Random Access

Wednesday – 07 December 2011
Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

• Remembering Pearl Harbor, 70 years later
• Pearl Harbor Still a Day for the Ages, but a Memory Almost Gone

Today is also Diana’s 1/4-birthday. That’s right, our oldest little lady is three-months-old today.

Last night, SaraRules! took the girls to her book club, leaving me to my own devices for a couple of hours. I decided to be a little productive. For my first amazing feat: I put up the downstairs Christmas tree (more on this later). I also gave my brother a call, to help him suss out why his Xbox wouldn’t connect to Xbox Live after they changed ISPs. After that, I felt that I had earned a trip to Best Buy. Oddly enough, I didn’t find anything that I just couldn’t live without.

I made it home a few minutes before the ladies got home. That gave me time to prep blankets and bottles for the girls. (Hey, I try to be a good father.) We got the girls to bed without too much ado. After getting something to eat, we headed downstairs to watch a little pre-bed TV. SaraRules! asked what I’d done with my evening, so I recounted the events of the night. When I got to the part about “I put up the Christmas tree,” she blinked a couple of times, looked over at the tree and said,”Whoa… you did put up the tree!” That’s right: She totally missed it – all six feet of it – when she went downstairs… despite looking dead at it at one point. (In her defense: She’d had a long day…)

Stray Toasters

• Modern Drummer‘s interview with Neil Peart
• The Death of Philip K. Dick and the Birth of Cyberpunk
• Leather Armor for Stormtroopers Who Prefer Harleys Over Speederbikes
• 
• Too promiscuous to donate an organ? Maybe, CDC says
• The Art of Francis Tsai, by way of my friend, Kim
• Five Travel Apps You Should Be Using (and One Website, Too)
• Green Bay Packers sell stock, first time since ’97
• 
• Game play: A case study in security
• Japan Split on Hope for Vast Radiation Cleanup

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 December 2011
Day Two of the work week finds me south of the county line again. In the words of Lita Ford (among others), “It ain’t no big thing.”

Last night was a relatively quiet night around the household. Over the weekend, there had been talk of putting up the downstairs Christmas tree, but by the time we got home from work, we knew that it just wasn’t going to happen. So, after the girls were abed, SaraRules! and I watched some of the Monday night football game… before we got bored with it and started channel-hopping.

So far, today has been good. (Yep, even despite being in the ‘south forty’ today.) I even got to go to lunch with some of the usual suspects; we hit State Street Grill. It was good. And, it was very filling.

Stray Toasters

• Jitterbug Coffee Hop decked out in red and on the map
• Astronomers Find Biggest Black Holes Yet
• st00pid fax machine! *shakes fist*
• 
• Why Americans Spend Too Much
• Master Grief, by way of Jill Pantozzi’s “Has Boobs, Reads Comics“
• Many Workers in Public Sector Retiring Early

Thursday – 01 December 2011
It’s NBN Thursday and the start of a new (and, if you’re in northern Utah, very windy) month.

SaraRules! was right about yesterday: It ended with cheesy macaroni Hamburger Helper and comics. And little girls who went to bed rather easily. Which made it rather easy to enjoy the aforementioned comics. And dinner. And the rest of the evening.

The girls slept until 4:30-ish this morning. Which put them right at the “sleeping for 8 hours” mark. This was a good thing. Sara got Diana unswaddled and changed while I prepped bottles. When I was done with bottles, I took them to the nursery, got Vanessa and put her on the changing table…

…and then the lights went out. (Cue: Vicki Lawrence. Yes… THAT Vicki Lawrence)

Fortunately, we have flashlights and candles aplenty. Still, I think that it freaked the girls out a bit, as it was instantly pitch black. Vanessa wound up settling down fairly easily; Diana, not so much. She was fully awake by the time she was done with her bottle and it took her the better part of 30 minutes to settle back to sleep.

