Random Access

Friday – 13 February 2009
Happy Birthday to Rana (Sib-1):

Last night, after watching CSI:, SaraRules and I watched Spenser: Ceremony. (Thanks, Netflix!) Again, it was enjoyable; this time we noticed the point at which it diverged from the book – at the very end of the story, actually. (The book didn’t have quite as happy an ending as the movie.)

I also assembled a garage for my ‘Clix map. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do the armory and gas station before getting together with Chris for our game this weekend.

Stray Toasters

• Best LEGO Sets in History
• Shirley Manson was on The Late Late Show last night… and may be on again tonight.
• French Vanilla ice cream and ginger snaps
• 9/11 widow apparently on Buffalo flight
• Thanks to (and Gizmodo) for pointing out this freebie!
• Men’s Guide to Style Manifesto
• This will be the first Sunday – of six months of Sundays – without football.
• Apple says jailbreaking iPhones is illegal and should be banned
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Amazon sells rape simulation game
  WHO thought this was “a good idea?!”

Song of the Day
For today’s song, I’m going back “a few” years: Swing Out Sister – Breakout

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wes almost backed out of going to the gym this afternoon. Fortunately, he didn’t and we had a pretty good workout:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Rows (Nautilus, compound): 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Lateral Raises (with fly): 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 10 lbs, 1 set @ 12 lbs
• Shoulder Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 60 lbs

Post workout weight: 184.9 lbs

Stray Toasters

• “To boldly take your fetish geekery where no one has gone before…”
• And, in an oddly-related note, sent by Coworker DaveW: “That Jean-Luc Picard“
• I like LEGO zombies
• Ledger fans demand The Joker retired from film.
  Nine Hells.  Yes, he did a great job. Stellar, even. But… he was not – nor will he ever be – the only person to ever play The Joker. Get over it and move on.  This campaign is about as silly as saying “Don’t make any more James Bond movies if/when (fill in your favorite Bond portrayer) dies!” *sigh* Monkeys.
• Body dragged nearly 20 miles on NYC highways
• LEGO Star Wars magnets make collecting rare minifigs cheaper
• Pac-Man Ghost Lamps

Back to the grind.

Thursday – 12 February 2009
Another NBN Thursday kicks off… with the added bonus of snow! Fortunately, the road monkeys seem to be dealing with it fairly well.

Last night was (yet another) lazy night in. After watching a few shows, including an amazing Food Network Challenge. The episode was “Chocolate Masterpieces,” in which the competitors had to “recreate” their visions/versions of classical works of art… in chocolate. The pieces they chose were:

• Degas’ Ballerina
• Neptune, at Trevi Fountain
• Lion, near Piazzale degli Uffizi and
• Rodin’s Thinker

As usual, the chefs had eight (8) hours to complete their work. The interpretations were incredible. And BIG.  The lion piece was nearly 1,200 pounds and took twelve (12) people to move to the judging table. If you get a chance to see this episode, it’s worth it.

After that, I started working on another corner for my ‘Clix street map. This corner will include a gas station, garage, store and a small apartment. I’ll see about getting some pictures of it in the next few days.

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules: IN-N-OUT Burger pursuing Draper site
• Art in Two Germanys Often Spoke the Same Tongue
• Jet searching for new pilot after Favre’s bailout
• 
• By way of : Power Hog – Piggybank Power Meter Keeps the Change
• The Musical Illusionist, Now Appearing at Hotel St. George
• Pope condemns denial of Holocaust
  His Chocolate Holiness, Pope Groovalicious, concurs with this applauds Pope Benedict on taking this stand.
• 
• Up could elevate animated movies with its serious story
• Sat collision highlights growing threat

Zoom!

Today’s workout was a mostly back and shoulders (with a little triceps thrown in, for good measure) workout:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Rows (Nautilus, compound): 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Lateral Raises (with forward rotation): 3 sets/15 reps, 10 lbs
• Tricep Press (T-bar): 3 sets/15 reps – 1 set @ 70 lbs, 2 sets @ 80 lbs
• Dips: 3 sets/15 reps – 2 sets, bench dips; 1 set unassisted

It was a good workout.  At least, that’s what my triceps are telling me.  I might add a little more shoulder work in on Thursday.

