Random Access

Monday – 23 February 2009
The month is whizzing right by…

Yesterday afternoon, we went to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner and a couple of episodes of The Muppet Show. One of the episodes had a segment that featured Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle… a segment I vaguely remembered from many moons past. Trippy.

We headed back home and felt like watching a movie. Nothing too heavy, mind you. We opted for Snakes on a Plane. It was just as entertaining last night as it was in the theatre. (Well, minus the “throwing snakes” part, of course.) And, yes, we MST3K-ed the whole thing.

Stray Toasters

• Since I’m Ivory Soap sure that neither a GL Ring nor a Legion Flight Ring would be acceptable as a wedding ring/band, SaraRules and I asked if she would design our rings. She said “Yes.” I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with.
• NPR’s look at Oscars 2009
• AT-AT Walker Boombox
• Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus… the Chocolate Coworker Count just went up by 100%!
  That’s right: There are TWO of us now! (The plans for taking over are proceeding apace…)
• Microsoft Asks for a Refund from Laid-off Workers
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Office chair explodes, kills boy
• This forum thread contains some rather impressive Heroclix mods.
  (NOTE: There are currently thirty-nine (39) pages in the thread…)
• An early look at the NASA MMO

Nose. Grindstone.

Namaste.

asked me to pass along a message: She’s in the hospital – she’s fine, this is more of a preventive measure. She will be in for two or three days, but would welcome visitors. If anyone would like room information, feel free to call, text, IM or email me.

Namaste.

And another.

SaraRules again…

This is just a test.
Nothing to see here.

Really.

Friday – 20 February 2009
Helloooooo, 9/80 Friday.

Last night, after CSI:… and watching Batman sing… SaraRules and I took a stroll over to Red Mango for yogurt; she had a pomegranate/green tea twist; I had green tea. While we ate, we finally watched an episode of Burn Notice that’s been on the DVR for a couple of weeks. Later, when SaraRules headed to bed, I started in on a new corner for my ‘Clix map: Building Cluster. (Pictures to come later)

This morning, I slept in a bit. I still haven’t figured out what I’m doing with the rest of my morning and early afternoon, but later this afternoon will be spent checking out a couple of possible wedding venues.

Stray Toasters

• posted an interesting/amusing meme in his journal this morning:
  

  Tell me your favorite bad/silly/punny/groan inducing joke, then ask the same on your blog/journal/diary/whatever…

  My joke is at the bottom of the post.

• Happily married? – a look at a rise in polygamy in the UK among the Muslim community
• Cave house for sale in Festus, MO
• Someone on HCRealms questioned: What ‘Clix should be used in an Alice in Wonderland-themed game?
• NY Post sorry for ‘Obama’ cartoon
• 
• Tesla coils sing the Doctor Who theme
• pointed out this article: Utah state senator to lose his committee chairmanship after homophobic diatribe
• Terry Pratchett gets a knighthood
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Skinless skin-tight cycling outfit
• Playlist of great movie themes

Time to do… something.

Namaste.

Oh yeah, the joke:

A snail goes to a local Nissan dealership and looks at the inventory. A salesman walks up to him and asks “May I help you?”

The snail looks at him and says, “I’m here to buy a car. I’d like to test drive…. that one,” as he points to a brand new Z.

The salesman looks a little surprised. “Oooh-kay.” He walks inside, comes back outside and returns to the snail. He hands him the keys. “Here you go.”

“Thanks!” The snail gets into the car and turns the key. The engine purrs. The snail presses the accelerator and the roars. He drops it into gear and races out of the parking lot.

Ten minutes later, the car whips back into the lot. The snail gets out with a huge grin. “That was great! I’ll take it! But there’s just one thing…”

The salesman shifts a little. “Yes, sir…?”

The snail turns to look at the car and turns back to the salesman: “I want you to take off the “Z”.”

“But, sir… that’s… that’s….”

“That’s my condition. I’ll pay for it right now and drive the car off the lot, but the “Z” has to go. I want you to put an “S” on it, instead.”

The salesman looks a little uneasy. “Let me… see what I can do.” He heads inside of the dealership. He returns a few minutes later. “Okay, it looks like we can take care of that for you. It will take about twenty minutes.”

The snail smiles widely and says,”That’s no problem.”

The two go inside as a mechanic exits the building and drives the car into the auto shop. They fill out the paperwork and shortly afterwards, the snail and his new car are tearing out of the parking lot.

Another salesman comes over to the first one and asks,”So… what was that all about? The deal with taking the car into the shop and whatnot?”

“Oh, he wanted the “Z” removed from the car… and an “S” put on in its place.”

“Huh?! That’s weird.”

“Yeah, but look at that little “S” car go!”

Thursday – 19 February 2009
Another Thursday/Friday begins. I’ve already been informed that if I would like to day to remain an NBN Thursday, that I should avoid the boss two rungs up the ladder – his day was already shot… two hours ago. On the plus side, I figured out “Hurdle One” with a PHP/SQL program I’m working on, now I get to add features onto it.

