Random Access

Wednesday – 02 June 2010
Midweek and all’s well.
Today is NOT Comics and Sushi Wednesday, however. There may be sushi, but comics will not arrive in stores until tomorning. Of course, that just means that NBN Thursday will be that much better.

Last night, I spent some time at the local B&N, doing some drawing. I’m not sure how soon it will be done, but I am rather happy with the direction this piece is taking. While at the store, I indulged in a Mocha Frappuchino…

…which may have contributed to my staying up later than planned — I was up until 0100 this morning. Granted, I wound up watching my first Doctor Who episode in more than fifteen years, but still… I hadn’t planned on being up quite so late. Serendipitously, I managed to catch “The Eleventh Hour,” the first episode of the newest Doctor’s incarnation, Matt Smith. It was… fun. My friend Dana has been telling me that I should watch the show for months now. I might just have to add it to the DVR’s queue.

After getting to bed somewhere around 0120 or 0130, I woke up this morning at 0543. *sigh* When I woke up around that time yesterday morning, I told myself that if I was up again that early this morning, I would go to the gym. The decision to actually get out of bed and do something was much harder to make this morning, though. But, I persevered and went to the gym.

Workout

• Elliptical: 5 min, avg speed 5.5 MPH
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press (decline): 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs

For the second trip to the gym in a row, I couldn’t get on the fly machine that I like… and I didn’t feel like trying dumbbell/bench flies. Maybe next time…

Yesterday’s step count: 3250 steps.
I already have nearly 2000 steps logged today.

Stray Toasters

• I assembled my new desk/drawing table (except it’s the birch finish) last night. Now, I need to decide where I want it to go…
• Honey-Nut Cheerios.  Win!
• I still covet this… but I really don’t feel like paying what people are asking for them on eBay.
• Bill Nye Reviews Ideas for Solving Gulf Coast Oil Spill
• By way of Nyx: Premakes – The Empire Strikes Back
• LEGO Printer: I Made This!
• The iPad and Dolphins (for real)
• At NYC science fest, physicists ask ‘What if we’re holograms?’
  My opinion: That would be Truly Outrageous.  (Yeah, I went there.  Deal with it.)
• For Ms. Melodywise:  Shingles!

  

• As part of the marketing for Issue 17: Dark Mirror, City of Heroes opened a “Declare Your Loyalty” contest. The winning entries can be viewed here.
• 0543… what was I thinking?!
• LEGO ship in a bottle!

Namaste.

Saturday – 29 May 2010
It’s a grey and overcast morning. It’s also supposed to be a bit cooler today, on the order of 10-15F cooler. (And, naturally, as I type that, the sun decides to put in an appearance…)

iHurt. That is my explanation/definition for how I feel after yesterday’s workout. It’s aftermath of that whole “take a month or two off before going back to the gym” thing. I believe that a pair of ibuprofen caplets are in my future.

Yesterday’s excursion to Hobby Lobby was decent. I bought a couple of things, but nothing major. However, the store was a-flurry with associates adding merchandise to the shelves and reworking items according to new planograms. To be honest, it was nice to see “more stuff” on the shelves, as the store looked a little… threadbare… in some spots when it opened.

After the HL excursion, I also went to The Train Shoppe. It seems as though it is becoming a traditional 9/80 day off stop. I picked up a couple of books, two pieces of track to display the old C&O steam engine and tender I bought a few months back, and I ordered a new toy: Chessie System Merger Special. It should arrive in late-July.  Hopefully, I’ll have figured out a place for it to go by then…

Clitorati was good last night. I got to the bookstore a little early, so I could do a bit of drawing — I had an idea for a new song lyric-to-drawing and wanted to get started on it. Marci (a coworker) joined us for the first time in many moons; and we even had a newcomer, Monica. Hopefully, we didn’t scare either of them away permanently or scar them too deeply.

Today, I’m not sure what’s on the docket. I may head over to Dr. Volt’s and see if anyone’s up for a pick-up game of HeroClix this afternoon. This evening, SaraRules and I are going to the symphony for the final concert of the season; tonight’s program includes Mahler and Mozart.