Stray Toasters

• passed this along to me: Dear Spike, Love Dad: Of a Dream
  I think it might even be Quote of the Day.
• By way of SaraRules: Michelle Obama to Grace Cover of Vogue Magazine
• Steampunk cake
• Hey, Stop Staring at This Lady’s… Arm
• From today’s “Unintentional Porn Overheard at Work” file comes this gem:
  

  “I’ll have to play with it until I’m comfortable with it…”

• Turning an iPod Touch into an iPhone
• Pong Museum
• Stopping Trucks the Superhero Way
  To which, SaraRules replied: “Hmm…. interesting. But I do think Superman would be more effective.”
• 50 of the Most Insane Things Never Seen on Google Street View

Back to it.

Tuesday – 10 February 2009
Snow is falling across the valley. Oddly enough, the road monkeys seem to be behaving… for them. That, in itself, is impressive.

Last night was a lazy night in. SaraRules fixed a tasty goulash dish and we watched a couple of NCIS reruns and  24. (Oh, Jack Bauer, you’re such a scamp.) She quilted, I nerded. And we also enjoyed some green tea yogurt from Red Mango. We also caught an episode of Unwrapped that featured an abbreviated tour of the Tastykake factory.

Stray Toasters

• The Council for Better Driving: Utah would like to remind motorists to watch your speed and spacing when driving in today’s weather.
• Mistrial declared in 12-year-old girl’s alleged assault on police officer
  • Final arguments in trial against 12-year-old girl mistaken for hooker
    
• Actor James Whitmore has passed away.
• USB devices stuffed into LEGO
• New York Comic-Con was this past weekend. A few items of note from it:
  • DC’s Superman Panel and Superman – Building a Better Tomorrow
  • DCU Online Panel
  • Green Lantern: Blackest Night, with Eddie Berganza (video)
  • Marvel and Activision Panel
  • The X-Men Panel
  • Hickman and Eaglesham talk Fantastic Four
  • Comic Book Resources also… drafted (?)… Jill Pantozzi, maintainer of Has Boobs, Reads Comics, as a reporter/commentator.  I like her style and may have to follow her blog more regularly.
• Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
• My favorite part of Newsarama’s review of Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3 (of 5) was:
  

  Seriously, if you aren’t having a blast reading Legion of 3 Worlds, you should stop reading superhero books, because you’ve lost your joy. Conversely, if you’ve been looking for a fun experience after too many books have been bogged down by disconnect and bleak self-importance, you have arrived.

• Slashdot slashdots Slashdot
• I finally managed to track down a reasonably-priced Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)/Star Sapphire pair of Minimates.
• Hallucinations that are tied to eye disease

Meetings!  WHEEEEEE!

Namaste.

Monday – 09 February 2009
Another overcast day in the valley begins a new work week.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Appaloosa, starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortenson and Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons. It was a good movie. It both started and ended in unexpected ways, which we both enjoyed. Additionally, we were both surprised to find that the story had been written by Robert B. Parker, best known as the creator/author of the Spenser books.

Stray Toasters

• We still have nothing more concrete than “September or October,” at this point, for those keeping score.  More details as they are available. Stay tuned.
• London police demand that new pub owner installs a CCTV as a licensing condition
• 
• Two monkeys, one banana.
• Speaking of monkeys, last Wednesday’s  Monkey #1 actually apologized. Unglaublich!
• Facebook flashmob shuts down station
• Stevie Wonder’s Do I Do is a long song; it checks in at nearly 10:30 long!
• Steampunk puzzle game preview
• I’m going to try another 300 lb max bench press next week. Operative word: “Try.” The last time I tried, I couldn’t do it… but could get a rep at 250 lbs. We’ll see how it goes.
• Bankers can’t possibly afford NYC on a mere $500K/year
• 

Namaste.

Thursday – 05 February 2009
Today has the bonus of not only being NBN Thursday, but it’s my ‘Friday’ as well. I might just learn to start liking this whole 9/80 schedule thing, after all.

Last night, SaraRules and I headed up to Oh Sushi for sushi, sashimi and nigiri to go… as well as a pass through Dr. Volt’s for this week’s comics haul (of which I read nothing last night). We got home and watched a rerun of NCIS before settling in for Pale Kings and Princes. It wasn’t bad… but it wasn’t great, either. What it was, though, was a short jaunt back to a show that used to (and still do) enjoy: Spenser: for Hire. My biggest complaint with the movie was the actress they got to play Susan Silverman. Simply put, she wasn’t Susan; I guess more to the point – she wasn’t Barbara Stock. Other than that, I was good with the movie.

