Random Access

Friday – 01 January 2010
Welcome to 2010.

Today is also the seventh day of Kwanzaa; today ‘s principle is “Imani” or “faith”:

To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Last night, SaraRules and I had a small gathering of friends and family over for a potluck dinner. There were some wonderful dishes and the company was great. It was a quiet and low-key way to say goodbye to 2009 and prepare to welcome in 2010.

After dinner, SaraRules and I settled in for a quiet evening. We turned on the television to watch the (delayed broadcast of the) ball drop in Times Square. We both noted how… old… that Dick Clark looks and sounds; he seems to have deteriorated quickly since his stroke a couple of years ago.

Today is… unscheduled. And that’s not a bad thing. I’m sure that we’ll come up with something to do. And tonight, we’re getting together with the usual suspects for Clitorati.

Stray Toasters

• I’m watching the Tournament of Roses Parade. They had a really nice float featuring the Tuskeegee Airmen.
• TSA drops subpoenas against bloggers who published security directive
• Moscow’s full-body scanners in action
• While it briefly crossed my mind last night, I just remembered that I need to come up with some sort of team to play in tomorrow’s tournament, just in case I have to play someone in a bye round…
• 
• Pope’s peace message focuses on environment
• Stuntman’s record-breaking car jump in Florida
• Chocolate Weapons

Namaste.

Thursday – 31 December 2009
Today is the last day of 2009.

Today is also the sixth day of Kwanzaa; today’s principle is: “Kuumba” or “creativity”:

To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

As I mentioned above, today is the last day of 2009.

This year has been full; among the more notable points of the year:

• I lost a close and very dear friend,
• My second niece was born,
• I got married,
• I lost another friend, just yesterday…

…but these are all part of “life.” And, as cliche as it might sound, it really is hard to appreciate the highs without experiencing the lows as well. By the same token, weathering the bad times makes you appreciate the good ones – and the family and friends that surround you – that much more.

SaraRules and I saw Sherlock Holmes last night. It was good; she was a little disappointed, in that she expected it to be more of a “Guy Ritchie movie.” I was pleased that it did not, in fact, turn into Snatch or RocknRolla or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law did admirable jobs of bringing Holmes and Dr. Watson to life. I’ve heard some people say that they were worried that the trailers made this look like too much of an action movie. Rest assured, it’s not… but, do consider that Sherlock Holmes was – to some extent – the “action hero” of his day and genre. All-in-all, it was a good movie and worth seeing.

Stray Toasters

• Knighthood for Patrick Stewart? Queen says make it so.
• I met Jake Black, who has written for DC and Marvel, as well as for animation (among other media), at Dr. Volt’s yesterday.
• TSA subpoenas, threatens two bloggers who published non-classified airline security directive
• The 10 Best Videogames of 2009
• Thanks to the lovely SaraRules, I have a caramel apple that’s been rolled in Butterfinger bits.
• 
• Woman’s .708 blood alcohol level may set state record
• Degas painting stolen from museum
• Man, that Ganthet is one bad…
  Shut yo’ mouth!
  I’m just talkin’ about Ganthet.
  We can dig it!
• How Long Could Luke Survive in a Tauntaun?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Body washing with water alone
• 
• Ten Gadgets That Defined the Decade

I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable New Year’s Eve and a prosperous 2010.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 30 December 2009
And, just like that, 2009 is nearly at an end. I realized, over lunch, that today marks twenty-eight months since my first date with SaraRules.

Today is also the fifth day of Kwanzaa; today’s principle is “Nia” or “purpose”:

To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Today was also Comics and Sushi Wednesday. The usual lunchtime crew was busy with other things. As SaraRules had a half-day at work today, she met me for lunch. It was good. The comics pickin’s were slim, but Dr. Volt’s is having a 30% off sale, so I picked up a couple of graphic novels and a Starman figure. (He’s packaged as a member of the JSA, but he’ll always be a Legionnaire, as far as I’m concerned.)

