Random Access

Wednesday – 03 June 2009
Today is Sushi and Comics Wednesday, as there were no holidays to disrupt the comics shipping schedule. It’s apparently also National Tailors Day.

I’m still feeling pretty well this morning. I’m not sure what yesterday’s mystery malady was, but I’m glad that it’s gone. (Or some reasonable facsimile thereof.)

Stray Toasters

• I had a few odd dreams last night. It happens. But, in one of them, my subconscious apparently came up with a very cool two-part, a capella version of If You Believe, from The Wiz.
• T-shirts that amuse me:
  • Care and Feeding of Your Zombie
  • There is no Pac-Man. There is only Zuul.
• Crucial Air France crash data may be lost at sea
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and “Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow” files: iBoobs
  (Seriously, who comes up with things like this?!)
• 
• How To… Tip Around the World, courtesy of
• Also from Nyx: What happened to me and the new girl (or “The Girl Who Cried Webmaster”)
• Why Apple can afford to phone it in on the next iPhone

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda
I didn’t feel 100% when I got to work this morning, but I decided to see how I felt as the day went on. It didn’t really get any better. My next thought was that I’d go to the gym this afternoon and try to sweat my way through it… unfortunately, Wes had a meeting. So, I gathered my things and headed home around 1300. Next stop: Sofa. I slept for about the next four hours. After dinner (soup) and a little time watching TV, I decided to go to the exercise room and get in a nominal workout. Tonight: Bike – something to get my heart rate up and to (finally) break a sweat. I was successful in both:

• Bike (recumbent): Twenty minutes (95-102 RPM), “Random” setting

Post-workout weight: 183.0 lbs.

I followed up the workout with a hot soak. I read Fables (Vol. 4): March of the Wooden Soldiers while in the tub. For some reason, I read the first story in the book a few months ago – I believe while on the California trip – and never got back to it. That’s a shame. On the other hand, it means that I still have five more TPBs in the bookcase to look forward to.

It’s a little past midnight, and I’m feeling closer to baseline. That’s not a bad thing.

Stray Toasters

• By way of Meliko and Cake Wrecks: Sunday Sweets – LEGO cakes
• …and because of that, I found Bakerella, as well.
• For the first time in a long while, I actually had a conversation with
• I came across ToyChop, a blog about HeroClix, this afternoon. The article “Property Damage” came up in a forum of which I am a member. It discusses the author’s 3D terrain, including some ideas that I would like to incorporate into my maps.
• I’ve been quoted on the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera blog on their “Reactions to Bernstein’s MASS” page.
• Microsoft’s Project Natal

Namaste.

Monday – 01 June 2009
Not only a new work week, but a new month kicks off, as well.

Yesterday was relaxing and fun. SaraRules and I kicked off the morning with breakfast… and Planet of the Apes (the one with Charlton Heston, not Marky Mark and the Monkey Bunch). I hadn’t seen it in a very long time. When the movie was done, we got about the business of the day.

We started off with a trip to Toys ‘R’ Us. I’m in search of 1:43 and/or 1:48 scale cars and trucks – they are much easier to buy than to try and cut out of papercraft models. Perry had mentioned that TRU had some, so I went to check them out. He was right. Exerting Green Lantern-like levels of willpower, I refrained from buying any. (Personal Win!) From there, we headed down to visit Perry, Kate and the kids. They’re doing well.

We headed homeward, with a stop at the store for dinner – we were having SaraRules’ mother and brother over for Sunday dinner. Logan came over a little early and introduced me to Gears of War 2. The overall learning curve for the game isn’t very steep, but getting the finesse points will take me a bit. Bonne showed up a little later and shortly after that, it was time to eat. Last night’s fare: Jambalaya with salad and cornbread. (Dinner Win!) And, for dessert: Chocolate chip cookies. After dinner, SaraRules, Logan and I watched Hostage; neither Logan nor I had seen it before. It wasn’t bad. Bruce Willis starred as a former L.A. police negotiator who transitions to a small town police chief after a negotiation goes… bad. Unfortunately, things in his sleepy burgh didn’t stay quiet for long. All-in-all, not a bad flick.

