Random Access

Thursday – 05 August 2010
Today…
…aside from being NBN Thursday…
…and aside from the Rush concert being tonight…
…is also the birthday of two of my friends – Christine and Land:

Last night, I played D&D (4E) with Jack at Hastur Hobbies. It was fun. No one died during the encounter… although a couple of characters came close. We even had a couple of new players in the group — one of whom, with his near-encyclopedic knowledge of some rules minutiae, reminded me of Brad or Chris.

Workout
Wednesday’s step count: 5,068

Stray Toasters

• Froyo 2.2… I am learning to both love and hate you.
  • Google CEO: 200,000 Android devices sold each day
• Meetings.  YAY!
• Ethics training. Double YAY!
• 
• Zombie Survival Scanner (iPhone app)
• WizKids/NECA posted a new “Web of Spider-Man” figure preview last night: Wolverine
• MarknTyme sent me a link to this video last night:
• Today is apparently National Underwear Day.  Who knew…?!
  • How to Choose Comfortable Underwear
• Video Game Hall of Fame inducting Pac-Man and pals
  • Five Disturbing Truths about Mario Games
• Critical flaws discovered in widely used embedded OS

No, his mind is not for rent…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 04 August 2010
Middle of the week.
Comics and Sushi Wednesday.
Hopefully, it will be quiet, compared to the last two days.

I found out yesterday that another friend – a former coworker from the USPS – had died on Monday night. I really wasn’t kidding when I said that I’m tired of having so many friends die.

Last night was relatively low-key. The highlights included yard work and watching a recorded episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.

Workout
Aside from mowing the yard, yesterday’s workout only consisted of walking: 5,069 steps

Stray Toasters

• HALO Goes Old School
• It No Longer Takes @#$%& to Use ‘Foul’ Language
• By way of Nyx: Planets, meteors prepare show for western skies
• Michael Gray – Somewhere Beyond

  The Shelly Poole Borderline song/video referenced near the end of the video can be seen here.

• ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Explored Dreams Within Dreams Years Before ‘Inception’
• Mac Daddy Love Handles
  (Doesn’t have the same ring to it as “Grand Funkmaster Dis,” but what can you do…?)
• Flour Investigated as E. coli Source
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and “Monkeys!” file: Woman calls 911 in attempt to get a date
• Grandmaster Flash: The Message

• British Couple Hosts Awesome Cosplay Wedding
  While I might otherwise be a little jealous, I did get a Green Lantern symbol incorporated into my wedding ring, so I think I at least tied them for coolness/geekiness.
• Superman Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz Dies at 68
• I’m a sucker for a story about good customer service.  By way of comes this tale: Creative Griffin case mod nets owner a family of cases

Namaste.

Monday – 02 August 2010
Hello, work week… we meet again.

It seems that, for the most part, the network switchover has worked pretty well. There have been some hiccups this morning – that were neither PEBCAK or ID-10-T errors – but those are to be expected. We even uncovered the mystery behind a long-running/long-forgotten problem with one office’s wiring. We’ll see what the rest of the day brings.

Yesterday was a good day, all-around. SaraRules and I went to the gym for a much-needed workout. Later we met up with , and to see Salt. The movie was reminiscent of the Jason Bourne movies… but with Angelina Jolie. It was a good popcorn flick.

After the movie, we went back home for a while and then headed to Logan and Sanaz’ place for dinner. They prepared an excellent meal of stuffed peppers, quinoa (with almond slivers and Craisins) and bread topped with a homemade olive butter.

Back at home, SaraRules and I finally got around to watching The Wild Bunch, which I’ve had for “a while,” from Netflix. It was a good movie… but, as SaraRules noted: It’s a movie with out clear and distinct “good guys” or “bad guys.” Yes, all of the major characters had motivations and seemed to be fairly-well defined, but “morals” and “ethics” for most seemed to have been left by the wayside. It was also a LONG movie, clocking in at nearly 2.5 hours. But, it was definitely worth seeing at least once.