Stray Toasters

• This goes right at the top of The Covet List.
  Why? Four words: “Kilowog Build-A-Figure.”
• This also goes on the list… for what should be obvious reasons.
• Dragon Avenue has a good interview with WorldWorksGames’ Founder and Creative Director Denny Unger.
• Obama Curbs Secrecy of Classified Documents
• Carl Kasell: After 30 Years, A Chance To Sleep In
• 
• Sharks, Zombies, Weird Clouds: The Most Popular Stories of 2009
• I shared this with earlier today: Dominoes Everywhere for the Holidays (with a tip of the hat to , for linking to it)

  Dominoes Everywhere for the holidays from Jared Lyon on Vimeo.

• Sugar Ray Robinson: Fighting Toward Transcendence
• AbeBooks’ Weird Book Room

Namaste.

Thursday – 24 December 2009
It’s been a busy past couple of days. The last of the Christmas shopping. Trips to the Post Office. Madness. Chaos. Mayhem.

In other words: “Relatively normal”.

On top of that, there was “Christmas card drama,” this year. SaraRules and I made and ordered our Christmas cards this past weekend. After putting the order in, I was going through the payment options. When I clicked “Confirm,” something… off… happened. The confirmation went through, but it confirmed the wrong shipping address for the cards. Basically, despite my saying “Use separate shipping and billing addresses,” the FedEx website decided to use the billing address only.

*grblsnrkx*

So… our cards were being shipped to Maryland. Great. I scoured the website for a “Contact Us” number. I found one and quickly called it. I talked with a CSR and explained the situation. His first response was: “Yes, that’s a known problem with the page.”

Really?! Then, how about having someone fix it?!

He took the correct shipping information, but said that it probably wouldn’t get corrected until Monday morning, when his supervisor came in. I said “Fine” and asked if there would be any sort of confirmation email, letting me know if/when the changes had been made. He said that there wouldn’t be. Again, great… So, I hung up and crossed my fingers.

Tuesday morning, I got a text message from my father:

Your holiday cards were delivered here. Give me a call w/ instructions.

Gre-e-e-eat.

By the time I called him, he’d already taken them to the Post Office and posted them via Express Mail. He said that they should arrive by noon on Wednesday. Okay. Good, and still workable.

Tuesday was a shopping and dealing with errands day. Tuesday evening, Chris and I got together to play a pre-Christmas game of ‘Clix. We went with a 1600-point (total) game. Our theme: Arkham Asylum Outbreak. Chris brought Batman (and company) and Gotham PD; I had the Batman Rogues Gallery. (Pictures here) The game lasted over three hours… and we still aren’t finished with it. We’ll get back to it in a week or so.

Wednesday morning, at 1100, the doorbell rang. It was our letter carrier. With our cards! Hoo-AH!  We started addressing the cards and envelopes. There was another knock on the door at 1120. It was a FedEx courier… with another shipment of cards. It seems as though FedEx, realizing their mistake, sent out a second batch of cards… to the correct address. *shrug* (It wasn’t a gift horse, nor was it made of wood, so I didn’t sweat it.)

The rest of the day was spent running around doing some last-minute shopping and then driving around playing Santa. After we were done with that, we headed up to the in-laws’ place – we were going with them to pick up Meliko from the airport. We did and hung out at the house for a bit before returning home.

Today, there was a bit of errand-running – including a trip to three (3) Post Offices, because two of them closed their counter service at noon – to ship off some gifts. There was also coffee with Perry. And gift-wrapping. And heading back up to the in-laws’, as we are spending Christmas Eve and Day with the family.

Stray Toasters

• Quick note: Holiday cards may/will be “a tad” late this year.
• Top Cat voice Arnold Stang dies aged 91
  I used to watch Top Cat, as a kid, in the mornings before school.
• 
• Kids on iPods, Dial-up Internet, Britney Spears and All Those “Old Things”
• By way of : Gays in the Comics, Ctd
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Beauty pageants in Rio de Janeiro prisons
• Original  blueprints of the Eiffel Tower
• Tetris pillowcase
• Another case of “Welcome to Small Lake City,” I just discovered that and know each other. Odd.

