Random Access

Sunday – 05 June 2011
I was caught in the middle of a struggle for the past two-and-a-half hours. It’s definitely not a fight that I would have chosen to be part of, but sometimes, we don’t get to choose.

The fight was between sleep and being awake.

It may sound rather silly, but it’s true. I was awake – for no discernable reason – a few minutes after 0600. I tried going back to sleep, but only managed to stare at the walls. And the ceiling. And the window. I did manage to nod off again, though. For about twenty minutes. Then it became “Lather. Rinse. Repeat.” …for the next two hours. I’d finally manage to fall asleep, only to wake up – again, for no reason – and the cycle would repeat. Annoying. Hopefully, it’s not a harbinger of how the rest of the day will go.

There are a couple of bright spots in the day, though:

1. It’s National Cancer Survivors Day

   

2. SaraRules! and I get to hang out with our friend, Ron, today.

Yesterday was a good day. It started off with a trip to one of the local churches for a Boy Scout pancake breakfast and car show. The food was good and there were a lot of nice cars to look at. When we got back, I had some time to kill, so I decided to mow the lawn. When I finished that, it was time to get clean and ready to meet Chris and Alex. We stopped off for (second) breakfast before heading to Dr. Volt’s. There was another good turnout – we had fifteen players. After the game, I came home to get SaraRules! and we headed to Pawit’s Royale Thai Cuisine for dinner. (SaraRules! dropped into Dr. Volt’s to say “Hi” earlier… and informed me that I was taking her out for Thai.) I had a dish whose name I can’t recall, but it reminded me of Pho. And it was VERY good. After dinner, we wound down the night with some TV and a game of Trivial Pursuit. It was a long game; SaraRules! edged me out for the win.

Stray Toasters

• Sixkill is sitting on the kitchen counter. I’m excited – and a little sad – to read it. It’s the last of the Spenser books that Robert B. Parker wrote before passing away last year. The series will continue, with a writer who’s collaborated with Parker on a number of works. I just hope that he doesn’t run the franchise into the ground.
• For the Jobless, Little U.S. Help on Foreclosure
• I finished watching Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, the Marvel motion comic last night, via Netflix.

  

  It was presented in six episodes, each covering the six issues of the “Gifted” storyline, by Joss Whedon. It was… interesting… in a good way. It was well-done and enjoyable. My only complaint was that a couple of the voices didn’t seem “right” for a couple of characters.

• The History of a Cheap Dress
• Focusing on the Social, Minus the Media
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: LeVin gets house arrest after undisclosed setttlement
• Gaming Made Me: Colossal Cave Adventure
• Wow.

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 June 2011
It’s a new month.
It’s new comics day.
It’s D&D (4.0) game night.
And… it may even be Sushi Wednesday, depending on how my morning shapes up.

For reasons that I have yet to discern, I woke up with Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 running through my head.

Last night, , Chris, Dee and I met at MacCool’s for a guys’ night out. Any evening that ends with Guinness can’t be bad. I opted for the Meat Loaf entree – which is prepared with a barbecue sauce, as opposed to a tomato-based sauce; it was very good. In fact, the beer, the food and the company were all good. If I have my druthers, this will become a regular (or at least semi-regular) occurrence.

Stray Toasters

• Endeavour lands safely in Florida
• Pentagon to Consider Cyberattacks Acts of War
• High-tech medical exam cheating alleged
• 
• Today in Geek History: Robert Heinlein coins the word “grok” when Stranger in a Strange Land is published in 1961, courtesy of Thinkgeek
• City of Heroes has just introduced a Steampunk Pack. This amuses me greatly.
• Improv Everywhere: The Mute Button
• DC Comics dropped a not-so-minor bombshell yesterday: A complete reboot of the entire DCU, coming in September.

