Random Access

…not that I really needed any other reasons, mind you, but this one is a peach:

Every Night’s Another Story

Particluar item: “Tip of the Day”
(It’s at the bottom of the post.)

His rationale:

With the “glass is half empty  or half full” analogy, optimism is better than pessimism.  So the way you phrase it, makes people feel like they are choosing one nationality over the other, and they don’t know what to say

Priceless.

And for this, I will name Derek “Human of the Day”

Afte????????r stopping to pick up an iced mocha and a bagel sandwich, I made it into the office. I found a good parking space – one of the benefits of getting in early-ish. I gathered my things and headed into the building.

There was an older woman already at the elevator core as I approached. She saw me headed in that direction and called down the hallway,”Would you like a ride up?”

I answered,”Yes, thank you,” and she held the door for me.

As I got into the elevator, she smiled and said (and I quote): “I like your Cuba Gooding look. It looks as good as you as it does on him.”

I returned the smile and thanked her.

While I personally don’t think that I favor Cuba Gooding, Jr. or Will Smith or Tupac – all of whom I’ve been told, at one point or another, that I remind people of – I’m not about to knock a compliment… especially not first thing on a Monday morning.

Besides, as I said: It made me smile.

In no particular order:

• and I walked over to Dask’s for lunch. When we got to the little shopping center where it is, he noticed that a new restaurant, Cafe Zupas, had opened. We decided to give it a go. It specializes in salads, sandwiches and soups. I had the Honey Bacon Club and it was good.
• is on a roll today. She sent me this:

• , having watched the above video, went on to watch this one… and send a link to me:

• I am looking for a new hard drive for Defiant. I guess that I should get an external HD, too, for use with Time Machine.
• , Mike and I discussed adding a new class to FRPGs/MMos: Barbarian Lush.
• Stormtroopers vs. London Cops

  

Back to it.

Friday – 30 May 2008
Nodded off on the couch (yet again) last night. I woke up long enough to take care of the nightly hygiene rituals and hit the rack somewhere around 2:00.

Once again, I was awake around 6:00.
The alarm was set for 6:35.
Naturally, I stayed in bed for the extra few minutes.
Up out and in the office by a few minutes past 8:00. Hopefully, the rest of the day will go as swimmingly.

Stray Toasters

• By way of (with an assist from ):



• By way of Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time
• Adventurer will live 300 days as Robinson Crusoe
• From Indexed:



• What’s wrong with the following series of pictures? (Answer at the end of the post)

  
  (click images to view larger versions)

Quotes of the Day: Things overheard in a Waiting Room
You just can’t make stuff like this up:

• A phone call came in, apparently a patient canceling because a family member had something going on/bad. The receptionist replied: “…just let her drink some flat soda or Sprite or something, to get some nourishment in her.”
  (Wait… Since when is “soda” considered a source of “nourishment?”)
• Receptionist 1: 13 year old boys won’t cuddle with their moms…
  Receptionist 2: Sure they will, if they’re sick.
• A woman checks in, gets forms to fill out, hands them back in…
  Receptionist: You’re not allergic to anything?
  Patient: No.
  Receptionist: I mean medicines…
  Patient: No.
  (If someone says that they aren’t allergic to something, I’d take it as a pretty good bet that they would consider medicines on the list of “Things I’m allergic to,” especially if they are in a doctor’s office.)
• Observed: PA comes into the waiting room, looks around… “Claudia?”
  There was only one woman in the room.
• A man comes in to reschedule an appointment for his wife:
  Receptionist: Did the pill give her diarrhea?
  Man: No, more constipated than anything.
  Receptionist: Oh. Well some people react to it differently. Some people say it doesn’t do anything to them, others say it’s like an explosion.

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Answer: If it’s supposed to be an automatic faucet, why does it have handles?
(Hint: It wasn’t.)

Tuesday – 27 May 2008
The rain is gone.
The boxes are no longer in my car.
SaraRules is on her way to Colorado for summer camp The Aspen Music Festival.

Today’s going pretty well. For today’s workout, I wanted to do a few back-related exercises, as I feel like we’ve been ignoring that area. So, it went a little something like this:

• Leg raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench press: 3 sets/12 reps, 185 lbs
• Reverse fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 82.5 lbs
• Decline press: 3 sets/12 reps – 135 lbs (first and third sets), 155 lbs (second set)
• Rows (standing, barbell, close grip handle): 3 sets/12 reps – 45 lbs (first set), 70 lbs (second and third sets)
• Leg raises: 3 sets/10 reps
• Back extensions: 2 sets/12 reps

All-in-all it was a good workout. Today’s weigh-in weight: 174.4 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been trying to convince a coworker to buy a (at least one) MacBook. He’s considering it.
• Pain Lies on the Riverside
• Do whites need training before raising black children?
• Happy 5th Birthday to WordPress.
• Plants, for your health
• I may have to make a trip to Aspen to attend this.
• If Will Smith had one of these, I Am Legend might have been a (slightly) different movie.
  (Thanks to for pointing this out.)
• Adult balloon-twisters and gospel balloon-twisters battle
• SaraRules just called; she made it to camp Aspen safely and is getting settled in.

