Random Access

Monday – 23 May 2011
Monday. You know it’s going to be “a day” when you come in to four-hundred-sixty-five (yes, that’s “465”) emails. That is not what I consider an auspicious start to the day. Fortunately, I stopped at the local Beans & Brews for a 32-ounce cup of frozen mocha goodness… with a triple shot o’ espresso.

Last night, SaraRules! and I took my friend, Ron, to Cafe Med for dinner. I had the Turkish Yogurt Pasta and dolmas. And they were good. Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of Akbar Mashti. Instead, we hit the local Super Target, picked up a couple of flavors of ice cream and headed home. Ron and I wound up chatted into the wee hours of the morning — hence, this morning’s triple-shot-laden bit of liquid fuel. But, it was a great way to spend the evening.

Stray Toasters

• Mother Nature mocks me. Yet again. She refuses to let my lawn dry out enough to mow. Soon, I’ll need a machete – not to be confused with Machete – to mow my lawn.
• Talk Show Ends, and Oprah Moves On
• Minister not seen after apocalypse fails
• Thanks to Skott for making me think about this song… even though this isn’t the Batman movie that it was taken from:

• What I’ve Learned About Fatherhood
  • What I’ve Learned Archive
• Is Anti-White Bias a Problem?
• Automotive Black Boxes, Minus the Grey Area
• 
• Warner Bros. TV CEO on Wonder Woman’s future: ‘We haven’t given it a lot of thought.’
  • Even if it didn’t fit NBC’s lineup, I think that they could/should have tried shopping it to USA Network (you know, with that whole “Characters Welcome” thing…) or maybe even SyFy.
  • What Might Have Been: A Look at Those Wonder Woman Shorts
  • Podcast Review of the Actual Wonder Woman Pilot
• Police Seek New Ways to Defuse Tension

The show must go on…!

Namaste.

Sunday – 22 May 2011
March winds: Check.
April showers: Check.
May winds, showers, flowers and even more rain: Check.

What started as an overcast day has become a rainy day. Which would ordinarily be (more or less) fine in my book, but I was planning on mowing the yard this morning, before it takes on the aspect of a suburban jungle. (O-E-O-E-O!) So, rather than fire up the mower, SaraRules! and I had breakfast at Millcreek Eggworks and Cafe. We’re pondering a trip to the Living Traditions Festival… assuming that the rain lets up a bit.

Yesterday’s ‘Clix tourney went well. We had fifteen players, at least, we started with fifteen — two had to drop out after the first round. But, all-in-all, it was a good event. Had I checked a calendar beforehand, I would have themed the match to coincide with Armed Forces Day. *shrug* Oh, well. The next event, however, is a themed one that I’m calling “Suffragette City,” in honor of the passing of the 19th Amendment. After the tournament, Chris and I started a Green Lantern Corps/Sinestro Corps game, but didn’t get to finish it.

Last night, SaraRules! and I were invited to a farewell dinner for the Resident Artists from Utah Opera. It was a nice affair and it was good to see the RAs again before they leave for various destinations around the country… and the globe.

Stray Toasters

• As you’ve probably noticed: The world didn’t end yesterday.

  

• Lawn Care Tips from DIY Network
• The Man Who Sees With His Ears
  The first commenter pretty much nailed it on the head when he referred to Kish as a real life Daredevil.
• Women in Comics: A Roundtable about the ‘Geek Girl’ Phenomenon
• Twitter faces legal action by footballer over privacy
• My 360 has been repaired. Hallelujah.  I took it to Precision Gaming Repair, in Murray. They had it back to me in less than 24 hours – they’re local and accept drop-offs – and for what I considered to be a reasonable price. Not only did they fix the “Red Ring of Death” issue; they also stepped up the fans a bit, to keep overheating from becoming a problem again.
• Another Member of the Overpaid
• Want a Good Wonder Woman TV Show?
• Swiss energy minister to back nuclear exit-papers

Namaste.