Last night was a lazy night in: NCIS (from Tuesday night) and reading of yesterday’s comics haul. Of the books that I read, the standouts were:

• Action Comics #874
• Batman #686: “What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”
• Black Lightning: Year One #4
• Green Lantern Corps #33
• Supergirl #38
• Tiny Titans #13

Additionally, my copy of Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes came in yesterday.  I’m looking forward to reading it.

Other than that, it’s another fun-filled, action-packed day in paradise…

Stray Toasters

• The new issue of RAILBRICKS is out.
• …in a related note, Emerald Night (which is not Green Lantern-related) is coming soon.
• ‘Racist’ US cartoon causes stir
• Iraqi shoe thrower: Bush’s ‘soulless smile’ set me off
• Guess what’s coming to the SLC metro area…

  
  (click image for news)

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Obama sushi
• Half-Life: Escape from City-17

• Steampunk Frankenstein casemod
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: The Grilled Cheese Invitational

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 February 2009
I got home from work last night to find SaraRules making cheesesteak sandwiches! They were quite good and an excellent way to kick off the evening. I had emailed Chris and Keith, to see if they wanted to come over and play ‘Clix – Keith had a prior game scheduled and Chris wasn’t feeling well… but invited me over to play, if I wanted.

Duh.

So, I headed over. I took the corner pieces, but not the master board. I printed out a few street tiles and just laid them out to “complete” the map. This time, Chris played the JLA:

• Batman
• Black Canary
• Flash
• Green Arrow
• Green Lantern
• Red Arrow
• Superman and
• Wonder Woman

I fielded the Avengers:

• Black Panther
• Captain America
• Dr. Strange
• Iron Fist
• Iron Man
• Luke Cage
• Moon Knight
• Quicksilver
• Spider-Man and
• Thunderstrike

I also learned a valuable lesson: If you’re planning a force with two tanks on your team, make sure that both of them are actually in your box before you leave home – I had planned on using Ms. Marvel (human), but the only figure I had was the Skrull version, which didn’t meet my theme requirement. *sigh* Oh, well. We didn’t dance around too long and then the throwdown began. We both had hot and cold-running dice, but mine ran ice cold for a long stretch. I think that one of the most improbable – but highly-amusing – melees occured when Chris scored a critical hit on Hercules… with the Flash. Not only did it hurt Herc, but it also moved him out of base-to-base contact with Red Arrow, who I was about to beat mercilessly. When all of the dust cleared (and time ran out), Chris had won the fight. Pictures of the fight can be found here.

Stray Toasters

• I have a new addition to The Covet List: This.
• In search of Jonny Quest
• By way of : Rapper MC Hammer finds new reality on A&E

  

• From Comic Book Resources: Grant Morrison’s Superman Saga, Part 1
• Body scanners replace metal detectors in tryout at Tulsa airport
• 
• A Painful Departure for G.M. Brands
• Apple makes online music lessons easy with GarageBand
• Cache of Ice Age fossils found in L.A.

WHEE!

Namaste.

300.

It’s not just for these guys.
Or even these guys, who (not so strangely) go by  the same name.

It is the reason today’s lunchtime workout was great. Okay, to be honest, it was an average workout with a moment of greatness:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 2 sets/15 reps, 140 lbs
• Decline Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps

The moment of greatness in the workout: I did a max bench press of 300 pounds… for the first time in over a year. I only did one rep – and it wasn’t the cleanest/prettiest I’ve ever done – but the bar came down and went back up, all under my own power.

Post-workout weight: 185.2 pounds.

Tuesday – 17 February 2009

After work yesterday, I came home to find a new addition to the decor: SaraRules had gone to the Garden of Sweden and picked up two BESTA wall shelves for our DVDs. She set them under the bar between the dining room and kitchen; they look quite good there. I also discovered that she’d hung a new set of sheer curtains in the bedroom, too.  Also, a nice touch.

There were flurries when I left home this morning, but it’s clear now… “for now,” rather. We’ll see what the rest of the day brings.

Stray Toasters

• Lincoln wins: Honest Abe tops new presidential survey
• Gibbs’ Rules
• Scientology TV show blames psychiatry for turning Osama Bin Laden into a terrorist
• Should George Lucas Be Condemned for Crimes Against Our Childhood?
• Given my latest adventures in papercraft, I found this amusing.
• Let’s explore what defines the American car
• Best Dysfunctional Relationships in Genre Films
• 
• School that uses game-based learning opens in NYC

And, tonight… Avengers vs. JLA: Round 2.

Namaste.

So… after watching a couple of episodes of NCIS and the new 24, I did a little channel surfing. I landed on AMC, which was airing First Blood. As many times as I’ve watched this movie, I just realized something: I don’t think that I have ever seen the opening scene of the movie.

::: flash-forward a couple of minutes – Rambo has been taken into custody :::

When the deputies are attempting to shave Rambo, I wondered who a couple of the officers were. So, I hopped on the Bat-web and headed to IMDb. A few clicks later, I had my answer. And one of them was a shocker: Deputy Mitch, the young, red-haired deputy, was played by none other than…

…that’s right: David Caruso.

Yes, THAT David Caruso.
Don’t believe it?
Take a look for yourself.

Wow.