After the movie, I went to work on a small HeroClix board for Perry’s oldest son.

Small beginner's/teaching board for 'Clix

Perry wants to teach him the game – and wants me to help teach/coach him – so I figured that a small board would be a good way to teach him the basics and then let him move up from there. I’m thinking that I’ll start him off with a “no powers,” just by the numbers game. I figure a basic “police vs. thugs/henchmen” would be a good way to go. To help me test out the theory (and to try out the new board), I stepped SaraRules through the basics of the rules and then we tried a couple of rounds. It seemed to go well and she said that the way I explained the rules was both simple and straightforward. So, it looks like we have a “Go” for this setup.

Stray Toasters

• I looked up the information on Hostage after watching the movie. One of the young actors in the movie was Ben Foster. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it… so, I looked him up on IMDb. He was in X-Men: The Last Stand, 30 Days of Night, and 3:10 to Yuma, among others. He’s a versatile young man.
• Ten Applications That Changed Computing
• How to Play Pinball Like a Pro
• Morbid Anatomy: A blog dedicated to Victorian anatomical curiosities
• Guess what’s (kind of, sort of) back…



• In Pictures: General Motors and GM enters bankruptcy protection
• While I like the shirt that I’m wearing today, I had apparently forgotten something important about it: No matter how much starch I use when ironing it, it wrinkles if you look at it crosswise.  *sigh*
• The Real British X-Files

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Friday – 29 May 2009
Thank God and whomever came up with the 9/80 schedule. Last night, I was tired — so tired that I was in bed before midnight. I slept in this morning… until after 1000. Yep, I was that tired. And it was really nice to be able sleep in. SaraRules fixed pancakes and eggs for breakfast; we ate it while watching Dogfights – “The Flying Tigers” on The History Channel:

FLYING TIGERS
Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, a courageous, rag-tag band of American mercenaries dare to challenge the overwhelming might of the Japanese Air Force. The legendary “Flying Tigers” slash through the skies of China, and help vanquish the unstoppable Japanese. Follow leading Tiger aces Tex Hill and John Alison as their P-40 Tomahawks fight to the death against the agile Japanese I-97 Nate.

It was rather neat. They had historians, as well as a few of the Tigers, describing some of the missions. They also included some animated recreations of dogfights.

Last night, we went to the Main Library to hear a lecture by Jamie Bernstein, daughter of the late composer Leonard Bernstein. She was talking about Mass (1, 2), the piece being performed by Utah Symphony tomorrow night as Keith Lockhart’s final performance as Utah Symphony’s Music Director and conductor. The lecture and most of the questions were quite good. It was nice to hear Ms. Bernstein talk about the piece from a personal perspective. Mass should be something to see ; according to a rep from the symphony, a limited number of tickets are still available.

Stray Toasters

• By way of : EFF chairman makes a ‘Downfall’ remix

• Why our ‘amazing’ science fiction future fizzled
• KISS + LEGO = THIS
• For : Pee-Wee voices BatMite
• McDuffie fired from JLA
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: To the army, Sweat = Threat
• Also from the “WTF” file: Anti-Smoking Pressure Group Takes Aim at Wolverine
• ‘Kidnapped son’ found on Facebook
• Boingboing.net is soliciting questions for an upcoming Michael Moorcock interview.
• 
• Man who drove into City Hall gets 10-year sentence
• More countries should have this problem: Netherlands runs out of criminals, has to shut prisons

Time to go out and find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

I need to take a break.
That said, I shall take one… now.

So far, the day’s been rather good – that’s a pleasant change from yesterday’s tension. As an added bonus, I’ve been able to get some reading done. That, in turn, has given me a few ideas to adopt that should help improve some of our processes.

Today was also Sushi and Comics Wednesday. Today’s fare was good – I chose a Seattle Roll and a Spicy Tuna Roll. No comics today, as the holiday pushed shipping dates back one day. So, I’ll probably wind up hitting Dr. Volt’s on Friday.

