Random Access

Tuesday
Okay, let’s get the important item out of the way first: It snowed today. There wasn’t much (any) accumulation here in the valley, but it looks like the mountains and the benches (foothills) got a bit.

As for the rest of the day:

• Slept in a bit.
• Worked.
• Went to B&N for some drawrin’ time, since I didn’t go last night.
• Stopped by m3lody and ‘s place for a bit to get some drawrin’ tips from m3l.

Song of the Day
Nights in White Satin and In Your Wildest Dreams by the Moody Blues. When I was younger, the spoken part at the end of Nights used to scare me. It wasn’t anything in the words… it was the voice. It just plain creeped me out.

Stray Toasters
None today; check back tomorrow.

Namaste.

Monday (coda)
A good day. Not too much to report.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – Christmas Music with Ensemble Galilei

All Things Considered – Missing Florida Girl, Eco-Warrior (commentary), ‘The Cat in the Hat’, Interview with Jubilant Sykes, ‘Rocket Science’

Quote of the Day
Tonight’s quote comes from Ted Rogers, Jr., the most recent “castaway” from Survivor; he was on The Late Show with David Letterman. Dave asked him about his strategy for staying in the game. Ted’s response:

My overall strategy was solid… up until I got voted off.

Stray Toasters

• Trent Lott. Ladies and gentlemen, meet America’s newest pariah.
• I can’t believe that I forgot to add this song to the “If I Never Hear It Again, EVERYDAY Would Be Christmas” list: Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Words cannot sufficiently express how much I abhor this song. And… AND… It seems as though someone had the novel idea of making a cartoon based on the song. *sigh* Circling the drain, I tell you.
• On the flipside: I do like Snoopy’s Christmas (also known as Snoopy vs. the Red Baron and I did find myself bopping along to Wonderful Christmas Time (by Paul McCartney and Wings) earlier this evening.
• It’s supposed to snow tonight. It hasn’t started here, yet. But this is Utah. And it is closing in on Winter. Snow is inevitable.
• Why do I like my comics shop? I stopped in Saturday night to pick up whatever had come in. They “lost” my subscription this week. I know… This doesn’t sound like should go in the “Why I like…” column. When I went in, they explained that they couldn’t find it, but that they could find the books. It was a light week, so I told them that I could just wait until next week. About an hour later, I got an email, from the store, telling me that they had actually found the books (someone had misfiled them). I thought that it was cool that they took the time to email me to clarify what had happened. Customer service. That’s what it’s all about. And that, is why I like my comics shop.

That’s it for now.

Namaste.

Monday
It’s a new week. Time to hit it all over again.

Song of the Day
We’re going to kick off the new work week with something to get the blood pumping (and your body moving). We’ll call it “The Get Your Ass In Gear and Get on With It Suite”

• Nod Your Head by Will Smith,
• Body Moving by the Beastie Boys, and
• Start the Commotion (the song from the Mitsubishi Eclipse ads) by The Wiseguys.

Stray Toasters

• I got to watch an episode of Pirates of Dark Water last night on Boomerang. This was one of my favorite toons of the ’91-’92 season. It was also translated into a pretty good game for the Sega Genesis… but that’s a completely different story.
• I also caught “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and part of “The Adventures of Superman” from the 50s, starring George Reeves.
• There was a program on The History Channel about the SR-71. I watched. I was happy.

Time to move out and get on it. And, being Monday, I have football to look forward to tonight.

Namaste.

Sunday
So far, this has been a fairly lax day. And that’s just fine with me.

::: Football Update :::
Once again, all three teams are playing at the same time.

• They’re playing the Houston Texans. After a lackluster first quarter and a decent second, the Boys from Baltimore are doing all right. Both the offense and the defense are looking rather decent.

  Hmm… Houston just scored on a punt return. It was an impressive run. 76 yards. Okay, this isn’t a crippling setback. Yet.

  

• They are playing the Raiders. So far, they are up 20 – 9.

  

• Getting owned by the Steelers. Most of the 3^rd quarter is gone and they are down 20 – 7.

::: End Update :::

Stray Toasters

• Looking out this morning, There were clouds around the peaks on the Wasatch Mountains; that’s where the local ski and snowboarding resorts are located. I had the very random thought of: There are places where people really could be accused of having their heads in the clouds…
• Ian McKellan was the guest on Inside the Actor’s Studio today. I missed most of the show, but I did get to see about… :20 of it. I was reminded of why I think that he’s not only a great actor, but also an interesting man. I’m not sure if they will rebroadcast this episode soon; if they do, check it out.
• Land forwarded me an email with links to this and this. Harry Potter fanfics. “Curiouser and curiouser,” said little Alice… I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet. But, in the interest of “turnabout is fair play” and because of his little diatribe in August (in the cut tag), I sent him this link that someone on IRC.