Okay, on with the merry-making.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 22 December 2009
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas the vershluggen inversion has set in… permanently. Fortunately, weather forecasters say that we have a stormfront moving in that will bring snow showers tonight or tomorrow. That should help clear the air for Christmas… I hope.

After yesterday’s outing with SaraRules and my m-i-l, we came home and had a little downtime. Said time included a much-needed nap for me. After I got up, SaraRules and I hit the mall to pick up a couple of gifts – in and out of the mall in under ten minutes(!) – and then headed downtown.

We met and checked out the lights at Temple Square. Let me rephrase that: “We planned to meet Nyx and wound up waiting for each other on opposite corners of the same intersection for about fifteen minutes before meeting up to see the lights at Temple Square.” Yeah, that is a much better explanation. And it’s far closer to the way things turned out. Let me also add: It was COLD last night. Seriously cold. Temple Square had throngs of people, which is far from atypical, especially at this time of year. The lights were nice and there were five Nativity creches to see, as well. Pictures of the outing can be seen here.

After the lights, SaraRules, Nyx and I headed to Coffee Connection to meet up with 365DayGirl. Nyx had been there – and mentioned that I should check it out – before. It was something of an eclectic place: The main entry area has a spartan, almost industrial feel; the “study area” was full of booths and had a bit of a diner-like feel to me; and the “lounge” area was full of couches and had a much more casual feel. We hung out and chatted for a while before calling it a night.

Stray Toasters

• Thank Heaven, God and Baby Jesus for polypropylene long underwear.
• How to Practice Mindfulness
• Nyx sent me links to two amusing sweatshirts last night:
  • Green Lantern
  • Shredder
• While watching How Do They Do It? yesterday afternoon, they had an item about modular houses built – within a week – by Huf Haus.
• 
• How to Teach Physics to Your Dog
• It looks as though Corey Ivy will be taking Lardarius Webb’s place in the Ravens’ lineup.
• Someone on HCRealms has posted a picture of the “Buy It by the Brick” HeroClix figure for the upcoming “Brave and the Bold” set:



• East Coast Blizzard Seen From Space
• District 9 is out today.
• I’m not sure how many – if any – of you are familiar with the Mark Millar comic book, Kick-Ass…
  

  Dave Lizewski, an otherwise ordinary New York City high school student and the child of Greg Willer, loving single father, takes his interest in comic books as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. He assembles a suit and mask, which he wears under his normal clothing, begins exercising, and practices things like walking on roofs, sating his ambitions for a time. He eventually seeks to fight crime, with his first attempt leading him to receive a severe beating and stabbing by thugs, followed by his wandering into the street and being hit by a car.^[1] He retains his secret identity, however, stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrive.

  …but there’s a live-action movie coming out next year. One of the characters in the book is Hit-Girl, a 12-year-old vigilante who patrols the city with her father, Big Daddy (portrayed by Nicolas Cage). Here’s a trailer of Hit-Girl’s… um… “greatest hits.” (Definitely for mature audiences)

• Climate, Habitat Threaten Wild Coffee Species
• Monkey knife-fighting with octopus tattoo

Time to get out there and face the day.)

Namaste.

EDIT
I just got a message from my father: Our holiday cards were shipped to Maryland, rather than here… despite my calling FedEx to verify where they were supposed to go. *sigh* On the “plus” side, Dad had them Express Mailed here; we should have them tomorning.

Sunday – 20 December 2009
Yesterday was a good – and full – day. I started at 0830… and was on the move until around 2300. But, it was worth it.

I started the morning with a call to my uncle; it was his birthday. SaraRules and I talked with him for a few minutes before we headed out to start our respective days: She was shopping with her mother; I was having coffee with Chris and Perry. After that, Chris and I headed up to Dr. Volt’s for another HeroClix tourney (pictures here). This time we had four people (including Chris) show – technically, it was five people… but the fifth showed up after I had started the first matches, so he opted not to play. He said that he’s in for the next tournament, though. Chris won the event, going 3-0.  He played Josh (one of the new arrivals) who until that game was also 2-0. Josh took home the Fellowship prize.

