Random Access

Wednesday – 16 December 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I went out for dinner and then did a little errand-running. After we got home, I found my way to the couch… and The Dreaming. That’s right: I took a nap. SaraRules woke me up and suggested that I call it an early night. I did… but slept poorly. That wasn’t a great thing considering that I had the privilege of…

…coming to work early this morning. I was here a few minutes after 0700. We had a building-wide power outage (thanks to our friends at Rocky Mountain Power needing to do some line work), which meant that we had to take things offline last night and bring them back online this morning. In a perfect world, that would have been a piece of cake. In a perfect world. But, as Huey Lewis put it so eloquently: “Ain’t no livin’ in a perfect world…” Thus, we’ve been working at bringing recalcitrant systems back online and coordinating with other teams to find out what they need us to bring online versus what can remain powered down.

Stray Toasters

• Hopsice Santa volunteers face grief, kids’ hard questions
• After decades of snowy whites, black ‘Princess’ a true dream
• From NPR Music:
  • Jingle Jams: A Holiday Mix from NPR Music
  • Have Yourself a Funky Little Christmas
• 10 Fugs Ho, Ho, Holiday Sweaters
• Intel sued for using size to keep out rivals
• 
• 100-word fiction contest: Vote for the winner
• Make a Pilgrimage to Robot Mecha

Namaste.

Monday – 14 December 2009
I’m enjoying another extended weekend Monday off. I got up when SaraRules did, to see her off to work, and then proceeded to veg on the sofa. There’s been the typical morning TV (meh) and CSI: is on now. I should get a bite to eat. And then, consider getting around to some errand-running.

Instant Replay: Football
Yesterday was a pretty good day for football action:

Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens
3 –48
We didn’t get to see this game, but a game with a “W” for the Ravens always makes me smile. I would have liked to have seen this game, as it appears as though Lions QB Dante Culpepper tried to put up a fight… but both Joe Flacco and Troy Smith did some decent work on the Ravens’ side of the game. Additionally, this win helps to keep the Ravens in the hunt for a Wild Card spot in the AFC playoffs.

.

Washington Redskins at Oakland Raiders
34 – 13
The Raiders took one on the chin from the ‘Skins.Early in the game, it looked as though the Raiders were making a game of it, until QB Bruce Gradkowski left the game in the third quarter, after injuring both knees. Sorry, SaraRules and .

.

Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars
13 – 23
This is another game I would have liked to have seen, but at least the Dolphins came away with a win.

.

Cincinnati Bengals at Minnesota Vikings
10 – 30
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally. Congratulations, . Commisserations, and .

.

Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots
10 – 20
The Cats dropped this one to the Pats.  *sigh*

Boilermaker Watch

• • Drew Brees and the Saints fought off the Falcons – led by former Ravens QB Chris Redman, who played one heck of a solid game – to remain undefeated. Too bad Redman was too far down the depth chart to get much playing time when he was in Baltimore; he looked solidly in control yesterday.
  • Denver QB Kyle Orton and the Broncos dropped this one to the undefeated Colts.

Stray Toasters

• Stan Lee Explains Hannukah for Digital Holiday Special
• The Facts About Bottled Water
• The Orient Express Takes Its Final Trip
• posted a link to Zoho International Artforms. Yep, Covet List.
• 
• How electricity became a right, and it that means for broadband
• I need want a new brown hat.
• Southwest thrives on policy of free checked bags
  • Trivia: Southwest trades on the NYSE under the keyword “LUV”
• The Problem With Best-of Lists

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Friday – 11 December 2009
Hello, 9/80 Friday. Today’s been a good day… and it’s barely halfway over. So far, I’ve been able to sleep in (Thanks, SaraRules!); enjoyed a leisurely morning; run a couple of errands; gone shopping – with [SPOILER DELETED] at [SPOILER DELETED]; gotten to finally catch up on a few episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men… and now, it’s time for lunch.

