Random Access

Wednesday
Average midweek day.

Stopped in to see this morning. We chatted for a bit. On the way home, I popped in to say “Hullo” to ; she had said that there were a couple of things at the store that she wanted to show me. So, I went. And I came home with a couple of magnetic strips. Hopefully, this means that I’ll have a way to keep the beer fridge closed.

, and Christopher came over for dinner. They brought a bottle of wine with them – a white wine with raspberry juice whose name eludes me. It was good – very sweet, but good. After dinner, we sat around and talked. And somewhere along the way, a poker game broke out. We introduced Christopher to Texas Hold ‘Em; he liked it. He might be joining us for poker on Mondays.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: Devil’s Club: A Medicine Cabinet for Alaska Tribe
Morning Edition: Tips to Avoid Internet Identity Theft, E-Mail Scams
Morning Edition: Ideology Shifts Among Calif. Vietnamese Immigrants
All Things Considered: Medical Schools Lag in Obesity Training
All Things Considered: Adapting to an Obesity Diagnosis
All Things Considered: State Makes Schools’ Start Date a Matter of Law

Stray Toasters

• sent me links to this and this. Oh… my.
• By way of : Charleston Daily Mail – Jury says girl responsible for injuries from fall
• And, by way of :
  

  You Know You’re From Maryland When…

  You know more than 10 people who own boats and they all park them at the same marina in Annapolis You can pronounce and spell “Pocomoke,” “Mattaponi,” “Accokeek,” and “Havre de Grace” You pronounce “Bowie” BOO-ie not BOW-ie or BAUW-ie 1 hour is an easy commute to work You have more than three recipes for crabcakes French fries just don’t taste right without Old Bay There are more than two crab places in your town Even your high school cafeteria made good crabcakes You got your first lacrosse stick before you were six years old You call all turtles “terrapins” You refer to your state as “Merlind” Your mother shops at Hecht’s You still call Six Flags America “Adventure World”, or even “Wild World” You still remember the Wild World commercial (Wild World’s the cure for the summertime blues!) You can tell the difference between the smells of septic and marsh. You not only know how to eat hard crabs but you also know how to catch them, cook them and tell the males from the females. You don’t think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name for a body of water. You know perfectly well why Rehoboth is called “Little San Francisco” M R Ducks makes perfect sense. So does C M Wangs. You think Salisbury is a big city. You think of dumplings as wet slippery squares of boiled dough. You and your boss take off of work when the fish are running or the ducks are flying in. You’ve eaten muskrat at a church dinner but think it’s better the way you fix it. You think of “Dairy Queen” as a pageant title and not a place to get an ice cream. “Formal wear” is a ball cap, a flannel shirt and Timberlands. You still root for the Orioles even when they suck You’ll never understand why tourists come to DC. When in Florida, you can only laugh when you see signs saying “Real Maryland Blue Crab Cakes!” You color with “Crowns”, take a “Share” with “Wooter” and think the president lives in “Warshenton.” You know the difference between Glen Burnie ghetto and Catonsville ghetto. Your whole family lives within a 200 mile radius of your town. Dale Earnhardt’s accident was a close personal loss to your father At least one man in your family is a waterman You plan for “The Festival” a year in advance. During the summer, you spend more time in Ocean City than at home. Margret Heater, Hedspace, Jepetto, Outside Joke and Mary Prankster are people you think are “Famous” Your radio dial is stuck on 99.1 You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Maryland.

  Get Your Own “You Know You’re From” Meme Here

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  Blogthings

• With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
  Nothing remains quite the same
  With all of my running and all of my cunning,
  If I couldn’t laugh I just would go insane…
  If we couldn’t laugh we just would go insane…
  If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane

• Found through C2F Cinema: Soybean
  (Check out Milton Pool’s website, too.)

• Reason #475630 of “Why is going to be a welcome addition to the family” : Plotting ways to make members of our families squirm during the wedding. We have come up with some truly insidious methods of torture. If this were a D&D setting, we would have not only crossed the line into “Chaotic Evil” alignment, we would have dived in after a sprinting towards the line.
• Alright, , you remember Mulligan Stew but do you remember seeing Disney’s Johnny Tremain films in school?

Artist of the Day
Audrey Heller was one of the artists whose work was on display at the Park City Arts Festival. Take a look at her gallery.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Today was pretty productive. And that’s always something to feel good about.