Stray Toasters

• I fired up City of Heroes and downloaded the new patches yesterday. I may spend a little time in Paragon City this afternoon or tomorrow.
• ‘Human remains’ found as police probe ‘Crossbow Cannibal’ case
• “I ain’t no hiya back girl…”
• You Built What?! A Real Iron Man Suit
  (Technically, it’s a War Machine suit… but why quibble?)
• BrikThulhu Rising (from BrikWars), by Mike Rayhawk



• Terps beat Orange, will play for title
  • Maryland’s Official State Team Sport: Lacrosse
  • Maryland’s Official State Sport: Jousting
• A Century of Aviation, from the Wright Brothers to Stealth

Breakfast is just about ready.  I should clear off the table.

Namaste.

Thursday – 27 May 2010
Good NBN Thursday/Technical Friday to all.

Last night, I had the pleasure of accompanying SaraRules, OnlyAly and Jana to Ballet West’s Innovations performance. Before that, we – along with – had dinner at P.F. Chang’s.  I had the Lemon Scallops, which were quite good. bowed out of seeing the performance, so it was just me and the ladies and the arts. SaraRules and I ran into Melia (USUO’s President and CEO) and Thierry Fischer, Utah Symphony’s Music Director as we entered the theatre. We enjoyed each of the pieces, though we enjoyed some more than others. Among my favorites were:

• Outward – a nice jazz/modern dance inspired piece that I really enjoyed, and
• Descent – a Danse Macabre, including a well-choreographed waltz – that was very nice.

Added bonus: One of the costume designers for Descent was Christopher Larson, who also designed the glass flowers that SaraRules and I had at our wedding – her bouquet and my boutonniere:

After the performance, the four of us went over to Capo for some post-ballet gelato. I had a combination of Peanut Butter Brownie gelato and Heath Bar gelato; they were very good.  (I can see why SaraRules is such a fan of the place.)

All in all, it was a very nice change of pace and a good way to spend the evening.

Chew on This: Food For Thought

Transience and limits are at the core of our nature, and you can consider that a curse or a blessing. Our lives are less than atomic flickers on the scale of the cosmos, but they would be equally infinitesimal if they lasted 10 million times longer, and they would still be infinitely precious to us. You have the chance to enjoy some morsel of the 10¹⁴ years that the sun and stars will last. You should.

John Rennie

Workout
Yesterday’s step total: 4,918 steps.

Stray Toasters

• Yesterday not only saw the acquisition comics, but sushi, as well.
• Once Hopeful, Northern Afghanistan Is Disillusioned
• Meetings!
• What Not to Do if You See Someone Stealing iPhones
• LEGO has a new VIP Program.
• Eggshell art
• 
• From the “No…. really?!” file: Tanning Beds Substantially Raise Skin Cancer Risks
• How One Russian Man Is Building His Own Personal Subway System
• From NPR’s All Songs Considered: Bettye LaVette: Tiny Desk Concert

Namaste.

Tuesday – 18 May 2010
Not many of the leaves are brown, but the sky is grey.

Today is my cousin, Ryan’s, birthday:

Last night, SaraRules fixed Sloppy Joes for dinner. Very tasty!  After dinner, we went for a walk around the neighborhood; we covered roughly 1.67 miles in about 40 minutes. While out, we checked out some of our neighbors’ lawns and landscapes for ideas that we might like to employ in our own yard.

Upon returning home, SaraRules put in some time quilting, while I set about wiring a wall plate in the family room for coax and Ethernet. I noticed something just before I started running the wires: The Ethernet cable I was using was the 568a configuration… a variation which I had never made. Once I figured out which of the strands were different, wiring the plate was pretty easy. I apparently did it right, as the 360 found Xbox Live without too much ado. We wrapped up the evening with an episode of Human Target and some ice cream.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
There are many wonderful things to be done, and only you can do them.

Workout
Last night’s walk helped keep up the step total: 6,318 steps.

I’m going to try to get back into the gym next week, after we get back from the Right Coast.  We’ll see how that goes.

