Random Access

Friday
Typical day. I not only went to work, I stayed for the full shift. There were some who had to work overtime, but not me. 8 and out. Stopped by Adrian’s for a bit and then on to Borders. A frozen mocha, slice of cheesecake and two sketches later, I headed home. I finally got EverQuest (hereafter to be referred to as “EverCrack: the Addiction” or “ECtA”) to run on here, again. This could bode ill. Like I need another distraction…

NPR/PRI Stories
TotN-Science Friday: Hormone Replacement Therapy
TotN-Science Friday: Forensic Animation
All Things Considered: The Eyes Have It
All Things Considered: Civil Service Protections
The World: Dance Dance Revolution Report
The World: London Bicycle Paramedics
The World: Tribes – In Search of Dignity
The World: Geo Quiz: Question
The World: Geo Quiz: Answer

I have no idea what I want to do with my day tomorrow. I’ll probably mess around with SuSE to get used to the OS and what it can do. The gym would be nice (and practical). If not the gym, a bike ride. I’m Ivory Soap® sure (99.44%) that there will be bowling tomorrow night. Other than that… no clue.

Peace.

Thursday
I’m not sure what I was thinking when I got up this morning, but I neglected to brew any coffee. I didn’t even notice this until :05 before leaving for work. So, I plodded along through the day without my morning infusion of caffeinated goodness.

Work wasn’t bad; Dee and I were in flats after lunch. A little before 20:00, he was processing info on a magazine address label (this month’s Maxim with Beyonce Knowles on the cover). He made a comment about it… and I made a comment about her being on The View this morning. (Confession: Yes, I watch the first few minutes of The View some mornings before heading to work. It’s either that or The Young and the Restless… and while Victor Newman is ‘The Man’ (after Capt. Sisko), I prefer a lighter pre-work fare.) He stopped keying and his eyes got big. Like this –>Ô_õ I said: “Can you blame me: Barbara Walters is hot!” Without missing a beat, he looked at me and said: “You too?!” From here, the conversation degenerated rather quickly… but it also got funnier, by the same proportion. And, because of it, I will probably never think of Barbara Walters the same way again. Ever. In this or any other lifetime. I think that we laughed for two to three minutes without stopping.

NPR/PRI Stories
They have all faded into a dull, hazy blur… If you want to see/hear what was on today’s shows, see the shows’ links:

• Talk of the Nation
• The World
• Fresh Air
• All Things Considered

And now it’s time for another episode of “All My Computers…”

Today, we find staring in disbelief at her monitor.

::: fade in :::

: You’re kidding. Tell me you’re kidding. This is some kind of joke, right…?

Computer: whirrrrrrrrr *click* *click* *beep*

: What do you mean ‘not the right .dll ?!?’ I do know what I’m doing… This is the right one. See!?! If it wasn’t the correct one, I wouldn’t be using it!

Computer: *beep*

: Oh. I see. This is about you and what YOU want! Again! Did you ever stop to think about what was important to me?!? Or what I want? Do you even care? You don’t want me to work on this script. Fine. But, that’s your problem. This is important to me. And it’s too important to me to let you keep me from finishing it. Do I make fun of every little process and operation that you do? No. I just want some…. parity in this relationship. Is that too much to ask?

Computer: *click* whirrrrrrrrrr

: Fine. That’s…. that’s just…. *sigh* fine. Go ahead. I’ll work on this somewhere else. Some other time. I’m sick of fighting with you over this. I will finish this. With or without your help.

::: dramatic music :::

::: fade out :::

Tomorrow is Friday. Which brings the question: Do I take the day off, go in for a half day, or tough it out and do the full eight? Decisions, decisions…

Peace.

Wednesday
Went to work. Typical day. Finished Dune Messiah. It didn’t end the way that I expected… which is a ‘good’ thing. I usually enjoy it when I am surprised by the end of a book. I’m not sure if I’ll start to Children of Dune tomorrow or just listen to music…. or more NPR.

I came home to another episode of “All My Computers.” Tonight, Rob confronts his computer over its unwillingness to connect to the network…

Rob: It’s all come down to this, hasn’t it? I don’t know what else to do. We used to do things together… we used to have fun together… *sigh* What happened to us?

Computer: whirrrrrr

Rob: I… see. But, I think that we can actually make this work.

Computer: *beep*

Rob: I got this for you…. I think that this might help. *installs new NIC*

Computer: *beep* whirrrrrr *beep*

Rob: See… there’s still hope.

