Random Access

Monday – 20 December 2010
The song says, “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”  Today is Monday. It is also… snowy, although there may be some rain falling somewhere in the valley. However, this combination is far from getting me down. Why?

1. I’m on vacation.
2. It’s only three more sleeps till my parents get here!
3. It’s only four more sleeps till my uncle gets here!
4. It’s only five more sleeps until Christmas!
5. Did I mention that whole “vacation” thing? I did?  Okay, good. Just making sure.

Yesterday, SaraRules! and I knocked out a little more eleventh-hour Christmas shopping. That was good. After that, we came home for a bit. During the down time, I fired up the 360. I was planning on playing a little bit of LEGO Batman, but Fate had other plans in store: messaged me and invited me to play HALO: Reach online with him and . As I hadn’t played Reach online (heresy, I know…) and as I was going to be able to play with a couple of friends, I pulled Batman out, put Reach in and played for a bit.

A short while later, SaraRules! and I headed over to Sanaz and Logan’s. On the docket: Dinner and making/decorating a gingerbread Christmas tree:

All-in-all, it turned out well.  Steve brought the video camera, to record the event, so I’m Ivory Soap sure that there will be a trailer – if not a full-on movie – showing our exploits. Dinner was very good; we had turkey legs, homemade mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus and cranberry sauce.

After we returned home, SaraRules! watched The Godfather, which I recently realized that I had never seen in its entirety. It was good. Very good. My only complaint was the pacing — there were places in the film where you couldn’t get a firm grasp on just how much time had elapsed. Other than that, I can easily see why it’s on so many people’s favorite movie list.

Instant Replay: Football

New Orleans Saints at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 30
Drew Brees and the Saints came marchin’ into M&T Bank Stadium… …and the Ravens sent ’em marchin’ back home with a loss. Joe Cool and the boys started out strongly, but let the lead slip away in the second half. The game ended with another Ravens interception, this time delivered by DE Cory Redding. With this win, the Ravens go to 10-4 and are still very much in the hunt for the AFC Playoffs Wild Card, as the #5 seed.

Coach Harbaugh! Hey, Coach!  Hey… your team just beat last year’s Super Bowl champions and are currently the #5 seed in the AFC Playoff picture!  How does that make you feel?

.

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
23 – 39
The Raiders busted the Broncs in this division win. Congrats, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers
12 – 19
The Panthers hosted the Cards… …and found a way to come up with a win. Sorry, Marr.

.

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
17 – 19
The Bengals came away with the win in this “Battle of Ohio” Congrats, carefreespirit and janietrain!

.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
17 – 14
The ‘Fins dropped this one to the Bills, making them 0-3 against division rivals this season.

Stray Toasters

• Your Apps Are Watching You
  • Full database of apps/information shared, as tested
• Lewis Delivered Passionate Speech
  Ray Lewis..!? Passionate about football..!?  This is a surprise to whom, really?
• Many High Schools Offering “Computer Science” Really Aren’t
• Hailee Steinfield: For a Young Actress, a Gritty Debut
• 
• Pentagon Plan Won’t Cover Brain-Damage Therapy
• Save the Wedding Date: Any Time Before Krypton Explodes
  • In a semi-related note: Stuart Immonen’s take on the origins of some of Superman’s 1990s’ Rogues Gallery
• The underwater sculpture of Jason de Caires Taylor
• Best Buy Puts an End to Tyrannical Restocking Fees

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 December 2010
It’s a chilly, rainy/snowy day here in the valley.

On the “plus” side, today is my uncle’s birthday:

Yesterday, SaraRules!, and I did our best Smokey and the Bandit impression and headed to Cedar City to retrieve the last of SaraRules!’ things from storage. We were up at 0630 and on the road a little after 0700. The trip down was a little slow, thanks to new snowfall and poorly-plowed roads in Utah County. After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. After picking up the trailer, we headed to the storage unit, where Josh (SaraRules!’ former MFA classmate) met us and helped us load up. We stopped for a bite to eat that The Pizza Factory and then got back on the road. The whole process took a hair under 12 hours, from the time we left to the time we got home after returning the trailer. It was a good, productive and tiring day.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank for volunteering his time – and his Jeep – to help us get the things from southern Utah:

Today, we’re doing a little shopping and then heading over to Sanaz and Logan’s for dinner… and gingerbread tree making/decorating. Tonight, as there will be no new episodes of The Walking Dead (for ten months!), we’re most likely going to watch The Godfather.