  

  • A Note from the DC Comics Co-Publishers: We Hate Secrets
  • Our (First) 13 Questions About the DC Universe Reboot
  • DC Comics unleashes a new universe of superhero titles
  • DC Comics ready for a risky yet relevant publishing change
  • DC’s Number One(s), a commentary from Evil, Inc‘s Brad Guigar
  • DC Comics’ Number One Stunna: The Ballsiest Move of the Decade
• Cousins that are siblings, Identical twin sisters and mothers, Alternative (and parallel) universes
• Reconstruction Lifts Economy After Disasters
• 
• Home prices hit 2002 levels
  • Continuing housing crisis: Ghost suburbs and empty real estate
• In Unusual Move, Apple Previews New Software Plans
• Cellphone Radiation May Cause Cancer, Advisory Panel Says

Namaste.

Tuesday – 31 May 2011
I don’t know if this is Mother Nature’s parting gift or the setup for an incredibly cruel joke, but it’s a lovely morning. It’s sunny and clear, temps are in the 50s, on their way to the mid-70s. Everything about it says “Today’s going to be a great day.” Yet, my inner cynic is still waiting for the other metaphorical meteorological shoe to drop.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet, low-key day. SaraRules! and I did get a little productivity in, though. We added some new items to the baby registry. We looked at tile for the new bathroom. And, we discovered a new place to eat. Well, it’s not really “new,” as much as it’s “new to us:” Mama’s Plantation Restaurant, in the Midvale Family Center (near the Wal-Mart). had mentioned it a while back, but SaraRules! and I never got to visit it at its old location in Taylorsville. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that it wound up in our extended neighborhood. The food and the service were good. The pricing may be a little on the steep side, but it was a nice change of pace and someplace we will revisit.

…and tonight: Guys Night Out.

Stray Toasters

• Today is apparently World No Tobacco Day (1, 2)
  • World No Tobacco Day: Does it really help people quit smoking?
• Arts-Funding Site Gets ‘Kickstart’ from Business Bids
• Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Female Leaders
• 
• Suspended in Space, 103 Stories Above Chicago
• By way of SaraRules! and the “I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane train!” file: Vietnam on alert for smugglers after deadly snakes found on train
• Retailers Offer Apps With a Catalog Feel
• 
• Who’s to blame when gas costs $1 than last year?
• Housing Index Is Expected to Show New Low in Prices

On with the show…

Namaste.

Thursday – 26 May 2011
It’s my “Technical Friday.” And, since we’re going into Memorial Day weekend, that means that this is a four-day weekend. Win.

Last night, SaraRules! and I went to Rodizio Grill for dinner. At least one of us (*raises hand*) decided to indulge in one of the Seven Deadly Sins. When we left, I was quite full. When we got home, I read the day’s four-color haul before calling it a night. (And I was still very full from dinner.)

Stray Toasters

• Roger Goodell: Time coming soon to cancel first NFL game due to lockout
• Studying the Frequency of Redaction Failures in PACER
• I should play DCUO or City tonight…
• 
• NASA to Launch New Science Mission to Asteroid in 2016
• Less Active at Work, Americans Have Packed on Pounds
• Egyptian pyramids found by infrared satellite images
• Sony expects to spend at least $171 million over breach
  • If I ran the zoo…
• Operation Seduction
• 
• Boeing considers replacing the best-selling 737
• Lawsuit claims Cisco bears blame for Falun Gong abuse
• John Edwards to Face Criminal Charges

Namaste.

Wednesday – 25 May 2011
It’s not just midweek. Nor is it just new comics day or D&D 4.0 game night…

Today is also Towel Day. (1, 2)

For those who don’t grok why a towel should have it’s own day, perhaps this will help explain it:

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)¹

That pretty much sums it up.

Last night, SaraRules! and I ran a few errands – including setting up a baby registry at the local Babies ‘R’ Us – and then capped the evening with cups of ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. We also (finally) got around to watching last season’s finale of NCIS… which, not so oddly, explained a few things about this past season. Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• Given that the sun was out for about seven hours before I got home, I mowed the lawn yesterday. I may have cut it a little shorter than I had originally planned… but it’s cut. And it looks much better. Now, I just need to find some time to do the edging.
• What Will Come After
• The Facts (and Fiction) of Tornadoes
• A New Approach to Railroad Switching
• USA comes up a bit short in global Better Life Index
• 
• Oh, the Stuff Those Lions Guard
• Secret Origins: Firestorm
• Google Expected to Introduce a Wireless Payment System
• This is what happens when we don’t vaccinate
• 
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• Chrysler Pays Back Rescue Loan

Quote of the Day
“Rebar is not forgiving…”

So long and thanks for all the fish.