Workout

• Elliptical: 10 minutes/ avg. speed: 5.5 MPH
• Leg Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Glutes: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 1 set @ 135 lbs
  • 2 sets @ 155 lbs
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Tricep Press (t-bar): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Core (plank): 3 sets/30 seconds

Sunday’s step count: 5,419

Stray Toasters

• Jonathan Coulton: Code Monkey

  
  (video by spiffworld)

• Things to look forward to this week:
  • Rush concert
  • Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture concert at the Deer Valley Music Festival
  • 9/80 Friday off!!!
  • Gaming
• By way of SaraRules: Does Language Influence Culture?
• For SaraRules: Biggie Smalls: The Voice That Influenced a Generation
• Sally Ride Science Academy aims to make kids starry-eyed
• I ran into a problem with LEGO Universe yesterday. As a test, I created a new Minifigure so that I could see if it encountered a similar behavior. Lo and behold, as soon as the new Minifig got to the same point, the same problem occurred. Feh.
• iPad, other high-tech gadget trends differ by region
• Sorry…. teleconference.

Namaste.

Sunday – 01 August 2010
“Summer’s going fast…”
It seems as though July just started, and now we are beginning August.

Yesterday was also Ms. ‘s birthday.

Friday, was Day 5 of The Great Network Conversion. By the end of the (very long) day, it seems as though most things were in order. There was a lot of “hurry up and wait” involved, as we were awaiting some configuration to be completed at the home office. That didn’t help with the “longest day ever” feeling. Just before we left for the day, SaraRules dropped by the office, with a caramel mocha in-hand. (Have I mentioned ‘Coolest Wife Ever,’ recently?) By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was come home and take a nap. And that’s exactly what I did… and then it was off to gather with the rest of the Clitorati crew.

Saturday, I forced myself to sleep in. I know… I know… it sounds odd to have to “force” oneself to sleep in. But, considering that I woke up at 0700 and seriously contemplated getting up and starting the day — and given the fact that between Thursday and Friday, I put in nearly 24 hours in the office — sleep was a good and necessary thing. SaraRules went to the Open House at Repertory Dance Theatre; I stayed at home and did a bit of cleaning…

…until got here. We went to The Train Shoppe. I wanted to see if my new set had arrived. It hadn’t. Apparently, Lionel pushed back its shipping date by nearly a month. So… it should be here either just before or just after we  go camping.

Following that stop and a quick run to Dr. Volt’s, it was back home for a bit. Lunch. Hanging out with SaraRules. Exploring LEGO Universe… when it wasn’t being buggy. *shakes fist*

Later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to Rio Tinto Stadium to see Real Salt Lake host a match against DC United:

This also marked the first time that I have seen an MLS game live. (I doubt it will be the last time.) I had gone to MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League) games as a teenager, but that really comes under the heading of “same brand, different flavor.”  Or, for the SAT crowd:

Major Indoor Soccer League : Major League Soccer as…

1. Roller Derby : NASCAR
2. Arena Football League : NFL Football
3. BMX : Motocross
4. Stickball : Major League Baseball

The correct answer, in this case, would be “2”

The match was a lot of fun. We sat in the upper level and had a great view of the soccer pitch… AND the seats were very reasonably priced. And they were also covered, which became important when it started raining. RSL won the match 3 – 0, with a couple of goals coming in the last 10 minutes of the game.  (I was a little torn about the loss for DCU, though…) I am Ivory Soap sure that we’ll be back in Rio Tinto Stadium to see another match before the season ends.

Workout
Friday’s step count: I don’t recall, but it was somewhere around 3,600 steps
Saturday’s step count:  5,948

Stray Toasters

• Obama gives himself a grade of ‘incomplete’ after 18 months
• UAE to block BlackBerry services
• Holly Golightly: Breaking Rules in a Little Black Dress
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • Washing Machine Self-Destructs After Trying to Wash a Brick
  • Sixteen Years in Prison for Videotaping the Police?
• 
• My right bicep hurts, for an as-yet unexplained reason
• This Airplane Luxury Suite Is Way Out of My Budget
• Reading the Writing on Pompeii’s Walls
• The Evo gets Android 2.2 this week.
• Who’d win a battle between a Klingon battlecruiser and the Death Star? We found out!

Now: Breakfast.
Later: Salt.

Friday – 30 July 2010
It’s (almost) the end of the work week. Amen.

We’re in the middle of a network transfer – switching from one network connection to another. It made for a long day yesterday and an early morning today. I just hope that it’s not another long day today.

Ironically, today is also Sys Admin Day.