The power was out at least until I left for work at 8:15. SaraRules! checked on the Rocky Mountain Power web site; they said that the outages in the area are so bad that customers could be without power for up to 48 hours. I have doubts that we’ll be without power that long, though.

I know that some might say that these events might automatically put the kibosh on “No Bad News” Thursday. But, I’d beg to differ. Why? For reasons including, but not limited to, these:

1. Everyone was safe.
2. We had already fixed the girls’ bottles.
3. The house was – and would remain – warm through the morning.
4. We had light (flashlights and candles).
5. We had running water.
6. Our garage door opener has a battery back-up, allowing it to open during power outages.

Blessings. Providence. Good fortune. Luck. No matter what you choose to call them, each of those things were in our favor. Thus, the day was still good.

And that’s how I spent my Thursday morning!

Assuming that the power’s on at home tonight, Chris is coming over to hang out and play dolls.

Stray Toasters

• Truth, Jawlines and the American Way: The Changing Face of Superman
• Kerry Callen‘s ‘Super Antics’
1. Number 1
2. Number 2
3. Number 3
• 6 Central Banks Act to Buy Time in Europe Crisis
• Some Grandmotherly Advice on Social Media
• Can LEGO be considered art?
• Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone declared to hot for tourists
• 
• World’s First Sex School Opens
• From the “D.M.S.R.” file: Sex, Love and Evolution: Making Hits on the ‘Billboard’ Charts
• I Bet You Can’t Guess What This Commercial Is About Until It Tells You
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Indian snake charmer releases cobras in tax office protest
• The Dark Knight

And, according to my mother-in-law, power was restored at the house shortly after SaraRules! left for work. Amen.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 30 November 2011
Not only is it the middle of the week… or new comics day… or the date that Michael Jackson’s Thriller album was released… it’s also the last day of the month. A month that seemed like it just started a few days ago. How the time flies.

Last night, SaraRules! and I attended the opening night auction for the 2011 Festival of Trees. We were looking for something – not a tree – to add to our holiday decorations; we settled on looking for a centerpiece for the living room table. We found – and bid on and won – one that will go nicely with the tree we got last year:

We also saw a number of really nice trees and gingerbread houses. More pictures can be seen here. If you have a chance to visit the Festival of Trees, do so. It runs through Saturday, 03 December 2011; admission is:

• $5.00/adults
• $3.00/children age 2 to 11
• $4.00/senior citizens.
• Children under age 2 are free

All proceeds benefit Primary Children’s Medical Center, so it’s a very worthwhile cause.

After the Festival, we picked up the girls, took them home and put them to bed. Then SaraRules! kicked me out of the house… to go to Guys’ Night Out.  (Have I mentioned: “Coolest wife ever” recently? She is.) It was nice to hang out with the guys over beer (Black and Pumpkin!) and food. It was a good way to wrap up a rather good day.

Stray Toasters

• Today was (another) suit day: Black suit, white shirt, black/pink/grey tie, pink pocket square, black shoes.
• A Christmas Card from The Middleman (Part One)
• Improv Everywhere has unleashed a new bit of mayhem:

• I received an amusing spam this morning from the INTERNATIONAL POLICE AUTHORITY. Here’s the first bit of it:
  

  We, office of the international police authority (IPA) hereby write to inform you that we stopped a diplomatic lady by the name Mrs. Vernon Wallace here in  (John F Kennedy International Airport) New York with a consignment box filled with United States Dollars.

  In the course of interrogating her, she said that the consignment box belongs to you and that she was sent by one Edward Somto to come deliver the consignment box to you not knowing that the content of the box is money.

  Now, the diplomat is under detention in the office of (INTERPOL) security, and we cannot release her until we carry out our proper investigation on how this huge amount of money managed to be yours. So, in this regards you are to reassure and prove to us that the money you are about to receive is legal by sending us the Award Ownership Certificate showing that the money is not illegal.