¹ — Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Tuesday – 24 May 2011
I think that 10,000 Maniacs said it best:

The color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again.
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather…

“What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

Last night was a lazy night around the household. We noshed on pizza and finished the season of NCIS: Los Angeles. After that, SaraRules! watched Creepshow 2, while I surfed the Interwebs. There was a vignette in the movie, called “The Raft,” that reminded me of the ST: TNG episode “Skin of Evil.” In both, a “killer oil slick” devours/engulfs people. In doing a little – very little – research, I found that both the movie and that episode were released in 1987.

Stray Toasters

• I should listen to Hold Your Fire in its entirety today.

  

• 3 Classic Novels. 22 Minutes. Why Not?
• I like the premise behind Once Upon a Super Hero.
• Treats Without Calories? Imagine That
• Borders loses $132.3 million in second full month of bankruptcy
• 
• Lady Gaga Sales Stall Amazon Servers
• Top Ten Myths About the Brain
• From the “Whoops… my bad” file: Obama’s limo gets stuck on bump in Dublin
  If you can find it, the video is pretty amusing.
• Life’s Little Mysteries
• Gail Simone on comics, characters and Asheville
• 
• Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts
• The Human Skin Condition
• How spam works, from end to end

Namaste.

Sunday – 22 May 2011
March winds: Check.
April showers: Check.
May winds, showers, flowers and even more rain: Check.

What started as an overcast day has become a rainy day. Which would ordinarily be (more or less) fine in my book, but I was planning on mowing the yard this morning, before it takes on the aspect of a suburban jungle. (O-E-O-E-O!) So, rather than fire up the mower, SaraRules! and I had breakfast at Millcreek Eggworks and Cafe. We’re pondering a trip to the Living Traditions Festival… assuming that the rain lets up a bit.

Yesterday’s ‘Clix tourney went well. We had fifteen players, at least, we started with fifteen — two had to drop out after the first round. But, all-in-all, it was a good event. Had I checked a calendar beforehand, I would have themed the match to coincide with Armed Forces Day. *shrug* Oh, well. The next event, however, is a themed one that I’m calling “Suffragette City,” in honor of the passing of the 19th Amendment. After the tournament, Chris and I started a Green Lantern Corps/Sinestro Corps game, but didn’t get to finish it.

Last night, SaraRules! and I were invited to a farewell dinner for the Resident Artists from Utah Opera. It was a nice affair and it was good to see the RAs again before they leave for various destinations around the country… and the globe.

Stray Toasters

• As you’ve probably noticed: The world didn’t end yesterday.

  

• Lawn Care Tips from DIY Network
• The Man Who Sees With His Ears
  The first commenter pretty much nailed it on the head when he referred to Kish as a real life Daredevil.
• Women in Comics: A Roundtable about the ‘Geek Girl’ Phenomenon
• Twitter faces legal action by footballer over privacy
• My 360 has been repaired. Hallelujah.  I took it to Precision Gaming Repair, in Murray. They had it back to me in less than 24 hours – they’re local and accept drop-offs – and for what I considered to be a reasonable price. Not only did they fix the “Red Ring of Death” issue; they also stepped up the fans a bit, to keep overheating from becoming a problem again.
• Another Member of the Overpaid
• Want a Good Wonder Woman TV Show?
• Swiss energy minister to back nuclear exit-papers

Namaste.

Friday – 20 May 2011
It’s my working Friday. We’ll see just how much monkeydom there is to deal with today. Hopefully, it won’t be too much.

Last night, SaraRules! and I went out for dinner at Pawit’s Royale Thai. As usual, the food was delicious. Pawit came out and chatted with us for a few. After that – and a quick trip to say “Hi” to the in-laws – we headed to one of the local Home Depot stores to look at bathtubs. That’s right, we’re about to kick “Project: Renovate” into gear.