While watching TV earlier, I decided to check out The Super Hero Squad Show (1, 2, 3) – the cartoon based on the Hasbro line of toys based on Marvel Comics characters.

I had seen part of an episode a few weeks ago. It was… entertaining. It’s definitely written with young children (5 – 10, I’d say) in mind, but there are definite nods to other aspects of the Marvel Universe in the writing, as well. Case in point: In this morning’s episode, Iron Man, Thor and the Silver Surfer were fighting Klaw, Screaming Mimi and Toad in the sewers under Superhero City. At one point, Thor hurled a barrage of lightning bolts at Toad. In a reference to X-Men (the first movie), Silver Surfer observed:

Silver Surfer: So that is what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning. What a let down.

I believe that I actually laughed out loud at that.  I may have to add it to my list of ‘toons to watch.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules and I are heading to see The Princess and the Frog tomorrow…
• …in a related note: Still Waiting for Disney’s First Black Prince
• GAP “Cheer Factory” commercials:
  • Kids commercial == cute (Adorable, actually…)
  • Twenty-somethings commercial ==  annoying.  “Hella annoying,” even.

• Artificial Intelligence reborn at MIT
• By way of my friend, Jeff:

  

• Rebuilding an Instrument by Leonardo’s Design
• Wolverine and the X-Men versus… the Age of Apocalypse?  Interesting.
• 10 Video Games to Cross Off Your Child’s Gift List
• In today’s holiday style watch: Hollywood Shop Sells Haute Couture for Santas

Time to figure out what to do with the rest of my afternoon…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 December 2009
It’s a cold (but sunny!) Comics and Sushi Wednesday in the valley. It was 9°F – that’s right… NINE degrees – when I got in the car this morning. It’s not a good sign when it is seventy degrees warmer inside your car than outside. That just ain’t right. No way. No how.

We got our wedding photos last night! Twila did an amazing job; she took over 700 pictures… and SaraRules and I think that all of them turned out really well. I posted some of the pictures on Facebook. I was thinking of making a gallery in iWeb, but it’s easier to just post a link to the album, at least for now.

A week or two ago, Paul loaned me Charlie Wilson’s War; SaraRules and I watched it last night. Neither of us really knew what to expect, but we were very entertained. The movie followed Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson and his role in the 1980s war in Afghanistan.  After the movie ended and the credits started, I saw a very familiar name – Aaron Sorkin – and the reason why the movie felt so… familiar… clicked into place: Mr. Sorkin was the creative force behind the first six seasons of The West Wing, one of my favorite shows of the past decade.

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I came to work and hung 30′ of gold Christmas garland over my desk. It amuses me and it’s gotten some favorable comments, too. Minion #1 even said that it “…looked like a little shrine to [me].” I can live with that.
• A couple of items about the upcoming Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog:
  • Do Disney Princesses Make Young Girls Obsessed with Thinness?
  • Talking Race: Disney’s Princess Tiana
• Computing for Dummies: Five Ways that N00bs Annoy Geeks
• School lunch meet doesn’t hold up to fast-food standards
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: U.S. Helps Frequent Fliers Make a Mint
• All Songs Considered Listeners Pick the Best Music of 2009
• 
• Why You Love This Decade’s Movie Villains
• From NPR Music: Lady Gaga: Most Fascinating of the Year?
• Grant Morrison on return of original Batman

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 December 2009
Today is World Aids Day.

Otherwise, it’s just another “back in the grind, workin’ for The Man” kind of day. So far, it’s been a surprisingly quiet morning around here, which is far from a bad thing.

Last night was my night to make dinner. After running some errands, I finally decided on one thing I wanted to try: Homemade macaroni and cheese, based on a recipe my father used. I called him up, got the info on what I needed and headed to Whole Foods to get the fixin’s. While there, I also picked up a couple of Chicken Cordon Bleu breasts from the meat department and some salad greens. I got home, started clanging pots and pans around and a short while later, dinner was ready. The macaroni turned out well; I was glad of that, especially since I made a slight modification to the recipe. Not only that, but I think that I stumbled upon something else that I want to try the next time I make it.