I bumped my head the other day getting out of the car in Park City. It could happen to anyone. However, at the time, my sunglasses were perched atop my head. And, as I shave my head on a daily basis, rather than just “bumping” my head, I managed to carve an inch-and-a-half long trench into it. If I only had super-miniature X-Wing and TIE Fighters… Actually, it’s not that bad. It’s nowhere near as bad as had me thinking that it was when he saw it (shortly after it happened). Not even close. From his description, I was thinking “Grand Canyon.” When I was able to get a look at it, it was more like “little scratch.” It just itches from time to time. And it’s a wee bit sensitive when I’m shaving. Go figure.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: ‘Ugly Dress’ Site Features Bad Bridesmaid’s Gowns
     Site: Ugly Dress.com
Talk of the Nation: The New Role of Neighborhood Watch
All Things Considered: CD Review: Polyphonic Spree’s We’re Heavy

Stray Toasters

• I’m thirsty. There’s beer in the fridge… but I don’t want it. There’s something wrong with that.
• Sam Adams. Brewer. Patriot. Homeboy.
  (If you’re a certain band director in North Carolina, you know why this is funny.)

• I just realized how much ‘s icon reminds me of Lightning. Or vice versa.
  

• DC Multiverse.
  Crisis.
  DC Universe.
  Zero Hour.
  Hypertime.
  DC Multiverse?
  (Kingdom Come)

  Plus ce change, plus ce meme chose…

• I’m still thirsty. But I think that Kool-Aid shall quench my thirst. Oh, Yeah!
• Lightning is sitting on my desk, to my left, with one paw on the keyboard. And both eyes on the cursor. And purring.
• By way of Slashdot: Big Brother in Your Front Seat
• From Backwash: Create your own caption for this picture. (Not work safe.)
• Does anyone else remember the Mulligan Stew filmstrips from grade school?
• Shakespeare’s Den – A gift store for the creative.
• Is anyone planning on participating in NaNoWriMo this year?
• I am now drinking Black Cherry Kool-Aid® from my vintage 1980 Empire Strikes Back Lando Calrissian glass.
  Lando Calrissian. Administrator. Rebel. Homeboy.

• I should charge the gel cell for the laptop.
• Here come old flattop he come grooving up slowly
  He got joo-joo eyeball he one holy roller

I think that a little poker is called for before turning in.

Namaste.

Monday
It’s great when you go out to work on something, thinking that you have everything that you need… only to find out that you left 50-60% of what you need at home.

Poker night didn’t happen. Only showed up. He played with Sissy and the twins… and they sopped it up. From the way that they were hanging out around him, you’d think that I haven’t paid them any attention. Which I have. Lots of it, in fact. But I digress… We sat around and talked (from Star Trek to “Who would make a good president?”) and watched part of an episode of The West Wing. I made note of an episode from last when President Bartlet invoked the 25th Amendment to step down as President. We weren’t sure whether or not that was actually in the Constitution. So, we looked it up. And there it was: Amendment 25, Sections 3 and 4. Have I mentioned recently how much I like the writing (and researching) on this show?

Jess is back from the Left Coast. All is well with the family-unit. She told me about what they saw and did. We’re going to have to get out there soon-ish; I’ve never been. From the way that she described it, I think that I’d enjoy it. And hanging out with the family-unit is always fun.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: Clue Found to Cognitive Problems in Preemie Boys
Talk of the Nation: 150 Years of Walden
All Things Considered: Plan for Europe’s Iron Curtain to Go Green
All Things Considered: ‘King Kong’ Actress Fay Wray Dies at 96

Stray Toasters

• I neglected to mention that I had a 209 game at bowling Saturday.
• Think You Know Everything?
• I was talking with someone about actors who have done voiceover work. I mentioned Jay North (from Dennis the Menace) who provided the voice of the teenaged Bamm-Bamm Rubble in the 70s and Tim Mathieson (Animal House, The West Wing, and many other movies/series) who was the original voice of Jonny Quest, as well as Jace on the original Space Ghost cartoon.
• By way of comes: The Adventures of Choice Chick
• : Click here.
• Sweet potato pie.
• The Periodic Table of Comic Books
• Does anyone else remember the Marathon Bar®?
• Doors? Passè. Don’t believe me? Ask them.
• : Click here. (Three words: “Joss Whedon. Enjoy.”)

Quote of the Day
Two more from The West Wing:

President Josiah Bartlet: Charlie, when they close the book on me and you, it will say that at this moment you were not there for me. And for that, obviously, there will be some kind of punishment.
Charlie Young: Well, you could sing Puccini for me again, Mr. President, and we’ll call it even.

(… and for …)

Toby Ziegler: He calls you and me the Batman and Robin of speechwriting.
Sam Seaborn: Well, I don’t think he does.
Toby Ziegler: He doesn’t but he should ’cause that’s what we are.
Sam Seaborn: Okay.
Toby Ziegler: We are Batman and Robin.
Sam Seaborn: Which one’s which?
Toby Ziegler: Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?
Sam Seaborn: I’m not Robin.
Toby Ziegler: Yes you are.
Sam Seaborn: Okay, well, let’s move off this.
Toby Ziegler: You bet, little friend.
Sam Seaborn: Listen, we’re really not Batman and Robin.
Toby Ziegler: No, we’ll keep those identities secret. I’m Bruce Wayne and you’re my ward… Dick Something.