Tonight, I get to hang out with a friend of mine from home whom I haven’t seen in roughly ten years.

Stray Toasters

• After talking about the Edmund Fitzgerald yesterday, Corey sent me this link about Odyssey Marine Exploration: A Bountiful Undersea Find, Sure to Invite Debate
• Make My Bed? But You Say the World’s Ending
• Gas prices could plummet for summer driving
• 
• The Real and Fascinating Origin of the Bikini
• America’s First Monorail
  • 1943 color photo of a Topeka, Kansas train yard
• Implant Allows Paralyzed Man to Move
• I’m getting tired of all of the “event” comics series coming out.  When it was one every few years, that was fine. You had an event and it meant something. Now, it’s just “Hey! You!  Buy this mini-series… and while you’re at it, buy all of these tie-ins!” Blah.
• Deal Reached on Extension of Patriot Act
• 
• Playboy puts all 57 years of its magazines online
  But, you’ll probably just click on it for the articles…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Yes, a Cat-Food Brand Has Created Three iPad Games for Cats
• I think that I’m going to try and fix my 360’s RRoD.  God help us both.

Namaste.

Thursday – 19 May 2011
It’s another grey and rainy day here. I’m beginning to wonder if someone switched Seattle and Salt Lake City’s locations in the middle of the night.

Yesterday was not only new comics day, but also D&D 4.0 game night. We broke in a “new” venue: Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection, as we had become… disenchanted, shall we say… with Hastur Hobbies. It was a good change of pace — we could actually hear each other and the store wasn’t all asses-and-elbows. Thanks again to Dave and Jeremiah for letting us use the store to geek out.

Long Train Running
As I’ve been working on my home layout, thoughts of running multiple trains has been part of the nominal planning process. One of the ideas I’ve had included a three-level design, with a subway, a main/freight line and an el/commuter line. This put me right on… umm, track… for that, although I may no longer do a three-level design, with the current layout.

As I’ve noted before, my mother got me the MTH Bantam J Steam Freight Set for Christmas. For my birthday last year, my father got me a copy of The Illustrated Dictionary of Trains of the World. Inside was a note:

Rob,
The Powhatan Arrow (1, 2) came through Keystone, WV (and stopped at Northfork) en route from Norfolk, VA to Cincinnati during my childhood.

When you and I traveled from Baltimore to Bluefield, train (passenger) service had been curtailed greatly…

While I wanted a passenger train line, I didn’t really have much in mind as to which road name I wanted. The Bantam J was the engine that pulled the ‘Arrow. That started wheels turning in my head. I started looking at Norfolk & Western passenger cars.

Earlier this week, I received my first passenger cars in the mail, three cars from Lionel (#16062, #16063, and #16064). These were good. I put them on the rails and ran them. And, I was pleased.

Yesterday I received another package… another package with train cars. They were three of the four cars from MTH-67418. And these were even better. The detailing on the cars – especially since these were “just” from MTH’s Rail-King (their lower price point) line – was fantastic.

And, of course, I took pictures of the new cars on the layout.

There’s something fun – and somewhat special to me – about having a train on my layout that’s representative of something that my parents would have seen in their youth.

Stray Toasters

• How to Choose a Tie
• By way of SaraRules!: The Cosby Sweater Project
• An Artist’s Performance: A Year as a Poor Immigrant
• 
• Starbucks is/are everywhere.
  Lady Gaga seems to be everywhere.
  So, this sounds pretty much like a match made in Heaven.
• Raiders allow employees to sell season tickets in lieu of furlough
• Corey and I just (re-)introduced a couple of coworkers to two songs that were (for some reason) hits in the 70s:
  • Escape, by Rupert Holmes and
  • The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot… which I contend is one of the – if not THE – most depressing song ever.
• In Florida, the Natives Are Restless
• Olive Garden lasagna!
• New tax deal may speed Cottonwood Mall revival

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 May 2011
Midweek finds a soggy, grey day settling in over the valley. (“Desert plain,” my ass.) And, naturally, with all of the rain – and snow – that we’ve had this Winter/Spring, flooding is now a concern — so much so that there have been major sandbagging efforts around the valley to hopefully stave off damage to homes and property.