Workout
Thursday’s step count: 4,647

Stray Coasters

• I have the world’s most awesome wife.
  Your wife pales in comparison.
  (Although, your wife is okay.  But just yours, no one else’s.)
• History at 500 Yards
• Are 3D-Printed Fabrics the Future of Sustainable Textiles?
• 
• A couple of items from NPR Music:
  • Listening, Party for Two: Miles and Monk at Newport, 1955
  • Lara St. John: A Little Skin, Lots of Violin
• It’s turning into a long day…
• Banks seek customers’ help to stop online thieves
• 
• Lunchtime.  Finally.

Namaste.

Thursday – 29 July 2010
Good NBN Thursday to all.

I spent the day in the south office yesterday. That’s always um… a treat.  We’ve been preparing for some network changes and I went down to help Minion #1 take care of the wiring for that office. And, I did manage to squeeze in sushi for lunch with a few coworkers.

After work, I hauled back up the road and swung past Dr. Volt’s. (There was four-color goodness to pick up, after all…) I made a couple of quick side trips and then went to Hastur Hobbies for D&D night with Jack and . This week, they even brought little Jack:

Workout
Tuesday’s step count: 6,758
Wednesday’s step count: 4,207

Stray Toasters

• I quite enjoyed Batman: Under the Red Hood. Until recently, I haven’t really read the Batman titles in a long while. From what I recall of the “A Death in the Family” storyline and some recent developments, they appear to have done a decent job of adapting the story. Bruce Greenwood did a decent turn as Batman, but I was a bit disappointed in John Di Maggio’s Joker… of course, I kept comparing him to Mark Hamill, who – aside from the late Heath Ledger –  is now “the voice I hear” when I think of the Joker. Neil Patrick Harris, did a good job as Nightwing. I also have to give the animators a huge amount of credit for making Nightwing move like an acrobat.
  
• I woke up this morning feeling the effects of Tuesday night’s workout.
• Trader Joe’s owner dies at 88
• has discovered the joy of Pin-up Girl Espresso.
  (One of us…. one of us…)
• Be a Supergirl – Warner Brother’s mix of comics, sports and style
  • …and in a nominally related note: Krystal Harris – Supergirl

• What Is the American Dream?
• Dan Brown Wants You to Tell Him Where to Go
• Where did the money to rebuild Iraq go?
• By way of Wired: What’s the Best and Fastest ISP in Your City? Look It Up Here
• 
• Pixar: 25 Years of Animation Exhibition
• Breathing new life into old train depots
• 20 Secrets Your Waiter Won’t Tell You

Namaste.

Tuesday – 27 July 2010
Work week: Day 2.
I had an extreme case of “the lazies” this morning.  In an uncharacteristic move for me (at least for a workday), I gave in to it. And, I have to say: It felt rather nice.

Last night, SaraRules had a Justice Junior League meeting after work, which meant that I was a dinner bachelor. The “up” side to this: I could have Chinese food for dinner. (Win!) I pinged former coworker Marci, to see if she wanted to spare me from dining alone; she was kind enough to agree.  We went to David’s Kitchen. I hadn’t been in many, many moons. I had the Beef Lo Mein, with potstickers and an egg roll; the food was as good as I remembered.

This morning’s musical interlude is brought to you by the letters “H” and “L” and the number “2”:

Workout
Monday’s step count: 5,628

Stray Toasters

• I almost typed this as “Stray Coasters.”
• For SaraRules: Barn-quilt trail patched together in Pennsylvania
• Lawmakers Question Salaries at Nonprofits
• sent me a link last night… that I didn’t get until this morning. I think that it was better to see it this morning, as it was the perfect way to kick off the day:
• By way of SaraRules: Alan Moore Digs Up ‘Unearthing’ and Lays His Comics Career to Rest
  • In a related item: Alan Moore Celebrates a Real Person in ‘Unearthing’
• Apple updates iMac line, intros Magic Trackpad
• I was just informed that I get the… privilege… of working in the south office today or tomorrow.  Yay.
• 
• The Great Male Survey 2010
• Secret Invasion Spider-Woman (chase figure) = Mine.
• Botanical Gardens Are Turning Away From Flowers
• 
• ‘StarCraft II’ is launched for a whole new era
• Former Body-Armor Executive on Trial for Fraud

Namaste.

Monday – 26 July 2010
It’s the beginning of another fun-filled work week.

Today would have been my great-grandmother’s birthday, as well. One of the best stories about my great-grandmother also involves Sib-2 and a Power Wheels truck; nearly 30 years later, it still makes me laugh.

