Random Access

Monday – 11 January 2010
On the whole, it’s been a good weekend. Yesterday, was fairly lazy and full of football… and a couple of movies.

Julie (our IT admin) came over to watch her Pats take on the Ravens, details below. After the game, I played a little City of Heroes. I was invited to join a team “…for missions in Croatoa,” which was fine. Somewhere along the way, we switched from that mission set to running a Task Force (extended series of linked missions), which I neither expected nor had time for. So, I had to leave, mid-TF. Oh, well… I managed to eke a couple of levels out of the experience.

We headed over to the in-laws’ for dinner and a movie, Star Trek. The dinner, the movie and the company were all quite good. I also inherited Logan’s old Xbox… which is good, as I’ve been hankerin’ to play some of my old Xbox games, but couldn’t, because my old Xbox decides to shut down/stop reading discs after a few minutes. *shakes fist*

After we got back home, SaraRules and I watched a movie that Logan recommened: The Signal. It was a story, told in three parts – as interpreted by three directors. While there was a single plot thread that wove through the film, the three directors’ visions didn’t exactly gel into a cohesive movie.

Instant Replay: Football
The playoffs started this weekend:

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
33 – 14
The Ravens traveled to Foxboro to take on the Patriots in the chilly New England air. Going into the game, the Ravens had not beaten the Patriots in their last five games and the Pats had not lost at home all season. But, once RB Ray Rice broke off an 83-yard TD run – on the Ravens’ first play from scrimmage – it looked as though the Ravens might be on to something… When Terrell Suggs strip-sacked Tom Brady – on the Pats’ first series – setting up another Ravens TD, the tide and momentum seemed to favor the Ravens even more. LB Ray Lewis and FS Ed Reed even got in on the action, with a sack and an interception, respectively. QB Joe Flacco only went 4/10, with 34 yds passing, but he managed a great ground game that kept Baltimore in control of the ball and the clock. Saturday, the Ravens continue their playoff run against the Indianapolis Colts.

Joe, you and the boys just beat the Pats for the first time in five meetings!  How does that make you feel?

Coach Belichick, Tom looks a little down-in-the-mouth.  Even though your lucky pom-pom hat didn’t help you win the game, does it offer any sage advice as to what you can say or do to help cheer Tom up?

.

New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals
24 –14
The Bengals took on the Jets. Again. And came away with a loss. Again. For the second time in two weeks… although this time it was in Cincinnati.Sorry, janietrain and carefreespirit.

.

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals
45 – 51
The Packers traveled to the desert.  Again. This time, however, the Cards handed them an overtime loss. Congrats, Marr.

.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
14 – 34
The Cowboys handed the Eagles a loss in the House That Jerry Built.

Stray Toasters

• I won’t get to see Saturday’s game, as we have tickets to Utah Opera’s performance of Carmen. (Thank Heaven for DVRs…)  While I’m hoping for a Ravens win, I’m not betting the farm on it.
• The Price of Apple MacBook Pros Around the World
• Tombs of pyramid builders offer look into daily lives
• Race Riots Grip Italian Town, and Mafia Is Suspected
• DC has announced their Blackest Night follow-up, Brightest Day:

  

  I’m not sure how I feel about a/another year-long, bi-weekly book.

• A Nation of Hunkered-Down Homebodies
• Booth Babe Confessions
• Secret London: guide to the weird and wonderful secrets of London-town
• Um… when exactly did Ray Lewis become a member of Delta Sigma Theta?



• Steampunk mask: “Raptor Pilot”
• Malicious App in Android Market

Namaste.

Saturday – 09 January 2010
It’s another cool/cold day here on Hoth… I mean, “in Utah.” Not so cold that the tauntauns aren’t safe, but it’s still cold enough that “inside” is much more comfortable (to me) than “outside.”

SaraRules and I attended our friend Lawrence’s funeral this afternoon, making today the unofficial fifth day of Suit Week (black suit, white shirt, black tie), as. It was a very nice service and an excellent send-off for a fine young man. He will be missed.

After the funeral, SaraRules, and I went to Coachman’s Dinner and Pancake House for lunch. Neither SaraRules nor I had been there before. All three of us ordered from the breakfast menu. I’d want to eat there again – and have something from the lunch or dinner menu – before passing final judgment on the place, but today’s fare wasn’t bad.

