Random Access

Wednesday – 30 May 2007
I talked with Mom last night – everything went well.  Of course, I neglected to factor in time zones when I called, so she was already asleep.  I’m going to try again in a little while.
Last night was also D&D night.  wasn’t there, but we sallied forth without her.  Somewhat.  I ran her character.  *shrug*  Two characters, no big deal.  (I ran five in a campaign once, many moons past.  That was… interesting.)  I didn’t get her – or myself – killed, so I consider that an accomplishment.

This morning’s commute moved to the beat of my “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll” playlist.  A few songs came on that reminded me of people:

• Lola (The Kinks) – I’ve enjoyed this song for years, but the thing that always makes me chuckle about it comes from high school.  A student named Brian, one year ahead of me, held an assembly which was basically a mini-“concert”.  He played the piano… and guitar, if I remember correctly.  He closed out the assembly with a great piano rendition of Lola.  It went over pretty well with the student body; the administration…. had issues with it.
• Kiss Me Deadly (Lita Ford) – Johnny M.  He was one of the guys from my dorm, sorry “residence hall,” at Purdue.  And he had a HUGE mad on for Ms. Ford.  Massive.  Huge.  Ginormous, even.  I don’t know if it’s possible to wear out a CD, but I think that he tried to with Lita.  And he’d rock out to this song – and most of the others on the CD, too.
• Love Rollercoaster (both versions – The Ohio Players and RHCP) – I first heard the RHCP version of the song, when it was part of the Beavis & Butt-head Do America soundtrack.  I remember thinking, “How long could it have taken them to write this?!  Five minutes, if that?!”  Then, I discovered that it was a cover of The Ohio Players’ song… which meant that the only new part of the song was the “rap” that Anthony Kiedis does during the bridge.  Right.  This reminds me of a former postal coworker, Chad.  We would often share a tape player or CD player at work – it was good for saving on batteries and getting some variety in what we listened to.  Even when I wasn’t listening to the same thing as him, I could tell when this song came on because he’d lean way back in his chair and his typing – already rather fast – got even more fast.

This morning also started in the SLC office, which is almost never a bad thing.
Stray Toasters

• I, once again, managed to not spill my mocha on the way in.
• Sisyphus
• Last night, I went to a local grocery store to pick up a package of razor blades.  Actually, I wound up going to two stores – one was out of them.  *grblsnrkx*  At the second store, I found the razor blades… locked behind a plexiglass barrier.  Ô.õ  ?!  I don’t think that I’ve seen that before.  And it was just the blades.  The razors – including the multi-packs and some of the more expensive hand razors – were sitting out in the open.  Big as day, twice as bright.  It shocked me to also note that that locked up the razor blades… but left the condoms out.  Maybe they are more worried about kids going emo than the local birth rate.
• He’s a little bit afraid of dying
  But he’s a lot more afraid of your lying…
• 
• Gear Clock
• I saw this article and the first thing that came to mind was: “What would George Clinton have to say about that?”
• I’m craving cheese fries and prime rib from Outback.
• Finally, the perfect lamp for the chiropractor – Mortal Kombat fan – on your Christmas list.

Back to the mill.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 29 May 2007
The first thing that went through my mind when I was typing the date was: “Tuesday is Blues day.” Bonus points if you remember what that meant.

A/another short week begins. Amen.

My mother’s going in for surgery this afternoon. From what I understand, it’s not a big deal, but it could/will prevent a much bigger deal. When I called her to say “Hi” this morning, she was in the salon, preparing to get her hair done. Before… going… to…. *sigh* Yeah. That’s Mom. Kris is going to call me, post-op, to give me the low-down on how it went and how Mom’s doing.

The commute was, for the most part, good. There were a couple of monkeys who made me wish that I had shock collars or a cattle prod, but the rest of the… huh, “a barrel” really is one of the names for a group of monkeys… anyway, the rest of them were fairly docile. This morning’s musical oleo came from my Rush playlist. (I’ll avoid making any other bad “Rush hour” jokes, other than that one.):

• Cold Fire
• The Spirit of Radio
• Tai Shan
  
• Grand Designs
  
• Animate
  
• Freewill

That made dealing with the road monkeys a little easier, too.

