Random Access

Saturday – 06 February 2010
Today is Bit’s second birthday.

(taken at our wedding in October)

This morning, I got together with Perry and two of his kids and attended The Great Train Expo at South Towne Expo Center (pictures here). The show was smaller than I expected, but it was still a good bit of fun. I managed to find an O Scale Lionel “Maryland” box car, that I couldn’t leave without purchasing:

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s person is Louis Farrakhan.

Louis Farrakhan, (born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. He is an advocate for black interests, and a critic of American society. Farrakhan has been both widely praised and criticized for his often controversial political views and rhetorical style.

As a child, he received training as a violinist. At the age of six, he was given his first violin and by the age of thirteen, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra and the Boston Civic Symphony. A year later, he went on to win national competitions, and was one of the first black performers to appear on Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, where he also won an award. He graduated with honours from the prestigious Boston English High School, where he also played the violin and was a member of the track team. He attended the Winston-Salem Teachers College from 1951 to 1953 but dropped out to pursue a career in music. Known as “The Charmer,” he performed professionally on the Boston nightclub circuit as a singer of calypso and country songs.

In 1955, while headlining a show in Chicago entitled “Calypso Follies,” he first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam. A friend from Boston, sometime saxophonist Rodney Smith, introduced him to the NOI’s doctrine and he attended the annual Saviours’ Day address by Elijah Muhammad. He joined the Nation of Islam in July 1955, becoming Louis X. The “X” was a placeholder following the dropping of the slave name, referring to the loss of the unknown surname of his slave forefathers, and preceding the Islamic name some Nation members are given later in their conversion.

Louis X first proved himself at Temple No. 7 in Harlem, where he emerged as the protégé of Malcolm X, the minister of the temple and one of the most prominent members of the Nation of Islam. Louis X was given his Muslim name, Abdul Haleem Farrakhan, by Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan was appointed head minister of Boston Temple No. 11, which Malcolm had established earlier. After Malcolm X’s break with the Nation in 1964 over political and personal differences with Elijah Muhammad, Farrakhan replaced Malcolm as head minister of Harlem’s Temple No. 7 and as the National Representative of the Nation, the second in command of the organization.

Farrakhan has been the center of much controversy, and critics claim that some of his views and comments have been racist or homophobic. Farrakhan has categorically denied these charges, and has stated that much of America’s perception of him has been shaped by media sound bites. This defense is echoed by religion scholar Mattias Gardell, who argues that, when considered in the context of Farrakhan’s typically lengthy lectures, many of Farrakhan’s controversial comments take on a more nuanced or thoughtful meaning that cannot be conveyed in a sound bite.

Stray Toasters

• Chris came over yesterday to play an Asgardian battle of HeroClix.
  He totally pwned me… but it was still a good time.
• d°light Bubbles LED Squeezable Lights
• A couple of LEGO-riffic items:
  • Endor Bunker
  • Touchscreen-Controlled LEGO Airbus A380 Has Motherf*cking Snakes on Board
    
• Holy Smokes!
• Working Steampunk Firearms
• I’ve been thinking about putting together an Astonishing X-Men team for next Saturday’s tournament:
  • Cyclops (Danger Room)
  • Shadowcat (Sinister)
  • Beast (Mutations & Monsters)
  • Wolverine (Sinister)
  • Emma Frost (Mutations & Monsters)… and
  • Lockheed (Sinister) – I’m working on a figure mod and using the pog from Sinister for his stats.
• There Is Much Wrong with This Batman iPod Shirt
• How Oil-Filled Lenses Are Bringing Sight to Those in Need
• Cheshire Cat papercraft
• Microsoft Finally to Patch 17-Year Old Bug

Time to get ready for some pre-Super Bowl shopping and then to see Utah Symphony, with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy tonight.

Namaste.

Friday – 05 February 2010
It’s my 9/80 Friday off. Amen.

Last night, we had loonybin88 and his family over for dinner. On the menu: Jambalaya, salad, beans, rice and cornbread. For dessert, we had ice cream over brownies, with ginger snaps. It was a nice way to spend the evening.

Today, Chris is coming over in a little while. That’s right: HeroClix game time. We’re doing an Asgardian battle, as we haven’t played a game with Thor and company. We’ll see how it goes…

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s spotlighted person is civil rights activist Medgar Evers

Medgar Wiley Evers  was born July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi, the son of James, a small farm and a sawmill worker, Jessie Evers. James, as well as Medgar’s maternal great-grandfather Joseph Evers were two men that also fought for their freedom.

Determined to get the education he deserved after the lynching of a family friend, Evers walked twelve miles to and from school to earn his high school diploma. In 1943 he was inducted into the army along with his older brother Charlie. Evers fought in France, the European Theatre of WWII and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a Sergeant. In 1948, Evers enrolled at Alcorn College (now Alcorn State University), majoring in business administration. In college, he was on the debate team, played football and ran track, sang in the school choir and served as president of his junior class. He received his BA degree in 1952.

Upon graduation, Evers moved to Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he began working as an insurance salesman. He and his older brother, Charles Evers, also worked on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organizing local affiliates in Philadelphia. In 1954, Medgar quit the insurance business; he subsequently applied and was denied admission to the University of Mississippi Law School. His unsuccessful effort to integrate the state’s oldest public educational institution attracted the attention of the NAACP’s national office. Later that year, Evers moved to the state capital of Jackson and became the first state field secretary of the NAACP in Mississippi. As state field secretary, Evers recruited members throughout Mississippi and organized voter-registration efforts, demonstrations, and economic boycotts of white-owned companies that practiced discrimination. He also worked to investigate crimes perpetrated against blacks, most notably the lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy who had allegedly been killed for talking to a white woman.