Stray Toasters

• iTunes has been providing me with a good workday music selection.
• Same Stuff, Different Day – an interesting look at how/why comics get rebooted/retconned
  After reading this article, I had an apostrophe epiphany: The whole “Who’s a better GL: Hal or Kyle (or John Stewart or Guy Gardner)” argument – and associated viewpoints – is the same as the “Who’s a better James Bond” question.
• What do you get when you cross zombies and LEGO? Zombie Apocafest 2009
• What do you get when you cross Dance Dance Revolution with Bach’s Toccatta and Fugue in D?

• I say, nothin’ comes from dreamers but dreams
  I say, sittin’ idle in our boat
  While everyone else is down the stream
  Nothin’ comes from talkers but sound
  We can talk all we want to
  But the world still goes around and round
• Comic Book Resources had a trailer for Surrogates, an upcoming Bruce Willis movie. It looks interesting…
• Buffy minus Joss?

That’s good for now.

Back to the grindstone.

Wednesday – 27 May 2009
Yesterday was a long day. A little before lunchtime, I had a meeting that should have lasted 10 to 15 minutes. Operative words: “Should have.” Instead it ran closer to thirty and wound up becoming one person’s “rage against the machine.” That led to a second meeting – which I didn’t have to attend – which, in turn, led to a third meeting (yep, I was in this one). Between meetings two and three, Wes and I went to the gym. I needed a good way to work off some of the frustration and irritation of Meeting #1. Yesterday’s workout included:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Rotary Chest: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Dumbbell Curl (with Shoulder Press): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
• Push-ups: 2 sets/15 reps

Post-workout weight: 186.6 lbs.

It was a good workout – I was sufficiently tired (and a little sore) when we were done.

After work, I headed home for a bit and then headed over to Chris’ for a game of HeroClix with him, and an as-yet-undetermined fourth player. We decided to go with 600 points  I’d been itching to run a Legion team for a while, so I did:

• Cosmic Boy
• Karate Kid
• Lightning Lad
• Saturn Girl
• Supergirl and
• Young Superman Superboy

Supergirl brought the much-vaunted “Superman Ally” team ability – “Stealth? You have stealth?! WHAT stealth?! Did you not see the big red ‘S’ on my chest?!” The Legion, being a team of Wild Cards, could all copy that team ability.  (“Yes, Batman, all of us can see you over there. You, too Black Canary and Green Arrow.”) brought KC Shazam!, The Mighty Thor and Energizer – he wanted to see how the big guns (Shazam and Thor) played.

As we were without a fourth player, Chris brought his tournament team (OOTS Batman, Green Arrow and The Flash) along with KC Superman. When we noted that our fourth had bailed on us, we chose to let Chris play at 1200 points, because 3-way battles kind of suck. He decided to bring more Justice League members, giving him 1200 points of JLA hurt. When I saw Chris’ lineup, I probably should have changed my team, but I really wanted to play the LSH, so I stuck with them… and then the beatdown started.

Opening moves were good, but the overwhelming force of Chris’ JLA team wore down Shazam… and Thor… and 2/3 of the Legion, before we called it quits. On the plus side, we took out… wait… we didn’t take out ANY of his pieces. No plus side. FAIL. (We did damage a couple of them, though! Pyrric moral victory? Silver lining?) After the game, Chris looked at his team – and the feats that he had on them – and realized two things:

1. We pretty much didn’t stand a chance against that strong of a single-themed team
2. He used too many feats on his figures

There’s a “10% Rule” in HeroClix that says that 10% of your points can be assigned to feats. He was “a little” (about 40 points) over that total. I don’t think that it was a total game-breaker, but it might have affected a couple of things.

This morning, I woke up stiff and sore. As I said, yesterday’s workout was a good one. I also realized that I woke up a few times during the night due to workout-induced achiness in my back and shoulders. But, it’s good training and it builds character… I guess. All-in-all, so far, it’s been a good and relatively quiet day. I like that.