::: Postgame Update :::

Won. Won. Lost.

The Minnesota Vikings’ QB Daunte Culpepper just organized one HELL of an end-of-the-game, game-winning drive against the New Orleans Saints. VERY impressive.
::: End Update :::

And now, time to get a little bit of cleaning done and then go to one of the local bookstores for some drawin’ time.

Namaste.

Saturday
I’m feeling “normal” today. I’m glad that whatever “gamboo” (thanks to for introducing me to that term) it was that I had has “…come and go[ne], like fashion.”¹ I went to work for what turned out to be a little more than a half-day today. It wasn’t too bad and we did get a helluva lot done. Now, I’m taking some well-deserved (non-sick) “me time.”

Stray Toasters

• Concerned about John Poindexter’s “Total Information Awareness” project? Join the club. This little nugget of joy, from Wired News. I wonder what Mr. Poindexter thinks of “Total Information” now…?
• Do you like Lego® (or know someone who does?) Do you (or that person) like Star Wars®? Well, check this out. Yes, kids, that is a Star Destroyer. And, yes, it is made entirely of Lego®. It is the biggest set ever: 3104 pieces. The perfect 2-in-1 gift for the geek/kid on your Christmas list.
• Melody and her camera have struck again… Witness the result here. Then, pray for forgiveness. PRAY!! PRAY, DAMMIT!
• I saw the newest X² trailer. It looks more or less like the last one, but they have added scenes with Nightcrawler. May 2^nd. *sigh* It’s going to be a long five months. Of course, there will be Daredevil in February to tide me over.
• And, in other “Reasons to Look Forward to Spring” news: Comics2Film had this little tidbit:
  

  DVD Toons! reports that Warner Home Video has unveiled a slate of animated comic book fare for release in Spring of next year.

  Challenge of the Superfriends,Batman Animated Series: Tales of the Dark Knight, Justice League: Justice on Trial and X-Men: Evolution: Mutants Rising are the titles slated for release on April 22, 2003. Each title will carry a suggested retail price of $19.98.

  Yup. Just what I need. MORE animated anesthesia. Now, where’s that damned IV rack…!?

Quote of the Day
: IKEA is the G rated Swedish dream…

And now, off to get into some trouble (or something) before bowlin’ time.

Namaste.

¹ – From Don’t Get Me Wrong, by The Pretenders

Friday
I feel much better today. I think that I’m back up to at least 85% of normal. True, it’s not all the way back, but it is leaps and bounds better than I felt yesterday.

Song of the Day
In light of me getting over whatever it was that I had, The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails (from the Lost Highway Soundtrack) is today’s choice for SotD. (And, just for the record: Vitamin C and Tums® were the drugs of choice.)

Stray Toasters

• I watched part of the original Ocean’s Eleven yesterday. I think that I will have to add that to the DVD collection. The movie even featured Cesar Romero in a pre-“Batman” role; I couldn’t *quite* place who he was without the chalk-white makeup and green hair, though. Thank you, IMDb!.
• Sissy, the Wonder Kitty, kept me company for most of yesterday. When I was sprawled out on the futon and napped, she curled up on my computer chair and did the same. It was cute.
• Martin Sargent, from TechTV’s The Screen Savers had a “wish list” of items that can only be referred to as “odd” or “unusual.”

Okay, that’s all for now. I’m off to attempt to put in a few hours at work and then… hmmm… I don’t know. I’m sure that I can come up with something to keep me occupied for a while this evening.

Namaste.

Thursday
I am sick.

I apparently seem to have whatever bug/virus/flu/”gamboo” that most people around here had a few weeks ago. I can say, without ANY reservations, that it is not pleasant. It set in last night around… midnight-ish and went into overdrive around 4:00 AM. For the next three hours, porcelain-cast fixtures were my new best friends. Thankfully, Jess took verra good care of me this morning – Florence Nightengale would have been proud.

Needless to say, work was not an option today. In fact, I wasn’t even able to drag myself out of bed until 1:30 PM. And that was something of an effort. So, today, I am going to sit/lie down on the futon and let the magic pictures on the television keep me company.

Song of the Day
I know that today is Triple-Play Thursday, but there is only one song on the list today: Someone to Watch Over Me, as done by Linda Rondstadt on the “Moonlighting – Original Television Soundtrack” CD. And, not only is it the sole song in the spotlight; it’s a dedication to Jess, for all that she did this morning and afternoon to see to it that I was on the road to recovery.