Next, we did some errand-running and then, jiggety-jig, returned home. This evening, there’s a little more errand-running to do and we’re also heading downtown to try and get tickets for movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Stray Toasters

• Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, dies at 89
• Why are pistachios so darned tasty?
• LEGO Universe Impressions: The Next Step in LEGO Building
• 
• “Hammer of Therapy”
  I wonder if Thor ever refers to Mjolnir that way, when he’s battling evil-doers?
• Is It This Easy to Pull Straight Nude Pics from Airport Scanners? [NSFW]

And away we go…

Namaste.

Friday – 08 January 2010
9/80 Friday… and I don’t have anything on the agenda. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; I will probably wind up doing some cleaning, especially since I’ve been avoiding it for the past few days.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched another movie that’s been in our Netflix Instant Queue for a while: Vanishing Point (1, 2). It was a car chase movie from 1971… and it was… something. Neither of us was quite sure “what,” though. Although, I think that we both agreed that “good” wasn’t it. It was severely disjointed, as if a two or three movies were mashed together, without rhyme or reason. There were not only plot holes, but a distinct lack of continuity in a couple of places – things just seemed to happen and the audience was left to make the connections on their own… if they could. And, despite the addition of a Jerry Reed song on the soundtrack, it’s no Smokey and the Bandit (but, then again, what is?).

Stray Toasters

• This teaser image was on the Wizkids/NECA site this morning:

  

  What does it mean? Quite simply: Wizkids’ May HeroClix release will be a “Blackest Night” Starter set. And, of course, this goes squarely on The Covet List.

• Lewis Suspicious of Brady’s Injury
• The Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary Playing Cards
• There needs to be a Dunkin Donuts in Salt Lake City.
• From The Wall Street Journal: Best and Worst Jobs 2010

• 
• Remnants of the Biosphere
• Big Lebowski rewritten as a work of Shakespeare
• …and in another movie-related item:

  A-Team Trailer – TheFilmStage.com from Clive Owen on Vimeo.

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Potato Salad.
  (Safe for work, but just… plain… weird.)
• Toy Train Runs to Calibrate Sensors in a Princeton Reactor

I should probably give some thought to lunch, too.

Namaste.

Thursday – 07 January 2010
Another NBN Thursday/Technical Friday in the valley. I heard on the radio that today’s high is supposed to get all the way up to 31F. That’s a veritable heatwave! (Have I mentioned that I’m really looking forward to Spring/Summer and warm weather lately…?)

Last night, I saw Dances with Wolves in Space… I mean Ferngully in Space… Pocahantas in Space… I mean Avatar. In IMAX 3D. Wow. Talk about a visually stunning movie. And that’s despite the fact that I was in the front half of the theatre and on the far left side of the screen. It, quite simply, looked amazing. Sure, the story was one that’s been seen/heard before, but – as I have been reminding people: James Cameron isn’t necessarily known for bringing groundbreaking stories to the big screen…

• Terminator – Robots run amok and decide that “Kill All Humans” sounds like a pretty good idea.
• Aliens – Humans boldly go colonizing planets… only to find that they might not be quite as high on the food chain as they thought.
• The Abyss – Nuclear sub goes missing, civilian divers are brought in to help recover the sub… and run into aliens. Hijinks ensue.
• Terminator 2 – Robots, realizing the “Good Theory, Poor Practical Application” of their “Kill All Humans” idea, try again.
• Titanic – Boy meets girl. Boy and girl get on boat. Boat meets iceberg. Boat sinks.  (We all – ALL -  knew the boat was going to sink, but still went to the theatres in droves to watch, down to the last “glub-glub.”)

…but he is known for being able to make them look beautiful. This movie was no exception. And, at nearly three hours in length, it didn’t “feel” like a long movie. I would be willing to see it again – in the theatre – and I will be adding it to the DVD collection, when it’s released.

Stray Toasters

• YouTube Suspends Kid’s Account, Gets Porn Fest in Protest
• By way of shockpuppet: The ‘Israelification’ of Airports: High Security, Little Bother
• 13 Things a Man Should Keep in His Car
  (Although this is from The Art of Manliness, women could/would benefit from this sage advice, as well.)
• 
• The Cool Hunter
• Robotic Snake Takes a Swim
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Teen found after fleeing to hook up with 42-year-old woman he met in Warcraft

Almost time for the first of (at least) three meetings today. Lucky me!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 06 January 2010
It’s the middle of the week.
It’s also Comics and Sushi Wednesday.

