Random Access

We got back a little while ago from seeing the Utah Valley Handbell Choir perform; a friend of SaraRules is a member, so that was added incentive to go.  The performed ten pieces:

1. Allegro Glorioso, by Catherine McMichael
2. Grazioso, Arnold Sherman
3. Staccato Giocoso, Cathy Mokelbust
4. Psalm Nine, Carl Wiltse
5. Pirates of the Carribean, Hans Zimmer
6. Takeda Rhapsody, T. Kanzaki
7. Hava Nagila, Traditional Israeli
8. Colonel Bogey March, F.J. Ricketts
9. Fantasy on “Lasst Uns Erfreuen”, Traditional German (arr. by Glen Hicks)
10. Hymn to Joy, Ludvig van Beethoven

The performance reminded of drum corps productions, in the timing and the similar tonalities.  It was also a little amusing to find that I remembered all of the words to Hava Nagila, which I haven’t really sung in over 30 years.

Stray Toasters

• As of Round 2, Baltimore has drafted Joe Flacco (QB) and Ray Rice (RB).
• Babies seized by Robert Mugabe’s forces as Zimbabwe hounds voters
• I just bought three (3) pieces of plastic crack:
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Mighty Thor
  • Vlad the Impaler

Quote of the Day

SaraRules: “I love you more than garlic.”

Namaste.

Saturday – 26 April 2008
It’s always that last 10-15% that gets you.  Thursday and Friday, I felt phenomenally better than I did Wednesday.  But, still not completely better.  Today, I would actually say that I’m in the 95-97% of normal range.

There’s still this… one… thing: Gas.

Seriously.  I’m thinking of changing my name to Exxon.  I don’t know how or why – it’s not like I’ve eaten a whole lot in the past three days, but here it is.  Yay.

I miss having an appetite.

Aside from that, I’m doing well.  I made it to southern Utah without any problems or monkeydom.  I always consider that a “good” thing.  Yesterday/last night was pretty low-key.  Today, I think we’re heading to the Braithwaite to check out the Senior BFA Portfolio Show.  Other than that, no idea what’s on tap for the day.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules made me a Mickey Mouse pancake for breakfast, since I haven’t been feeling well.  How cool is that?
• I found two items on Comic Book Resources that are nice takes on Marvel’s “Secret Invasion”: This article, by Eric Larsen and this comic by Chris Giarrusso



• Brit tourist blags his way onto Iron Man set
• By way of CNet.com (yeah, I know…): Orgone.
  (Check out their MySpace page, too)
• Student ‘Twitters’ his way out of Egyptian jail
• Which Government Agency Should Be Your Computer’s Firewall?
• Tyranist – Voluminous: app for organizing, fetching and sharing public domain books

Namaste.

Friday – 25 April 2008
Last night was very low-key. After work, I paid a visit to my four-color crack dealer. There were a few books – and one figure, Scarab Assassin – in my hold… so I treated myself to a box of plastic crack. I pulled a couple of decent figures:

• Accomplished Perfect Physician
• Rip Hunter

Not a bad take, I have to say. In fact, it was better than a couple of the books. Especially Countdown to Final Crisis: 01. If you’re going to wrap up a year-long, weekly series… you’ve got to bring your “A” game. The only – ONLY – thing that could pull this out of the fire (and NOT make if feel like a complete waste of time/money) would be if they pull out all the stops and answer a LOT of questions next week in DC Universe 0. If. Big “if.” Right now, I’m not sure how likely that is to happen… but I can hope, can’t I?

Stray Toasters

• I rediscovered Indexed last night.
• 
• Guillermo del Toro to direct The Hobbit movies; that should prove “interesting,” at the very least.
• 
• From Men’s Health and WebMD: The 10 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating
• Sleazy proposed new Dungeons & Dragons license seeks to poison open gaming systems

That’s it for now…

Namaste.

Thursday – 24 April 2008
I dislike being sick.

