Sunday – 08 February 2009
Yesterday was a good day, all around.
I went 1-2 at the tournament, but I was happy with my choice in teams and how it fared against others. I played a team based on the theme “Gotham City PD,” using:
Captain Gordon – team captain
Gotham City Detective (x3)
Gotham City Policeman (x2)
Gotham City Undercover
I got a bye – and lone win – in the first round, playing against Keith, who fielded five Multiplex figures, with the Atom LE as the team captain. Next up, I faced Jerry, who used two Doombots, a White Martian and a Spider-Slayer. My last game was against Ryan, with his S.H.I.E.L.D. team, captained by Sharon Carter. That was my closest game, coming down to the last kill – Ryan won by five points.
On the other hand, the tournament was a “success” for me on two levels:
I got the Fellowship Prize (which I’m sure the map helped me secure): Henchman LE
After that, I met SaraRules at home and we then headed to her parents’ place for dinner and to hang out with the family. After that, we made a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden, before heading home for a lazy evening and watching the end of West Side Story.
Today… we’re off to brunch and waiting for the Pro Bowl. Other than that, the sky’s the limit.
Monday – 05 January 2009
Back to the grind, after a great vacation.
Last night, SaraRules and I put together the dresser and moved it into place. The apartment is starting to look less like a bachelor’s place already. (That’s not a bad thing.)
This morning, the alarm went off. My first reaction was “Huh.. what’s that?” Reality asserted itself and I remembered that it was back-to-work time. The morning prep went smoothly and without issue.
I just finished going through about 125 work emails. YAY!
Friday – 02 January 2008
Today has been a good – and even “productive” – day. I slept poorly last night – first, I couldn’t fall asleep, then… I couldnt stay asleep. On top of that, I started having a rather odd dream, somewhere around 5:00 or so this morning. I woke from that rather disconcerted. After wrestling with sleep for a few more hours, I got up a little after nine.
I spent about an hour or so on the couch, watching TV. Then, I decided to take care of the morning hygiene rituals. Next up: video games. I played a little HALO 3 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance; I made a bit of progress in both.
We met SaraRules’ parents for lunch. We went to Jasmine China Bistro and Sushi Bar. It’s apparently been there for years (many years), but I never knew of it. The food was good, as was the service. I will have to keep it in mind in the future.
Back home. After a little down time, we set about assembling a couple of Billy bookcases. The office is coming along nicely. It’s still a little cluttered – mostly with ‘Clix paraphenalia and things that have moved out of other rooms – but progress is being made.
Stray Toasters
I recorded a couple of episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold the other day. It’s definitely a much lighter take on The Dark Knight than has been seen in the past two decades, but I found it to be a lot of fun.
Wednesday – 10 December 2008
Last night, SaraRules and I met her parents for dinner at Hoppers. Repeat after me: “Madame X Stout.” I had the Steak Sandwich – every time I’ve had it, it’s had a section that’s been very tough/gristle-laden… last night was no exception, but the sandwich was still very good. They’ve added salmon to their winter menu; SaraRules’ folks both had salmon dishes and said that it was quite good.
SaraRules and I headed back to my place and started to watch There Will Be Blood. Just for the record:
Movie that starts slowly + Tired-from-waking-up-early Rob = Rob who nods off
We had to put the movie on hold until a later date… and I was in bed – and knocked out – a little after 11:00. I slept fine… but woke up at 4:30. Realizing that it was Ridiculous O’Clock, I went back to sleep until 6:00, when my upstairs neighbors’ dog decided to go on a barking jag. I could deal with it, but it sounded like someone else had a BIG issue with it – there was much (LOUD) knocking on the door upstairs after about 20 minutes of barking. It was oddly amusing.
So far, the work day has been good. Hopefully, that trend will continue.
Stray Toasters
I called my friend, William, whom I haven’t spoken with in [far too long], this morning. We did a bit of catching up and agreed to try and get together when I go home for Christmas.
I just upgraded to WordPress 2.7 (Release Candidate 2). I like it. A lot.
As I’ve mentioned before, we’re having some work done to/around the office. This includes some electrical work (which is why I was in early yesterday) and some wall/office moves. We were expecting the latter to start either tomorrow, Friday or next week. They showed up today. So, we’ve spent the past hour or so moving things to get them access/room to move. YAY!
Saturday – 29 November 2008
Today’s been action-packed. SaraRules, Rachel and I got up and had coffee/tea before we hit the ground running. Our first stop was Rich’s Bagels for a bit of breakfast. It was SaraRules’ recommendation, as Rachel had said that she wanted “real” bagels for breakfast. It was the first time that I’d been there, but it was a nice place.
Next stop: The Garden of Sweden. Objective: EXPEDIT (birch finish), for the office closet. And a few more NYTTJA frames. And a couple other miscellaneous items.
