Random Access

Wednesday – 31 March 2010
SaraRules and I just got in from signing a bunch of paperwork this morning and….

We just bought a house!

That’s right, we’re movin’ on up, just like George and Weezie.  (The house is a little farther east than our apartment…) We’d been talking about taking the plunge for a while and when we decided to dive in, everything fell into place rather nicely.

Shortly after we got married, the original deadline for the new homebuyer’s credit was extended to April 2010. Around Christmas, we decided that we wanted to get in on that action. We started looking at the Utah MLS website for homes that we liked. (Oddly enough, there were a lot of them.) We started narrowing down our searches based on a number of criteria:

• Location
• Size
• Price
• Age and condition of the property
• Garage (okay… this was really much more my criterium than SaraRules’)
• …and I’m sure there were others.

put us in touch with a great real estate agent, Joe, and an equally amazing mortgage broker, Brady.  Our first “encounter” with Joe… wasn’t. He dropped off a sheaf of MLS listings for us to peruse in the middle of the night. Okay. We plowed through the listings and found a number of properties that we liked. We started looking at places on Friday, 05 March. (Yes, you read that correctly: We went from looking to closing in less than four weeks.  BLAOW!) The house we chose was the third one we saw; we both agreed that it had all of the elements we wanted.

We offered…
The owners countered…
We countered again…
They agreed to our counter… and the ball started rolling.

And three-and-a-half weeks later, we’re home owners.

And, as if that wasn’t enough: Today is also Comics and Sushi Wednesday. Win-Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules: Gallery: Outrageously Complicated Rube Goldberg Videos
• Wired.com Buyer’s Guide: Choose the Right iPad
• There has been a lot of hullabaloo about the video for Erykah Badu’s Window Seat. Many of the comments I’ve seen have asked what were her thoughts behind making such a video. I did a little digging and found this interview, in which Ms. Badu talks about the reasons and rationale behind the video.
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man fleeing Ohio police jumps fence — into prison
• Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go;
  I owe my soul to the company store new mortgage loan….
• GOP fires Allison Meyers as strip-club scandal taints party
• I did some drawing last night. That was a nice way to spend the evening.
• Scale model of war-torn WWII town built and photographed by brian-damaged beating victim
• Also from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Duct Tape or Duck Tape? 11 Intricate Tape Designs

Did I mention: “We bought a house!” yet?  I did?  Okay, just making sure.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 30 March 2010
“Wow.”
That’s really the best way to describe how the morning has gone. There were some… networking issues that took a little longer to sort out than planned. They have been dealt with and all is well with the world once more. At least, for the time being.

::: hangs up cape :::

Last night was relatively quiet. I hung out at home while SaraRules was at a club meeting. Then we met up at the mall and did a little shopping. Back home for some TV and downtime. I also worked on the railroad building for the Dr. Volt’s masterboard.

Stray Toasters

• Today is ‘s  farewell lunch. Pawit’s. Should be good.
• For reasons relating to solving this morning’s network snafu, is also my Human of the Day.
• For SaraRules: Eagles sending quarterback Donovan McNabb to Raiders? , by way of
• This morning, I had Nelly’s Shake Ya Tailfeather playing in my head. That was a good way to start the day.
• Sony’s PS3 Update Could Affect Supercomputer Users
• Xbox 360 to Accept Any and All USB Storage Starting April 6^th
• My new NFL jerseys have shipped. They should arrive early next week. This is good.
• Wye Oak: Tiny Desk Concert
• ::: This Space Left Intentionally Blank :::
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Court OKs Repeated Tasering of Pregnant Woman
• My friend, Melissa S., posted a link about this fashion atrocity – which is apparently called a “Peekaroo” – on Facebook:
  

  With it, you can re-enact your very own version of the chest-burster scene from Alien.

• First Listen: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
• Gadget and video game-themed baked goods

Namaste.

Huh.  I just noticed that I’m actually dressed like my icon, with the exception of the tie color being different.

Monday – 29 March 2010
It’s overcast, but warm. I can live with that, especially since it’s Monday.

Last night was low-key. We had dinner with SaraRules’ parents. As we ate, we watched The Princess and the Frog. I still think that it was a good – and fun – movie. After that, we did grocery shopping and went home. SaraRules did some some quilting, I started laying out the floor plan for the railroad station for Dr. Volt’s. I also took the opportunity to catch up on another episode of 24. Win-Win.