This isn’t to say that I know anyone who enjoys being sick, but I am just asserting that as a preface to the following:

I started feeling a little “off” yesterday around lunchtime. While it wasn’t doing somersaults, my stomach felt a bit queasy. I finally decided to go to lunch around 1:00. Since I was working in the north office, I figured that I’d just go home, take a nap have something light to eat and then head back to the office.

“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” as the saying goes.

I got home and had a difficult time falling asleep. It felt as though as soon as I did, the alarm went off. BAH! I was also feeling a bit cold. I figured that a hot soak would help. It did. Kind of. But I still wasn’t feeling top-of-the-line when I got out, so I crawled back into bed.

Three-and-a-half hours later, I felt a little better. Not great, but enough to function to head back to the office long enough to gather my personal belongings and head back home. Which I did. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things that would be considered “bland food.”

I got home, put away the food and took up a position on the couch. I watched S.W.A.T. and most of Law & Order before it felt like I needed to spend a little “quality time” in the sanfac. (Bonus points to those who know where ‘sanfac’ comes from.) The chills that I had felt earlier began to give way to sweats. Yay! When I felt up to it, I decided to have another hot soak session. That seemed to help a bit. After finding something comfy – and warm – to put on, I put on some soup, grabbed a Gatorade and resumed my post upon the couch. I watched a bit of David Letterman and Jonny Quest. I don’t remember seeing the end of Jonny Quest…

…I don’t really remember much of anything until The Snorks came on. I checked the clock. 6:00 AM. Hm. Okay. I ignored The Snorks – and pretty much everything else – until the alarm went off at 6:35. I headed for the bedroom, turned off the alarm and sprawled across the bed. I fell asleep again. When I finally woke up, I noticed something: I was feeling much closer to baseline “human” than I did last night. I started milling around the apartment. There was a definite improvement in the way I was feeling. A definite fringe benefit of my metabolism (“ferret on crack,” as puts it) is that I don’t tend to get really sick very often; and when I do get sick, I don’t tend to stay sick very long. And, to be honest: Last night/this morning was one of the times I was very glad of that. I’d say that I’m feeling probably 85-90% of normal.

Tonight, I’ll probably wind up on the couch again, watching CSI: and generally taking it easy. I think I can handle that. Besides, I have Jell-O! “There’s always room for Jell-O.”

Stray Toasters

• loonybin88 pointed out this article to me yesterday. My response: “It’s a fucking bear! DUH!” Let me first say that I feel badly for Stephan Miller’s family’s loss. But… IT WAS A BEAR! No matter how many safety precautions one takes, at the end of the day it’s still an animal that acts on instincts; the bear may have just been playing, as far as it was concerned. The consequences of its actions, however, have now raised a quandary as to what should be done with the bear:
  • Should it be put down? In my opinion, “No.”
  • Should it be released into the wild? I don’t think so… are its survival instincts refined enough to deal with being returned to its “native” environment? I don’t know.
  • Could it possibly be donated to a zoo? I don’t know, but this seems like the possible “best of both worlds” option to me.
• I have discovered a new (to me) comics-related blog: Living Between Wednesdays
• One of the last things you feel like doing when you’re sick is check your mail. I didn’t check mine yesterday. Had I, I would have found my Green Lantern John Stewart Minimates figure. That would have been something to smile about yesterday.
• Wait… I did have something that not only made me smile, it downright made me laugh: invited some folks to dinner at Jitterbug and a showing of Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. When I got her message, I told her that I wasn’t feeling well and would have to take a raincheck. That spawned the following messages:
  

  applevenus: Sorry about your herpes.
  applevenus: Spydr says sorry about your herpes.
  me: I’ll get some ointment.
  applevenus: Ha. Ha. Ha. Have fun.