Stray Toasters
There are none, so far. Maybe I will post a few tonight.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Finale
All-in-all, not a bad day.

After work, Jess, Mary and I went to see The Ring. Not bad. There were a few disjointed things, but on the whole, I liked it. The movie was adapted from a Japanese novel (and movie) called Ringu. I have heard that this version isn’t quite up to the original; and I are now on a mission to find it here behind the Zion Curtain. Of course, that could be like trying to find the Holy Grail, the Spear of Destiny or the Golden Plates. But, we aren’t going to let that stop us.

NPR/PRI Stories

• Talk of the Nation – Genetic Technology and Cross Burning Case before the Supreme Court
• The World – 11 December 02 stories
• All Things Considered – “Morehouse Students Decry Anti-Gay Attitudes on Campus”; “High Court Hears Arguments on Cross-Burning Law”; Trent Lott’s Gaffe (commentary); Comedy and Race in America – Bernie Mac.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to a picture on boners.com (despite the name, it’s not what you would expect… well, some of it is, but that’s not what this ‘Toaster is about). I decided to roam around the site and found this and this and this.
• Jess had this to say about the “baptisms for the dead” issue that I mentioned yesterday. For my response, I will refer to the Rush song Totem.
• On the way to work today, I saw a plastic lighted Santa and reindeer. It reminded me of the light-up figures that my grandmother used to put in her lawn at this time of year.
• What in the Nine Hells?!? They just showed a $20,000 cell phone “communications instrument” on The Screen Savers. Twenty thousand dollars! It is the Vertu from… uh… Vertu (a division of Nokia). You can find out more about it here.
• Tyra Banks. *sigh*

Goodnight.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Morning. Midweek.
Still a little tired… but, I’m still acclimating.
And, it’s getting closer to the weekend.

Song of the Day
Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King (you know… the guy who sang Stand By Me).

And now…. off to work!

Namaste.

Tuesday (coda)
Not a bad day. It was actually kind of fun; we set up a section of the conveyor belt. Lifting it and setting it up was definitely not fun, but the sense of accomplishment that came after getting it into place… aww, yeah.

NPR/PRI Stories

• Talk of the Nation: The European Union: “What Is Europe?” (admitting new nations, excluding others) and The Central Park (NYC) Jogger Case / Criminal Confessions
• All Things Considered: Massachusetts High School Testing; Trent Lott Apology; Jimmy Carter Receives Nobel Prize; Comedy and Race in America

Stray Toasters

• I’m going to add some more songs to the “Songs I Like to Hear at Christmastime” list: The Christmas Song as done by the late Nat King Cole and Christmas Bells Are Ringing by Johnny Mathis. Also, I have to add Christmas Time Is Here, from the animated “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I’ll even throw in a “guilty pleasure” song, too: Eartha Kitt’s version of Santa Baby.
• There was a Salt Lake City city council meeting about the Main Street Plaza tonight. Why is this noteworthy? If you have to ask, then you aren’t from this neck of the woods desert. For those of you who are not familiar with this controversy, click here for more information.
• “The Church”¹ is also catching flack (again) because of a practice known as “Baptisms for the Dead.” The issue: They are performing these baptisms for victims of the Holocaust. Again. After agreeing, in 1995, that they would cease. Click here for details. As Dr. Rosenblatt would say: “It’s so bizarre…”
• I just discovered (thanks to VH-1) that the new version of Landslide that I have been hearing on the radio is by… ::: deep breath ::: The Dixie Chicks. Yes, THOSE Dixie Chicks. Who knew?! And, as I’ve mentioned before: I am not a big Wow. Well, that was a surprise.
• When did CDNow.com become a division of Amazon.com? I missed that memo. One day, I go to CDN and look up a few songs and artists; the next, I’m in Amazon-land. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!?
• Holy flashbacks, Batman! Duran Duran’s Is There Something I Should Know and All She Wants are on VH-1 Classic. Definitely 80s videos.
• I discovered that one of my favorite local restaurants (Sampan) has online ordering capabilities. God bless Al Gore for inventing the Internet. Tonight, I dined on beef lo mein, steamed rice and ham fried rice.
• It was snowing earlier. It doesn’t seem to be doing so now… but it will be back. I’m sure of it.
• Zours. I like Zours.

Time for me to step away from the keyboard and head for The Dreaming.

Namaste.