::: fade :::

The computer is back on the network and online. It seems that whatever the problem was, it was tied to the NIC. So… when I finally remembered that I had a brand-new NIC sitting on the shelf, and installed it, everything was fine again. The only thing that remains is to reinstall some software and transfer files to the new HD.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – Use of Airpower in War
All Things Considered – US/UN – Torture
All Things Considered – New Archbishop of Canterbury
All Things Considered – Soul for Sale on eBay
The World – Asteroid Report (An asteroid that could hit Earth in 2019.)

Peace.

Site of the Day: A friend of mine sent me what seemed like an innocuous email this morning. Being the slave to obsession that I am, I opened it. It contained three things: A descriptive blurb, a link, and a quote:

• The blurb was about the link, which is…
• Quinnarama.com
• The quote was: There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who like binary numbers, and those who don’t.

This site definitely belongs to the “People with way too much time on their hands” group; in fact, it states this fact unabashedly.

Off to finish work-prep and get out of here.

Peace.

Tuesday
I slept in a little longer than I had planned this morning – nothing insurmountable, though. Went to work. Listened to more of Dune Messiah; quite the book of political intrigue. Maybe it’s me, but some parts seem to flow more freely than others. But, so far, it’s pretty good.

Came home. Had pizza for dinner. Watched both The Sisko Show and Janeway and Barbie Borg. Episode 3 of All My Computers – tonight’s episode featured guest appearances from Adrian and Larry. We came up with a plan of attack for getting my PC back in working order… and so far, it’s working. At least for Windows 2K. Now, I need to get SuSE (Linux) up and running (and bootable without a boot disk). However, if it is not done in the next :30, it will wait until tomorrow night.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – Children and War
All Things Considered – Airplane Air
All Things Considered – Housing First (Part 2)

That’s about it. More later.

Peace.

Monday
After last night’s lack-of-sleep fest, I awakened this morning to the sound of the phone. Actually, there were 2 calls… just shy of being back-to-back; one was Steve (co-worker) and the other was Rana (via relay through Dad) from the Ukraine. She is doing well, she just got back ‘home’ from a 2- or 3-week vacation.

Work was fairly uneventful. However, I was not in the best of moods, so I was glad when the workday was over. And after work, I went bowling to vent that… uneasiness. I wound up bowling 12 games. And, I got to work on my hook. AND, I got an all-time high score of 209. Hoo-AH! But now my knee is achy. Oh well, it was worth it.

And now, another pulse-pounding episode of “All My Computers.” When we left Rob, he was threatening to throw his computer over the balcony.

Rob: I have had it up to HERE with your shenanigans! One more “OS not found” and it’s over!”

Computer: *beep*

Rob: I mean it! This is it! Either you straighten up and toe the line or…. or…. or I’ll build a NEW computer and forget that you ever existed! How would you like THAT!?!

Computer: *beep* whirrrrrrrr *beep*

Rob: WHAT?! You wouldn’t DARE! Not after… no, I won’t even say it. But, I know that you wouldn’t. You… couldn’t. There’s just no way that you could.

::: ominous ‘going to commercial’ music :::
::: fade out :::

Will the computer work… or will it follow-through with its hidden agenda? Will Rob show mercy? Is he bluffing? Tune in next time for another heart-wrenching episode of “All My Computers” to find out!

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – Benefits of Breastfeeding
Talk of the Nation – Bicycling and the Tour de France
All Things Considered – California – Native American Sacred Sites
The World – Pakistan Sky Marshalls

52 new sky marshals took to the air in Pakistan today. It’s part of the South Asian nation’s stepped-up air security, following the September 11th attacks in the United States. 9 of the 52 new air marshalls are unusual for Pakistan. They’re women. Keep in mind that Pakistan is a conservative, patriarchal, Islamic society. The BBC’s Frances Harrison in Islamabad says training these women in unarmed combat and then deploying them in the war on terrorism was a big step.

That’s all for now.

Peace.

Sunday
This has been a trying day.

I decided to attempt to install Linux on the PC this afternoon. In theory, that’s not so bad; in practice it has been a royal pain in the ass. The installation went smoothly enough. It was the aftermath that would have caused me to pull out my hair… if I had hair to pull, that is.

Apparently, the Linux boot information and my Windows boot information decided to vie for “King of the Mountain” rights. But, just like the fabled Jack and Jill, they both came tumbling downhill.

I spent the late afternoon and all evening at Adrian’s trying to come up with viable corrective measures. We came up with a (final) plan of attack around 21:30

1. Wipe the new hard drive (again).
2. Reinstall Linux and partition the drive from there.
3. Reinstall Windows.
4. Pray. A LOT.