As early as 1955, Evers’ activism made him the most visible civil rights leader in the state of Missisippi. As a result, he and his family were subjected to numerous threats and violent actions over the years, including a firebombing of their house in May 1963. At 12:40 a.m. on June 12, 1963, Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in Jackson. He died less than a hour later at a nearby hospital.

Evers was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery, and the NAACP posthumously awarded him their 1963 Spingarn Medal. The national outrage over Evers’ murder increased support for legislation that would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Immediately after Evers’ death, the NAACP appointed his brother Charles to his position. Charles Evers went on to become a major political figure in the state; in 1969, he was elected the mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, becoming the first African-American mayor of a racially mixed Southern town since the Reconstruction.

Stray Toasters

• sent me a link to Soldier of Love, by Sade.
  I countered with this.
• Paul Levitz Prepares for a LEGION of DC Writing Assignments
• “…and it’s generally agreed he’ll be 120 or so.”
• Hello Chainsaw



• H.R. Giger Cake
• What happens to those 3D glasses after ‘Avatar’?
• 
• From NPR Music: The Gun Show: A Winter Workout Mix
• Nyx also sent a link to Ohio Cave Wedding, from Offbeat Bride
• Science of Gun Duels
• I wish that WizKids would hurry up and post today’s sneak peak at a new Blackest Night figure…

I should probably start getting a team together before Chris shows up.

Namaste.

Thursday – 04 February 2010
Another NBN Thursday gets under way.
And it’s my “Technical Friday.”
And it’s sunny and nominally “warm.”
And, it’s a suit day: Olive suit, white shirt, burgundy conversational tie (it has candles on it).
Those are the makings of a good morning.

Today is also World Cancer Day.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Cafe Zupas for dinner. We both had sandwiches and soup and we split a “Sinful 7” cheesecake dessert. Next, a quick trip to the store — we are having loonybin88 and his family over for dinner tonight – jambalaya! – and needed some fixin’s. Then, back home for couch time (which included Breakfast at Tiffany’s and some four-color reading).

Today, I only have one meeting. At least, I only have one on my schedule… so far. Hopefully, the day will remain relatively meeting-free.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s spotlighted person is W.E.B. Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, historian, author, and editor.

Du Bois graduated from Fisk University, a black institution at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1888. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895; although Du Bois took an advanced degree in history, he was broadly trained in the social sciences. Du Bois received many honorary degrees, was a fellow and life member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He was the outstanding African American intellectual of his period in America.

Although Du Bois had originally believed that social science could provide the knowledge to solve the race problem, he gradually came to the conclusion that in a climate of virulent racism, expressed in such evils as lynching, peonage, disfranchisement, Jim Crow segregation laws, and race riots, social change could be accomplished only through agitation and protest. In this view, he clashed with the most influential black leader of the period, Booker T. Washington, who, preaching a philosophy of accommodation, urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being and elevate themselves through hard work and economic gain, thus winning the respect of the whites.

At the turn of the century, he had been an advocate of black capitalism and black support of black business, but by about 1905 he had been drawn toward socialist doctrines. Although he joined the Socialist Party only briefly in 1912, he remained sympathetic with Marxist ideas throughout the rest of his life.

In 1905, Du Bois took the lead in founding the Niagara Movement, which was dedicated chiefly to attacking the platform of Booker T. Washington. The small organization, which met annually until 1909, was seriously weakened by internal squabbles and Washington’s opposition. But it was significant as an ideological forerunner and direct inspiration for the interracial NAACP, founded in 1909. Du Bois played a prominent part in the creation of the NAACP and became the association’s director of research and editor of its magazine, Crisis.

Upon leaving the NAACP, he returned to Atlanta University, where he devoted the next 10 years to teaching and scholarship. Following this, he returned once more to a research position at the NAACP (1944–48). This brief connection ended in a bitter quarrel, and thereafter Du Bois moved steadily leftward politically. Identified with pro-Russian causes, he was indicted in 1951 as an unregistered agent for a foreign power. Although a federal judge directed his acquittal, Du Bois had become completely disillusioned with the United States. In 1961 he joined the Communist Party and, moving to Ghana, renounced his American citizenship more than a year later.

Du Bois’s most lasting contribution is his writing. As poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, sociologist, historian, and journalist, he wrote 21 books, edited 15 more, and published over 100 essays and articles.

Stray Toasters

• The 10 Most Useful Gadgets from Science Fiction and Comics
  Check out Item #5.  (And, to answer the question posed in Item #5: “Yes and no.”  “Yes,” for rookie GLs, but “no” for veterans, who have learned to overcome “the yellow impurity.”)
• Men At Work lose plagiarism case in Australia
• TV newsroom worker looking at nude photos in background
  • pointed out this follow-up: Was banker set up over saucy Miranda?
• First Listen: Massive Attack, ‘Heligoland’
• pointed out this bit of awesomeness: An aircraft carrier… made of LEGO

  
  (click here for full-sized view)

• Sci-fi Novels to Keep You Awake at Night
• I still haven’t gotten around to watching Planet Hulk.  Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow.
• Altitude Causes Weight Loss Without Exercise
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Woman Charged with Selling Goth Kittens
• Star Trek plush dolls

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 February 2010
It’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday. Selah.