After I dropped Chris at home, I came home and then SaraRules and I headed to Five Guys for burgers and fries. They were, as usual, quite tasty. Back home to change and get ready to head out to the Utah Symphony Holiday Pops with Jerry! concert. It was a lot of fun, with a lot of good music… but, the best part of the concert came just after the concert:

I was walking backstage with SaraRules (she had to put away some work material), when we came to a doorway that led to steps from one of the upper tiers. A few people exited the door, among them an older lady in a red dress.

She turned and looked at me.
I looked at her.

She looked at me… like she knew me.
I looked at her… blankly.

She looked at me… like she knew me… and came over and took my hand.
I stood there… still not knowing her… not quite sure what to say.

“You don’t remember me, do you?  I’m Lotta Mae¹ ” she smiled and said.
“I don’t believe that we’ve met before, ma’am,” I responded, warmly and with a smile.
“Oh… you’re not Eric, are you?”
“No, ma’am… I’m not.”
“Oh, well, then… I’m sorry.”

And, with that she walked off.

SaraRules and I continued down the hallway, she with a grin on her face. I was still completely in the dark as to exactly why, but I did find the situation a bit comical. After we got to her desk, SaraRules explained that after thinking about it, she understood why the woman thought that I was this “Eric” chap. As we were walking out, we saw Eric and she introduced us. Eric…

• …is roughly my height
• …is roughly my build
• …is very similar to my complexion (Yep! There’s another Black guy in Utah!)
• …also has a shaved head
• …was also wearing a black suit.

That’s about where the similarities end:

• He was in a white shirt; I was in a white/purple-striped shirt
• He had a gold jacquard tie; mine was with purple with white/grey squares.
• He was clean-shaven; I have a goatee.

When SaraRules explained to him what had just happened, he broke out in hearty laughter. I did, too. Again. We came to the conclusion that we were apparently Mirror Universe opposites and that Lotta Mae had failed to notice that I was actually the “evil twin.” (And, I actually made a Driving Miss Daisy joke to SaraRules about it on the way back to the car, as well.)

But, it was a heckuva funny way to end the evening. And for that reason, I’m naming Lotta Mae and Eric as co-Humans of the Day.

Stray Toasters

• The Bears – Ravens game has been postponed until 1615 (EST), due to weather.
• Bryan Singer on X-Men: First Class
• By way of Rachel: Star Wars Weather Forecast
  (Enter your city in the text box at the top of the page.)
• ‘Alien’ Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon, Dead at 63
• 99 Luftballons, Side-by-Side Comparison – the German translation and the bastardized version that we got in English.
• 
• British troops to get first new camouflage in 40 years
• Traveler’s worst nightmare: East Coast snowfall cancels over 800 flights
• A Lament for Saab

And now, I believe that it’s time for coffee and some form of breakfast.

Namaste.

¹ – I’m not sure that’s how her name is spelled; since this is my story, I get to spell it the way I want. Hopefully, I’m at least close to how it’s supposed to be spelled.

Tuesday – 15 December 2009
Back into the working grind.  Not too much to plow through… aside from about 40 emails. Those are easy enough to deal with.

Last night, for the first time in at least two years, I made “Chocolate Jolt” coffee bean-infused chocolates. This time, I tried something a little different – I added mint, kind of like Andes Chocolates. I haven’t taste-tested them yet, but they seemed to turn out alright.

Last night’s excursion to Barnes & Noble proved unfruitful… at least as far as I was concerned. SaraRules, however, had a big score and was able to find [SPOILER DELETED], which [SPOILER DELETED] should think is pretty awesome.