Back to the apartment. Rachel headed back for the southern reaches a little after we got back. Logan called and asked if we wanted to go with him to see Transporter 3; we said “sure.” He came over and we headed to the theatre. The movie wasn’t what I’d call “cinema verite,” but it was entertaining. And fun. I had something of a revelation about 30 minutes into the movie: It was an odd amalgamation of Smokey and the Bandit and the old kung-fu movies of the 70s and early 80s. That made me smile.
Back home and then over to SaraRules’ parents for dinner. Thanksgiving leftovers. And they were just as tasty today as they were on Thursday. We watched The Fast and the Furious while we ate.
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. SaraRules and I set about putting together the new bookcase – we finished it in about 45 minutes… including time for me to put a bid in on a Superman Prime ‘Clix. And now, I’m deciding on whether or not I want to go to breakfast. (Decisions, decisions…)
Friday: Coda
Dad called a few hours ago to let me know that Adam (Sib-3) and Chelsea have a new addition to the family. That’s right, I’m an uncle… again. Both mother and baby are fine. Details and pictures to follow, as they become available.
Rachel came up from Cedar City and joined us for coffee. SaraRules’ brother, Logan, came and hung out with us, too.
Before the collapse of WizKids, Jake Theis – former Brand and Product Development manager – wrote a series of blogs on “Brand Development and Philosophy.” They were good. Very good. It was supposed to be a ten-part series, but he only got five of them into print before Topps decided to fold the WizKids line. This afternoon, I finally jotted an email to him about my thoughts on the series and whether the rest of it would see print. A short while later, I received a reply. And, it looks as though Parts Six through Ten may see print.
Because it’s always good for a laugh or twenty-seven: Best of Craigslist
Despite the fact that you weren’t born to millionaire/billionaire parents AND the fact that you haven’t traveled the world to study martial arts AND the fact that you don’t have the limitless resources of a multinational company at your disposal, have you ever wanted to be Batman? Well, maybe these will help you get one step closer.
Today’s Challenge
I’m in search of a Mäkta Decorative Sphere, specifically the amber/yellow one. Unfortunately the local IKEA does not seem to have any in stock.
So, my challenge to those of you who live near a Garden of Sweden: Find one.
If you should happen to find one, please let me know in which location you found it.
Monday – 10 Nov 2008
It was… an interesting weekend, to say the least.
Saturday was a sleeping-in, lazy day… to a degree. SaraRules, her mother, her brother and I went to the Garden of Sweden to pick up a few things. Okay, okay… I (ostensibly) went as an observer, but wound up finding a few things that I couldn’t live without. Next on the docket was a couples massage at The Spa Club, that SaraRules had signed us up for. It was nice. Very nice, indeed.
The relaxation of the massage, however, was somewhat undone by some extended family drama. *grblsnrkx*
I spent a few pre-breakfast hours Saturday evening trying to be productive: I took pictures of and prepared some auctions for some of my extra HeroClix. I should be posting a few auctions this evening, God willing and the creek don’t rise.
Sunday was good: Another sleep-in morning, followed by football. SaraRules and I watched the Titans-Bears game, while I watched the “coverage” of the Ravens-Texans game on NFL.com. The Ravens wound up with another game in the “W” column, which makes me happy – and it means that they’ve already done better than last season’s record.
I headed over to Far West Comics to play dolls ‘Clix with Chris, Nano and Eric. We went with 800 points per player. We broke up into two-player teams: Eric and Nano vs. Chris and me. The teams broke down like this:
Chris
Batman
Doctor Destiny
Dr. Strange
Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Superman Prime
My team (themed: Sinestro Corps)
Arkillo
Batman (Sinestro Corps)
Parallax
Sinestro
Eric
Benjamin J. Grimm
Gamora
Hulk (Zombie, dual Hero-/HorrorClix figure)
Rampaging Hulk
Superman (Justice Legion A)
Nano
Emperor Joker
Green Arrow (Connor Hawke)
The Flash (Justice Legion A)
Living Lightning
Time Trapper
Trigon
Warskrull
And then, it was “Game on.” Chris came out of the gate like gangbusters. Eric had flown his Superman and Gamora to the mid-map area. Chris took Superman Prime, picked up an object and swatted her for 7 clicks of damage, right off the bat… insta-kill. I was really looking forward to using Arkillo, after hearing Chris talk up the figure last week. Unfortunately, Eric and Nano had other ideas: They put Rampaging Hulk, Ben Grimm and Trigon in close combat. And then, just for an added measure, had Eric’s Superman ping him from long range. *sigh* Oh, well… I guess I’ll have to use him another time.