Stray Toasters

• I neglected to mention this a few days ago: I’m an uncle again!
  My brother and sister-in-law had a little girl, whom they named “Corrine,” on Thursday.

• Jazz Composers Orchestra: Teaching the Symphony to Swing
• For the first time in… weeks, I think… I have an organized HeroClix collection.  Hallelujah!
• Guess who’s back!
  I actually have an original C64 in the storage room… this almost makes me want to break it out, boot it up and play a little Impossible Mission.
• A couple of days ago SaraRules told me that my father-in-law made a “trailer” of this year’s family vacation.  This morning, she showed me the video.
• Drug helps clear lung mucus in cystic fibrosis patients
• I just watched this video, Changing Education Paradigms, which was informative, interesting… and rather entertaining, as well:

• Thief’s Facebook Photo Robs Sense of Online Security
• Magnetic Yellow Card – cyclist intervention

And with that, it’s time to get ready to face to the day.

Namaste.

Friday – 17 December 2010
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday.
It’s also my last day of work for the year.

With those two things, you’d think that the day would almost qualify as an “NBN Friday.”

Too bad that I spilled my coffee as soon as I got to my desk. *sigh* I made it out of the house, out of the garage, all the way to work, up the elevator and into the office with no problem. But, go to turn the corner at my desk…?

::: SPLASH :::

And I’d only gotten a small sip of the coffee in the elevator. “Some days…,” I tell ya. Hopefully, this will not prove to be a bellwether of the rest of the day. I got the office wet/dry vac and did the best I could to clean Ground Zero. (Fortunately, the carpets are scheduled to be cleaned this weekend.)

Last night, SaraRules! and I had dinner at MacCool’s. As usual, the fare was quite good. We split an order of Finn Skins as an appetizer; she had their Ahi Tuna Sandwich, while I had the Meat Loaf (with a spiced barbecue sauce). And there was Guinness. It was a good dinner and a nice change of pace.

After dinner, I stopped at Dr. Volt’s to pick up my second brick of ‘Clix, the tournament prize pack – gotta have goodies to hand out at tourneys, of course – as well as this week’s four-color paper crack. From there, it was on to Hastur Hobbies for 4th ed. D&D night. Josh, a former coworker, joined the group. We finished out the encounter (and that chapter of the story) without any deaths in our party.

After the game, I headed home to meet SaraRules! and we then headed to the gym:

• Leg Raises (Roman Chair): 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 155 lbs
• Squats: 2 sets/10 reps, ~75 lbs
• Row: 2 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps
• Step-ups: 2 sets/10 reps per leg, with 20 lb dumbbells
• Jackknifes: 2 sets/10 reps

And, to finish up the evening we finally finished up this year’s Christmas card.

Stray Toasters

• MarknTyme just called me a “pusher.”
  All because he:
  1. Is considering getting back into model railroading after we’d talked about it a few times, and
  2. Just made his first purchase from WorldWorksGames.

  I told him that I prefer to think of myself as a “facilitator.”

• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Flirty Models Were Hired in Bid to Find Bone Marrow
• Zombie attack hoodie
• From the “We’ve Taken Care of Everything…” file: Man boards plane at IAH with loaded gun in carry-on
• Help, My Half-Elf Is Pregnant! The 11 Strangest Questions from the D&D ‘Sage Advice’ Column

  

• Blake Edwards, Prolific Comedy Director, Dies at 88
• Badass LEGO Guns
• The Implants Loophole
• When the Apocalypse Happens, You’ll Find Me in My Armored Home

Namaste.

Thursday – 16 December 2010
I am a little shocked and embarrassed to admit this, but I had completely spaced off the fact that today was Thursday – and NBN Thursday, at that – until I started typing the date. Go figure.

Today is ‘s birthday:

Today is also the day that Ludwig von Beethoven’s birthday is generally celebrated:

Last night, Dr. Volt’s held a release day tournament for the new Heroclix set: DC 75th Anniversary. Even better, Jeremiah ran it, so I was able to play in the tourney. (This doesn’t mean that I didn’t get asked rules questions, mind you.) I went 1-2 for the night – it was a sealed draft – but it was still a good bit of fun.