Stray Toasters

• Improv Everywhere: Who You Gonna Call?
• Enrico Caruso, and Confessions of an Operaholic
• 
• A couple of items from SaraRules:
  • Downey vs. Rourke: A Tale of Two Comebacks
  • Sir Ian McKellen mistaken for a tramp as he rehearses for new play
• LEGO + science(!) = Stop-motion LEGO documentary about early microbiologists
• Legendary Jazz Pianist Hank Jones Dies at 91
• Periodic Table of Superpowers
• “Recruited.”
  I’ll elaborate on this later.
• Awesome Star Wars Wedding Cake
• Daft Punk: Da Funk (original audio remix):
• Law & Order (TOS) is going off the air.
  At least we still have Law & Order: The Next Generation and Law & Order: Voyager…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Blowgun woman: “I like to hear people say ‘ouch’ “
• After taking on The Covenant and The Flood, UNSC ODSTs and Spartans seem like they can take on just about anything… but are they ready for this?

Namaste.

Sunday – 16 May 2010
Midway through the weekend and all’s well.

Yesterday, SaraRules and I got up and headed over to Rich’s Bagels for breakfast. I must admit, having a neighborhood bagel shop within walking distance is rather nice. After breakfast, SaraRules went to work in the garden, as I got ready for another HeroClix tournament at Dr. Volt’s.

The tourney was good. There were (orginally) ten players; one had to leave after the second round, so I got to put together a team and play a “bye” in the third round. Since WizKids gave Checkmate a nice boost with The Brave and the Bold (and as I’ve had a fondness for Checkmate since the late 80s), I put together… dun dun dunnnn… a Checkmate team. Oh, come on… like you didn’t see that coming. I played against Pete, who had also assembled a Checkmate team, but we took slightly different tacks with our teams. After forty minutes, we danced around the board, as our teams were fairly evenly matched. I had taken out a couple of  Pete’s figures, but since it was a bye, he got the TKO.

Next, back home for dinner and to get ready for the evening’s entertainment: The opera. We saw a couple of one-act operas by Puccini: Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicci. While both operas were good, both SaraRules and I agreed that Suor Angelica was the superior – and far more moving – of the two. If you’re in the SLC Metro area and looking for a good evening’s entertainment, I’d advise seeing these operas.

After the opera, we stopped at The Point After. We met up with Jenny and Julie and a few other friends who were having an anniversary celebration of Jess’ life. We didn’t stay very long, but it was nice to see everyone.

This morning, it was nice to be able to sleep in and not have to worry about rushing around to get something done.

Stray Toasters

• I was able to get my DIY Network fix this morning.
• How to Observe Better Sleep Month
• 50 Years of Real-Life Ray Guns
• 
• Truckloads of Strippers, Freaks, Art and Noodles Drive NYC’s Lost Horizon Night Market
• Star Wars, the Baroque version
• Bootsy Collins launches world’s first online “University of Funk”
• Thanks to Nyx for pointing out this cake:



• The Short List: 5 Advantages to Being Diminutive
• Tourist hospitalized by venomous spider bite on penis
• By way of : So, How Would YOU Dress for Atlantis’ Last Scheduled Launch?
• Art and doodles left by prisoners at Wisconsin jail
• Avatar: The Last Airbender + LEGO = This
• Ask a Flowchart: Where Should I Chat Online?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Former TV chef held in alleged murder-for-hire plot

Time for some caffeination and to see what the day holds.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 11 May 2010
It’s another rainy day in the Valley. And, it’s cold. Okay, maybe not “cold,” but it’s definitely cooler than I would have hoped for in mid-May.

Post-work yesterday, I headed home to see if there had been any sign of activity on Comcast’s part. Nope. I called the local office – again – to attempt to get more clarification. Stephanie, the CSR with whom I spoke, is the first person – in two weeks – to actually inform me of the following:

1. The date they give for line burials is a tentative date. The actual service date could be anywhere from a few days before the date to a week or so after the date.
2. The people who come out to do the digging are not Comcast employees; they are contractors.

I was “a little” stunned by this information… and wished that I had known it a week-and-a-half ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation.