Instant Replay: Football

New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints
17 – 38
The Patriots headed to the Big Easy to take on the undeafeated Saints…… and got whooped. Seriously. It was a straight up beatdown. The Saints took complete control of the game on offense and defense. Saints QB Drew Brees went 18/23, 371 yards, 5 TDs… and 0 interceptions. At one point, SaraRules asked what happened to the Saints to turn them into such a powerhouse team; I told her that I had no idea, but it made for very interesting and entertaining football-watching. On the flip side of the game, it just looked like the Patriots couldn’t get it together. The offense couldn’t pull together solid drives, after their opening run to the end zone – the Saints’ defense had their number. Solid and decisive win for the Saints and a great viewing experience for the fans… unless, of course, you were a Pats fan.

Coach Belichick, why not go over and congratulate Coach Payton and his team for their well-played game?

Come on, man… I know you wanted to take down a giant, but it just didn’t happen. You could at least try to muster a decent “Good job” face. Fake it if you have to. To quote Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook: “Bad form, Peter. Bad form.”

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to Juggling is good for you in lots of ways
• By way of comes The great iPhone death watch
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Reality show wannabes deny crashing White House dinner
• Microsoft investigates Windows 7 ‘screen of death’
• Washington State to Microsoft: Why aren’t you paying your taxes?
• By way of : ‘Predator’ Helmer Goes Retro

It’s just about time to go pick up and put down heavy things, so I’ll wrap this up.

Namaste.

Monday – 30 November 2009
“Thirty days has September, April, June and November…”

…and November’s thirty days are hours away from being up. The long weekend has been a good one… and is also hours away from being over. I didn’t really “need” to take today off, but the idea of back-to-back four-day work weeks was appealing, especially as I needed to burn some PTO. Win-Win.

Yesterday, we made it up to Park City for brunch at Cisero’s. As usual, the food was very good… as was the company. After we got back to the valley, SaraRules and I went to visit Kate, Perry and the kids – they were celebrating their second-youngest’s birthday. After that, we headed back over to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner and football.

Instant Replay: Football

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
17 – 20
The Ravens hosted the Steelers in their first match-up of the season. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as both QB Ben Roethlisberger and SS Troy Polamalu were out for Pitt. On one hand, I was hopeful that the Ravens could capitalize on their absence, but on the other hand, I would have liked to have seen the Steelers play at full-strength. The Steelers started third-string QB Dennis Dixon… who, prior to this game, had only thrown one pass in an NFL game. Everyone expected him to be cowed at starting in a big rivalry game. He wasn’t. He went out there and showed an amazing amount of poise and ability. The threw a TD and ran for one himself. (Did I mention that this was his second NFL game… ever?!) I’m far from a Steelers fan, but I really enjoyed watching Dixon play. The Steelers would be insane to let this kid get away. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers were as tenacious as ever. The defense played smart and solid football, not giving the Ravens a lot of opportunities to make big plays. In fact, the game went into overtime when Ravens’ K Billy Cundiff missed a 56 yard field goal that would have put the game away. (The kick was on the mark, but fell about three yards short.) The game turned when Ravens rookie LB Paul Kruger intercepted a pass and ran it back 26 yards, setting up the game-winning field goal. All-in-all, it was an excellent game, despite some sloppy play on the Ravens’ part.

Coach Harbaugh, you just beat the Steelers at home! Does that make you happy?

Um, Coach… the saying is “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” not “…look like a total spaz.” That’s okay, I think we all know what you meant.  (But you might want to work on that clapping thing, for future reference.)