Stray Toasters

• One meeting down, one to go…. and a conference call.
• I have TastyKake cream-filled Koffee Kake Cupcakes!
• Suspect Robs Two 7-Eleven Stores with Sword, by way of lj user=”lostbear”
  Or, as he quoted to me: “…with a sword, Mal. How weird is that?”
• By way of SaraRules: Prehistoric ‘monster snake’ remains discovered
• Make Love, Not Porn – Porn World vs. Real World (semi-NSFW… depending on what/who your monitor faces)
• HOW TO: Make a prosthetic arm from a pop bottle
• Woodson Paves Way for Ravens to Canton
• Enid, we never really knew each other anyway.
• The NFL Coaching Tree 2008 (Part 1)
• Worst Food in America, 2009 Edition
• 25 Things I Didn’t Want to Know About You

Time for Meeting #2

Namaste.

Wednesday – 04 February 2009
Wow. I’d been in the office less than an hour… and already had two people that I’d like to introduce to the business end of my shoe. And the first one, happened less than 10 minutes after walking in the door.  The first person was spared my ire because he’s in the other office today; the second has been spared because it would be… um… “career limiting” for me to tell him that he is an [expletive deleted] moron.

I neglected to log yesterday’s workout:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 225 lbs, 2 sets @ 185 lbs
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/15 reps, 110 lbs
• Row (Nautilus, compound row): 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, hammer): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Side Bends: 2 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 70 lbs

Post workout weight: 184.3 lbs

Last night was a lazy night in… even though it wasn’t originally planned that way. I was supposed to head out to play ‘Clix with Perry, but a couple of the kids got sick, so he was on Kid Patrol last night. Instead, I stayed home, created a Peacebringer on CoH and watched The Secret Life of Bees with SaraRules. It was a coming-of-age movie, set in South Carolina in the 60s, at the height of the civil rights movement. It was well-paced and well-told. I give it a thumbs-up with an okay.

Stray Toasters

• In today’s “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Australia holds ‘pigeon smuggler’
• Christians Bailing on GoDaddy Due to ‘Immoral’ Advertising
  I’m sorry… is this really something new? GoDaddy’s Super Bowl ads have been innuendo-laden for HOW many years now?! And people are just glomming onto this?!  Really?! Sorry, not buying it.  In fact, it reminds me of the Bill O’Reilly/Pepsi/Ludacris hullaballoo from a few years back.
• Automotive X-Prize Draws 25 Teams So Far
• 
• Ziggy Stardust remix album
• Bagels + cream cheese == good.
• Control-a-Cat Remote Control
• Today’s Monkey #2 just keeps stackin’ it up…
• Linda Hesh’s “Bench Project”
• Rob Cockerham writes article critical of Cash4Gold, gets offered cash to kill story

Back to it.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 03 February 2009
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper; immortalized as “The Day the Music Died.”

It is also the 200th Anniversary of the birthday of Felix Mendelssohn.

It’s also the second day of the work week… but that’s kind of a given.

Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with her folks and watched Shadow of the Vampire. Good movie. It was interesting to hear their reactions to it, as well.  (They both enjoyed it.) Back home for 24, The Late Show and the monologue of The Late Late Show. Steve Martin was a guest on The Late Show; I’d nearly forgotten that he is a rather accomplished banjo player, which he demonstrated at the show’s end.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules, knowing my affinity for NCIS, pointed me in the direction of this article.
• Unearthing Mendelssohn’s Lost Works
• surprised me with FAO Schwartz’ The Muppet Whatnot Workshop this morning. That’s right, you can design your own Muppet. Not only that, it be made and delivered. To. Your. Door.
• Kids Movie, Adult Lessons
• That Time Is Now (because mentioned a version of the Superfriends Theme by The Hit Crew)

• We Drove the Warthog!
• By way of BoingBoing: A LEGO Orange
• 
• Why do we name servers the way we do?
• Seeing Profits in the Postal Service’s Predicament

Harambee.

