Random Access

I just stumbled across this ad on IKEA Hacker:

More than “…just some oak and some pine
And a handful of Norsemen,” indeed.

Namaste.

Friday – 31 July 2009
First and foremost: Happy Birthday, !

It’s not my 9/80 Friday, but at least it’s quiet around here today. Maybe I’ll be able to clear a few things off my “To Do” list…

…of course, I might just have to add “Play Typing of the Dead” to that list, though. I wonder if I can justify it as “Training,” since it (theoretically) is a typing game/tutor..?

Stray Toasters

• Superman and Green Lantern ain’t got nothin’ on me…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!” file: Canadians vow mass-mooning of US spy-blimp
• Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd
• Annie Lennox gives her masters to mashup artist DJ Earworm: Backwards/Forwards

• By way of
  • Alien prequel takes off
  • Heavy Metal has a new animated movie coming out next year: War of the Worlds: Goliath
• By way of :

  

• Steampunk Monkey Nation

WHEEEEEE!

Namaste.

Thursday – 30 July 2009
Another NBN Thursday kicks off in the Valley of the Lake of Salinity. Seems like I was just “here.” Of course, doing a late night post and then turning right around and doing another in the morning will do that to you.

I chatted with Dana, from Galaxy of Comics, for a bit last night. In the course of our conversation, she pointed out a something about the latest issue of Batman that I hadn’t considered: It made sense for Two-Face to deduce who was under the cowl. After all, he has been the closest thing that Dick Grayson has had to a recurring (arch)villain… ever since Dick’s days as Robin. Brilliant. And, as a side note: If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check out Galaxy of Comics, it’s a nice little shop.

Stray Toasters

• Plastinkuzz DJ Scratch Card
• Men at Work face plagiarism case
• By way of comes Polyamory: The Next Sexual Revolution?
• Kerry Tribe’s H.M.
• From Weta Collectibles: Cortana
• Funds Dwindle to Dismantle Old Nuclear Plants
  (Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to take the tour at EBR-1 this year…)
• 
• One notable problem that I’ve noticed with Safari: For some reason, it doesn’t always play nicely with my Live+Press plugin. Most specifically, it fails to retain the “Insert Linkback” and “Disable Comments” settings – the settings that force comments to be made on Random Access rather than in LiveJournal. Thus, I have to remember to set them manually with each post. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s something I’ve noticed.
• Speaking of which: I’m still somewhat amused (and bemused) by comments I get about the fact that I’ve stopped allowing comments on my LiveJournal and that they have to be posted on my WP blog – mainly, the fact that commenter has to be registered on my site to post a comment. I think that the most common complaint I’ve heard/read is “It’s another password I have to remember.” True… to a point, since a browser can be set to remember the password. The other, related comment is that it’s yet another site to be accessed in order to comment. That one’s valid. But, as I only mirror content on LJ, it’s not one that I’m inclined to change… especially since the decision to migrate my blog to my site a few years back. *shrug* C’est la vie.
• China concerned about abortions
• MI5 Website Breached by Hackers

Friction of the day and whatnot…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 29 July 2009
Midweek.
It’s also Comics and Sushi Wednesday.

I got a call back from the dealership about my car late yesterday afternoon. They found the reason that the “Check Engine” light came on (a faulty Cam Shaft Position Sensor), which is a good thing. They also (FINALLY) found the source of the leak that I went in and asked about two weeks ago – you know, the one they said was the water pump – which, oddly enough wasn’t the water pump. *sigh* It was the Oil Filter Adapter. Ian, the service rep, told me how much the sensor would be… and, surprisingly, there was no sphincter tightening. Nice! Then he told me how much the adapter was. Tightening. Then I remembered how much the radiator hoses – custom parts! – were and realized that, as Freddie Mercury and Queen said:

There’s nothing you can
Nothing you can
Nothing you can do about it…

I asked SaraRules to pick me up a little early from work. I was “done.” We headed to the local Best Buy, so I could pick up the new Green Lantern: First Flight DVD. They had the single-disc version in the front display, but not the two-disc version… and there were absolutely none of the two-disc with figurine versions to be found, either.

*grblsnrkx*

Just put another nail in the coffin, why dont’cha? At that point, I was truly done. And all I wanted was to just go home. And we did. Rather than sit and fester over the state of things, I turned my attention and energy to cleaning out more things from the office. Using a couple of “creative location management” techniques, I was able to get rid of two large boxes from under the office table, completely clean out one of the sections in the closet bookcase and throw away some old/unnecessary things; thus bringing order (or a semblance of it) from the chaos (of my mood).