Last night was fairly low-key. SaraRules made pasta (stuffed with cheese and shrimp) for dinner. After eating and NCIS, we headed to the local Best Buy where I exhibited an uncharacteristic amount of willpower and only bought three things: Planet Hulk, Zombieland and a pack of batteries. I picked up – and put down – Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, DC Universe vs. Mortal Kombat and… “a few” Mac-related items. I was rather proud of myself. Next, we stopped at Toys ‘R’ Us and Target to pick up a couple of things for Bit’s upcoming birthday. While at Target, my superpower kicked in: We ran into Fiona and Jamie, whom I haven’t seen in… many moons.

Back at home, we tested out a brownie recipe for the Brownie Challenge, coming up at the end of the month. The experiment worked out fairly well, but I think I’m going to explore a couple of other options. As the brownies baked, we watched last night’s NCIS: Los Angeles.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s spotlight will focus on Shirley Chisholm.

Mrs. Chisholm was the first black woman elected to Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms. Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969 as one of its founding members.

On January 25, 1972, she became the first major-party black candidate for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination; she received 152 first-ballot votes at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

“I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States. I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or special interests. I am the candidate of the people.”

She continued to serve in the House of Representatives until 1982. From 1977 to 1981, during the 95th Congress and 96th Congress, Chisholm was elected to a position in the House Democratic leadership, as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus. Throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm worked to improve opportunities for inner-city residents. She was a vocal opponent of the draft and supported spending increases for education, health care and other social services, and reductions in military spending. She retired from politics after her last term in office.

Chisholm retired to Florida and died on January 1, 2005.

Stray Toasters

• Hello, Business Impact Analysis survey.
  That was an interesting way to kick of the work day. At least the assessor was a decent enough chap.
• Medical journal recants 1998 story linking autism to vaccine
• Zombie/NPR fan-fiction
• The Potential for a 40-MPH Man
• Ronny Jordan: The Jackal
  • Added bonus for fans of The West Wing – C.J. Cregg Does ‘The Jackal’

• Adobe CTO Defends Flash Against Apple HTML 5
• Fantastic photography of Michael Paul Smith
• Photographer Loves Math; Graphs Her Images
• From Snorg Tees:


(click here to see t-shirt)

• Truck driver forgets to lower trailer
• Displax film could turn nearly any surface into a touchscreen, make your keyboard irate

Namaste.

Tuesday – 02 February 2010
It’s Groundhog Day.
Be on the lookout for Bill Murray.
According to Punxsutawney Phil, looks like six (6) more weeks of Winter. Of course, being here in The Land Behind the Zion Curtain, we can most likely expect something more like… 12 – 16 weeks of potentially winter-like weather. Just saying.

Last night I had an… odd.. dream. I only remember three specific things about it:

1. Part of it took place in my grandparents’ house,
2. My father was in it, and
3. Someone was listening to the Jackie Mason at some point in it.

I’m okay with the first two things; the third, however… I have never really been a Jackie Mason fan. In fact, the only thing that I ever recall liking him in were The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons, that were part of the old Pink Panther cartoons.

EDIT: I just looked up info for The Ant and the Aardvark. It turns out that it wasn’t Jackie Mason, after all. It was John Byner impersonating Mason. Huh.

Last night was a lazy night in. I was at work late – hooray for 10.5 hour days! – and stopped off for Chinese food on the way home.  Once in, I sat down to dinner and an episode of Burn Notice. Win-Win. SaraRules got home a little later; we rounded out the evening with a couple of episodes of Top Gear on BBC America.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s person of note is Grace Bumbry:

Ms. Bumbry, is an American opera singer (mezzo-soprano). She was a member of a generation of singers who followed Marian Anderson in the world of classical music and paved the way for future African-American opera and classical singers. She was particularly noted for her fiery temperament and dramatic intensity on stage.

Her international career began in 1960. She sang Amneris in Aïda–an epic challenge even for the most seasoned mezzos. She was just 23 years old and this was her operatic debut, at the Paris Opera. It was an unconditional triumph that led to another major career milestone the following year and a performance that would change the face of opera forever.

In 1961, Wieland Wagner, grandson of Richard Wagner, cast Bumbry as Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser. As the Goddess of Love that seduces Wagner’s noble hero, Bumbry would be the first black opera singer to appear at Bayreuth, the world’s most revered shrine to the great composer and his art.

Ms. Bumbry also performed at the White House, before President and Mrs. Kennedy:

“If I go to dinner,” said the diva. “I’ll eat and not sing very well.” But this was no ordinary invitation, and so Mezzo-Soprano Grace Bumbry, 25, took her place at President Kennedy’s table in the state dining room of the White House, dutifully nibbled at the first course and at the dessert. Then she adjourned with the other guests to the East Room and soared flawlessly through the most important recital of her career.

Singing magnificently in her rich, bronzelike voice, she began with O del mio dolce ardor, by Gluck, went on to Quella fiamma che m’accende, by Benedetto Marcello, Ständchen and Zueignung, by Richard Strauss. Invitation au Voyage and Le Manoir de Rosamonde, by Henri du Pare, Boatmen’s Dance, by Aaron Copland. Out in the Fields with God, by William Dawson.

Jackie Kennedy had extended the invitation after hearing from friends of Mezzo Bumbry’s triumphs in Europe. (from Time Magazine article)

In the 1990s, she also founded and toured with the Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble, a group devoted to preserving and performing traditional Negro spirituals.