This morning, I had Eve’s Let Me Blow Ya Mind running through my head…

…so we’ll go with that for this morning’s musical kick-off.

Stray Toasters

• Those of you who read comic books in the 70s/80s may remember the Hostess Snack Cakes Ads.
• Top 10 Tips and Tricks for Making Your Stuff Last Longer
• Tron Title Sequence, Reimagined for 1960:
• By way of and SaraRules: The A to Z of Awesomeness
• For SaraRules: University of Wisconsin – Stout wins Rube Goldberg contest
• Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction
• This was pretty close to what most people expected my reaction to be the first time that I went camping with SaraRules’ family:



• Why a $14/hr employee costs $20
• For : Douglas Adams speech – “Parrots, The Universe and Everything”
• Repeal the nth Amendment
• Cat owners will get this:



• Toys That Inspired Scientific Breakthroughs

Sunday – 28 March 2010
To quote the late Mr. Rogers: “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…” It’s sunny, practically cloudless and the temperature is in the mid-50s. It’s comfortable enough that I’m wearing my first polo shirt of the season. (Yes, I know “the season” is barely a week old, but that’s not the point.)

Yesterday, after breakfast with Chris, we headed up to Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection to hold this weekend’s tournament.  The scenario that I came up with for this week was “Generals,” based somewhat on Wizkids’ new “Minions” game mechanic. The way it shook out was as follows:

• Team Build: 300 Points
• Format: Restricted*
• Your “General” figure must have a higher point value than the rest of your “lieutenants.”
  • Generals can use Mastermind**, if adjacent to a lieutenant.
  • Lieutenants get a +1 to their attack when within six (6) squares of your general.

* – “Restricted” means that only certain sets are allowable to be played
** – Mastermind is a power that allows a figure to use another figure as a “human shield,” so to speak.

The tournament went over well, there were a few less people than expected – one of the players was moving and drafted a few of the others to help with the move. No worries. The whole thing went over well. Pictures of the event can be seen here.

After the tournament, I headed home and had dinner with SaraRules before she headed off to work. The next part of the evening was spent surfing channels and the Internet… and working out a few more details about the gaming masterboard I am putting together for Dave and the guys at Dr. Volt’s.  One of the things I watched was Diamonds Are Forever. I discovered something that I didn’t know about one of the actors in the movie: The person who played Willard Whyte was Jimmy Dean… yeah, the same guy you used to see hawking Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage. Who knew?!

After SaraRules got home, we watched Jason and the Argonauts. The movie featured a lot of work by famous special effects artist Ray Harryhausen. It was definitely “a bit” dated, but still a decent watch.

Today, we slept in… and it was good. After a light breakfast, we headed to the gym to get in a bit of a workout:

• Elliptical – 10 minutes, Random
  • 6 minutes at 5.5 MPH
  • 4 minutes @ 7 MPH
• Bench Press – 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs
• Pulldowns – 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Flys (dumbbell, bench) – 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Bent-over Rows – 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Leg Extensions – 2 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls – 2 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs

Post-workout weight: 180.5 lbs

This evening, we’re heading up to the in-laws’ for dinner and a movie. Should make for a nice and relatively quiet evening.

Stray Toasters

• High-tech copy machines a gold mine for data thieves
• A look at the Comic Zeal reader on iPad
• 
• WizKids has released information about their new “Alter-Ego” game mechanic.
• Chinese Automaker Geely to Buy Volvo From Ford
• Erykah Badu: Window Seat
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Sony accuses Beyonce of piracy for putting her videos on YouTube
• A Turing Machine: In the Classic Style
• If you haven’t seen it yet, you should check out the trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Off to face the rest of the day!

Namaste.

Friday – 26 March 2010
It’s snowing.

That’s right: Mother Nature’s silent mocking laughter, in the face of Spring, is descending upon the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. It’s not a blizzard (or “snowmaggedon” or “snowpocalypse”), but it’s snowing, nonetheless. Did I mention that I’m ready for Spring? The Council for Better Driving advises caution when taking to the streets today.