Monday – 16 May 2011
A new week begins.  My week, however, will begin a little later than some others’, as I started the day with a trip to the doctor’s office. It was another appointment to make sure that Babies A & B are progressing as they should. (They are.)

This weekend was a good one:  Saturday, I stopped in at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection to say “Hi” to Valerie Finnigan. She was there for a book signing and to promote her horror book, which is due this fall. After that, I traipsed up to Clearfield. (Hey… I had air and opportunity.) I picked up a few track pieces. I also stopped at The Train Shoppe when I got back to SLC, but left empty-handed.

Back home to clean up and get presentable for Utah Opera’s opening of Falstaff (1, 2), adapted from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The cast and crew of the production put on a delightful show. Although it’s a comedic opera, it didn’t suffer from being “too” over-the-top; director Christopher Mattaliano did an excellent job of balancing the opera’s humor with just the right amounts of (semi-)seriousness. It was quite a fun way to spend the evening.

Sunday, SaraRules!, Angy, and I went up to Millcreek Eggworks and Cafe for brunch. Mmm, coffee cake…  After a very satisfying meal, came back and helped me get the sprinklers online. (No busted sprinkler heads! Hoo-AH!) Later in the afternoon, SaraRules! and I made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. We didn’t buy anything, but we did come out with a couple of ideas. In the evening, we headed up to John’s (one of UO’s resident artists) for a birthday cookout. That was a LOT of fun. And we capped the evening with a visit to the in-laws… for yet more dessert!

Stray Toasters

• Space Shuttle Endeavour Is Readied, Once Again, for Its Final Launching
  • Farewell, my space shuttle
• An Explorer of Black History’s Uncharted Terrain
  • Entry from January 2010 I wrote about seeing Freedom Riders
• 14 Ways to Make Yourself Better Right Now
• 
• Rhode Island’s Medicaid Experiment Becomes a Talking Point for Budget Cutters
  • The real reasons why our health care costs are so high
  • Nursing Homes Seek Exemptions From Health Law
• I finally remembered to get some pictures and video of the new train layout.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car up for auction
• Renaissance at Salt Lake Art Center
• The 43 best obnoxious responses to misspellings on Facebook
• Welcome back, Sony Online Entertainment and Playstation Network.
  • 
• I discovered something while reading a blog entry from . I didn’t realize that William Marshall (1, 2) the actor who played Dr. Richard Daystrom on the Star Trek: TOS episode “The Ultimate Computer,” also played Blacula in two movies AND was the King of Cartoons on Pee-wee’s Playhouse.  For some reason, I just never connected the dots.
• Foods With Benefits, or So They Say
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Australian dies after ‘planking’ on balcony, police say
• War Machines (with Gymnasts)

Namaste.

Saturday – 14 May 2011
I apparently am not as good as I’d like to be at the whole “sleeping in” thing. Yesterday, I was up at 7:15. Today, I was up at 8:15. Oh, well. It gives me time to do things. Exactly “what” those things are, I’m not sure yet.

Yesterday, SaraRules!, her mother and I went up to Park City. The weather was perfect — 70F and sunny, with light breezes. Perfect shopping weather.

Veni. Sumi. Vroomi.
We came. We shopped. We left.

After we got back to town, and dropped of the MIL, SaraRules! and I headed to Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks to get lunch. Cheesesteaks. Birch beer. Tastykakes. I’d definitely call that a lunchtime “win.” Back home for a bit and then off to coffee and dinner.

Today, I’m going to head up to Dr. Volt’s and see Valerie Finnigan at her book signing.  There’s a barbecue at Pin-up Girl Espresso, as they are temporarily closing their Cottonwood Heights location while IHC builds a medical center on the 6200 block of Highland… so we’re definitely stopping there. And, I’m also trying to decide whether or not a trip to Almosta Junction is in my plans.

And, tonight: Falstaff.