Yesterday’s venture to the southern reaches was not bad. We (Minion #2 and I) were kept somewhat busy, so that helped pass the time. I made it back home in time to meet the swamp cooler techs, who were prepping our unit for use this season. (Of course, with the rain and cool temps we’ve had for the past few days, we don’t need to run the cooler. *sigh*)

Last night was also D&D 3.5 game night. We adventured. We didn’t die. I always view that combination as a “good” thing.

Stray Toasters

• Chemical Suspected in Cancer Is in Baby Products
  • Coffee Wards Off Cancer

• McNabb to Ravens “A Bad Match”
  • Locked-out players line up for cash loans
• Bionic hand for ‘elective amputation’ patient
• Blacks’ exodus reshapes cities
• 
• Walker moves to ban hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples
• One Death Provides New Life for Many
• Rock band KISS to play Carnival cruise ship
• 
• In Japan Reactor Failings, Danger Signs for the U.S.
• I completely spaced off the this past Monday was Miracle Monday.
  I actually owned this book many moons ago. I guess there’s still a chance that it’s lurking somewhere in my parents’ house.
  • Books — That is exactly how they work
• Fringe season finale = YeahbuhWHAT?!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 17 May 2011
It’s much later than I’d planned for making a post, so this will be a bit (somewhat) abbreviated.

Last night, following dinner, SaraRules! and I watched The Fighter. Very good movie. And, Christian Bale certainly earned his Oscar nod (and win) for his role. Also, it was another look at Amy Adams – who has shown a good deal of versatility in her characters – making it that much easier to picture her as Lois Lane in Zach Snyder’s upcoming Superman movie.

Today finds me in the Utah County office, once again. It’s been a little more busy than I’d expected. This is not a “bad” thing, mind you. And, I got to go to State Street Grill for lunch with some of the old crew. Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s subject line comes from a play on “better late than never” and an old – and rather cheesy – joke. This is one variation of it.
• My 360 has exhibited the dreaded “Red Ring of Death.” *sigh*
• Orchestras on Tour: Names Hit a False Note
• End of an era: Las Vegas Strip’s Sahara Hotel to close today
• Ever wonder what it is that superheros do when they aren’t… superheroing? Ms. Marvel’s Day Off
• Why Aquaman is the best damn superhero in comic history
• You Must Read These Gleefully Deranged Stories
• I discovered this morning that one of my coworker’s ancestors were apparently the founders of the town in which my mother and uncle grew up. Small world.
• Another X-Men: First Class snippet.
• U.S. Calls for Global Cybersecurity Strategy
• Appeals court backs NFL as lockout remains in place

Namaste.

Monday – 16 May 2011
A new week begins.  My week, however, will begin a little later than some others’, as I started the day with a trip to the doctor’s office. It was another appointment to make sure that Babies A & B are progressing as they should. (They are.)

This weekend was a good one:  Saturday, I stopped in at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection to say “Hi” to Valerie Finnigan. She was there for a book signing and to promote her horror book, which is due this fall. After that, I traipsed up to Clearfield. (Hey… I had air and opportunity.) I picked up a few track pieces. I also stopped at The Train Shoppe when I got back to SLC, but left empty-handed.

Back home to clean up and get presentable for Utah Opera’s opening of Falstaff (1, 2), adapted from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The cast and crew of the production put on a delightful show. Although it’s a comedic opera, it didn’t suffer from being “too” over-the-top; director Christopher Mattaliano did an excellent job of balancing the opera’s humor with just the right amounts of (semi-)seriousness. It was quite a fun way to spend the evening.

Sunday, SaraRules!, Angy, and I went up to Millcreek Eggworks and Cafe for brunch. Mmm, coffee cake…  After a very satisfying meal, came back and helped me get the sprinklers online. (No busted sprinkler heads! Hoo-AH!) Later in the afternoon, SaraRules! and I made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. We didn’t buy anything, but we did come out with a couple of ideas. In the evening, we headed up to John’s (one of UO’s resident artists) for a birthday cookout. That was a LOT of fun. And we capped the evening with a visit to the in-laws… for yet more dessert!

