Random Access

Wednesday – 25 February 2009
After a quick dinner with SaraRules, I picked up and we headed out to and ‘s to celebrate Nox’ birthday.  SaraRules had a previous engagement and wasn’t able to go. I had a nice time and it was good to see a few folks I haven’t seen in a while.

When I got back home, SaraRules and I watched (most of) last night’s NCIS; we missed the last 7 -10 minutes, because of the preemption for President Obama’s speech.  Fortunately, I was able to find a synopsis on the Bat-web.

Stray Toasters

• Having neither modded a figure before nor picked up a paintbrush to paint/repaint a figure in many moons, I have undertaken the task of transforming one of my Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) figures into Shado, from the 80’s Green Arrow series.
• Steampunk cuff bracelet
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: The World’s Most Expensive Vacuum Cleaner
• Tales of Horror from the Circuit City Liquidation
  pointed out this story: Customers burned in Circuit City closeout sale
  These fall somewhere between “monkey” and “ass-hat,” but I’m not quite sure where…
• BackGames: Videogame plots in reverse
• Commodore 64 comes to U.S. Virtual Console

Namaste.

Monday – 23 February 2009
The month is whizzing right by…

Yesterday afternoon, we went to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner and a couple of episodes of The Muppet Show. One of the episodes had a segment that featured Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle… a segment I vaguely remembered from many moons past. Trippy.

We headed back home and felt like watching a movie. Nothing too heavy, mind you. We opted for Snakes on a Plane. It was just as entertaining last night as it was in the theatre. (Well, minus the “throwing snakes” part, of course.) And, yes, we MST3K-ed the whole thing.

Stray Toasters

• Since I’m Ivory Soap sure that neither a GL Ring nor a Legion Flight Ring would be acceptable as a wedding ring/band, SaraRules and I asked if she would design our rings. She said “Yes.” I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with.
• NPR’s look at Oscars 2009
• AT-AT Walker Boombox
• Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus… the Chocolate Coworker Count just went up by 100%!
  That’s right: There are TWO of us now! (The plans for taking over are proceeding apace…)
• Microsoft Asks for a Refund from Laid-off Workers
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Office chair explodes, kills boy
• This forum thread contains some rather impressive Heroclix mods.
  (NOTE: There are currently thirty-nine (39) pages in the thread…)
• An early look at the NASA MMO

Nose. Grindstone.

Namaste.

asked me to pass along a message: She’s in the hospital – she’s fine, this is more of a preventive measure. She will be in for two or three days, but would welcome visitors. If anyone would like room information, feel free to call, text, IM or email me.

Namaste.

Sunday – 22 February 2009
Friday afternoon, SaraRules and I went to check out a couple of possible wedding venues: Heritage Gardens and the Post Chapel at Fort Douglas. Both had their pros and cons. We still have two more places to check out before rendering our final decision.

Saturday had a good mixture of productivity and leisure. After starting the morning with breakfast and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I did some cleaning and organizing around the apartment – including getting my HeroClix figures back into their respective storage spaces – before spending the evening at OnlyAly and ‘s, playing poker. Before the cleaning spree, I also managed to get new pictures of my growing ‘Clix map, including Corner #5: Building cluster. (Hint: It’s the one with the skyscraper.)

Today has been fairly lazy, so far. I don’t know that we really have anything on tap to change that, either.

Stray Toasters

• Zombie Food Pyramid, by way of
• Parent of gamer asks son to honor the Geneva Conventions
• ABC Family cancels The Middleman.  Bastards. Maybe someone else will pick it up…
• And, in a semi-related note: On the demise of books, newspapers, music and movies
• Hardware Store Offers Bush Job as Greeter
• iPod Killer: LEGO MP3 Player

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 February 2009
I got home from work last night to find SaraRules making cheesesteak sandwiches! They were quite good and an excellent way to kick off the evening. I had emailed Chris and Keith, to see if they wanted to come over and play ‘Clix – Keith had a prior game scheduled and Chris wasn’t feeling well… but invited me over to play, if I wanted.

Duh.

