Random Access

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
Sleeping in is what happens when your body says that it needs more rest than you gave it in the previous 48 hours.

I missed going to the gym this morning, but I don’t run the risk of falling asleep at work. That’s a decent trade-off. And I can always double-up a couple of workouts this week.

And from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Couple names son version 2.0. Strange.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming (already in progress).

…and all is well.

The Panthers didn’t win, but they played a good game. The commercials were hit-and-miss… but entertaining. We had a few people over to watch the game with us. And to play HALO after the game. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we enjoyed having them over. We’ll have to do it again soon. Even if it’s a “no reason” kind of thing.

Stray Toasters

• NPR’s Car Talk has made the switch from RealPlayer to Windows Media Player. Their reasons are solid, but rather amusing.
• Witch Hunter Robin, coming soon to Cartoon Network, looks interesting.
• Three people, rocket launchers, grenades and a small map. Amen.
• Can the Atkins diet give you gout? It might…

• And that, good people, is why he got dolled up and dropped by
  With sixty elephants, llamas galore
  With his bears and lions
  A brass band and more
  With his forty fakirs, his cooks, his bakers
  His birds that warble on key
  Make way for prince Ali!

• What to Do When Your Desk Is a Disaster
• When looking for a place to hang out with friends (coffeehouse or something along those lines), what do you look for? If you were setting up this kind of place, what would it have in it or what would it provide?
• By way of Backwash: What do you get when you cross Charlie Brown and Outkast? This. And, it’s damned funny, too.

That’s it.

Namaste.

A couple of quick notes and then I’m off to finish the pre-Super Bowl preparations…

• Black History Month starts today.
  It’s a good opportunity to learn about facets of American history of which you may not have been aware.

• For : You win again this week. I only got 1.9 games (157 and a 120-something in the 9th). We had more people show up than normal and only had one lane. *sigh* There’s always next weekend…
• : It was good meeting you (finally). I hope that we didn’t scare you or make you think “I never want to be seen with these people again…”
• Groundhog Day is tomorrow. I’m not sure that I care whether or not Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not: Winter weather in Utah lasts (more or less) for eight months. We’ll still be seeing snow well into April or May.

Football Wrap-Up

Carolina at New England
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Kickoff: 6:25 PM ET
This is what twenty weeks of football comes down to. There has been a lot of talk in the news about this not being a glamorous Super Bowl – because there aren’t any “big teams” or “big stars” in it. Correct me, if I’m mistaken, but didn’t Tom Brady lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl victory just two years ago? I think so. In fact, I’m positive that he did. On a more basic level: It’s a good excuse to have people over and have a party. And, it should go without saying that I would like to see the young upstarts from Carolina win the game.

And now… off to finish getting ready.

Namaste.

I checked out the Utah IRC channel to make sure that I didn’t have to snap my virtual foot off in someone’s ass and saw that Maddox was in there. I don’t recall seeing him in there before – at least not since I’ve been managing the channel – but we may have actually met a few years ago at a channel gathering. (It really is a small world, after all…)

He mentioned a site that’s petitioning to get his site banned from the Internet: Mothers Against Maddox. I read their “About” page and nearly doubled over from laughter.

I jokingly told him that I was going to sign the petition since he “…is a threat to children.” He said that he was going to post the URL to the MAM site on his site “…you know, to help her out.”

He makes me laugh.
We’ll have to go out for coffee soon.

Friday
End of the workweek.
Beginning of Super Bowl Weekend.
Selah.

It snowed tonight. I called my dad to share that with him. He told me how cold it is in the house where he’s staying (he’s currently in L.A.); he then laughed and said “You know, [I don’t] do well in the cold.” I told him that I think that trait is genetic.

Coffee and dinner were good tonight. We didn’t find anything as amusing as The Idiot’s Guide to Tantric Sex this week, but the cover of Picture had something of an upskirt shot on the cover that had me exclaiming “Crotch!” every once in a while… similar to the time that Land stood up and blurted out “Penis” at the REC (in the Quote of the Day).

Stray Toasters

• From Slashdot: Microsoft Advises to Type in URLs Rather than Click. The last sentence makes this worthwhile.
• Beyonce Knowles will not be Lois Lane in the new (if it ever gets made) Superman movie. *whew*
• 101 Dumbest Moments in Business
• For : Personal Bubble Fairies
• From Wired News: Gay Marriage Poll Gets Annulled
• Sinfest often makes me laugh. This comic, from the site’s early days, did.
• When I was young and would hear the phrase “guerrilla warfare” on the news I would always wonder “Why are apes fighting?!” It just didn’t make sense to me. Then I learned the differences between “guerrilla” and “gorilla.” That made things a bit more clear.
• More Utah driver madness.

You’d think that having been up for 20 hours that I would be far more tired than I am. I don’t know if I’ve caught my “second wind” or not, but I should probably make an effort to get some sleep.

Namaste.

Overslept, but still made it to the gym. Hoo-AH! I was going to skip cardio, but I got on the bike and watched SportsCenter and The Best Damn Sports Show Ever for a few minutes. I did skip my leg routine and worked on chest and biceps today. *shrug* I’ll make up for it next week.