And with that…

Namaste.

Sunday
, , and I headed out of the valley and into Park City for the Park City Arts Festival. It was nice to get out of SLC. And spending the afternoon in the company of friends and in the midst of artists made it even better. I picked up cards and info about a lot of artists.

Par for the course, I ran into a couple of people that I knew. This year’s faces in the crowd: Brian (Jess’ stepbrother ) and John (from Cheers).

NOT par for the course, I think (a little better than 50:50 odds) that I saw the ex who was the reason that I moved to Utah. Adding to the confusion was the boy with her who would be about the age of her son. *shrug* If so, it was the first time that I have seen her since… six months after I got here. It was odd, almost surreal. (And, , unlike Charles Barkley, I do know what that means. )

The weather was perfect.
The crowd wasn’t bad.
And I had ice cream before we left.

It was a good way to spend the day.

Stray Toasters

• : Click here.
• Red Adair, internationally known oil field firefighter, died today.
• Presto is sleeping in my lap. If I move, she stirs and meows at me angrily… and goes back to sleep.
• The new Battlestar Galactica series will premiere on SciFi in January.
• I just resized my monitor resolution from 1024×768 to 1280×1024. I’m trying to decide if I like it. And with that…
  

• The new voice of Hambuger Helper’s “Hand” is… just… bad.

Quote of the Day
“I am not afraid. I am going to blow them off the face of the earth with the fury of God’s own thunder.” – President Josiah Bartlet, The West Wing

I find it odd that given the situation presented on tonight’s episode, I fully understood and accepted this statement… yet, I’m still uneasy with President Bush’s use of similar statements, sentiments and tactics.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Saturday
I woke up sometime around 11 with the twins on the bed behind me. Not wrestling. The were just curled up and sleeping. I nodded back off and woke up again a little before noon. That was a bit of a shock. Waking up with a sore throat was an added bonus.

Jess called. She and the family-unit went to a few wineries and had a tour and samples. Tonight, they’re heading to her uncle’s for a barbecue. Sounds like she’s having a good time.

came over and walked me through changing the sprinkler head that I eradicated the other night. It was pretty easy, even given the fact that I had never dealt with an in-ground sprinkler system before. Yet another thing that I miss about living in places that get regular rainfall… We finished up and enjoyed a couple of Coronas and a little television before he had to return to the ZeekeCave. (Actually, he had promised to help a neighbor with a project today.) Either way, thanks for your help this afternoon.

It’s been a rather lazy afternoon, otherwise. And I’m all right with that. Sissy and the twins haven’t been bad. I managed to do a couple of laundry. Which comes under the heading of “definite plus.” I was planning on cutting the front lawn, but it doesn’t really seem to be in need of a trim. *shrug* Maybe tomorrow evening.

Tonight: Bowling.
Tomorrow: Park City.

Stray Toasters

• Tonight’s Teen Titans episode was… odd. It wasn’t up to the usual standard that I feel the other episodes have. JLU didn’t let me down, though. Another well-crafted 22 minutes of animated goodness.
• Online poker is fun.
  And a bit addicting.
  Just a bit.
  A big bit.

• I spent a little time retagging/renaming some mp3s in aftermath of “The Great iTunes Debacle of 2004.”
• Farscape. Back on SciFi in October.
• I talked with Adam for a bit this afternoon. All seems to be well.
• Pool-playing robot
• I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a different ringer for my phone. No idea what I want. I do know that I don’t want a “flash in the pan,” Top-40 ringer. Maybe I’ll change the background, too. Decisions, decisions…
• Form feet and legs…
  Form arms and body… (or “…arms and torso,” depending on the series)
  And, I’ll form the head!

• The folks at Fox are touchy. It seems as though they terminated their contract with Bryan Singer because he signed on to Warner Bros.’ Superman project. More info here.
• Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks will be animated and on Cartoon Network!
• I’m craving cotton candy again. Maybe I should stop at Hollywood Video and pick some up.

And with that, I’m out of here. Have a good rest of the weekend.

Namaste.

Friday
Took Jess to the airport this morning; she’s in California for the next few days. That means that it’s just Sissy, the twins and me until Monday.

Patryck met me at Borders and hung out for a bit. We went to and ‘s house and then on to Midvale Park. and met us there and we watched Shrek on an inflatable screen. After the movie, we headed to Cheers North for dinner and a visit with Vivi.