After the tourney, I headed back home. SaraRules! and I watched The Terminator on AMC. I remember going to see this in the theatre (I believe it was at The Janus…) with one of my cousins. Some of the effects look rather… dated… but, on the whole, the movie is solid.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, I was contacted by a friend with whom I haven’t spoken in… probably close to two years. It was a nice surprise.
• Mick Without Moss
• Kids write Santa this year for basic needs rather than toys
• Today’s workout: Helping to bring 120 new monitors into the office… 10 (or 12) at a time.
• 
• L.A. dry run shows urban nuke attack ‘a survivable event’
  Huh… didn’t look that way in The Terminator.
• Dannon’s Activia, DanActive health claims draw $21M fine
• Chris Roberson & Phil Hester on Taking Over ‘Superman’ and ‘Wonder Woman’ from JMS
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and “Whoops!” files:
  • Colorado database leak puts informants in jeopardy
  • UBS’ 43-page dress code requires tie-knots that match your facial morphology

• The business of malware

Time to tie up a few loose ends and then head to the office holiday party.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 15 December 2010
Another Comics (and possibly Sushi) Day is upon us!
Today also marks the release of WizKids’ DC 75th Anniversary HeroClix Set.

This morning started with a fresh 2-3″ blanket of snow. My first thought, upon looking out the window this morning, was: “I do not feel like dealing with this.” I put it off for fifteen minutes, but the snow didn’t magically shovel itself, so… I went out and cleared the driveway and sidewalks.

Yesterday was a good day at work. Thanks to the help of my coworker, James, I was able to get through a problem that was keeping me from getting some work done on a particular server. If today and/or tomorrow are like that, I’ll have worry-free (at least as far as work-related issues go) vacation.

Last night, I headed over to Chris’ place to play HeroClix. It’s been a while since the two of us have faced off in a friendly game. We had considered playing one theme, but wound up changing our plan after I got there. We wound up playing the X-Men (Chris) vs. the Avengers. Chris won – but not without taking a couple losses. It was a good game, though. And it was fun.

Stray Toasters

• It’s another suit day: Grey suit, white shirt, grey/pink/white/black tie, black vest… all capped with a pink pocket square.
• In a pretty stunning bit of health science news: Man officially cured of HIV
  • Stem Cell Transplant Cures HIV in ‘Berlin Patient’
  • The First Man to be Cured of AIDS
• Curse you, MTH, for providing more items for The Covet List, especially when it’s this close to Christmas! (More specifically: This!)*shakes fist*
• Hanna Rosin: New Data on the Rise of Women
• These Are America’s Worst, Best Commutes
• 
• The Most Amazing Science Images of 2010
• From the “Curiouser and curiouser…” file: De Young Draws the Line on Sketching
• Internet posters angry at computers with which they are unfamiliar
• 
• Jorsh Pena Adds Vintage Charm to Gremlins, Ghosts and Goonies
• By way of comes: New scam tactic: Fake disk defraggers
• The Adoration Aside, There Are Dangers to Being an R&B Heartthrob
• It would seem that Jon Favreau has turned down the director’s chair for Iron Man 3.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 14 December 2010
Last night, , and my former coworker, Josh, came over to watch Monday Night Football. After the game, SaraRules! and I watched the latest DC Animated Short: Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam. It was pretty good. They did a decent job of telling the origin of DC’s Captain Marvel and of introducing one of his main antagonists, Black Adam. The DVD also included the short features with Green Arrow, Jonah Hex and The Spectre, as seen on other DC Animated DVDs.

Instant Replay: Football

Batimore Ravens at Houston Texans
34 – 28
The Ravens seriously tried to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory… but managed to eke out a win over the Texans. In the first half, the Ravens were solid on both sides of the ball. They went into halftime with a 21-point lead, 28-7. I’m not sure what happened in the locker room, but the same team didn’t take the field in the third quarter. Perhaps they got a bit cocky and complacent. Whatever it was, they blew their lead. The only Ravens score in the second half came from WR David Reed‘s 103-yard kickoff return, which opened the third quarter. For the rest of the half, the offense couldn’t quite pull it together and the defense looked tired and beat. One of the most telling plays was when LB Jarret Johnson – normally one of the faster linemen – tried to chase down Texans’ QB Matt Schaub… and just looked like he was completely out of gas. And, CB Josh Wilson, acquired this season from Seattle, is becoming one of my favorite new Ravens. He was all over the field last night. He made good defensive plays, including the game-winning overtime interception/touchdown return that ended the game.