Stray Toasters

• Open Letter to Hollywood: Stop Ruining Our Childhood Memories
• I recently discovered the show Build It Bigger. I like it.
• From the “Would…You…Like…To…Play…A…Game?” file: Department of Defense orders 2200 PS3s
• Thor and Avengers News Leaked?
• Interesting read: Zambia’s celebrity couple reveal wife-beating past
• Evolution of Storage
• Surprised Kitten Is Surprised

• Rusting space-marine robot toys
• everything has a season
  and only time will last
  feel the leaves falling fast behind us
  men expend their little lives so fast
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: BBC photographer prevented from shooting St. Paul’s because he might be “Al-Qaeda operative”
• Amazon.com is an evil, evil place…
• Steampunk Tales

Namaste.

Friday – 27 November 2009
I hope that everyone’s holiday was safe and pleasant. Ours was good and relatively quiet – we had dinner with the in-laws and watched a lot of football. As far as low-key holidays go, it was just about perfect.

After we got home, we decided to watch a movie. I had gotten TRON from Netflix, as I hadn’t seen it before.

I used to play the arcade game that was based on the movie, but that’s about as far as I had gotten. And, since TRON: Legacy is hitting theatres next year, I figured that it was about time I saw the original. It was definitely dated and a bit on the geeky side, but it wasn’t bad; at least, it wasn’t as bad as I feared that it might be. I found the ending a little anti-climactic, but it was an enjoyable movie.

Instant Replay: Football

Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys
7 – 24
The Raiders headed into Texas looking to plunder and pillage the Cowboys in their new home……but the Cowboys weren’t having any of that. At all. Sorry, SaraRules.

Stray Toasters

• Did anyone get up to go Black Friday shopping at O’dark-thirty this morning? We didn’t. It’s just not our proverbial cup of tea.
• Game-themed Tetris cake
  (Isn’t that a little redundant…?)
• Food banks nationwide report more first-timers
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Woman accused of making bomb threat to delay boss’ flight
• State dinner crashers could face criminal charges

Time to find some trouble to get into… or at least find some cool things I can’t live without, now that the masses should have died down a little.

Namaste.

Thursday – 26 November 2009
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

To all of you – even those of you who don’t have a “Thanksgiving Day” – I hope that the day is safe, fun and full of the joy of friends and family. What am I thankful for? I’ve been blessed with more wonderful things than I could count, but among the things I am most thankful for are:

• A wonderful wife who loves – and puts up with – me
  
• A great family
• My friends
  
• My health
• Having a job when so many others are struggling to either find work or to make ends meet
  
• Having a safe place to live
• Having the means to acquire the things I need, as well as some of the things I just “want”

I’m sure that I could make a list that goes on and on, but suffice it to say: I have many things for which I am thankful today.

Last night, SaraRules and I made a chocolate cream pie for this afternoon’s dessert; this morning, we’re getting ready to make a sweet potato pie. (CORRECTION: SaraRules already did most of the “heavy lifting,” but I got to help with the last few bits.)  In the not-too-distant future, we’ll head over to her parents’ for dinner and football and general “hanging out with the family.” Somewhere in there, we might even watch a movie or two.

Stray Toasters

• It’s Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown!

  

• U.S. couple from Georgia experiences Hajj pilgrimage
• By way of comes: 5 Star Wars Status Updates
• Nightwing officially joins DCU Online
• Wooden orrery
• From both the “Monkeys!” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files: Couple slips through security to crash state dinner
• Industrial Thanksgiving: Science Takes Mom’s Recipes to the Factory
• Snake fire-escape graffiti
• I’m still trying to find a set of Green Lantern-Star Sapphire Minimates for under $25 USD. So far, no luck.  On the other hand, I did get my new Blackest Night Series 2 John Stewart figure yesterday. It looks good on the GL shelf in my display case.
• What’s Thanksgiving without a little MST3K?

…and to all a good night!
(Or… um… something along those lines.)

Namaste.

Thursday – 19 November 2009
I was up FAR too late last night. I got two bricks of Hammer of Thor ‘Clix and – after dinner and errand-running and making a pie and other stuff – I had to open both bricks and see what I got. I almost completed the set; I think that I’m ten or so pieces from complete at this point. In addition to the brick, I also picked up an Organized Play Kit, which basically means that I can run tournaments(!), should I choose to go that route. (I need to check with my local crack comic book shop and see what the owner thinks about it…) But, I’m happy with what I got. Very happy indeed.