I also found something that pretty much sums up how I feel about Comcast and their “service” at this point:

Jules: Oh, man, I will never forgive your ass for this shit. This is some fucked-up repugnant shit.
Vincent: Jules, did you ever hear the philosophy that once a man admits that he’s wrong that he is immediately forgiven for all wrongdoings? Have you ever heard that?
Jules: Get the fuck out my face with that shit! The motherfucker that said that shit never had to pick up itty-bitty pieces of skull on account of your dumb ass.
Vincent: I got a threshold, Jules. I got a threshold for the abuse that I will take. Now, right now, I’m a fuckin’ race car, right, and you got me the red. And I’m just sayin’, I’m just sayin’ that it’s fuckin’ dangerous to have a race car in the fuckin’ red. That’s all. I could blow.
Jules: Oh! Oh! You ready to blow?
Vincent: Yeah, I’m ready to blow.
Jules: Well, I’m a mushroom-cloud-layin’ motherfucker, motherfucker! Every time my fingers touch brain, I’m Superfly T.N.T., I’m the Guns of the Navarone! IN FACT, WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOIN’ IN THE BACK? YOU’RE THE MOTHERFUCKER WHO SHOULD BE ON BRAIN DETAIL!

Yep. That’s it, in a nutshell.

After the Comcast conversation, I headed down to visit Kate, Perry and the kids. They were doing well. Then, Perry, his oldest son and I snuck off to the new Hobby Lobby. Their model railroading section wasn’t as robust as the South Jordan store – which isn’t too beefy itself – but I think they just need a little time to get all their ducks in a row.

The rest of the evening was rather laid-back and uneventful.

Stray Toasters

• Top 10 Motivation Boosters and Procrastination Killers
• I have two new icons

• and

• The Most Erotic Rendition of the Spider-Man Theme Ever Performed
• Students dive into mystery of Civil War submarine Hunley
• Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi
• 
• Funny history of programming languages
• Style is not something that comes in a bottle
  Style is more like Jackie O. when she was doin’ Aristotle
  Style is not a logo that sticks 2 the roof of one’s ass
  Style is like a second cousin 2 class
• A sorceror’s farewell: RIP, Frank Frazetta, master of fantasy illustration
• Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Oil Leak Could Be Stopped with a Nuke

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers…

Namaste.

Friday – 07 May 2010
It’s my “on” Friday… but that’s okay: The team is seeing Iron Man 2 at lunch.

SaraRules and I saw the movie last night… well, “very early this morning.” And it was worth the lack of sleep. It was a well-done bit of entertainment. Mr. Downey looked quite comfortable, once again, as Tony Stark. Don Cheadle turned in a good performance as Lt. Col. James Rhodes, the “voice of reason” to Tony’s “poor impulse control.” Samuel L. Jackson was one bad mother… no, wait…. had it with these motherf…. wait… “he was good in his expanded role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury.”  Scarlett Johansson also did a good turn as The Black Widow. Mickey Rourke did a good job of turning Marvel villain Whiplash (whose back story was given a tweak to fit into the movie’s storyline) into a credible threat and Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer was equal parts unctuous slimeball and opportunistic business man. All-in-all, Jon Favreau did a good job of bringing viewers back into the world of Tony Stark. I was impressed with how his nod to Demon in a Bottle was handled – very subtly, but it made the point. I was also amused by some of the cameos in the film, as well. (Look for “Larry King.”) And, don’t forget to stay for a little bump after the credits. Just sayin’.

And… there were a couple of interesting trailers before the movie, too: A new one for The Last Airbender (which looked pretty nice) and one for an upcoming J.J. Abrams project that looks… intriguing.

Before the movie, Chris came over. We were originally planning on throwing a HeroClix game together, but opted to play HALO 3: ODST, instead. And it was good. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• Most of my cold symptoms are gone… but I’m still dealing with a sore/scratchy throat and swollen lymph nodes. Bah.
• The Art of Style, and the Style of Art
• For SaraRules: No sleep til…
• For Amy: Click or tap along with new ‘Sam & Max’ series
• Couch Forts: A Critique
• The pill: 50 years of birth control changed women’s lives
• The Bell Tolls: Lots of blame in Raiders’ JaMarcus Russell flop… sorry, SaraRules
• By way of Rachel: Things That Can Make You Feel Like an Idiot Almost Instantly
• F.C.C. Proposes Rules on Internet Access
• Nyx showed me this video…

  …and all I could think of was:

  Spider-Bear! Spider-Bear!
  Whats she doing up in the air?