On the other hand, after a couple of calls to local Graywhale CD Exchange stores, I have finally found a copy of Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration! It took the clerk I spoke with a few minutes to locate it – for some reason, it was put in the “World Music” section. *shrug* “Ours is not to reason why…” He’s holding it behind the counter for me; I will have to see about getting it at lunch or after work.

Stray Toasters

• At ‘s suggestion, I’m wearing a suit today; he and other professors decided to wear them to the final exam that they were proctoring “…just to entertain the students.” I wear mine around here, from time to time, “just because.” That… and the fact that it tends to make people nervous. (That’s really a nice fringe benefit.)
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Haagen-Dazs opens no-Indians-allowed store in Delhi
• sent me a couple of amusing links:
  • From Not Always Right: “The Fourth Is Not Strong in This One…”
  • Zombie ‘Star Wars’ Posters Are Beautifully Disturbing
• From the “Who Wants to Live Forever?” file: Turritopsis nutricula: The world’s only ‘immortal’ creature
• By way of come today’s “Humans of the Day” award winners: Mystery Couple Starts “Magical” Chain Reaction
• Unplugged: The Web’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy of 2008
• CoH is doing free character server transfers, through the end of January!

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.

Sunday – 06 December 2009
Yesterday was a good – although cold – day. It also started to snow yesterday morning. There was snow in the forecast… but not until today. So, when I headed out, looked to the west and couldn’t see the Oquirrh Mountains, I knew that it was imminent. Ten minutes later, I was driving into it. Yay. It snowed intermittently throughout the afternoon. Nothing really accumulated, aside from on the grass/fields in some areas.

I hosted a ‘Clix tournament at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection yesterday.  There was only one other person (besides Chris) who showed up to play. That was fine, because that meant a few things:

1. There was some word of mouth – the other player drove up… from Nephi.
2. Chris had someone to play against.
3. I didn’t have to worry about “Who won what,” as I could hand out both the first place and the Fellowship prizes.

Wayne, the guy from Nephi, wound up winning the tourney. put in an appearance; he’d been curious about both the game and the comic shop, so he thought he’d check them out. (Hopefully he had a good time hanging out.)

After the game, SaraRules and I went out to dinner and ran some errands. After that, we came home and set up the Christmas tree, while Christmas songs played on the 360. After that – and a nap, on my part – we chilled out on the couch, with hot chocolate and biscotti… and MythBusters.

Stray Toasters

• From the “Wow… I’m an idiot” file: I saw a blurb for the following item from The Washington Post:
  

  A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number.

  Wait. What? Really?  I mean…. REALLY??! Come on. They had to be kidding. I looked up the original article.  The correction was in reference to the following paragraph:

  Public Enemy has earned notoriety with more than 20 years of politically charged music about fighting the power, challenging racism and declaring that 911 was a joke. The group has joined forces with Virgin Mobile USA to combat youth homelessness as part of National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.

  I shared the item with SaraRules, who was as flabbergasted as I was that someone would make that mistake. Her post-shock comment was: “This is something that… two minutes… of research would have clarified. Did she ever listen to the song?! If nothing else, she could have looked at when the song was written and seen how far before [September 11^th] it was.”

  Not only that, what about an editor?! Someone should have caught it. I did a little searching of my own, to see if I could find a picture of the author; maybe she was an older woman who just had no clue. This is the picture I found:

  

  She is the young lady on the far left.
  And just for the record (and future reference) : 911 != 9/11.

• MarknTyme tossed me a link to a concept trailer for a show called Slingers. Check it out here.
• U.S. hospitals turn to G.E. for surgical cuts
• 
• From NPR Music:
  • Living Colour: Keeping the Music Alive
  • The Jazz Loft Project: Sights and Sounds
  • The 11th Annual Director’s Cuts Music Guide
    
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Custom LEGO model kit leads to tactical police response…
• …and, in a similar vein: Police U-turn on photographers and anti-terror laws
• I watched 1 vs. 100 last night – one of The Mob was an aerospace engineer… who was also a cheerleader for the Houston Texans. Talk about disparate jobs!
• Comic Book Artists Illustrate Sci-Fi Legends
• Apple acquires music service Lala
• This image…

  

  …is available as a card or a print. Click here for more information.