Stray Toasters

• Dance Dance Immolation – “Dance Dance Revolution. With Flamethrowers. Pointed at You.”
• Final Word: The rebirth of cool suits him to a T
• Salt Lake Valley Health Department: Public Health Inspections
  See how your favorite local restaurant scored.
• Bayou: chilling ghost story, a graphic novel about race and haunts in the deep south
• Think you know Ensign Chekov? Guess again.
• We stand our ground, we are young, we rely on our defiance just to lose what we have found
• 
• For – Fear and Loathing: The Board Game
• Burris on wiretap: ‘Keep me in mind’ for Senate seat

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 26 May 2009
Back in the saddle again…
Another work week kicks off, but fortunately… it’s an abbreviated week. Three-day work weeks should be standard. This morning, I wasn’t prepared for the alarm to go off. I was in the middle of a dream and, once my brain wrapped itself around the concept of “alarm going off,” I bolted awake and scrambled for the clock’s off button. *GAH*

Yesterday, SaraRules and I rearranged the bedroom, assembled the bookcases and moved them into the bedroom. The new arrangement looks nice, but will take a bit of getting used to. After that, we headed out for a while. As we slept in and worked through lunch, we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at Pawit’s. Unfortunately, they were closed when we got there. Instead, we went to Jasmine. I had the House Lo Mein (beef, chicken and shrimp), along with Wonton Soup and an Alaskan Roll (sushi). The food was good, as usual. Then came meandering about town.

Chris called and asked if I was available for and interested in playing HeroClix. That was unexpected, as we are supposed to be playing tonight (which we’re still doing). I told him that I was and invited him over. We decided to go with a 600 point, themed game. We settled on Teen Titans vs. X-Men (pictures here); I hadn’t used them before and thought that they sounded like a fun team to test out. We traded bad dice rolls – Chris’ came early in the game, mine around the middle of the game.  I managed to take out Wolverine and Nightcrawler before the Titans got wiped out. I can’t blame dice rolls for all the problems – I made a few tactical errors a few moves into the game that wound up getting me into a bind later. But, I find that I liked the Titans – I’ll have to play them again and see how they fare.

After Chris left, SaraRules and I watched The Terminator. Some of the special effects don’t hold up – and the cheesy 80’s synth music was cringe-worthy – but it was fun. And it continued the “Robots Blowing Stuff Up” weekend. I discovered a few interesting bits of trivia, after the movie, but among the most noteworthy/laughable:

O.J. Simpson was considered for the role of the Terminator, but the producers feared he was “too nice” to be taken seriously as a cold-blooded killer.

Stray Toasters

• I think I have tonight’s ‘Clix team figured out.
• Giving a voice
• Mouse Guard: kid-friendly RPG where you get to play a mouse with a sword!
• Obama chooses Supreme Court judge
• Why it’s hard not to stare at facial deformities
• 
• Is Crohn’s Disease on the rise because we’ve eliminated hookworm infections?
• DoD Sharing Threat Data with Critical Industries
• U.S. journalists got Watergate tip, but missed scoop of the century
• Nevada wacky race with $500 cars

Zoom.

Namaste.

Saturday – 23 May 2009
Last night, Jess’ family joined us at Clitorati. In fact, it was one of the largest turn-outs we’ve had in a very long time. It was quite a bit of fun; hopefully, Jenny and Julie will be at least semi-regulars. After coffee, many of us headed to get a bite to eat.

I had something of an epiphany yesterday, also. SaraRules’ family includes some “extended family” from when her father was previously married. This family includes the aunt and uncle we visited when we went to California in March. My epiphany: I realized that my extended family, in a similar manner, includes Jess’ family. That made me smile.

This morning has been lazy. Just the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I like it (uh-huh, uh-huh). SaraRules fixed blueberry muffins. We watched last night’s episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold… featuring Robin and the tail end of an episode of NCIS that we recorded. There’s a rumor that we might head to the gym in a bit. And we’re heading to see Terminator: Salvation in a couple of hours. Robots. Blowin’ stuff up. Win-Win.