• Details interview with John Waters
• For SaraRules and other fans of Pinkberry: The All-Natural Taste That Wasn’t
• Caffeinate With Care: Small Shots Do a Brain Better Than Large Blasts
• 
• Maureen McHugh’s Brilliant short stories available as free Creative Commons download
• BoingBoing has an article entitled Creepy/catchy “It’s Not a Compound” remix, featuring this video:

And it’s snowing. Again.

Namaste.

It’s not often that The Council for Better Driving has praise for UDoT. A more truthful statement would be: “The Council for Better Driving has had few good things to say about UDoT.” However, the adage “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is not always true, because UDoT has done something rather praiseworthy:

Click image to be taken to the “Know Where, Know Why” site.

They have created a guide documenting the upcoming and ongoing construction along the major roads of Utah. There are twenty-two (22) projects listed in this guide; the detailed information about each project includes:

• Location of the construction;
• When the construction will take place – and, in the case of lengthy projects, estimated completion dates;
• Impact of the project while the construction is taking place; and
• Result of the new construction.

It should be noted that the guide does not offer suggestions for alternate routes around the construction zones.

This guide is also available as a tri-fold pamphlet.

Tuesday – 22 April 2008
Last night, I had big brother/little sister time with . We decided to have dinner; Jitterbug sounded perfect to both of us. Unfortunately, when we got there the place was closed. And dark. Darker than usual. Darker than a thousand midnights. Okay, maybe not quite that dark, but you get the gist. We went to Fiddler’s Elbow instead.

Too bad neither of us had considered that there was an NBA playoff game last night.
A Jazz game.
Do the math.
We still had a fun time. People-watching is always fun, after all.

When I got home, I decided to take a trip to Paragon City. I arrived just in time for a Rikti invasion. After the aliens were repelled, I was invited to join a couple of my SG-mates for a couple of missions. Level 52+ missions. Knives of Artemis and Carnival of Shadows. Yay. We died a few times. As it stands, you don’t earn any experience after you hit Level 50 (the CoX level cap), but you can still earn XP debt from dying. But, it was still fun.

This morning, I was actually up shortly after the alarm went off. Of late, I’ve had… issues… with pulling that off.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been taking a look at some of the costumes from this year’s New York Comic Convention on Flickr. (There are “a few” tags to choose from…) Some of ’em are pretty good. Pretty good, indeed.
• SaraRules linked to Mercy, by Duffy. Good stuff. Put it in your ear:

• Markin’ Time linked to an article from Popular Mechanics: Hollywood Sci-Fi’s Bronze Age – Are Comics to Blame? This article led to the following soapbox rant:
  

  Me: Nine Hells…
  Does this guy not get “suspension of disbelief?”
  It’s a &%(%*&#( COMIC BOOK MOVIE!
  People AREN’T going to them for the science; they are going to be *GASP* entertained!
  /soapbox

  Markin’ Time: i believe he is saying that the things we are willing to suspend for our comic entertaining is dumbing down good science fiction

  Me: L.C.D.
  Let’s face it: Not a lot of the comic book/summer blockbuster readers/viewers are rocket scientists.

  Markin’ Time: ?
  true dat

  Me: Lowest Common Denominator

  Markin’ Time: ah

  Me: They aren’t going for the science.
  Sure, they might pick at the more glaring plot holes and “That couldn’t happen” points, but the bottom line is: They are going for escapism.

  Markin’ Time: but what even comes close to Blade Runner for believable extrapolation of current science. What even tries?
  I happened to LOVE Primer….but i realize thats not for everyone

  Me: Hm.
  Primer was going to be an example.
  Sunshine was good.

  Markin’ Time: he cites that in the article also sunshine, which i haven’t seen

• loonybin88 linked to an article that goes in the “People suck” file: Vandals hit in Placedo
• …he also linked me to this: Muslim call to adopt Mecca time …which almost immediately reminded me of:
  

  From a point on the compass
  To magnetic north
  The point of the needle moving back and forth

• I posted a link to this image a few months ago, not only because it shows John Stewart breakin’ of a little somethin’, but also because it contains part of an old Black boast of defiance:
  

  I don’t have to do anything but stay Black and die.