NPR and Other News
Morning Edition: Jester Tryouts
Morning Edition: Tracking Nixon’s Impact on Popular Culture
Talk of the Nation – Science Friday: The Technology of Ben Franklin
All Things Considered: Adaptive Cruise Control: Let the Car Do the Driving

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to , I now have Marvel Super Heroes’ Guide to New York City.
• Book-a-Minute SF/F – Ultra-Condensed Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
• Lightning is asleep, with his head resting on the top of my keyboard.
• Relive your childhood through advertising.
• Can you be a ‘Mrs’ and a feminist at the same time? – by way of the f word.com: contemporary UK feminism.
• Lightning woke up and moved to a spot underneath my monitor… where he has curled up and gone back to sleep.
• Paul Simon sang about 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. This article condenses that down to fifteen ways.
• Ford rolls out the Escape hybrid SUV
• “Man… I just had the best dream.”
• I enjoy Jack Black’s antics from time to time. Still, I was greatly relieved to see an article on Newsarama that confirms that he is NOT going to be Green Lantern.
• Free magazine subscriptions: Computer Gaming World, Computer Shopper, Electronic Gaming Monthly, PC Magazine and Xbox Nation.

Oy. It’s later than I thought. Time to hit the rack.

Namaste.

Thursday
The morning started with a visit from the plumber. We’ve been having issues with a few things that are covered in our warranty.

In theory.

The insurance company said that a couple of them are not covered under “normal wear and tear.” Bastard asses. We have a commode that needs to be replaced (which I can do) and a shower that’s functional but has issues that render it unusable for the time being. On the “plus” side of things, he said that the proto-bathroom next to the HCC was set up nicely and should be fairly easy to put fixtures and walls in. It’s just a matter of money and time. And a jackhammer.

And, I get to mow the front lawn tonight.
(Or not. It rained this afternoon.)

NPR, News and Other To-Dos
Morning Edition: Southwest States Offer Amnesty to Artifact Thieves
Talk of the Nation: The Social History of the Afterlife
All Things Considered: Creative Spaces: Jazz Lab
All Things Considered: Remembering Henri Cartier-Bresson

Stray Toasters

• Lightning’s latest/favorite trick: Climbing up your leg and back when you aren’t looking. And the little bugger’s quick, too! One minute, he’s nowhere to be seen… the next, claw-climb! (A variation of this trick is for him to climb the screen on the sliding glass door. And he’s shared this trick with Presto.)
• linked me to A Softer World. I’m hooked.
  
  

• I make a tasty pot of coffee.
• Slashdot Poll: How long will Ken Jennings go?
  Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month-and-a-half, you should know who Ken Jennings is. If, for some reason, you don’t know who he is…. He’s the longest-running, highest winning champion on Jeopardy!

• sent me this. Doom.
• I came across katiet.com when I read an article on Slashdot (The Saga of Katie.com). It’s an interesting site and has some good information about Internet identity safety.
• For reasons that we have yet to determine, we’ve been (sporadically) getting The Salt Lake Tribune. Neither of us subscribed to it; we’ve considered it, but we haven’t made any effort to actually do so. Gleaned from yestermorn’s edition (on the front page, no less):
  

  HBO says ‘I do’ to drama about Utah polygamist
  HBO and actor-producer Tom Hanks thing Utah polygamists are ready for prime time.

  Hanks… is producing “Big Love,” a new drama series about a Utah polygamist and his three wives that will premiere in the summer of 2005, according to HBO, which approved the project Monday. The pilot has already been filmed and the network has ordered 10 more episodes.

  “Big Love” is a modern-day portrayal of a fictional polygamist family living in an “upscale development” in Utah, according to the script of the pilot episode.

  The show is a day-to-day look at one family that strives to be an even-handed depiction of the polygamist culture, according to a source within the network.

  It wasn’t known if any polygamist families were consulted for the series. But Mary Batchelor, director of the advocacy group Principle Voices of Polygamy, said filmmakers associated with the production requested to sit in on a Bluffdale meeting of the Apostolic United Brethren – the Owen Allred group – to learn more about how polygamists dress.

  “I look forward and am hopeful it will be an honest portrayal. I’m reticent. I’m wondering what their sources are,” said Batchelor, a former plural wife who still believes in the principles of polygamy.

  Vicki Prunty, director of Tapestry Against Polygamy, a support group for those leaving polygamous families, is reserved in her opinion of the show. “It just really depends on how it’s put together,” said Prunty, a former sister wife to Batchelor. “We would hate to see a production that misleads people into polygamy if they glamorized it, if they showed that the grass was greener on the other side. We’ll just have to watch and see.”

• What do you get when you cross Bazooka Bubble Gum with Survivor? Something that looks like this.
• Pearls Before Swine
  

• iTunes (Part IV) – Mary, sweet mother of Jesus…
  I discovered just how bad the mp3 problem is. Not only did iTunes reorganize the mp3s, it completely renamed the files. So, now I not only get to tag or retag the mp3s, I have to rename almost all of the files. “Braincramp” doesn’t even begin to cover this one. This… this goes directly to “clusterfuck.” Do not pass ‘Go.’ Do not collect $200.

