Random Access

Wednesday – 03 November 2010
Midweek.
Of course, that also means that its Comics and Sushi Wednesday, too!

And, it’s ‘s birthday:

Last night was D&D night with and company. It was a good game. No one died, although Alex’ character gave it the old college try. And we met a new party member, before things were all said and done.

Today’s musical interlude comes in two parts:

• Jesus Jones – Right Here, Right Now
• Van Halen – Right Now

Stray Toasters

• Stan Lee Revamps ‘Romeo & Juliet’ in the Future with Cyborgs
• The History of the Uncanny Valley
• 
• Serious Security Bugs Found in Android Kernel
• LEGO lifts off with NASA
• Cotton Clothing Price Tags to Rise
• From xkcd: “Diode”



• Bill Parisi’s Photos of Model Railroad Layouts
• S.F. Supes Pass Happy Meal Ban with Veto-Proof Majority
• The Art of Biking
• A Cultural Leap Across a Political Divide: In Cuba, American Ballet Theater and City Ballet Dance

The show must go on!

Namaste.

Monday – 01 November 2010
Today is All Saints Day.

Yesterday was a relaxed and lazy day. I slept in a bit and then headed to the living room to watch a few things that have been on the DVR for far too long. Later, and I headed down to Lehi to check out a hobby shop… that was open on Sunday!  (You’d possibly have to live here to understand how bizarre it is to find a small town hobby store open on a Sunday afternoon.) When we got there, it was closed — the sign on the door said “Summer Hours: Closed Sundays.” This brought two things to mind:

1. Wasn’t “summer” over an month and a half ago?
2. Couldn’t they have listed something about being closed on their website?

On the way back, we experienced “Adventures in Road Rage” with some yutz in an SUV. Fun times.

After I got back home, I put in a little time playing LEGO Universe. From there, SaraRules and I headed to Home Depot, stopped off to help a friend with a computer problem and then went to the in-laws’ for dinner and football.

Post-game, we headed home and watched The Walking Dead. I liked it. There were a couple of parts that were reminiscent of 28 Days Later, where Cillian Murphy first awakens to discover the world (or at least England) has gone to Hell around him. I’m curious to see how the show progresses… and I should read the graphic novels, as we have them, to see how close the adaptation is.

Instant Replay: Football
The Ravens had their bye week. I hope they got in a good bit of rest because next week is a VERY short week for them: Sunday, they play the Dolphins at home and Thursday they travel to the Georgia Dome to take on the Falcons.

Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals
22 – 14
The Dolphins headed up to Cincy to face the Bengals… …and swam away with a win. Sorry, janietrain and carefreespirit.

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Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders
3 – 33
The Raiders are on a roll, with their second big win in two weeks. Congratulations, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

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Carolina Panthers at St. Louis Rams
10 – 20
The Panthers lost this one on the road… to the Rams. *sigh*

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Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints
10 – 20
The Steelers rolled into the Big Easy to face the Saints. I wasn’t sure how this one would turn out, but Drew Brees and company stood up to the challenge and came away with the win. This is a double-plus for me as the Steelers’ loss puts the Ravens back atop the AFC North.

Stray Toasters

• We only had six (6) Trick-or-Treaters this year. And they all came in one group.
  On the other hand, we were able to watch horror movies without interruptions.
• A New Search Engine, Where Less Is More
• For SaraRules!: ‘Frank — The Voice’
• Mechanical Mustache Project
• Click the image…



• From the “Is There Life on Mars?” file: Would you go to Mars and never come back?
• Nonprofits Rush to Solicit Donations via Text, but the System Is Flawed
• Finding Common Ground
• Too soon or too funny?
• Street Art Way Below the Street

Things and stuff to do…

Namaste.

Saturday – 30 October 2010
It’s Hallowe’en weekend.

There’s been a lot of debate going around as to whether or not kids should be out Trick or Treating tonight or tomorrow night. *shrug* I’m not sure that I care either way. I know that we’re giving out candy tonight and, assuming that we’re home tomorrow night, we’ll probably give some out then as well.