Her last operatic appearance was as Clytemnestra in Richard Strauss’s “Elektra” in Lyon in 1997. She has since devoted herself to teaching and judging international competitions; and to the concert stage, giving a series of recitals in 2001 and 2002 in honor of Lehmann.

More recently, she has also become known as a recitalist and interpreter of lieder, and as a teacher. From the late 1980s on, she seemed to concentrate her career in Europe, rather than in the US.

Stray Toasters

• Feb. 2, 1935: You Lie
  • Another contributor to what evolved into the modern polygraph was William Moulton Marston, who is also fairly well-known for another of his creations: Wonder Woman.
• New Hearing Aid Uses Your Tooth to Transmit Sound
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Indonesian man loses his teeth in a cigarette explosion
• Awesome Card Flourishes
  Thanks to the in-laws, I have a shirt from English Laundry. I’ve been quite pleased with its quality, look and feel.  I can gladly recommend this clothing line.
• Heat-Changing Arcade Mugs

  

  I think I kind of covet this mug.

• AT-AT Lido Cup (also available as a postcard)



• ATM Skimmers
• From Fish to Infinity
• Apple iPad May Ship with Webcam

Namaste.

Monday – 01 February 2010
Not only is it the start of a new work week, it’s the beginning of Black History Month. (More on this below.)

This past weekend was pretty well chock full of action. Saturday, I ran another ‘Clix tournament at Dr. Volt’s. I stole borrowed creatively acquired liberated in the name of the people (yes, that’s much better) the format from – HeroClix Extreme Wrestling Federation:

Each player’s team was comprised of six (6) figures, one at up to each of the following values: 75, 125, 175, 225, 275 and 325 points. Each player rolled a d6 to see which of their figures started the game – this created a few interesting dynamics, as some players’ lowest-point figures went against others’ highest-point figures.  🙂 Whenever a figure took damage from an attack, it had to “tag out,” so the player would roll the die to see which figure replaced the “old” one.

There were eleven players (ten teams again, as the two youngest played as a team). The format seemed to go over quite well. I wasn’t sure that I would get a chance to play, but I took a team, just in case:

• 75 points – Gamora
• 125 points – Susan Richards (Skrull)
• 175 points – Ms. Marvel (Skrull)
• 225 points – Crispus Allen (LE), with Fortitude
• 275 points – Apocalypse, with Fortitude
• 325 points – Superman (Earth-2, Crisis)

It was a good thing that I took them, as one player had to leave early and I played a bye round. Wayne, the player I faced off against, tossed in the Malice Feat

I have determined that I am not a fan of this card… at least not in one-figure-on-the-table format. It’s a killer. But, it’s one that I might have to consider using in future games. I won the game, pretty handily – I only lost Cris Allen, but Wayne got the win, because of the bye.

After gaming was done, I headed home and changed. SaraRules and I then headed downtown for dinner (Olive Garden) and an evening at the symphony. They performed Shostakovich’ Tenth Symphony, under new Music Director Thierry Fischer. The program consisted of:

• Dmitri Shostakovich – Festive Overture in A Major, op. 96
• Johannes Brahms – Concerto for Violin in D Major, op. 77
  • featuring guest violinist Baiba Skride
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, op. 93

I’d never heard the Festive Overture, but it was the perfect piece to introduce “the new sound” of the Utah Symphony under Mr. Fischer’s guidance. It was brash, a bit ballsy and afforded the audience a great presentation of the orchestra’s range, from pianissimo to fortissimo. Mr. Fischer is a… dynamic… conductor.  I am looking forward to the seeing where Utah Symphony goes in the coming seasons.

Sunday, I woke up and headed to the local Borders to get in some drawrin’ time. I haven’t sat down to seriously focus on drawing in over a year. That’s bad. I took a few ‘Clix figures with me as models – they don’t complain about holding poses and they are easy to carry from place to place.  After a couple hours, I was satisfied that I’d made a decent foray back into the realm of applying pencil to paper.

Next, SaraRules and I made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. We went.  We shopped. We left… without cinnamon rolls. *shakes fist*

From there, we dropped off the new stuff at home and then headed up to the in-laws’ for dinner and the Pro Bowl. After they were done, we returned home… and did our taxes. Yay.

Chew on This: Food For Thought – Black History Month
As I mentioned above, today kicks off Black History Month. With that in mind, I thought that it would be interesting to do something along the lines of “The ABCs of Black History.” Today, we will kick off with The A&T Four:

On, 01 February 1960, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan (formerly known as Ezell Blair Jr.) and Joseph McNeil and the late David Richmond sat at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth’s store.

The store’s manager told his staff to leave the students alone, hoping they would eventually leave. However, Harris grew nervous that violence would soon ensue so he went to the police. Although he did not have the men arrested, assuming their demonstration would soon end, he did have several police officers stationed in the store.

The following morning the four students, along with 23 other men and 4 women showed up at Woolworth’s to protest. As the days went on, more and more students participated in the Woolworth sit-in. The number of students grew so large that by February 5, four days after the sit-in began, 300 students arrived at Woolworth’s to take part in the peaceful protest. On February 6, tensions mounted between the blacks and whites at the lunch counter. As white reaction to the demonstration grew more violent, a bomb scare forced the protesters out of Woolworth’s and C.L. Harris closed his store for over two weeks.

All four would emerge unscathed and eventually be recognized as heroes of the civil rights movement.

For more information, see http://www.sitins.com

Stray Toasters

• It looks like a trip to the southern reaches of the Right Coast will have to be on tap for next year: LEGOLAND Florida scheduled to open in 2011
• posted a link to this entertaining read: All the Many Ways Amazon So Very Failed the Weekend
• Cool NASA Tech That Will Never See Space
• Perry just called to ask if I had seen this.