Stray Toasters

• I had a cinnamon roll and a frozen mocha… which I managed to get into the building without issue this morning.
• The Politics of Dancing
• 
• Go, Pacers!
  (Huh…? They aren’t in the playoffs? Oh. Nevermind, then.)
• “Less Human Than Human”
• Does anyone remember Gorf? I used to love that game.
• As His Chocolate Holiness, I think that Derek deserves elevation to a position above “Acolyte.” Possibly even something above “Priest.” My inner anarchist – which in this case may be “my inner Antichrist” – wants to make him “Bishop,” just because of the fact that we are in Utah.
• 
• Alter Ego: author’s audio slideshow of gamers and avatars
• Death by Pillsbury
• I have made references to satisfying my inner Kryptonian/Daxamite while taking my morning and afternoon constitutionals. This morning, I came up with a variation on that theme: Who are solar-powered heroes/villains in the MU/DCU? I came up with the following:
• Superman
• Supergirl
• Mon-El (M’onel / Valor)
• Andromeda
• Any other Kryptonian or Daxamite you’d care to name
• The brothers Summers: Cyclops and Havok (I’m not sure abot Vulcan, as his powers haven’t been fully explained.)
• Bizarro, I would assume
• SunspotI’m sure that I’ve missed a few, but those were the only ones who came to mind.
• ::: CLASSIFIED :::
• 777-9311

Namaste.

Sunday – 27 May 2007
It’s been a very quiet, lazy day.

So far, the highlights have been:

• Putting Corvus Nox through the paces in The Hollows… on a less-than-balanced team. I was the main healer, which is not a good thing. If anything, Nox is more of a field medic than a healer – I can patch you up… I can even resurrect you (as long as there are nearby enemies from whom I can drain life), but powerful heals are not my fortè. Needless to say, there was a good bit of dying spread around the team.
• Taking a nap.

I’m a little torn between going to IKEA – I want to check a couple of things, now that the crowds have (hopefully) waned a bit – and heading to either Borders or B&N to do some drawing. Of course, the easy answer is: “Do both.” Which currently ranks pretty high on the list.

And with that, I’m a vapor trail.

Namaste.

Tuesday: coda
The day ended quietly:  Dinner with and some time in Paragon City.  Selah.

Stray Toasters

• I have Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream.
• Into the Wind
• 52.   (not a DCU reference, this time)
• I’m running a Carnival of Shadows mission with my Supergroup.  In the back of my head, I’m hearing The Cruxshadows’ song Carnival.  It’s making me grin.
• A couple of Bruce Campbell Old Spice commercials:

1. Experience
2. Hungry Like the Wolf

• Canada.
• …which reminds me:  It’s fragilisticexpialidocious!
• 30 Days of Night: Vampires of the Arctic

And that’s a wrap for now.

G’night, Skeets!

Monday: coda
And so, another day comes to an end.

…and at the end of that day, Jack Bauer [spoiler deleted] because the people involved with the [spoiler deleted] didn’t follow through with [spoiler deleted].
Stray Toasters

• For the past year or so, my camera has had a problem with the switch that controls the on/off and lens.  I fixed that today.  It was a mixed bag: I was happy that it was fairly easy to take care of and that I don’t have to rush out to get a new camera… but, I was a little torqued that it was such an easy fix and that I hadn’t thought of it before.
• Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Batmobile
• Sib-3 called this evening to inform me, and I quote, “Gears of War is the best game ever.”  I reminded him that he said the same thing about HALO and HALO2.  He said that they were good… for the time, but that this easily surpasses them.  And that he loved his 360.
• People are already camping out at the new IKEA.
• Passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers
• : Here’s a bunch of LSH-related items…
• Cover art to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #32
  
• Legends of Lost Legionnaires – including some Sims skins
• Gone But Not Forgotten: LSHv4
• Legion of Super-Heroes Customs
• There was a song/video that I wanted to look up, but damn if I can remember what it was.
• Hot Chicks with Douchebags (some of the images may be NSFW)
• Pre-orders for Weta Collectibles Rayguns will begin on Friday, 25 May 2007.
• Glass Rayguns by Joe Blow Glassworks
• By way of boingboing.net: Threadless spoiler tee
• For , and the other Wii owners: Can’t Wait for the Wiikend

And now, sleep…

Namaste.