Yesterday, and I headed up to Ogden to pay a long overdue visit to The Wonderful World of Trains. We both found things that we liked, but I was the only one who wound up walking out with a few things:

• Atlas O Signal Tower
• Lionel K-Line B&O Double Door Boxcar
• Lionel K-Line “Happy Birthday” Boxcar (minus the “Tavis 2nd” part)

After we got back to SLC, I stopped in at The Train Shoppe and picked up some more track; I needed it to try out a layout I had in mind…

After SaraRules! got home from work, we headed to The Blue Iguana to have dinner with Bill Byrnes, one of her former professors. I’d been to The Red Iguana before, but never to The Blue Iguana. I had the beef enchiladas and they were quite tasty. Post-dinner, we met up with a few of the usual suspects for coffee and dinner… or, rather just drinks and a snack for us.

Back at home, I headed to the basement to work on my model railroad. The layout worked pretty much the way I had hoped: I did a single L-shaped dogbone loop…

Dog-bone arrangement of a continuous loop; the sides of an oval are squeezed together so it looks like a double-track section with a loop at each end where the trains turn around.

…with a couple of spurs off the inside line.

Today started lazily. (That’s far from a “bad” thing.) After breakfast, we got to the business of painting the guest bedroom. We used a different brand of paint than we used in the other rooms; it was thicker and took a little more effort to apply, but I think that we may only need one coat of it. As to the rest of the day, we’ll do a little errand-running this afternoon, but I think that this evening will mostly involve watching horror movies and handing out candy to the intrepid ghosts, ghouls and other assorted creatures who wander the streets tonight.

Stray Toasters

• The Magic of Harry Houdini’s Staying Power
• Black Republican Set to Make History in S.C.
• The Minivan Video Your Kids Shouldn’t See. Ever.
• 
• A Science Joke for Your Saturday Morning
• For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance
• Lost Animaniacs Clip – “Dear Mister Gingrich”
• A Giant LEGO Map of Europe

And with that, I think we’re off to seek out what the day has to offer.

Namaste.

Friday – 29 October 2010
It’s my 9/80 “off” Friday and the start of my weekend. Amen.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Market Street Grill for the retirement party of my company’s President/COO.  It was done as a cocktail hour… without cocktails, but was still a nice affair.

After that, we came home and got ready for the evening’s entertainment: We had SaraRules!’s parents, brother and his fiancee over for Hallowe’en cookie decorating and then watched the classic Disney The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, featuring the voice of Bing Crosby.  It was a fun way to spend the evening.

Stray Toasters

• What Can You Do in Twenty-Five Words?
• The year is 2010. Detroit is a crime-ridden carcass of the gleaming metropolis it once was. The city only has one hope. And he’s 2 years old.
• Is the proper use of an apostrophe really that hard to figure out?
• Welcome to Dracula’s Castle
• Lisa Black: Gear-Turning Steampunk Taxidermy
• 
• National parks have room for all races
• Comic Book Resources has a preview of the upcoming Superboy #1, from Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo. This version of Superboy is not a young Clark Kent, but a clone spliced from the DNA of Superman… and Lex Luthor, known as Conner Kent. The character first appeared in the “Reign of the Supermen” storyline, following the “The Death of Superman” in 1992.  I think that I have a fair portion of his first series (1993-2000), but mostly followed it because it was a Superman-related title; the character was still a bit… rough. Over the past year, Paul Levitz has breathed new life – and definitely added some depth – to the character. (That… and he’s renewed/strengthened Conner’s ties with the Legion.) This new title has the potential to be good. And just plain fun.
  • I just talked with Jeremiah – one of the guys from Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection – and found out that he did an interview with Jeff Lemire for Big Shiny Robot.
• The Biggest Movie Monster Ever
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Police arrest man after beer found in child safety seat

That’s good for now. I need to get ready to get out of here — and I are grabbing lunch and then heading up to Ogden to visit The Wonderful World of Trains.

Namaste.

Friday – 22 October 2010
Bonus points to those of you who get the subject line without having to look it up.

It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday.
It started off somewhat quietly… but it picked up a little, around 9:45. No big deal. Nothing insurmountable.

Last night, after a couple of rounds of “Let’s Clean the House,” I managed to sneak off to Nova Praetoria for a while. I hadn’t played City for a week or two, so it was a nice change of pace. I ran a few missions. I leveled up once. I remembered how slow running through a city can be… although it’s still faster than Hover.