Last night, SaraRules and I visited her folks for a little bit. I had to take something to her father: A fresh new copy of the new TPB of The Middleman: The Collected Series Indispensability. He was pleasantly surprised by it. Yep, “Favored Son-In-Law” status: Confirmed.

After that, we went to dinner at Thai Orchid. (This came after we discovered that neither of us had taken the steaks we had planned to have for dinner out of the freezer to thaw…) I had forgotten that I’d been there a few months ago, with Josh and Marci. I had the Pad Kee Mao, which was moderately spicy, but very good.

When we got home, SaraRules tuned in Project Runway. They had an interesting challenge: The designers not only had to create a fashion item, but they got to design their own fabric, as well. Most of the choices were creative, some were… not-so-creative (and kind of boring). While watching this, I was going through the files I’d need to complete the gaming board for Dr. Volt’s. I thought that I had a decent handle on how to proceed, but when I started on it, I discovered that some of the pieces were slightly different measurements than I had thought. Not enough to completely stop production, but enough to make me consider a few things differently.

Stray Toasters

• Monkeys. *sigh* The phrase “Act your age, not your shoe size” has already been brought to mind this morning…
• WorldWorksGames has dropped another bombshell. TWO of them, actually:
  • Mayhem: Streets of Legend
  • Mayhem: Armoury 1

  Both are part of their TerrainlinX line, so they can be built modularly and are updates of a couple of their older sets: Streets of Mayhem and Mayhem Armoury, respectively. I saw these late last night/VERY early this morning, while working on the masterboard. And, yes, I snatched them up immediately. I have some buildin’ in my future, it seems…

• 
• Cancer Threat from Tanning Beds May Prompt FDA Changes
• I neglected to mention that my superpower kicked in the other night, while I was at the mall: I ran into Pat and Adriana, whom I haven’t seen in over six months. And, for a surprise-packed surprise: Adriana is pregnant! I had no idea.
• Zombie Survival Transportation
• How to Fit a House and Garage Into 2000 Stylish Sq. Ft.
• By way of Mike B. and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file : ChatRoulette / Lady Gaga Telephone Mash-up
• Badass of the Week: Lydia Litvyak
• I said come on Fhqwhgads
  I said come on Fhqwhgads
• Ultra: 10 Songs to Shake the Dance Floor

I should figure out what I want to do for lunch…

Namaste.

Thursday – 25 March 2010
Another NBN Thursday kicks off in the valley. This morning is a bit overcast, but the forecast isn’t calling for rain… at least not that I’m aware of. Doesn’t really matter, either way, because I kicked off the morning with 112 and that is a good thing:

I left work a little early yesterday; I was tired and my productivity  was flagging. I took that as an indicator that it would be beneficial to go home and take a nap. And that’s exactly what I did. And it was good. After that, SaraRules and I headed to Dask’s for a bite to eat. She later went to see Legally Blonde: The Musical with Melissa, while I stayed home and read yesterday’s four-color haul. After that, it was off to the mall to see if the local Eddie Bauer store to pick up a new pair of jeans – they were out of my size – and to do a little window shopping. I headed home and watched another episode of 24 — I’m slowly catching up on this season.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s word of the day is: Copacetic.
  (Not to be confused with “Copacabana“)
• Easter flowers for the mother-units: Check.
• By way of SaraRules:
  • First Sikh in decades graduates at US Army officer school
  • Flash mobs take violent turn in Philadelphia
• From the “Titles I Wish I Had Made Up” file: How the TSA will inspect your monkey
• It appears that Angela Bassett, who would have been my first choice to play Storm in an X-Men movie, will be appearing in the upcoming Green Lantern movie as Amanda Waller.
• 
• Steampunk Stormtrooper Helmet, Boba Fett and Princess Leia
• Grieving mothers blame baby slings for infant deaths
• The WWG railroad masterboard for Dr. Volt’s should get some structure tonight. I’d like to have it ready to deliver for Saturday’s tournament.
• Gates eases ban on gays in the military
• Iron Alloy Could Create Earthquake-Proof Buildings
• Several coaches not thrilled about how owners held OT vote
• Alien vs. Pooh: Webcomics realize their full potential at last

And with that… meeting time!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 24 March 2010
The sun is out.
It’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday.
And, the work day morning is starting off with a little Ludacris:

Last night, I headed over to Chris’ to play dolls. We decided to do a 1500-point Avengers vs. Justice Society of America game. We played on the “Fountain of Asgard” map, which I don’t think that I had previously played on. It was a good game; while I won’t say that Chris completely picked my team apart (My Superman did, however, fall at the hands of a angry Hercules…), he did win the game. Decisively. It was fun and we both got to field some pieces that we hadn’t had opportunities to play before.