Monday – 21 May 2007
Another week begins.   A short week, although I’m not sure how short it will be:  The Temple of Sweden opens on Wednesday and I think that I want to be one of the early morning teeming masses.  If that’s the case and I wind up taking the day off, I may work a full 8 – 10 on Friday.  We shall see.
Yesterday was very lax.  Uber lax.  Lax-tastic.  I went for a drive up through Parley’s and Emigration Canyons; I hadn’t done that in a while.  I capped it with a trip to Jitterbug.  I headed home and made an amazing discovery:

As a Green Lantern in training, I’m pretty familiar with the uses of willpower.  With proper focus, you can use it to create pretty much anything.  (Yeah, there’s a good reason that they call GL rings “the most powerful weapon in the universe.”)  For the past few months, I had taken it for granted that the items around my keyboard and monitors were being held up through force of willpower alone.

I was mistaken.

There was actually a desk under the accumulated debris.  The desk is still there; the debris is not.

The Scales of Justice
The Hand of Nefer-Tem spent some time in Paragon City.  The person leading the team decided to run one of my missions.  Great!  The more, the merrier.  Apparently, I should have said: “The more, the deadlier,” because we got our collective recta kicked.  A lot.  So much so that the team abandoned the mission and disbanded.  Oh, well.  I led a small group on the same mission a little later.  Yes, we died a few times… but we cleared the mission.  Now, I just need to clear that 13K of XP debt…

Stray Toasters

• I have Goldfish.  Both pretzel and cheddar.
• The Reverend Al Sharpton is in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain today, meeting with members of the LDS Church – trying to (re)build some bridges after a few… less-than-thoughtful… remarks he made over the past few weeks.

  I think that they should have him meet with members of the clergy and the laiety.  And my top pick for the secular member for him to talk with: Gladys Knight.

• I wasn’t sure if there would be one, but I was glad to see that Wikipedia does have an entry for “…said the Actress to the Bishop.“
• …and then, there’s always the Brian Bolland poster.
• galilieo’s head was on the block
  the crime was looking up the truth
  as the bombshells of my daily fears explode
  i try to trace them to my youth

  then you had to bring up reincarnation
  over a couple of beers the other night
  now i’m serving time for mistakes
  made by another in another lifetime

• Poang
• Duran Duran White Lines
• :  Thanks!  That made me smile.
• …which reminds me:  While having a comics-related conversation with Tyranist and Jason earlier, Tyranist said “Stop…” to which I replied “Hammertime!”  And then, a horrible image passed through my head:  Thor, swinging Mjolnir, doing Hammer’s “Chinese Typewriter” dance.
• 
• NOTE TO SELF: Northern Strike
• Topsy-turvy Bus

Back to it.

Namaste.

Thursday – 17 May 2007
Post-work yesterday, I (finally) went to pick up my four-color crack… for the past two or three weeks. Yeah. I needed my fix. I didn’t get everything, just the important stuff. Okay, the really important stuff. And, Dave was kind enough to save the Free Comic Book Day items that I had requested… which is good, because he apparently ran out of stuff quickly. AND… I even got the limited edition FCBD plastic crack: Batman.