So, I headed over. I took the corner pieces, but not the master board. I printed out a few street tiles and just laid them out to “complete” the map. This time, Chris played the JLA:

• Batman
• Black Canary
• Flash
• Green Arrow
• Green Lantern
• Red Arrow
• Superman and
• Wonder Woman

I fielded the Avengers:

• Black Panther
• Captain America
• Dr. Strange
• Iron Fist
• Iron Man
• Luke Cage
• Moon Knight
• Quicksilver
• Spider-Man and
• Thunderstrike

I also learned a valuable lesson: If you’re planning a force with two tanks on your team, make sure that both of them are actually in your box before you leave home – I had planned on using Ms. Marvel (human), but the only figure I had was the Skrull version, which didn’t meet my theme requirement. *sigh* Oh, well. We didn’t dance around too long and then the throwdown began. We both had hot and cold-running dice, but mine ran ice cold for a long stretch. I think that one of the most improbable – but highly-amusing – melees occured when Chris scored a critical hit on Hercules… with the Flash. Not only did it hurt Herc, but it also moved him out of base-to-base contact with Red Arrow, who I was about to beat mercilessly. When all of the dust cleared (and time ran out), Chris had won the fight. Pictures of the fight can be found here.

Stray Toasters

• I have a new addition to The Covet List: This.
• In search of Jonny Quest
• By way of : Rapper MC Hammer finds new reality on A&E

  

• From Comic Book Resources: Grant Morrison’s Superman Saga, Part 1
• Body scanners replace metal detectors in tryout at Tulsa airport
• 
• A Painful Departure for G.M. Brands
• Apple makes online music lessons easy with GarageBand
• Cache of Ice Age fossils found in L.A.

WHEE!

Namaste.

Sunday – 15 February 2009
Last night’s dinner at Braza Grill was very good. It’s a churrascaria, along the lines of Rodizio Grill or Toucano’s… but a little smaller. Our waitress, Sarah, was very good – quite attentive and responsive. The… I’m not sure if he was the owner and/or manager… was also rather involved in the dining experience, he came by many times to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves and that the service was up-to-par. The atmosphere was pleasant, there was nothing that beat you over the head and said, “Yes, we are a Brazilian steakhouse!”

The salad bar had a good selection and the offerings of meat were quite good. I did note that they did not seem to have any “exotic meats,” as you might find at Rodizio, but the meats they had included:

• Steak
• Lamb
• Ham
• Sausage
• Chicken
• Bacon-wrapped chicken
• Beef tenderloin

And, yes, they had grilled pinapple.  Then there was the dessert cart.  There were nine or ten dessert options; we opted for the tiramisu, which was light and delicious. On the whole, it was a very pleasant dining experience. I heartily recommend it for those looking for a new or different place to dine.

Today, SaraRules and I are meeting her parents for brunch and then heading up to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to see the Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art exhibit.

Later, I’m heading over to Chris’ to play HeroClix. We’re having a 1200-point Avengers vs. JLA battle.  If I can finish the fifth corner, I may take the new map with me.

And with that… we’re off.

Namaste.

Saturday – 14 February 2009
Happy Valentine’s Day.

…or Single’s Awareness Day.
…or Anti-Green Lantern Day¹.

After sleeping in a bit and getting ready to face the day, SaraRules and I waited for Rachel to drop by. The three of us went to The Cheesecake Factory for brunch. I had the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta and a slice of the Chocolate Cake Cheesecake, both of which were very good. We came back home and hung out for a while before Rachel had to head back to Cedar City.

Later, SaraRules and I are having dinner at Braza Grill.

And somewhere in the middle, I’m going to try and finish up another portion of the new street corner. for the ‘Clix map, either the gas station or the gun store. If I’m lucky, maybe even both of ’em. We’ll see.

Stray Toasters

• Knowing how much I enjoyed the brief portions of it that we got to watch, SaraRules got me Planet Earth for my Valentine’s Day gift.
• NYCC ’09: Green Lantern at 50
• My ‘Clix Storm just arrived.

  

• DesktopGaming has Killer Retro Gaming Wallpapers
• 10 Cheap of Free Home Theatre Upgrades
• Homophones! Learn what they are, if you don’t know.

Namaste.

¹ – The traditional colors of Valentine’s Day are red and white.
The color of a Green Lantern’s uniform are, oddly enough, green and black.

If you look at a color wheel, red lies opposite green and white is the opposite of black.

Therefore, Valentine’s Day (at least in terms of color) == Anti-Green Lantern Day.