  Boy howdy! INTERPOL “rescued” free money for me?! Where do I sign?

• The Ormes Society Supports African-American Women in Comics
• By way of my friend, Janie, and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Pike church takes stand against interracial couples
• The Math That Saved Apollo 13
• The Answerphone Of Cthulhu is hard to resist:

  

• A Timeline of the Best-Selling Christmas Gifts…Ever
• Line Grows Long for Free Meals in U.S. Schools
• Cyber warfare developing into larger threat for U.S., its allies
• 
• Let’s put this Civil War Steampunk musical on Broadway
• The Fall Checklist for Men

And, that should be good for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 29 November 2011
Day Two of the work week and all’s well. So far. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

Tonight, SaraRules! and I are attending the Opening Night Auction of The Festival of Trees:

Since we got our tree from there last year, we’re going to look for some other decoration. And, it’s for a good cause: Proceeds benefit Primary Children’s Medical Center.

Stray Toasters

• Javier Grillo-Marxuach has done a Middleman/Dr. Who crossover fan-fiction for Christmas. (Thanks, Phi!)
• As Public Sector Sheds Jobs, Blacks Are Hit Hardest
• From the “Resistance is futile.” file: Your Baby Needs This New Star Trek Book
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Mysterious Man Bursts Into Flames at Swedish Train Station
• A Shopping Day Invented for the Web Comes of Age
• Buyers click away as Cyber Monday sales jump 18%
• Cyber Monday scam emails hit inboxes
• 
• South Korea Rolls Out Robotic Prison Wardens
• Märklin. Like I needed another distraction…
• Of Leather Wasps and the Inevitable Sex Component: Cyberpunk Heroines in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Other Fiction
• Jags fire coach Del Rio after eight-plus seasons

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 22 November 2011
It’s Technical Friday. And I’m ready for it to be Quit o’Clock. (Just being honest.)

Last night, Dave and Angy came over to watch football and to visit the girls.

Vanessa (left) and Gene Simmons Diana

The game wasn’t all that compelling, but it was football. And we watched. Somewhere in the second half, Dave and I started talking model railroad ideas. Yeah, I know… real stretch there. I think that I have a rudimentary plan for at least half of my layout-to-be, incorprating the new turntable. Now, I just need to determine how best to add a small rail yard… and what I want to do for the city portion of the layout.  I’d still like to be able to use the SuperStreets, as well.

And, of course, I just came up with yet another idea.  *sigh*

Stray Toasters

• As I noted earlier, on Facebook: There are ads everywhere – online, radio, TV – about “Black Friday” sales. I find it amusing that retailers don’t take into account that for 12.6% of the U.S. population, every Friday is “Black Friday.”
• 48th anniversary of JFK’s assassination
• Both the Darkwing Duck and the Doctor Who fan in me thought this was hilarious:

  
  (c) Erica Henderson

  For those who don’t quite grok why this is funny, watch the following:

• Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration
• Jane, divided
  But I can’t decide
  Which side I’m on…
• 
• Pull of Family Reshapes U.S.-Cuban Relations
• New Xbox Dashboard Launches on December 6
• Fifteen Really, Really, Really Hard Games
• 
• Water utilities in Illinois, Houston reportedly hacked

Monday – 21 November 2011
A new (and greatly abbreviated) work week is upon us. Today is my “Technical Thursday.” Which, I do believe, technically makes it a No Bad News Technical Thursday. So, it is written; so shall it be!

This was a good weekend, all around. Saturday, the girls and I had a few hours’ of Daddy-Daughter time, while SaraRules! went to lunch with a friend. While we didn’t get to as many places as we (okay, okay… as “I”) would have liked, we did manage to put in an appearance at RubySnap. (Natch!)

Yesterday, I was on the fence about sleeping in. At first, I decided to stay up (around 7 AM), about an hour later, I decided that it wasn’t worth it an crawled back into bed. And the girls woke up 20 minutes later. Thus, did the day begin. We had a good day. There was some errand-running. And football-watching. And, after the girls were asleep, TV-watching.