Stray Toasters

• Testimony of Mike Rowe
• Life-sized HALO Master Chief costume made out of LEGO
• Confessions of a Hollywood Stuntman
  And, of course, that reminded me of this:

• Just a thought: Since a couple of studios are trying to shop superhero-/comic book-related properties, why not change their target stations?  Instead of going for NBC/ABC/CBS, why not see about stations who might have a better demographic/target audience?  To me, it seems as though USA Networks (“Characters welcome”) and/or SyFy (I still think that was about the most inane “name change” possible…) or even Warner Brothers’ own CW would have been ideal choices for some of the new programming.  But that’s just my 2¢ worth.
  • 
• Sizzle at Cannes Film Festival
• Dropbox Lied to Users About Data Security, FCC Complaint Alleges
• Cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt’s useful advice for living

  

• How to Stock Your Home Toolkit
• Zero Charisma – An indie comedy about the greatest Dungeon Master ever.
  This trailer was pretty funny.
• Building the Empire Strikes Bike
• Access Denied! 18 Places Google Maps Won’t Let You See

Namaste.

Friday – 13 May 2011
It’s Friday, the 13th.
It’s also my 9/80 day off.
That can’t be a bad thing… can it?!

I just thought of something:

• Friday the 13th has a negative connotation, thanks to superstitious beliefs.
• Olivia Wilde’s character on House is nicknamed “Thirteen.”

Why not just take the “best of both worlds” and just start referring to Friday the 13th as “Olivia Wilde Day?”

It could work…

Last night, SaraRules! and I had dinner at Dask’s. Mmm, tasty greek food. From there, we headed up to visit the in-laws. While there, I discovered that I might have inadvertently caused a… misunderstanding… with my sister-in-law-to-be: Apparently, when she read Tuesday’s post (about going over to the in-laws’ for banana rum cake), she thought that there was some dinner that I and had been invited to… and to which she and Logan hadn’t been. Nope.  He just happened to show up on the same night that my MIL and FIL were having me over, in an effort to keep me from being home alone while SaraRules! was in Beantown.

No conspiracy.

No big secret.

But, hilariously funny in the retelling by my father-in-law.

Sorry, Swiz.

After we got home, I headed down into the train room and finished work on the new layout, based on Michael Fritschie’s 8×12 layout. It doesn’t have the sidings or the wye reversing loop – and I changed the far right curve to O48 – but it looks and runs well.  And… it allows for two trains to run at the same time!  Win.  I still have a bit of clean-up to do, but I really like the way it turned out. Now, all I need to do is wait for my passenger cars to show up, so I can run both a freight and a passenger line at the same time.

I tried sleeping in this morning. It worked… sort of.  I slept until 7:15. At that point, I just got up and decided to watch a bit of TV. It was mostly DVR fare, but it kept me out of trouble.

I’m not sure what’s on tap for today. I think that we are heading up to Park City to do some shopping. I wouldn’t mind making a run to Clearfield, but I may put that off until tomorrow.

Stray Toasters

• If you’re in the area of 33rd South and 20th East tomorrow, drop into Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. Valerie Finnigan, one of the authors of Untold Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan, will be doing a book signing from 12 to 3.
• Despite White House Report Advocating Arts Education, Budgets Face Cuts
• NBC Passes on Wonder Woman
  • NBC Turns Down David E. Kelley’s ‘Wonder Woman’ TV Pilot
• 
• White House Wants Tougher Penalties for Computer Breaches
• Smallville ends its ten-year run tonight. My friend, Jake Black, worked on the show for a while.
  • 5 Smallville Spinoffs We Would Actually Watch
    A ‘Legion: Lost’ show?  I’d be there.  And, I’d watch good Booster Gold show, too.  Just saying.
• Disaster Plan Problems Found at U.S. Nuclear Plants
• Classical Music Never Goes Out of Style

Up. Out.

Namaste.

Thursday – 12 May 2011
It’s NBN Technical Friday again. Amen.