Stray Toasters

• I have my parents’ travel itinerary for next week. This is a “good” thing.
• Panel Set to Study Safety of Electronic Patient Data
• By way of  comes: The Suits of James Bond
  • So far, I’ve worn suits yesterday (black suit, white shirt, black holiday tie) and today (olive suit, yellow shirt, burgundy tie with candles). I’m not sure if this will be a week of suits, though.
• For Nyx, Nox and , and others: Hey, why not try the Necronomicon?
• “Avengersaurs” and Its Dino Superheroes Should Be the Next Marvel Event
  One word: “Wolveraptor.”  That’s all I’m saying.
• McCartney Plays Apollo, His “Holy Grail”
• 
• My brother-in-law, , knows of my Christmastime affinity for David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth. Last night, he chose to exploit that knowledge and send me the following (rather funny) video:
  • …and in a related note: Jingle Jams: A Holiday Mix from NPR Music
• Nintendo’s Heroes of the Second World War
• Airlines rake in $4.3 billion in fees; Delta tops list

Namaste.

Thursday – 09 December 2010
I’d like to wish a “Happy No Bad News Thursday” and a “Happy Birthday” to my good friend and favorite comic book-reading, motorcycle-riding band director: MarknTyme

Congratulations on completing another circle around the sun!

Last night was D&D (4th ed.) game night. And, like Tuesday’s game, there were zombies. During the game, I encountered an interesting phenomenon (do DO do-do-do!): My dice rolled fairly well for me… but failed to roll well three consecutive times when I was trying to keep Jack’s character from dying. (No, it wasn’t because I was planning on looting his corpse. This time.) Other than that, it was a good night’s gaming session. And, as an added “plus,” it seems as though my former coworker, Josh, will be joining our group.

Stray Toasters

• Somehow, I managed to leave home without making a cup of coffee.
  This may mean that I need to pencil in a trip to Pin-up Girl Espresso in this afternoon’s agenda.
• Did you see Inception and wonder how the layers of dreaming were supposed to map with reference to each other?  Wonder no more: The Definitive Inception Dream Layer Map, Drawn by Christopher Nolan Himself (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
• ComicsAlliance’s Holiday Card Series: Belated Happy Hanukkah!

  

  (Click image to read the full article and the rest of the card.)

• Apple Ban on iPhone Donation Apps Anger Nonprofits
• and I traded links to a few model railroad layout and scenery building videos on YouTube last night. There are more than “a few” of them out there.
• Why some holiday specials are still special, and others aren’t
• Pro-WikiLeaks hackers target Mastercard, PayPal
  • Amazon Could Be Next Site Brought Down by WikiLeaks’ Supporters
• The trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon has been released; thanks to for making sure that I saw it.

  Before everyone gets all excited about how good it looks and psyched up to go see it, let me remind you of one thing: The trailer for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen looked good, too… and we all remember how that turned out. Just something to keep in mind.

• Chaplains Worry About Careers if ‘Don’t Ask’ Is Lifted
• SpaceX launches Falcon 9 into orbit
• Four Ravens Lead Pro Bowl Fan Voting

• Buy a Colorful Clock That Tells Time in Three Dimensions
• Visit the Manhattans of Our Wildest Imaginations

And with that…

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 08 December 2010
New comics today?  Yep.
Sushi for lunch?  I believe so.
D&D (4.0) game tonight? Yes, indeed.
Verily, I proclaim that this shall be a good day.