Stray Toasters

• We’re having cheesecake – instead of ice cream – for today’s work snack. WIN!
• ‘Computer Glitch’ Is Delaying Flights Across the Nation
• By way of SaraRules: Blackface Filmmaker Wallraff Sparks Race Debate
• Robots Perform Shakespeare
  (This has already been done, at least it has in the book Too, Too Solid Flesh)
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blamed for Katrina floods
• 
• Lab worms are stunned by ‘phaser’
• Overlooked 80s Sci-Fi Flicks, Recalled by Wired Readers
• Guns ‘n Gardens: How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

• The “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file has a few bits of monkeydom today:
  • Maricopa deputy steals defender’s paperwork during a court case
  • Man Blames Planes for Divorce, Seeks $555 Million
  • SFPD cops from imaginary anti-dance-party squad steal laptops
• Power-guzzling TVs to be banned

All of that and it’s NBN Thursday… AND there’s football tonight!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 November 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I attended Play! A Video Game Symphony, as performed by Utah Symphony and the Utah Symphony Chorus.

It was an odd night for a concert, let alone a concert about videogames. Add to that: Two new games – Assassins Creed 2 and  Left 4 Dead 2 – just released yesterday, which meant that most hardcore gamers would be… at home playing games, rather than in the symphony hall listening to music from games. But, I digress. The program included music from:

• Super Mario Brothers
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• World of Warcraft and
• HALO

For an encore piece, the symphony performed d from Final Fantasy VII. All-in-all, it was a fun way to spend the evening and I got to see and , to boot.  Thanks to SaraRules for not only getting us tickets for the event, but also for putting up with a bunch of geekiness for the evening.  Coolest. Wife. Ever.

Stray Toasters

• Not only is it Comics and Sushi Wednesday, but it’s also New ‘Clix Day, too! Win-Win-Win!
• What to Wear No Matter Where You Go for the Holidays
• For (among others): Cthulhu Holiday Decorations
• Had flu? You may have H1N1 protection
• 
• Tom Ford’s Style Rules
• just shared this with me – Jon Ronson on telling his son the worst swear word in the world – and it made me laugh.
• 15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee
• I need to hit my mother up for her hush puppies recipe…
• Teen Titans GO!

• Two words: Office monkeys.
• 1977 Star Wars Computer Graphics

Namaste.

Friday – 13 November 2009
That’s right… it’s Friday the 13th.

9/80 Friday off.  Amen. I’ve been deliciously lazy today. And, to be perfectly honest: I’m good with that. It seems like a good way to kick off a four-day weekend. Today should continue to be (mostly) lax. There’s Clitorati tonight, which is always something to look forward to. Tomorrow, SaraRules and a few of the usual suspects are going to see 2012; we’re not expecting a “great” movie, we’re just going for the mass destruction!

Stray Toasters

• Vanished Persian Army Said Found in Desert
• sent me a link to the following item from It Made My Day, which made me laugh:
  

  I wore my glasses to work for the first time recently. My coworkers were making lame jokes about how I looked like clark kent. 5 minutes later I started laughing really hard when I remembered I was wearing superman boxers. IMMD

• Elecom Lego Brick Earbuds
  Hm, I have plenty of LEGO bricks. And a Dremel… just saying.
• Microsoft Responds to “Like OS X” Comment
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: ‘Thatcher dead’ text sparks fears
• Some of the best advice… EVER:

  
  “Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them.”

• Flash Vulnerability Found, Adobe Says No Fix Forthcoming
• I have found that I am really enjoying Mega Builders on The Science Channel.
• NASA to Bomb Monkeys with Gamma Radiation
  Um… HELLO?!  Don’t they know what could happen if they do that?!
• From CBR’s “Wonder of Wonders” column: War and Peace: Paraphernalia
• NASA sees “significant quantities” of water on the moon
• New ‘Clix in five days!