  I’ve been trying to convince SaraRules that she needs to work it into a conversation at some point; she’s considering it. But, I’m digressing from my original point: Andrew, a coworker, brought a dysfunctional monitor to me and asked if I could have it returned/replaced.

  

  I told him that wouldn’t be a problem. Then, I read the note that he had attached to it:

  

  That’s right, the monitor stayed black and died.

Quote of the Day
Last night, while looking at NYCC costumes, I found a couple and shared them with SaraRules:

Me: Okay… http://flickr.com/photos/7648924@N08/2429218357/
comic book convention == geeks

SaraRules: Umm.. yeah. Those comic book convention people kinda scare me. 😉

Me: Some of whom haven’t seen – let alone touched – a “real live girl” in years.
Then you show up dressed like this.
Mayhem ensues.

SaraRules: Yeah. They don’t need to be seeing underboob. That would cause them to explode on site.

Me: Exactly!

SaraRules: Icky. It’s just dangerous.

Me: No good can come of it.
http://flickr.com/photos/eggrollboy/2423911917/

SaraRules: Whoa. That’s way too much leg. I think my brain just broke.

Me: Sorry, but I couldn’t suffer that one alone.

SaraRules: Oh gee. Thanks. I’m going to have to wash my eyes out with lye now. 🙁

Me: I don’t have any lye. I just have to live with that pain.

Back to it…

Namaste.

Monday – 21 April 2008
I am back in the northlands once more. Today’s commute was uneventful. There was one odd/amusing thing, though: Driving through Meadow, you pass a cattle ranch on the east side of the interstate. This morning, there was a calf outside the cattle pens, grazing along the outside of the fence. It seemed rather nonplussed about the fact that the other cattle were “over there” and just kept chewing at the grass near one of the fence posts.

I had dinner with SaraRules and Rachel last night; we invited Lish, but he punked out on us. (I’m trying to attribute his reluctance to join us to the fact that he was working on a project and not to the fact that I kind of, sort of… threw him through a door Saturday night.) Dinner was nice. After that, SaraRules and I stopped at the local Hollywood Video to pick up a copy of The Magnificent Seven, a movie which I have (somehow) managed to never see before. I liked it. Quite a bit. I will have to add it to the collection at some point.

Workout
Today saw a subtle shift in the workout: Eric wanted to give a little more focus to biceps, so we alternated bicep exercises with other exercises:

• Bench Press (barbell): 3 sets/8 reps, 225 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 70 lbs, 1 set @ 60 lbs
• Flys (Nautilus): 3 sets/15 reps, 95 lbs
• Curls (pulley): 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Military Press: 2 sets/10 reps, 85 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, Hammer grip): 3 sets, 10 reps, 20 lbs
• Dips: 2 sets, 20 reps & 15 reps

Post-workout weight: 176.8 lbs

Stray Toasters

• I need to drink more water, generally speaking.
• As I had that thought, I had another one: Aside from the fact that they are water-breathers (and, in some cases, magic-users), Atlanteans (see Aquaman, Namor and Patrick Duffy) are basically normal humanoids. The water-breathing thing is the key here, because… well… Where do they go to the bathroom?!
• Evil Monkey’s Guide to Kosher Imaginary Animals
• 
• Scientists on their “life-changing” books
• As long as it took me to plow through it the first time I read it, I’m giving consideration to reading The Difference Engine again.
• Tyranist is blaming me for his sons’ addiction to Munchkin. I think I can live with that.



• Jigglypuff.
• Scuzzlebutt.

Now to finish up a training lesson that I have had on the back burner for a while.

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 April 2008
Turns out that the Interwebs at SaraRules’ was okay… for the most part. The complex had changed a few settings and the wireless router didn’t “know” about them. So, it pretty much ignored them. A quick reset and the series of tubes were carrying information once more.

