Random Access

Monday – 07 September 2009
It’s been a good four-day weekend. There have been just about equal rounds of productivity and laziness. That makes for a good weekend, I think.

<< Rewind <<
After running errands on Friday – one of which took me to the office… twice! – I had a quiet afternoon and evening. Clitorati was good, both the company and the conversations. Also of note: Borders’ Cafe now has a Hazelnut Mocha, which is pretty tasty.

Saturday, SaraRules and I got up, went out for breakfast and headed to…

(click for pictures)

It was a few days shy of the second anniversary of our second date… which also happened to be at Hogle Zoo. We got to see the new Amur Tiger and Snow Leopard cubs, as well as a giraffe calf.

After the zoo, we had lunch, stopped in to see Kate, Perry and the kids and then hooked up with some of the usual suspects to check out Gamer. I thought it was a decent – but not awesome – movie, that made a couple of interesting points about gamer culture and society. SaraRules did not like this movie. In fact, she said that she’d consider seeing either The Spirit or Transformers: RotF again before seeing this again… and she hated both of them. That said, if you’re looking for much more than shoot-em-up fare, you might want to skip this one.

Saturday evening was quiet, with SaraRules doing some quilting and me cutting new tiles for new WWG maps.

Sunday, SaraRules got up early-ish to go help her father work on the new/replacement deck he’s building. I got up a little later and headed over to help. We got the deck and the lower trim finished; I’m not sure if the next step will be railings or steps. Fortunately, it’s not my decision to make – I’m just there for the heavy lifting. After the deck-building, I popped into Paragon City for a little bit. As of a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been a CoH member for four years. Where does the time go? After gaming, we (SaraRules, the in-laws-to-be, and I) watched The Mist. Not bad, if a little cheesy at points. And the ending…? Well, let’s just say that it wasn’t “completely” telegraphed, but you could see the proverbial writing on the wall.

> Play >
Today, we slept in. After breakfast, we set about doing a bit of cleaning. (The dining room looks like a “room” again, not just a storage depot.) Next up, we visited the Utah Museum of Natural History. SaraRules hadn’t been there in many moons and I had never been. It was a nice place. Their featured exhibit is called “Toadally Frogs,” which reminded us of a smaller version of the exhibit we saw at the National Aquarium in Baltimore last year. After that, we had dinner at Charlie Chow’s. (A huge “Thanks!” to SaraRules for taking one for the team so that I could have Chinese food!)

Tomorrow, back to the work-a-day grind.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to shockpuppet and for making sure that I get my LEGO fix:
  • All Things LEGO. Except for LEGO Bricks.
  • Turning to Hollywood Tie-Ins, LEGO Thinks Beyond the Brick
• The NFL regular season kicks off Thursday night with Tennessee at Pittsburgh.
• Laura Bush praises Obama, bemoans excessive partisanship
• Steampunk remixes from b3ta
• I had a couple of revelations about prepping tiles for TerrainLinx yesterday:
  1. I need to make a TON of tiles for this new system…
  2. Once I trim the foamcore down to the sizes I need (6″x6″, 6″x3″ and 3″x3″), prepping it  for use as tiles is actually easier if I don’t use the FoamWerks cutting tools. And it’s much faster, too.
• MarknTyme pointed out the following: Arby’s Serves Up Paper JLA in Upcoming Kids’ Meals
  (Like I need more papercraft things around here…)
• I did, however, find more papercraft arcade games, which may or may not find their way into other builds I do.
• Rapper Ludacris, dealership give away 20 cars to drivers in need
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Damien Hirst installation owner charges teen art-rival with theft of £500000 for removing box of pencils from installation

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 Sep 2009
Tis the day before 9/80 Friday. Amen.

Last night, I started printing off a few things from Himmelveil: Streets. Nothing major, just some LinxTabs and a few street tiles. There’s going to be a lot of cutting involved with getting stuff set up, but I think that the flexibility will make it worth the work.

Workout
Wes and I got in a late workout today… but that’s still better than no workout at all!

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Sit-ups: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps each, 225 lbs/205 lbs/185 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Fly: 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 100 lbs, 1 set @ 120 lbs

Weight (morning): 185.5 lbs

Then, I rushed back to the office for the… 13:30 meeting… that got cancelled… at 13:25.  *blink blink*

Stray Toasters

• sent a few pics of the family to me last night.  The cutest of the bunch:

  
  (She’s asleep, but it looks as though Pixel’s saying “No, really, talk to the hand…”)

• Outlook poor for Great Barrier Reef
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Japan’s new first lady says [she] rode UFO to Venus
• Smash and grab robbers clean out Apple Store in 31 seconds
• 
• The Art of Manliness, by way of
• From the “Ewww, gross!” file: FDA says residue is frog or toad, how did it get in Pepsi can? Worst pun/quote of the article:
  

  But the DeNegris say they’re hopping mad over Pepsi’s handling of the matter.