So far, Steps 1, 2 and 4 seem to be working. Windows, once again, is attempting to assert its independence. It’s reminding me of a rather headstrong teenager.

Back to it. Hopefully, this (or something close to it) will work… or we’ll see how well the system responds to deceleration trauma imposed from a three-story gravity-induced fall.

Peace.

This morning, I had one of the strangest dreams…

It was like the bastard child of The Fugitive and Smokey and the Bandit. There was no ‘One-armed Man’ in it, though… and no Jackie Gleason, either. I don’t know/remember what it was that I had allegedly done, but I had to make it cross-country in a couple of days with almost no money available to me. Hitchhiking. Hopping trains. Climbing on building ledges. And it wasn’t interrupted, so to speak, when I would wake up. I’d turn over and fall asleep again… and find myself back in the midst of the madness. In the words of Dr. Rosenblatt: “It’s so bizarre…!”

And in other news…
posted a comment in about the nutjob in DC who is going around shooting people with a blowdart gun. Given the media’s propensity to sensationalize items (and the resurgence of comic book movies), I’m surprised that he hasn’t been given a supervillain’s sobriquet.

“Holy pain in the neck, Batman! The Dart has struck again!”
…or…
“In a daring midday attack, the Blowgun Bandit has struck again!”

So far, he has attacked twenty people. There is a $3000 reward for information that leads to his capture. You can read more about it here.

Something else that I neglected to mention yesterday:

Serial Killing Doctor – A doctor in England may be the worst serial killer in that country’s history, according to an official inquiry. Harold Shipman had already been convicted for the killings of 15 people. He has now been identified as the killer of at least 215 people over a 23-year period. Robert Siegel talks with David Ward, staff reporter for The Guardian in Manchester, England. (4:45)

A doctor. Amazing.

Peace.

Friday

• Talked to the ‘rents this morning; they are doing well.
• Had a cup full of espresso-enriched frozen mocha goodness.
• Typical work day. I listened to more of Glory Road. I got roughly 2/3 of the way through it when there was a rather abrupt change in the story. The reason: 18 of the mp3s aren’t there. BAH! And I don’t have the parity files to generate the missing ones. Of course, I could go the old-fashioned route and actually read the book. Apparently, Dee came up with a bevy of QotD fodder, but since he, Land, and Rick were in one site and I was in another AND no one thought to write any of them down, there will be no quotes tonight.
• Met at Borders for a Cafè Mocha, some drawing and light conversation.

NPR/PRI News and Tonight’s Rant
There were stories on Thursday and Friday’s editions of The World that floored me:

Thursday: Samyuktha Verma is a big-time movie star. She’s has leading roles in 18 movies in her native India. She’s been described as the Julia Roberts of Malayalam-language movies. But Verma’s stardom didn’t help her this week, when she was flying from Chicago to New York. Another passenger on her plane told a flight attendant that Verma and her traveling companions were engaging in “suspicious activity.” The next thing the Indian star knew, she, her family, and two other Indian performers were in police detention.

Friday: A centerpiece of this year’s Lincoln Center festival in New York is an Iranian-produced play-cycle set in ancient Persia. It’s called “Taziyeh” which means “mourning” or “grieving.” It depicts the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in the year 680, and it’s one of the most popular stories among Shi’ite Muslims. The action is told through chants, gestures and song, as well as sword-fighting and horse-back riding. As The World’s Lisa Mullins tells us, Lincoln Center faced a huge challenge importing this extravaganza to the United States.

It’s sad that it took a tragedy of the magnitude of the World Trade Center attack to give us what may have been an overdue kick in the pants. Have we really become so paranoid that we think that anyone who does not look/dress/act JUST LIKE US is a threat?! And there’s something else to think about: WE don’t all look the same! *sigh* Yes, there are people outside our national borders who wish us ill. If I remember correctly, not everyone inside our borders thinks along the same lines. Hopefully, we will soon find a balance where we can defend our borders and national interests and treat visitors to our country hospitably. And, more importantly, like people. And, hopefully we will be able to accomplish this without becoming the withdrawn and secluded (or possibly ‘deluded’) country that some other nations seem to think that we are.

Songs that seem to relate to this:

• Fear
  • The Enemy Within (Part I of ‘Fear’)
  • The Weapon (Part II of ‘Fear’)
  • Witch Hunt (Part III of ‘Fear’)
  • Freeze (Part IV of ‘Fear’)
• Half the World
• Lock and Key
• Peaceable Kingdom
• Second Nature
• Territories

Okay. That’s my 2¢ worth for the night.

Peace.