¹ – I put “The Church” in quotes because here, behind the Zion Curtain, everyone knows that when you say “The Church” that you mean “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.”

Tuesday
Tired. That’s a good way to describe how I feel. Tired. Not horribly, so… but, just enough to induce a touch of sluggishness to the start of the day. It’s most likely something that I can remedy with a bit of caffeinated goodness. The only question to decide is whether I want it frozen and espresso-laden or hot and straight with no chaser.

Song of the Day
Because it’s Tuesday and a bit tired AND I am in need of a coffee-based elixir, today’s Tuesday Two-Play will have a coffee theme. Today’s selections are Black Coffee by Bobby Darin, from the CD “Mack the Knife: The Best of Bobby Darin (Vol. 2)” and Black Coffee in Bed by Squeeze, from “The Picadilly Collection.”

And now, off in search of coffee and on to work!

Namaste.

Monday
Start of a new work week.
New week, new work.
Time to get up, roll out and get it on.

Song of the Day
Being Monday morning, a good way to start the day off is with a kick-ass song. For that, we turn to Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll, from their untitled fourth CD (also known as “IV” or “Runes”).

Namaste.

Sunday
Downtime is a good thing. Yes, indeed.

Of course, today was “Football Watching Day.” And so, I watched football. The Ravens played in the second set of games (4:05 PM EST), so the fact that I napped for a bit during the first series of games was not a problem. Here’s the way the games wound up:

Lost. Actually, they GAVE the game to the Saints. They started to comeback in the second half, but the monkey on their collective backs was not the rally monkey.


Won. Won BIG. They kicked the collective recta (or rectums, either is correct) of the Cincinnati Bengals.


They play Da Bears tomorrow night.

Comics stuff:

• They were out of JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice, so I will have to get that when the re-orders come in this week.
• Green Arrow #19 – This title has been pretty consistently good. There was an interesting meeting between Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Kyle Rayner, the current Green Lantern. There’s tension between them. Kyle is the replacement for Hal Jordan (Oliver’s best friend and the GL who went nuts and after a few other “bad turns,” eventually died, but, we’ll save that discussion for another time). Writer Brad Metzler, through Oliver, sums up the reason for the tension beautifully:
  

  Oliver: So… uh… nice to see you.
  Kyle: Yeah…um… nice to see you, too.

  ::: text-free panel of both characters :::

  Kyle: Can I ask you a question? Why do you give me such a hard time?
  Oliver: What’re you talking about?
  Kyle: The way you look at me — the way you stare me down…
  Oliver: Kid, I got no problem with you.
  Kyle: You do, Mister Queen. I know you do. It’s like you’re shaking your head, amazed they gave me the job.

  ::: text-free panel of Oliver :::

  Kyle: Am I wrong?
  Oliver: You wouldn’t understand.
  Kyle: Are you sure about that? You sure you know everything about me?
  Oliver: Listen, I didn’t mean–
  Kyle: They stuffed my girlfriend in a refrigerator. Snapped her neck, crumpled her up, and stuffed her dead body in my fridge. That was my first month.
  Oliver: I– I’m sorry.
  KyleI don’t want your pity, Mister Queen. It’s just a point. I haven’t walked in your shoes; you haven’t walked in mine.

  ::: text-free panel of Kyle :::

  Oliver: I’m not asking you to be Hal.
  Kyle: Everyone keeps saying that. No one means it.
  Oliver: I’m not sure you heard what I said. Kyle, it’s like someone showing up at your house on Halloween dressed as your dead best friend. And that’s it.
  Kyle: That’s it?
  Oliver: That’s it.

  I like good writing. Brad Metzler has been on this title for about 7 issues, but I like his style.

• Superman #189 – Clark has to go undercover to find Lana Lang. This is not a job for Superman. And he even has a run-in with Gotham City’s Dark Knight… and it doesn’t go well. The storyline, “Lost Hearts,” is a four-parter; I get the feeling that we will be seeing more of Mr. Wayne before the story ends.
• TechJacket #1 – This is a new title from Image Comics (a division of DC Comics). Imaging that an alien “gives” you one of the most powerful weapons in the known galaxy… and you can’t take it off. And other aliens want it… at any and all costs. That’s what the young protagonist, a junior-high student Zack, is dealing with.
• Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #2 – A retelling of the early adventures of a young Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios before they became costumed adventurers. This is set in Marvel’s “Ultimate” universe, where they have taken characters whose origins were decades-old and have updated them. The entire “Ultimate” line – Spider-Man, X-Men and The Ultimates (the MUU version of The Avengers) have been well-done.
• Uncanny X-Men #416 – A story that focuses on Juggernaut. Very interesting. It seems as though there may be some changes in store for Mr. Marko.