• YouTube may stream movie rentals

Quote of the Day
Today’s QotD also has the added (dubious) distinction of being “Unintentional Porn Overheard at Work.”

I was talking with Coworker Andrew about a salad that he was making. Not seeing any meaty bits in his salad (they were at the bottom of the bowl, apparently), I asked if he was a vegetarian. He told me that he was not.

A couple of minutes later, on his way out of the break room, he stopped by my desk to note that while he is not a vegetarian, he prefers not to eat “animal-shaped” meats – he’ll eat chunked, sliced, diced or other not-on-the-bone meats, but other than that it’s “No Go, Flight.” He summed it up this way:

I don’t put anything in my mouth that I don’t have the intention of swallowing.

I immediately told that I owed a dollar to the swear jar. (Which will use my last “banked” buck in there… but it was worth it.)

Namaste.

Monday – 31 August 2009
It’s not only the first of the work week; it’s the last day of August.

It was a good – and relatively quiet/lazy – weekend. Saturday, after hanging out with Perry, I headed home and just chilled. When SaraRules came home from her bridal shower, she took some time to tell me how it went and show me what she had received. It sounded like it was quite a bit of fun (independently verified later by shockpuppet). A little later, we strolled over to Target and Red Mango; I’m getting used to the original (plain) yogurt flavor, but I still miss the Green Tea flavor.

Back at home, I started working on my ‘Clix house, while SaraRules quilted and put on a movie. She had pulled up Lifeboat on Netflix Instant Queue. I stopped working on the house and watched the movie. It is the story of nine survivors of a torpedo attack against a Merchant Marine ship in a lifeboat, adrift in the Atlantic Ocean. Add to the mix one German naval officer (from the sub that fired the torpedo and was subsequently sunk). Short on food. Short on water. And tempers and attitudes getting shorter by the day. The movie provided an interesting look at the lengths people would go to in order to survive.

Sunday, I slept in. Way in. 1100 in. (Of course, given that I didn’t get to bed until after 0400, it’s not a stretch.) After lounging about for hours, I got in gear. I did a little cleaning and then set about taking pics of the now-complete ‘Clix house (link to full gallery is just below the thumbnails). I stopped at Beans & Brews for a cup of frozen mocha goodness before heading up to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner and football. After the game, we headed home and watched part of the “Caves” episode Planet Earth.

Football Update
The Ravens played the Panthers on Saturday… and won. They’re now 3-0 in preseason. I know most people don’t think that preseason play really counts much, but I’m not one of those people.

Yesterday’s match-up pitted the Chicago Bears against the Denver Broncos, in Denver.

Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos
27 – 17

This game had a few notable features:

1. Jay Cutler’s return to Denver, following his trade to Chicago.
2. Kyle (Go Boilers!) Orton’s first game against the Bears since his trade to Denver.
3. Chicago RB Adrian Peterson. (No, not that one… this one.)

I don’t know where Chicago’s been keeping their Adrian Peterson, but his performance last night was impressive. When Chicago needed yards on a short run, he was there. Long run…? He was there. He came up with 68 yards in 12 carries. Yeah, looks like someone is looking for a first string slot.

*** In a “You Heard It Here First” prognostication: Given Mr. Peterson’s performance – and how he performs in the next preseason game and during the regular season – I am willing to bet that you will be seeing some “Adrian Peterson (CHI) vs. Adrian Peterson (MIN)” ads in the next few weeks.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s big comic-related news: Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel
  • Confirmed by BBC News
  • …and Mightygodking has something to say, as well.
    
• I really need to replace my Ethernet cord at work.
• Denny Unger, CEO/Designer at WorldWorksGames, has released mostly-complete version of the TerrainLinx instructions (.pdf in .zip file). All I can say is “Wow…”
• A few weeks ago, I mentioned that James “Captain Slow” May, of BBC’s Top Gear, was planning on building a house out of LEGO bricks. According to an entry on Gizmodo: The LEGO House Looks Beautiful from the Outside, Too
• 
• London bus with 16 CCTV cameras inside
  (Big Brother really is watching you.)
• Friday Flashback: Spidey and Friends
• Texting Toddlers, How Young Is Too Young?
• Something is buggered with Safari on Defiant, but it only really seems to appear when I am trying to browse my site’s directory tree. So, back to Firefox for me… at least for the time being.
• How Science Reporting Works
• 
• Damn Dirty Zombies 4: HOLY CRAP, SUPERMAN JUST PUNCHED HIS FACE OFF!

Namaste.

Monday – 24 August 2009
Not too manic, nor rainy… yet. Of course, the day is still young. We’ll see how it goes.

First and foremost: The Ravens take on the Jets tonight on Monday Night Football.

New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
8:00 PM EDT

Hm… we have been invtited over to SaraRules’ parents’ to watch the game. Win-Win!