Four-Color Coverage
This week’s haul was particularly good. So good, in fact that every book I picked up this week has earned at least a nod in this week’s Four-Color Coverage. With that in mind, let’s get it started:

• Booster Gold: 52 Pick-Up (TPB) – I’ve been a Booster Gold fan since the 80s, when the character was introduced. He was pretty much a mirror of the greed-hungry times: A flawed man with no future who came back to the past for the two-fold purpose of becoming famous and becoming rich. In the 90s, the character became more of a joke — still good-intentioned, but a little more… well… buffoonish, too. With DC’s 52 Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster looked like he was taking things more seriously again. After all, when you’re a hero from the future, you kind of have a lead on when some of the more serious disasters and tragedies will occur. Of course, this is still Booster Gold, so why not pick up a few accolades along the way.

  This trade paperback covers the first six issues of the new on-going Booster Gold series. It opens nobly enough: Booster trying to make amends… and earn his way back into the Justice League, many of whom still only see him as a glory-seeker. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be — Rip Hunter and the multiverse have plans for him. BIG plans. It turns out that Booster – because the world at large views him as a relatively incompetent clown – is perfectly suited to become a time-traveling guardian of the multiverse, correcting flaws in history, much akin to Dr. Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap. And you know what?  It’s a fun ride.
  

• The Brave and the Bold #23 – This issue features a… non-team-up of Booster Gold and Magog, heroes with very different methods and ideologies. And they are both attempting to difuse a hostage situation.
  
• Captain America #50 – Bucky is in a fight. Nothing new there. The difference is: It’s his birthday… and he’s feeling a bit nostalgic and introspective: About his time in WWII-era army. His time as The Winter Soldier. His time as the new Captain America. Now, only if these guys would stop shooting at him…
  
• Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #3 (of 5) – Reed Richards continues to search the Marvel Multiverse for answers as to why the Civil War failed to bring peace to Earth 616 as Norman Osborne and H.A.M.M.E.R. lay seige to the Baxter Building.
  
• Fantastic Four # 566 – A dead Watcher washes up on the shore of Thailand. Ben Grimm gets an unexpected comeuppance on TV. Dr. Doom is feted by the masses of Latveria as his master puts in an appearance. Many things are going on and it looks as though the FF is going to be heading down a bumpy road before things start getting better.
  
• Supergirl #26 – Cat Grant smells a story. The identity of Superwoman is finally revealed… and it only opens up more questions.
  
• Superman/Batman #60 – Superman and Batman are shunted into a world where things are a little “off” from norm. No one and no place is quite the same: Gothamopolis. The Justice Titans. Commissioner Perry White. Who’s behind it all? Stay tuned.
  
• Tiny Titans #16 – The Tiny Titans, under orders from Coach Lobo, race around the world. The winner is… [SPOILER DELETED].
  
• Uncanny X-Men #510 – Madelyn Pryor, The Red Queen… and Cyclops’ supposedly dead ex-wife, and her Sisterhood continue their attack on Greymalkin. Emma Frost gets a visit from [SPOILER DELETED]. The younger X-Men prove their mettle. And what was in the little silver box?
  

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: Hollywood eyes $70 zombie movie wowing Cannes
• Crawling Zombie Torso Gelatin Mold
• By way of : The Space Game, a tower defense-style game.

And… no gym.

But, we’re heading to see Terminator in a few.

Namaste.

Friday – 22 May 2009
It’s almost the weekend, and it’s a long weekend, at that. Win-Win. I’m Ivory Soap sure that there will be even fewer people than usual in the office today. I should have brought in my Xbox…

Last night, SaraRules and I had over for dinner. Ms. ‘Rules fixed spaghetti, with homemade sauce and garlic bread… and chocolate chip cookies! We also had a rather good Chardonnay from Sebeka Wines. We watched Planet Earth: Fresh Water and Food Network Challenge: Bartenders Battle as we ate. After each episode of Planet Earth, there is a feature called “Planet Earth Diaries,” in which they detail some of the methods used in filming that particular episode. In “Fresh Water,” there was a segment about The Amazon, in which they filmed pirahna during a feeding frenzy. The cameraman was in the water, just a few feet away from the frenzy… “shooing” away pirahna that roamed away from the underwater buffet with his bare hands. I made a comment to the effect of “I hope that they paid their camera crews really well for this.”