Last night was D&D (3.5) game night with and company. After a three-week hiatus, it took us a few minutes to recall exactly where we were (in an underground cathedral) and what we were doing (getting ready to fight a group of zombies). Not so surprisingly, things fell into place pretty quickly once those details were recalled. We fought. We didn’t die. Life was good. Post-zombie attack, we quested into the cathedral’s lower levels, met some other… figures (that’s about the best I can give ’em at this point, as they weren’t exactly alive, but not undead, either). With their help, we finished a quest – and lost our NPC – and made our way back out of the cathedral and back to a safe haven. It was a good night.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules! has already had to deal with a monkey today. Feh.
• Steve Wozniak leads a Computer History Museum tour
• 2010’s most provocative celebrity is…
  • …in a related note and courtesy of :



• At California School, Parents Force an Overhaul
• I’m amused by Kevin Maguire’s description of his soon-to-be-seen character, Tanga, for DC Comics:
  

  Tanga is a girl who has been flying around the fringes of space looking for some kind of intelligent contact. She’s seeking some kind of connection, any kind of connection. She legitimately feels like there’s no one else in the universe quite like her. She’s right about that. She possesses both enormous cosmic power and an inability to self-edit, a combination that will, inevitably, always lead her into trouble. My short hand pitch has always been “The power of the Silver Surfer and the personality of Sarah Silverman”

• Lawmakers call on TSA to release X-ray inspection records
• 
• And here’s another item for The Covet List.

And with that…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 07 December 2010
Today is the 69th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day.

We have a visitor in our office today. I’m hoping that the fact that…

Oh, my lucky stars! A Negro!¹

…was the first thing that popped into my head after seeing him is an indicator that it’s going to be a good day.

Yesterday, I was visited by the UPS and USPS Fairies. The UPS Fairy brought the first wave of parts for my new computer arrived; now I need to figure out what I want to get next.  The USPS Fairy brought the other new arrival: my Department 56 Lionel Electric Train Shop.

and Ryan came over to watch last night’s highly-hyped Jets-Patriots game (1, 2) Too bad the game didn’t live up to the hype. The Pats steamrolled the Jets. Badly. They broke ’em down like fractions.

Stray Toasters

• Tyranist and I had a discussion yesterday about which is more terrifying: slow, shambling zombies or fast-moving zombies/”rage-infected” humans and why.
• State Department Daily Is Window on Jittery Planet
• TSA workers, experts worry about radiation exposure
• 
• Cthulhu Playing Cards
• A couple of items from NPR Music:
  • Israel Kamakawiwo’ole: The Voice of Hawaii
  • 5 Best Cover Songs of 2010
• In the Wild, a Big Threat to Rangers: Humans
• 
• pointed me in the direction of this: Awesome fan-poster for Green Lantern movie
• WikiLeaks Founder Warns About More Dispatches
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Denver bomb squad defeats 8″ toy robot after hours-long standoff
• For Steve Harvey, all this attention is rewarding, scary

Julie just referred to someone as “…[her] new monkey.”  I think that my day is now complete.

Namaste.

1 – That quote comes from Brendan Fraser’s character, Adam, in Blast From the Past.

Sunday – 05 December 2010
It’s a quiet morning…

…aside from the birds chirping in the trees outside.

I’m awake earlier than I had planned, but am enjoying the fact that we’re actually going to see the sun today.

Yesterday morning, I put up Christmas tree #1. It’s downstairs, in the family room. Next, I got my things together for a tournament at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. There were only five (That’s right, “5”) players this week, but it was still a fun event. The theme was “Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting…,” in which all figures had to have the “Martial Artist” keyword in order to be eligible for use. A lot of teams used either Bullseye and/or The Question (Renee Montoya). Mine was no exception:

• Batgirl
  (gallery cr-figure-014)
• Bronze Tiger
  (gallery th-figure-032)
• Bullseye
  (gallery ws-figure-042)
• The Question
  (gallery aa-figure-004)

They fared well, going 2-1 on the day. Technically.  (Since I was playing the “bye” rounds, I couldn’t “win.”) But, as I mentioned before: It was fun.

On the way home from Dr. Volt’s, I stopped at The Train Shoppe. Yeah, yeah… I know… “Addict.”  Duh. In an exhibition of willpower worthy of a Green Lantern, I refrained from buying anything “big.”  I did, however, pick up a few small “Christmas” trees and a set of telephone poles for the city side of my layout. I also met an older couple while there; they were looking to start an O gauge railroad. Jeff (the Shoppe’s owner) talked with them about some of the differences between Lionel and MTH. I mentioned to them that I had purchased a Lionel set a few months ago and how happy I was with it…. and how quickly it had grown in the past four months.