Yesterday, SaraRules and I went to see Inglourious Basterds. It was great! We had a good time. It was, without a doubt, a Quentin Tarantino film – just the right mix of story, dialogue, action and over-the-top goodness. It was a World War II film… the way you’d expect Tarantino to tell it.

After the movie – and a little errand-running – we heading up to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner… and another movie.  This time, we watched Quarantine, which they hadn’t seen before. The movie easily held up for a second (or was it third?) watching. I looked up the movie’s “Trivia,” on IMDb, and noted that it was a remake of a Spanish film called Rec. I might have to check out the original to see how, if at all, they vary in telling the tale.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been a LEGO fan for… 30+ years.
  I’ve been playing HeroClix for nearly three or four years.
  At some point, the boundaries were due to blur: Chris and I have been talking about trying out some barriers rules that I found on ToyChop. They seem like they’d add something interesting and fun to the game. I was looking at something LEGO-related last night and realized that I could make fire, ice and even smoke barriers using various LEGO pieces.  It just… kind of… bothers me that it took this long for me to figure it out.
• Clearance: Granted
• Did husband’s jealousy lead to model’s murder?
• Calls to reopen CIA abuse cases
• 
• Coin-tosses aren’t fair.  (Well… DUH!)
• All that I can really say about this is “Whiskey… Tango…?!?”
• NASA May Outsource
• ‘Avatar’ preview dazzles audiences
  NOTE #1: This is not to be confused with the upcoming The Last Airbender movie.
  NOTE #2: If you haven’t heard about this movie, here’s a little taste.

Namaste.

Saturday – 22 August 2009
So far, it’s been a somewhat lazy day.

There was sleeping in; that was especially nice, as I didn’t sleep very well. Pancakes and coffee… and then we went to meet Perry and the boys for coffee. (Fortunately, we’d had coffee with breakfast, because the coffee at the bookstore left quite a bit to be desired.)

After that, we headed to Hastur’s Hobbies; I needed some gold and silver paint – I’m in the mood to mod some figures. I was also on the lookout for some modeling putty. It was right next to the paint, which made things quite easy: In. Checkout. Gone.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to: Bringing science back into America’s sphere
• I’ve found some interesting papercraft things online to add to my ‘Clix house. I just need to do some calculatin’ to get them into the right scale. And, in a couple of cases, I need to put some textures on pieces, so they aren’t just stark white.
• My Thor’s Mighty Chariot HeroClix figure , from NECA’s upcoming Hammer of Thor set, arrived yesterday.

  

• BudgetTravel’s “World’s Weirdest Hotels”
• Starting here, Real Life Comics featured a fun, fan-driven/-created story over the course of this week. Thursday’s comic was particularly amusing and absurd.
• Puzzle Cube Alarm Clock
• By way of comes How Things Are(n’t) Made
• The Force is strong in this one…
• I’m still trying to decide if I want to go see Al Jarreau at the Park City Jazz Festival tomorrow evening…

Later: A trip to Hobby Lobby and other shenanigans.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 18 August 2009
Another day in the mines.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to dinner at El Chihuahua. We ate. We talked. We watched football. After that, we ran a couple of errands – one of which involved a Hostess Fruit Pie (but perhaps I’ve said too much…) – and then headed home for a quiet evening in.

The management at our apartment complex is having some of the roads in the complex repaved. I think that this would be referred to as a “Charlie Foxtrot” in the military.

Football Update
The Panthers traveled to New York to take on the N.Y. Giants for their first preseason game. (GameCenter) They put on a… decent… showing. The first half was primarily the Giants’ half. Somewhere in the second half, the Panthers seemed to remember why they were there.

With under two minutes left in the game, QB Josh McCown executed a rather impressive drive that went in for a touchdown AND two-point conversion to tie the game at 17. The Giants had a chance to drive downfield, but couldn’t. On the first play of the Panthers’ next drive, McCown, setting up a pass play, had the ball knocked from his hand, which was recovered – in the air – by a Giants’ lineman and run back for the go-ahead winning touchdown… just as time ran out.

Carolina: 17
Giants: 24

And, in other gridiron news: Brett Favre is back in Minnesota…

Workout
Marci and I went to the gym this afternoon:

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (bar): 3 sets/12 reps, 80 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Reverse Punches (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 lbs
  • Set 1: 20 reps
  • Set 2: 10 reps

Weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Last night, I was messaged by someone I haven’t spoken with in nearly five (5) years. It was a bit of a shock, pleasantly so… but surprising, nonetheless.
• By way of : While I Was Away

• IKEA Draper Crayfish Party
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts is holding a film and lecture series, beginning next week.
• Why Is PETA Making Fun of Fat Women?
• I’m a fan of Bobby McFerrin. Check out his rendition of The Pink Panther Theme
• Insanewiches
• Car 54 Jamar Nicholas, Where Are You?
• pointed this out to me: Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?