Chris had good success in using Doctor Destiny to Mind Control Trigon and use his special power, Doppelganger, against the other team. So, we played a game of attrition: We got rid of Eric’s part of the force and the front half of Nano’s team. The we settled in to take on Green Arrow, Flash and… Trigon. Our team consisted of Batman (Sinestro Corps), Parallax, Doctor Destiny, Prime and Dr. Strange. The problem with Trigon – aside from Psychic Blast and Ranged Combat Expert – is his Mystics team ability:
When this character takes damage from an attack, it deals 1 damage to the attacker. This damage may not be evaded or reduced.
We beat up Green Arrow, Chris used Mind Control and Doppelganger to get rid of the Flash… and then it was just the big guy to deal with. Fortunately, Nano dealt Trigon a few clicks of damage by pushing him and we had a couple of figures who did 3, 4 or 5 clicks of damage when attacking him. So, taking a click here or there was worth it.
In the end, with the remnants of our teams, Chris and I came away with a win.
After the game, I headed over to SaraRules’ parents for dinner and football. Not a bad way to wind up the evening, I must say.
Stray Toasters
Whoa… I just found this on the WizKids site:
The Topps Company announced today that WizKids will immediately cease operations and discontinue its product lines. Scott Silverstein, CEO of Topps, said “This was an extremely difficult decision. While the company will still actively pursue gaming initiatives, we feel it is necessary to align our efforts more closely with Topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are being developed within our New York office.â€Upon notifying our partners, Topps will immediately pursue strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without noticeable disruption. To that end, WizKids will continue supporting Buy it By the Brick redemptions for Arkham Asylum, and the December Organized Play events for HeroClix.
For consumer announcements, please refer to www.wizkidsgames.com over the coming days for further information.
Wednesday – 22 October 2008
Midweek is upon us.
This means that I can (finally) sate my desire for plastic crack… and four-color crack, as well.
(WizKids, as of when I posted this, still hasn’t released the full list of figures. KHAAAAAAAAAAAN!)
Hopefully, the workday will be a little more smooth than yesterday.
Stray Toasters
I occasionally check the stats for my site, to get a feel for what people look at and how they happened to stumble across it. Last night, I was “a little” shocked to see that there was a link from hipflask.com, as it’s tied to the Image Comics’ Elephantmen series. So, I clicked to see what the connection could be. It turns out that they took an excerpt (1, 2) – albeit a tiny one -Â from my review of Elephantmen #7 and used it on their site. Who knew!?
Project Runway Season 5 winner Leanne “Judy Noodles” Marshall was on The Late Late Show last night. I found her to be rather… mousy… on Project Runway, but she was an interesting interviewee last night. Not only that, but she made the dress she wore in her hotel before the show.
After this morning’s madness, things have calmed down significantly. My personal threat Level has moved down to “Guarded” from “Severe.”
It was nice to get through the rest of the day without wanting to dismember service techs. Or coworkers. Or random strangers. I skipped lunch, but that just meant that I got to go home earlier. And, as I have food in the fridge: !TANSTAAFL.
Stray Toasters
I’m picking up a pair of Billy bookcases (Billys? Billies?) from and OnlyAly in a bit. I guess that means I’ll have to prepare for less “theory” and more “practical application” of where to put them.
Sunday – 28 Sep 2008
This morning started out with SaraRules and me picking up her brother and heading up to Park City. We went to Cisero’s for brunch. Mmm, brunch… As usual, the food was quite good. After eating, we headed down to the Tanger Outlet to do a little shopping – Logan was looking for some inexpensive additions to his wardrobe for work. We were successful in that endeavor; SaraRules picked up a “fabulous, new purple coat.”
We headed back down Parley’s Canyon and made a side trip to the local Stein Mart. I showed Logan a few items that would also make good additions. He came out of there with a new shirt and tie. He seemed to like the store – and the prices; I think that he’ll be heading back there relatively soon.
Next, we went back to SaraRules’ parents’ for football. We’re also fixing jambalaya for dinner. (“We” meaning “I peeled the shrimp.”) Then, there will be more football, a little later.
Stray Toasters
Eventually, I’ll stop going on about last week’s Project Runway. But today’s not that day. I mentioned how bad Kenley’s “Hip Hop”-themed outfit was. Now, you can check it out for yourself. And, as an added bonus: Check out Tim Gunn and Craig Ferguson talking about the episode, during Tim’s appearance on The Late Late Show. (Thanks, to SaraRules for the link to Project Rungay)
What the Hell happened!? WHO let the Browns win!?!
(I just realized that I could have gone with “Who let the Dogs/Dog Pound out…”, but I’m glad that I didn’t.)
A few of us went to The Melting Pot last night to celebrate ‘s birthday. Many of us had never been there before, so it was an interesting – and fun – experience.
After dinner, SaraRules and I headed back to my place to watch The Orphanage. Good movie, but I was tired from having gotten up far too early, so we stopped the movie early so I could call it a night.