• Woman jailed, charged with felony camcordering after recording 4 minutes of sister’s birthday party in a movie theater

And with that, I think I’ll put on some coffee and watch a little gridiron action.

Namaste.

Friday – 04 December 2009
Another work week draws to a close.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to The Festival of Trees. When we pulled up to the convention center, the parking lot was full. Full full. As in “people looking for non-existent empty parking spaces” full. We opted not to roam around the lot; instead we parked by Kate and Perry’s and just walked over. That worked much better. Once we got in, it was camera time. I took over 150 pictures of trees, wreaths, Nativity scenes and gingerbread houses. This Nativity picture has a story:

I wasn’t really paying a lot of attention as I turned the corner past this Nativity. So when I glimpsed this king, out of the corner of my eye…

…the first thought in my head was:

“Why is he videotaping Baby Jesus?!”

After a moment, there was a brief spark, as two brain cells rubbed together to form a clue:

“Wait. They didn’t have camcorders at Christ’s birth…”

Which led me to go back and look at it more carefully. Things fell into place much better at that point. Apparently, a lady noted that I was taking pictures of Nativity scenes and told Sara and me about a collection of Nativities – from around the world – that are on display at Temple Square. I think that we’re going to try and see them in the next week or so.

And, I thought that I might actually get out of there without my superpower kicking in. No such luck: I ran into a coworker – who was volunteering at the Festival – as we were getting ready to see the quilts and gingerbread houses.

If you’re in the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area, I recommend visiting the Festival of Trees – not only is it a nice family outing, but proceeds go to benefit Primary Children’s Medical Center.  It runs from 10 AM to 10 PM, through tomorrow (Saturday, 05 Dec 09). More details can be found here.

After we got home, SaraRules put on some hot chocolate and we settled in to watch Fringe. It was a nice way to wrap up the evening.

Stray Toasters

• U.S. Veteran, 108, fights for WWI memorial
• A Computer Geek’s Smart Productivity Guide
• Bringing the Disney Magic Back in ‘Princess & the Frog‘

  

• LEGO Guitars
• Ancient Morocco adds modern amenities for tourism
• Comcast Eats NBC (infographic)

  

• Metropolis in the Old Days
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Smile Like You’re Dead Inside
• Dams Could Alter Local Weather, Cause More Rain
• Visit to the home of a steampunk houser-restorer
• Chainmail Tetris blocks

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 December 2009
Thirteen.

That’s the answer to “How many degrees (Fahrenheit) was it when I left home this morning?” Low relative humidity or not, that’s just cold.

Last night, SaraRules and I went out to do a little Christmas shopping and errand-running.  Our first stop was at Gardner Village; we picked out our 2009 Christmas ornament. From there, we headed to The Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks for dinner – SaraRules had the Philly Bleu, I had the Mushroom Pepper. Next stop: Hobby Lobby. And after that, a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden.

After we returned home, we watched Shade, a movie that SaraRules got from Netflix; excerpted from their synopsis:

A trio of grifters (Thandie Newton, Gabriel Byrne and Stuart Townsend) plots the con of a lifetime when they scheme to hustle a notorious card shark known as “The Dean.”  Jamie Foxx and Melanie Griffith co-star in this twisting tale of deception, danger and double cross.

It was a good movie, better than we expected actually. It made for a good evening’s movie watching and I’d definitely recommend it.