I also got in a bit more reading in Starship Troopers.

Stray Toasters

• Tweaking Tradition, Even in Its Temple
• Moon Crater Contains Usable Water, NASA Says
  • Shawn Colvin & Ernie: I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon
    
• Recently Rediscovered Letter Shows Wonder Woman’s Earliest Costume
• Middle Classes in Africa
• Haunted Mansion ghost hearse made from LEGO
• A Son Grows Thankful for His Father’s Tough Love
• Gays, Mormons and Boy Scouts’ discrimination
• 
• Credit Cards Soon to Get a Makeover
• T-shirt turns into a zombie
  • Sears reaches out to the neglected Zombie-American demographic
• No Net for the Man in Charge

Namaste.

Thursday – 21 October 2010
Another NBN begins here in the valley.
And it’s a slightly chilly one.  (At least it is to me.)

Last night was D&D (4.0) night, with m3l and Jack. We had a good encounter (read: “No one in our group died.”) I also managed to more-or-less finish my repaint of the latest Wolverine HeroClix. I did him up in his current, non-X-Force costume… but haven’t decided if I’m going to do the striping on the side. We’ll see. And maybe I’ll try to get some pictures of it, as well.

After gaming, SaraRules! and I hit the gym. Last night was a cardio night. Rather than get on the elliptical, I got on the treadmill. We walked for a half-hour; I covered 1.70 miles. Hopefully, my schedule will allow me to get back in there with some regularity in the next week or so.

Stray Toasters

• It appears as though the migration is complete. The only thing left is for the new DNS settings to propagate through the Intertubes. All things considered, it was pretty painless and quick.
• Today’s musical interlude: Aerosmith – Pink
• Green Lantern Fan Constructs His Own High-Tech LEGO Power Battery
• Speaking of LEGO, I am having fun with LEGO Universe.
• OMNI Magazine’s Publisher Bob Guccione Has Died…
  …although I’ll probably remember/love/hate him almost as much for Caligula.  (Helen Mirren was in that?! Wow.)
• This makes more than “a little” sense:
  



• What’s so wrong with Comic Sans?
• found a couple of bits of awesomeness on Gizmodo:
  • The Difference Between Facebook and Twitter
  • Student Hides Rick Astley’s Song in College Paper
• If this picture makes you laugh (for more than just “funny animal picture” reas0ns) or sparks nostalgia…

  

  …then you should check out the rest of Timothy Lim’s artwork and his Spider-Man/Calvin and Hobbes mashup.

• NPR Ends Juan Williams’ Contract After Muslim Remarks
• Toyota Makes Another Car Recall
• Superhero Horders: The 7 Biggest Pack Rats in Comics

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Friday – 15 October 2010
Today is the birthday of a few people I know: Carey, Katt, and Jake Theis (from WizKids Games):

It’s also my 9/80 “off” Friday.  Amen.
Of course, I got called into the office… because I had a key that someone needed. *sigh*  But, I don’t count that as really getting called into work.

While out, I ran down to say “Hi” to Perry and the kids.
And, I even managed to swing past the Home Depot.

For added “win,” the swamp cooler service tech just came and winterized the cooler… which means that we can turn on the heat!  (Suffice if to say that it’s been “brisk” around here in the mornings.)

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: People power comes to the Turbine Hall: Al Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds
• From the “Stop… Collaborate and listen” file: Vanilla Ice is back with a new profession: Home Renovator
• Transgender woman sues LPGA over ‘birth’ rule
• For SaraRules: O Crank Up the Old-Timey LEGO Letterpress Machine

And with that, and I are off to look at model railroad stuff.

Namaste.

Sunday – 10 October 2010
That’s right… it’s 10/10/10.
So far, it’s been a good weekend.

Yesterday, I had breakfast with Chris before heading off to judge a HeroClix tournament at Dr. Volt’s. It was another 500/1000 event: Players could field either a 500-point team with no restrictions or field a 1000-point team, with at least one colossal figure. Two 500-point teams would be paired to take on the 1000-point team.

Only one player brought a 1000-point team… with the newest colossal figure: Dr. Manhattan.

However, as there were six (6) other 500-point teams, that meant that all six teams faced off against the good doctor. Needless to say, “The Doctor was in.” All the way in. There wasn’t anyone who could really do enough to him to effectively take him out of the game.