Today is also marks two years since my friend, Jessica Porter, passed away from pulmonary hypertension. In some regards, it seems like it’s been shorter than that; other days, it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve talked. I miss her being around. She was a fantastic friend and an all-around great person.

Last night, SaraRules! came home from Boston. Hallelujah! She said that it was a good – though busy – trip. As a souvenir, she brought me a new pint glass from the Samuel Adams Brewery… where she took the tour yesterday morning. (Yeah, I was a little jealous of that.)

Today has been busy. Busier than expected. An employee from another division come in – for the second time in two days – to deal with a problem on his laptop. We got his problem sorted out. Then there was a meeting… that I had spaced off… on top of my usual Thursday meeting, plus the meeting that I had to schedule. Did I mention that I’m glad I’m off tomorrow?

Stray Toasters

• I’m blaming/crediting Will Smith for my fashion choice this morning. As I was preparing to get into the shower, this song started running through my head:

  As a result, today’s attire is:

  Black suit, the black shades, the black shoes
  Black tie with the black attitude

  Yeah, I know that’s from Nod Ya Head (Black Suits Comin’), but it still applies.

• At 100, Still a Teacher, and Quite a Character
• ‘Better Book Titles’: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Existing Cover
• Esquire Style Presents: The American Revolution
• Squeezed Cities Ask Nonprofits for More Money
• Marvel Unveils ‘I Am Captain America’ Variant Covers

  
  Click link above to see other covers.

• The New Hip-Hop Royalty
• Utah Opera’s production of Falstaff opens on Saturday. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend – or through next week – consider seeing it.
• Fan-made Fables poster art
• Cars So Stunning, They’re in a Museum
• 
• Revised Spider-Man Musical More Heroic, Less Nightmarish
• In a Green Town, Activists See Red Over Lockheed Martin
• Software piracy hits record high of $59 billion

Namaste.

Wednesday – 11 May 2011
Midweek.
New comics day.
D&D Game night.
The day that SaraRules comes home from Boston.

Not only has she been in Boston, but this was her status message this morning:

SaraK
Nothing like a beer tour at ten in the morning. — at The Samuel Adams Boston Brewery.

Yeah, I’m (a little) jealous. But, I’m apparently getting a new pint glass out of the deal… so it ain’t all bad.

Last night, Chris and Alex came over so that I could change out the hard drive in Alex’ PS3. Things went well… until we realized that Alex didn’t bring a cord for the controller. For some reason, the PS3 firmware won’t recognize wireless controllers during that process. *shrug* Thus, we couldn’t complete the operation. Instead, we sat around and geeked about gaming.

Stray Toasters

• Sam Adams. Patriot. Brewer. Homeboy.
• Sturges and Power Girl Display “Girl Power”
  This was an interesting article; I’m curious to see how the issues actually read.
• The Composer’s Other Voice
• General Motors to invest $2B in plants, create 4,000 jobs
• ‘You Can’t Defeat Hate With Hate’
• 
• Federal Retreat on Bigger Loans Rattles Housing
  • Is It Better to Buy or Rent?
• I would say “What the fuck…?!” here but, well… that would be redundant: Best college sex ed class ever canceled after sex toy demonstration with naked lady
• The Galactic Empire Times
• From the “Hallelujah… Thank you, Jesus” file:
  

  If Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco gets released or traded, what do you think the chances of Baltimore taking him are?
  James Walker: “I don’t see that. Baltimore has a good mix of veteran receivers and young draft picks to develop. It’s not a good fit.”

• Google’s Digital Music Service Falls Short of Ambition
• 
  • Secret Origins: Rot Lop Fan
• Summer’s Superhero Movies Get Blocky With Awesome Lego Minifig Posters
• Fox has axed Human Target, along with a few other shows. While the second season departed from the character’s original premise, I still enjoyed it… and it was leaps and bounds better than the version that ABC aired in the 90s.
• ‘HALO’ and creators move on after divorce

Namaste.