I think that I’m starting to get used to getting up early. Again. Who would have thought that possible. I am a self-avowed “not a morning person” person.

Time to finish getting ready and get something to eat before heading out.

Have a good Friday.

Thursday (coda)
Jess. One date – plus four years – later, we’re still together. I should probably put that as the possibly more correct: “She still puts up with me.” I remember my friends’ reaction the first time that I took her back to the east coast: “She’s… sane.” (They like to remind me that I had a penchant for dating women who were high maintenance. Or psychotic. Or both.)

Post-work, we went to see a preview Hidalgo. and were there, too. It was pretty good. Even with kids sitting behind us. And, I was glad to see that they didn’t fall prey to “We have to stick a gratuitous love scene in here to make it sell…” There was tension – with both of the female co-stars – but they handled it well. And there was Omar Sharif, too! Two for the price of one. What a bargain. (Even though we had complimentary passes.) After the movie, we adjourned to Olive Garden.

NPR Stories
Morning Edition: Control-Alt-Delete and Restart
Morning Edition: Teen’s Conviction Fuels Mandatory Sentencing Debate
Morning Edition: ‘The Midnight Disease’: Compulsive Writing
Talk of the Nation: Sex Education in America
Talk of the Nation: Art Collecting
Talk of the Nation: Promises to Keep

Stray Toasters

• Paramount is looking at doing a live-action G.I. Joe movie. I’m not sure how I feel about that…
• “They’re playing Magic…”
• I don’t know what SLCPD was out to prove, but they were all over town tonight.
• Pixar said “See ya later” to their deal with Disney. This could prove interesting.
• By way of Slashdot: Nit-picker’s Guide to Deviations in Jackson’s LotR Can you say “Too much free time,” boys and girls?
• Bucky and Furry.
• XBox going to $99?! Xbox2 in stores next year?! Read.

Going to bed very last night/this morning made getting out of bed something of a challenge this morning. But, I did it. And went to the gym; I had a good workout. I think that I prefer going in the morning rather than at night – I get to use the worked-out muscle groups throughout the day rather than coming home afterwards and just sitting around/going to bed… and being incredibly stiff and sore the next morning.

All of this to build a better human… which isn’t a bad thing.

Time for a quick bite to eat and then on to the day.

Namaste.

Wednesday (Part II)
The rest of the day was good. And it ended with friends and coffee.

Public Radio Stories
Morning Edition: Testimony Begins in Martha Stewart Trial (for )
Morning Edition: Commentary – Super Bowl Camaraderie
Talk of the Nation: The FCC and Obscenity (This was a very good segment.)
Fresh Air: Pete Rose Interview

Stray Toasters

• Talked with Dad earlier. The formerly-foreign-based member of the sibko is home and seems none the worse for wear. I will probably talk with her tomorrow.
• Early computers took up many rooms. Later generations managed to get into a single room. And then desktops. And laptops. Even palmtops. Now, there’s a computer that will fit under your collar.
• Is it just me or does the Ultimate (Marvel) Universe Sue Storm look like Martha Stewart? Not necessarily a dead ringer, but that’s who she reminds me of.
• Scott Summers and Emma Frost. Enemies. Teammates. Lovers?! Maybe. Who would have thought…?
• “lazy furry red squished things” (edited)
• Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things…)
  Don’t you know you’re driving your
  Mamas and Papas insane…

• “It’s not easy being green?” This would suggest otherwise.
• “I don’t know Raist. I’d say ‘Bunnies.’ “

Namaste.

I woke up early this morning to make up for the workout that I didn’t do last night. Getting out of bed and on the way was a bit of an issue, but I managed to do so. It was a slightly abbreviated workout, but it was a workout, nonetheless. And, it was a good one.

Now, it’s all about facing the rest of the day.

Good Wednesday to all.

::: addendum :::
Sometimes, there are stories in the news that offer a little bit of hope against the feeling that humanity is circling the drain.

This is one of those stories. I actually saw this on one of the TVs at the gym this morning.
::: end addendum :::

Tuesday
Another day with blue skies… for a while. Clouds rolled in as the day progressed, but that was fine. They were high clouds and did not make it feel like we were living in a dirty fishbowl once again.

NPR Stories
Talk of the Nation: Women and Corporate Leadership
Talk of the Nation: Cultural History of Mars (<-- lots o' science and sci-fi) All Things Considered: Martha Stewart’s Fraud Trial Begins (for )

Stray Toasters

• While looking at The Starship Destiny, I saw that Sean had a note saying that he had removed TSD from Buzzcomix. Being the curious type, I went to Buzzcomix and checked out a few of the offerings: Chugworth Academy, Dinosaur Comics and Also Coin Operated. A couple of the standouts were: This and this…. and this, too.
• Dyscalculia (1, 2). It may sound funny, but it’s not.
• By now, you’ve most likely heard of the “MyDoom” virus. In case you haven’t it is performing a denial of service attack on SCO (the company that’s taking Linux to task). Apparently, SCO is offering a $250,000 bounty for the capture/arrest of the author of the virus.
• Would it be too much to ask for Departments of Transportation to mix reflective or glow-in-the-dark dye into the paint that they use to stripe roads? Maybe it’s just me, but I think that it would solve a lot of night and/or inclement weather driving issues.
• A gadzillion things to think about… (Cats)
  Unfortunately, no one asked about Teflon-coating a cat or at what velocity would a Teflon-coated cat have to travel in order to stop a fully-loaded semi.