Speaking of the little ladies, here’s a dose of cuteness:

Vanessa (left) and Diana

Added bonus: The girls slept through the night. ALL THE WAY through the night. After we got them up and fed them, I decided to head into the office a little early, so that I can work a little extra time and not have to burn any leave for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Instant Replay: Football
Not only did the Ravens play yesterday, but it was televised here! So, Vanessa and I watched most of the game; SaraRules! and Diana came down to watch the second half with us.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 31
The Ravens hosted the 0-5 Bengals……and, without Ray Lewis, came away with a win. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but it still goes in the “W” column.Former Ravens K Matt Stover was inducted into the Ring of Honor. And, with this win, the Ravens are (once again) #1 in the AFC North. Sorry, and .

.

Oakland Raiders at Minnesota Vikings
27 – 21
The Raiders traveled to Minnesota and beat up on the (already downtrodden) Vikes.Congratulations, SaraRules! and .

.

Stray Toasters

• What Would Steve McQueen Wear Today?
• Hero Complex Holiday Gift Guide for 2011
• Reliable. Durable. Automatic. Kicker.

  

• Danger Mouse co-creator Mark Hall dies
• Quicksilver Comes Out to Magneto on Facebook
• I just had a very long “Monkey!” moment with someone who doesn’t ordinarily warrant the “monkey” sobriquet.
• Taking First Class-Coddling Above and Beyond
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Cockroach Chaos at 30,000 Feet! In-flight Infestation Leads to Lawsuit
• 
• Black Friday employees push back
• Romanian hacker accused of breaking into NASA server
• Orchestra Keeps Up Hunt to Fill Its Top Job
• 25 Worst Passwords 0f 2011

Namaste.

Thursday – 17 November 2011
Three down, one in the chamber and one to go. Hallelujah. While this hasn’t been a “bad” week, I was irritable/edgy from Sunday through yesterday. The best part: There was no reason to which I could attribute it. Just… bad mood. Period. *shrug* So far, today’s been good and I don’t feel as angst-ridden as the past few days. I consider that a good thing, especially as it’s No Bad News Thursday.

And, there’s football tonight!

Last night, and came by to visit. They caught us up on the latest goings-on. It was a nice way to spend the pre-putting-the-girls-to-bed part of the evening. After the girls were down for the night, I read most of last night’s four-color haul and then joined SaraRules! for an episode of TopGear.

Stray Toasters

• Tomorrow (Friday) is Take a Model Train to Work Day!
  I’m not sure if I’m going to bring in a new/different train, as my LEGO train is still here from last year.
• Imagining Housing for Today
• 4th Annual Machinima Expo
• Oregon Tests iPads as Aid to Disabled Voters
• Cookie-stuffed Cookies
  I think that this must be the “turducken” of desserts.
• Chief Sponsor Wavers on Web Censorship Bill in Charged Hearing
• 
• As New Graduates Return to Nest, Economy Also Feels the Pain
• Prime viewing ahead for Leonid meteor shower
• Congressional report slams TSA as bloated, ineffective

I believe that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 November 2011
I realized this morning just how glad I am that it’s midweek and that only two more days separate me from the weekend. Not that it’s been a bad or particularly long week; I’m just ready for the weekend.  (Cue: Loverboy)

Last night, while Wonder Woman SaraRules! was off saving the world with the Justice League at a Junior League meeting, Sanaz came over to help me watch the girls and get them ready for bed. The “care and feeding” part isn’t so bad when solo, but trying to get both girls to bed by oneself would be “a bit” much. And the help was greatly appreciated. Diana knocked out fairly easily; Vanessa, however, got a bit of a second wind after her bedtime feeding and fought sleep for a solid 20 minutes before finally following Morpheus into The Dreaming.