Off to get into some trouble…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 11 November 2009
Happy Veterans Day.

“Thank you” to military personnel, past and present, for your duty and sacrifice in maintaining the peace and freedoms that we enjoy.

Last night, SaraRules had Book Club… so I hung out with , , and Eugene (a friend of ‘s). We met at The Bayou. I’d already eaten dinner with SaraRules, so I only had an appetizer – Paprika Shrimp.  It was delicious; I highly recommend it. And, hanging out with friends was definitely a nice way to spend the evening.

After “dinner”/book club, SaraRules and I met back at home and watched last night’s NCIS and The Late Show.

Workout
I made it to the gym for a lunchtime workout yesterday:

• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps, with additional 25lb weight
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps
  • 1 set @ 215 lbs
  • 1 set @ 205 lbs
  • 1 set @ 195 lbs
• Shoulder Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Reverse Punches: 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs

Pre-workout weight (morning): 183.0 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• Comics and Sushi Wednesday…. Check!
• Be a Grown-Up on Facebook
• Clash of the Titans (First Trailer)

• Space Mountain queue gets short-play video games
• Garden gnomes are so passe.
  Get a Garden Jawa, instead!
• The deep-sea crab that eats trees
• sent me a link to this, which I found cute:

  

• Kalashnikov ‘wanted to be poet’

Namaste.

Sunday – 08 November 2009
This has been a good weekend.

Friday was SaraRules’ birthday. After work, we went out for dinner. SaraRules’ first choice was Red Iguana… unfortunately, there was an hour-plus-long wait to get in. No go, Flight. Her second choice was Sawadee, a Thai restaurant near downtown. I didn’t know that it was even there; in my defense, I don’t get to that part of the city very often. The food was very good (and very spicy!). After dinner, we met up with some of the usual suspects at Clitorati, including a special guest appearance from and .

Yesterday was a good day. It had a good mix of laziness and productivity. SaraRules went to her quilt club in the morning; I hung out with Chris and Perry. After we got home, we headed back out to run a few errands. Back home again. SaraRules took a nap, I assembled a bookcase. Later, we headed to Abravanel Hall to watch Utah Symphony perform a pair of works by Brahms:

• Concerto No. 1 for Piano in D Minor, op 15
  
• Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, op. 98

Pinchas Zuckerman conducted and Jonathan Biss was the guest pianist. The performance was good. I was particularly impressed/pleasantly surprised by Mr. Zuckerman’s attire – he wore a slightly oversized black silk (I think) shirt with a pair of black slacks, rather than the traditional tuxedo that most conductors wear. Our seats were in the first tier, about five rows from the stage. This afforded an excellent view of the orchestra and of the conductor… as well as being close enough to hear Mr. Biss breathe. Seriously. When playing particularly intense passages, he breathed heavily. Very heavily. So heavily, in fact, that SaraRules said that it was like watching and listening to Darth Vader play.

This morning has been quiet. Breakfast.  Football. (If only the Ravens could act like they remember how to play the game. *sigh* I’ve been spoiled by being able to watch them play for the past three weeks, but I think I’m glad that I can’t watch this one.)  This evening, we’re heading over to the in-laws’ for SaraRules’ birthday dinner (with the family) and football.

Stray Toasters

• Complaint Box: Public Grooming
  Another of my personal pet peeves is people who clip their nails at their desks at work.
• sent a link to: Comic books are good for children’s learning
• I watched part of The Hunt for Red October yesterday. I like that movie.
• Visually impaired gamer sues Sony Online
• 
• As I mentioned on Facebook:
  

  Thanks for the items and requests… but my Mafia Wars account is wearing cement shoes and sleeping with the fishes.