After that, back home for a bit and off to dinner and a movie with Liz. Tres Hombres. I need to remember to travel with Tums – the food was tasty, but it came back with a bit of a vengeance a few hours later.  *sigh* The movie was Disturbia. I enjoyed it. I would call it “a thriller,” but I fear that a certain Tyranist would pelt me with office supplies over the cube walls. The movie did a good job of building suspense and holding it. I even jumped a time or two because I didn’t see something coming. I give the movie a thumbs up with an okay. It might even make it into the collection someday… And, there was a life-sized, 3-D Silver Surfer… mannequin/standee in the lobby.  It’d make a great lawn ornament: “Oh, sure… anyone can get a cement statue; we decided to do something different!”
Three days and change down… one to go. This morning started, once again, in the SLC office. Followed by another trip to the caffeination dispensary. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• I’m craving crab cakes. From Phillips, of course.
• Woman survives internal decapitation
• Shucky Ducky quack quack!
• Quiz: Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?
• Matt – who shall hereafter be occasionally referred to as “Dwim,” – pointed me in the direction of Chris Dimino’s Cuckoo Clock… based on The Shining.  Check out some of his other stuff, too.
• More scary old ads about Lysol: Nazi babies and Spider-Crotch
• 
• Microsoft to Dump 32-Bit After Vista
• 2 Legit 2 Quit (Hey! Heeeey!)
• Usenet is my friend.   It brought me more episodes of Legion of Super Heroes.  *genuflect*
• Guy who remodeled his flat to Star Trek specs finally sells it

Just getting back from the gym; it was good.  Very good: Three sets of 200.  Ten reps each set.  Hoo-AH!

And now, food.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 May 2007
Yesterday was good. It started early – and in the SLC office, at least for a few minutes. The workday was fairly quiet and monkey-free. Selah. Eric and I decided to do some heavy sets for the bench press portion of today’s workout. I did 225 lbs. (dropped to 185, to finish the set), 200, 200. I was rather pleased. (Yes, it’s three months past when I wanted to be able to do it… but I did reach the goal.) I want to get at least two sets of 200 lbs. in each workout… preferrably, starting from this point. We’ll see how that goes.

Last night was D&D night. We learned some important things pertaining to our current… quest… to prevent a new god from rising to power. Fun for us. And, most importantly, we neither died nor killed each other. That’s something positive!

Stray Toasters

• I finally got around to scanning my latest “lyric-to-pencil” drawing: Presto
• By way of : Hue & Cry (or what I like to call: “That sofa is WHAT color?!”)
• The Next Fad: Old Game Music on iTunes
• Tyranist pointed out Marvel’s site for the upcoming Doctor Strange video.
• 
• Heather Jansch: Life-size Driftwood Sculpture
• Women in Comics’ Special Outrage of the Week Edition – The issue: the upcoming Mary Jane Watson statue
• 
• Pictorial History of Vidgame Consoles
• Tyranist: Pan’s Labyrinth is back at the Broadway.
• Do we really need a Shrek “holiday TV show?”

And now to finish getting ready for – and on the way to – work.

Namaste.

Monday – 14 May 2007
To borrow a line from The Pretenders, “I’m back on the chain gang…”  So far, it’s been a rather quiet day.  I put that under the heading of “Good things.”  Especially for a Monday.

One of my coworkers read yesterday’s post and asked me a question about IMPACT.  I told him what little I knew about it… and he filled in the gaps.  Unglaublich! I was not expecting to come to work and get a little lesson in all things IMPACT, but I did.  Wow.  Check it out for yourself.

The Scales of Justice
Yesterday, The Hand of Nefer-Tem spent a few hours patrolling the streets – and a few islands – in Paragon City.  I got in with a pretty decent team… but our mortality rate was a little high, as we couldn’t find any empathic Defenders or Controllers.  But we marched on.  And on.  And on.  On series of missions that we did continued another branch of the missing Kheldians story arc that I’ve been playing.  This branch deals with a couple of villain groups who are developing weapons designed specifically for use against Peacebringers and Warshades.  Wonderful.

Somewhere, amidst all of the fighting – and dying – I managed to hit Security Level 26.