After the game, SaraRules and I met up with the in-laws and ventured to the home of some friends of the family for a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful dinner and the company was excellent, as well.  It was a good way to spend the evening.

When we got home, SaraRules turned on The Fly (1986) – which I had somehow never seen – and I fired up LEGO Universe. I had to start a new character, now that the game is out of beta. Most of what I did was “review” from gameplay in the beta, so while I did a little more looking around and lollygagging, there wasn’t a lot “new” that I did.  That does not, however, mean that I didn’t have a lot of fun doing it.

Today, I slept in a bit. That was nice. SaraRules also fixed a tasty breakfast and then came over to help me turn off the sprinklers for the year. And, after that…

…it was time to watch some football: The Broncos at the Ravens.  Boo-yah!

Instant Replay: Football

Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens
17 – 31
The Ravens hosted the Broncos at home this week……and the game was televised locally. Hoo-AH! The Boys from Baltimore looked solid.  They opened the game with a drive down to the goal line, but couldn’t convert it into a touchdown… and turned it over on downs.  But that’s okay. They held the Broncos on their drive. The Ravens’ offense and defense looked good, despite a series where QB Joe Flacco couldn’t buy a reception. On the other side of the field, Broncos (and former Purdue) QB Kyle Orton passed for a 300+ yard game… his second in a row. But, all in all, it comes down to this: Baltimore is now 4-1, putting them atop the AFC North.

Ray Rice, you rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns today, how does that make you feel?

Yeah… I’d feel like breakin’ it down a little, too.

Stray Toasters

• I’m about to head into work. Yeah, I know… I know…
• BOOM! How Comic Book Sounds Become Movie Sounds
• Add each of these to The Covet List.
• The Periodic Table of Super-Powers

Okay… might as well stop procrastinating and head to the office.

Namaste.

Friday – 08 October 2010
It’s almost the weekend.
It is my 9/80 “on” Friday… and there’s some work that needs to get done before it’s Miller time.

Speaking of work: I’ve been part of a project that has been in various stages of development and progress for a year or so. A couple of months ago, a large part of it wound up falling into my lap. To be honest, a good portion of what needed to be done fell “a little” outside of my personal experience/knowledge base. But it was mine, so there no use crying over “But, I can’t…” or “I don’t…”  (Not that there haven’t been times that I’ve wanted to say those things and walk away.)

On more than one occasion, I’ve been reminded of a song, Discipline, by Bobby McFerrin:

for those who have been trained by it,
no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful.

The lyrics are actually taken from Hebrews 12: 11 (NIV):

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Very apt.
More to the point, I haven’t walked (or run) away from the project.
And, despite the learning curve – and some frustration/irritation from learning a good number of things on the fly – it’s been a great learning opportunity.

Stray Toasters

• LEGO Universe is live, as of this morning.
  Of course, I won’t get to play it until this evening or later tonight. *shakes fist*
• Flawed Foreclosure Documents Thwart Home Sales
• Tom Bancroft’s DCU Elementary
• 
• Rediscovering an Earthy Master
• Pirate Johnny Depp makes surprise school visit
• For : Batman: The Killing Joke Relived Via LEGO
• Spammers Using Soft Hyphen to Hide Malicious URLs
• There is a new anime-styled ‘Iron Man’ animated series coming to G4 this Spring. Not too surprisingly, someone’s found the opening title sequence and posted it on YouTube:
• Fringe Star Anna Torv Explores a New Reality
• If the future’s looking dark
  We’re the ones who have to shine
  If there’s no one in control
  We’re the ones who draw the line
  Though we live in trying times
  We’re the ones who have to try
  Though we know that time has wings
  We’re the ones who have to fly…
• Duke Winces as a Private Joke Slips Out of Control
• The Art of Steve Thomas
• From the “Everything’s Heavy Underground” files:
  • Underground: graphic novel thriller set in a cave
  • Luxury underground community: bomb-shelter meets gate-guarded community
• Ancient Roman helmet sells for ten times estimated amount
• Newspaper Publishers Still Hope Tablets Will Save Them

Back to the grind…

Namaste.