  Fortunately, MusicMatch can do batch renaming after I get the tags done. Whenever the Hell that is.

• ALOE TALON BRONZER
• : Take a look at this.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Not too much to report about the early part of the day.

I spent part of the evening mowing the back forty. It’s amazing how much the grass back there grew – in a week! I’m probably going to raise the blade height next time I mow it. I think that I took out a sprinkler head, too. *ARGH* But, the lawn is mowed. Tomorrow, I’ll tackle the front yard and parking strip.

Dinner tonight came courtesy of Sampan. Beef Lo Mein.

Stray Toasters

• The 2005 IKEA catalog is available online. Now. The print edition will be available next month.
• By way of : Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting…
• showed me this ‘review’ of Kitty Litter Catwoman.
  I countered with this review.

• We Didn’t Start the Fire Historical Context
  Someone had a lot of free time…

• Cyril Connelly?
  No… “semi-carnally.”

• iTunes (Part I) – I finally sussed out how to import the files from Enterprise into my iTunes library on Pegasus. After about 4 misstarts, I got it done. And the evil revels can now begin: I can see how many Tropicana Twister-like “remixes” I can make by playing songs on iTunes and Winamp. I believe that the first item(s) will be finally seeing just how easy it is to combine Closer (NIN) and Come Together (The Beatles or Aerosmith). On a cursory listen, it sounds like they should mesh fairly well… give or take a few beats per minute.
• showed me this earlier while we were playing a game of “One Up.” I showed it to . I haven’t heard from her since. I’m hoping that she didn’t explode.
• iTunes (Part II) – Hmm. I just noticed how iTunes “reconfigured” the mp3s on Enterprise. Almost every song that I had not organized by artist now has its own folder. Curiouser and curiouser…
• Also from : JusticeLeague.org – Friends of hers and the marathons in which they have run. In costume. Very funny.
• By way of Slashdot: NTSB Recommends Black Boxes for All Cars
• iTunes (Part III) – It was worse than I thought: iTunes decided that it should determine how some mp3s should be filed… and then scattered the rest into “Unknown Artist/Unknown Album” folders. This most likely has something to do with the mp3 tags… or lack thereof. This is going to take some work to undo or modify. *sigh* Did I mention that it also renamed the files whose tags it didn’t grok? It did. It stripped them down to “Artist – CD – Track Number”. *braincramp*
• I’m all for GUIs – and I think that voice recognition is an interesting input method – but I don’t see anything wrong with typing. (flashback to Scotty trying to talk to the Macintosh in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home…) The Christian Science Monitor “has an article on how some schools have stopped teaching touch-typing as a necessary office skill.”
• If you have watched/read/listened to the news over the last couple of weeks, I’m fairly sure that you have heard of the Lori Hacking case, here in SLC. I just found out that someone I know is related to her family.
• The Ethical Precepts and Philosphical Tenets of Zen Buddhism
• The new OfficeMax “Rubberband Man” Back-to-School commercial is funny.
• Also from : How to Be a Villain (co-written by one of her LJ.org friends) and VillainSupply.com

Quote of the Day
From the latest Obey your Thirst commercials for Sprite:

Congratulations on your no-prize, didn’t win nothin’ victory.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Three days have already passed and I should really get to this before I forget anyone else: Happy Birthday to the August kids:

• (belated)

Today’s been pretty good. I worked on my resume a bit more, this time with a couple of reference books and a cup of hot mocha goodness.

It stormed (a few times) this afternoon. It almost reminded me of the storms back home. Almost.

The evening ended with dinner at Cheers with and . And that’s pretty much a guaranteed good way to top off the day.

Stray Toasters

• Dad made it back to B’more without incident. He said that the plane even got there a little early… “but people didn’t seem to know how to get off the plane.”
• I mentioned Ray Lewis on the cover of Madden NFL 2005 last night. Well, in today’s email from the Ravens’ mailing list, was this. If anyone feels moved to buy and send either or both of those to me, go with that feeling.
• : Click here.
• and : Click here, here, here and here
• : A little bit about the last days of the LSH under Gail Simone’s pen can be found here.
• It seems as though Flare, a comic that hasn’t been published in about 10 years, is returning to print.
• Controlling Anger — Before It Controls You
• I just had a thought of the intersection of Routes 29 and 108, In Columbia. I remember sitting at the light there, on the way to school. But that was many mornings ago. They’ve reconstructed it into an overpass with a cloverleaf. It’s funny what kind of things just come to you out of the blue.
• M.C. Escher: The Official Website
• I don’t recall who posted comments about The 4400 on USA, but the station will rebroadcast all six episodes, including the finale, on Sunday. Check local listings.
• When I first saw something for Team America: World Police, I thought that someone had dug out their old 80s Marvel comics and were planning on doing a movie based on Team America, a sextet of motorcycle-riding… heroes. (*shrug* It was the best word that sort of fits.) I was happily mistaken. It’s… oh, what the Hell: Take a look for yourself. I dare you not to laugh.