• Has the Spidey Musical been deep-sixed?
• But we’re never gonna survive
  Unless we are a little crazy…

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote is gleaned from a conversation I had last night with . He wanted to make sure that we were alright with Bit and Pixel being at the wedding ceremony (in the chapel, that is).  Duh – we only get to see them (or at least Bit, to this point) every so often; naturally, we want them there. That led to the following:

9:47:10 PM : aiiight so urchins ok, i’ll load them both up with nyquil.
9:47:21 PM : heh or mountain dew
9:47:24 PM : either way, fun at parties
9:47:26 PM : 🙂
9:47:59 PM : SaraRules: “How about one and one?”
9:48:06 PM : “He gets to pick which one.”
9:48:24 PM : hahaha ok awesome, Bit on mountain dew then.  i’ve been wanting to play with THAT shotgun for months.

Namaste.

Monday – 17 August 2009
A new work week kicks off in the valley and…

…SaraRules starts at Utah Symphony/Utah Opera today:

Stray Toasters

• By way of MarknTyme: Finally, The Best Use for LEGO Is Revealed
• Gone Forever: What Does It Really Take to Disappear?
• U.S. banknotes show cocaine traces
• 
• …and on the subject of fanfic: While I do not often read much fanfic, but posted a link to a really well-done one: The Mutant Problem
  (Click the images on the right for more to the story)
• Chris and I are going to redo our Green Lantern Corps/Sinestro Corps ‘Clix battle – this time, including our respective heralds: My Ion (Sodam Yat) and his Parallax (Kyle Rayner).  It’s going to be a pretty big game, in terms of points, but it should be fun.  Now, we just need to see if we can come up with something for a Sinestro Corps Team Ability or Feat…
• I had forgotten that both Michael Gambon and George Harris were in Layer Cake, which we watched again last night. Whenever one of them appeared onscreen, I kept making Harry Potter cracks.
• This kid cracks me up:

I should take a look at what’s on tap for the rest of the day.

Namaste.

Sunday – 16 August 2009
It’s cold cool – far cooler than one would expect for the middle of August in SLC. It’s 64°F and today’s projected high is only 74°F. But, it’s sunny, so there’s… something.

This morning has been lazy, so far. Just me, Defiant and the Interwebs. I should probably think about eating something in the next little while.

<< Rewind <<
Friday night, SaraRules and I went up to Park City to the Deer Valley Music Festival to hear the Utah Symphony perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It rained intermittently… but only for a couple of minutes at a time. Bizarre. The performance consisted of:

• Fanfare for the Common Man (Aaron Copland)
• Overture to Colas Breugnon (Dmitri Kabalevsky)
• Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin)
• Suite from Swan Lake, op. 20a (Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky)
• Appalachian Spring (Aaron Copland)

The featured pianist, for Rhapsody, was Edisher Savitsky. His take on Rhapsody was very interesting – he played some passages quite slowly, others were spritely and animated. But his performance was delightful.

Saturday morning, we met SaraRules’ parents, Logan and Sanaz (Logan’s girlfriend) for breakfast at Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks. I have driven past the cafe many times – on the way to/from Dr. Volt’s or Oh Sushi!, but I’ve never really thought twice about checking it out. That was my mistake. It was a nice place, with good food at reasonable prices.

Next up, we went to see District 9. All I can really say about the movie – without giving anything away – is “Wow.” I was duly impressed. I had avoided reading any reviews or commentary about the movie, so that I could go into it “cold” and without any prejudice. And I am pleased to say that it was the right call.

Chris called and asked if I wanted to play ‘Clix. (Hm, playing twice in one week…) I headed over to his place for some gaming. We played the Superman family (me) versus the Shazam family. It was a much closer fight than either of us really expected – it literally came down to “last man standing” on both sides: Superman (Justice League) for me, Shazam! (Unleashed, Kingdom Come). Chris’ Captain Marvel edged out Superman in the last turn for the win. It was a lot of fun and a battle that we’re considering playing again.

> Play >
There’s no preseason game today. Fortunately, NFL Network – which is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels – is rebroadcasting some of the past week’s games. Win-Win!

I’m not really sure what’s on tap for today. We’re most likely going to hit the gym at some point. And we’re having dinner with SaraRules’ family this evening.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules starts a new job at Utah Symphony/Utah Opera tomorrow.
• Legion Blogpost: We’re Back! Who Are We?!
• Thai elephant gets artificial leg
• Do-It-Yourself Guru Makes Treasures from Trash
• Room to swing a cat? Hardly
• 
• ‘It Might Get Loud’ takes measure of 3 guitar heroes
• Woman ‘to join Iranian Cabinet’
• Taking the Great American Road Trip, Google-style
• Moderate drinking ‘boosts bones’

Namaste.

Friday – 14 August 2009
The work week draws to a close. Amen.