• Wonder of Wonders: Identity, No Crisis
• Troy Polamalu has already had an injury this season.
  Larry Fitzgerald is still getting it done… and is having a decent season.
  So, what does this mean as far as “The Madden Curse” goes?
• Tiny jack-o-lanterns carved in seed pods
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Swarm of Giant Jellyfish Capsize 10-Ton Trawler

Namaste.

06 November 2009
Happy Birthday to SaraRules!

Also, Happy Birthday to :

Today is bright and sunny. Unfortunately, it will only be “moderately warm,” as temperatures are only expected to reach the low 60s. I guess that comes with the whole “Autumn” thing. This morning, after waking up and getting ready for the day – and card-/gift-giving – I had breakfast at Paradise Bakery and Cafe with The Birthday Girl, who has the day off. Great way to kick off the day.

Speaking of the day, it feels like today’s going to be a great big “Mulligan.” As far as “things to look forward to” go, there’s  have dinner with SaraRules this evening and Clitorati tonight. I know that it’s early and that I might actually find some motivation to do something that qualifies as “productive” along the way, but at this point…. bupkis. Good thing that I have my DreamCast here to help me get through the day.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to The Geek’s Guide to Being Interesting
• By way of SaraRules: A Common Nomenclature for LEGO Families
• …and from xkcd:

  

• Technology and Your Local School: What to Donate and What NOT to Donate
• Sweet monkey-squeezin’ Jesus…
  

  J.J. Abrams, who created the TV show “Lost” and directed this summer’s “Star Trek” film, is in discussions to produce a movie about Japanese toy line Micronauts, which Hasbro just acquired.

  I used to have a ton of Micronauts toys when I was a kid. This could either be an awesome movie… or it could be Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen Suckage. (I’m hoping for the former, though.)

• Speaking of toy-to-movie transitions, SaraRules found out that a Jem movie may be in the works.
• Have Yourself a Merry LEGO Christmas
• Doom Patrol #4 came out yesterday. I have pretty much decided to drop this title, but yesterday’s release was not only a “Blackest Night” tie-in issue, but it also had something packaged with it that made it Simply Irresistable, to quote the late Robert Palmer:

  

  A yellow, Sinestro Corps ring… which now rests comfortably in my display case. On the shelf with my other non-Green Lantern corps figures/accessories.  Two rings down, six to go…

• High Octane, High Art from Mini

Namaste.

Friday – 30 October 2009
Hello, 9/80 Friday off. I slept in this morning… but I woke up in time to see SaraRules – and her Hallowe’en costume – off to work. It’s a pretty snazzy costume (sorry, no spoilers) that she made from scratch.

The rest of the morning has been a bit lazy. It’s a day off, what’d you expect?! I got to watch an episode of The West Wing, as well as Colossal Construction. That’s not a bad way to kick off the day.

Last night, I finally got a chance to test out my digital cutter. Wow. I’m impressed. I’ve been reading the comments of other WorldWorksGames builders who have been using cutters over the past couple of months and thinking,”Come on… I’m sure it’s ‘good,’ but it can’t be as amazing as some of these people are making it out to be.” Well, I was wrong. (Second time this year.) I tested it out on a page of wall anchors – 36 on a page – and let it go to work. About five minutes later, it was done.

Done.
Finis.
Accompli.

It cut and perforated all thirty-six of the anchors; all I had to do was peel them off the cutting sheet. They were ready to be folded and glued. Yeah, I’m happy with this.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, SaraRules called out MarknTyme about doing a Four-Color Coverage. It was amusing. (Speaking of which, I should have a new FCC ready to go tomorrow.)
• If you were building a LEGO-themed hotel, what would you include?
• Take talk of food racism with grain of salt
• Federal Judge Says Email Not Protected by 4th Amendment
• Does anyone else remember Fisher-Price’s Adventure People?
• 
• Top 10 Hallowe’en Movies for Younger Kids
• The 9 Levels of Hell for the Living
• Because they apparently don’t have enough money coming in: Nintendo Announces DSi XL
• Vote for the best ‘Sesame Street’ segments
• FCC Mulling More Control for Electronic Media

Time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.