  

  I hadn’t. It is the Green Lantern figure from the upcoming HeroClix Blackest Night Starter Set. Now that I have, I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

• Who said it never rains in southern California?
• 
• found these items:
  • Black History Month Motivational Posters
  • Paint Your Own Glow-in-the-Dark Sketch Wall
• Paradise Highlands: Wonder Woman thoughts from Scotland
• Following up  a conversation thread from Clitorati last week: Inventor unveils $7,000 talking sex robot

Namaste.

Friday – 29 January 2010
TGIF and all that goes with that.

Last night, SaraRules and I attended two more movies at the Sundance Film Festival: Abel and Russian Lessons. Both movies were very good.

Abel told the story of a young boy in Mexico named, aptly enough: Abel (pronounced “AH-bel,” not “AY-bel”). From the Sundance film synopsis:

Adorable little Abel has problems in the head. His mother collects him from the psychiatric ward hoping not to upset him. She carefully discusses with his teacher how to deal with the absence of Abel’s father. The entire family is on pins and needles, worrying about Abel breaking down. But things take an interesting turn when the little boy emphatically carves out a new role for himself in the family—he decides to become the father of the house. Abel transforms the fear his family has about his episodes into the respect due to the head of the household. Oddly enough, it works! That is, until a stranger shows up at the breakfast table, claiming to be Abel’s father.

To simply say that this movie was… “quirky” would not quite do it justice. It was offbeat, yet still quite endearing. Watching the family, it was easy to spot dysfunctions in their relationships… but viewers  were quickly drawn in by the naturalness of the characters’ interactions – they could have been any family. Or every family. Even yours. Or mine.

In a rather unexpected move, this movie also employed silence as a way to define a certain moment in time, similarly to the way it was used in Contact or Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, or even the initial battle scene in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. And, as with each of those movies, along with the on-screen imagery, it was a very powerful use of a (lack of) sensory input.

I hope that this film finds its way to mass distribution. It certainly deserves it.

Russian Lessons was a documentary about the civil war between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Andrei Nekrasov, with directing partner Olga Konskaya, returns to Sundance with a formidable documentary that energetically delves into the violent and bewildering conflicts in the Caucasus, with Russia pitted against the former Soviet state of Georgia, and involving Georgia’s troubled regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Boldly visiting conflict zones rarely filmed, the codirectors uncover damning evidence of Russian violence, incidents whose few recorded images are often reprocessed in mass-media reports as evidence of other people’s crimes (often, supposedly, residents of Georgia).

The movie’s director, Andrei Nekrasov, spoke briefly before the film started. He called it “…a movie of sacrifice and hope.” SaraRules and I noted later that we both thought of Freedom Riders in the same light. Mr. Nekrasov went on to say that we “…can’t be happy without being aware that there is suffering in the world, but that we can change it through sympathy, empathy and love.” Something to note: Mr. Nekrasov is Russian, not Georgian. Yet, you could see that he struggled to make sense of how and why anyone – let alone his own countrymen – could rain down such atrocities and suffering upon people so unapologetically.

The movie, while a fine documentary, was not always easy to watch. Nor, would I imagine, was it easy to film.  The interviews showed the raw emotion of the people on both sides of the war. Mr. Nekrasov and Ms. Konskaya also did not pull any punches in showing the aftermath of the Russian assaults on the Georgian people – including an airstrike against a civilian apartment complex that occurred while Mr. Nekrasov was driving into that city.

This is yet another movie that I think deserves wide distribution. It is a movie that everyone should see… although it might be one of those movies that people only need to see once.

Stray Toasters

• Is it a bad sign that I’m tempted to get a few of these and hand them out to people at work?
• JD Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, dies at 91
  Matt Salinger, best/worst known for portraying Captain America in the 1990 movie, was the son of JD Salinger.
• Borders Group Lays Off 10% of Corporate Staff
• And now, MILESTONE FOREVER
• This might fall under both the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and “Too Much Free Time” headers:
• And I’ve been putting out fire
  With gasoline..
• While not perfect, I contend that the iPad is an interesting “middle child” in Apple’s portable technology family.



• …in a related note: Apple Change Quietly Makes iPhone, iPad into Web Phones

• For some reason, my ICQ account has decided that my password – the same one I’ve had for… over ten years – isn’t the one it wants. Oh, well.
• Tesco store bans shopping in pajamas
• An added plus to Supergirl #50: Helen Slater, Jake Black and Cliff Chiang
• Underwater Sculpture by Jason de Caires Taylor

Namaste.

Thursday – 28 January 2010
Last night, SaraRules and I went to a screening of a movie at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie was Freedom Riders (1, 2), a documentary about the Freedom Rides – a group of people dedicated to the ideal of tearing down the barriers of segregation on interstate buses.

Photograph (c) Corbis, 1961

From the Sundance synopsis:

In 1961 segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students—many of whom were the first in their families to attend a university—decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face to face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation.

The film was exceptionally well-done. Where many documentaries are cold and dry, just giving facts and names, Stanley Nelson, the film’s director, did an excellent job of presenting a piece of American history with equal portions of fact-finding and emotional resonance. At the film’s end, there was a brief Q&A session with Mr. Nelson, Laurens Grant (producer), Jim Zwerg, one of the Freedom Riders, and Raymond Arsenault, author of the book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, upon which the movie was based. It was especially interesting and intriguing to listen to Mr. Zwerg discuss how he became involved in the non-violent civil rights movement and how it affected his life.