As I was driving home from work last night, SaraRules called me to ask if I would be working late or if I would be home soon. I was in the parking lot, preparing to pull into my parking spot. She was calling because we had received a package – our Christmas present from my uncle: A gift box from Omaha Steaks. In it was an assortment of meats – beef, poultry and seafood. SCORE! (Seriously… half of our freezer contains meat.) Of course, this means that we have some rather tasty options for dinner over the next two or three weeks.

After dinner – which did not include anything from our newly arrived box o’ goodies – and NCIS, we headed to the gym. It was a good workout. We followed it up with a trip to the store and then back home for a quiet evening.

Stray Toasters

• Yep… it’s turned into Suit Week 2010. Today’s fare: Olive suit, white shirt, olive/rust abstract tie.
• MarknTyme sent me a link to the following picture:

  

  What I didn’t realize, until I read the accompanying article, was that I was familiar with the artist, Cliff Chang, as I had seen his Batgirl/Purple Rain mashup image a few months ago.

• sent me a link to: Men Who Like Comics, a group on Art of Manliness
• Randy Johnson retires after 22 years, 303 career victories
• The Best Times to Buy Anything, All Year Round
• Pirates storm Tampa for Gasparilla festival
• 
• sent me a link to: WineBottler Turns Windows Programs into Standalone OS X Applications
• Nic Cage as Everyone
• Hobby Lobby now has an online store. This could be dangerous…
• Hubble snaps galaxies at birth

Yeah… a Teen Titans-related post requires a Cyborg icon. Selah.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 05 January 2010
My fingers want to type “2001,” for some reason. I occasionally have to stop and make a conscious effort to transpose the “0” and the “1.”

Last night, after dinner, I fell asleep on the couch – I kept nodding off during MythBusters, so I figured that a nap was in order. An hour-and-a-half later, I was back in the game. We headed to the gym for a cardio workout and then back home for some lazy time. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I can thank the nap for a good portion of last night’s broken sleep, though.

This morning, I decided to wear a suit again. Yesterday, I wore my black suit with a dark purple shirt and a black and purple paisley tie; today, I’ve gone with the grey glen plaid suit, white shirt and blue geometric tie. I haven’t decided whether or not I’m just going to make this “Suit Week 2010” or not… but I’m not against it.

Stray Toasters

• I could really go for a cinnamon roll… particularly, a Cinnabon.
• Giving up smoking ‘raises diabetes risk’
• posted a link to this item from dooce.com last night. My friend, Chris (the one with whom I play ‘Clix), used to work for the establishment about which she is railing. Some of the things he told me about the place definitely fall under the heading “That’s no way to run a railroad…”
• Congratulations to the winners of Fark’s 2009 Headline of the Year contest
• Apple Hits 3 Billion Apps Served Milestone
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Guide to shooting smack published by City of New York
• Thor… made out of LEGO

And, it’s almost meeting time. Yay.

Namaste.

Sunday – 03 January 2010
It’s the last day of vacation and tomorrow it’s back to the workday grind. I have to say that it’s been nice to have the downtime, though. Very nice, indeed. Last night was quiet and low-key. I wound up taking a nap, because I was so tired from the lack of sleep and the early and long day.

I completely neglected to note a minor milestone from Friday: SaraRules and I hit the gym for the first time this year. And… it was my first time in the gym in nearly a month (03 Dec 09, from what I wrote down). It was a short workout, but it was a good start:

• Treadmill: 10 minutes (Yeah.. I know! Me, doing cardio!)
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
• Sit-ups: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs
• Core (plank): 3 sets/30 seconds
• Elliptical: 10 minutes (Even more cardio..? What’s wrong with this picture?!)

Post-workout weight (fully dressed): 190 lbs

It was good to get back in the swing of things, but I can definitely feel the effects of the treadmill and elliptical on my quads. But, getting more cardio into my workout routine is something that I plan on doing more this year.