Thursday – 07 October 2010
Another NBN Thursday is upon us.
This one brings with it grey clouds…

…and ‘s birthday!

Last night was D&D v4 game night with and Jack and company. It was a decent encounter. A bunch of us nearly bought the farm.  (Not good.) But, we muddled through it.  I think that I have also determined that my dice have some form of performance anxiety — whenever I needed a good (or just “decent”) roll, they pretty much just rolled some “blah” number.  Thanks, dice!

SaraRules and I finished off a couple more pieces of anniversary cake as we watched the last two episodes of Mad Men‘s second season 2. Quite a few twists we didn’t see coming. And it ended with a pretty big cliffhanger. So far, I’ve been pretty good about not reading season or episode synopses of what’s coming up, so I’ve been enjoying the surprises as they unfold.

Stray Toasters

• I completely forgot that LEGO Universe opens to Founders tomorrow.
  Looks like I’ll have something to keep me occupied between getting off work and heading out to Clitorati.
• Picasso masterpieces to tour the U.S.
• When the Yogurt Took Over: A Short Story
• Rampant Fraud Threat to China’s Brisk Ascent
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Dodge City museum bans nooses after tourist accident
• 
• FDA to spend $25M to improve its science
  (Is that really ‘enough?’)
• Minecraft Makes $350,000 a Day
  I had heard of Minecraft, in passing, but never looked into it. It sounds like a versatile and robust game; in talking with Jack last night, I discovered that not only had people made the things listed in the article, but someone had also ‘recreated’ Portal inside of Minecraft.
• “What the Hell is an ‘Aluminum Falcon?!’ “ (Bonus points for knowing that reference, too.)
• It seems that I am more prone to drink the post-cereal milk after eating Honey Nut Cheerios than after a bowl of  Honey Bunches of Oats.
• ‘God views’ and issues
• Latest Zeus attack propagated via fake iTunes receipt

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Friday – 01 October 2010
A new month begins and it falls on my 9/80 “off” day.
Convergence?
Coincidence?
Serendipity?

Who knows…?

Today also marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And, as such, this blog will once again “Go Pink for October.”

Last night, SaraRules and I met up with Marcie and her niece and… dun dun DUNNNNN…. went to the gym.  According to the blog-a-tron, it looks as though it’s been a two (2) months since my last confession trip to the gym. And, as an added bonus: just joined our gym and may work out with us, from time to time.

Last night’s workout (courtesy of SaraRules) included:

• Elliptical: 5 minutes
• Leg Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 65 lbs
• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Incline Chest Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/10 reps
• Upright Row (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 60 lbs

It was a good workout and a bit of a challenge, as I haven’t been in such a long time… but I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

The Legend of Chimpy
I was half-kidding yesterday, when I said that I should start a new section of the blog…

…but a few minutes ago, Minion #2 messaged me with this bit of monkeydom from Chimpy:

Is it wrong to laugh out loud if Chimpy 2.0 locked himself out of his own testing machine and then asked me if I knew the password?

Yeah.  This is the kind of thing we deal with.

I should also clarify something: The person we currently refer to as “Chimpy” is actually the second person to carry his own special monkey designation. The original Chimpy left the company a year or so ago. However, “Chimpy 2” has done a banner job of maintaining the high levels of monkey-rifficness that we came to expect from his predecessor.

Stray Toasters

• StoryCorps: The Human Voice, featuring the late Studs Terkel
• ‘Black Dynamite’ Ass-Kicking His Way to Adult Swim
• For SaraRules: Great Comics That Never Happened: The Justice Luchadores of America
• A History of Rap: Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake and The Roots

• The Sea Monkeys and the White Supremacist
• LEGO wedding Ring
• While this is cool, I’m still quite happy with the rings SaraRules and I have — with lots of thanks to for an amazing design job! (After all, how many guys get to have one of their favorite comic book symbols worked into their wedding band?!)
• Speaking of rings, as of Sunday morning, SaraRules and I will have been married one year.  Wow.
• Speaking of LEGO: My copy of LEGO Universe arrived yesterday.
• SF Says: “It Gets Better.”
  • In a related note, Ellen Degeneres taped this PSA:
    
• The Photographer’s Right: A Downloadable Flyer Explaining Your Rights When Stopped or Confronted for Photography
• The Inside Scoop on Making Gelato
• From the “I, Zombie” file: 17-yo Girl Must Digest Brain Fluid to Survive

And now it’s time to find some trouble to get into…

Namaste.