• Former MySpace security chief starts company
• Music round-up:
  • Gustavo Dudamel: Making Classical Cool in L.A.
  • U.S. Troops Spoof Lady Gaga Video
  • Moby: One Song, Two Days, Three Versions
• How a Cellphone Call Works
• April Jobs Report: Best gain in four years

Yep, that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 29 April 2010
It’s another NBN Thursday morning.

Happy Birthday to Beckley, Joe and Lars:

It was snowing when I woke up this morning.
Yes, I know it’s almost May.
Apparently, Mother Nature cares naught for such petty human concerns.

Stray Toasters

• Alvin Ailey Company Names a New Leader
• New Rule Offers Trapped Travelers an Exit Door
• A couple of cellphone-related tech items:
  • Cellphone Payments Offer Alternatives to Cash
  • Linking Customer Loyalty with Social Networking
• 
• Congratulations Comcast; You’re the Worst Company in America!
  • Monkeys!
  • I got a call from Comcast collections on Tuesday, asking when I planned to return the receiver and cable modem. I explained that I was awaiting reconnection at the house. She took down the information and apologized for the call.
  • Yesterday, I got another call from Comcast collections. I wasn’t as pleasant – though I tried to be nominally polite – to that agent.
  • I’m waiting to see if I get yet another call from them.
• When I lived in Indiana, I saw a lot of commercials for a place called Don’s Guns. Don had some of the best (i.e.: funniest) commercials, because of the tagline he used at the end of each spiel: “Folks, I don’t want to make money. I just love to sell guns!”  And, he’d make a finger gun while saying the last bit.  Classic! I was talking with Tom and Sean about it this morning and decided to see if I could find a commercial from the store online. I did:
• Rush is on to claim first-time home buyers tax credit
• I’ve been a fan of Love and Capes for a couple of years. It’s a light and fun read.  Check it out.
• This makes me laugh:



“Chocolate Negro.” Comedy.

• Anne Frank’s full diary on display for the first time in Amsterdam
• Big Wind Farm off Cape Cod Gets Approval
• Three of my favorite planes have been modeled in LEGO:
  • SR-71 Blackbird
  • P-51D Mustang
  • F4U Corsair
• Carl Johnson, NFL’s new chief official, ready for major scrutiny
• Welcome to Arizona, Outpost of Contradictions

It’s almost meeting time. Again.

Namaste.

Monday – 12 April 2010
Time flies when you’re having fun… and when you’re working to get your new house ready for moving in. This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity, a good portion of which involved house work. But, I’m back in the office, with a triple-shot-laden large cup of frozen mocha goodness. At least the view from the office windows was nice this morning.

Saturday morning, SaraRules and I met Chris and Mary for breakfast. After that, Chris and I headed up to Dr. Volt’s  for the HeroClix tournament; I decided to make the theme for this event “Ragnarok,” as it was the final tournament for the Hammer of Thor set. There were (technically) 14 players – two players (a father and his young son) played as a team – so there were seven matches per round. Everything went swimmingly. Pictures of the event can be seen here.

After the tourney, I dropped Chris off and headed to the house. SaraRules and Swiz had spent the early afternoon painting. I helped SaraRules finish off the first coat of paint in the master bedroom. By the time we finished Round 1 of the weekend painting, notable progress had been made. Next, we cleaned up and then joined OnlyAly, and a few others for the Grizzlies game against the Las Vegas Wranglers. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies lost — they just seemed to play a soft game against an aggresive opponent.

Sunday, we headed up to the in-laws’ for breakfast. Homemade waffles! Then it was back to the house for Painting: Round 2 – second coats of paint in most rooms… and laundry! After that, back up to the in-laws’ for cake and ice cream (to celebrate Logan’s birthday.) Back to the house to pick up the last load of laundry and then on to the apartment to call it a day.