<< Rewind <<
We wound up not going to SOAPFest last night. Instead, SaraRules made dinner, Lish came over and we hung out. About the time that dinner was wrapping up, Rachel and Tyler showed up… followed shortly by Josh. We hung out and shot the bull for a while. And then a couple rounds of flip cup started. Post-flip cup, we sat around and talked until about 2:30 this morning. I gave Lish control of the camera. I take (almost) no responsibility for what he shot (pictures here).

> Play >
Today was a lax and lazy day. I believe that everyone in the apartment availed themselves of the opportunity to sleep in. After coffee and breakfast, SaraRules suggested a trip to Park Discovery where we could fly my kite. With an offer like that, I couldn’t refuse. It was sunny and windy… and a little brisk. Neither of us took jackets with us. After a couple of fair attempts at getting the kite aloft, I “untangled” (not really the right word, but it fits) the lines. Sure enough, the kite flew much better. After we flew the kite for thirty or so minutes, we headed over to the tot lot. We climbed, slid, swung and had an all-around fun time.

Once we’d had our fill of fun – and the chillier-than-expected outdoors – we headed back to the apartment. I have been watching an item on eBay for the past couple of days. I wanted to be back in time to get a bid in on it. We did. What was I so hell-bent on bidding on?

That’s right: A Green Lantern John Stewart Minimates figure (1, 2). These were given out as convention promotions at the 2006 San Diego Comic Convention. With the release of other DC Minimates figures, including various GL figures, I had wondered why there wasn’t a John Stewart figure in the mix. A little digging showed why. So, I was bound and determined to see if I could get this one. And I won it.

Not sure what’s on tap for the rest of the day/evening.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with for a bit this afternoon. All is well in his, Bot and Bit’s corner of the world. He also posted new pics of Bit:

  
  (click image to see other pictures)

• Your Claim to Fame LEGO Challenge
• Bit ‘o Honey candy
• Legion turns 50
• BET has landed the upcoming Black Panther animated series.
  (I wonder if the fact that Reggie Hudlin is BET’s President and writing Black Panther for Marvel had anything to do with it…?)
• Carne Asada is not a crime!
• Shakespeare’s Pulp Fiction
• I watched a few trailers on Apple’s site today, including Wanted, Boarding Gate, Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Chaos Theory… and Zombie Strippers.

Quotes of the Day
As heard during and after last night’s Flip Cup Challenge

• Darillyn: “I just need to fill my pockets full of vibrators”
  (to SaraRules, about a bellydance move that SaraRules was trying to teach her)
• Rachel: “I’ll drink just about anything.”
  Me: “Not in a Two Girls, One Cup kind of way, but almost anything.”
  (about Rach’s choices of beverage for flip cup)
• Steve: “You could totally do me”
  (to me, about being able to bench press him)

And that’s a wrap!

Namaste.

Saturday – 19 September 2008
I got to Cedar City last night without any problems. That’s always a good thing. Shortly after I got in, we made a run to the local Wal-Mart – I wanted to verify that I could actually find Steak-Umm sandwich steaks. Back in the day, Steak-Ums were a staple of my summertime diet. Now that I know where to find them, they may have to go back into the lunch/dinner rotations.

Today has been lax. And that’s not a bad thing. The only bad thing is that, once again: SaraRules’ complex has bollocks-ed up their ISP again. So, there’s NO access there. No matter, I knew that SaraRules had a meeting at the MFA grad house and that I could use the Interwebs there! (And I’ve been using it like a fiend!) I played a bit of City. *taps vein* I teamed up with Perry and a few others and we ran an AV mission against Requiem. There was a lot of dying on our parts – as we didn’t have a healer on the team – but we muddled our way through it. Selah.

Tonight, we’re going to another round of SOAPFest plays.

Stray Toaster
I got a call from earlier today. She let me know that she ran into one of her neighbors this morning. At a rather unexpected place. The neighbor even asked about me, saying that she hadn’t seen me around in a while; explained that we broke up a couple of years ago, but that we’re still good friends.