Today, nothing much on tap… and there may be a trip to the Garden of Sweden. We’ll see…
Sunday – 14 Sep 2008
I had a ‘Clix tourney yesterday afternoon. I tied (2-1) with another player, but he KO’ed more figures – higher total points – so he won the day. I took the Fellowship prize, so I got a Sue Storm Limited Edition figure. Not bad.
After the game, I had dinner with SaraRules before heading off to Chris’ for the first Dark Heresy game I’ve been to in… probably a month to a month-and-a-half. Back home… to find that SaraRules wasn’t feeling well. We decided not to go to breakfast and called it an early night.
This morning, we got up and watched football. SaraRules fixed breakfast while we flipped back and forth between the early games. After the first group of games, we headed to the Garden of Sweden – she wanted something for her office and I wanted to look at some new desk and bookcase options. After that (and lunch), we went to the Utah State Fair – Attractions. Exhibits. Food. Livestock. People on parade. Rides. The usual. And cotton candy. Sweet, sweet cotton candy.
Back home for the late game and then over to SaraRules’ parents’ for a bit.
All-in-all, it’s been a good weekend. Can’t really ask for more than that.
Stray Toasters
I saw this shortly after waking up this morning; I think that this is my new favorite Sinfest cartoon.
We watched The Running Man tonight. I haven’t seen that in many, many rains. And it’s so ripe for being MST3K’ed, too. And we did.
I showed Logan, SaraRules’ younger brother, a picture of the Burger King mascot from when I was a kid. I do believe that he found it just about as creepy as the current mascot, if not more so.
Tuesday – 02 September 2008
And so, another – thankfully short – work week begins. I’m going camping with SaraRules and her family this Friday. That should prove… interesting. And undoubtedly fun.
Yesterday was a low-key day, as a holiday should be:
Sleeping in.
A couple of episodes of The West Wing.
Tooling around town, including a stop at Gardner Village.
Dinner with SaraRules’ family.
City of Heroes.
The Middleman season finale.
All-in-all, it was a good day.
Stray Toasters
Congrats to SaraRules on starting her new job!
We have a new guy starting in IT today. Selah.
Sunday’s trip to IKEA bore some fruit… including some geeky fruit. I picked up a KUBBO light. I got a green globe to go on it. Why? Because then, I could do this:
…and this…
I was surprised to read news items about Governor Palin’s daughter in the news.
I was even more surprised – pleasantly so – to hear Senator Obama’s reaction:
“Let me be as clear as possible,” Obama said. “I think people’s families are off-limits, and people’s children are especially off-limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin’s performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president.” (Full story, from CNN)
I was similarly impressed with the way that he reminded the media that he was born to a young mother and that reporters should “…back off these kinds of stories.”
Sunday – 31 August 2008: Coda
Saturday marked one year that SaraRules and I have been dating.
We kicked off the day by sleeping in. It might sound mundane, but it was a great way to kick off a long weekend. After we got up and decided what we wanted for breakfast we were up, out and on our way! We had breakfast at The Other Place.
We left there and headed up to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to take in the Monet to Picasso exhibit. It was a great exhibit. There were over 70 pieces, paintings and sculptures. And you could get very close to most of the pieces – within 9 – 12 inches, in some cases. Looking at these works this close was a great treat. I believe that we are planning on revisiting this exhibit before it leaves UMFA; I highly recommend seeing it, if you get a chance.
After a couple of errands, we headed to the store to pick up a few things for the barbecue that was throwing. In fact, we ran into her at the store on the way there. Surreal. (And, yes, Ms. , I do know what the word means.) The barbecue itself was fun… and wound up turning into a poker game a little while into it.
We left a bit early and came home to watch Stardust… which we both wound up being too tired to finish last night. Seriously, with about twenty to thirty minutes left in the movie, we were both nodding off. We managed to watch the last bit of it this afternoon, though.
Sunday proved another fairly lazy day. SaraRules fixed breakfast and we lazed about for a bit. When we decided to venture forth, we did so with gusto. Our first stop: The embassy of “…a land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size.” That’s right, the Garden of Sweden, itself – IKEA. We didn’t go with much/anything in particular in mind, but wound up finding a few things of use.
Next, a quick trip to Kohl’s. I have been looking for a decent pair of olive slacks for a few weeks; I figured that since I was near the store – and it was a holiday weekend (read: “Sale”) – I might have a bit of luck. And I was correct.
Back up the valley to hang out with SaraRules’ parents for a bit before heading back to the apartment. Tonight, we watched Clear and Present Danger. I still prefer Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan to Adam Baldwin’s; I never saw Ben Affleck’s take on the character, though. Aside from a few anachronistic items (the types of cell phones and computers), this movie could have taken place in any modern time.
Tomorrow… don’t know what’s on tap yet. And that’s fine with me.