Monday – 27 September 2010
Another morning where the alarm goes off far too early…

Sunday was a good day. The day started with breakfast with SaraRules, Mary and Matt. Breakfast fare included items from Rich’s Bagels and Pin-Up Girl Espresso. After breakfast, we headed back to the house and chatted for a bit before Mary and Matt had to leave.

Then… came cleaning time. Yay. I intermittently distracted myself by checking the stats on the Bengals-Ravens game. The cleaning went well, as did the game. A little later, SaraRules and I went for a drive up Emigration Canyon — we wanted to see the fall colors. Unfortunately (for us), the leaves were still mostly green. There were hints and traces of other colors, but we’re at least a week out from full fall colors.

After dinner, we flipped back and forth between Sunday Night Football and The Amazing Race. Okay, okay, I flipped between them. It was the episode of TAR where a woman caught a watermelon… with her face:

Yes, part of the reason was schadenfreude, but I also wanted to see what happened afterward. And, as it turned out, Claire – the victim of the watermelon assault – not only continued, but she completed that portion of the challenge on the second try after being hit. She also earned the respect of a number of the competitors for the way she got hit… and went on to complete the challenge. Additionally, Brook and Claire finished the challenge in fourth place. (I have to say that Brook came off as a little high-strung — bordering on “bitchy” –to me. I realize that it’s a game/contest, but your best friend just took a melon — fired from a ballista — IN THE FACE! What about cutting her a little slack?! ) I just finished watching the “Brook and Claire” video (above); Claire referred to Brook as “…a control freak.” Bingo. Nailed it. Explains much.

I wound down the night with a Spenser book, Now and Then. I’m going to miss the comfort of these books when Mr. Parker’s last novel hits stores.

Instant Replay: Football

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens
17 – 24
The Ravens’ home opener against Browns 2.0… …unfortunately, this game wasn’t televised here. Sorry, , wherever you may be.

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Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals
23 – 24
The Raiders dropped this one to the Cards… by one point.Congrats, Marr. Sorry, SaraRules and 1silver_seraph.

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New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
31 – 23
Jets’ LB Jason Taylor returned to Miami to help lift his new team over his old one This was a better match-up than I expected… even though I would have preferred that the ‘Fins take away the “W.”

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Cincinnati Bengals at Carolina Panthers
20 – 7
The Owens-Ochocinco Brigade rolled into B of A Stadium… …and rolled out with a win. BAH! Congrats and .

Stray Toasters

• At Lincoln Center, Using Both Sound and Silence
• U.S. Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet
• How Shazam Works to Identify (Nearly) Every Song You Throw at It
• 50 years after win, Kennedy legagy endures
• Rules for small-screen superheroes
• 
• Anger as a Private Company Takes Over Libraries
• Wage Law Squeezes South Africa’s Poor
• For the ladies: Dress Code: The Proper Care and Feeding of Garments, Part 1
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files:
  • Segway Company Owner Dies After Driving Segway Off Cliff
  • The Bra That Doubles as a Gas Mask Is Now For Sale
• Patients to be frozen into state of suspended animation for surgery
• Warhammer 40K + LEGO = Space Marines!

Wednesday – 22 September 2010
Middle of the week…
First day of Fall…
It’s Comics & Sushi Day…

…and SaraRules and I are going to see The Lion King tonight.

All I need to do is make it through the day.

Last night, after dinner – and a trip to the local Home Depot – I set about introducing two of the trees in our front yard to a chainsaw. The meeting went well. Unfortunately, it got dark before I could finish with the second tree… so it shall have to wait. But good progress was made.

After that, the rest of the evening was spent relaxing. A good portion of that was done with the aid of the television: 1,000 Ways to Die, the first episode of Sanford & Son, an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles and a couple episodes of Mad Men. After that, I was ready to call it a night.