On the plus side of SaraRules! not being home for dinner: It was a veritable “Feed Yourself Free-for-All” night for rounding up victuals. Thus, I had Beef Lo Mein. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT
• SOPA infographic
• A Special Day at the Office as Krzyzewski Sets a Record
• Incredible LEGO Daily Planet Pits Superman and Young Justice Against Brainiac
• For :

  

• Middle Class Areas Shrink as Income Gap Grows, New Report Shows
• Thanks to for pointing out this SMBC comic.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: The problem with fecal transplants
  Yes, you read that correctly: “Fecal transplants.”
• A better astronaut recruitment video
• Yeah, add this to The Covet List: Ford’s new Mustang Shelby GT is first 200 MPH muscle car
• 
• Ergonomics training. Yay.
  It’s mildly amusing to be taking training after having taught it (at the USPS)…
• Apple Appoints New Chairman and Elects Disney’s Chief to Board

And it’s new comics day!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 15 November 2011
Pretty much hit the ground running today.  The girls were up at 5:30 to eat; by the time they were done, it was just about 6:00. Rather than: A) try to get a 25-minute nap or B) sleep through the alarm until (at least) 7:00, I decided to stay up and get ready for work. I was in the office a hair before 7:00. Less than a half-hour later, I was helping to prep a half-full server rack for shipping.

Bonus: The rack had no wheels.

Added bonus: We had to move it out of our office space, into our lobby, downstairs, across sheets of masonite — which we had to leap-frog — from our building through the building lobby to the attached building.. out the door and onto the truck.

Yeah. Today was most definitely one of those “We do more before 9 AM than most people do all day” kind of mornings.

Fortunately, there was coffee involved, as well.

Tonight, SaraRules! has another Justice League meeting. Thus, I’ll be getting a helping had in putting the hatchlings to bed from my sister-in-law.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, while Monday Night Football was showing commercials, I flipped over to The Sing-Off. Interesting show. I didn’t see all of the groups compete, but I enjoyed the three groups I did see. The group Vocal Point (from BYU) were voted off the show by the judges. This prompted A LOT of response from people on Facebook, apparently. Negative response. “I’ll never watch the show again” response.

  I don’t get it.

  Just because a person/group/entity/whatever that [you] like gets voted off a television show, is that really a reason to foreswear the show? To me, it’s kind of like vowing never to watch … NCIS after they killed off Mike Franks. *shrug*

• Missiles to protect London 2012 Olympics
• What to Wear and What Not to Wear to an Interview
• Tomorrow is American Censorship Day: Fight SOPA
• By way of my friend, Christine: League of Ordinary Gentlemen: Patient BW, DOB 2/16/1971
  , you might want to take a look at that.
• 
• Anonymous vows revenge over Occupy Toronto threats
• Hispanics Reviving Faded Towns on the Plains
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: PETA targets Mario over raccoon suit
• 
• Dresdan Codak
• Batman: the Least Believable Superhero
• On the Orbiting of Species
• Designer Lipstick: A New Splurge
• 
• Foreign Office reveals weird requests to consulates
• Will Cloud Computing Make Everything (and Everyone) Work Harder?

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from a Newsarama interview with John Hodgman:

Hodgman: One of the things I love in comics is serialized storytelling, but that can be a pitfall if you rely too much on what happened last week.

I’m not trying to start feuds. I’m really just expressing feelings of existential anxiety about where all superhero comics are.

And now I really do have to go…

Nrama: Okay, any last thoughts before you go?

Hodgman: I still love everything that Paul Levitz writes. Long Live the Legion!

And that’s that.

Namaste.

Thursday – 10 November 2011
Hello, NBN Technical Friday!

Last night, while SaraRules! was at her Justice Junior League meeting, ‘s mom, Lori,  came over to help me watch the kids and get them ready for bed…

…as did Josh.

…and Jessica and Corey.