Even though it was a three-day weekend, it still seemed far too short. The highlights of the weekend included:

• A trip to End Zone with Perry and the kids
• Hanging out with the coolest wife ever.
• Helping the coolest wife ever redo the planter bed in front of the house.
• Seeing Inception
  
• Playing City of Heroes for the first time in far too long…
• Playing LEGO Batman for the first time in far too long…
• Hanging out with the Pinup Girl Espresso crew
• Seeing The Book of Eli
  
• Watching Burn Notice

This morning’s musical selection: Orgy – Opticon

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Today’s thought comes from an unknown source:

We all have it within ourselves to rise from feelings of complete hopelessness to a state of renewed strength, clarity, understanding and peace.

Workout

• Friday’s step count: 5,700-something
• Saturday’s step count: 4,200-something
• Sunday’s step count: 2,650

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules has a meeting tonight, which means that I’m a bachelor for a few hours. I think that this calls for Chinese food.  Anyone care to join me?
• Jane Austen’s Fight Club
• Footloose came on the radio during the morning commute.  Whenever I hear the song, it reparses in my head as:
  

  Juice! Fruit juice!
  Or Kool-Aid, if you choose.
  Juice box, please! Or Capri Suns to squeeze!
  It’s a fact: Welch’s Grape is like crack!
  Juice! Fruit Juice!
  Everybody drink… Everybody drink…
  Everybody drink… Everybody drink…
  Everybody drink… Everybody drink… Everybody….
  Everybody drink fruit juice!

• The Other Bomber Girls
• 
• Batman: Under the Red Hood comes out tomorrow.

• My new train set should arrive this week!

• Would I Crush Everything be a good theme song for Cthulhu?

• Namaste.

Friday – 23 June 2010
It’s the weekeeeeeeeeend, baby!
Hello, 9/80 Friday off.  I’ve missed you.

I’m not a big modern Country Music fan, but Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet sum up my attitude about the weekend in this song:

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Park City to see Imani Winds perform as part of the Deer Valley Music Festival. It was, simply put, fantastic. Seeing musicians of color – and especially African-American artists – performing classical music is still somewhat rare… or at least uncommon. Seeing five of them perform together, even more so. But, this quintet is an excellent group of performers. It was very easy to see that they not only enjoyed their jobs, but they enjoyed playing with the others in the group, as well.

Something that SaraRules and I noted: It was interesting that even though flautist Valerie Coleman appeared to act as conductor/timekeeper for the group, there was no real “leader,” so to speak.  Everyone had a part to play – including some lovely solos – and each of the members took a turn at presenting a piece of music.

Their performance consisted of modern compositions, two of which were written by members of the quintet. I enjoyed first half of their performance, but the second half was the stand-out half for me. The performance closed with a klezmer piece that had been arranged for wind quintet and featured clarinetist Mariam Adams, who completely knocked it out of the park.

If Imani Winds perform in your area and you have a chance to hear them, I strongly encourage you to do so.

Workout
Thursday’s step count: 3,507

Stray Toasters

• Like I needed something else for The Covet List: WB, DC Announce Green Lantern Video Game
• By way of MarknTyme: Sledgehammer and Whore – it’s a pretty engaging read, actually.
• Speaking of games, DC Universe Online (finally) has a release date: 02 November 2010
• 
• Sealing tape that looks like hinges
• Kirby Krackle (great name for a genre band) have a fun video for their song On and On.  Read about it here and see the video here:
• Grading on a Curve: Super-Hero Term Papers
• Seriously… see Imani Winds if they are performing near you.
• Make a Name for Yourself with Superhero Business Cards

Time to hit the road, so I can hang out with Perry and the kids for a while.

I might even swing by Pin-up Girl for a morning pick-me-up…

Namaste.

Thursday – 22 July 2010
It’s NBN Thursday/Technical Friday.  Amen.

And, just because I can, today’s musical selection: U2 – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

Last night, SaraRules and I went to MacCool’s Public House for ‘Evening with Guinness,” a dinner featuring not only Guinness, but foods prepared with Guinness:

John Baxter and Kevin Fitzgerald both talked a little about the history of Guinness and their other beers – Smithwicks (pronounced “smith-icks”) and Harp – and some of their distribution channels, as well as a soon-to-be-released-in-the-U.S. beer.

Sweet, merciful Jesus… It was a sublime meal. All of the courses – and their accompanying beers – were excellent choices and were wonderfully prepared. I’m not usually a fan of onion soups, but the Four-Onion Soup Medly was fantastic. The steak… oh, the steak… was simply amazing.