My friend (and one-time roommate) Theo called. He’s been working on writing and drawing a comic book for the past few months. It looks like he’s finished the first issue and is not only working on more issues, but has a couple of other titles that he wants to flesh out. And, he wants me to work with him as a writer/consultant. I think that I could get into that. And, this would give us a good opportunity to get further along with a book that I have been working on and want him to illustrate. Yes… that would be a verra good thing.

After Jess got out of work, we went to Olive Garden for dinner. I tried a new dish (Chicken Vino Bianco) and it was quite good. I enjoyed a nice glass of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay with the meal.

After dinner, we went to the Ft. Union B&N for a couple of hours. We ran into Jaclyn F. (a former co-worker of mine from the REC); we talked for a little bit. Jess read and I did some drawing. And, what extended trip to B&N would be complete without tasty coffee beverages and/or cheesecake? While we were there, Adam called. He asked if I could change his ticket for going home. “Uh… no.”

And then…. hometime.

That covers the day. Methinks that I shall finish watching this ep of Stargate SG-1 and then ponder the possibilities of calling it a night. After all, I have to work tomorning.

Namaste.

Saturday
Had to go in to new work today. Not bad. We had to unload the conveyor system. It was HEAVY! Okay… enough of that. It wasn’t a bad “first day.” And that is a “good” thing.

After work, Jess and I went out to dinner with Teresa and Shane. We ate at McGrath’s Fish House (at The Gateway). I had crab cakes. They were good… not “Maryland-Style Crab Cakes” good, but they were tasty.

After that, we headed to the bowling alley for a little pin-killing. Only Mary, Larry and I bowled. But, it was all right. (Except for the fact that I left my phone there and wound up having to go BACK to the alley at 0200 to get it.) And, of course, there were traditional post-bowling eats at the Inn of the Village.

Quotes of the Day
Today’s quotes come from :

• Quote #1 (from a conversation between some women with whom she works): “But… I pee out of that!”
• Quote #2: “What the fuck?! I’m cool to hang out with. Someone do me!!!”

Stray Toasters
With Christmas music in the air, I want to go on the record as saying that I am not fond of whatever version of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year it was that Jess and I heard today. Nor am I a fan of any version of Jingle Bell Rock or Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. I do like The Heatmiser and Snowmiser songs from “A Year Without Santa Claus” and (Have a) Holly Jolly Christmas. Of course, the top song for me is still Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby and David Bowie.

And that’s all for tonight, kids!

Namaste.

Friday (coda)
Fait accompli. “It is done.”

I am no longer a USPS employee. And, I have to say that this was one of the fastest workdays that I can remember. There were people who were still coming up to me today asking,”Is it true that you’re leaving?” But, the news did seem to travel pretty fast for only 48 hours of lead time.

The funniest thing about the day is something that I remembered from my friend Bret’s graduation from Marine boot camp: After the graduation exercises were over, all (and I do mean all) of the privates/corporals were shouting things like “I am going to…” or “I can do…” or “My….” Bret explained it to us: For the thirteen weeks of boot camp, the recruits could not use the pronouns “I,” “me” or “my.” When graduation was over, those words were fair game again.

Today, I understood what they were experiencing. In talking with people, I caught myself saying things like: “I don’t have to come back here after today,” and “I am no longer a member of ‘The Collective,'” and “My time is no longer controlled by mail volumes.” It was great. Liberating, even. And above all that, it was fun.

There are people that I’ll miss… but I won’t miss the place. Someone asked me if I was going to trash my former place of employment, employers or co-workers. The simple answer: “No.” I have neither the need nor the desire to do so. That would sound like I’m bitter about my experiences there… and I’m not. Sure, there were things that I didn’t like (most of which I mentioned in my Summer 2001 posts) and there were some people that I didn’t care for, but that is something that you find in just about ANY work environment. Therefore, if you were expecting some post-resignation dirt, sorry to disappoint you.

Stray Toasters

• I just finished playing “travel agent” for Adam again. This time was for his ticket home for Winter Break.
• kept me company while I dealt with the Orbitz site. THANKS!!!
• I’m hungry… but I have no idea what I want to eat.
• Paul and I were talking about the now-cancelled Birds of Prey (among other shows and movies) for a while this evening. He had an interesting idea: Make it an animated series. If done in the style of Justice League, it could work. And work well, at that.

Time to turn the page and see what the next chapter has in store…

Namaste.