I found the call amusing, since I ran into a different neighbor a couple of weeks ago… but he didn’t seem to remember me.

Oh, well.

And with that…

Namaste.

So far, the day is cruising along nicely. The lunchtime workout was good:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 60 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Rows (T-bar style, with a barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 55 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/12 reps, 70 lbs (Body Masters machine, facing away from the pulley system)
• Core: 4 sets – 2 sets/full extension, 45 secs.; 2 sets/elbows, 30 secs.

Today’s pre-workout weight: 176.8

We followed the workout with a trip to Subway. Oven-roasted chicken breast. With pepperjack cheese. On Italian Herbs and Cheese bread. Tasty.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to , I have three new icons:
  • 
  • 
  • 
• sent a me a link to “The Day After the Marathon”
• Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Iron Man videogame

• From BBC News: NY tower plans found in rubbish
• What Would Tyler Durden Do? had (they were “asked” to take them down by Paramount) cast photos from the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. The last three lines of the lead-in were classic:
  

  You may note that almost every one of these sets has a shot from the back. This entire movie is asses. It’s like a two hour Hot Buns contest.

• Truly, truly, truly outrageous!
• From Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper: Think twice before taking pictures in public

*ZOOM*

Thursday – 17 April 2008
NBN Thursday in the valley. Sunny, trying to be warm.

Today has been pretty good. I have been trying to figure out a (better) way to build a list with checkboxes, pulling data from my database. Slow-going, but it’s coming along. It is also “Sushi Wednesday.” I had a Seattle roll along with Ika and Ebi (shrimp) Nigiri.

There is construction on 33rd South. There’s a deep trench running down the middle of the street. On the way to the restaurant, Joe asked what they were doing. I responded: “Laying pipe… and in this case, it’s not a euphemism.” A little later Mike showed up and asked,”What are they doing out there,” to which Joe quickly retorted: “Laying pipe,” at which we just ran with the joke:

“Laying pipe.”
“Yep, lots of men… laying pipe.”
“Pipe so big they need heavy equipment to lay it right.”

Hilarity ensued.
Stray Toasters

• I hung out with last night. She was having an issue with pools of water collecting on the carpet outside her bathroom. (Hm, that sounds vaguely familiar.) She called maintenance to look at it; the guy did what he could, but noted that he would have to check the apartments above hers for signs of leakage. (That sounds familiar, too…) After he left, we went out for dinner. Aside from the plumbing issue, it was a nice way to spend the evening.
• Two Minutes and 42 Seconds in Heaven
• By way of Markin’ Time: Coolest Fighter Jets… EVER!
• Superman and Superboy: Newsarama takes a look at the ongoing cases
• I just received the following email from my mother:
  

  Slap Your Co-Worker Day Is Coming!

  

  Do you have a co-worker who talks nonstop about nothing, working your last nerve with tedious and boring details that you don’t care about?
  Do you have a co-worker who ALWAYS screws up stuff creating MORE work for you?
  Do you have a co-worker who kisses so much booty, you can look in their mouth and see what your boss had for lunch?
  Do you have a co-worker who is SOOO obnoxious, when he/she enters a room, everyone else clears it?

  Well, on behalf of Ike Turner, I am so very very glad to officially announce tomorrow as SLAP YOUR IRRITATING CO-WORKER DAY!

  There are the rules you must follow:

  • You can only slap one person per hour – no more.
  • You can slap the same person again if they irritate you again in the same day.
  • You are allowed to hold someone down as other co-workers take their turns slapping the irritant.
  • No weapons are allowed…other than going upside somebody’s head with a stapler or a hole-puncher.
  • If questioned by a supervisor [or police, if the supervisor is the irritant], you are allowed to LIE, LIE, LIE!

  Now, study the rules, break out your list of folks that you want to slap the living day lights out of and get to slapping…..and have a great day!