Stray Toasters

• I just made a bet with Bret over this year’s NFL games (although, it may just be down to the Ravens vs. Steelers games). The loot: Jersey of the winner’s choice.
• March 24, 2001: Apple Unleashes Mac OS X
• For sale in Utah: “die-hard survivalist bunker”, just in case anyone is looking to move out here to The Land Behind the Zion Curtain…
• 
• Amy: Kitty Pryde comes back today.  Just thought you should know.
• Jackie Wilson: The Singer and the Showman
• Cost-cutting is important in tough times but too much can cause harm
• I’m not quite sure what to make of this Lil’ Vampire Pacifier, but this picture does amuse me:



• App developers are gearing up for Apple’s iPad
• WizKids has posted their 2010 release schedule
  • April ’10 – The Brave & The Bold
  • May ’10 – Blackest Night Starter
  • July ’10 – The Watchmen 25 Figure Collector Set
  • August ’10 – Web of the Spiderman
  • October ’10 – Brightest Day (7 Figures – Like starter but no fiddly bits)
  • November ’10 – DC 75th Anniversary Set
  • Q4 2010 – Halo Reach ActionClix (Battle Packs & Mega Battle Pack)

• US charges car firm Daimler with violating bribery laws
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Bacon-flavored toothpicks
• HOW TO: Run an Ultramarathon

Back to it.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 23 March 2010
This morning there was… well… to call it a “flurry” would be a bit of an overstatement. Yes, there were snow flakes. Yes, they were falling. But, no, they weren’t falling en masse. And, you sort of had to look to see that there really was snow falling and that it wasn’t an illusion or trick of light.

Last night, I needed some “down time.” I got it. It was good. I spent a portion of the time assembling a team of ‘Clix for tonight’s game with Chris.

I am often amused and stymied by the randomness of the music that pops into my head first thing in the morning. Today was no exception. This morning’s “Song Stuck on Repeat” was Only In My Dreams, by Debbie Gibson. Yeah. Really. And, to be honest, it wasn’t even the whole song. It was mostly just a few lines from the first verse. I blame my old dorm-mate, Mark D., for this one — he was a pretty big fan of hers, back in the day.  Thanks, Mark.

Stray Toasters

• The Arc of Electromagnetic Radiation Connection
• National Chains Turning to Free Food on Tuesday
  • Special Note: Today is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s
• 
  
  The bill passed.  This is not necessarily a “bad” thing.  Move along. Thank you.
• From the far-too-infrequently-used “Cyberpunk” tag: The Beauty of Bones (and Skinput)
• Drink Darker Coffee for a Happier Stomach
• Nyx sent me a link to this:
  
  …which, in turn, reminded me of this:

  ….as well as the Closer fan video, but I figured that I’d keep things safe-for-work today.

• Binder Clips as Cable Catchers Redux
  This kind of simplicity and ingenuity reminds me of the old – and quite false – chestnut about NASA, in the early days of ‘The Space Race,’ attempting to develop a pen that would write in space (pesky ink vs. zero-gravity issues and whatnot…), where as the Russian space program found a very simple, but effective solution: They just used pencils.
• Wrecking ball lamp.  I like. Quite a bit. I’m not sure, but it might even find a spot on The Covet List.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Row over ‘torture’ on French TV
• Youdunnit: Locked Room Murder, Backwards in Time
• From the “Double dumb-ass on you!” file: US couple jailed after boasting on TV about shoplifting toys

Back to the grind…

Namaste.

Monday – 22 March 2010
To quote Mr. Rogers: “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…” The sun’s getting ready to put in an appearance over the mountains, there are a few clouds in the sky (although the forecast says we’ll get some precipitation later in the day) and the temps are supposed to be in the middle 50s.