I stumbled across this comic by way of an ad on a webcomic I read:

And, yes, it made me laugh.

Monday – 16 February 2009
Another work week begins… but at least it’s a short week.

The Splendid Heritage exhibit was amazing.  It displayed pieces of Native American art while detailing the pieces’ artistic and cultural significance. On display were such things as clothing, weaponry, a winter count, and even childrens’ toys. There were also a number of “touch stations,” where visitors could actually handle samples of items. The exhibit runs from 09 February 2009 through 03 January 2010; I think that it would make an excellent family – or even date – outing.

Last night, Chris and I got together to play a (or “yet another”) game of HeroClix. We’d settled on the Avengers vs. JLA for our teams. I played the JLA:

• Batman
• Black Lightning
• Flash
• Green Arrow
• Green Lantern
• Martian Manhunter
• Superman
• Wonder Woman and
• Zatanna

Chris fielded the Avengers:

• Box
• Captain America
• Dr. Strange
• Hercules
• Iron Man
• Ms. Marvel
• Spider-Man (Iron Spider/Civil War costume)
• Wolverine

We played on the masterboard I took to the tournament a couple of weeks ago, with one modification: I finished the new corner – gas station/garage, single room apartment and armory. I didn’t put roofs on the new buildings, so that we could have some indoor space in which to play and we took the shelter off of the gas pumps, so that we could play in the space under it. We played a two-hour game and at the end of it, I won on points, 412 – 213. Pictures of the game and actual board can be seen here.

Stray Toasters

• Disney adds African-American princess Tiana to royal family
• From today’s “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Jacksons star in Nigerian resort row
• Esquire’s 75 Books Every Man Should Read – I need to get cracking on this…
• I saw this cartoon on Applegeeks last night:

  

  I wondered how true it was, so I did a little poking around for news items… until I found this article: Dead rodents, excrement in peanut processor lead to recall

• British, French submarines collide
• The NBA All-Star Weekend was this past weekend. Events included the three-point shootout, dunk competition and the All-Star Game. Dwight Howard had an impressive – and amusing – dunk in the first round:

  but in the end, Lex Luthor Defeating Superman, NBA-style

• Top 10 Comic Book Romances
• Hey kids (and nostalgic adults), it’s Runway Barbie!

And that’s a wrap… for now.

Namaste.

Sunday – 15 February 2009
Last night’s dinner at Braza Grill was very good. It’s a churrascaria, along the lines of Rodizio Grill or Toucano’s… but a little smaller. Our waitress, Sarah, was very good – quite attentive and responsive. The… I’m not sure if he was the owner and/or manager… was also rather involved in the dining experience, he came by many times to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves and that the service was up-to-par. The atmosphere was pleasant, there was nothing that beat you over the head and said, “Yes, we are a Brazilian steakhouse!”

The salad bar had a good selection and the offerings of meat were quite good. I did note that they did not seem to have any “exotic meats,” as you might find at Rodizio, but the meats they had included:

• Steak
• Lamb
• Ham
• Sausage
• Chicken
• Bacon-wrapped chicken
• Beef tenderloin

And, yes, they had grilled pinapple.  Then there was the dessert cart.  There were nine or ten dessert options; we opted for the tiramisu, which was light and delicious. On the whole, it was a very pleasant dining experience. I heartily recommend it for those looking for a new or different place to dine.

Today, SaraRules and I are meeting her parents for brunch and then heading up to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to see the Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art exhibit.

Later, I’m heading over to Chris’ to play HeroClix. We’re having a 1200-point Avengers vs. JLA battle.  If I can finish the fifth corner, I may take the new map with me.

And with that… we’re off.

Namaste.

Saturday – 14 February 2009
Happy Valentine’s Day.

…or Single’s Awareness Day.
…or Anti-Green Lantern Day¹.

After sleeping in a bit and getting ready to face the day, SaraRules and I waited for Rachel to drop by. The three of us went to The Cheesecake Factory for brunch. I had the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta and a slice of the Chocolate Cake Cheesecake, both of which were very good. We came back home and hung out for a while before Rachel had to head back to Cedar City.

Later, SaraRules and I are having dinner at Braza Grill.

And somewhere in the middle, I’m going to try and finish up another portion of the new street corner. for the ‘Clix map, either the gas station or the gun store. If I’m lucky, maybe even both of ’em. We’ll see.

Stray Toasters

• Knowing how much I enjoyed the brief portions of it that we got to watch, SaraRules got me Planet Earth for my Valentine’s Day gift.
• NYCC ’09: Green Lantern at 50
• My ‘Clix Storm just arrived.

  

• DesktopGaming has Killer Retro Gaming Wallpapers
• 10 Cheap of Free Home Theatre Upgrades
• Homophones! Learn what they are, if you don’t know.

Namaste.

¹ – The traditional colors of Valentine’s Day are red and white.
The color of a Green Lantern’s uniform are, oddly enough, green and black.

If you look at a color wheel, red lies opposite green and white is the opposite of black.

Therefore, Valentine’s Day (at least in terms of color) == Anti-Green Lantern Day.

Q.E.D.

1234567890