• D&D Ability Score Quiz
  • Strength: 12
  • Dex: 15
  • Con: 13
  • Int: 15
  • Wis: 15
  • Cha: 15
  • Special Abilities: Sarcasm
• Young Me / Now Me

And that’s a wrap… for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 April 2008
Another midweek day in the valley. After yesterday’s snow (yes, SNOW), there are blue skies and scattered high clouds today. Go figure. Most of the snow in the valley has melted, but there are still remnants on the benches (def. 5) and mountains.

I managed to get out of bed – and out of the apartment – at a decent hour today. I even stopped for a cup of frozen mocha goodness and a copy of The Gray Lady on the way into the office. I thought of a couple of ways to modify my database UI this morning… and I’m trying them out. So far, I’m making decent headway in getting them established; turning the page into a self-referencing form shouldn’t be (too much of) a problem. And, I have to say that I’m pretty happy with the progress I’m making.

And, it’s new comics day.
Can’t beat that with a stick at twice the price.

Stray Toasters

• I have (yet) another new addition to the Covet List: Superman vs. Darkseid Statue

  

  I have been a Darkseid… fan, I guess… ever since The Great Darkness Saga (a Legion story, go figure). I have a few ‘Clix figures and a Superman: The Animated Series production sericel fromfeaturing him. I just wish that I had been able to get one of the 1999 Darkseid statues, though.

• From the “Why, yes, it IS rocket science” file: Schoolboy Corrects NASA’s Math on Killer Asteroid
• I’m a little scared by this: Children’s book about plastic surgery
• 
• I enjoy my comics and figure collections.  But, compared to this collection, I have next to nothing.  Unglaublich…
• Maverick Swedish Rock Star Reveals What Britney Could Have Been
• Moviehole has an interview with Iron Man director Jon Favreau
• Woman goes on YouTube to air divorce grievances

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote is an “Ole and Lena” joke, that Coworker Jan told me.  He usually tells me a couple of these a week and they’re made even better because Jan affects a great Scandinavian accent. The version of the joke that I found online was written phonetically, so you will get the idea of how it sounds.

Ole was out working in the field when his mule squares off and kicks him right in his wedding tackle.  Writhing in agony, he falls to the ground. As soon as he could manage, he took himself to the doctor.
“How bad is it doc?  I’m getting married next veek and my fiance, Lena, is still a wirgin – in every
vay.  I vant her to know that I’m right there with her.”

The doctor told him, “Everything looks okay, but I’ll have to put your Willie in a splint.  It should be okay next week.”  He took some tongue depressors and formed a neat little splint, and taped it all together quite an impressive work of art.

Ole mentions none of this to Lena.  They get married and go on their honeymoon. That night in the motel room, Lena rips open her blouse to reveal her beautiful untouched breasts. She said,”No vun has EVER seen deez. You’re the first vun.”

Ole immediately drops his pants and replies,”Look at dis… still in da crate!”

Namaste.

The Rule of Two:

“Always two there are; no more, no less: a master and an apprentice.” –Yoda ^[1]

“Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it.” –Darth Bane ^[2]

Tuesday – 15 April 2008
Today is the day that taxes are due in the U.S.

Ostensibly, that should make the Song of the Day Taxman, by The Beatles.
Screw that.

Today’s song: Knowledge Is King, by Kool Moe Dee

Lost in the sauce
And praising the dollar
Whether your faith is
Christ or Allah
The knowledge of God
Will teach one thing
The dollar is moot
Knowledge is king

Yeah. That’s about right.

I have spent the first half of my morning tracking down what happened to my primary machine in the SLC office over the weekend. Either Windows or my hard drive (or both) decided to go tits-up. So, I opted to throw a new drive in the machine. Of course, that meant the obligatory reinstallation of XP. Wahoo. But, needs must be done.