Stray Toasters

• By way of : Green Lantern LEGO
• And, in a related note, this is going on The Covet List.
• I don’t know what’s going on with Comcast, but I’m getting “a little” tired of the way that my Internet connection just… drops out – for no reason – every so often. Having talked with a few other people over the past few days, I discovered that it’s not just my connection that it’s happening to, either.
• 
• It seems as though Jitterbug Coffee Hop has a new logo and a new website.
• Harmonographs
• posted a link to this Mad Cat ‘Mech.  So, I posted a link to this one.
• Thousands of dead octopuses wash up on Portugal beach
• 100 Extraordinary Examples of Paper Art
• Speaking of “paper art,” I have assembled nearly enough tiles to have a 30″x30″ one-level map of WorldWorksGames TerrainLinX Himmelveil Streets terrain. I realized that I can still utilize some of my older terrain with the new stuff, even though the new streets and walls have a medieval look/feel – cobblestones and flagstone – and the TLX walls are only 2″ high, as opposed to the 3″ Mayhem City stuff that I’ve built.

Maybe I’ll play a little City of Heroes this afternoon…

Namaste.

Saturday – 02 January 2010
It’s 1930 and I’m already thinking “It’s been a long day.” I woke up a little after 0730… forty-five mintutes before the alarm went off. *sigh* I tried – rather unsuccessfully – to fall asleep again. When the alarm finally sounded, I rolled out of bed and set about the business of the day.

I picked up Chris and we headed to meet Perry for coffee. After that, we were off to Dr. Volt’s for today’s tournament. It was a 300-point, constructed team event; there were six (6) players… and a few spectators, as well. Chris brought his traditional tournament team: OOTS Batman, Green Arrow and The Flash. And, after today’s event, he is unbeaten with this team. Unbeaten, as in “ever.” Having gone 3-0 for the day, he handily won first place, the Fellowship prize went to Brian, a (fairly) new player. I’ll be running another tourney in two weeks… and in four weeks, I’m using an idea “creatively liberated” from and running a HeroClix Extreme Wrestling Federation scenario. That should be a lot of fun.

After dropping Chris off, I headed home. and Matt came over for dinner. We had jambalaya and salad, chased with a pecan cheesecake dessert.

I don’t know what, if anything, is on tap for this evening. I think that I’m fine with just staying in… although if something comes up, I doubt that I’d be against going out again.

Namaste.

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.

Tuesday – 29 December 2009
Time to see if WordPress is going to pull the digital equivalent of a rectal craniotomy this morning and actually work…

Today is the fourth day of Kwanzaa. Today’s principle is “Ujamaa” or “cooperative economics”:

To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Yesterday, I wound up running a couple of errands and then having coffee with . We headed to Jitter Bug, which was the first time either of us had been there in… well… quite a while. It was a nice way to round out the afternoon.

After I got home, SaraRules and I pondered dinner options. We came up with the idea heading out to dinner, but needed to narrow down our options. We called Logan and Swiz to see if they were interesting in going with us. We settled on Famous Dave’s BBQ. Good call. Back at home, we watched one of the last episodes of Planet Earth; this one was on conservation. It was good without being overly preachy.

Stray Toasters

• Philadelphia is on Bravo. I had forgotten how good a movie it is; I should find it on DVD.
• Cinematical.com had a couple of gallery items that I found interesting/amusing:
  • The Trilogy Meter
  • Noir-Style Posters
• ‘Romeo & Juliet’: Just as You Misremembered It
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Escaped Convict Continues to Update Facebook
• Here are a couple of neat LEGO builds:
  • Microscale Colosseum
  • Daedalus landing
• Star Wars/A-Team intro mashup

Off to face the day.

Namaste.

Saturday – 26 December 2009
Happy Birthday to !

Today is also Boxing Day.
It is also the first day of Kwanzaa, which SaraRules and I are celebrating this year. (We enjoy multi-culturalism in our marriage and holidays – Midnight Mass for Christmas, Kwanzaa for post-Christmas!) Today’s principle is “Umoja” (Unity).

To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Although Kwanzaa was established as an African-American celebration, I choose to interpret “race,” in this instance, as humanity rather than a specific ethnic group.