Thursday
I’m pre-empting the post that I had planned for tonight.

I talked (IM’ed) with a friend of mine from back home a little while ago. That’s something of an understatement. Don is one of my best friends; we’ve known each other for twelve years now. He, his wife and his son are extended members of the family. He told me two stories tonight:

1. He is the new band director at the school where my stepfather is one of the assistant principals. He had the band warming up for practice in the school cafeteria. The cafeteria, it turns out, is directly below the room (I think he said the library) where a meeting was under way; and, yes, my stepdad was in this meeting. So… the band starts playing. LOUDLY. The song: Baby Got Back, by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Someone came downstairs and asked them to stop.
2. He and his wife had to put their dog, Brandy, to sleep tonight. she was nine-years-old, if I remember correctly. She had gotten out of the yard and was hit by a car. Brandy was a beagle. Brown with white on her belly and feet. She was a little hyper. She could be annoying. She loved (maybe “craved” would be a better word) attention. She always wanted to know what was going on. She liked ice cream sandwiches… well, she liked to like the paper that they came in. She wasn’t just a dog. She was… part of the family.

Dog Years – Rush, from the Test For Echo

In a dog’s life
A year is really more like seven
And all too soon a canine
Will be chasing cars in doggie heaven

It seems to me
As well make our own few circles ’round the block
We’ve lost our senses
For the higher-level static of talk

That’s all.

Peace.

Wednesday
Midweek. A quiet, uneventful day. Almost finished Wizard’s First Rule at work; I finished it up at home. I also finally managed to find drivers for my mp3 player. I may upload Glory Road, the new book I’m reading listening to. (Update: It seems that the on-board memory will only hold an hour’s worth of the book. Oh well.) “Thank you” to those who have contributed to my “What songs should I use on these CDs” list. For those of you who haven’t made suggestions, go here and add a song or two for consideration.

Have I mentioned that I think that Craisins® are damned tasty? They are. Oddly, I can’t stand raisins. And, I’m not alone in not liking raisins. According to Jess, raisins are “the ruination of a perfectly good grape.” It seems that Peggy agrees with her: “Raisins are of the Devil.” But Craisins®… for some reason, I just can’t get enough of them. They are on the favored at-home desserts list along with tasty popped corns, iced creams and, of course, crisped rice treats.

NPR/PRI Links

• Talk of the Nation – History of the Securities and Exchange Commission
• Talk of the Nation – Memory
• Fresh Air – David Kertzer Interview (author of The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican’s Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism
• The World – Women in the Mafia
• The World – International Spy Museum

Quote of the Day: Dee (after holding back a comment) – The blood that dribbles down my chin is the remains of my chewed-off tongue.

Peace.

I’m getting the urge to make new CDs… or at least new mp3 playlists. The current theme that I want to work with: Comic Books and/or Cartoons. At this point, I have three franchises in mind: Justice League or JLA, X-Men, and The Endless (from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series).

The songs that I choose will be representative of certain characters in the books. I have ideas for most of the songs, but I’m still coming up short in a few areas. That’s where you folks come in: I need suggestions. Feel free to toss in anything that applies… even ‘off the wall’ ideas. And if you have ideas for characters that I haven’t considered, throw them in (along with the character name), too! I’m planning on using the current lineups (more or less), but that’s fairly flexible at this point.

Here’s what I have so far:

• Justice League
  Superman: Superman – R.E.M. or Five for Fighting
  Wonder Woman: She – Harry Connick, Jr.
  Batman: The Seeker – The Who
  Green Lantern: Everything’s Gone Green – New Order
  Flash: Run – Tin Machine
  Martian Manhunter: Is There Life on Mars? – David Bowie
  Plastic Man (comic book): Rubberband Man – The Spinners
  Hawkgirl (JL cartoon): I’m Like a Bird – Nelly Furtado

• X-Men
  Cyclops: Red Lenses – Rush
  Phoenix: The Firebird Suite – Igor Stravinsky
  Wolverine: undecided
  Storm: She Builds Monsoons – Hat or Force Ten – Rush
  Nightcrawler: Missionary Man – Eurythmics
  Iceman: Freeze (Part IV of ‘Fear’) – Rush or Frozen – Madonna
  Archangel: Fly Like an Eagle – Steve Miller Band
  White Queen: Killer Queen – Queen
  Stacy X: She Drives Me Crazy – Fine Young Cannibals
  Bishop: undecided
  Rogue: undecided
  Gambit: Shape of My Heart – Sting

• Sandman – The Endless
  Dream: Dreams – Van Halen and/or Mr. Sandman – Chordettes
  Death: She Talks to Angels – The Black Crowes
  Delirium: Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
  Desire: Desire – U2 or Principles of Lust – Enigma
  Despair: Sorrow – David Bowie
  Destiny: Tomorrow Never Dies – Sheryl Crow or Tomorrow We’ll See – Sting
  Destruction: undecided

That should keep you busy for a while.