After heading home for dinner, SaraRules! and I went errand-running. And then, we hit the gym:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 155 lbs
• Squats: 2 sets/10 reps, bar only (so…. 45 lbs+)
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps
• Rows: 2 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Step-ups: 2 sets/10 reps per leg, 15 lbs dumbbells per hand
• Jackknifes: 2 sets/10 reps

When we got home, we started in on Mad Men Season 3 until it was time to go pick up Christmas Tree #2. The tree retrieval process was fairly easy and relatively painless: We bagged and cling-wrapped the tree, put it (and the accessories that came with it) in the car and brought it home. The tree and wreath look very nice in the living room and work very well with the room’s color scheme:

Now, it’s just a matter of getting some of the other Christmas decorations up…

Stray Toasters

• I finally picked up a copy of Superman: Earth One yesterday.

  

  J. Michael Straczynski crafted a well-told take on Clark Kent’s introduction to Metropolis and the world’s introduction to Superman. I recommend it.

• The Everyman’s Guide to Black Tie
• How Much Should You Tip for the Holidays?
• Dream Home: A Converted Firehouse with Fire Pole
  Come on… like you wouldn’t love to have one of those in your home.
• The 12 Most Ridiculous Moments in Travel – 2010 Edition
• 
• Vast Hacking by a China Fearful of the Web
• Law and the Multiverse: Applying real-world law to comic books

Next: Breakfast with the shockpuppet and .
Later: The Ravens host the Steelers tonight on Sunday Night Football.

Namaste.

Friday – 03 December 2010
It’s Friday.
Thank God.
“Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.”

It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday, so I – and a few others – are in the ghost town that we call an office today. As one of the others is Paul, I got to start off the morning talking about model railroads and some ideas I have for what is becoming known as “The Train Room” in the basement.

Last night, SaraRules! and I rented kids for the evening. Kate and Perry were having an evening out and asked us if we’d mind watching their kids. As usual, the kids were fine. We popped in The Iron Giant – which I always enjoy – at the request of the youngest child and they watched that (and Transformers Prime) until it was time for bed. Getting them into pajamas, teeth brushed, and off to bed was a breeze. After the kids were abed, SaraRules! and I watched Fringe and then a couple of episodes of Renovation Realities.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
I’ve had a couple of thoughts running through my head for the past few days:

• You have no one to blame for your unhappiness but yourself.
• You only get out of life what you are prepared to put into it.

It seems that so many people are unhappy/dissatisfied with Situation X or Thing Y in their lives, but seem unwilling to actually do anything about it. And then, they seem… surprised… that the issue doesn’t just auto-magically fix itself.

That’s unfortunate.

Stray Toasters

• The inversion has set in, heavily, across the valley.  I hope that the forecasts of rain over the weekend were correct.
• What Is the Best Superman Origin Story?
  I actually agree with both of his choices here.
• WorldWorksGames has come out with some amazing looking new sets in their TerrainLinx line. Case in point: Hinterland Forests
• I received the latest addition to my train yesterday: Lionel 6-7612 Spirit of 76 North Carolina Boxcar



• Chuck Norris fact: He’s now an honorary Texas Ranger
• During yesterday’s comics run, I also picked up a new member for my Sinestro Corps shelf: Mongul
  

  

  At 9″ tall, he’s a good head to head-and-a-half taller than the other figures.

• WorldWorksGames has come out with some amazing looking new sets in their TerrainLinx line. Case in point: Hinterland Forests
• Arizona Cuts Financing for Transplant Patients
• Disney town sees death for 2nd time in a week
• UNC team builds 3d model of Rome using Flickr photos on a single PC in one day
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” File: KKK Snowman Spreads Holiday Hate in Hayden
• Unemployed and Likely to Stay That Way
  • We lost 8 million jobs. Only 1 million came back.
• 10 great classic American cocktail lounges
  • To serve man (drinks): Roboxotica 2010 opens in Austria

That should be good enough for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 02 December 2010
Three down.
One in the chamber.
One to go.

And that’s how another No Bad News Thursday kicks off.

Last night was D&D Encounters night with Melody, Jack, and company. We were a couple of party members short, so it was a bit of a grind. Seriously. Melody didn’t pull any punches and I think that the characters in the encounter all had brushes with near-death. But, it was still fun.