Stray Toasters

• Early Morning Dance Break (extended remix)
  • Mai Yamane & Seatbelts – Tank!
  • Blackstreet (ft. Mya and Ma$e) – Take Me There
  • Was (Not Was) – Walk the Dinosaur
  • Robbie Williams – Feel
  • The Cruxshadows – Carnival
  • Indigo Swing – Regular Joe
• Get The Hint’ mini sticky notes
• pointed out a couple of interesting items:
  • 100 Layer Cake and
  • Web site sparks creative ideas for city’s vacant lots
• Sherlock Holmes trailer released
• The title of this article says it all: Tim Gunn, Agent of Marvel… what?
• 15 Wonderful Uses for Witch Hazel
• Fliptop Twister
• Dan Aykroyd says ‘Ghostbusters 3’ may start filming in winter
• Celebrity Vampires
• 
• ‘Star Trek’ director J.J. Abrams on tribbles and the ‘Galaxy Quest’ problem
• Whites become minority in Kansas county
• Gadgets Gone Wild – Top 10 AIs Run Amok

And so it goes…

Namaste.

Thursday – 21 May 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I went with her father and brother on an expedition to Utah County.  They were heading to Cabela’s and we tagged along. That’s right, another journey to Outdoorsmen ‘R’ Us — Logan wanted to pick up a new fly fishing rod; Steve needed some ammo. So, off we went. There was a Black couple that walked into the store just ahead of us; my first thought: “What are they thinking?!  They’re going in there without a protective shield of White people! They must be lost…” It made me laugh. The rest of the evening was less eventful, but relaxing.

Stray Toasters

• Steampunk D&D Beholder Sculpture
• Rachel sent me a link to You Are What You Eat
• had a few things to say about the outcome of last night’s American Idol finale.
• The Gear of War
• Today is apparently National Waitstaff Day…
• …and, as a friendly reminder: Monday, 25 May 2009, is not only Memorial Day, it’s Towel Day, as well.

  

• : You might consider getting this for either (or both) of the kids.
• While talking with Nathan about Star Wars and Star Trek, I came across an IMDb listing for something called Star Trek vs. Batman, a fanfilm. I actually watched some of the first part. Fascinating… in a geeky/dorky kind of way.
• A&E has a sweepstakes in which you can win a trip to Las Vegas to see Hammer in concert. (You know… in case you missed his tour with Vanilla Ice a few months ago.)
• LEGO: Building Block of Post-War Hope
• From the “Take the Money and Run” file: NZ hunts accidental millionaires
• V teaser – The Aliens Are Our Friends

Moving right along…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 20 May 2009
Last night, Chris came over to play HeroClix. We decided to just play a 1000-point free-for-all brawl. (Pictures here.)  Chris brought a five-man team, with a bunch of heavy-hitters; I fielded a ten-figure team, with a decent assortment of abilities. My entire game plan (can’t really call it a “strategy,” as it was based on accomplishing one goal) was based on something I’ve been wanting to try for a few weeks: Using two figures to telekinetically move a third figure into position to beat someone down. Badly. That’s exactly what I did:

• Turn 1: Green Lantern TK’ed Marvel Girl ahead of the main group.
  A few other figures advanced across the map.
• Turn 2: Green Lantern TK’ed KC Superman next to Marvel Girl.
  Superman picked up a heavy object.
  Marvel Girl TK’ed Superman further across the board.
  Superman picked up a second object and charged Proteus.
  Superman used Flurry (make 2 attacks) – missed the first one, hit the second one.

The look on Chris’ face when he realized what I was about to do was priceless… and, it was pretty much exactly the reaction I expected. I went on to have a few more really good dice rolls – while Chris’ dice were cold – before the tables turned. I wound up losing on points (by about 300 points), but percentage-wise, we did about the same damage to each others’ teams. We’ll be playing again on next Tuesday; I should start considering team options.