Monday – 02 February 2009
Another new work week hits the ground running. I started the day with a training session for my team. I had planned for it to be roughly one hour long. It was close to two, because I had someone sitting in on it who provided some additional information. All-in-all, it went well, though.

Yesterday’s Super Bowl was a good game. It was the kind of game that I enjoy watching… as long as I’m not really rooting for either team involved. The Cardinals put up a good fight, but at the final whistle, the Steelers went home with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Congrats to the Steelers on their sixth Super Bowl win and also to their coach, Mike Tomlin, for being the youngest coach to go to – and win – the Super Bowl.

After we got home, SaraRules and I finished watching The Big Sleep. And, thanks to that, I finally added something to my NetFlix queue: The four Spenser: For Hire movies, starring Robert Urich and Avery Brooks.

Stray Toasters

• Claiming Immunity from Beyond the (Political) Grave, by way of
• By way of SaraRules: The Cult of Snuggie
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Super Bowl broadcast interrupted with porn
• DIY 33-1/3 books
• 

Yeah. That’s it for now.

Namaste.

Sunday – 01 February 2009
A new month begins. Say it with me “Feh-BRU-air-ee.”

And, it’s also Black History Month

Yesterday started off lazily. Sleeping in kicked off the morning. That was followed by breakfast and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. After that, SaraRules, Logan and I went to see Taken. It was a very intense movie… and a pretty  damned good movie, too. Unlike most movies where you get all of the “good parts” in the trailer(s), this one had plenty of twists and turns – and more than a couple of surprises – that weren’t in the trailers.

Later in the evening, we headed downtown to Redrock for dinner. I had the Rotini Pasta with Chicken and Shrimp; SaraRules had the Smoked Red Trout Club. After dinner, we walked to Abravanel Hall to see the Utah Symphony perform. They were conducted by Thierry Fischer and featured guest pianist, Louis Lortie.

The pieces were very good; I especially enjoyed the Mendelssohn piano concerto, which featured Mr. Lortie. And, I found Mr. Fischer to be a rather… expressive… conductor – it was easy to see that he enjoys his work.  He is apparently under consideration to replace the symphony’s current conductor/music director, Keith Lockhart, after this season.

Today: Whole bunch of laziness and leisure.
Tonight: The Super Bowl… and for the next 8-12 hours, I’m a Cardinals fan.

Namaste.

Friday – 30 January 2009
It’s quiet in the office today. Most of the people in our office recently started a 9/80 schedule – we work 80 hours in 9 days and get every other Friday off – and this is most of the office’s “off” Friday. The IT team has been split in two and my team works the odd Friday and will have next Friday off. I think that there are… six (6) of us in the building, so far.  (Must refrain from playing City of Heroes all day…)

Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with our friend Murphy. Not Eddie. Not Peter. Papa. As in “Take and bake pizza.” It was good. After dinner (and a couple of episodes of NCIS and CSI:), we went to the gym:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Reverse Fly: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 70 lbs, 2 sets @ 80 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 140 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Rows: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Dips: 3 sets/10 reps

It was a short, but good, workout.

Post-workout weight: 186.0.
SaraRules suggested that I might think about cutting back on crack ginger snaps.  I suggested that she might be wrong in that… and that I could stop any time I wanted.  If I wanted to, that is.

Stray Toasters

• I apparently was very generous with the amount of coffee I scooped into the maker last night; this is a strong cup o’ joe.
• Barack and Michelle Obama lead celebration of new equal pay law
• “Longinus!”
• …who was also referenced in Final Crisis: Revelations. (It made me chuckle.)
• Black Swan author’s rules for living
• 
• Blagojevich ousted as Illinois governor
• Bionic teeth!
• GDP sees biggest drop in 27 years
• This user icon amused me:



• Lode Runner
• And, in other game-related news: DRM shuts down PC version of Gears of War

Namaste.

Thursday – 29 January 2009
Last night, came over for dinner. I cooked Cornish hens with green beans and rice (cooked in chicken broth) for side dishes. Everything turned out pretty well. For dessert, we had ice cream and ginger snaps. It was a fun dinner.

After left and leftovers and dishes had been put away, SaraRules and I started watching The Big Sleep. I’ve never seen a Philip Marlowe movie – nor read any of the books – so it was a nice treat. Unfortunately, we were both wiped out from a couple of long days, so we didn’t finish the movie.