Yesterday was a somewhat lazy and quiet day. I slept in a bit and then hung out in the living room, playing on the Interwebs. After SaraRules got up, we headed over to Rich’s Bagels for a bite to eat before she had to head downtown for the last performance of The Italian Girl in Algiers. When she left, I had all kinds of grand designs of how I’d spend the afternoon:

• Drawing
• Building a WWG masterboard for Dr. Volt’s
• Playing LEGO Batman
• Reading comics

Suffice if to say that the world was my proverbial oyster! So, how did I spend my time?

Cleaning.

That’s right… cleaning. It needed to be done, so I can’t really say that it was a waste of time.

When I was done, I headed up to the local Beans & Brews for a frozen mocha (no shots, the espresso machine was on the fritz) and to sketch up a design for the WWG masterboard – I’m going to build a railroad station.

>> FAST FORWARD >>

SaraRules fixed a tasty dinner of seasoned shrimp over rice pilaf and I threw together a salad to go with it. We had a white wine – I can’t remember what it was though – to go with it; it was very palatable.

After dinner – and some shopping – we came home and watched Surrogates. It was a good movie and an interesting analogue to Gamer, in the same way that Armageddon and Deep Impact were analogous. I would have to say that Surrogates was a better movie, on the whole, though.

Stray Toasters

• I woke up this morning with Hey Ya! running through my head.
• Four Alternatives to Jeans as Usual
• It seems that we’re about to have a new health care bill. I, for one, say that this is a “good” thing.
• Nyx shared a picture that made me laugh… which is a great thing for a Monday morning:



• Palm’s sales slump as its new phones struggle
• Purdue’s men’s basketball team made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Next up: Duke.
• Antique Typewriters – The Martin Howard Collection

I need more coffee.

Namaste.

Saturday – 20 March 2010
It’s the first day of Spring.
It’s sunny outside… hopefully, it will stay that way. Yesterday seemed to suffer from multiple personality disorder, as it was alternately sunny and snowy. Yeah. “Welcome to Utah — If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”

Yesterday was a good day, all around. I had lunch with Galadriel and Paul at California Pizza Kitchen. I hadn’t been there in… years, I don’t even know how many. I had their jamabalaya, which I recalled as being good. (It was, indeed, quite good.) The lunch was a kind of meet-and-greet for Paul and Galadriel — I realized that he could provide a wealth of information to her about finance and accounting and thought that it would be a good opportunity to set up some kind of mentoring relationship. Thankfully, it went very well. Fait accompli.

After lunch, as I was around the corner from where she worked, I stopped in to say “Hello,” to my friend, Danette.  We chatted for a couple of minutes before I was in the wind again.

Next stop: USUO offices.
Objective: Drop in for a quick visit to a certain SaraRules.
Mission: ACCOMPLISHED.

From USUO, I headed over to The Train Shoppe. I’ve been threatening to go there for a couple of weeks, but never quite getting around to it. They had an old Lionel 4-4-2 engine and tender with C&O markings that I’d seen the last time I visited the store…

…and I wanted it. Fortunately, it was still there. And it came home with me. It was from Lionel’s 6-1184 Alleghany Steam Freight Ready-to-Run Set, from 1971/1972.  I had originally planned to put it atop the railroad pictures in our dining room – I currently have some HO scale train pieces there now – but reconsidered when I realized just how much the engine weighs.

Next, I headed down to visit Kate and Perry. We shot the bull for a bit, as the kids played. While I was there, Perry showed me the opening credits from – and I wish I was making this up – a Japanese Spider-Man show. Yeah. Complete with a giant robot. O,o Madness. And just in case you think that this was all just some bizarre fever-dream:

There. Told you so. Straight from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file.

Next, it was home for a longer-than-planned pre-Clitorati nap… and then, I was off for the evening.

Stray Toasters

• Arrest made in Wal-Mart racial announcement incident
• For Galadriel: Spanish Inquisition
• Snoop Dogg wants to know why there are no black superheroes [UPDATED]
• Seeing the Littlest, Cutest Voltron of Them All Made Me Melt

Time to go greet the day.

Namaste.

Friday – 19 March 2010
It’s my 9/80 Friday off.  Amen.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. In it, former jewel thief John Robie is the prime suspect in a rash of high-dollar thefts. In order to clear his name, Robie has to figure out who the thief is and what his next target will be. This movie was fun… and funny.  “Witty” would be a better word than “funny,” in this case. It was also well-paced and well-acted. It was a definitely well worth watching.