This was a superb film and I highly recommend it to everyone.  There are two screenings remaining – Today at noon at Sundance and tomorrow at 0900 in Park City – and I strongly urge that anyone/everyone with the means to do so go see this movie.

Stray Toasters

• I get to give up The Leash this morning. Thank God. It had been quiet all week… until last night at 1910, in the middle of the movie, when it felt the desire to pass along a warning message. It pinged again, a few minutes later, to let me know that the situation had resolved itself. Perfect!  And then, it went off again at 0310 this morning… for the same thing. *grblsnrkx*
• Maybe I have an old-fashioned sense of office etiquette (or maybe I just missed a memo or something), but when did clipping one’s nails in the office – at one’s desk – become “okay?”*grblsnrkx*
• New Green Lantern Concept Art Brings the Corps into Grim Reality
• Ars Technica’s hands-on with the iCovet iPad
  • What do Indie Gaming’s All-Stars Think of Apple’s iPad
  • Hitler responds to the iPad

• IGN.com sits down with Grant Morrison to discuss BATMAN and ROBIN
• By way of , the Clever Hamsters jazz band:
• Kids, Castles & Caves
• I have not, as yet, acquired any Cadbury Creme Eggs this year. This must be rectified.
• I have, however, acquired another Butterfinger-covered caramel apple.
• Bruce Banner Channels ‘Gladiator’ in Planet Hulk
• Iggy Pop: The Voice as Weapon
• All Things Zombie + WWG Urban Mayhem terrain = Zombie Killing Battle Report!
• Ozzy Osbourne: I’m living on borrowed time

Time for meetings
Namaste.

Wednesday – 27 January 2010
Welcome to the middle of the week. I kicked off the morning with a little something to get the blood pumping…

I followed it up with a Take Me There (Blackstreet, feat. Mya and Ma$e) and Switch (Will Smith). Yep… good way to start the day.

Today also marks the day that Apple unveils their latest “secret weapon.” The announcement is just hours away and then we shall see what magic the Wizard of Jobs has for the masses. CNN had this to say about the expectations.

Stray Toasters

• Who has homemade coffee cake for breakfast?  That’s right… I do.
• Holocaust Day marked at Nazi death camp Auschwitz
• Rogers Canada forces Android upgrade that takes away root access
• Tron Legacy Bike Appears in Meatspace



• Marvel Comics’ ‘heroes will be heroes again’
  To say that the Marvel Universe has been “a little dreary” over the past few (seven!) years, would be something of an understatement. Some would even say it’s a gross understatement. Yes, there have been some rays of light, but they’ve seen far and few between. I’ve been a Marvel fan – although I’m not sure that I’ve ever been rabid enough to be considered a Marvel Zombie (the pre-Kirkman usage), but I’m pretty sure I qualify as a F.O.O.M. (Friend Of Ol’ Marvel) – since I was young, but in the past few years, I’ve drastically scaled back my Comics and Sushi Wednesday purchases of Marvel books. (That’s fine, because I like what’s been going on in the DC Universe. A lot.) Hopefully, Marvel Comics’ leadership has had a collective rectal craniotomy and can actually make the MU interesting to read about once more.



• Monkeys keep chatter ‘short and sweet’
• Cthulhu in Love perfume
  I think that this has to be one of the more… entertaining… marketing tag lines I’ve read/heard in a little while:

  There is a place in the Pacific Ocean – the farthest place from land on all sides. In the depths of this pole of inaccessibility a sunken city sleeps. And in that city of R’lyeh, far below the waves and the sunlight and the happiness, dreams the Great Cthulhu. And what does the Great Malignant One dream about? Companionship. See, Cthulhu is in love with love. And the Great One exudes a scent to attract lovers. Three sailors went mad making sure this scent was bottled and shipped to our warehouses. We think it was well worth it, though, because now we can offer you Cthulhu in Love Perfume.

• A Hard Look at Hard Bop
• posted a link to Colorblind Casting School:
  

  Excerpt: “But hey, here’s a counterpoint: Spider-Man and X-Men didn’t start this burst of superhero movies in Hollywood. No, Wesley Snipes as Blade did that. Black hero with a black love interest and everything. And before the movies? Blade was lame. All he had going for him before the movie was awesome Gene Colan art and we got two great movies out of him and one awful one. As far as quality of Hollywood superhero flicks go, he’s matched Batman (both 1989 and Begins franchises), Spider-Man, X-Men, and Superman. Blade beats Hulk, considering that those movies were mediocre at best.”

• Arts: Charles Clary’s Massive Paper Cuts
• Avatar overtakes Titanic as top-grossing film ever
• Check the flavor of the rhythm I wrote
  And while I have a chance, now
  Let me clear my throat!

Namaste.

This morning’s meeting was relatively short… despite the fact that I was late going to it.  The rest of the day hasn’t been too bad. In fact, it’s been downright quiet. And I am not complaining about that in the least.

At lunch, Wes and I hit the gym:

• Elliptical: 5 min/random
• Sit-ups: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys (machine): 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 130 lbs

Post-workout weight: 188.0 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Willpower and the ‘Slacker’ Brain
• Monkeys, office variety.  *grblsnrkx*
  Yet more proof of my new mantra: “Common sense, unfortunately, isn’t.”
• Legendary band to release AC/DC: Iron Man 2 album on Monday, April 19, 2010
• sent along a few amusing links
  • BookBook – Hardbound Leather Case for MacBook and MacBook Pro
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000: Crow and Tom Servo in LEGO
  • Ouija Board… for girls. As I told her when she sent this:
    

    I have seen that.  In the store.  I tried to dismiss it from mind almost immediately.