After work yesterday, SaraRules and I met up with and headed to get fitted for our tuxedos. It was quick and rather painless. On the way home, I realized that I was craving something… I finally figured out what it was: Cake. We had to run by the store anyway, so we picked up some Devil’s Food cake mix and a… tub (?)… container (?)… whatever the unit is called (?)… of Cream Cheese frosting. SaraRules whipped it up after dinner.

This morning, I had the unexpected, but very pleasant, surprise of chatting with Bret for a bit before I had to get ready for work.

Football Update

1. The Ravens opened their preseason against the Washington Redskins last night. They apparently opened up a can o’ Whoop-ass, too, because they not only beat the ‘Skins… they blanked ’em: 23-0.

   

2. SaraRules’ beloved Raiders opened up against the Dallas Cowboys last night. They won. Handily. 31-10.
3. Michael Vick has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for a one-year contract, with an option on a second year. We know that the man did a phenomenally douchbag thing with his dog-fighting ring a few years ago. But…he paid for it. Can we (finally) stop talking about what a schmuck the guy is – or was – and get on with the football aspect of things?
4. Dante Stallworth. Benched for the season. Sorry, .

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I awoke with the vershluggen music they play on the Lagoon commercials running through my head. I blame for this… for no other reason than “Because I can.”
• After a few misfires, I now have City of Heroes (re-)installed on Defiant.
• The Park City Jazz Festival kicks off next weekend; the closing artist is Al Jarreau. I believe that I shall have to find a way to attend this event.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Woman Blames eBay for Thwarting Baby Name Auction
• I know you’re not supposed to play with your food, but with plates like this, how can you not?!
• By way of :

  

• Battlestar Galactica Feature Film Confirmed
• I just talked with – it looks like SaraRules and I will have our rings in about three weeks.  We both REALLY like the design she came up with; can’t wait to see the finished product.
• Why Should I Trust My Network Administrator?
• Thanks to ‘s posts about his trip through Indiana, I’ve had Rockapella’s Indiana (mp3) running through my head for the past couple of days.

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Thursday – 13 August 2009
This week has been cruising right along.

Happy Birthday to :

I also talked with last night. He informed me of the following:

• Bot and Pixel are doing well.
• Bit has a few new words. (And, yes, one of them is “Mama.”)
• Grandparents just don’t understand.

Reeling By on Celluloid: The Last King of Scotland
SaraRules and I watched this movie last nig.ht. It told the story of Idi Amin’s reign as “President for Life” of Uganda in the 1970s, from the point of view of his personal physician. Forest Whitaker portrayed Amin; James McAvoy portrayed Nicholas Garrigan, his doctor. After college, Garrigan goes to Uganda, looking to make a difference in the world. Through a random occurance, winds up meeting Amin, who has just ascended to power in a coup. From there the movie follows Garrigan as he becomes entangled in the complicated world of  Amin’s fight to maintain power and control.

The movie was very well done and didn’t pull any punches in bringing some of the horrors of President Amin’s rule to light. Forest Whitaker won the 2007 Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for this film and, watching his character’s progression from man of the people to a man caught up in his own cult of personality. All-in-all, it was an very good film and one quite worth watching.

Four-Color Coverage
This week had a number of good books… as did last week, which I didn’t list, because I was tromping through the woods of Idaho. So, this week will see a, or rather “another,” two-week compilation list:

Week of 05 August 09:

• Doom Patrol #1 – DC’s strangest heroes are back on the block. And they’ve got a new strange villainess to contend with. An interesting read and one that makes me curious to see if the next couple of issues turn this into a regular purchase.
  
• Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 (of 6) – The pieces and the players continue to come together in this offshoot League. It’s still moving a little slowly, but I’m going to bear it out, especially since it’s supposed to have (eventual) ramifications in the core JLA book.
  
• Superman: World of New Krypton #5 (of 12) – General Zod has been shot. New Krypton is in chaos. Superman and Supergirl head to Earth, hot on the heels of Zod’s attacker. (Wasn’t there something about the UN banning Kryptonians on Earth…?)
  
• Captain America: Reborn #2 – Steve Rogers continues to do his impression of Quantum Leap’s Dr. Sam Beckett. And, like Dr. Beckett, Cap is slowly coming to realize what’s happening to him. Unlike Dr. Beckett – and more like Queen – he realizes that “there’s nothing you can, nothing you can, nothing you can do about it.”
  
• Ultimatum
  • Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem #1 and Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem #1 – Marvel’s Ultimate Universe was supposed to be the sandbox where writers and artists could take familiar characters and places and do things that they couldn’t get away with in the mainstream Marvel 616 Universe. And, in Ultimatum, they’ve done just that. These books present the aftermath of Magneto’s “Ultimatum Wave,” through which he caused upheaval on a global scale. While I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with some of the things they did, I have to give Marvel credit for redrawing the lines on the playing field.
    STORY:
    EXECUTION:
• Love and Capes #11 – Abby needs a new wedding dress. Marc whisks her off to Paris for a shopping trip with her sister, Charlotte. But, what happens when Abby not only finds “the perfect dress,” but also finds that it was made by Marc’s former flame, Amazonia?
  