One thing that I didn’t do after the tree-cutting – or didn’t do as well as I had thought – was hydrate. Sure, I had a glass (maybe even a glass-and-a-half) of water afterwards, but it was apparently far from what I needed. I woke up a couple of times with a headache. I finally bought a clue as to what might have been causing it around 0400 this morning. A pint-and-a-half of water and three ibuprofen seemed to help immensely. But, because of the poor quality of the night’s sleep, I treated myself to sleeping in this morning.

Stray Toasters

• Commonly Misheard Expressions to Avoid (or Fix) in Your Writing
• What if Superheroes Were Hipsters?
• Chasing the Perfect Cup of Coffee with Science
• 
• U.N. Seeks to Re-Energize Fight Against Poverty
• What it means when you say “literally”
• Fort McHenry… in LEGO
• Titanic 100th cruises spark buzz, debate
• What Are Batman’s Worst Costumes?
• Body art around the world

Namaste.

Tuesday – 21 September 2010
Day 2 of the work week. Yay.

Today also would have been Jess’ 36th birthday.
Maybe Billy Joel was right:  Only the good die young.

Last night, I had a few friends over to watch Monday Night Football – New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers. I have to say that it was a far better match-up than I had anticipated. I had thought that the Saints would pretty much roll over the ‘Niners, given San Fran’s last few seasons.

No way.
Uh-uh.
Forget it.

After some early-in-the-game flubs, QB Alex Smith led an invigorated and determined team against Drew Brees and the Saints. Play on both sides of the ball was solid. I mean REALLY solid.  In the end, it came down to the Saints nailing a field goal with two seconds left in the game.

And it appears that Saints’ RB Reggie Bush broke his leg on his last play. He is expected to be out for six weeks.

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: Build London with LEGO

  
  Build Anything from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

• Disney Princesses Reimagined as Superheroes
• By way of my friend, Anne: Arts Jobs Are Jobs, Too
• Squishable Cthulhu
• Why is it that orange-flavored medicines taste so bad?
• Eric Merced Keeps His Card Art Rare But Easy to Acquire
• 
• From the “History” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files: British Intelligence Agency Used Semen as Invisible Ink
• Wait… I think that THIS trumps the previous item for “WTF?!”
• Hourly Desk Stretches Relax Your Brain and Body
  (This was one of the “positive” things that I learned during my tenure with the U.S. Postal Service.)

Tonight, I get to do my best Paul Bunyan impression and take down at least one of the trees in the front yard.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 15 September 2010
It’s the middle of the week.
It’s the middle of the month.
And, it’s Sushi and Comics Wednesday.
Triple-score win.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Kingsbury Hall for an event:

Mr. Lee talked about his background, his introduction to film and his reasons for wanting to get into film. He also discussed how he has used the director’s chair to make films that deal with race relations as well as other subject matter. Following his roughly hour-long talk, he did about forty minutes of Q&A. He prefaced the session by saying that he would entertain “intelligent questions, but wasn’t here to take auditions, screenplays, mix-tapes” or other “Hey, notice me!” fare. His answers to the questions seemed sincere and direct, but were also rather no-nonsense.  It was a great event and a fine way to spend the evening.

We tried a new place for sushi today: Sushi Groove. We liked it. A lot. It had a lot of things going for it: Good atmosphere, good food, and some of the former Oh Sushi staff. It was full of “Win” all around.

Stray Toasters

• Have I mentioned that I have the Coolest Wife in the World lately?  No? Well, I do.
• Today is another suit day: Black suit, light blue shirt, black tie with gold and blue swaths and a gold pocket square.  And, yes, it has raised the obligatory “What’s the occasion?” questions.
• Tyranist was in the north office yesterday. We chatted about a number of things, including our mutual affinity for Cee-Lo’s new song. A short while later, Tyranist told me that I had gotten the song stuck in his head; I told him that was payback for getting Scotty Doesn’t Know stuck in my head a year or two ago. We then noted that the two songs were actually complementary sides of the same figurative coin.
• For the Dishwasher’s Sake, Go Easy on the Detergent
• Awesome Limited Edition Cycling Prints
• 
• Ray Lewis’ son has a 504-yard monster game in Florida
• Rokenbok has updated their website.
• “Elder Spice”
• I’m not sure if I even care about getting the “Buy It By The Brick” figure for Web of Spider-Man…
• A New Name for High Fructose Corn Syrup
• The 20 Worst TV Shows

Namaste.