After I got home, SaraRules! and I watched Sunshine Cleaning. I’d heard about it last year and it has blipped on and off my radar since then. It was a good movie. No big special effects. A simple story. Good acting. All-in-all, a very solid presentation. The movie stars Amy Adams as Rose, a single mother trying to make ends meet. When her situation goes from “bearable, but not great” to “something’s got to give,” Rose decides to change her career path in a somewhat unexpected manner: She opens a crime scene clean-up company. It would be far from the truth to say “Hilarity ensues.” It would be more apt to say “Life goes on… for some.” SaraRules! and I agreed that this was a refreshing change of pace from the quick cut scene, always moving at fast forward, mega-blockbuster movies that are so prevalent today.

Stray Toasters

• It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Jonathan Coulton’s music. As a home owner, I’ve found new affinity and appreciation for his song, Shop Vac. Apparently, Jarrett Heather is a fan of the song, too… as evidenced by the following kinetic type video:
• Squiggly, Tangly and Angular
• A Mission to Transform Baltimore’s Beaten Schools
• You Only Dream of Driving Like This
• For some reason, this reminds me of the fight scene between Sistah Girl and White She-Devil in Undercover Brother:
  
• The Sweet Beet: 14 Food Shockers
• kidscomics.com – for the young reader in your family or circle of friends
• Amanda Vissell’s Posters for Girls
• F.T.C. Backs Plan to Honor Privacy of Online Users
• LEGO Death Star Christmas tree ornament
• 
• Retro Movie Posters Reimagined, courtesy of
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man Killed Girlfriend Because She Answered Her Phone During Sex
• sfds

Monday – 29 November 2010
It’s Monday.

For some reason, it’s hard to work up excitement about being back at work after five days off. Go figure. Fortunately, there’s only three (maybe only two-and-a-half) weeks of work before I go on vacation for Christmas.

Yesterday was snowy. Big surprise. On the “plus” side, Chris came over and hung out for a bit. As he hadn’t seen it, I showed him the Young Justice premiere. He liked it. (I was fairly sure that he would.) After that, we played HALO: Reach and then watched the second half of the Dolphins-Raiders game. Later in the evening, we headed over to SaraRules!’ parents’ place for dinner and football. We left at halftime, at Mother Nature’s insistence. Back at home, we shoveled more snow. Yay. We wound up the evening with the new episode of The Walking Dead.

Instant Replay: Football

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Baltimore Ravens
10 – 17
The Ravens hosted the Bucs… and came away with a win.Sorry, Minion #2.

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Miami Dolphins at Oakland Raiders
33 – 17
The Dolphins headed west to take on the Raiders in Oakland. I missed the first half of the game, but it looked as though the Raiders decided to sleep through the second half. Sorry, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

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Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets
10 – 26
The Bengals dropped this one to the Jets. Sorry, carefreespirit and janietrain.

Stray Toasters

• My friend, MarknTyme, is the band director for a Rockingham County High School in NC.  The band had a write-up in the local paper: RCHS marching band eager to prove itself
• A business that recently moved in below us is having a sign mounted on the building… outside my window. The installation is “intermittently noisy.”
• Leslie Nielsen and Irvin Kershner passed away this weekend.
• These look like something that could use…
• 
• Tron‘s Jeff Bridges Ponders Retirement Thanks to Facial-Mapping Technology
• Beer With Kick Is Caught in F.D.A.’s Net
• Shape-shifting robot can grip differently-shaped items
• School retracts ban on pencils

It would be a nice change of pace to have temperatures above freezing.

Namaste.

Sunday – 28 November 2010
It’s been a good weekend. After five days off, I’ll be sad to see it end tomorrow.

Thanksgiving was good and it was a lot of fun. We had lots of good food and the wonderful company of family and friends. And, there was football, to boot.

Friday was pretty low-key. We slept in – and stayed in – to avoid the early bird shoppers. It worked pretty well. We ventured out in the afternoon and found some crowds, but nothing insurmountable. We also took in a movie: Faster. It was a pretty good revenge film. The action started about five to ten minutes into the movie. A little while after the movie, we hit the gym:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs
• Lat pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Lunges (10 lbs/hand): 2 sets, 12 reps/leg
• Crunches: 2 sets/15 reps

There may have been something else, but I don’t recall at the moment. Either way, I’ve been enjoying being back in the gym.

After the gym (and a shower), it was off to meet the usual suspects for Clitorati.