The girls soaked up the attention. It was great. And it truly proved the adage: “Many hands make light work.” Thus, not only were the girls well taken care of, but I got to spend the evening in good company. As an added bonus: Jessica prepared a delicious pot roast, with carrots and potatoes.

This morning, the girls woke up around 5:00. By the time they were back in their bassinets, I had a decision: Catch about 45 minutes of sleep or go to work early. I chose sleep. And that turned into nearly an hour-and-a-half of sleep. Which was good, to be honest.

Not too long after I got to the office, I got a call from my mother-in-law about something beeping in the kitchen. And it was startling the girls a bit. I suspected that it was the fire alarm, whose battery SaraRules! and I hadn’t gotten around to changing. So, back home to avert the girls having meltdowns and help get them ready for breakfast. (Fringe benefit: Mid-day cuddles from the girls!) And then, back to the office.

Tonight, Chris is coming over to play dolls ‘Clix.

Stray Toasters

• Recycling in Antarctica
• Russians Fight to Save Mars Probe After Mishap
• A random thought occurred to me the other day: How many Hanna-Barbera cartoons featured kids in bands?
  I’m not sure that I got them all, without looking anything up, this is what I came up with:
  • Josie and the Pussycats
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids
  • The Partridge Family in Outer Space (I’m totally not making this one up.)
  • Jabberjaw
  • The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
  • The Impossibles
  • Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm
  • The Banana Splits (not a cartoon, per se, but still an H-B property)
  • The Bugaloos (a live-action show that was part of the Banana Splits show)

  Can anyone think of any others?

• 
• Adobe kills Flash on mobile devices
• Mayhem at the Manor, for
• Why we get the future of tech wrong

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 November 2011
Middle of the week. And the day started with the twins needing to be fed. (Oddly enough, most of my days seem to start like that now…) And let’s be honest: Starting the day holding a cute little girl is far from a bad thing.

Last night was a fairly low-key evening. The girls got their baths – without much/any fuss – ate and went to bed. Once we were certain that they were down for the count, SaraRules! and I went downstairs and finished watching the episode of TopGear that we started a few days ago. When it was over, we (finally) watched the new episode of Burn Notice. I also rounded out the evening with an episode of Young Justice.

Tonight, SaraRules! has a Justice Junior League meeting, which means that the girls are stuck with me for a few hours.  Fortunately – for them and/or me, I’m not sure which yet… possibly both – lj user=”suzie_lightning” ‘s mother is coming over to meet the little ladies and hang out for a bit.

Stray Toasters

• Mississippi Voters Reject Anti-Abortion Measure
• How Birth Control and Abortion Became Politicized
• introduced me to The Karen & Ellen Letters. Wow.
• “Family Circus” Creator Bil Keane Dies at 89
• As I mentioned a couple of days ago, SaraRules! is reading a book called Conquistadora:

  

  I apparently dropped a pair of nail clippers on it yesterday. This morning, I glanced at the book and, from the angle I was looking, the face/clipper combination reminded me of Trap Jaw (from the old Masters of the Universe cartoon). It made me laugh.

• Adversaries, allies stealing U.S. trade secrets
• Are Cookbooks Obselete?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Police find mummified corpses in historian’s apartment
• Presidential Candidates Explained Through Dungeons and Dragons Character Sheets, by way of
• Health Law Survives Test in Court of Appeals

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 November 2011
Vanessa turns two-months-old today.

The girls were a little irritable last night, following their immunization shots, which was totally understandable. I would be, too, in their places. But, they still wound up going to bed a little early. And, they’re sleeping pretty well at night. (SaraRules! and I are quite grateful for this.) They slept well enough for us to be able to watch the second half of last night’s football game AND for me to spend a little time playing Gears of War 3.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve had too many meetings today for this to just be Tuesday.
• Judge OKs $410M for Bank of America customers
• 
• What Does the US Arts Community Look Like?
• U.S. Clears Art Project by Christo in Colorado
• Former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Frazier dies of cancer at 67
  

  

• Joe Frazier, Ex-Heavyweight Champ, Dies at 67
• A Champion Who Won Inside the Ring and Out
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band: old time jazz from New Orleans
• U.S. and EU partner for security response exercise
• It Started Digital Wheels Turning

Namaste.