Ravens Update
That’s right.. it’s April and I’m talking football. Why? The Ravens released their 2008 schedule. Of particular note:

• 26 October: Oakland Raiders (in Baltimore)
• 21 September and 02 November: Cleveland Browns

Speaking of which: I figured out what was going in display case 2… to some degree. At least on the top shelf:

(click for larger size)

Stray Toasters

• Install. Reboot.
  Install something else. Reboot.
  Lather, rinse, repeat.
  Ah, the joys of reinstalling a Windows operating system.
• – Here you go: a Java version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Enjoy.
• ‘Ashamed’ Pope vows no more pedophile priests
• I’m adding this to the Covet List. In fact, I’m adding to the short list.
  (For those who aren’t sure what it is: It’s a cityscape for miniature gaming, on card stock)
• Dreamworks to make a live-action Ghost in the Shell in 3-D
• 
• Greatest Time Travel Duels of All Time(lines)

/lunch

Namaste.

Monday – 14 April 2008
Another week begins.

Alarm clocks are a necessary evil. That said, the day started with me hitting snooze more times than I had intended. After the hygiene rituals were observed and the car was packed, I began my journey back to north-central Utah. The drive was uneventful. And there weren’t any monkeys to speak of.

I got into the office and checked my email. Among them was one from Friday morning, asking me to submit my time card. *blink blink* Then, I checked the timestamp on the email: It was sent roughly two minutes before I submitted my time card, which means that I was already on the system and preparing to submit it before the email was sent. *sigh*

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday afternoon, SaraRules and I headed to the MFA house so that she could do some work… and I could use the connection there to make my way to Paragon City. We were both successful in our endeavors. Nefer-Tem is now a little less than 2 bars away from Level 50.

Steph and Kim decided to have a Taco Fiesta for dinner last night. Chicken and beef. Hard and soft shells. When dinner was done, we played Buzzword: The Not 5s (the roommates) vs. The 6-7-8s (honorary roommates). The 6-7-8s won. Barely.

Mark and Lish came over a little later. Mark asked our opinions about the Ballroom Dance Concert (he’s the director of that program); we gave him feedback. Then… it was time to play 3-way Slayer HALO. Selah. (Mark pwned both of us. Repeatedly. I need to practice.)

I showed Steph how to make the s’mores brownies. Lish said that he might try making them himself… and that he wanted to get a chef’s torch, so that he could toast the marshmallows. Ah, pyromania. A little later, Darillyn and Lish played shot glass checkers:

Lish won both games. However, Darillyn came up with a number of “Unintentional Porn Overheard in…” quotes.

> Play >
I found out that I need to add some more systems to my db and tweak the UI to be able to select from any/all systems.

Workout
Back in the saddle again:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets – 1 set, full extension; 2 sets, bent leg (lowered to only 45°)
• Bench Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 60 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/15 reps, 130 lbs
• Rows (T-bar style, with a barbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 55 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/12 reps, 120 lbs
• Core: 4 sets – 2 sets/full extension, 45 secs.; 2 sets/elbows, 30 secs.

Pre-workout weight: 175.6 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• There was an interesting discussion about Emperor Popetine Pope Benedict’s visit to the U.S. on The Diane Rehm Show this morning.
• Secret Invasion: Who do you trust?
• 
• Conductor Hero?: Touring game rocks concert halls
• 
  While I’m not overly taken by most of the figures, the Warrior Isis figure is nice.
• Microsoft: Vista feature designed to ‘annoy users’
• Scotty Doesn’t Know
• …and I don’t know what I want for dinner. *blah*
• Sillof’s Workshop

Quotes of the Day
As I mentioned above, Darillyn made some special “Unintentional Porn Overheard in…” quotes while playing checkers with Lish:

• “I can’t reach that with my face”
• “I was so waiting to jump you there.”
• “You get confused about a lot of things, but I’m not going to point them out.”
• “Hold on, I can’t get him out – he’s sticky.”
• “I got it out this time.”
• “You just jumped me. It’s my turn.”

Checkers and alcohol. Who knew?!

Namaste.