At least it wasn’t a Thursday.

Later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to the gym:

• Pull-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 1 set: unassisted
  • 2 sets: assisted (80 lbs)
• Flys (dumbbell, incline): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Reverse Flys (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Lateral Raises (dumbbell, with fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Reverse Punches (dumbbell): 2 sets/20 reps, 10 lbs
• Curls (barbell, standing): 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Pilates Crunches (seated, V-position): 2 sets, 30 seconds

Weight (morning): 182.5 lbs

Hopefully, today will be ever-so-slightly better.

Stray Toasters

• On the way to work yesterday, we were passed by a blue VW Beetle. The first thing that occurred to me was how amusing – and thoroughly geeky – it would be if its license plate had said “KORD.” I mentioned this to MarknTyme; he said that it would have been equally good (or bad) had the plate said “REYES.”
  • If you got that, you know why I found it amusing.
  • If you didn’t get it, you’re probably better off for it.
• Active Kids Sleep Better
• Beer diplomacy
• Retro Mini X Handheld NES System
• 
• Consumer Culture: Top 10 Ironic Ads from History
• Poll Results: The Best Music of 2009 (So Far)
• Zombie Protest Hoodie
• Rude Drivers Reduce Traffic Jams – The Council for Better Driving has not ruled on this yet.
• 

Namaste.

Tuesday – 28 July 2009
Another day kicks off… with me taking my car to the dealership. The “Check Engine” light came on last night, so I figured that getting it looked at would be a good thing.

Yesterday, SaraRules and I headed to Utah County to get our engagement photos taken. I finally had the opportunity to meet Twila, our photographer; SaraRules had told me nothing but good things about her – from their first meeting and from her bridal photos. She was right. Twila was fun to work with and I’m looking forward to seeing how our shoot turned out.

Stray Toasters

• Green Lantern: First Flight hits shelves today.
• Question for the movie fans out there: When you know that [BIG NEW MOVIE] is coming out, how much would you like to know about it beforehand? Do you prefer to know as little as possible, aside from a few sketchy details, or would you prefer to have a decent overview/synopsis – up to, but not necessarily including spoilers – before going in?
• For: SaraRules and
  From: NPR Music - Riverboat Gamblers ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ for 25 Years of ‘Purple Rain’
• Wonder Woman Is Not Lame
• By way of : William Shatner Makes Palin’s Speech into Poetry

• Transitional Care Cuts Hospital Re-Entry Rates, Costs
• Bill Maher Calls America a ‘Stupid Country’
• Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America
• 
• Crows Recognize Human Faces

Namaste.

Monday – 27 July 2009
Back in the saddle again…

Last night, after dinner (and Bocce) with SaraRules’ family, we headed home to wind down the weekend. SaraRules quilted; I worked on the second story of my ‘Clix building. I think that I’ve finally determined the best way to get the top to stay in place when the first story interior isn’t being used. I’ve also discovered that I’m looking forward to making a building using the Shellendrak Manor set, which allows for less unusable/unplayable space in building interiors. While we were working away at our respective crafts, we watched I Am Legend.

Today is SysAdminDay.  (At least, we’re celebrating it today, as people will be off on Friday – and we need something to make Monday less suck-tacular.)

Show your SysAdmin some love. Julie, our “Distinguished IT Admin,” came in with a box this morning. The box contained this:

Aww, yeah…

Stray Toasters

• We’re taking our engagement photos this evening. Given our ideas for them, they will hopefully be as much fun as we are anticipating.
• This item combines two things I love: LEGO and Top Gear: Full-size LEGO House
• Iced coffees: ‘A meal in a drink’
• By way of MarknTyme: Axis of Awesome – 4 Chords

• American eugenics movement archives
• From the “YeahbuhWHAT?!?” file: “I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics-as-usual, lame-duck session in one’s last year in office.”
• To prove that it wasn’t just a fluke – and because I had a fun time of it – I’m going camping with SaraRules’ family (again) next week.
• Free online archive of vintage TV commercials
• How to shark a ‘Guess the number of M&M’s in a jar’ contest:

• Russians hear the call of the circus

Namaste.