Stray Toasters

• Space Shuttle Endeavour Is Readied, Once Again, for Its Final Launching
  • Farewell, my space shuttle
• An Explorer of Black History’s Uncharted Terrain
  • Entry from January 2010 I wrote about seeing Freedom Riders
• 14 Ways to Make Yourself Better Right Now
• 
• Rhode Island’s Medicaid Experiment Becomes a Talking Point for Budget Cutters
  • The real reasons why our health care costs are so high
  • Nursing Homes Seek Exemptions From Health Law
• I finally remembered to get some pictures and video of the new train layout.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car up for auction
• Renaissance at Salt Lake Art Center
• The 43 best obnoxious responses to misspellings on Facebook
• Welcome back, Sony Online Entertainment and Playstation Network.
  • 
• I discovered something while reading a blog entry from . I didn’t realize that William Marshall (1, 2) the actor who played Dr. Richard Daystrom on the Star Trek: TOS episode “The Ultimate Computer,” also played Blacula in two movies AND was the King of Cartoons on Pee-wee’s Playhouse.  For some reason, I just never connected the dots.
• Foods With Benefits, or So They Say
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Australian dies after ‘planking’ on balcony, police say
• War Machines (with Gymnasts)

Namaste.

Thursday – 12 May 2011
It’s NBN Technical Friday again. Amen.

Today is also marks two years since my friend, Jessica Porter, passed away from pulmonary hypertension. In some regards, it seems like it’s been shorter than that; other days, it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve talked. I miss her being around. She was a fantastic friend and an all-around great person.

Last night, SaraRules! came home from Boston. Hallelujah! She said that it was a good – though busy – trip. As a souvenir, she brought me a new pint glass from the Samuel Adams Brewery… where she took the tour yesterday morning. (Yeah, I was a little jealous of that.)

Today has been busy. Busier than expected. An employee from another division come in – for the second time in two days – to deal with a problem on his laptop. We got his problem sorted out. Then there was a meeting… that I had spaced off… on top of my usual Thursday meeting, plus the meeting that I had to schedule. Did I mention that I’m glad I’m off tomorrow?

Stray Toasters

• I’m blaming/crediting Will Smith for my fashion choice this morning. As I was preparing to get into the shower, this song started running through my head:

  As a result, today’s attire is:

  Black suit, the black shades, the black shoes
  Black tie with the black attitude

  Yeah, I know that’s from Nod Ya Head (Black Suits Comin’), but it still applies.

• At 100, Still a Teacher, and Quite a Character
• ‘Better Book Titles’: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Existing Cover
• Esquire Style Presents: The American Revolution
• Squeezed Cities Ask Nonprofits for More Money
• Marvel Unveils ‘I Am Captain America’ Variant Covers

  
  Click link above to see other covers.

• The New Hip-Hop Royalty
• Utah Opera’s production of Falstaff opens on Saturday. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend – or through next week – consider seeing it.
• Fan-made Fables poster art
• Cars So Stunning, They’re in a Museum
• 
• Revised Spider-Man Musical More Heroic, Less Nightmarish
• In a Green Town, Activists See Red Over Lockheed Martin
• Software piracy hits record high of $59 billion

Namaste.

Wednesday – 11 May 2011
Midweek.
New comics day.
D&D Game night.
The day that SaraRules comes home from Boston.

Not only has she been in Boston, but this was her status message this morning:

SaraK
Nothing like a beer tour at ten in the morning. — at The Samuel Adams Boston Brewery.

Yeah, I’m (a little) jealous. But, I’m apparently getting a new pint glass out of the deal… so it ain’t all bad.

Last night, Chris and Alex came over so that I could change out the hard drive in Alex’ PS3. Things went well… until we realized that Alex didn’t bring a cord for the controller. For some reason, the PS3 firmware won’t recognize wireless controllers during that process. *shrug* Thus, we couldn’t complete the operation. Instead, we sat around and geeked about gaming.