After the movie, I did a little channel-surfing. I found Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee’s last movie. More whoop-ass per square inch than all six Rocky movies. The movie only had about 45 minutes left in it, by the time I turned to it… but that was hardly a reason not to watch it. After all: It had Bruce Lee.  I mentioned that, didn’t I? I did?  Okay, just checking.

To Catch a Thief:
Enter the Dragon:

I also realized that I didn’t give a rating to Alice in Wonderland, yesterday. Big oversight on my part.

Alice in Wonderland:

Stray Toasters

• Back to using the standard WordPress interface, for this post at least. I’m still liking MacJournal, on the whole, but I need to spend some time getting to learn how to use it more effectively.
• Jake Theis is back at WizKids. Bully for him! I enjoyed his posts on the old WK site, especially his “behind the scenes” looks at what went into branding and marketing. It will be good to see what he brings to the table now that he’s back on the block.
• Commodore is back.
• I was watching Property Virgins (I think) last night and they featured a young teacher from Ottawa, ON who had accepted a job in Dubai and was looking for a home. Every time they said “Abu Dhabi,” I kept wanting to substitute in “La Di Da Di.”  And for those of you who are unfamiliar with it:
• “Piracy” sounds too sexy, say rightsholders
• I just saw a commercial for Brawny paper towels that had the lumberjack on the package singing Lean On Me… and while I’m not bothered by the “uncanny valley,” the animation on the character looked… wrong.
• Bill Nye the Science Guy: Don’t Worry, Your Phone Isn’t Making You Dumb
• Google Reported Ready to Leave China April 10
• 
• A few weeks ago, I toyed with the idea of tossing a game-related blog/sub-blog on the site. Mostly, I wanted a centralized way to contact the HeroClix tournament regulars… and to have a way for people to easily contact one another, in case someone wanted to kick off a pick-up game during the week or on non-tournament weekends. I found BuddyPress. It looked like just the thing to fit the bill. I installed it – a few times – to try and get the setup right. And never did. It turned out that BP builds on WordPress MU (“multi-user”), rather than the standard version of WP. Once I got that installed, things seemed to fall more or less into place. There’s still a little tweaking to do on it, but I’m happy with where it is at this point.
• UCSB Physicists Show Theory of Quantum Mechanics Applies to the Motion of Large Objects
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: TV presenter gets death sentence for ‘sorcery’
• Old Websites Sure Are Embarrassing

Time to get a wiggle on, I have people to meet for lunch!

Namaste.

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

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

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

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

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

Namaste.

Wednesday – 17 March 2010
Happy Green Lantern Day.
(And for the rest of you: Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.)
Today is also Comics and Sushi Wednesday — that’s right, it’s a three sushi meal week!
Win, Win and Win.

Last night was a low key night. There was no opera last night, so SaraRules had the night off. After work, we had dinner and then went on a trip to check out Tai Pan Trading. It was more… knick-knacks and what have you than we expected; we were thinking that there would be more furniture and larger goods. *shrug* Oh, well… now we know (and knowing is half the battle!). Next up, we hit the local Old Navy and Target and then headed back home.

Once we got in, SaraRules watched Project Runway; I split my time between watching Project Runway and my inner eyelids. I made a (quick-ish) run to Wal-Mart and then came home and watched a couple of shows that I’d recorded: Shatner’s Raw Nerve, with guest Leonard Nimoy, and an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Stray Toasters

• Look around the Internet and you’ll find many articles about the National Broadband Plan and “FCC pushes to get broadband internet to more people.” Granted, I am a big fan of the Internet and of broadband, but… I find it interesting that people are so gung-ho about getting faster Internet, but can’t seem to wrap their heads around the idea of fixing the problems in our schools or in providing better health care – or even just BASIC health care – to Americans.
• New high-speed rail network could trump air travel
• WizKids! realized that they published the Power Girl ‘Clix figure and card without one kind of important stat: Super Strength. (Yeah, Kryptonians aren’t exactly known as being slouches in the strength department). They posted the corrected version on Monday.
• For Galadriel:
• 
• NASA Finds Shrimp Where No Advanced Life Should Be: 600 Feet Beneath Antarctic Ice
• LEGO + Ninjas = Awesomeness
• ClockworkZero: Cyberpunk and Steampunk Jewelry
• Michael Chabon on Columbia, MD
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: IRS visits Sacramento carwash in pursuit of 4 cents
• Florida Family Policy Council “mistakenly” uses wrong photo of lesbian parents
• Super power: Visualizing the internet — Of the 100 listed, I have 19 bookmarked.
• Break the law and your new ‘friend’ may be the FBI