Sunday – 26 July 2009
SaraRules and I did a little shopping yesterday. I picked up some new gym gear and a few pairs of shorts. Later in the evening, we hung out with shockpuppet, and others for Rib Fest last night. It was a lot of fun.

This morning was a lazy sleep-in day. I woke up and picked up American Psycho again. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten where I stopped reading, so I had to go back and cover about 10 pages again. Then, it was time for breakfast and the first three eps of Wolverine and the X-Men. And then…

Workout
…SaraRules and I went to the gym for a workout:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Upright Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps
• Curls (dumbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Tricep Press (T-bar): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Lunges: 3 sets/10 reps
• Core (plank, side): 3 sets/30 seconds

Weight: 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Rebecca, Joe or Jim (can’t remember who pondered this with me): It does not seem as though glow sticks have made it onto the “Stuff White People Like” website or book. Yet.
  • In a related note, Stuff Mormons Like is my favorite parody site of the SWPL site.
• I haven’t been G4‘s biggest fan since they became “G4” – I miss the… intelligence and variety, I guess… of TechTV. However, I have to give them props for their coverage of Comic-Con 2009.
• 
• Baptist Leaders Face Challenge on Women’s Roles
• From the “SkyNet is now online…” file: Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man
• Taqwacore: Muslim Punk Underground
• This shit is bananas…
  (I still think that MarknTyme should teach this to his band as a stand song.)
• Three reasons Palin’s move might be about money
• After a few days with Safari, I’ve found the transition hasn’t been too bad. There are still a couple of relatively minor things that I miss from Firefox, but nothing yet to make me go kicking and screaming back to it. Yet.
• First, Geoff Johns did a Legion episode of Smallville… and now he’s writing a JSA episode? Hmm…

Namaste.

Saturday – 25 July 2009
For some reason, it feels like a Sunday morning. I can’t really put my finger on “why,” though. It might have to do with the abbreviated work week, but I don’t think that’s it. *shrug* Oh, well… I’m not going to spend too many cycles trying to figure it out.  Instead, I’ll enjoy the “extra” day of relaxation.

Rachel made it to town yesterday; she was stopping over on her way home to California. The s’mores brownies she’d requested were ready shortly after she arrived. Later, she, SaraRules and I went to dinner at Red Iguana; despite living in SLC for over 10 years, I had never eaten there before.  I had the Chimichanga Original with a side of Spanish Rice, both of which were very good.

After dinner, we met up with the usual suspects for Clitorati. Fortunately, sent out a message letting us know that Borders was closing early for Pioneer Day… because SaraRules and I went by Thursday evening to investigate any signs of an early closure and there were none. *shakes fist* So, when Borders closed for the evening, we headed to Barnes and Noble, instead. It was a good change of pace. It’s also a change that we might make a more regular occurrence.

This morning, SaraRules, Rachel and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and eggs (fixed by Ms. ‘Rules). After breakfast, Rachel got back on her westward trek.

Stray Toasters

• NECA Gets Wizkids (and we’re awaiting more news about the deal and what it means for the game)
• Obama Tries to Defuse Gates Controversy
• I’m surprised no one thought of – or did – this sooner: Tom Hanks Trash Can
• Sports of the Times: Chugging Along, His Ego in Tow
• Are RAID Controllers the Next Data Center Bottleneck?
• 
• From NPR Music: Allen Toussaint: The Road Through America
• Bennett signs one-year deal with receiver-needy Ravens after tryout
• The Best First Language for a Young Programmer
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!” file: Dead Goat Polo Arcade Game
• 
• iPhone 3Gs Encryption Cracked in Two Minutes
• Star Wars: In Concert, narrated (live) by Anthony Daniels

Namaste.

Friday – 24 July 2009
It’s my 9/80 Friday.
It’s not even 8:30.
So, why am I wide awake? (written when it was still “morning” in Utah.)

Oh, well.

Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with OnlyAly, , Stephanie and Jason at MacCool’s, an Irish(-style) pub, in Foothill Village. I had been there once before, but not for dinner. I ordered the Finn’s Fries (think “nachos,” then take a left – it’s made with potatoes, rather than tortillas) for an appetizer. Holy cow… They were incredible. I had the Pub Steak for my entree. I was a bit more disappointed here: I asked for it “medium-well,” it came out “medium-rare,” or as might say: “They threatened it with the flame.” They took it back and recooked it; while it did cook through, it made the outer layers a tad tougher. All-in-all, it was a good experience and I’d definitely go back again.