Workout
Wes and I made it to the gym today. The fact that I’m still sore from Tuesday’s workout didn’t help… at all:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets – 10/20/10*
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs/195 lbs/185 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Side Bends (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps per side, 25 lbs
• Lateral Raises (w/ fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps

Post-workout weight: 190.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

• The Council for Better Driving: Utah suggests reading this article: ‘Road Rage’ Case Highlights Cyclist vs. Driver Tension
• Malware Alert: Zeus faked as H1N1 alert
• 365DayGirl posted a link to Tabloach Productions – Barbie (et al.) doll customizations
• Steampunk assemblage glasses
• Monkeys! >.<
  
• Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults
• 
• : Sorry to hear about this, no one should have to go out like this – Lewis’ career likely over after he suffers post-concussion symptoms
• NBC Universal + Comcast = NBC CEO Jeff Zucker’s Statement to Staff
• Vladamir Put ‘to think about’ presidential bid
• My Hilarious Warner Bros. Royalty Statement
• The PlayStation Turns 15: What did it mean for you?

Back to the grind…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 02 December 2009
One down, one in the chamber and two to go. Yesterday was a decent enough day, workwise. There wasn’t really any monkeydom to deal with – that always makes the day good.

Today is Sushi and No Comics Wednesday – shipments were delayed due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Maybe I’ll buy a box or two of ‘Clix to compensate for the delay.

After work (and dinner), Chris came over and we played HeroClix. Since we’re running a tournament this weekend, we decided to try a few of the new pieces in a 300-point game. After setting up the “Fountain of Asgard” map, we noted that it is not for tournament play; we went with the “Arkham Asylum” map. Chris’ team consisted of:

• Captain America
• Daredevil and
• Moondragon

I asked SaraRules to pick ten figures at random, so that I could simulate pulling a couple of sealed boosters. Of the pieces she chose, I went with:

• Moonstone
• Penance
• Star-Lord and
• Valkyrie (#012, not #055)

We maneuvered our pieces into position and started throwing punches.  There were a lot of “swings and misses” before Chris changed his dice (oddly enough, his new dice “worked”); I think that my dice got scared and decided to get on the job when they saw that. I took out Daredevil with Valkyrie… and Moondragon scored a critical hit on Penance, not only doing four points of damage to him, but also slamming him backwards – into a wall – to finish him off. After that, we traded bad dice rolls until I was finally able to pick off Cap and Moondragon. So, for the first time in months… I beat Chris.

It was good to see the new figures in action. I’ve become a big fan of the Star-Lord ‘Clix and Chris pointed out something about both the new Captain America and Daredevil figures that would make them truly painful to face in unrestricted play.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym yesterday at lunch.  We were joined by Eric, who was up in the north office for a while:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Tricep “Kickbacks”: 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps
• Core (plank): 2 sets, 30 seconds

Post-workout weight: 188.1 lbs

It’s amazing – but not entirely unexpected – how painful working out can be… after a nearly three-week absence from the gym.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules bought a couple of boxes of Honeycomb for me a couple of months ago… right around the time I started eating Honey Nut Cheerios fairly regularly. I had something of an epiphany last night: I could take one of the boxes to work – where I keep a spoon and bowl, anyway – pick up some organic milk (which stays good for up to a month), and just have breakfast at work. I put that plan into motion this morning. So far, so good.
• Utah Symphony-Utah Opera is having a Holiday Sale.  Check it out!
• By way of Rachel: LEGO Movie Posters
• Reboot This! 10 Sci-Fi Shows Ready for Upgrade
• 
• A short while ago, I was talking with Minion #2 about the mistranslation of the “number of The Beast.” We have long been taught that the number is “666.” That’s not correct; the number is supposed to be “616.” (Sources: 1, 2, 3)

  Amusing side note: The Area Code for Grand Rapids Michigan is 616.

  Another amusing side note: Marvel Comics’ main universe is “Universe 616.”

• Madagascar unveils ‘cartoon constitution’
• sent along a picture of these shoes: Armani velvet pinstripes. I don’t think that I could swing ’em, but I’m sure that someone out there could hook them up nicely.
• From NPR: The Best Five Books to Share with Your Friends

Namaste.

