Random Access

Tuesday – 13 March 2007
Two down, three to go.

The day started in the SLC office.  I needed to pick up some items to take to the southern outpost.  Unfortunately, those items weren’t there.  I waited a little bit, to see if they would show up.  They didn’t.  So… I left.  The rest of the workday was decent.  Even “good.”  The lunchtime workout was good, too.  I went back to an old routine: Back and triceps.  It was a very nice change of pace; and I could definitely feel it when I was done.  That’s a good thing.  Back to the ranch to finish out the day.

I remembered to call this afternoon.  I’ve been meaning to do it for about five days now, but something has always wound up rearing its ugly head.  I went for an afternoon constitutional – the weather was sunny, clear and low 70s – and called her.  We talked for about :20 minutes.  She sounds like she’s in good spirits, despite having been cooped up for the past 5½ weeks.  We talked about this, that and the other.  Bouquets and brickbats.  The whole nine yards.  By the way: , she said that she just finished the last of the books that you sent her.  It was good to talk with her.
Stray Toasters

• Friday, I get the tickets for my trip home in May.  There are even good rates into Greensboro!  *shocked*
• Zaz!
• I need to pick up a copy of Casino Royale.
• I can’t find my tape (yes, “tape”) of Hat, a band that some friends of mine were in.  That’s a shame, because I’m really in a mood to listen to Palm Sunday Downpour and She Builds Monsoons.
• Be yourself, that’s fine
  Find yourself, there’s time
  Lose yourself, well I’m right here beside you
• Is this the new Captain America?
• 
• Bananas.
• 200+ MPG car
• “I don’t get it.  The label says this is an ‘easy open’ can.”
  
• The new Ninja Turtles movie opens in a week and a half.  I’m… not sure, but I think I want to see it.
• “S.S. Botany Bay…  S.S. Botany Bay…  Damn!   Damn!  We have to get out of here!”
• The Big Fig – Marvel Legends’ Build-A-Figures prove that bigger is always better.   Sentinel.  *nod*  Although, I wouldn’t have minded getting my hands on an Apocalypse or Galactus figure, either.

Quote of the Day
While gaming tonight, we were talking about Star Trek: TOS.  Somewhere in the conversation, we wound up mixing Star Trek with, of all possible things, Pulp Fiction.  Shortly thereafter, derived from the “What does Marcellus Wallace look like?” interrogation (NSFW), I came up with the following:

“Does Mr. Spock look like a bitch?”

…which became the running joke of the night.  And it only went downhill from there.  But it made us laugh.
Namaste.

Monday – 12 March 2007
And so, another week begins. It wasn’t a bad day in the southern compound. I got to work on the report that I’ve been putting off to the side for a while. There were a couple of other issues that came up, including dealing with the “new and improved” Daylight Saving Time, but nothing insurmountable.

And, speaking of the new DST, I realized something that I didn’t consider until this morning: Where in the Nine Hells were the scientists planning on magically coming up with the “extra daylight” for the energy savings?

I get up between 6:15 and 6:30 AM, during the week. This morning, because I hadn’t put the necessary brainpower behind the logistics, I expected there to be a little more sun around the time I woke up. So, you can imagine my short-lived surprise when I found that wasn’t the case. When the synapses finally fired, I thought about the fact that it was technically only 5:30 AM (in Standard Time)… and that it is still dark at that time. Once I got my head around that, I was okay. Sure, it means that we’ll have a little more sun at the end of the day – which I can’t say is a “bad” thing – but, did the big heads that said “this will save LOTS of money and energy” not consider the fact that we’d still need to use lights/power in the morning? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not a big fan of stumbling around in the dark, morning or night. If I can’t see, I’m turning on the light. Maybe even a couple of them, depending on what room/rooms I’m in.

Even The Register noted Y2K7 bug fails to bite.

< /soapbox>

24 was good tonight. And there was more watching of The West Wing; in one episode, “20 Hours in L.A.,” the audience was introduced to Zoe Bartlett’s new Secret Service bodyguard, played by Jorja Fox – probably best known in her role as Sarah Sidle on CSI:. The episode was chock full of cameos, including David Hasselhoff… which was amusing in itself.
In other news: I called Dad the other night… just to ask him to send Butterscotch Krimpets. They’re as good as on the way.

Stray Toasters

• One of my neighbors asked if they could use the outlet on my porch for their car charger. About 10:45 PM. It was a little… odd.
• You define what you believe…
• Wednesday is Pi Day
• Thanks to for pointing out the typo… in my typo post.
• The 51 Best* Magazines Ever
• From the “Tune In, Turn On, Drop Dead” file: Northern Ireland Mortuary Begins Funeral
• “What, pray tell, is that?”
  “It’s my new invention.”
  
• From CBR: Doom Patrol Creator Arnold Drake Dies
• 
• Matt: Warren Ellis’ NEXTWAVE – subverting the underwear perverts
• When I finish reading Specter of the Past, I think that I’ll re-read the DragonLance Chronicles trilogy.

Time to finish off my tasty beverage and contemplate the idea of getting into bed.

Namaste.

Saturday – 10 March 2007
I finally did it.

I finally watched KidsWB’s Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon.

And, I liked it.

I’ve been a Legion fan for nearly 30 years. It may have been one of the – if not the – first comics that I collected regularly; I’m a little dodgy on the details, it was either LSH or reprints of 60s X-Men. But, it’s probably the one series that I’ve been the most diligent about collecting.  When I first read about the show, I was curious, but dubious – there had been rumours and whispers about trying an LSH show in the… late 80s or early 90s, I think.  So, I waited… and when I saw that his show had been greenlighted, I was expectant.  Then I saw the character shots and was a little disappointed.
The animation style  isn’t exactly what I would have chosen; I would have preferred a style closer to Bruce Timm’s, as seen in Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. I will say that it is similarly “distracting” as the animation style used for Teen Titans was… but not as much. I think that this is mainly because LSH doesn’t try to go for the “cheap laugh” by breaking into chibi animation to lighten up some moments. Actually, I just noticed that the style seems like a blending of the Timm style and the style used on Batman Beyond.

Today’s episode was “Lightning Storm,” featuring a team known as the Light Speed Vanguard, whom canny Legion readers will recognize as a thinly-veiled Legion of Super-Villains. One of the members of the LSV was Lightning Lord, Mekt Ranzz… older brother of Legionnaire Lightning Lad. They did a brief “how they got their powers” flashback and showed the sibling rivalry that has been portrayed many times over in the LSH print titles. In an interesting side story, the Legion was holding tryouts back on Earth – something that hasn’t been seen in the print titles in a long time. Astute viewers could see members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes as well as Jacques Foccart, the second Invisible Kid.

The writing was good. The dialogue was pretty snappy. The characterizations were good. And, well… it was just fun. I’ll have to pay more attention to this in… the… future. Wow, I didn’t think about the pun in that until after I had typed it. But, I’m sticking with it anyway.

And, , There is an Interlac TrueType font available for Windows and MacOS.