And that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 16 March 2010
Last night, a group of us took the advice of Queen and had “A Night at the Opera.” We saw Utah Opera’s production of The Italian Girl in Algiers, by Rossini. Thanks to SaraRules, we had amazing seats: Grand Tier, second row center. This afforded an amazing view of the stage and supertitles.

The opera was more light-hearted than your standard fare. And, after the production, SaraRules informed me that it was directed by the same person who directed La Cenerentola a couple of years ago — once she said that, I could note similarities in the staging. It was a fun opera, made even more enjoyable by the group who went… and, more notably, by the fact that SaraRules was in the production. She was a supernumerary; her role was as one of the harem girls. She and her coworker, Melissa (another super in the production), even garnered a small write-up in The Salt Lake Tribune, where they were noted as being “remarkably funny.” It was a good way to spend the evening. The opera runs through Sunday, if you’re looking for a fun change of pace, you should consider seeing this production.

Stray Toasters

• I’m still finding things that I do – and don’t – like about MacJournal. Testing continues…
• Nude performers cause a stir at New York museum
• Steampunk St. Patrick’s Day video
• From the “Don’t call it a comeback, he’s been here for years” file: Tiger Woods to return to golf at Masters
• How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly ‘Sushi’ Rolls
• You’re Leaving a Bacterial Fingerprint on Your Keyboard
• LaDainian Tomlinson is going from the Chargers to the Jets.
• Undateable: A Style Guide to Everything You’re Doing Wrong

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Monday – 15 March 2010
“Beware the Ides of March…”

Saturday’s tournament went well. In a 500-point limit match, you expect to see scores in the 1300-1500 range, for the winner. Not so with this event: The winner clocked in with 1767 points — he had a feat on some characters that garnered him extra points for winning. Well played. Well played, indeed.

After the tournament, SaraRules and I did some errand-running. In the snow. That’s right: Snow. BLAH. But we trudged on. And, when she left to make her stage call for the opera, I kept running errands. (They had to get done and weren’t going to get done by themselves.)

After the running around had been buttoned-up, I still managed to make it to The E-Center and caught the third period of the Grizzlies hockey game. (I bought the ticket; I should get to enjoy the game, at least.) Galadriel, Mary, Matt and I went to Hopper’s for post-game dinner. I had the “Far From Philadelphia” cheese steak sandwich and fries… and a Madame X Stout.

Sunday morning, I woke up and played around on the Interwebs until SaraRules got up. We had a light breakfast and then headed to Cedar City to hang out with Lish — who was in town for Josh’s wedding — for a while.

SaraRules and Lish got to talk shop and catch up on things. Then we headed to find something for dinner, which was no small feat in Cedar City on a Sunday evening. We went to Ninja Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi. (Who’d’ve thought it…?!) We sat at a hibachi table, so we got dinner and a show. I had the Steak and Chicken combination, with gyoza and a couple of pieces of Ika nigiri. Yep, there’s a chance that this is a two-sushi-meal week. Mm-hmm, that’s right! After dinner, we dropped Steve off and made our way northward… by way of the local Dairy Queen.

Stray Toasters

• Hopefully, everyone remembered to “Spring Forward” and didn’t wind up an hour late for anything yesterday… or today.
• Yesterday was also Pi Day.
• Fake Russian invasion broadcast sparks Georgian panic
• ‘Mission: Impossible’ actor Peter Graves dead at 83
• Artist Helps New York ‘LEGO’ of Its Crumbling Buildings, courtesy of Amy
  • When she showed me this, it reminded me of an article that I had seen a while ago. I clicked through a link in the article and found the very item that I was thinking of, this.
• Coffee inhaler. Why have I not heard of this before?!

Duty calls.
Namaste.