Friday – 06 May 2011
It’s my “on” Friday (finally), which means that the weekend is merely hours away. Selah.

Last night, SaraRules! surprised me, by suggesting that we head to Outback for dinner. I wasn’t about to argue. Off we went! Cheese fries + prime rib = GOOOD!   *gesture* We also went for a post-dinner walk through our neighborhood, which was good for working off some of the (delicious) calories we’d taken on… and is the closest I’ve come to a “workout” in far longer than I’d care to admit. After the walk, we caught up on a little DVR fare.

And tonight, we’re seeing Thor.

Groove. Boogie. Sway.
Here’s a little something to help your Friday move:

• Nelly (ft. P. Diddy and Murphy Lee) – Shake Ya Tailfeather
• Janet Jackson – The Pleasure Principle
• Pet Shop Boys ft. Dusty Springfield – What Have I Done to Deserve This?
• C + C Music Factory – Pride (in the Name of Love)
• Philip Steir ft. Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled blog post.

Stray Toasters

• Don’t forget: Mother’s Day is this Sunday.
  • Children Remember Their Mothers’ Influence
• Air France 447: How scientists found a needle in a haystack
• Homeland Security Wants Mozilla to Pull “Domain Seizure” Add-on
• I am about to fire my right contact lens.
• 
• For SaraRules! and : For Derby Rookies, a Lifetime of Experience
• U.S. astronaut corps evolves
• 10 LEGO Universe Items You Should Have
  I think that I have… maybe… two of these. Perhaps I’ll spend a little time playing LEGO Universe this weekend.
• Splitsville: Breaking Up With Your Favorite Bands

That’s all folks!

Namaste.

Thursday – 05 May 2011
It’s not only a NBN Thursday, but it’s also Cinco de Mayo.

…and the “obscure Mexican battle” was the Battle of Puebla.

Last night saw something of an exercise in futility in trying to accomplish the very simple goal of finding something to eat. SaraRules! was going out for dinner with a couple of friends from the Justice League Junior League, so I was on my own for dinner. Ordinarily, this would have meant grabbing a burger before heading to play D&D… but was still under the weather, so our game was cancelled. Thus, my options for dinner opened up a bit…

…and thus began my dilemma.

I finally figured out – about 8:00 PM – that I wanted Greek food for dinner. This would be easy to fulfill as City Creek Grill was close by!

Or so I thought.

They closed at 8:00. *sigh*

Okay. Fine. No problem. Dask’s wasn’t too far away. So, off I went…

…only to find that they had closed at 8:00, as well.

*grblsnrkx*

Leaving Dask’s, I tried to figure out what I had a taste for.

• Burgers? No.
• Rumbi Grill? No, I’d had that for dinner Tuesday night.
• Outback…? Maybe, but I would have preferred having a dining companion.

I wound up going to Barbacoa. I had a steak burrito. It was a good call. I got back home and started to catch up on Fringe, when SaraRules! got back home. All-in-all, it was a good evening.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Jill Pantozzi, self-professed Geek Girl and blogger, wrote a good article about what it means to be a woman and to be a geek: I’m a Geek, Girl (& You Can Too!) In her article, she also extends her to comments to talk about peoples’ senses of identity, in general:

“…people, female or male, should be free to identify themselves however they like without being persecuted or looked down upon. Someone being proud of who they are or what they enjoy should be applauded.”

It’s a good read and one that I recommend to all.

Stray Toasters

• Mr. Lucas, the 4th is not to be trifled with
• Superman Actor Jackie Cooper Passes Away at Age 88
  • Jackie Cooper Dies at 88
• Mind-Controlled Artificial Arm Begins First Human Testing
• 
• Amazon cloud failure highlights customer responsibility
• The Limits of Nostalgia
• A Diamond in the Roughage
• With the movie opening tomorrow, I thought that this might be a (semi-)helpful primer on the God of Thunder: Comics, Everybody: The History of Thor Explained

  

• Last known World War I combatant dies at 110
• Sony breach prompts House data theft hearing
• Department of Justice asks NCAA why it does not have football playoff
• Intel Increases Transistor Speed by Building Upward

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 04 May 2011
It’s the middle of the week.
It’s also new comics day.
It’s also game night.