Saturday, we did a little more shopping. This time, we went in search of this year’s Christmas ornament… and we came home with two: We found a nice snowflake-shaped one for our family ornament and I found a B&O Railroad locomotive ornament. (Oh, come on… it’s train-related AND it’s B&O. Did you really expect me to pass it up?!)

Post-shopping, and I headed up to Ogden. We had a plan to head up to The Wonderful World of Trains. On the way, I remembered that I’d heard of another shop a little north of WWoT and figured that we should kill two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, the second shop was out of business. At Wonderful World, we both found “a few” things that we liked. I wound up picking up a few more track sections and two sets of #65 Yard Lights. and a couple of unlighted Grade Crossings. (By the way: The lights in the rail yard look good.)

Stray Toasters

• I watched the premieres of Cartoon Network’s Firebreather and Young Justice over the weekend. Both were good, with YJ edging out Firebreather, in my book.  I’ll cover them (hopefully) this week in Four-Color Coverage.
  



• Paul Winfield and Lance Henriksen look so… young… in The Terminator.
• Songs We Love: Going Postal
• Rachel sent me a link to this, which made me laugh (click for larger image):



• 8 superpowers that would make everyday life awesome
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Carstache
• The Lionel.com website has a ColdFusion back end.  Huh.
  • In a related note, I had an issue and needed help from Lionel’s customer service last week. It required a couple of exchanges of email, but they handled the problem quickly and courteously.
• Flacco, Mason Go At It Wednesday
  I like Byrne’s ideas of how their “conversation” went , but I really like the exchange between former coach Brian Billick and his offensive line coach, Jim Colletto.
• The Train Lady

I should get ready; Chris is coming over shortly.  We’re either playing ‘Clix or HALO:Reach.

Namaste.

Thursday – 25 November 2010
It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the States.

Yesterday wound up being relatively low-key. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the afternoon, I made stops at Dr. Volt’s and The Train Shoppe. On the trip between the two stores, I saw an accident happen, about 25 yards ahead of me: I was heading north along 7th East when a southbound car decided to turn left… in front of the car that I was behind. I don’t know exactly “how” it happened, but the result was that the south-to-eastbound car t-boned the northbound car. The northbound car spun 180 degrees and wound up sitting at the northeast corner; the south-to-eastbound car just kind of… stopped in the middle of the intersection. (Thirty minutes later, as I was heading home, both cars and drivers were still sitting at the intersection, waiting on the police, though the offender had moved her car to the southeast corner.)

After I got home, SaraRules! and I headed to The Garden of Sweden. We needed some additional chairs, as we’re having the SaraRules!’ family over for dinner today. We opted to have dinner out, stopping at Outback Steakhouse. Hello, Prime Rib… When we returned to the house, I started making a sweet potato pie for (one of) tonight’s desserts.

I woke up early this morning and discovered something that no home owner ever wants to find: Our pipes had frozen. It’s been about… 20 years… since I’ve dealt with that – and the last time, the pipes just burst – so my first reaction was more “inaction,” while trying to suss out what to do. (Hey, it was 6:15 AM. My brain was still on “Standby.”)  Fortunately, I married someone who not only has a high INT, but a pretty high WIS, too. She called the water department, to make sure that there wasn’t a problem with the main. (There wasn’t.) Next step: Heating the pipes. Carefully. SaraRules! started with a hair dryer at the main. A little while later, I remembered that we have a pipe in the ceiling of the family room that could have been part of the problem. Sure enough, that seemed like it might have been the culprit (or at least a co-conspirator).  After a little heat application, we had running water again. Amen. This gave us yet another thing for we could not only be thankful, but also it also offers us a great “Remember that first Thanksgiving in the house…?” story.)

Stray Toasters

• Yesterday’s excursion to The Train Shoppe yielded more track for my layout; I now have a couple of sidings in the rail yard.
• These Gaming Deals Are Insane!
• Hello Kitty Character Mash-Ups Look Silent But Violent
• Palin’s reckless views on obesity
• 
• Top Gun was on AMC yesterday; it had been a long time since I’d watched it.
• Forged Disney art on eBay
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Old Lady Trapped in Bathroom for 3 Weeks Irritated Neighbors by Banging on Pipes

And with that… it’s about time to start on the Cornish Hens.

Namaste.