  • Star Trek: The Original Series Wetsuit

  
  (also available in blue and red)

• An X-Man Will Fall in ‘Second Coming’
  My money’s on Jean Grey. Again.
  What’s that…?  She’s already dead?  Again?  Well, damn.  So much for that idea.
• Mamma Mia! ABBAWORLD to Open in London
• They Have Trucks in Poland? – Polish Semi Drive Drifts Truck for a Minute Straight

And, that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 26 January 2010
This morning started… oddly. I woke up a little before the alarm went off, so I was able to catch it before it started blaring. That, in and of itself, wasn’t so bad. I laid in bed for a few minutes and nodded off again. I had a dream about being at work and in some sort of meeting. Joking around with one of my coworkers, I elbowed him in the ribs – much harder than I’d planned – and apparently cracked a couple of his ribs. Odd. Very odd, indeed. Especially since (at least when I’m awake) I like this coworker. I woke up shortly thereafter… and it was a rather disconcerting way to kick off the morning.

Hopefully, it’s not a portent of how the rest of the day will be…

Stray Toasters

• The Art Matthew Albanese: Strange Worlds
• sent a couple of neat things this morning:
  • Shakespearean Superheroes
  • sugru: The Ultimate Hacking Material

• iState of the Union: Steve Jobs delivers the annual presidential address
• Rumors abound that Apple will unleash unveil a tablet upon the world tomorrow. We’ll see…

• 
• Google Toolbar Tracks Your Browsing Even After It’s Been Disabled
• , I think that you might appreciate this.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: SoCal school district bans the dictionary
  • I think that “jackassery” and “dumbfuckery” should be added to the dictionary, as well.
• Game Over: Wisconsin inmate can’t play Dungeons & Dragons
• 
• The gambit flow of shifting thought,
  shall ride a kiss upon my cross,
  and with each moment of despair,
  lay to heart a lovely tear.
  Within each bulb the salty sea,
  swims an ocean silently,
  swims the forest of my dreams,
  swims the essence of my being (…I call me)
• Helveticookies
• Girls may learn math anxiety from female teachers
• 
• Cells Collected in 1951 Still Aiding Researchers Today

Maybe that dream was an omen: I found out – ten minutes after it started – that I was missing a meeting that I was supposed to attend. *grblsnrkx* Although, I do have the defense of: I never received notification of said meeting and thus didn’t have it on my calendar. I didn’t miss too much, but it was still annoying.

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Monday – 25 January 2010
Welcome to the beginning of the work week.

Yesterday was a chock full of football action. Justin (from work) and Logan came over to watch the NFC Championship game… or the NFC Flub Fest, as it was. I fixed dinner: Steaks, homemade macaroni and cheese (with pepper jack) and salad. After the game, I headed to the airport to pick up SaraRules. She recounted her weekend – including what sounded like a great, though rainy, time at Disneyland. All-in-all, she had a great time hanging out with Meliko.

Instant Replay: Football

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts
17 – 30
After stunning the rest of the AFC, the Jets headed into Indianapolis to take on the Indianapolis Professional Football Club at Lucas Oil Stadium.The Jets’ defense came out like gangbusters, stopping the Colts’ run and pass offense. After a scoreless first quarter, they rallied to score 17 points in the second quarter. However, those would be the only points the Colts let them score. Somewhere between the booth and the field, the Colts started picking up on what the Jets were doing and proceeded to pick them apart. Congratulations to rookie coach Jim Caldwell, Peyton Manning and the rest of the Colts franchise..

.

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints
28 – 31
I don’t really know what to say about this game. The teams looked to be well-matched… so why is it that the Vikings looked so bad?! (And that’s not “Bad,” in the Michael Jackson sense, either.) The Vikings’ O-line wasn’t there, at least not in the first half. Favre was rushed and knocked down… A LOT. Additionally, there were miscues and errors that resulted in six fumbles, dropped passes and even a couple of interceptions. On the Saints’ side of the game, they seemed to just… “click.” Offensively. Defensively. They showed up to play. Yes, there was the “questionable touchdown,” but even without that, they played hard and well. Congrats to Coach Sean Payton, QB Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints’ squad.

Stray Toasters

• Brain Slug Cupcakes
• 
• Get Paid What You’re Worth
• A few days ago, posted a link to the Mass Effect 2 trailer. I saw the trailer again during last night’s NFC game… and pointed out the following to Logan and Justin: With a few word substitutions…
  • Replace “One very specific man..” and/or “Shepard” with “Master Chief”
  • Replace “Repears” with “Covenant” or “The Flood”
  • Replace “Omega 4 Relay” with “Halo (rings)”

  …you could turn this into a new HALO trailer:

• After I showed him the Bugatti Veryon vs. Eurofighter Typhoon race, Justin pointed out this video yesterday, to which all I could respond was,”Some peoples’ children…”
• Superman – The 1948 Serial
• By way of comes: A Brief Guide to World Domination
• Mandelbrot Set you’re a Rorschach Test on fire
  You’re a day-glo pterodactyl
  You’re a heart-shaped box of springs and wire
  You’re one badass fucking fractal
  And you’re just in time to save the day
  Sweeping all our fears away
  You can change the world in a tiny way
• Ambidextrous children ‘more likely to be hyperactive’

More later. Maybe.