Stray Toasters

• Our home’s previous owners left us… stuff. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!
• There’s a small room in the basement that SaraRules has considered turning into a boudoir. I discovered this weekend that the male equivalent of such a room is traditionally referred to as a “cabinet.” To be honest, I think that I prefer that term to “man cave,” although, I am still partial to “HALO Command Center.”
• A week or so ago, MarknTyme forwarded a link to Nuit Blanche. Last week, Wired had an interview with its director, in which he explained some of the techniques and processes used in making the short.
• Space Pussy, which – despite its name – is actually quite safe for work.
• Jamie posted a link to a new How It Should Have Ended: Star Trek
• I’ve become far too enamored of DIY Network. I think that I watched at least two hours of Yard Crashers and Turf Wars late last night/far-too-early this morning.
• It seems as though Santonio Holmes is now a Jet.
• By way of comes something with which every LEGO fan will be able to empathize:

  

• We’re having a “Captain, the ship canna take much more of this…!” moment in the office. Yay.
• Space shuttle sequel slated for lift-off
• Maps on the backs of detective novels

Namaste.

Friday – 09 April 2010
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday. It’s quiet in the office. Hopefully, things will stay that way.

Last night, we took a break from housework and had some down time. It was nice. We tag-teamed dinner: Spaghetti with sauce and garlic bread.  After dinner, I was feeling a little antsy, like I should have been doing something… but I couldn’t put my finger on “what.” I opted to get out and do a little shopping. I hit the local Eddie Bauer store and picked up a new pair of jeans. I wandered over to Nordstrom’s to look for a pair of braces. I’ve wanted a new pair of leather ones for a while, but hadn’t put a lot of effort into getting them. And, unfortunately, Nordstrom didn’t have any, so the hunt continues.

I headed back home and watched Project Runway and Fringe with SaraRules. And, we also split a caramel apple, dipped in crushed Butterfinger candy bar bits. Helloooooo, decadence! I started winding down early, so I made a (relatively) early night of it.

Stray Toasters

• For as-yet unexplained reasons, I had Lady Gaga’s Telephone running through my head when I woke up this morning.
• Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, for my friends who have to maintain gluten-free diets
• Music world mourns godfather of punk
• Coal Miner’s Son Remembers ‘A Hard, Dirty Job’
• Peroidic Table of Imaginary Elements
• 55 catastrophic Star Wars costumes, by way of
• sent a link to Photo-manipulations by Erik Johansonn
• 
• Vegetarian-friendly iPhone App Will Tell You if Any Dead Animals Are in That  Sandwich
• Comic Book Cartography
• Off-shore Energy Clash over Undersea Sound
• I’ve posted links to the Top Gear segment featuring the Bugatti Veryon vs. Euro Fighter Typhoon drag race (…like the one I just posted). Somehow, I don’t think that this Veryon would hold up as well in that race as the one in the video.

That’ll do for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 08 April 2010
NBN Thursday rides again!

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I knocked out the last bit of the primer-ing. I need to touch up a three-inch strip near the ceiling in the living room, but other than that… it’s done. We set a timetable for what we want to do and when we plan to have it done. We’re in a good enough position that we’re taking the next couple of nights off from house-prep. Come Saturday, painting begins!

After we left the house, we hit the local Five Guys for dinner. Next, it was back home for some couch time. Okay, couch time for me; quilting time for SaraRules. I finally got around to watching the season finale of Burn Notice. (YES, I know it was on a month ago. Sue me!) I followed that up with an episode of Human Target. I’m slowly but surely getting through the backlog on the DVR…

This morning, I had The Blues, by Tony Tone Toni, running through my head. When I got in the car this morning, I was treated to Word Up. And, quite frankly a video with Reading Rainbow‘s Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge as a fedora-wearing detective can’t be all bad (if you overlook Larry Blackmon’s bulging red codpiece, that is…)

Stray Toasters

• From the “…it’s like red, but not quite” file: I decided to break out my pink dress shirt this morning. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I’ll get at least one “I’m not sure that I could wear a pink shirt” comment from one of the guys in the office.
• Va. Offers Fresh Lesson in History’s Power to Sting
• This appeared in my email this morning:

  

  God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I know where I intend to be on 05 August.