The evening was spent lazily lounging around. Nothing wrong with that.

Today is also Pioneer Day in Utah. (And Missouri and California, according to one joke I’ve heard.)

Stray Toasters
Stray Toasters are preceding Four-Color Coverage today. Why? Because I think that FCC may get to be “a bit” lengthy and I’m going to try using the never-seen-in-this-blog “MORE” tag. Or, for a shorter answer: “Because I can.” So, without further ado:

• Marvin the Martian… made of LEGO bricks.
• I received my Mac pony pegasus from Stephanie last night. It looks great. I’ll take (and post) some pictures of it later.
• iGoogle now has a “Comics” themes category; a tip of the hat to for point this out to me. My home page is now decked out with a snazzy Green Lantern theme.
• Race and book covers: Why is there a white girl on the cover of this book about a black girl?
• I stumbled across this yesterday afternoon: This wedding party entrance had the potential to be disastrous. Instead, I think it was rather cool and looked like everyone had a fun time with it:

• Blackest Night figures (Series 3)  from DC Direct
• Catwoman 1:6 Scale Deluxe Collector Figure
• Expectations != Results, as dx/dy (Laziness) = 0
• Federal agents apprehend fugitive after 15 years
• Homemade AT-AT loft bed
• Hello Kitty + Star Wars = ???
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!” file: Artist takes $190,000 out of bank because they won’t give him a mortgage
• Slap on the wrist for officer who assaulted paramedic

Namaste.

Four-Color Coverage
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these; hopefully, I remember how it goes. Since it’s been so long, I’m also going to cover some of the highlights from the past weeks, as well. With that in mind, I’m going to use the “MORE” tag to cut the bulk of the text. Hopefully, it will work as expected…

Read More �

Thursday – 23 July 2009
Welcome to NBN Thursday/Technical Friday.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched High Noon. Both of us enjoy Westerns, but neither of us had seen it. (My father was even surprised when I mentioned that I hadn’t seen it.) After dinner, we settled in to watch it. The story revolved around Will Kane, Marshall of a small town named Hadleyville. On his last day as Marshall – and the day of his wedding – he learns that Frank Miller, the man who ruined The Spirit he sent to prison five years earlier, has been freed… and is coming back to town for vengeance. Marshall Kane has to decide between leaving town with his bride or staying to take on Miller and his cronies. Both SaraRules and I agree that it was an excellent film.

I also picked up yesterday’s four-color shwag. I’m planning on writing up a comprehensive Four-Color Coverage tomorrow – it will cover the last four or five weeks – but let me just synopsize as follows:

• Green Lantern #44 – Wow.
• Legion of 3 Worlds #5 (of 5) – Also “wow.” I’m looking forward to the restart of Adventure Comics next month.
• Power Girl #3 – Fun.

Stray Toasters

• I don’t think that I mentioned that my JLU: Legion figures showed up a couple of days ago. This, of course, means that I need to rearrange shelves in the display cases.
• Obama: Police who arrested professor ‘acted stupidly’
• ‘Do the Right Thing’ still has something to say
• I’ll be getting my Mac pony from Stephanie tonight.
• Speaking of Stephanie, she has mentioned that she thinks that making ponies for other Corps sounds interesting. I told her that if she were to make them, I’d find them a good home.
• By way of MarknTyme: Another Brick in the Wall-E? Pixar meets Pink Floyd
• posted a link to this. So true, so true…

  

• Think about the reasons you’re here now
  Think about the choices you can’t explain
  Think about the reasons you’re here now
  Think about the reasons you like the rain…
• Blunt force trauma. It works.
• Maxwell Takes Soul Back to Basics
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Brit photographer who shot demolition of flyover arrested for terrorism
• Name that TV show: “I want to build a spaceship, go to the moon, salvage all the junk that’s up there, bring it back, sell it.”
• Mariachis covering unlikely songs

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 22 July 2009
Last night, after dinner, I crashed on the sofa for about an hour. Crashed. And the fact that I made it through dinner was a feat of willpower in itself. I was that tired. After waking up, I felt better and then proceeded to just lounge around for the rest of the evening.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
In a rare – but not unprecedented – instance, Craig Ferguson had a bit of a rant last night in his… pre-monologue:

Intersting… and rather insightful, too.