Week of 12 August 09

• Adventure Comics #1/#504 – Superboy is back. He’s trying to put the pieces of his (former) life back together. Good thing that he’s got Martha Kent, the Teen Titans and Krypto – not to mention a certain “mild-mannered reporter” – there to help him out. This issue’s second feature includes the Legion of Super-Heroes. Kind of. More specifically, it features Starman and Tellus, who team up to fulfill the last will and testament of R.J. Brande, the LSH’s late benefactor.
  
• Blackest Night
  • Blackest Night #2 (of 8 ) – Commissioner and Barbara Gordon meet an unexpected visitor on GCPD’s rooftop. Black Lantern Aquaman schedules an impromptu family reunion. Green Lantern and the Flash set up for Round Two with Black Lanten Martian Manhunter… and wind up facing [SPOILER DELETED].
    
  • Blackest Night: Batman #1 (of 3) – The new Batman and Robin team up with not-a-Black Lantern Deadman to take on the newly reanimated [SPOILERS DELETED].
    
  • Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps #39 – GLs Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner are headed back to Oa when they meet up with Lanterns Soranik Natu and Iolande. It’s a quiet trip until they get passed by a swarm of Black Lantern rings… headed to Oa.
    
• R.E.B.E.L.S. #7 – Vril Dox reaches out to leaders of other worlds, seeking to form an alliance against Starro. While he makes some convincing points, let’s just say that he shouldn’t necessarily look for a second job in Sales.
  
• Luke Cage: Noir #1 (of 4) – Luke Cage, “The Power-Man,” gets the Marvel Noir treatment… and it’s a treat to read. Fresh out of prison, Cage is looking to renew some old connections and see how things have changed while he was away. Hopefully, he can learn who the players are… and who’s getting played.
  
• Action Comics #880 – Continuing from last week’s World of Krypton #5, Superman and Supergirl chase Ral-Dar, General Zod’s would-be assassin, to Earth… where they get a less-than-“warm” reception. Readers also learn a bit more about General Lane’s playmates.
  
• G-Man: Cape Crisis #1 (of 5) – School-aged hero, G-Man, hooks some of his friends up with the ability to fly. What could possibly go wrong when he tells them it’s time to come back to ground? This was both a great all-ages read and a refreshing change of pace – along the lines of Tiny Titans, but with a little more “meat” to the story.
  
• Uncanny X-Men #514 – As running the X-Men (all teams) and X-Force (the team that no one knows about) wasn’t enough, Cyclops puts together another team. Also, Emma Frost’s “Dark X-Men” do some good at saving citizens in the Bay Area. And it looks as if the Summers X-Men and the Frost X-Men are going to butt heads. Soon. On a personal note, it’s nice to see that Matt Fraction has a good handle on writing Cyclops. As my long-time favorite X-Men, I appreciate it when he’s written well – a bit conflicted and occasionally awkward, but always making plans and contingencies.
  

Stray Toasters

• I’ve got to do my “Goals and Accomplishments” for 2009. Yay.
• Steampunk butterfly
• Guitar, studio wizard Les Paul dies at 94
• Looking for a treat to satisfy your favorite snack-hungry zombies? Try Brain cupcakes.
• Do you eat the moldy stuff?
• 
• Euro-Area Economy Contracted 0.1% in Second Quarter
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!” file: Brazilian crime TV host ordered executions to boost ratings, cops say
• 
• I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist campaign for photographers’ rights

Yeah… that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Monday – 10 August 2009
Back in the saddle again.

I can tell that it’s a “Monday,” already, because of my pants. Yes, I am wearing pants… but I’m wearing the wrong pants, so to speak. I had intended to wear blue ones, but picked up a black pair, instead. Thus, this morning’s shoe and sock and belt combination are keyed for blue pants. Not a hugely insurmountable issue, but it is minorly annoying.

Stray Toasters

• It’s official: I’m an uncle again. Rana had Kid #2 this morning at 0534 EDT:
  • It’s a girl!
  • Her name is Sophia.
  • She was 5 lbs, 15 oz.
• My old HDD looks like it may have officially bitten the dust. That’s double-plus ungood because I hadn’t finished migrating data from it. On the other hand, I’m not completely up the creek, as I had already swapped out the HDD for a newer, larger model… and it’s working well. I’m just a little torqued about the possible/highly likely loss of a good bit of data.
• By way of : 21 Influential Comics Writers (For Better or Worse)
• Badass of the Week: Juliane Koepcke
• 
• From the “History Repeating” file: Continental imprisons 50 passengers overnight
• China’s Response to the Internet Addiction Death
• Charles Atlas: Muscle Man

Namaste.

