded. I had a Slurpee® earlier, too.
• China Is Out to Get Us. This is almost worthy of something you’d read from Maddox or The Onion. I might even have to bring it to Maddox’ attention.
• Hey, : The new Batman Begins trailer will can be seen in front of Blade: Trinity and Ocean’s Twelve, both opening this week.
• “No! Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons. You can’t possibly…”

I’m tapped.

Namaste.

Sunday
It was another lazy day around the house, for the most part. I woke up a little earlier than I had planned, thanks to an upset stomach. Oh, well. I watched football and then got ready for company to come over.

Kate, Perry, Max, , and came over for dinner and general Sunday night hanging out. Jess cooked very tasty chicken enchiladas for dinner. After dinner, Perry, Nox and I wandered off to play video games. Go figure.

I drove Jess’ car to take Nyx and Nox back to their place. On the way, a Salt Lake County deputy decided to pull us over for an expired registration. Except… it’s not expired. He (finally) noticed the temporary (i.e.: “waiting for the sticker from the DMV”) tag in the rear window. After we were stopped. *shrug* The officer wasn’t a dick about the whole thing; it was all very matter-of-fact. And, he was just doing his job, so there wasn’t really any reason to be irritated about it.

Football

Cincinnati at Baltimore 27 – 26 Cincinnati Head Coach (and former Ravens Defensive Coach) Marvin Lewis brought his team into M&T Bank Stadium and came away with a win. Stupid mistakes and miscues cost the Ravens the game. There were a couple of bright spots: Ed Reed had his fourth INT in four games and TE Todd Heap returned to the lineup for the first time in about 3 months. Congratulations, .

Stray Toasters

• It’s funny the way that something really simple/silly can add a bright spot to your day. Today’s case-in-point: I was going through the closet in the HCC looking for a book and came across something I hadn’t seen this “something” in a long time. I was beginning to wonder if it had gotten lost in the move or whether one of the cats had gotten to it. Or, maybe I had lost it. *shrug* Nope. It was in a tray in the closet. What was it? The Lego® monkey that came with my watch. Finding it made me smile.
• : Take a look at this: Mark Waid Talks “Legion of Super-Heroes”
• The rare and elusive messaged me this afternoon. It was nice to hear from her, as we haven’t chatted in a while.
• The Art of Jim Lee
• Nox and I engaged in HALO 2 Convenant eradication tonight. *genuflect*
• and : Click here.
• I just realized that I have two weeks’ worth of webcomic reading to catch up on.
• The Best Things in Life

Namaste.

Saturday
…also known as “I’m not doing a damn thing day.”
At least, it was as far as I’m concerned.
And since it was cold, being inside doing nothing was just fine.

I watched the Bane episode of The Batman this morning. It was a decent adaptation of the original story. Aside from the fact that they are using a character who didn’t appear in the Bat-mythos until many years later. *shrug*

This afternoon, I had coffee and lunch at Jitterbug Coffee Hop with , and Christopher. Nox and Christopher took off shortly after we finished eating; Nyx and I hung around and talked for a few hours.

Before bowling, I went to Best Buy and picked up a copy of HALO 2. Selah. Bowling was all right; tonight’s high was 161, nothing to write home about, but respectable. Only , Brent and Pat joined us for breakfast. But Melody (one of our former fave managers) was working tonight; that was a pleasant surprise.

Stray Toasters

• Tonight’s episode of JLU, “Ultimatum,” had Maxwell Lord (last seen in Formerly Known as Justice League International) and Amanda Waller, one of the DCU’s heads of metahuman affairs. And it introduced “The Ultimen,” a group that seemed to be one part The Conglomerate and one part Suicide Squad, with a dash of The Superfriends thrown in for good measure. It was a (or “another”) good episode.
• Road Rage Cards
• By way of Backwash: How To Kill a Mockingbird – “The Best Book Report Ever!”
• : Click here. Enjoy.
• Being Tactful
• Is there going to be a Indiana Jones movie? According to Harrison Ford, there will be.
• Bad Movie Planet
• One man’s hobby is another man’s… something. And with that in mind: Questionable Beverages.

And now, it’s time to call it a night.

Namaste.

Friday
I just got back from another trip to Moab a few hours ago. It was cold there; in fact, it wasn’t much warmer (only a few degrees) than it was here in SLC. That doesn’t make working outside the most fun experience in the world, but it wasn’t too bad. Thanks in no small part to ‘s father – the king of cold-weather-working preparedness. I am, however, tired. After getting in late Tuesday night, I was on the road again within twelve hours. No rest for the wicked.

And, I still need to recap the wedding and the last couple of nights back home. Maybe I’ll take care of that – and the pictures – tomorrow. Or Sunday.

I’ve been scanning through Friends Entries posts. And it’s mostly been scanning because I actually spent most of my vacation unplugged; it was a nice change of pace although I missed the ready access of immediately-available information. But, I digress. What I wanted to say was: If anyone posted anything that I really should see, please leave a comment here about when/what it was.

But, for now, I’m outta here.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Back in Snow Central.

Today’s travel started off as something of an ordeal: Our tickets were on Delta, but our flight out of Baltimore was on Northwest (through their code-share program). We stood in the Delta line only to find that we had to go to the Northwest counter to get our tickets. So we did… and subsequently missed our flight. By ten (10) minutes.

*braincramp*

We were put on standby for the next Northwest flight to Minneapolis, but our bags were checked through to SLC. So, even if we didn’t get here, they would. (Did I mention that the counter agent was really bitchy? She was. For no apparent reason.) We got to Minneapolis only to find that the Baltimore agent – who said that she’d set us up for standby all the way to SLC – didn’t.

*braincramp*

I talked with two Minneapolis agents and we not only made the connecting flight, we were bumped up to First Class. Hoo-AH! I’m not sure if this was my first or second First Class travel experience, but it was rather nice.

And thus, we’re home again.
And I’m tired.
And, I may be going back out of town again tomorrow for a day or two. I am not sure; we’ll see how I feel when I get up in the morning.

And that, as they say, is that. I hope that everyone had a good – and safe – holiday weekend.

Namaste.