Our tablemates were rather fun, too: We sat with three other couples, one of whom was the owner of MacCool’s, Scott. He was especially interested to find out that we’d heard about the event from their Facebook page. We talked about sports.  We talked a little about our jobs. We talked about the event and dinner. It was an all-around good time.

The next MacCool’s event is a dinner featuring beers from Epic Brewing, on Wednesday, 11 Aug 2010.

After we got back home, we watched The Ruins. I kept thinking of it as “Little Shop of Horrors meets Tomb Raider,” but without all of the excitement. While there were a couple of surprises – and one scene that I totally didn’t see coming – but it wasn’t really “scary.” In an amusing note, I kept looking at Joe Anderson (whom I best remember from Across the Universe, but was apparently also in The Crazies) and thinking that he was Ben Foster (Pandorum and X-Men: The Last Stand). But he wasn’t.  Although… Shawn Ashmore, who played Iceman in the X-Men movies, was in the film.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3,200

Stray Toasters

• Win: Coworker Ryan just came around and offered me a doughnut from Banbury Cross.
• For SaraRules: Orchestras Seek BFF by Cellphone Texts
• For Meliko: Rats… as Pets
• New Drugs Buoy Hopes in Fighting Hepatitis C
• 
• By way of Nyx: Awesome Custom Green Lantern Costume
• Budgeting: How Small Cutbacks Lead to Great Savings
• Minimalist 1960s redesigns of classic album covers
• Jake Theis, Brand Manager for WizKids/NECA, posted this earlier… and I’m not sure exactly what to make of it:
  



Granted, with all of the licenses to various properties that NECA holds, I probably shouldn’t be surprised by this. But, still…

• Shoppers on a ‘Diet’ Tame the Urge to Buy
• How to Check a Microwave for Leaks… using a netbook and a cell phone
• Vintage Wine Barrel Flooring by Fontenay Wood

Namaste.

Monday – 19 July 2010
Another work week begins.
It’s sunny and warm… on its way to being “hot” later today.

This past weekend was quite good. Saturday, I wound up going back to GEEX and hanging out to run a few more demos. One of the guys who played a demo game on Friday – and dropped a sizable chunk o’ change on ‘Clix right after – came back Saturday and bought even more! And, after running into a Zatanna cosplayer on Friday, I ran into a Harley Quinn (from the Batman: Arkham Asylum game) cosplayer and a friend on Saturday:

A little before I was ready to leave the expo, I got a few notifications of a possible problem at work.

*grblsnrkx*

It turned out not to be a problem, just a situation that needed (a lot of) monitoring. I wound up getting alerts about it from roughly 3 PM until just after 11 PM, which meant that I was getting alerts during…

…the Ben Folds concert at Deer Valley.

(hanging out with 5,000 of my closest friends, waiting for Ben Folds and the Utah Symphony)

The concert was fun; it was roughly two hours long, with one encore. (Only one encore, which was unfortunate, because I was waiting to hear a song that was later in his encore set.)  I also ran into Derek, thanks to the joys of Foursquare. (Turns out that another coworker was there, as well, but we didn’t see her or her husband.)

Sunday, we slept in. Selah. After breakfast – I made blueberry muffins – we went to the gym. Back home for a shower and change of clothes. Then we were off to run some errands before our impromptu ice cream social! I found out earlier in the day that it was National Ice Cream Day and figured that was a good – or at least “good enough” – reason to invite people over for a little get together. And it was. To wind up the evening, SaraRules and I watched The Crazies, the recent remake of the George Romero film of the same name. It was entertaining. There were some plot holes. There were some gaffes. But, all-in-all, it was decent.

Workout
Sunday, SaraRules and I hit the gym:

• Elliptical: 22 minutes/ 5.5 MPH (avg.)
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 2 sets @ 135 lbs
  • 1 set @ 155 lbs
• Shoulder Press (seated, dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs

Saturday’s step count: 5,490
Sunday’s step count: 1,0707

Stray Toasters

• The razor’s edge of having a new phone:
  • I love the new phone and finding ways to customize it and just… play around with it.
  • Having an 8 megapixel camera – with integration into Facebook – makes it FAR too easy to take random pictures and upload them to the Interwebs.
• I’ve become quite a fan of Foursquare, which I discovered by way of SaraRules. I like its social media gaming aspect, as well as the fact that it can be used as a way to form impromptu gatherings. It’s available for Android, iPhone and Blackberry phones. Another neat feature is that some businesses offer specials to Foursquare users. Check it out.  What have you got to lose?
• Smithsonian’s Spacesuits: Number One on the Runway
• I often post strips from Evil, Inc. in here.  Another light-hearted and fun superhero comic that I enjoy is Love and Capes, by Thom Zahler.  It follows the adventures of Mark (an accountant… who is secretly The Crusader) and his now-wife, Abby (a bookstore owner).