And, I came up with a couple of handy-dandy Nefer-Tem icons… but I need to decide which one I want to use:

  

Stray Toasters

• There are a few productions, opera and ballet, coming to Capitol Theatre that I want to see.
• “Youre lucky, I happened to be at the rib joint across the street…”
• I dedicate this song to .   He knows why.
• Health Education: Stress, Depression, Anxiety, Drug Use
• 
• From DrugDigest: Check potential interactions between two or more drugs
• Tyranist: Click here.

Hey, look!  The Interweb’s back!

Namaste.

I was just working on a system and dropped something.

Nothing really major, just a case screw.
Insignificant, really.

But, when I dropped it, in my head I heard the swearing sound that Q-Bert made when he got squished.

It made me laugh and feel just a little sad at the same time.

Tuesday – 08 May 2007
Aside from today being travel day, it’s got another ever-so-slightly more important meaning: It’s my stepmother, Sib3 and Max’ birthday.  I called the family unit – talked with both – and left a message with Max’ parents.  So, all bases covered.
I didn’t manage to catch my old teachers, but I did run a few errands, so the morning hasn’t been a complete wash.

We’re leaving for the airport in a little bit and then I’ll be chasing the sun.  I’ve had a great time and wish I didn’t have to leave so soon.  It was good to see family and friends and get a chance to hang out with them.

Stray Toasters

• I’m not sure why, but I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On was running through my head this morning.  While I like the Robert Palmer version, it was still missing something from the Cherrelle version from the mid 80s: A breakdancing King Kong.  I think that’s what Peter Jackson was missing from his version of King Kong, too – Kong gettin’ it on the good foot.
• Alter Ego: Portraits of players and their avatars
• Generally speaking, I don’t drink soda… unless it’s part of a mixed drink.  For Cheerwine, however, I am willing to make an exception.  This and – if I could find it – Birch Beer, from a soda company back in Maryland.
• Microwave popcorn is the new asbestos

Hello, I must be going.

Namaste.

Monday – 07 May 2007
Lazy day.

Imagine that… a lazy day… on a vacation.  Who would have thought such a thing possible?!  But here it was.  I slept in.  I stayed around the house for a while.  Mom decided that she needed a new printer, so I made a trip to the not-so-local (but-full-of-fun-things) Best Buy.  One printer, one cable (and one copy of Snakes & Arrows) later, I was on the way back home.

It was also a nominally productive day.  I…

• …installed the printer and hardware
• …replaced a tail light in Mom’s car
• …went to the grocery store
• …visited an aunt whom I hadn’t gotten to see over the weekend
• …still…need to do…. laundry.

Four out of five ain’t bad.  And I did get to see tonight’s episode of 24.
Tomorrow, I get to chase the sun.  Tomorrow evening, that is.  Tomorrow morning, I want to try and catch up a couple of my old teachers.

Stray Toasters

• As if I needed something else to covet: Elektra
• Two States Restrict Used CD Sales
  Why does it not surprise me that Utah is one of the two states?
• Mario: Game Over
• Desert Island Discs: Can one game last a lifetime?
• 
• Interesting new gadget: LaptopTablet
• I had my hands on Butterscotch Krimpets today… but I didn’t buy them.  I may have to make a run at them tomorrow before I head to the airport.
• Weather.cx
• 
• 
• The 52 Cover Gallery

Namaste.

Sunday – 06 May 2007
Today has been good.

Long, but good. Last night, post-graduation party, some of us wound up in the rents’ room for a conversation that evolved/degenerated into the typical socio-economic discussions that seem to arise when members of my family and extended family get together. It lasted into the wee hours.

This morning started with two trips to the airport and a trip to Kris’ place. From there it was back up 85/40 to the homestead. I relaxed for a bit before heading out to meet , Thomas and Don for dinner at Outback. Prime rib. Cheese Fries. Beer! Don and I went to see Spider-Man 3.