Namaste.

Monday
Blah blah blah.

Tonight was poker night. , and joined us. The cards were shuffled and dealt. The vodka flowed. And a good time was had.

We followed up the gaming with Much Ado About Nothing. I haven’t seen it in at least five years. It was good to see it again; I’d even consider it as a future purchase.

Stray Toasters

• After staying up much (oh so much) later than I had planned, Pegasus is now running OS X.
• Despite the protestations of adolescents around the world, sometimes a midday nap is a wonderful thing.
• Who’s that on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 2005?
  Why, it’s none other than the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis, NFL Defensive Player of the Year. (Like I needed another reason to get this game…)

• Dave4 showed me this. Pretty slick and it’s a little more effective than paint cards… as long as an Interweb connection is available.
• Do you want your house to stand out in your neighborhood? Check out CastleMagic Castle Builders
  (Please check with your Homeowners’ Association before breaking ground.)

• Life with a gamer… brought to you by:
• For : Jim Lee’s next project will be the first six issues of the much rumored “Batman & Robin” book. (from Comic Book Resources)
• From USA Today: Best and least-read cities
• Also from USA Today: Poll: Which of these songs is the most inappropriate for kids’ sing-along CDs?
  This is something that I have wondered about since I first heard about some of these CDs on Cartoon Network.

Namaste.

Sunday
After a good time – and a very late night – at breakfast, morning came early. We headed north to help Dee and Kim (and the boys) move. This makes four moves that I have helped with in the past six weeks. This was a pretty easy move. Except for moving the washing machine. But we did it. And we got a set of four barstools out of it, too. If we only had a bar…

Stray Toasters

• Dad and Sib3 made it to Stillwater, apparently without incident.
• From Popular Science: Developing supersonic planes designed to minimize sonic booms
• “Casino Royale with cheese….” That’s right. I’m throwing Samuel L. Jackson’s name into the ring as a candidate for the next James Bond.
• Celebrity Poker Showdown Gotta catch some tips for Poker night.
• ReverseSpeech
• Next weekend is “Quentin Tarantino Weekend” on Bravo. They will feature Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
• Valley of the Dinosaurs is on Boomerang. Listening to the opening narration, I was reminded of the old DC Comics series The Warlord (1, 2). (Most people would point out the similarities with The Land of the Lost, leave it to me to compare it with a comic book.) In Valley, a family is caught in a whirlpool that drags them into an subterranean world where dinosaurs and “cavemen” still exist. In The Warlord, USAF Maj. Travis Morgan wound up entering the subterranean world of Skartaris when he flew his SR-71 (!) through an uncharted area in the Arctic.
• The West Wing tonight… wow.
• Unforeseen problems with computer upgrades:
• Reason #1 of ‘Why NOT to piss off your wife in Thailand’
• Do we really need a prequel to The Exorcist? I think not.

Quote of the Day

[22:54] *UglyKid* so why does Han Solo always have to dress diff then every one else?
[22:54] *UglyKid* honestly
[22:55] *Mtndude* pirate
[22:55] *Link`* hes also a leading role? gotta stand out
[22:55] *UglyKid* when they are on Hoth they all have the same outfit..cept Han..he has some blue fury number
[22:56] *Mtndude* it fit the moment
[22:56] He’s not a Republic officer.
[22:56] *UglyKid* but Luke dresses like every one else…and he is the lead
[22:56] *Link`* yea but hes blonde
[22:56] He’s just working with them.
[22:56] *Link`* he still sticks out
[22:56] *Link`* yea that too, han is like a hired mercenary
[22:56] *UglyKid* how about when there on the moon of Endor…and every one is wearing a camo uniform…and he just has a trench coat
[22:56] Simple answer: Han is still a private citizen, not a soldier.
[22:57] *Mtndude* mercs are the best soldiers
[22:57] *Link`* whoa uve thought about this way to much
[22:57] …until the Endor campaign.
[22:57] *UglyKid* bah..hes already working with the rebels by empire
[22:57] *tontovila* han is the token gay guy, and thus, has a better sense of fasion than the rest?

ANd that’s a wrap.

Too little sleep was countered, very well, by two glasses of ‘ homemade mocha freeze. *nod*

I spent most of the early part of the day watching Megas XLR on Cartoon Network’s “Saturday Block Party.” It’s a bit (a LARGE bit) on the silly side, but fun. I was drawn in when a voice in the first ep sounded like Bruce Campbell. So, a quick click to IMDb was called for. Yep, Mr. Campbell, indeed. The next episode had an actor who sounded like Michael Dorn. IMDb to the rescue again… And, I was two for two! Hoo-AH!