Quote of the Day
Just when I think that conversations with can’t get any better, he proves me wrong:

: bot/bit made it to US soil. not to DC yet tho
: Good deal.
They still have about 1:30 to go before they hit DCA, right?
: give or take. she said they were running late but not sure if it was them being late or the planes
: Gotcha.
: How are you this evening/early morning?
: eh…didn’t sleep last night. probably won’t sleep much tonight. frazzled. and in the middle of a packout. no pressure.
: Packout?
: yeah, movers came and started to pack and crate all our stuff
: ah.
: Dude. Condi… on the piano?
In Aspen?
: yeah she’s actually really good
: HAVE to see if SaraRules can score tix for that.
: wait…black person? in aspen?
: *ding*
: is that allowed?
: We’ll find out in 3 weeks.
I’ll send detailed reports.
But… Condi’s there in August. Performing, apparently.
http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com/index.cfm?&swf_plugin=0,9,0
: she going to take over any small countries full of brown people w/oil on her way over?
: No idea.
: there are brown people in texas. maybe we can make arrangements
: True enough.
And there are a FEW in Kansas.
: doubtful. it’s kansas.
: Seen ’em.
Been in a couple of rib joints.
: people see bigfoot too, rob
: But…
*sigh*
FINE.
: lol i think we have the makings of a really offensive comedy sketch
“crikey…i’m on the lookout for a negro…”
: By Jove! Kansas!
: i believe you. really i do
next thing you’ll tell me is that there are black people in utah.
: No.
There aren’t.
Just me.
And I tell people that I just had a really bad sunburn.
: damn. that’s some 4th degree shit
: You’d be amazed what people believe here.
*rimshot*
: dammit. now you have me thinking of ribs.
: 🙂
: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/27/tranracial.adoption.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
: so….moral of the story is that it’s better to leave the little black kids in orphanages/foster homes?
: Apparently.
: i noticed no mention of any white kids being adopted by non-white families
: What self-respecting “person of color” wants to adopt a white kid?
Hell…
Bruce Wayne didn’t even want to.
He just made Dick Grayson a “ward.”
: well if you’re looking for well adjusted, master wayne isn’t the way to go
: I’m just saying…
Mr. Drummond adopted two!
: yes but one of them was a sassy midget
who wouldn’t take that kid?
: Touche.
: he’s the rich man’s webster
: And there’s another case: Webster.
White folk.
Black kid.
Adopt a white kid?
No way, man.
: big fat greek guy.
: I see…
Greek guys want to have black kids.
Is that why you married Bot?
: lol yes, we’re all infected with the fever
: (I’ll allow you to decline to answer that)
: me? decline? please.

Tonight: ‘Clix and Scion.

Namaste.

Thursday – 22 May 2008
It’s a wet and rainy morning in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.
After Tuesday’s 90° high and yesterday’s (possible) 60° high… today’s projected high is 50°.
Fifty. Five-zero.
Unglaublich!

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Poolhall Junkies. Christopher Walken. Rod Steiger. Chazz Palminteri. Lex Luthor Michael Rosenbaum. And where in the world has Carmen Sandiego Ernie Reyes, Jr. been?! Somehow, I had managed never to see this movie. That’s a shame – it’s a good movie. And, although they never overtly say it, it was filmed (and set) in Salt Lake City – you can even see the SLC LDS Temple in an exterior shot. (That, I did know before seeing the movie, though.) Being a film about a young hotshot pool player, it reminded me of The Color of Money. I even considered watching both of them for a better juxtaposition. And, if I do that, I am Ivory Soap sure that I will add The Hustler to the mix, just for good measure.

Not only is it NBN Thursday, it’s also “Sushi Wednesday.
And “Comic Book Day-After-Wednesday.”