  

  The series rarely shows superheroics, instead choosing to show character interactions, with the action happening off-panel. Love and Capes has recently been picked up by IDW Publishing for print, with the first issue hitting stands in December.  If you’re looking for a fun read, this is a great way to go.

• Take a Walk with “The Walking Dead”
• Jersey Numbers Assigned
• By way of Nyx: Dear Girls Above Me

Namaste.

Saturday – 17 July 2010
I slept in this morning. All the way until nearly 8:30. I was proud of myself. Of course, having a long day yesterday and needing the rest didn’t hurt, either.

After taking a half-day off at work, I went home and met SaraRules – who also had a half-day. We went to Pawit’s Royale Thai for lunch. The food was very good, as usual. After that, and a quick stop at Pin-up Girl, we came home so that I could grab my gear and head down to the Gaming & Electronics Expo (GEEX) at the South Towne Exposition Center. I ran a few HeroClix demos for Dr. Volt’s – here were a lot of people who asked questions about the game and I had three-and-a-half demo games for the truly interested. It went well. I also saw a cosplayer dressed as Zatanna:

Apparently, only Jeremiah (one of the Dr. Volt’s employees) and I were the only ones who recognized who she was.

After the expo, I met up with the Clitorati gang for coffee and dinner.

Workout
Friday’s step count: 5,407

I think that SaraRules and I are going to hit the gym again tomorrow.

Stray Toasters

• Ben Folds with the Utah Symphony. Tonight. Deer Valley.
  (Being married to someone who works for Utah Symphony-Utah Opera has its perks!)
  I believe that there are still some tickets available for the event.
• I managed to get out a new Four-Color Coverage post this morning. Finally.
• There are probably a ton of ‘Toasters I could post, but I’m feeling lazy. So, check back tomorrow.

Namaste.

Friday – 16 July 2010
It’s (almost) the weekeeeeeend, baby! While this hasn’t been “Longest. Week. Ever,” it has been a long week. I’m pretty sure that it has something to do with last week being a three-day work week… but that’s just a hunch.

Last night, Melissa – our friend who did the 5K with us last weekend – came over and she, SaraRules and I watched Shutter Island. (M had never seen it.) I caught a few very subtle things throughout the movie that I missed the first… two times I saw it. And it was just as solid a film this time as the other times I’ve seen it.

I woke up this morning with snippets of this running through my head. I blame it on the cartoon/kids’ show theme war that I had with Kris a couple of days ago. And, speaking of music, today’s musical selections are:

Utah Saints – Something Good ’08

George Michael – Flawless (Go to the City)

After work this afternoon (Hellooooooo, half-day!), I’ll be running either a demo or a mini-tournament for Dr. Volt’s at the Gaming and Electronics Expo (GEEX) at the South Towne Expo Center.  The demo/tourney should start about 4:00 PM.  If you’re free and in the area, come down and check it out.

Workout
Thursday’s step count: 2,054

Stray Toasters

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: 3.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Maryland
• Matisse at MoMA: Carving with Color
• For SaraRules: Rube Goldberg rat-run sends a neutral balloon through dozens of Dyson bladeless fans
• By way of Rachel: Sixteen Things That Took Me 50 Years to Learn
• 16 demented Green Lantern storylines that we’re sure won’t be in the movie
  #3: To be honest, I’d love it if they worked this into the movie somewhere.
  #13: This could be worked in, too.
  #16: That was Kyle.  There’d have to be another movie or two to get him into the story, let alone see him as Green Lantern.
• Ship junked 200 years ago uncovered at Ground Zero
• 
• has just become another Pin-up Girl Espresso convert.
• Tragedy and Comedy, starring Pac-Man
• 7 Characters That Screwed People Like Lebron James Did Cleveland
• Ferris Club: Fight Club meets Ferris Bueller
• God Hates Nerds

Namaste.