• My affinity for the SR-71 Blackbird is pretty well-known. So when I saw this article, The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird , on Gizmodo, I was instantly hooked. I went to look up the book that Maj. Shul wrote, Sled Driver, and was in for a bit of a surprise when I saw the prices that were being asked for it.  That doesn’t mean that I didn’t add it to The Covet List, though. (Or, it would make a great birthday present, if anyone is wondering what to get me this year.)
• sent a time-sinking link to some rather cool LEGO sculptures. There goes productivity for the morning…
• Yet another Demotivator that I like:



• ‘Passing’ Across the Color Line in the Jazz Age
• From the “Weekend at Bernies” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files: Women try to take body on plane at Liverpool airport
• Comic Book Resources has an article about Robert Greenberger’s upcoming book: Wonder Woman. Amazon. Hero. Icon.

  

• The Mythology of Spending and Mental Anchors
• Q and Data Examine the Next Generation Padd

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 April 2010
It snowed last night. There’s a coat of snow on the ground, but it didn’t seem to stick to the roadways, fortunately.

I need to give a very quick, but heartfelt, “Thank you” to for lending his time and his handy-dandy Jeep to help me ferry a ladder (and other painting supplies) from the local home improvement store to the new house.

After spending a bit of time getting ready, I set about applying primer to the walls. A short while later, SaraRules got home – well, “new” home – and helped with the process. I had realized, shortly before she arrived, that I still needed a couple of tools. She had a couple in her car, but I still needed to come home and pick up my Channel-Locks. Good thing. I also remembered to pick up a couple of other things. Then, back to the primer slinging.

Today, I am continuing with my desk move. I have accumulated a LOT of stuff – including a herd or three of dust bunnies – in the two years I was at my old desk.

And again tonight, there shall be blood primer…

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules just added Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus to the Netflix queue. God help us all.
  (Although, this does mean that I’ll get to see a giant shark leap out of the water and attack an airplane again.)
• Geoff Peterson made his debut last night. We’ll have to see how his career at CBS progresses…
• Awesome Artwork Made with Sharpies
• By way of comes: What You Didn’t Know about Nintendo
• How Americans are propogandized about Afghanistan
• Jazz is for the Birds
• Jam Session with Improvised Instruments
• Why games will take over our lives
• 
• 1:40 scale Fallingwater is as gorgeous as the real landmark
• World’s biggest scrap-metal sculpture is a steampunk wonderland
• Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Draw Me My Life
• Donovan McNabb… as a Washington Redskin.  Huh.
• Changes are afoot at Digg
• Cyber Insecurity: U.S. Struggles to Confront Threat

Namaste.

Sunday – 04 April 2010
Happy Easter.
I hope that everyone’s day was safe and joyous.

SaraRules and I got the keys for the house yesterday! Granted, it was a few hours past when we expected… but we got the keys, nevertheless. And the first thing that we did was change all of the locks. Go figure. I ran into a slight problem with the front door — it was more of an ID-10-T error than anything else — but finally sussed it out.

After we finished with that, we had our first houseguest: ! The three of us headed down to The Apple Store and played around with an iPad. It’s a neat device, but it’s not something that I need immediately.

We then headed back to the house and from there, back to the apartment for a quiet evening hanging out with the missus.

This morning, we had planned on going to early morning (7:30 AM) Mass. One of us, who shall remain nameless — but is male and bald with a goatee — didn’t wake up. I woke up in time to go to 9:30 AM Mass.  It was a good service with a good homily.

After service and a quick stop in to say “Hi” to the in-laws, we headed home to have breakfast. SaraRules made pancakes and eggs. Yum. Next on tap: A trip to Lowe’s — we needed paint samples and a few other knick-knacks for the house. SaraRules’ parents showed up – our second and third houseguests! – and we gave them the nickel tour. After they left, we started checking out our ideas on changing the paint in a few rooms. And that’s when Logan and Swiz (Houseguests #4 and #5) stopped by. We all left at the same time.