Stray Toasters

• I’m not a fan of “reality TV,” generally speaking. I think I’ve made that fairly apparent over the years. However there are two things that have come to my attention this season that are somewhat noteworthy:
  • American Idol. I didn’t watch the show, but I caught a couple of episodes at Kate and Perry’s over the past couple of months. I mentioned David Cook back in March as having caught my attention. And, as of last night, he was chosen as American Idol’s champion for the 2007-2008 season.
  • Deion and Pilar: Prime Time Love. Kris (Sib-2) brought this show to SaraRules and my attention when we were in Florida. This show is… to call it “a trainwreck” doesn’t do it justice. You just can’t help but stare at, mouth agape. And laugh. Doubled-over on the floor, holding your sides laughing. And the opening theme? Comedy. Pure comedy. , I take back (just about) everything I ever said about your fascination with The Anna Nicole Smith Show after watching Deion & Pilar.
• Claire Beale interviews Apple’s Jonathan Ive
• I am looking for suggestions of new musical artists/bands.
• Pirate’s Booty: An ex-Jack Sparrow spills on life at the Magic Kingdom
• Getting ‘Nine back into shape is becoming… tedious. Certain things don’t seem to want to install properly. It’s getting a little annoying, in fact. And, it really is making me give more consideration to picking up a Mac Mini or an iMac this year, maybe as a second birthday present or Christmas present to myself.
• Sushi Jihad!
• The Secret History of Star Wars
• SaraRules left me a message: My friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man letter carrier brought me a package chock full of plastic crack. Selah.

Quote of the Day
Somehow, Christopher Walken always manages to get both some of the most random – and some of the most cool – lines in any movie he’s in:

Mike: You watch those nature documentaries on the cable? You see the one about lions? You got this lion. He’s the king of the jungle, huge mane out to here. He’s laying under a tree, in the middle of Africa. He’s so big, it’s so hot. He doesn’t want to move. Now the little lions come, they start messing with him. Biting his tail, biting his ears. He doesn’t do anything. The lioness, she starts messing with him. Coming over, making trouble. Still nothing. Now the other animals, they notice this. They start to move in. The jackals; hyenas. They’re barking at him, laughing at him. They nip his toes, and eat the food that’s in his domain. They do this, then they get closer and closer, bolder and bolder. Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody. Runs like the wind, eats everything in his path. Cause every once in a while, the lion has to show the jackals, who he is.

/lunch

Namaste.

Tuesday – 20 May 2008
More workdays should start like this:

Paul, one of our VPs, was talking to a few minutes ago. I had been away from my desk and returned to hear say: “…you’ll have to ask Rob about that.” Naturally, my curiosity was piqued. Paul turned to me, nodded to my desk and said:

“Jay (one of our new corporate overlords overseers protectors) was in the office a few weeks ago and saw that picture on your desktop…”

“…he didn’t see you sitting there and he got REALLY worried and started going off about how this office was out of control and needed to get diversity training in here immediately.”

I started laughing. A lot. Then I quipped, “That probably explains why he looks at me so oddly when he walks down the hall.”

, not missing a beat, retorted: “No, that’s just Jay.”

I told Paul that he made my day by relating that story to me.

I’ll have to name Paul today’s Human of the Day for this.

Intelligent != Smart

Wednesday – 07 May 2008
Midweek. Grey and Rainy.

Vacation starts tomorrow. Or tonight, depending on your point of view. Florida. Forecast is sunny and hot (upper 80s). Yeah, I think I can deal with that.

Stray Toasters

• Pink Floyd’s Money just turned up in my iTunes rotation. I like have liked this song for many years. I even used it as the theme for my radio show in college.
• In order received, , and got the right answer.
  (Technically, only got half of it, but she still got her half right.)
  The answers were: Vasco da Gama and Amerigo Vespucci.
• loonybin88 pointed me in the direction of Not on the Test. Amusing… and sadly true, in many cases.
• Duck season!
  Wabbit season!
  DUCK season!
  WABBIT season!
  Zombie season!
• Yay for Windows Server 2003 manuals! ZzzzzzzZZzzzzz…
• Webcomic WTH takes an amusing look at City of Heroes.
• I haven’t played City in… at least a week. *taps vein*
• While I’m happy with Senator Obama’s performance in last night’s primaries, I’m not so naive as to think that he’s an automatic shoe-in for the Democratic Party nomination, as some news sources seem to be reporting. The race isn’t over and there is still a long way to go.
• I ‘Toastered Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno yesterday; the link led to stills from the videos. The Sundance Channel’s website has posted the videos.

Quote of the Day
has been chatting with one of our robot overlords (Did I say “overlords?” I meant “protectors.”) about an email issue. This was part of the conversation:

Robot Overlord: “I’ve sent your request on to Adam and Jamie to see if they know the right people to contact.”
: “You sent it to the Mythbusters guys!? How can they help with an email forward problem??”

He didn’t get a reply. Sad. Humorless robot overlords.