Stray Toasters

• For no reason that I can find, I’ve had Erasure’s A Little Respect running through my head at random moments. Again, I blame .
• posted a link to: 12 illegal immigrants found hiding in chemical tanker
• A century of most popular baby names
• Superhero cakes and more superhero cakes, although I don’t really consider Tom & Jerry “superheroes,” but there is a pretty cool-looking old school Legion cake in the group:

  

• …which leads into The Revenge of Young Darkseid very nicely, as well as these other Silver Age Elseworlds stories
• Microsoft downplays IIS Bug Threat
• Beyond the Fringe: From Purdey to the Rachel – 50 years of iconic hairstyles
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Country doctor uses household drill on patient’s skull
• Star Trek: What it teaches film makers about special effects
• By way of Dwim: President Obama Vetoes the Mutant Registration Act

Namaste.

Tuesday – 19 May 2009
Yesterday was a lazy day. And, after the past few days, a day to just… relax and hang out… was just what the doctor ordered. The highlights of the day included: a visit to see , a trip to Far West Comics, a trip to Lollicup (SaraRules wanted boba tea) and going to look at bad dresses at a local store. Oddly enough, we actually liked most of the dresses in their window displays; I don’t think that’s happened before. We came home and watched a couple of episodes of NCIS as well as another episode of Planet Earth, “Mountains.” By the way, if you haven’t watched Planet Earth, I heartily recommend it.

Later this morning, SaraRules and I are heading down to Camp Williams for Jess’ interment. She’s being buried with full military honors.

This afternoon, the IT team is going to lunch at Tucano’s. This is our reward for finishing the server room upgrade before the end of the month… and making sure that it all works the way it’s supposed to.

Tonight, Chris is coming over to play ‘Clix. I should probably finalize the team that I want to use. Details, details…

Stray Toasters

• It is National Backyard Games Week.
• sent me a link to Lawyers: To Save Newspapers, Let’s Pretty Much Destroy Everythings Else Good
• Also by way of Nyx: Meet the Incredible Hulk of Hounds
• Drew pointed me in the direction of LEGO USB Hubs
• …and, since we’re on the subject of LEGO:
  • Space Marine Light Assault Vehicle (that’s right, it’s a Warthog… made of LEGO!)
  • Mini UNSC Pelican dropship and Warthog
  • New LEGO Architecture Sets
  • For – Danger Mouse, the greatest secret agent in the world!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Camera Misses the Mark on Racial Sensitivity
• Do You Trust Elevators? Maybe You Shouldn’t
• I saw this commercial and it made me laugh: Intel Star

• What’s Inside WD-40? Superlube’s Secret Sauce
• Atomic Disruptor Raygun: steampunk gun made from radios and cameras
• 
• Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Are Total BS
• Obama Speeds Up Fuel Economy Standards, Sets First Carbon Limit

As it’s my first day back since Thursday, I should probably take a look around and see what’s what.

Namaste.

Monday – 18 May 2009
Today is apparently International Museum Day.

It’s also a day that I’ve taken off from work. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing today… possibly a museum visit will be added to the non-existant agenda.

We didn’t wind up watching a movie last night, but we did manage to catch up on episodes of NCIS, CSI:, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold that we’d missed. While watching B:TBTB, I picked out Michael Dorn‘s voice as the main antagonist. (SaraRules looked at me a little askance, I told her that I watched a lot of Star Trek: TNG and DS9 and that Michael Dorn had done a lot of voiceover work.) I checked when the credits came on; I was right. Something that I wasn’t as sure of was the voices for Booster Gold and Skeets – they sounded like the actors who filled the roles on Justice League Unlimited. A couple of IMDb searches later and I had the answer. The roles were done by the same actors, Tom Everett Scott and Billy West, respectively.

Stray Toasters

• Sims Trek – A… trailer… of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, done with The Sims 3
• Handed Keys to Kingdom, Gamers Race to Bottom
• From the “Monkeys!” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” files: Robber uses banana as gun
• In search of Europe: Sweden (or “What can Europe’s politicians learn from Ikea?”)
• Christopher Walken: What I’ve Learned
• Mens Suit Buying Tips and Hidden Details to Find When You Shop for Clothes

Time to find some trouble to get into…

Namaste.