We headed home, picked up a few things and then headed up to the in-laws’ place for Easter dinner. We had a very tasty smoked ham and a smoked turkey breast (courtesy of my uncle), roasted root veggies and steam veggies. SaraRules brought a bottle of wine. And it was all good.  It was a very good dinner and a great way to spend the evening.

Stray Toasters

• sent me a link to: Flowchart: How You’ll Ineveitably Shatter Your iPod
• Star Wars Sound Effects Quiz
• MechWarrior 4 Free Release Delayed by Microsoft
• I have been toying around with Windows 7 on the “new” laptop.  It’s still not-too-bad.
• I’m also installing LEGO Universe on the Win7 laptop.
• What the Top U.S. Companies Pay in Taxes

Yeah… that’s good for now. We’re going to watch Help!

Namaste.

Thursday – 01 April 2010
It’s April Fools’ Day.

In her inimitable charming manner, Mother Nature sent March out a little less lamb-like than many cared for. We were graced with new snow. Seeing the humor in making it an April Fool’s Day prank, she allowed the snow to continue to fall this morning. The Council for Better Driving: Utah reminds drivers to use caution when commuting today.

Today is also NBN “Technical Friday.”   Win.

Last night, SaraRules and I rented kids for the evening. I guess that it would be more accurate to say that we watched the kids while Kate and Perry took a belated anniversary night out. As usual, the kids were fine. And, for the first time in many, many years, I got to change a loaded diaper. (I’m sorely out of practice with those, it seems…)

Stray Toasters

• We bought a house.
  I believe that it will sink in even more this weekend, once we get the keys.
• (Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Spring Style
• Improv Everywhere’s No Underwear Subway Ride
  (Thanks to the magic of digital editing, this is safe for work.)
• 
• The Color of Fear == Covet!
• Google, Topeka formally trade names
• Everybody was kung-fu fighting…!
• Leonardo: An early Dr. Strangelove?
• A part of the parenting process I’m not looking forward to (besides the messy diapers)…

  

  And, no, this is NOT a subtle way of saying that we’re expecting kids. I just found the comic amusing.

• Apple’s iPad: The First Reviews Are In
• My First Bacon
• Klingon Bird of Prey, made from 274,350 virtual bricks

Namaste.

Thursday – 18 March 2010
It’s another NBN Thursday/Technical Friday combo.
I like those.

Last night, I saw Alice in Wonderland (in IMAX 3D) with Jana, Dave, Rebecca and Joe. It was a good movie, nicely adapted from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. There were a couple of departures from the original stories, but not so much as to be incredibly distracting.

Correction: The music for the Mad Hatter’s dance, near the end of the film, seemed anachronistic and did pull me out of the movie, so to speak. Sorry, Danny Elfman.

I thought that the casting was good; I particularly enjoyed Mia Wasikowska’s performance as Alice. Johnny Depp’s turn as the Mad Hatter wasn’t as over-the-top/bad as I feared it could have been. Likewise, Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen was good as well. I do, however, have to agree with a comment Galadriel made a few weeks back:

All-in-all, it was an enjoyable movie and a nice way to spend an evening with friends.

Stray Toasters

• WordPress != WordPress MU
• 20 Cell Phones with Highest Radiation Levels
• The Runaways is poised to give girls an education
• A few weeks ago, Craig Ferguson joined Twitter. I check his feed every so often to see what bit of randomness he’s posted. By way of his feed, I found Carrie Fisher’s Twitter feed. By way of that, I found her blog; it makes for a rather curious read.
• Overtime change in NFL would bring cheers, jeers
• “Hello, Sticky-pants!”
• Scholar Says ‘Lost’ Shakespeare Play Is No Hoax
• Hacker Disables More Than 100 Cars Remotely
• Happy Birthday to My Happy Meal
• How Blind People Ski
• 10 ft. long LEGO Pennybacker Bridge
• Filming for ‘The Hobbit’ Begins in July

Almost time for today’s round of meetings to begin…

Namaste.