Sunday – 29 November 2009

Friday afternoon, SaraRules and I went shopping. As I mentioned, I had expected most of the early-birds to be back in their respective aeries. That wasn’t the case as of the early afternoon, when we headed over to JoAnn Fabrics. I was amazed at the number of people in line to get fabric cut! If I remember correctly, there were literally about EIGHTY (80) people ahead of us! Unglaublich! Fortunately, SaraRules had the presence of mind to take a number before she started looking for fabric; I’d hate to think how much longer we would have waited had she not done that. And, we also picked up a wreath while we were there. The rest of the day and evening were rather low-key. We went to coffee and – aside from Carilyn (former coworker of mine) – were the only ones there.

SaraRules, Logan and I went to see The Blind Side yesterday. It was good. Very good, in fact. And… I have something of a confession: I’ve never really been a huge Sandra Bullock fan. I don’t mean that I dislike her – I’ve enjoyed her in other films – it’s just that she’s never really done anything that’s made me go, “Wow!” Until this movie. I actually thought,”Whoa… she can pull of depth and range beyond ‘comic actress.'” I enjoyed her portrayal of Leanne Tuohy. And, while I’m not a modern country fan, I have to give Tim McGraw props for both cleaning up nicely and doing a fine job in front of the camera, too. It was definitely “an inspirational sports movie,” but it was quite good in the way it told its story… and the fact that Michael Oher is the Ravens’ Left Tackle didn’t hurt, either.

We came back from the movie and I finished a project that I started Friday afternoon: Cleaning the office. It had been “far too long” since I had any verification that there was actually a floor in there. I set about proving that there was… and I was right! It looks about 300% better in there now.

For my final amazing feat of the day, I decided to do HeroClix mod. Like many people I wasn’t thrilled with the sculpt of the Spider-Man figure that came out in WizKids’ Secret Invasion set: The figure’s proportions weren’t right and it just looked… well… cheap. I had been toying around with some ideas and put them to work:

• Old and busted:

  

• New hotness:

While this wasn’t as much of a mod as either Winter Soldier/Captain America or Sodam Yat, it was as much fun to do as either of the others, including doing a complete repainting of the wall (including a covered-over zombie poster on the back). For a better look at what I did to make a better-looking Wall-Crawler out of Spidey, you can take a look at the before and after shots. I’m rather happy with how he turned out.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to Super Emo Super Friends.
  (Consider the whole set as having been added to The Covet List.)
• Okay. I lied. Only one ‘Toaster, so far.  Maybe I’ll post more later.

And now, brunch at Cisero’s with SaraRules and the family!

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.

Wednesday – 25 November 2009
Today’s got so much going for it, I don’t think that you could cram anything else into it: It’s the middle of the week, but it’s also “Technical Friday.” It’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday. It’s the first day of Hajj, as well as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. And, it’s the day before Thanksgiving. *whew* I defy you you try packing more into a day that this.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched the NCIS block on CBS and, after a quick excursion to the local Target – where we once again ran into ex-coworker Brooke – I set about finishing up some paperwork for work. Yay.

Stray Toasters

• Late yesterday afternoon, I got a surprise call from a friend I haven’t spoken with in… close to a year, at least. Schedules, go figure. It was a great way to wrap up the work day.
• Runaway with Asperger’s Syndrome Spent 11 Days on Subway
• Indian Colors, American Fashion
• Hot Caramel Mocha goodness…
• New Disney Princess movie sounds pretty good

  

• National Gaming Day at libraries a massive success
• Michelle Obama racist image sparks Google apology
• Velocity of Media Comsumption: The Web vs. TV
• sent me a link to a video from this summer’s San Diego Sandy Eggo Comic Con, in which Kevin Smith gives his (NSFW, use headphones) opinion about the Twilight phenomenon (do DO do-do-do!):

• Bad-ass Mad Max campout weekend, complete with working gyrocopter
• Sometime between tonight and tomorrow morning, I shall be making two pies: a Chocolate Cream Pie and a Sweet Potato Pie.
• Airlines fined for overnight stranding in Minneapolis

It’s very quiet in the office today. What does that mean? Simply put: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is going on my big monitor in just over a half-hour.  Win!

Namaste.