Sunday – 09 August 09
We’re back.

We got in last night around 2230. We cut the trip short a day, because it rained most of the day on Friday, which played hob with fishing and made sitting around camp kind of… dull and boring. That’s not to say that we didn’t have a good time, though. The breakdown goes a little something like this:

Thursday (Pictures from Day 1)
We got up at 0510 to head to SaraRules’ parents’. For some reason, I didn’t get to bed until after 0200, so waking up was definitely hard to do. After a shower, I felt a little closer to human. We got to the house and waited for Logan, whose building had a power outage and screwed up his alarm.  We hit the road at 0730, bound for Idaho.

Given that I was “a little” tired from the previous night’s lack of sleep, I was out of it for most of the way to Pocatello. I woke up as we were turning off the highway to get breakfast. We ate and got back on the road. We made a quick stop in Blackfoot and then headed up to EBR-1. Again. Although, this time, it was open for touring. we spent about 45 minutes or so walking around (and taking pictures). On to Challis – we had to load up on spud-nuts (doughnuts, made with potato flour). And from there, on to Stanley and Redfish Lake.

Part of our job as the first car to leave was to find and secure a campsite. We did that. SaraRules and Logan were of the opinion that it was the same site they had two years ago. The main difference from last year’s site was that the toilets were much more basic than the ones in Glacierview: Pit toilets vs. flush toilets and sinks. *shrug* We set up the tents and generally got the campsite ready for the weekend. A little after Car 2 (with the Meliko and the ‘rents) showed up, it started raining. Steve set up “Alaska rigs” (tarps suspended in by ropes, draped over the tents and picnic bench); lo and behold, we stayed dry. For the most part. There was a small pool of water that collected at the corner of SaraRules and my tent. Meliko, Logan and I dug a small trench to divert the water – it worked fairly well.

Friday (Pictures from Day 2)
We woke up to intermittent rain. As that bode ill for fishing, we went to the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge again. It, too, was open for a tour. Looking at it last year, just from the exterior, it seemed rather amazing that the whole thing was run by just three (3) men. Seeing it from the inside made it seem all the more amazing. And, of course, I took a plethora of pictures. After that, we headed up to Custer and then SaraRules, Logan and Steve tried their hands at fishing… to no avail. We headed back to camp.

A while later, Logan and Steve decided to try again; SaraRules wanted to go to the hot springs. So we packed into the cars and off we went. Meliko went hiking around the area where Steve and Logan were fishing; Bonne came to the hot springs with SaraRules and me. I wasn’t entirely sure about this whole “sitting in a hot spring while it’s not terribly warm out” thing, as I’ve long looked askance at people who sit in hot tubs in the middle of winter. It just seemed… odd… to me. But, I did it. Trying to find the right mix of hot spring water and cold river water was a bit of a challenge, but we managed to do it. And it was fun.

Saturday (Pictures from Day 3)
Intermittent rain beset us again. We decided to break camp and head home. SaraRules, Logan and Steve decided to hit a couple of fishing spots before making the trek back to Utah. First stop, Indian Riffles. And, just before we got there, the sun came out. Go figure. The trio changed into fishin’ gear and hit the river. No dice. From there, we went back to the Yankee Fork. Once more into the fray… and this time, the fish came out to play – everyone caught something. Their fishing appetites sated, we started back to Salt Lake.

Instead of heading back through Arco and Pocatello, we came back via Sun Valley. This included a trip to the summit of Galena Summit. (Fortunately, Idaho believes in guard rails, unlike many areas of Utah…) We descended into Ketchum. We had lunch/dinner at Smoky Mountain Pizza and Pasta. The food was good and so was dessert – I had their Chocolate Ganache Cake and ice cream. A quick stop at Starbucks and we were on the road again.

We traveled through a couple of small – REALLY SMALL – towns and along some back-country two-lane roads before winding up in Paul, ID (a few miles from I-84, southeast of Twin Falls). Then, it was highway cruising. We were making good time until we got to Ogden, where there is construction. Lots of lane-constricting construction.

On the whole, I’d have to rate this year’s camping trip:

And that’s how I spent my summer vacation.

Today kicked off with sleeping in. Later, we headed over to SaraRules’ parents’ for brunch. After eating, we watched Black Sheep. It’s basically an Australian zombie sheep movie. And, yes, I know exactly how that sounded. This movie is definitely on the CW/LKG Scale.

(at least)

Tonight, I think we’ll have a quick trip down to the Garden of Sweden and then back home to watch some football. That’s right: Football. It’s the Hall of Fame Week game that kicks off four weeks of glorious preseason football.  Selah.

Stray Toasters

• Ray Charles covers Johnny Cash: Ring of Fire

• Gap founder’s amazing art collection may leave San Francisco
• I watched The Big Hit earlier. I haven’t seen this in a long time… but it’s fun. It’s on the CW/LKG Scale, but I’d rate it on the higher end of it.