Monday – 07 November 2011
Another week begins. Fortunately, it’s my 9/80 short week.

And, today, Ms. Diana turns two-months-old:

The weekend was a good one.  Highlights included, but were not limited to:

• SaraRules!’ birthday (yesterday)
• Spending time with the girls
• The Ravens beating the Steelers in the closing seconds of their game last night (!)
• A trip to The Garden of Sweden
• Picking up Gears of War 3

And then some.

Instant Replay: Football

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

23 – 20

The Ravens traveled to the Steel City to take on Big Ben, Troy Polamalu and the rest of the Steelers at Heinz Field.It was a slow, mostly defensive game – which fans pretty much expect from these two teams – with all of the scores in the first half coming from field goals. The Ravens went into halftime with a 9-6 lead. After the half, Baltimore scored a TD in the third quarter to open up a 16-6 lead. And then,Pittsburgh went to work. They scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter… …until, with 0:08 left in the game, QB Joe Flacco hit rookie WR Torrey Smith in the back of the end zone for the game-winning 26-yard touchdown — just five plays after dropping what would have been an even longer game-winning reception for touchdown. Or, to put this in movie terms, I’ll take a line from Nick Fury in Iron Man 2: Nick Fury: Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You’re Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit? Is that possible? Yeah, it was just. Like. That. And this may be the best post-game quote that I’ve seen so far: “Heinz Field emptied faster than a runny ketchup bottle.” – John Eisenberg With this win, Baltimore has swept the Steelers for the season.

Stray Toasters

• Just got back from the girls’ two-month check-up: According to their doctor, they’re doing just great.
  (We thought so, but it’s always good to get a professional opinion.)
• LEGO army invades Chalkfestival to “Free” Ego Leonard
• I Wish More Streets Had LEGO Minifigs Painted on Them
• NASA prepares for moon tourism
• SaraRules! is reading a book called Conquistadora, by Esmerelda Santiago
  Every time I see it, I reparse it in my head as “Conquista Dora the Explorer.”
• Paul Krugman: Our Oligarchy
• What They’re Saying About Flacco… Now
• Disney and YouTube Make a Video Deal
• Even Adobe May Believe Flash Is on Its Deathbed

Namaste.

Friday – 04 November 2011
It’s my “on” Friday… and I have The Leash this weekend. But, it’s still Friday. And that’s almost never a bad thing.

Last night was fairly low-key. I think that the highlight was a trip to the store for grocery. Well, that… and hanging out with the girls.

Stray Toasters

• By way of The Brothers Vox: 23 incredible new technologies you’ll see by 2021
• By way of Esquire – Remember: Sexy isn’t the same as slutty. Whatever you choose, keep it sensual and sophisticated.
  Amen.
• 
• Anonymous ready to continue with Operation Cartel
• 9 Equations True Geeks Should (at Least Pretend to) Know
• Bleak Portrait of Poverty Is Off the Mark, Experts Say
• I’ve been rather amused by some of George Takei’s Facebook posts over the past few weeks. This one was no exception:

  

• Cuba to Allow Buying and Selling of Property, With Few Restrictions
• Keeping Your Heart Healthy
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and “Monkeys!” files: Couple adopts Dachsund, days later doses it with LSD, tripping dog wanders into traffic and dies
  What the Hell is wrong with people!?  First, that couple with the horse and now this..?
• 10 great sculpture gardens across the USA

Quote of the Day
Today’s gem comes from my friend Melissa S.:

I love that everyone thinks the Buffy would have slayed Edward. Did we watch the same show? She would have dated Edward, and Spike would have killed him.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.