Today is also Star Wars Day.

I also found this picture…

…but it’s this one that actually echoed exactly what was going on in my head:

Last night was D&D night with and company. We…

1. Got into a fight.
2. Ran into a situation that we weren’t expecting (read: “A priest trying to bind a goddess to our plane”).
3. Played the D&D equivalent of Ghostbusters.
4. Survived the adventure.
5. All of the above.

Yeah, we were about as surprised as anyone. But, we lived to adventure on another day. And that was a good thing.

Stray Toasters

• Freedom Rides Turn 50
• I found the following on Facebook; I like the assertions that it presents: While You Are Entitled to Your Own Opinion, You Are Not Entitled to Your Own Facts
• Robots Now Catch Balls; World Domination Imminent
• Minnesota politician blasts Neil Gaiman as “pencil-necked little weasel”
• Thanks to MarknTyme for pointing me in the direction of the newest Green Lantern trailer:

• Happiness != Discovering that you have to completely redo a spreadsheet that you worked on two days ago because it did not save.
• Zoot Shooters Bring Gangster Style to the Gun Range
• From the “Add to The Covet List” file: “Young Justice” Arrives on DVD in July
• 
• Sony to restore PSN services, compensate customers

Yeah.  I think that’s good.

Namaste.

Thursday – 28 April 2011
It’s “No Bad News Technical Friday.”  Hallelujah!

It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re only two days away from the end of April. It feels like it just started. I wonder how quickly the rest of Spring and Summer are going to fly by – or at least feel like they are flying by – now that we have the twins to look forward to as Summer approaches Autumn.

Twins. Most of the shock has worn off. Now, we’re trying to figure out just how many… adjustments… we’re going to have to make to our baby-prep plans. The grandparents all seem to be rather happy with the news. And, I think that this pretty much cements the idea that we’re staying at home again this Christmas. (I’m good with that.) Time to start looking at 529 Plans…

Last night, we celebrated my father-in-law’s birthday. We went up to the in-laws’ for dinner, dessert and general hanging out. For dinner, there was a homemade chicken pot pie. Correction: There were two (2) of them. And they were good. For dessert, we had homemade doughnuts, with an orange frosting. They, too, were good. It was a very nice way to spend the evening.

Back at home, SaraRules! and I watched the second half of Real Salt Lake‘s match against Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League Final. They seemed to play better than in last week’s match, but couldn’t get the ball into the net. This isn’t to say that they didn’t have the opportunities, but they couldn’t get the ball past Monterrey’s goalkeeper. And, since the final score was based on the cumulative score from both matches, Monterrey came away with a 3-2 total against RSL. I also believe that this makes Monterrey the first visiting team in… two years, I think… to win at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Stray Toasters

• Today marks City of Heroes‘ 7th Anniversary.
• MarknTyme pointed this out to me last night: Robert B. Parker’s ‘Spenser’ to Continue Solving Mysteries
  I’m not sure how I feel about this.
• The Case for Cursive
• Designer Makes LEGO-style Helmet That Reads Comics to Kids
  Wait, wait, wait… LEGO + Comics?!  Why do I not have one of these already?!
  • And if we’re already talking about The Covet List, add one (or more) of these to the list, too!
• Judge Denies N.F.L. Petition as Injunction Stays, for Now

• 
• Judge Denies N.F.L. Petition as Injunction Stays, for Now
• Bleeding Cool.com has a link to the newest international trailer for X-Men: First Class
• Spraypaint can cocktail shaker
• Union Pacific’s Great Excursion Adventure
• Superman Renounces [SPOILER] in Action Comics #900

  

  It would seem as though this has stirred up quite the debate in the comics-reading community.