Stray Toasters

• I’m giving Firefox a break and taking Safari on an extended test drive. So far, so good.
• From NPR Music: Lee Fields: Soul Survivor
• By way of : World of Warcraft movie: From computer screen to the big screen, with Spider-Man’s Sam Raimi to direct
• The View from the Middle: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
  • Part 2 of the interview was posted this morning.

  

• If advertisers were supervillains, or vice-versa
• The ground floor of my new ‘Clix building is complete. At some point, I’ll finish off the second story.
• Guide to Pirate Parenting
• Sussex cops try to supress publication of damning traffic-cam photos by claiming copyright
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Commissioned paintings using ashes of dead person
• Explain emergency, Musharraf told
• 
• Intergalactic Playground: engrossing, insightful history of sf aimed at kids
• Also from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: PowerPoint considered militarily harmful

Tonight: High Noon, with Gary Cooper. (“Super duper…!”) ¹

Namaste.

¹ – Bonus points for anyone who can identify this reference.

Tuesday – 21 July 2009
Apparently, the seventeenth fourth time is the charm. The water pump is in and things seem to be as expected.

After getting the car, SaraRules and I went out to Hobby Lobby and IKEA. Our trip to the Garden of Sweden came after learning that a sofa we were considering, Varnamo,  had been discontinued; we went in search of a suitable alternative. We think that we found it in the KARLSTAD series.

Back at home, I finished up the first floor of my ‘Clix house… only to discover that the plan we’d come up with for the second floor wasn’t going to work. *sigh* Back to the literal drawing board. After moving a staircase here and a wall there, I think that things will pan out pretty well.

Stray Toasters

• The Park City Kimball Arts Festival is a week-and-a-half away.  Who’s up for a Sunday excursion?
• Rachel’s coming to town Friday and has requested that I make S’mores Brownies.
• Magazine Writes New Rules for Polite Digital Society
• The 10 Worst Evolutionary Designs
• Barnes and Noble to Create an E-book Megacenter
• From last night’s The Late Late Show: Fireball XL-5

• Deal reached to close California’s $26B Budget Gap
• I just had an apostrophe epiphany. Julie and I were discussing shows we watched while growing up and (for whatever reason) Gilligan’s Island came up. We were talking about it for a minute or two when I realized: Gilligan’s Island was the Lost of the 1960s.
• …and, somehow, remembering that reminded me of Gilligan’s Planet. *shiver*
• sent me a link to: Palin’s Resignation: The Edited Version
• My name is Prince
  And I am funky
  When it comes to funk
  I am a junkie
• Glasgow steampunk fair at the world’s oldest music hall, the Panopticon

Namaste.

Monday – 20 July 2009
I was up far later than I should have been last night. Hopefully, the caffeine will save me. On the other hand, I managed to modify a few interior wall textures for my ‘Clix city that will give me a little more variety in my buildings.

Last night, Logan came over for dinner; SaraRules fixed chicken mole – it was good with a bit of a spicy kick. After dinner, we walked over to Target to find some updated cards for Trivial Pursuit. There were none to be found, but they had the “25^th Anniversary Edition” for $30. We decided to walk to the Wal-Mart to see what they had to offer; if nothing else, we had to walk back past Target to get home, so we could always pick it up on the way back. While the Wal-Mart didn’t have 25AE, they did have the “Best of Genus” edition. And it was only $20. Win. We headed back home and played – I won, SaraRules came in 2^nd, and Logan brought up the rear.

So far, the morning has been pretty quiet. Let’s hope the rest of the day follows suit.

Stray Toasters

• Learning makes your brain happy
• Aldrin Reflects on Life After Moon Mission
  • Apollo 11: Untold Stories of the Moon Race
• Best-selling author McCourt dies
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Teenager with Asperger’s hoaxes UK aviation industry with fake airline
• Designer axes (unfortunately, this does not mean “guitars”)
• 
• Ink Calendar: paper uses capillary action to fill in one day’s number at a time
• 10 Weirdest Pet Accessories
• Shanahan wants another head-coaching job, possibly as soon as 2010
• 
• Singer Marc Anthony will be part of ‘major’ announcement with Dolphins
• My calves hurt from yesterday’s workout.
• This makes me laugh:

  

Namaste.