Friday: Coda
Earth was good. It runs for ninety minutes and follows the journeys of three animal families: Polar bears, elephants and whales. The imagery is stunning and deserving to be seen on the big screen.

On the ride home, SaraRules and I decided to (finally) break open the Planet Earth DVDs that she got me a few months back. We started with the first DVD, first episode: “Pole to Pole.” We were a little stunned to see footage that looked incredibly similar to some that we had just seen at the theatre. After that happened a couple more times, I consulted IMDb and discovered something: Planet Earth and Earth are, more or less, the same thing, with a couple of differences.  Basically, Disneynature is simply distributing Earth in the U.S., as it has been released in other countries as long as two years ago, by other local distributors. Other things I learned:

• Richard Attenborough narrated the original BBC version of Planet Earth, which is the version we own).
• Sigourney Weaver narrated the version which aired on The Discovery Channel, which is what we originally saw.
• There are (at least) three narrators for Disneynature’s Earth:
  • James Earl Jones, in the U.S.
  • Patrick Stewart, in the U.K.
  • Ulrich Tukur, in the German version
• The narration for Earth uses much/most of the text from Planet Earth.
• Earth “changes”/creates some of the story of the animal family seen in Planet Earth. Specifically, when discussing the polar bears – there are references to a father and his journey in Earth… that aren’t seen in Planet Earth…. or, at least not in the part we’ve seen.
• Earth simplifies some of the narration, making it a little more accessible to families and children, whereas Planet Earth takes a more scientific, “here is why/how this happens” approach.

On the whole, am I upset that we spent money to see Earth? No. As I said in the opening paragraph: It deserves to be seen on the big screen. And, I enjoyed it enough to recommend others to see it in the theatre as well. If it helps, think of Earth as a prelude or teaser to the more in-depth coverage provided on the Planet Earth DVDs.

After the movie, SaraRules and I headed to coffee. We hung out with some of the usual suspects, but were surprised, pleasantly so, to see Victoria and Jim (her father/Jess’ stepfather) come in a little while later. Coffee was good. Following that, some of us went to Applebee’s for dinner. Shannon, our normal waitress, had prepared something for us: A framed copy of Jess’ obituary. It was very sweet of her. After giving it to us, she asked what had happened and how — all she had known was that Jess was “sick,” but not to what degree; we gave her a rundown of the past few months. The company of friends was good, very good indeed.

Stray Toasters

• There is a new addition – or four – to The Covet List.
• Airman Spots Jetliner Fuel Leak at 35,000 Feet
• Girl Scouts have a Comics badge!
• Open Letter to J.J. Abrams About the Star Trek Sequel

Time to call it a night.

Namaste.

Friday – 15 May 2009
Another 9/80 Friday off begins. I seem to have slept well last night – that’s always a “good” thing.

After work, SaraRules and I went to Chris and Mary’s to celebrate Mary’s birthday. and , and and their kids were their, as well as Chris’ brother, Ryan, whom we hadn’t met before. It was a nice get-together… and, before all was said and done, we hammered out some rough details for another bad horror movie night. And… AND… Chris and I are playing dolls ‘Clix on Tuesday. Win-Win!

Stray Toasters

• My copy of Battlefield 2142 (for Mac) showed up yesterday. I’m REALLY rusty at that game.
• ‘Exiled for life’ in Somali camp
• Lauren Montgomery talks Green Lantern: First Flight and Victor Garber talks Green Lantern: First Flight
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Scouts training to fight immigrants and terrorists
• Texts From Last Night, by way of
• Personal Freedom, by State
• 
• …along the same lines, SaraRules has taken to watching Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?
• Adding Incompetence to Insult
• Was 1971 the best year to be born a geek? (I think they’re off by a year, personally)
• Texas Is Under Seige From Zombies!
• The Metropolitan Museum brings out American art again
• The All-Time Top 10 List of Best – and Worst – Mothers in Comics
• Ten Beautiful Computers

So far on the afternoon’s agenda: A trip to the gym and we’re going to see Disney’s Earth.

Namaste.