It was good. And fun. It wasn’t Amazing, Sensational or Spectacular, but it was a nice way to pass a couple of hours with a friend. It will make a nice addition to the comics-to-film collection. After the movie, I took Don home and hung out with his family for a bit. While there, I was informed that “…cats are nocturnal.” By Thomas. Which caught me ever-so-slightly off-guard. I wasn’t expecting to hear that… let alone from the resident 5-year-old. But, then I considered the gene donors and things made a little more sense. A little.

Stray Toasters

• I have 12 Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
• This short, Swing, played before Spider-Man 3.  It’s by Esteban Azuela… and it’s cute.  Watch it.
• Don has a monkey.
  A Rikti monkey.
  For a pet.
  (*mutter*  You magnificent bastard!)
  He got it for being in Paragon City for three years.
• I have read the last three installments of 52. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
• – Online Communites Map
• By way of boingboing.net – Iraq: Kurdish girl stoned to death, mob films it on cameraphones
• : Aitch N I C. Mastermind. Thugs. Dark.
• By way of slashdot: Utah Anti-Kids-Spam Registry “a Flop”
• The front door may slam
  But the back door it rings…
• America’s Favorite Cites 2007, from Travel + Leisure
• Not that I needed it, but has given me another reason to love her.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 May 2007
Down to the hours now.

Someone asked if it’s hard being at work, knowing that I’m going to be on the Right Coast tomorrow morning.  Nope.  It’s not.  “SSDD,” as my father would say.  Just another day in Paradise… this is the Land of Zion, after all.

Yesterday ended quietly.  Me, sitting at home… avoiding packing through modern technology.  That’s right, boys and girls: City of Heroes.  More importantly, Issue 9: Breakthrough went live yesterday.  There are now crafting skills and auction houses in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.  So, the Hand of Nefer-Tem went to the University to learn about making new toys.  I still need to take Corvus Nox and Indi through the course, but that will wait until next week.

After leaving Paragon City, I decided to distract myself with a little poker.  That was a joke.  My game was off.  Way off.  Far enough off to be measured in astronomical units.  It wasn’t pretty.  Fortunately, the Fates decided to stop using me as their whipping boy and show me a little favor.  Things turned around.  Quickly.  I decided to stop while I was ahead.

Then, I packed.  Zaz!

I also wound up at The Clone’s V.I. last night.  This time, she was there.  It took her a moment to recognize/remember who I was – you could almost see the disk access light blinking.

Stray Toasters

• I had I Don’t Need Anything But You, from Annie, running through my head a little while ago.  I don’t know why.
• News about Jon Favreau’s upcoming Iron Man movie here and first look at the official site here.
• Redirect your animal instincts with a French letter
• From boingboing.net – Petition to restore habeas corpus
• 
• Design a Counterstrike mod, get expelled from school
• So, maybe he wasn’t quite as tarnished as we were led to believe: A look at the upcoming Booster Gold series from Wizard.
• Cover art from 52: Week Fifty-Two… which makes a nice bookend piece with the art from 52: Week One
• For , and – Faces of Guitar Heroes

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 May 2007
Last night’s D&D game set many wheels in motion.  We finally remembered to ask some of the important questions that we had neglected.  We also made some decent in-roads to accomplishing some of the major campaign items that have been looming over our heads for months.  And, we didn’t get eaten by a dragon.

Stray Toasters

• Note to Self: Call Bret.  Today.
• Justice League: Countdown – an animated parody of DC’s Identity Crisis
• Since won’t play along when I say “Mahna Mahna…”
• Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish
  Quarter Pounder, French fries
  Icy Coke, thick shakes
  Sundaes and apple pies!
• Dell wil pre-install Ubuntu Linux
• 
• Steampunk Mouse
• The Refreshments – Banditos
• Wizkids is showing more of the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes HeroClix set.  They’re going with the v5 Legion, to boot!
• – Catwoman Vinyl Statue
• Date Night – Nightwing and Batgirl, by way of the Comics2Film DCG
• Tyranist, this one is a fastball down the plate for you: Three screams for these stars
• USPS Star Wars Stamp Pre-Orders

Namaste.