• Hey, Nikita, is it cold
  In your little corner of the world?

• Virtual Attractiveness
• Coffee (More from GorillaSuit.com)

Namaste.

Monday
I had a slow start to the day. I was up when the alarm went off, but couldn’t muster the motivation to get moving for about 00:45. *sigh* The day was made much better by the fact that I could see the mountains on either side of the valley and… blue sky and the sun! It looked like the inversion has lifted for the most part! Hallelujah!

And, as an added bonus, there was no major doom at tonight’s tabletop gaming session. Next week’s game… *shrug* We can always hope.

NPR Stories
Weekend Edition – Sunday: Privacy Groups Wary of Rental-Car Tracking Devices
Morning Edition: Food Crime
Morning Edition: Space Tourism Race Heats Up
Talk of the Nation: Tennessee Honor Roll (privacy law issue)
Talk of the Nation: The Flickering Mind
Talk of the Nation: Online Reality
All Things Considered: Supreme Court to Review Executions of Juvenile Killers

Stray Toasters

• sent this to me. It made me laugh.
  No Yeti or penguins were harmed in the making of this game. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

• From Slashdot: Part of Patriot Act Ruled Unconstitutional
• From Slashdot: Microsoft vs. MikeRoweSoft.com
• Do you like Law & Order? Do you like coloring books? Now, you can have the best of both!

I should call it a night soon.

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• Sissy again decided to be the center of attention this morning. At least she waited until 10:30 today. I got up and came into the Halo Command Center and half watched TV/half let the TV watch me nap.
• Dad called this morning. Nothing much, just touching base. All seems to be well on the eastern front. And, apparently, it’s cold there too.
• I was looking around Comics2Film and clicked on the C2F Cinema link for a short that someone did called: Wonder Woman: Battle of Justice. It linked to the movie on iFilm. Definitely a fanboy/fangirl piece, but cute. From there, however, I saw a link for Batman: Dead End. I’d heard about it and the accolades that it had received, but never seen it. Now I see why people were so impressed with it.
• Looking at some of the other links on IFilm, I saw a link for something called Supertalk. The best description of it would be: “What if Dr. Laura had superheroes calling her show?” It was rather funny.
• The storm last night accomplished more than just coating the valley with a fresh blanket of snow. It also seems to have gotten rid of some of the inversion. Thank God.
• I need (translated: “I really want…”) a new Wacom tablet now that my Graphire has an unusable area on it.
• Jess just asked me to check the vacuum cleaner hose for blockage. Yay.
• I’ve been reading A Thin Red Line. I’m not very far into it (Chapter 14), but I like it.
• In light of the things that has drawn on my head (and since I haven’t posted this in the two (or three) years that I’ve had it), I finally found the CD with pics of the first thing that drew on me. Here it is:
  

And that’s all I have to say. For now.

Namaste.

I don’t know if I’d call it a “wonderland.” It’s just another bout of snow falling in the Salt Lake Valley.

Dinner with Catherine and Land was good; I prepared a chicken and rice dinner with salad (the salad was pre-fab, but it handled the vegetable content of the meal rather well). We also watched The Ring. Jess, Catherine and I had seen it; Land hadn’t… but he and Catherine had seen Scary Movie 3, which spoofed a good portion of it.

Bowling wasn’t too bad. After my warm-up game. That was a 99. Wa-fuckin-hoo. The other games weren’t bad: 167 – 136 – and 148 (our session ended as we were going into the 8th frame). Post-bowling breakfast was good, too.

And, did I mention: It’s snowing? I did? Okay. Just wanted to make sure.

That’s enough for now.

Namaste.

Not a lot going on today:

• Sissy decided that I needed to wake up at 9:28 this morning. Fortunately, after a few pets on the head and scratches on her back, she was satisfied and wandered off to parts unknown. I went back to sleep.
• Winter X Games VIII are on ESPN. From a couple of the camera angles, you could see the skier with the chase cam. I’d never really considered who followed the boarders and skiers before today.
• : I found something that I think you might like.
• Airport 1975 is on AMC. The flight made it’s emergency landing in Salt Lake City. This must really be “the place.” They showed shots of the SLC valley as the plane was on approach; it looks pretty… barren. There is also some interesting trivia attached to this movie (courtesy of IMDb). Given how skittish we seem to have become about “political correctness” and “homeland security” and any other catchphrase-of-the-minute, would movies like the Airport series make it in today’s entertainment market?
• From NPR’s Weekend Edition: Saturday – The Face Bra: An Uplifting Experience
• From NPR’s All Things Considered: Weekend – ‘At Last’: Cyndi Lauper’s Standard Issue

I should probably get moving, as we’re having company for dinner… and I need to do some cleaning. And cooking.

Namaste.