Thursday – 15 July 2010
It’s another sunny NBN Thursday here in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. It’s going to be a hot one, too — temps are supposed to be in the mid-90s. (At least it’s a “dry” heat.)

This morning’s musical break: ABC by the Jackson Five

Yesterday, pinged me to see if I was interested in playing in a D&D game that Jack is running at Hastur Games and Comics. As it was SaraRules’ book club night – and I was going to be relegated to the basement anyway – I said “Sure.” And off I went to nerd! This was new and different for me for two reasons:

1. It’s a 4th Edition game (I had previously played v2.0 through 3.5)
2. It’s a Dark Sun setting, which is a world that I’ve not played in before.

We ran two encounters; there are two more left in this chapter, I believe. (Nyx: I’m running a half-tiefling.) It was fun and a bit different, as this was more of a miniatures game than the role-playing style of 3rd Edition and earlier.

Back at home, SaraRules and I watched a short movie, Vampire Hunter Hank, that her friend Jerry made. It was pretty funny.  And entertaining, to boot.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3,940

And… my sides still hurt from the other night’s workout.

Stray Toasters

• I already posted this directly to Facebook, but: This Week’s Cover: ‘Green Lantern’ Heats Up Comic Con
• David Garrett’s goal: Pull rock fans into the classical world
• SaraRules bought some Old Spice body wash for me. It made me chuckle. I think that I might have even rolled my eyes, too.
• CNET Prizefight: Apple iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo 4G
• Five Great Cover Songs from 2010 (So Far)
• Guess who has cookies from My Dough Girl, courtesy of the coolest wife ever…
• 
• By way of the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • Utah mom pregnant with two babies who aren’t twins, courtesy of
  • Why I Stalk a Sexy Black Woman on Twitter (And Why You Should, Too)
• Afghans to Form Local Forces to Fight Taliban
• I’m so into you
  But I’m way too smart for you.
  Even my henchmen think I’m crazy
  I’m not surprised that you’d agree.
• ‘Immigrant’ List Sets Off Fears
• Iroquois Lacrosse Team Denied Visas by UK
• 
• For : Penn Jillette on artistic satisfaction and magic
• Man decorates walls with beautiful Sharpie illustrations

Namaste.

Wednesday – 14 July 2010
It’s Comics (and possibly Sushi) Wednesday.

Today is also Bastille Day.
(Rush fans, click here.)

Last night, SaraRules’ mom came over and joined us for dinner. SaraRules fixed a nice vegetarian curry over rice. We talked about books and movies (Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus!) as we ate.  After dinner, SaraRules and I headed to The Garden of Sweden — I needed to pick up more picture frames. On the way home, we saw Jim from Pin-up Girl, as he was closing up shop, so we stopped and chatted for a few minutes.

We also… went to the gym! I was on the fence about going, but I knew that it would be good for me. Last night’s routine included:

• Elliptical: 5 minutes/5 MPH (avg.)
• Kickbacks: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 1 set @ 50 lbs
  • 2 sets @ 70 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Reverse Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Reverse Punches (dumbbell): 2 sets/20 reps, 10 lbs
• Side Bends: 3 sets/10 reps, 20 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 70 lbs
• Core (plank): 3 sets/30 seconds

Yesterday’s step count: 5,940 steps

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules posed an interesting question last night: Given the problem that the iPhone 4 has had with lost calls/losing bars (due to the location of its antenna), how likely is it that the problems Steve Jobs had making/maintaining a call during the iPhone 4’s rollout were due to his hand/finger placement on the phone?
• Bus carrying LDS youth to pioneer trek destroyed by fire
  My former (before a recent re-org) boss’ kids were on that bus; his wife was in a car that was trailing behind.  Everyone got off the bus safely, but no equipment was saved.
• Improv Everywhere: Star Wars Subway Car
• By way of : Air Conditioning Is Terrible for the Earth — Here’s How to Live Without It
• After inputting yesterday’s post into this quiz/test/whatchamacallit, I got this result:

  

  I write like
  Chuck Palahniuk

  I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

• By way of Geekshow Podcast: 50 My Little Pony Mods for Geeks
• NAACP, Tea Party Volley Over Racist Claims
• From CNet.com: Testing Data Speeds in New York
• 
• By way of SaraRules and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Vaseline launches skin-whitening Facebook app in India
• WordBook appears to like Four-Color Coverage again. “Beware my power… ” indeed.
• Bubble Series par Melvin Sokolsky pour Harper’s magazine 1963

Namaste.