Q.E.D.

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

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

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

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 11 February 2009
Last night, SaraRules, her parents and I had dinner at the African Restaurant and Market (1878 S. Redwood Rd, for those of you in town). The food was quite good. The only complaint that I really had about the experience was the turned-down thermostat. We’re planning another trip there… when the weather is a little warmer.

Getting back home, we settled in and watched an episode of Justice League,”Hearts and Minds (Parts 1 and 2)“.

I wanted to compare it to last week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold Despero/GLC episode – and last night’s episode of NCIS. We also enjoyed mugs of hot chocolate! Win-Win! The flight crew from USAirways 1549 was on The Late Late Show; it was interesting to hear the story of the abortive flight/water landing from all five points of view.

Stray Toasters

• I had an odd dream this morning: part X-Files, part Fringe… with a dash of CSI:
• NFL’s Oscar Season: Handing out awards for the year’s best
• How to Manage Geeks
• 
• Favre’s agent: NY Jets QB retiring
• Steampunk sculpture
• Giant Midwest Mecca of Nerditude in Oklahoma
• NYCC ’09: Men Are from Krypton, Women Are from Paradise Island

*voop*

Sunday – 08 February 2009
Yesterday was a good day, all around.

I went 1-2 at the tournament, but I was happy with my choice in teams and how it fared against others. I played a team based on the theme “Gotham City PD,” using:

• Captain Gordon – team captain
• Gotham City Detective (x3)
• Gotham City Policeman (x2)
• Gotham City Undercover

I got a bye – and lone win – in the first round, playing against Keith, who fielded five Multiplex figures, with the Atom LE as the team captain. Next up, I faced Jerry, who used two Doombots, a White Martian and a Spider-Slayer. My last game was against Ryan, with his S.H.I.E.L.D. team, captained by Sharon Carter. That was my closest game, coming down to the last kill – Ryan won by five points.

On the other hand, the tournament was a “success” for me on two levels:

1. We got to play on the map that I built
2. I got the Fellowship Prize (which I’m sure the map helped me secure): Henchman LE

After that, I met SaraRules at home and we then headed to her parents’ place for dinner and to hang out with the family. After that, we made a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden, before heading home for a lazy evening and watching the end of West Side Story.

Today… we’re off to brunch and waiting for the Pro Bowl. Other than that, the sky’s the limit.

Namaste.

Saturday – 07 February 2009
Yesterday evening, SaraRules and I had dinner with her family – including an aunt, visiting from out-of-town – at Jasmine. Sushi, Chinese food, good atmosphere and good company.

After dinner, I headed to meet the usual suspects at Clitorati while SaraRules got to spend some quality time with her aunt and the rest of her family. The gathering was smallish, but both and put in appearances; it was good to see them both. SaraRules also showed up a little later, but opted out of going to get a bite to eat. Returning home, I watched about roughly half of West Side Story with SaraRules – I’ve never seen it before, so I had to ask “Who’s who” and “What’s the story here” more than a few times.

This morning, I was up before I had planned: The Leash went off shortly after 8:00 AM. I waited for a follow-up alert… which canceled the first one. Thank God. SaraRules got up to get ready for quilt club; I got up to finish my street corner map for today’s Clix tourney. As an added bonus, I watched last night’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold while enjoying my morning coffee. The episode featured the Green Lantern Corps and Despero. I had to make a quick run to Target and Office Depot, too – I needed to get more glue and to find some way to make sure that the map’s corners didn’t move around during gameplay. I was going to use binder clips, but I found some sticky-backed Velcro^® tabs. After a quick “Is this going to work” test, I’m glad that I decided against the binder clips.

Time to finish getting ready and get out of Dodge.

Namaste.

Friday – 06 February 2009
Today is Bit’s first birthday:

And, in other news, it’s my day off. I actually caught myself watching part of The Price Is Right. Fortunately, I noticed that Bravo was airing The West Wing.

Last night, shockpuppet and came over for dinner. SaraRules fixed maple chicken with mashed sweet potatoes and green beans. Both the dinner and the company were excellent.