Friday – 17 July 2009
It’s kind of odd to be at work on a Friday. Well, not entirely odd, as I do it every other Friday, but this is the first Friday that I’ve worked in a month, thanks to harmonic convergence the way that my 9/80 Fridays and the Fourth of July worked out. Fortunately, it’s most coworkers’ 9/80 day off, so it should be rather quiet around here.

Reeling by on Celluloid
I chatted with MarknTyme this morning about the Cool World/Long Kiss Goodnight Scale. I was looking for an icon to represent that scale in the same way that I use the red LEGO brick for thigns that I like. Both he and had suggested using Mega Blox, since they are a LEGO knock0ff. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a picture of a single Mega Blox (Blok?), so that became a moot point. MarknTyme then suggested a Lawn Dart. That seemed to fit better – “Aiming for the target… but just missing the mark.” So, I give you the official icon for the CW/LKG Scale: The Lawn Dart.

We also hammered out a few other points about the scale:

• The standard, as put by MarknTyme, is: “…the worst movie I paid full price to see.”
• It’s a “mirror” of the normal scale, with Cool World as the -10 and Long Kiss Goodnight at -1
• The worse a movie is, the more darts it gets.
• Regardless of whether some other movie rates a -10, Cool World will retain it’s spot as the “name” at the bottom end of the scale.  It’s tradition, after all.
• Allowances can/will be made to add rented movies to the scale. (I’m looking at you, The Spirit…)

And, with that out of the way…

Last night, Logan came over for dinner. While eating, we watched Krull, a movie that I’d never seen before, but that SaraRules and Logan watched – fairly often, I took it – while growing up. It was a bit dated, in terms of special effects and it didn’t have the greatest acting or dialogue, but it was still amusing and entertaining. Even more of a shock to me – no, lj user=”applevenus” , not a shocker – was to discover that the lead actor, Kenneth Marshall, later went on to portray  Lt. Cmdr. Michael Eddington, an antagonist of Capt. Benjamin Sisko, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Also in the movie were a younger Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. While this was a “fun” movie, it wasn’t a “great” movie.  Thus, it gets the dubious honor of being the first movie to get darts from the CW/LKG Scale:

After Krull, we watched The Day the Earth Stood Still. No, not the Keanu “Whoa… I know alien invasions” Reeves version; we watched the 1951 classic version. It was definitely a movie of its era: Full of Cold War suspicion and platitudes about the power – and danger – of using atomic energy. It was also amusing to note the way the military “protected” the general public from the enigmatic visitor, as well: Klaatu’s spaceship landed in President’s Park, in Washington, D.C. The public, after the Army established a cordon around the ship, stood right behind the firing line. Let’s look at why this is funny to me:

• Spaceship in the park. (Okay, this one isn’t funny by itself, but bear with me.)
• Army forms a circle around the spaceship. (Now we’re getting somewhere…)
  • All weapons (small arms and heavy artillery) are pointed towards the center of the circle
• The general public was standing – between 25 and 50 feet – around the perimeter of the circle.

Apparently, no one was worried about ricochets or “collateral damage.” *shrug*

All-in-all, I can see why this movie is considered a staple of “classic science fiction.” It was a good movie and kept me both entertained and engaged.

Stray Toasters

• Yep. I’m a Legion fan. And, a freely-acknowledged overgrown kid. Need proof? I just ordered this.
• 40 Years after Apollo 11: What’s our next step?
  • By way of : My part in Apollo 11
• DC Comics’ summer event, Blackest Night, kicked off on Wednesday. If it maintains the pace set by its first issue, this is going to be very good.
• In a related note, a couple of months ago, asked me why I’m such a big Green Lantern fan and how I came to be one. It took me a few moments to formulate a fully-realized answer, but I came up with one:
  

  I had read comics with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) in them as a kid and I also remembered watching him in various incarnations of Super Friends on Saturday mornings. His power: He had a ring that could create anything that he could imagine. He had the ultimate answer in “wish fulfillment,” almost literally in the palm of his hand. Years later, I bought issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, because I liked the character and the space-faring adventures.