• We Say Gay: Tennessee kids fight bill that would prohibit discussing homosexuality in school
• India Puts Tight Leash on Internet Free Speech
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Hooker Steals Macbook After Client Steals Sex

Namaste.

Sunday – 24 April 2011
Today is Easter. I hope that everyone has a safe and joyous day.

Today is also my sister-in-law-to-be, Sanaz’, birthday:

This morning, SaraRules! and I got up and went to Mass; the priest gave a good homily about living a life that embraced “life” and not one that embraced death and destruction (both physical and spiritual). There were a number of children (from infants to 6 or 7-years old) wh0 also made the Mass interesting and amusing.

Next, we stopped off at SaraRules!’ parents’ house to say “Hi” and “Happy Easter.” And from there, it was on to Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks for breakfast. (They had their coffee cake on the day’s menu!) As always, the food was very good.

Last night, SaraRules! and I attended Utah Symphony and Utah Symphony Chorus‘ performance of A Child of Our Time (1, 2)  an oratorio by Sir Michael Tippett. The symphony and chorus were conducted by Keith Lockhart, in his last appearance as Music Director Emeritus. The featured artists included one of my favorite baritones, Derrick Parker. (And by “one of my favorites,” I mean “my favorite,” although SaraRules! simply refers to him as my man-crush.) The piece…

“…was inspired by events in 1938: Herschel Grynszpan, a Jewish refugee teenager in Paris, murdered the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath. This was a catalyst for the Nazis’ attacks against Jews in Germany on Kristallnacht.“

Tippett used African-American spirituals in the work to tie together the themes of oppression, hope and deliverance between World War II-era Jews and blacks of the Civil War era.  The juxtaposition of the two races’ struggles worked amazing well and engaged the audience with a powerful and passionate theme.

After the performance, we had the pleasure of meeting Glenn, one of the chorus members. He told us of his experience in learning and getting to know the piece. It was interesting to hear a performer’s first-hand account and to see how touching and moving it was to him.

After the performance, we came home and dyed a few eggs before calling it a night. I also spent a little time last night – and this morning – putting together an Easter basket for SaraRules! complete with lighted Easter eggs. That’s right: Eggs that light up. Win!

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules!: Massive 20-module Great Ball Contraption goes on forever
• Morgan Spurlock: Why I sold out
• The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We’re All Going to Miss Almost Everything
• Android phones keep location cache, too, but it’s harder to access
• For lj user=”suzie_lightning”: Bringing the worlds of Monty Python and LEGO together…
• A Room-Sized Spirograph Machine

Namaste.

Tuesday – 19 April 2011
It’s a kind of grey-ish day. It’s currently not raining; it would be nice if that holds up for the rest of the day.

Last night was a very casual night around the house. SaraRules! and I had dinner in front of the TV. Our viewing choice for the night: Big Trouble in Little China, a movie that I had somehow managed to go twenty-five years without seeing. To her credit, SaraRules! warned me – before the movie started – that it was a “Cool World-Long Kiss Goodnight” Scale kind of film. She was right. (But, it was fun. Silly, but fun.) We also caught an episode of Top Gear.

Stray Toasters

• William Donald Schaefer, governor and mayor, dies
  • Remember Baltimore’s Champion, William Donald Schaefer

  

• Figure Out Where Your Tax Dollars Went
• Lucasfilm Animation’s New Building Is a Sandcrawler
• What Makes Music Expressive?
• BrikWars!
• 
• Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: UK gets Viagra-laced beer
• Adrianne Palicki, Chris Hemsworth and other superhero actors Simpson-ized
• Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?
• Here comes the sun (do-do-do-doooo)
  Here comes the sun
  And I say: It’s all right…
• How big an explosion could you realistically survive?
• 2nd teen survives leap from Golden Gate Bridge
• Malls Across America

Namaste.