Stray Toasters

• Today is “Jersey Day” at work, so I actually have an opportunity to wear my Ravens jersey before next season. (I plan on wearing it on Sunday, in support of the Cards/opposition to the Steelers… but that’s kind of a given.)
• By way of NPR Music:
  • Between Takes: The ‘Kind of Blue’ Sessions
  • Shrinking Music Videos: More Thrills, Less ‘Thriller’
  • ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’
• Videogame Conditioning Spills Over Into Real Life
• By way of SaraRules: Road signs warn of zombies
• By way of : Inside Apple’s Core
• 
• Red Dwarf to Return, Find Earth
• Lampshades made from bowlers and top hats
• Miscalculations Invalidate LHC Safety Assurances

Tonight: CSI: and Burn Notice.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 28 January 2009
This month is flying by. Kind of odd to think that February starts next week… and that Bit will be a year old a few days after that. I’m also curious to see how Black History Month celebrations note the election of President Obama.

Last night, while watching TV, I assembled a couple more pieces for the WWG “City Planning” board: The Apartment Building and the Vacant Lot. When it’s all said and done, the first corner/block will look something like this.

SaraRules and I also went to the gym last night:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 205 lbs, 2 sets @ 185 lbs
• Rows (Nautilus, Compound Row): 3 sets/12 reps, 140 lbs
• Flys (Dumbbell, flat bench): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Shrugs: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Lateral Raises (with forward fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Tricep Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 60 lbs
• Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps

It was a pretty good workout.

Post-workout weight: 183.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

• The workday started off slowly, which was nice… but has since turned into “one thing after another.”
• After suspension for nodding at Obama, drum major quits
• T-Shirt Hell is closing up shop.
• By way of Liz and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: I knew that being a lawyer was a sometimes dirty job, but this takes it to a whole new level.
• Kindle 2: Electric Boogaloo?
• These are heels for dudes.
• Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow…
• MST3K Cast Reunites for Live Webcast
• A combination I never even considered: Zombie Hello Kitty Cake
• Peer reveals ‘cello scrotum’ hoax

Tonight: is coming over for dinner; I’m cooking Cornish game hens… but no idea as to what I want to do for vegetables.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 27 January 2009
It’s cold (18°F), but we’re actually going to see the sun today. Hallelujah!

Last night was a lazy night of 24 and assorted TV watching and putting together some neighborhood tiles for a World Works Games model. Pre-24, I watched a couple episodes of NCIS – I remembered that I neglected to note something the other day: David McCallum, who plays Dr. Mallard on NCIS was also Lt. Cmdr. Eric Ashley-Pitt in The Great Escape… AND was Napoleon Solo’s right hand man, Ilya Kuryakin, in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

As I mentioned, I spent a good part of the evening building WWG models. I found a tutorial that suggested an incredibly simple – and very modular – method for creating miniature gaming environments. The most time-comsuming part, so far, has been cutting the pieces out, so that I can mount them on the foamcore bases. That and being distracted by the TV.

Chew on This – Food for Thought: US Airways passengers get $5,000; Is it enough?
This was almost a ‘Toaster.
Then I realized that I was more irritated about it than I had originally thought.

Maybe I’m a bit jaded, but I fall back on the “any landing you can walk away from” adage here. Is $5,000 enough? How about the fact that you’re still alive!? I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with the “It’s not enough compensation for what we went through” argument. You know what? You got to go home to your families. How many people never got that option?

I’m not saying that this wasn’t a stressful – and potentially mentally damaging – event, because it most definitely was… but YOU LIVED. Period. End of argument.

Stray Toasters

• is back home, safe and sound… and somewhat jet-lagged.
• Afghan Prison Poses Problem in Overhaul of Detainee Policy
• By way of come pictures of The Inauguration of President Barack Obama, by way of Boston.com’s “The Big Picture”



• Layoffs Spread to More Sectors of the Economy
• By way of SaraRules: Dick Van Dyke tells Mary Poppins stories
• What Life Asks of Us
• Disagree with a flight attendant? You’re a terrorist
• Monkeys… MDK. MDK. MDK.

And, I’m apparently sitting in on an interview this morning.

No rest for the wicked, I guess.

Namaste.