  

• In a related note and comic trivia: Actress Lainie Kazan (who was in The Big Hit) was the visual inspiration for Big Barda.
• Eugene Roddenberry and the legacy of ‘Star Trek’
• 

• The Happiest Cartoonists of All Time
• Filmmaker John Hughes has died.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I came home from work early. That was a nice change of pace and it was nice to be able to take a post-dinner nap and still have most of the evening left open.

Later in the evening, SaraRules, her mother and I went to the airport to pick up Meliko, who’s going camping with us this weekend. We hung out for a bit before coming home and getting things ready for the trip to Redfish Lake. After packing, I had a piece of cake that SaraRules made and washed it down with a tall glass of milk.

Stray Toasters

• Tyranist and I were lamenting over some of the items on this list today: 100 Things Your Kid May Never Know About
• A big “Thanks!” to .
• “Congratulations” to and A 400 Lb Gorilla.
• NFL Network is now mine… and it’s in High Definition.
  • Former Raven (and Steeler and ‘Niner) Rod Woodson will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame as part of the 2009 Class.
• The 2009 NFL Pre-Season games start on Sunday, 09 August 09.
• 
• : It’s LEGO. You need make no other explanation than that.
• The 10 Most Dangerous Foods to Eat While Driving
  My favorite quote from this article:

  Allow us to make a special shout out here to item number two: Soup. Soup? Are you kidding? Who in their right mind thinks it’s OK to eat soup while driving a two-ton projectile? And who the hell is trying to spoon chili down their gullet in traffic? Good lord, people. It’s a CAR.

• Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder
• ‘Squeaky’ Fromme to go free after 34 years

We’ll be back on the other side of Saturday; have a great and safe weekend.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 05 August 2009
Happy Birthday, !

After work, yesterday, I went home, had dinner… and fell asleep on the sofa. Right. Out. Forty-five minutes later, I was up and rather refreshed, but still feeling a bit lazy. Fortunately, SaraRules was agreeable to putting off last night’s trip to the gym until tonight. While she quilted, I worked on cataloguing a few more boxes of ‘Clix.

Today is Day Two of all-day meetings. Well, one very long meeting, really. However, it’s good information and it’s covering a lot of things that I hadn’t been previously aware of. However, as it is also Comics and Sushi Day, something’s going to have to give. Unfortunately, I believe that it will be sushi; comics can be acquired later this evening.

Stray Toasters

• Coffee: Check.
  Homemade blueberry muffins: Check.
• messaged me last night with some happy news.  (No, it wasn’t that Bot had given birth to Byte…)
  

  2:13:11 PM : we have a momentous occasion to share with uncle rob.
  2:13:19 PM : Oh…
  2:13:24 PM : Is there a new [member of the family]?
  2:13:26 PM : oh heck on
  2:13:30 PM : or no even
  2:13:32 PM : even bigger.
  2:13:37 PM : Bit has her first lego set.
  2:13:40 PM : YES!
  2:13:54 PM : Duplo?
  2:14:08 PM : si. 71 piece.
  2:14:16 PM : I’m assuming that it was your call, not Bot’s.
  2:14:22 PM : She’s not that geeky.
  2:15:00 PM : heh…actually she suggested i get the kid some blocks. she has another set of grippy type blocks that she loves, so heck, if i’m going to buy her blocks…
  2:15:08 PM : *nod*
  2:15:09 PM : Indeed.
  2:15:20 PM : right now she has more fun just taking them apart…
  2:15:24 PM : so my job is to build something
  2:15:27 PM : Gotta start somewhere.
  2:15:27 PM : and her job is to disassemble
  2:15:32 PM : my genes kickin’ in
  2:15:35 PM : Destruction. Construction.
  2:15:42 PM : It’s all part of the process.
  2:16:02 PM : indeed.
  2:16:33 PM : I’m so proud.
  2:16:56 PM : haha i thought you would be
  2:17:09 PM : i told bot i’d pass the news on. you got the predictable eye roll
  2:17:15 PM : i’d say that’s a win
  2:17:19 PM : Definitely.

• Navigating a Geek Marriage?
• Retro-futuristic motorcycle
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Teen Killed at Chinese Internet Addiction Camp
• Russia Calls Submarine Patrols off East Coast ‘Routine’
• From the “No, really..?!” file: Psychopaths Have Brain Structure Abnormality

Namaste.

I messaged about this morning’s first ‘Toaster:

11:16 AM  : Hey there. I need you to verify something for me, please: First ‘Toaster in this morning’s post.
11:18 AM  : Both. 🙂
11:19 AM : Y’see…when I read Dirk Gently books, I see in my head. When I read Neverwhere, you’re the Marquis. 🙂

And, when I related the conversation to :

[12:30] huh.
[12:34] I have gotten a couch stuck on a stair landing before…

Such friends have I.