Stray Toasters

• Sam Adams. Patriot. Brewer. Homeboy.
• Sturges and Power Girl Display “Girl Power”
  This was an interesting article; I’m curious to see how the issues actually read.
• The Composer’s Other Voice
• General Motors to invest $2B in plants, create 4,000 jobs
• ‘You Can’t Defeat Hate With Hate’
• 
• Federal Retreat on Bigger Loans Rattles Housing
  • Is It Better to Buy or Rent?
• I would say “What the fuck…?!” here but, well… that would be redundant: Best college sex ed class ever canceled after sex toy demonstration with naked lady
• The Galactic Empire Times
• From the “Hallelujah… Thank you, Jesus” file:
  

  If Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco gets released or traded, what do you think the chances of Baltimore taking him are?
  James Walker: “I don’t see that. Baltimore has a good mix of veteran receivers and young draft picks to develop. It’s not a good fit.”

• Google’s Digital Music Service Falls Short of Ambition
• 
  • Secret Origins: Rot Lop Fan
• Summer’s Superhero Movies Get Blocky With Awesome Lego Minifig Posters
• Fox has axed Human Target, along with a few other shows. While the second season departed from the character’s original premise, I still enjoyed it… and it was leaps and bounds better than the version that ABC aired in the 90s.
• ‘HALO’ and creators move on after divorce

Namaste.

Tuesday – 10 May 2011
Another grey day in the valley. The forecast says we have a 60% chance of rain. With as much rain as we’ve had lately, it’s hard to remember that we live on a high desert plain… where the streets have no name.  (No, the song wasn’t written about Salt Lake City, but it was a reference that I couldn’t pass up. And, besides, it has a fun video…)

Today is also my friend, Justin’s, birthday:

Yesterday afternoon, I received a message from my mother-in-law, inviting me over for homemade banana rum cake. Not being completely foolish, I told her that I’d be there. After work, I stopped at Pin-up Girl Espresso and chatted with Jim on the way home. I remembered that I needed to pick up a few track pieces for the new layout idea, so I jetted up to West Valley Hobbies before heading to the in-laws’.  When I got there, my MIL asked if I had eaten dinner – I hadn’t – so she fed me, as well: She’d made an amazing chicken curry dish whose exact name eludes me. After I’d finished, we – MIL, FIL and lj user=”djviking” – had cake and chatted the rest of the evening away. As if feeding me and giving me dessert wasn’t enough, I was even sent home with leftovers for lunch. Win! (In case I haven’t said it before/recently: I totally hit the jackpot in the In-Laws Lottery.

When I finally made it home, I decided to mess around with my train layout. This came under the heading of “Good Idea/Bad Idea,” as it was slightly more of an undertaking that I had planned on. I was up until [REDACTED] working on it. Yes, I know… I’m going to have to tear the whole thing down (again) when we start framing the room, but I was in the mood for something different. The trackwork is almost finished and I need to figure out where buildings will go and in which areas I’ll be able to add the SuperStreets track.

It probably goes without saying, but I made this morning’s coffee extra-strong. Thank God.

Today is also a suit day. (Added bonus: It was clean and required no prep work.) Today’s option: Navy suit, white spread-collar shirt, pink-and-blue tie, pink pocket square, maroon loafers.

Stray Toasters

• Navy chaplains cleared to perform same-sex marriages
• A Brewery Is Recreating George Washington’s Personal Beer Recipe
• Flight Attendant Fashion Through the Years

  

  Hmm, that looks vaguely familiar.  I can’t remember where I’ve seen something like that before…

  

  Oh… right.

• Microsoft in Talks to Acquire Skype for $8.5 Billion
• For Journalists, a Call to Rethink Online Models
• More Familiar ‘Spider-Man’ Hopes to Bury the Dark
• Star Wars PSAs

  

• Amtrak, 15 states get Florida’s $2B in high-speed rail money
• The Town That Banned Pac-Man
• 30 Geeky Weddings
  I have actually been to Metropolis, IL and stood in front of that Superman statue (7th pic from the bottom)
• Exonerated Inmates Fight Lawyer’s Lobbying Fees

And…. that’s a wrap.

Namaste.