Friday – 15 April 2011
It’s my “off” Friday. Rather than idling the day away, I’m heading over to Kate and Perry’s in a bit — I’m helping them load up a moving truck. They finally sold their house and are moving this weekend. Getting used to the fact that they won’t be around has been odd, and I expect it to be even more so – at least for a while – once that becomes a reality.

Groove Break

• Teddy Riley and Guy – Groove Me

• Eric B and Rakim – Microphone Fiend

• Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock – Joy & Pain

• Jay-Z – Izzo (H.O.V.A.)

Yesterday was a decent day. Thanks (or “no thanks,” depending on your perspective) to working on Saturday, I had some extra time banked, so I was able to cut out of work a couple of hours early. Win. After dinner, I called my friend, William, whose birthday I managed to miss on Sunday.  We talked for better than half an hour, catching up on all the latest news from our respective families. After that, SaraRules! and I headed downtown for a night at the opera ballet:

The performance was good; we both especially liked the staging and choreography of the Bolero piece.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
posted a link to this last night; I found it rather intriguing: The Truth about Race, Religion and the Honor Code at BYU

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules!: Wheelchair becomes 19-year-old’s BMX bike
• A Young Son’s Goal: Making Money for His Mother
• Jos. A. Bank is having another “Buy One, Get Two Free” sale on suits, sport coats and tuxedos
• “America the Beautiful”

  

• The World’s Largest Gummy Bear
• I should try to squeeze in a trip to a train and/or hobby shop today…
• Confessions of a fuzzy twit: Simon Pegg
• Why Are So Many People Dancing in Apple Stores?
• Brazilian Police to Wear Glasses That Can Scan Faces to Find Criminals

  

• The Last Fiesta – I’m not sure that I even have the words to describe this adequately…
• Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library
• The World’s Creepiest Opera Is Still Under Construction

Up. Out.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 06 April 2011
It’s mid-week again, which also means that it’s new comics day and D&D 4.0 night. I’m good with all of those.

Yesterday’s Utah County excursion wasn’t too bad. The monkeys were fairly quiet; I did, however, get a little tired of people asking me when someone else was going to be in that office. After the third time, it got harder and harder to retort with a smart-assed answer. *sigh* On the plus side, I managed to squeeze in a trip to The Hobby Stop during lunch. Hey… it’s train stuff. Go figure.  🙂

I got home a little later than I had planned, had dinner and was back on the road again. Last night was D&D 3.5 night with and company. We accomplished a few things which were good/necessary and have nominal plans for the next part of our adventure.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Personal Hygiene
When a person is getting ready for work in the morning – or even the night before – isn’t that the “ideal” time for them to take care of things like clipping their nails?

As opposed to, say, waiting until they get into the office…?!

There are a few possible exceptions to this:

• Salon workers
• Spa workers
• Veterinarians

I’m not someone who gets squidgy at the sound of someone clipping their nails, but it just seems that it is something best done at home. With that in mind, there are times when I think a quick trim/cut are acceptable, the prime example being when someone chips, cracks or tears a nail and needs to trim it down. But that’s (usually) just one nail. Not all ten.

I suppose that I should just happy that I have neither seen nor heard (that I know 0f) anyone clipping their toe nails on the clock.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been really enjoying the Tony Toni Tone’ CD that I picked up earlier in the week.
• 57 Spectacular LEGO Scenes
• Bored with World of Warcraft? Make Your Own Fun
• 
• More Pupils Are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • Giants fan beaten at Dodgers’ Stadium appears to have brain damage
  • Girl Trains Cow as a Show Horse
  • Michigan couple to walk some 2,500 miles for wedding
  • 
• Firefox 4 is taking a little getting used to…
• CWA: Why should you care about species extinction?
• Queen Guitarist Shares Love for Astronomy Through Stereoscope
• 
• An Artist Takes Role of China’s Conscience
• Grand Jury Investigates Whether Apps Like Pandora Are Stealing Your Info
• Lawmakers tell Google to do more on antipiracy

Namaste.