Peace.

Tuesday
Good day at the place of employment. Mostly flats processing today… which is never a bad thing. More Wizard. I’ve gotten to a point that I have heard before, again. But now, it makes a lot more sense. Go figure.

It turns out that my MAG entry did make the cutoff. It’s entry #47, if you want to take a look. (Feel free to vote… for me and/or one other artist; you can vote for up to 2 pieces.) It’s not great, but I’m happy with it for a first attempt; I learned a few things about doing scanned-in lineart, too. And, despite the pain-in-the-ass factor, it was fun.

NPR/PRI Links

• Talk of the Nation: Resilience (2nd hour)
• The World: History of the First Transatlantic Cable
• All Things Considered: The Importance of ‘Home’

One of the guests from the ‘Resilience’ hour was from Reidsville, N.C., where I spent half of my growin’ up years (besides Baltimore). I don’t know him, but my mom or step-dad might.

Quote of the Day: Well, this is not so much a “quote” as it is a “quip.” Craig Kilborn, during his monologue, referred to John Walker Lindh as “Benedict Walker.” I found it amusing.

: Check your email.
: Email me!
: “Mocha goodness” is right and I’ll try to see more Enterprise.
: We (still) want the funk! Give up the funk!

I think that is it for now.

Peace.

Monday
I had no pre-work/during-work coffee. And no on died. That definitely qualifies today as a “red letter day.” (Bonus points if anyone can correctly identify the origins of that phrase.)

Listened to more of Wizard’s First Rule. I’m getting the impression that Mr. Goodkind had some latent BDSM issues to resolve. We were introduced to Denna, a Mord Sith. Not to be confused with the Sith of the Star Wars universe. How best to describe the Mord Sith…? They are a group of women who are… umm… AHA! The best way to describe them: The Mord Sith are to the world of Wizard’s First Rule what the Inquisitors were to the Spanish Inquisition. Nooo one expects the Spanish Inquisition!!! Oh yeah, the Mord Sith are magic users, as well. They break the will of their subjects… through pain – mental and physical. They revel in it. To make a long story short: Denna is brought in to break Richard (the protagonist) for Lord Rahl. She really likes what she does. And she isn’t above telling Richard that. Often.

I “finished” and submitted my MAG entry. I was having “issues” with Photoshop, because I couldn’t get it to display the layers of the picture the way that I wanted. I finally got it, but had a few problems with the final product. But, it’s done. It should have made the cut-off with no problem; if not, it will still be posted… but will not be eligible for voting. Oh well. I did what I set out to do and I made the effort. I showed the final to m3lody; she said that it was “cute.” I can live with that.

NPR/PRI

• Talk of the Nation had a very interesting story about the International Spy Museum and a brief history of women in American espionage.
• All Things Considered did a piece on Gifted Kids. In this segment they talked to a boy who started attending community college, as a student, at seven years old! Holy Doogie Howser, Batman!

Both of these were incredible stories. I recommend them to any- and everyone.

And now, sleep.

Peace.

Sunday
Quiet day. Got to sleep in a bit. Ahhh…..

Spent some a little time at Borders this afternoon. Went to lunch with Jess and Angie at Mimi’s Cafe. Nice place; they serve rather healthy-sized servings. Jess and Ang went to see MiB2 (apparently, they saw the Star Trek: Nemesis and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers trailers); I went to Barnes & Noble for a little more reference work.

Came home and watched Alias while I worked on my MAG entry… which is due tomorrow night. I may actually have it finished and ready to go. Pre-post update: I just finished the hard part (Chloe and her bike), if I decide to add Ray and Maddy, I can do that tomorning.

May I also add: Jess made Rice Krispies treats!!! Hoo-ah!

The first half of tomorrow’s Talk of the Nation sounds like it will be interesting:

When is lipstick not lipstick? When is a shoe not a shoe? In the shadowy world of spies, nothing is ever quite like it seems. From cosmetics weapons and footwear phones to “psyops” and code breaking, the spy world is full of secrets. Join Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan on Monday for a history of American spying.

Quote of the Day: From tonight’s syndicated episode of The X-Files.

Scully: Why do these men work so far into the forest?
Steve Humphreys: That’s where the trees are.

And that’s all for now.

Peace.