Anyway…

I just got back from lunch with SaraRules and Perry. While out, I took a couple of pieces of equipment to be exchanged for an RMA. I went to a new place to take care of this. The young lady at the store, God bless ‘er, didn’t quite understand what to do. So, what normally took about five (5) minutes to do took on the order of twenty-five. Yay. But, it’s done.

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

I have forgotten how much of a piece of piece Windows XP can be. Yes, I’ve been spoiled by the simplicity of OSX and program upgrades and installations. I recently had to wipe and reinstall XP on one of my machines in the north office. I forgot about that today when I had to do some online training. Which means that I had to reinstall a number of helper applications in order to use the training modules.

Install.
Reboot.
Install.
Reboot.
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.

I got everything installed. I went through the training modules. Life was good. Yay.

Earlier in the afternoon, Code Monkey and I went for a constitutional. We were talking about how temperate it was today. From there we went off on a tangent about skin color and heat absorption. That, in turn, led me onto a tangent about Kryptonians’ (and Daxamites’) ability to absorb energy from yellow solar radiation. Then, came the big tangent:

Where were the Black Kryptonians?!

CM and I then had a couple of other questions:

1. Would the concept of Black Kryptonians work? If high melanin-content in the skin reflects heat, then would the darker-skinned be as “super” under a yellow sun as their light-skinned counterparts?
2. If Krypton was a cold/ice planet, as seen in Superman and Superman II, would there even be any dark-skinned Kryptonians?

Of course, this meant that I had to look up whether or not there had ever been Black Kryptonians in the comics. Lo and behold, there were! Evidence was found here, here and even here.

Still no word on Black Daxamites, though.

Stray Toasters

• Newsarama had a link to Legion of Super-Potatoes. The second page, with the Legion of Substitute Potatoes, nearly made me double over and smack my head on my desk from laughter.
• This is the cover of the first issue of Legion of Super-Heroes that I ever bought:



• Living Between Wednesdays had an amusing look at The Invincible Iron Man #172, featuring a drunken Tony Stark…
• …which makes a perfect segue for this:



• Isabella Rossellini Does Bug Porn
• What if John Byrne had written the X-Men?
• Also, check out the official trailer for Wolverine and the X-Men, the upcoming animated series from Marvel. It looks like an interesting twist on the X-Men mythos.



• Not the droids you’re expecting…
• While watching CNN’s primary coverage, SaraRules mentioned that she was fascinated by the multi-touch interactive display they used to track/follow voting reports. So, I showed her the multi-touch exhibition from TED in 2006:

  Then I showed her an item from Popular Mechanics.com about the Microsoft Milan. That made me wonder when the Milan was going to be available to the public. Apparently, it hits the market on 30 May 2008.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 May 2008
Okay, I didn’t wake up in my clothes again this morning, but it made for a good subject line. And, I did wake up on the couch. I apparently nodded off while watching TV last night. At some point, I must have turned off the TV… but didn’t muster the muscle power to get up off the couch. Until nearly 4:00 AM.

A few minutes ago, I was sitting here staring out the window and the thought “Marco…? POLO!” ran through my head. It was immediately followed by:

• Vasco…?
• Amerigo…?

Bonus points to anyone who can remember their last names… without having to look them up.

Stray Toasters

• I have Bit-O-Honey candies.
• What are some of your favorite sources for news:  TV?  Radio?  Internet?  Smoke signals?  I’m not generally given to watching news on TV; I find too much of the coverage to be “human interest” stories and not “news,” especially when looking at local news.  I tend to get most of my news from NPR, BBC News and various sites on the Internet.
• By way of BoingBoing TV: Sneak Attack and Magic Ink:

• The Tim Burton Batmobile Is for Sale
• Win Server 2k3.  Yay.
• Breastfeeding ‘helps to boost IQ’
• Mission: Impossible IV?
• Drivers fined for slow-drive on scenic bridge
• 

Namaste.

loonybin88 and I had off-site training today; SaraRules went with us. Part of the training included Iron Man.

Holy cow!
The movie was FUN.
And it was pretty damned good, too.

I give it a definite thumbs-up with an okay… with a “Sweet action,” from SaraRules.

Tony Stark
Makes you feel
He’s a cool exec
With a heart of steel.
As Iron Man,
All jets ablaze,
He fights and smite’n
With repulsor rays!
A blaze of power!
Iron Man!
Amazing armor!
Iron Man!

Friday – 02 May 2008
Good start to the day:

• Sleeping in.
• Breakfast with SaraRules.
• Having the Schoolhouse Rock! DVD playing while doing work.
• Seeing Iron Man in just a few hours.

How’s your Friday?

Thanks to for helping me wrangle my stray PHP code into workable – and usable – shape!

Wednesday – 30 April 2008
“That explains the Crisco and the jelly beans… but HOW does the feather duster come into play?!”