I cleaned up around the house. Played bass. Played with the Sissy and the kittens.

I had an epiphany around 4:00 – I have an East Coast feed for Cartoon Network and I wanted to be sure that I had the VCR set properly to record Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited. I checked DirecTV’s online guide. And then I saw it: The shows started at 6:00. Which meant that JLU would be on at 6:30… when I would be on the way to get Jess. *braincramp* So, I set the VCR and decided NOT to watch Titans, but to catch both of them on tape when I got back. And that’s what I did.

Wow.

The Teen Titans episode was based (loosely) on “The Judas Contract.” If you read The Teen Titans in the late 80s/early 90s, you know what I’m talking about. It was well done. There will definitely be repercussions of this throughout the season.

Then, it was time for “The Big Dance.” I had read some preview press about the show (but no spoilers). The title sequence and music have changed – I don’t mind the imagery, but the music left a little something to be desired. I was a little worried about how they would deal with wrapping stories up in thirty-minute episodes, as they are not doing multi-episode arcs. I shouldn’t have worried. It was just fine. Perfect, even. And the writing is still spot on – the interactions of Green Lantern’s team was just what you’d expect from two ex-military men, a “rebel” with an eye out for the little guy and a super-powered teenager. But, it worked. Well. I was quite happy. And I’m looking forward to next weekend’s episode.

Time to head out for a bite to eat and 2-D Physics.

<post 2-D Physics edit>

Scores: 182 – 157 – 151 – 217 – 141

</post 2-D Physics edit>

Namaste.

Friday
Need more be said? I didn’t think so.

I went to the office this morning, checked on a few things. Left the office and headed over to see , and a few others for a bit. There was even an… I’m not sure if “encounter” is the right word, but we’ll use it… with KKKaren. She’s an odd duck.

Came home. Updated my resume. Did a load of dishes. Found my OS X CDs!!! Contemplated giving the Win2K PC a lobotomy – I’ll do it either tonight or tomorrow. Hooked up my bass to the stereo; I haven’t gotten around to hooking up with Jonni to pick up the amp that he’s giving me. But, I can now play my bass! And, the bottom line is: That makes me happy.

Coffee and chat with the regular irregulars; and her husband stopped in for a bit. I am 98.6% positive that we saw a couple of shoplifters. I told a couple of staff members, but they couldn’t do anything about it – basically, they “aren’t allowed” to do anything, if the person gets out of the store. Coffee was followed by dinner and more chat. Bill, and his missus put in an appearance here.

Bill came over after dinner. He asked about the refrigerator just outside of the garage. I told him that the previous owner had left it for scrap, but that I thought that it would make a neat beer fridge… if it worked. After a month here, I still hadn’t plugged the thing in.

So, we moved it into the garage.
We plugged it in…

And the damned thing WORKS!

Who knew?!? Even the light inside came on! The catch on the door is broken and the door wants to remain slightly ajar – that is definitely bad for keeping the inside cold. It is currently being held shut with a bungee cord. Hey, don’t laugh, it works. I think that I might try using magnetic strips to hold it shut; as old as the fridge is, I think that trying to find – let alone replace – the catch mechanism would be something of a lost cause. But, it works!

Stray Toasters

• I have been hunting, unsuccessfully, for an item that I heard on BBC World Service last night about jumping spiders and the sounds that they make during their mating dance. I think that it would make a great companion to the article that found about the spiders.
• Even though the coloring is off, the caption below this picture made me laugh.
• But so did the first two lines of the “Why you should get to know me” portion (bottom of the page) of this personal ad on Nerve.
• I was looking over an old 991 (U.S.P.S. version of a resume) last night. In it were some comments that one of my supervisors made about my work performance and how I interacted with my fellow employees. She said a lot of nice things. Nothing like an unexpected (or, in this case, “forgotten”) pick-me-up to add a bright spot to your day.
• : Take a peek at this.
• Desert. Camo. Pants. *shiver*
• “Nerves of steel” are one thing, this man has earned the nickname “Iceman.”
• From Wired News: Sixth Annual U.K. Big Brother Awards
• Pseudodictionary
• By way of Backwash: Merlin’s Lists of Five Things

I should probably sleep now.

Namaste.

Thursday
One more to the weekend. Amen.

The twins have discovered the joys of walking around on my desk. It’s kind of cute. Of course, when they jump and climb claw their way up my leg to get there, that drops a little of the cuteness factor. Kittens, cute. Kittens with claws, working their way up your legs and back, not so cute. And, Presto seems to be of the opinion that if we are eating, she should be able to have a portion of whatever we’re eating, too. And she can be rather persistent about it. And that’s kind of cute.