Namaste.

Sunday – 24 January 2010
I woke up this morning with a headache. I only wish that I’d been drinking last night to have earned it. On the other hand, it provided “a little” incentive to sleep in this morning.

Apparently in honor of the day, the sun has actually put in an appearance today. There was snow yesterday – apparently, the canyons got 21″ of snow last night – so it’s nice to see our local mass of incandescent gas.

Yesterday, I got up and lazed about the apartment for a few hours.  Chris called and I headed over there to finish up our second Batman/Gotham PD vs. Arkham Inmates ‘Clix game. (Yes, again; we had to call the game Friday night – after 4.5 hours – because I had to make it to a store before it closed.) We finished the game after another hour or so… and I won. (Pictures here.) It was also satisfying because I won using the Batman team, a team that I usually don’t play very well. We did note that the Harvey Dent LE figure is a bit of a game-changer.

After the game, I headed down to visit Kate, Perry and the kids for a bit. After that, I came home, had a bite to eat and got some things together before heading back to Chris and Mary’s for his Dark Heresy game; I’ve been an intermittent player in that game. We played from roughly 2000 hrs until just before 0200. Post-game wrap-up took about another half-hour. Let’s just say that it was a long drive home.

And now, there’s football on TV. I’ve decided that I really don’t care who wins this game… and that I’m an NFC fan for the Super Bowl:

• Seeing Bret Favre go to – and win – the Super Bowl would be a great end to his season.
• Drew Brees was a Boilermaker… and he’s still wearing black and gold.

So, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a win-win situation.

And for dinner: I’m cookin’ steak.  Mmm.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules gets home tonight!
  (“And there was much rejoicing!”)
• Neil Gaiman in the New Yorker
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Black Eyed Peas denied NRJ award win
• 
• Esquire subscription: Renewed.
• Adventures in Music
• Hm… Mass Effect 2 looks rather interesting.  I might have to give it a look.
• And, in other game news, MarknTyme pointed out the Global Agenda launch trailer to me the other night
• This is “Your Face on Meth,” Kids

Quote of the Day
There are couple of gems that stand out from this weekend:

The first one came Friday night, while Chris and I were playing HeroClix.  Mary was walking through the house, preparing to do a bit of laundry:

Mary: I found something in your pants, babe.
Chris: Hey, I’m going to need that back!

The second one came Friday night, over dinner:

: Fuck Hamlet!

Back to the gridiron action…

Namaste.

Friday – 22 January 2010
It’s my 9/80 Friday off. I actually considered getting up and going to the gym this morning. Instead, I stayed in bed. However, I may go this afternoon or (more likely) tomorrow, as I have a heaping helping of “nothing do to” going on tomorrow.

SaraRules made it to California safely. Her parents, who also went to California – to visit other family members – also arrived safely. Now, if I could only figure out what I want from Trader Joe’s all would be well.

Last night, rather than gallivanting around town, I came home and hung out. Besides, there was a new episode of Fringe to be watched!  And Burn Notice‘s new season kicked off… even though I just let the DVR handle that one.

Stray Toasters

• There have been many “Hitler finds out…” videos posted on YouTube over the past year or so. The first couple were amusing, then they became a bit… passe. MarknTyme sent me links to a couple new (to me) ones which I found entertaining: Hitler vs. Khan
  Part I

  Part II

• Museum explores ‘hidden history’ of Muslim science
• Alt Text: Obscure Hobbies for Compulsive Geeks
• 
• German TV on the failure of full-body scanners
• By way of BoingBoing: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb



• US firm to remove biblical references from gunsights
• Microsoft Learned of IE Zero-Day Flaw Last September

Time to get out of here and get my Friday going.

Namaste

Thursday – 21 January 2010
Happy Birthday, Mary!

Another NBN kicks off in the valley… and this one kicks off with flurries. Light flurries, yes, but ’tis snow, nonetheless. But, on the plus side: It’s my “Technical Friday.” That ain’t so bad. And, Chris and I are getting together tomorning to play ‘Clix, as he has the day off, too.

Last night was a rather quiet night in. We watched Tuesday’s NCIS while we ate dinner. We noted that we’d seen the teaser segment before, but didn’t remember seeing the rest of the episode. After the show was over, I had an epiphany. I checked the DVR for recorded programs. Sure enough, we had recorded that episode… three months ago – when we had seen the teaser segment – but never gotten around to watching it. Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• has been delivered to the airport. That was my first of two trips to the airport today – SaraRules is heading to California and hanging out with Meliko for a few days.  She’ll also be visiting The Happiest Place on Earth (or at least on the Left Coast).  (Insert “jealousy” here.)  That means that I’ll be a bachelor for the next three-and-a-half days.
• I neglected to mention the death of Robert B. Parker a couple of days ago, at 77. He was the author of one of my favorite series, the Spenser novels.
• We travel on the road to adventure
  On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
  Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
  We’re only at home when we’re on the run
  On the run…
• Bonus points to anyone who can figure out why this is so amusing.
• Four fun facts about sloths
• By way of :



• Air Traffic Delays Cost U.S. More than Hurricanes
• Carbon nanotubes make batteries from fabric
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • White American Basketball League
  • Cruise L.A. Gang Turf for $65 (With a Signed Waiver)
• NBC Confirms Deal with Conan O’Brien
• Flying R2-D2 Needs a Physics Lesson

I should make sure that I’m ready for the first of today’s meetings… which starts…. soon. Wahoo.

Namaste.