  Fast forward to 2001… Cartoon Network brought the Justice League back to the screen in animated form. The show focused on DC’s seven “big guns”: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern. This time, however, they didn’t use Hal Jordan; they went with another Earth-based Lantern, John Stewart. As Bruce Timm put it:

  He’s the most controversial character so far from what we’ve been gathering on the Internet. When the show’s lineup was first announced, there were a lot of people saying, “Why aren’t they using Hal Jordan? No, it’s got to be Guy Gardner. No, it’s got to be Kyle Rayner.” Obviously, we picked the wrong one, but the reason we did choose John Stewart are various—I think they’re all valid. Right off the bat, I’ll just say it: you know we did need ethnic diversity in the Justice League. We felt that the show is going to be seen worldwide and I think having a member of the Justice League who is not just “Mr. White Bread” is a good thing.Another reason why we chose him: literally, out of all the Green Lanterns we could have chosen, we all kind of liked the John Stewart character from the comics, especially the Denny O’Neil / Neal Adams version. When they first introduced him he was like the angry young black guy…you know, in 1969 and 1970. Even though that’s not really relevant today—like the whole Black Power movement and everything—we still wanted to keep that kind of edge and attitude with him.

  And so, just in banging around ideas of what to do with him, going back to the original idea of the Green Lantern Corps—where they’re basically Lensmen [the pulp characters created by E.E. “Doc” Smith]—they’re space cops, they’re space marines. We’re like, “Okay, he’s a military guy.” And then somebody said, “Louis Gossett Jr.—An Officer and a Gentlemen.” I said, “Yeah,” and I went, “Wait a minute—Samuel L. Jackson,” and everyone went, “Yeah!” So that’s kind of who he is. He’s a real rugged, no-nonsense, barking orders kind of Green Lantern—and we love him to pieces. We love him so much [that] he’s like in almost every episode. I predict that you guys are going to love him too.

  And he was right. I did… and still do. It was great to not only have a Green Lantern on the team, but to have one who was Black brought something else to the table: A role model, of sorts, for kids (and at least one or two adults I know). It was good to see someone of color portrayed on-screen with a positive influence and not just “guy on the street” or “thug of the week.” That – and the way that the character was developed in both the animated series and in comics – only helps to cement John Stewart as a favorite character of mine.

• Fighting Racism Is a Family Tradition
  • Obama to NAACP: We Need a New Mindset
• sent me a link to Web Site Story:

• The Harmony Sweepstakes: A Cappella Singers Go Mouth-O A Mouth-O
• Neil Gaiman, Taking a Look Back at Batman
• Will it go round in circles?
  Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: NYPD is spending $1 million in typewriters
• US Videogame Sales Have Biggest Drop in 9 Years

Namaste.

Wednesday – 15 July 2009
I went out to dinner at Redrock Brewing Company with SaraRules, her parents and her grandparents. I had the French Onion Steak Sandwich (which, although very messy, was delicious) and washed it down with a tasty Cream Stout.

After dinner, I went to play ‘Clix with Chris. We decided to play a non-themed game, which allowed us to play with some figures that we hadn’t used before. I threw a decent team together…

• Black Widow (Ultimates)
• Captain Marvel, Jr.
• Dark Beast
• Iceman and
• Spider-Girl

…but didn’t adhere to the strategy that I’d started with and put the wrong pieces in the wrong places at the wrong time. Thus, Black Widow – a lynch-pin in my game plan – wound up getting beaten down. Game plan go *poof*. Dark Beast fell next. Spider-Girl went next and was followed, very shortly, by Iceman. Despite all of this, CMJ did well… relatively speaking. He took a fair bit of punishment, but was still dancing toe-to-toe with Chris’ Hulkbuster Iron Man. In the end, he got taken out, but he went down swinging; I was impressed with the figure – I’ll definitely be putting him in the field again.  (Hopefully, with better dice rolls…)

This morning has been… not too bad, but there were a couple of items that were on the fast-track when I got into the office. One was fairly easy to deal with, the other was… out of my area of expertise. (I’m willing to bet that John Hodgman could have handled it, though.) Fortunately, a workaround was found and life continued apace.

Stray Toasters

• It’s Comics and Sushi Day.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Rifle-mounted cup holder
• 100 Geeky Places to Take Your Kids This Summer
• After seeing this a week or two ago, I’ve had the song intermittently stuck in my head.
• 
• “No one expects the…”
• From the “Jane’s Addiction” file: TSA officer caught stealing laptops at JFK
• New items for the Covet List.  Too bad I’m not going to SDCC…
• From the “Headline That Didn’t Make Sense out of Context” file: Holy water ban to halt swine flu

Namaste.