News Stories
Talk of the Nation: Writers’ Views: The Art of the Essay
Talk of the Nation: DNA Discoverer Francis Crick Dies at 88
All Things Considered: Rash of Stolen ATMs in Georgia Puts Police on Alert
All Things Considered: FBI Translator’s Firing May Have Links to Complaints
All Things Considered: Synthetic Prions Cause Brain Disease in Mice

I watched John Kerry deliver his nomination acceptance speech. Not bad, but John Edwards is definitely the warmer of the two. Watching him, I kept wondering if there was anything to the rumors as to whether or not he’s had botox injections.

I don’t know why, but apparently CNN had a live microphone near David Burke (I think), Director of the DNC. He was trying to coordinate the balloon and confetti drop at the climax of the speech. Well, they didn’t drop as quickly as he wanted. He kept barking at people to release the them from the rafters. No matter how much he yelled, they only fell a few groups at a time. At one point, you could actually hear him say: “Where the fuck are the balloons?!?!?” (I wonder if the FCC will decide that this is a fine-worthy offense or if it is a case of the rare and elusive “acceptable use.”

Stray Toasters

• “Damned rolling blackouts.”
  (This is funny if you saw tonight’s Whose Line Is It Anyway?)

• A commercial for the Gillette Venus ‘Divine’ razor was just on. In it, they showed an actress “shaving” her legs from ankle to knee. *blink blink* As someone who shaves his head daily, it has always been my understanding that you want to “go with the grain” of the hair growth. Does this not hold true when shaving your legs?
• “You bastards know that you have to invite me in, right?”
  

• By way of Comics2Film:
  

  From the looks of the premiere of Justice League Unlimited, the animated series will certainly be returning to the hearts and minds of animation fans across the globe with tons of potential.

  The article was taken from another site, so I checked it out. While browsing, I looked at some of the site’s character info. Former Teen Titans Hawk and Dove will be introduced in JLU. What caught my eye was the voice actors, Jason Hervey and Fred Savage… who also played brothers on The Wonder Years.

• When good upgrades go bad…
• Slashdot poll: Most Reliable Personal Computer I’ve Owned
• From The BBC: Tolkein vs. Critics in 1954
• “Segway Polo?” What will they think of next?
• Ray Parker, Jr.’s musical career came to a grinding, screeching halt because of his use of the bass line from Huey Lewis and the News’ I Want a New Drug. However, if you have a copy of Pop Musik, by M, listen to the bassline. Sound familiar?

I’m going for a drive.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Midweek. I’m just ready for the week to be over. Being alone in the office got old, so I headed to Borders for some light, movement and a strawberry-banana smoothie. Sometimes, it’s the little changes that make the big differences. and stopped in, too.

Talked with my father a couple of times today. All’s well on that side of the country; he and Adam will be heading to Stillwater on Friday.

and stopped by briefly this evening; they needed to borrow our two-way radios for their vacation.

News Stories
Talk of the Nation: The Enduring Appeal of Roller Coasters
All Things Considered: Doctors’ Group Pulls Out of Afghanistan
All Things Considered: Alabama Nurses Quit over Morning-After Pill
All Things Considered: MRI Proves a Better Test for Some Breast Cancers
Fresh Air: Interview with Rock and Roll Photographer Mick Rock

I watched John Edwards’ speech during the Democratic National Convention this evening. It was good. He seemed to be rather decisive and definitive in his proclamations. (In contrast to his running mate, whom some would say has made so many waffles that he could apply for a job at Roscoe’s Waffle and Chicken Hut.) Sen. Edwards also seems to know how to appeal to the crowd. I have even heard a couple of pundits say that the Kerry/Edwards ticket might be more effective if it was the Edwards/Kerry ticket. If the Democratic ticket doesn’t win the election, keep an eye on Mr. Edwards. I think that he will definitely be one to watch.

Stray Toasters

• From Nyx: This post from and also not totally work safe, but pretty cool.
• You only thought that you knew everything about what VP Cheney said to Senator Leahy. Read the rest of the story here. (Unfortunately, I can’t remember who sent it to me.)
• Black Canary, Oracle and Superman are in a hospital room…
  No, really. (Canary’s comment in the lower left panel made me laugh.)

• By way of : “Simpsons”: A Gay Old Time and Grumpy Gamer
• By way of Backwash: Zen and the Art of Proper Bathroom Maintenance
• Justice League Unlimited premieres on Saturday with “Initiation.” I knew that the episode would feature Supergirl, Green Arrow and Captain Atom. What I didn’t know was who was leading them in the field. Three guesses who it is. Here are a few hints: Freshly-shaved head. Goatee. Has a ring that some consider to be potentially the most powerful weapon in the universe. Wears black and green. Yeah. Him.
• Find a sleazy bar near you.
  (It even includes a bar here in Salt Lake City.)

• And, since we’ve had fun at his expense already: Poker with Dick Cheney

That’s enough for now.

Namaste.