Today started with breakfast with Perry and the kids. I played with the two-year-old as we ate. Considering that just… six or eight months ago… he still wasn’t sure what to make of me, I consider that a minor feat/accomplishment. SaraRules actually suggested breakfast earlier this week, knowing that Perry might need some time with adult company time as Kate is working all day today. Good call on her part. And, moreover, it was fun.

Stray Toasters

• Boy’s ‘Little Red Wagon’ Helps Homeless Children
• By way of : The C Programming Language, by Brian W Kernighan, Dennis M Ritchie and HP Lovecraft
• 
• Maureen Corrigan’s Best Books of 2009
• 10 Things You Must Do with Your New Mac

I have absolutely NO idea what is on tap for the rest of the day. I’m good with that.

Be good to one another.

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.

Monday – 21 December 2009
Vacation is good.
Sleeping in is good.
And in a bit, shopping will be good, as well. Not so much because of the joy of the crowds… but that’s to be expected at this time of year. The bonuses are that I’m hanging out with SaraRules and her mother… and that there’s a trip to Hobby Lobby involved. I don’t really need anything from there, but it’s Hobby Lobby and you just don’t know what you’ll find.

Yesterday was a good day that also involved some sleeping in. After that, there was football. And that was mostly good (details below). Then we were off to the in-laws’ for dinner and more football. Then, back home for downtime and a movie: Run, Lola, Run. I had heard of the movie before, but never seen it. So, thank you, Netflix. It was… interesting. I enjoyed the stylized look of the movie, as well as the “What if…?” aspect shown in each version of the story.

Instant Replay: Football
I missed the Thursday and Saturday games of Week 15, but the outcomes were:

• The Colts remain undefeated
• The Saints lost to the Cowboys, but are still atop the NFC playoff chart

In Sunday action:

Chicago Bears at Baltimore Ravens
7 –31
This was the game that almost became a Monday night doubleheader. As Baltimore got pummeled with two feet of snow, it was questionable whether the Bears would be able to fly in for the game on Sunday. As it was, the NFL agreed to postpone the game from 1300 to 1615. The Bears were able to make it into BWI late Saturday.I would have liked to have seen this game, but it wasn’t aired in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. But, from the NFL.com Game Center coverage, it looked as though the Ravens came to play on both sides of the ball. Additionally, this win not only keeps the Ravens in the hunt for an AFC Wild Card spot, it moves them up to the #6 Seed.

.

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
20– 19
The Raiders took this one away from the Broncos… in Mile High Stadium. And that’s not even the crazy thing.  The “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” moment belongs to Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell – who came in when Charlie Frye was taken out of the game – and led the drive that sealed the Raiders’ win.Congratulations, SaraRules and 1silver_seraph.

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Miami Dolphins at Tennessee Titans
13 – 23
The Dolphins put up a good fight, but they lost this one in OT, when the Titans scored a field goal, after picking off a pass from Chad Henne.

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Cleveland Browns at Kansas City Chiefs
41 – 34
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally, but the highlights were all over. The Browns had two players with record-tying or record-setting days: WR Joshua Cribbs returned two punts for TDs, 100 and 103 yds. RB Jerome Harrison rushed for 286 yards. Congratulations, .

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Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers
7 – 26
The Vikings went to Charlotte to take on the Panthers. When the game started, I noted that the starting QB for the Panthers was Matt Moore. I don’t remember hearing his name before. In a moment of clarity, I called my friend, William, to find out what the deal was. His response: “He’s Carolina’s savior, now that Delhomme’s on the bench.” And, to his credit, Mr. Moore – along with RB Jonathan Stewart – put on one helluva show, as the Panthers took down the Vikings. Sorry, .

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Cincinnati Bengals at San Diego Chargers
24 – 27
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally, but this one apparently came down to the wire. Commisserations, janietrain and carefreespirit.

Stray Toasters

• sent me this item for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: HP Face-Tracking Webcams Don’t Recognize Black People
  I’m not sure whether I should be horribly amused or offended by this.  (I’m leaning towards “amused,” though.) Thanks, HP!
• sent me a link to Punched-Out Font, which she suggested could be used with my ‘Clix pictures.  “BIFF!” “POW!” “BAM!”
• Why Hollywood security is better than the Pentagon’s
• US Officer draws gun on snowball fight crowd

And, now… off to shop!