Four-Color Coverage
After our guests left, I read this week’s comics. Of the six books that I picked up, there were three standouts:

• Dark Reign: Secret Warriors #1 – A few years ago, Nick Fury disappeared. It eventually came to light that he was aware of… something… that wasn’t right in the world and went underground to find out what. The first thing that he found about was the impending Skrull invasion. The second was… well, you should read this book to find out. To combat his growing list of issues, Fury assembled a team of agents – super-powered agents – to handle the “heavy lifting,” so to speak. It was a good read, with interesting implications for the Marvel Universe.
• Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3 (of 5) – Superboy-Prime. Mordru. The LSV. The 31st Century anti-alien Justice League. Superman… and the Legion. Correction: Three Legions – The “classic” LSH, Legionnaires and the Reboot Legion. And God bless George Perez – that man draws one hell of a splash page. And big fight scenes. And… and… yeah. Geoff Johns wrote a solid issue that even sees the return of [spoiler deleted]. Yep, definitely looking forward to Issue #4.
• X-Men: Noir #3 – I’m really enjoying this take on the X-mythos. Fred Van Lente even threw in a nod to the classic Scott-Jean-Logan triangle. Readers also got a look into the Magnus family dynamic and it’s quirks. Not only that, there was also an… explosive… scene including Pryor Airlines. Another good read.

Workout
Yesterday’s workout was a slightly modified version of Tuesday’s workout:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Lat Pull-downs (behind the head): 3 sets/15 reps, 110 lbs
• Row (Nautilus, compound row): 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 70 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
• Core (plank): 2 sets/30 seconds

Stray Toasters

• Even though I’m off today, I have to run to the office. My turn on the pager rotation started yesterday… and I forgot to bring the pager home. D’oh!
• If I rode a motorcycle, I’d seriously have to consider getting a helmet/visor like this:

  

• I’m having lunch with Stefanie and in a bit. Hopper’s. Madame X Stout. Amen. Stefanie’s going to do a GL My Little Pony for me, similar to the Mac MLP that she did for .

“Up, up and away!”

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

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

Yeah. That’s it for now.

Namaste.

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

Tonight: CSI: and Burn Notice.

Namaste.

Sunday – 25 January 2009
Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Chelsea:

…and belated happy birthday to :

And now, back to our regularly-scheduled blog entry…

Yesterday, Chris and I headed to Far West Comics for a ‘Clix tournament. The scenario was Heroclix Xtreme Wrestling Federation. Deciding who to take was a bit of a challenge… mainly because I had what I thought were a lot of good options. I finally settled on these figures:

• 75 points – Gamora
• 125 points – Susan Richards
• 175 points – Ms. Marvel (Skrull), with Inside Information
• 225 points – Crispus Allen (LE), with Fortitude
• 275 points – The Spectre
• 325 points – Ganthet

The tournament prize was Grodd (LE)… which was the last figure I wanted/needed for my Sinestro Corps. (Sure, I’d like a veteran Cyborg Superman, but that wasn’t what was up for grabs.)  Then, it was time to play:

• I lost a few pieces in the first match, but won on points.
• I got schooled in the second match and didn’t KO anyone in that match
• I KO’ed everyone in the second match, without losing anyone… barely.

There was someone who went 3-0, while I went 2-1 on the day… but I got the Fellowship prize, so I was happy.

And, I beat Chris – for the second time in a week – so it was a “Win-Win” kind of day. After the tourney, Chris and I went to get a bite to eat and to hang out. We haven’t done that in a long time (not counting last Tuesday when he came over for dinner and gaming).

After that, I came home and hung out with SaraRules.  We finished watching The Great Escape; I realized that I had  only seen a few minutes of the movie – mostly around Steve McQueen’s motorcycle chase – before this. After that, I watched Batman: The Brave and the Bold… and something else… before heading out to breakfast.

This morning has been quiet and lazy. (It’s amazing what the lack of football will do to a Sunday.) SaraRules cooked breakfast – pancakes! – and we watched Unforgiven. Great movie…. and one that I haven’t seen this movie since its theatrical release. After that went off, I found Dr. No on BBC America.

All this, and I’ve even managed to partake in a little of City of Heroes‘ Double XP Weekend, too. I got Kurigari from 31 to 32… in one mission. Can’t really complain about that.

Not sure what we’re going to do for the rest of the afternoon, but later we’re heading to SaraRules’ parents’ to watch Shadow of the Vampire.

Namaste.