Random Access

Thursday – 06 November 2008
Happy Birthday to SaraRules:

Yesterday, it snowed. The news originally said that it should taper off around 2:00 or so. The news lied. It did stop somewhere around 4 or 4:30.

After work, I headed over to SaraRules’ for dinner and we hung out for her folks for a bit, swapping stories. After dinner and coffee, we headed over to my place. We watched The Late Show and a bit of The Late Late Show; both of them featured some good post-election wit.

This morning, there was no snow… but it was cold (20°F) when I woke up.
But, there was sun. (I guess Annie was right: The sun really did come up [tomorrow].)
That counts for a lot.
And it’s a gym day.
…not to mention NBN Thursday, too.

Stray Toasters

• 
• Shades of Dewey! Colbert LOSES Presidential Election – in Marvel Universe
• Rob Kapilow did a great deconstruction of Somewhere Over the Rainbow on Decoding the Rainbow with NPR Music’s “What Makes It Great”
• Also from NPR: Five (Plus One) Vintage Videos to Improve Your Inclement Wednesday… even though it’s Thursday.

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

If I had seen this before I hit the polls, I might have changed my vote:

Thanks to for pointing this out.

Tuesday – 04 November 2008
It’s Election Day in the U.S.

Get out there and vote… if you haven’t already, that is.

I don’t care for whom you vote.
Really.

As long as you’re voting with your conscience (yes, I take mine out of storage, dust it off and actually employ it on certain occasions) and not just to be “one of the ‘in crowd'” or because someone said that you should vote for Candidate So-and-so because they are voting for him/her.

Vote for the person who best reflects the values that you want in a leader, be it local, state or national.

Just… vote.

And remember:

Stray Toasters

• It was snowing earlier.

  

  In keeping with tradition, I called my father to let him know.
  Also, in keeping with tradition, he laughed.

• loonybin88 made a comment about “dressing up” for a meeting this morning. I told him that sounded like a challenge. I haven’t seen him yet, but from what I’ve heard, he didn’t. I did… somewhat.

  

  To complete the look, I wore my tan double-breasted trenchcoat and my fedora. (A couple of the ladies at my polling place complimented me on the ensemble, which was a nice way to kick off the day.)

• , in response to someone’s tirade about political candidates, posted a great forum item called “Why I HATE Milk.”
• ‘Bubblegum Music A-Z’ DVD
• NickToons has provided Comics2Film/Mania.com a preview reel for Wolverine and the X-Men:

• Man with gun and flag shuts down US 101, then gives up
• Something new to add to The Covet List: HeadHood LEGO Hoodie
• The Laptop Celebrates Its 40th Year

That’s it for now.

And, don’t forget: Vote!

Namaste.

Monday – 03 Nov 2008
Happy Hatching Day to :

Last night, I continued a project that I started Saturday evening: Collecting my extra Arkham Asylum ‘Clix into eBay-able groups/lots. Hopefully, they’ll do well.

Stray Toasters

• Teen pregnancy linked to sexy TV shows: study
  Funny, I’d always attributed pregnancy – teen or otherwise – to sex.
• Video Games Linked to Child Aggression
  Hm… next thing you know, they’ll be saying that cartoons and kids shows are linked to child aggression. (And if that’s the case, maybe they’ll finally take the last of the Power Rangers shows off the air…) But, more importantly, when are they going to say something about parents/guardians/mentors teaching kids about positive outlets or foci for their energy/aggression? Or is that just asking too much?
• During last week’s excursion to Dr. Volt’s, SaraRules picked up a Green Lantern t-shirt for me. Not just any GL shirt… but one with John Stewart’s symbol (as opposed to the ones that Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner used). I’d show you a picture, but Graphitti Designs hasn’t uploaded one yet.
• The LEGO Minifigure Timeline
  This isn’t a complete list, but it does a decent job of getting the ball rolling.
• So… this is my dream car:



For those who can’t identify it, it’s a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

• Obituary: Studs Terkel
• I get my thing in action
  Verb! That’s what’s happening!
• Propaganda stamps
• I watched Goldfinger on Spike last night. During a couple of the commercial breaks, the following ad aired… it’s definitely one for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Sunday – 02 Nov 2008
Today was the second Ravens-Browns game of the season.

vs

The Ravens made a trip to the Dog Pound to take on Romeo Crennell’s Browns… which includes former Ravens Jamal Lewis (RB) and Dave Zastadil (K). For today’s game, SaraRules, and I headed over to ‘s place. And, as always: It was a penalty shot game.

The Ravens wound up winning the game 37-27. Fortunately, most of the scoring drives were spaced out enough so that no one got completely hammered.

And, it was fun to hang out with .

Other than that, it’s been a relatively low-key day. And I’m good with that.

Namaste.

Thursday – 30 Oct 2008
Not a bad day, so far.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve spoken with this morning; she’s doing alright.
• posted a link for this online: Mystery Science Theater 3000 20th Anniversary Edition
• By way of : Stiff Washes Up on UK Shore – A Giant LEGO Minifig Stiff (Looks like it’s been pulled)
  In its place, I give you… LEGO Sofa: Complete LEGO Life Transformation Now Possible
• Wars and social unrest lead to more zombie movies?
• Meetings. YAY!
• Rock Band licenses The Beatles
• From NPR Music: Anthems for the Angry and Underpaid
• Given that the election is coming up: Mosh
  Eminem |MTV Music
• Bat-Manga: the lost Japanese Batman comics of 1966
• For the gamers: UK Opens National Video Game Archive

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I took to a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.
Four hours later, they finally got around to seeing her.
About a half-hour to forty-five minutes later, they admitted her to the hospital.

Before anyone gets worried: She’s fine.

The doctor said that she wasn’t responding to a medication that she was on as they had hoped. They are transitioning her to a different (form of the) medication, but are keeping her for the next few days for observation. I went to the house to get a few things that she wanted/needed and then stayed with her until roughly 8:00 this evening, to make sure that she was alright.

She is at Intermountain Medical Center (in Murray).
She is able to have visitors… EXCEPT between the hours of 6-8 AM and 6-8 PM.
For any questions about reaching her, contact me through email or any of the usual IM protocols.

Namaste.

I’m sitting here talking with and bidets came up.

Don’t ask.
Just go with it.

She mentioned that someone she knows has a bidet in their house and that they are the only person she knows with a bidet. As soon as she mentioned that, the following popped into my head:

It’s a beautiful bidet in the neighborhood
A beautiful bidet for a neighbor…

Yeah… welcome to the way my head works.

And, um, my apologies to the late Mr. Rogers.

Sunday: Coda
Today has been a good birthday.
More than that, it’s just been an all-around good day.

SaraRules and I took the Metro downtown to see the Raiders vs. the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

at

We had great seats: lower level, 15th row, in one of the corners. It was on the visitor’s side, but there were PLENTY of purple (and black and white… and even a few red) jerseys in the stadium our area. On my right, was a couple (a man and his wife) of Raiders fans, so SaraRules wasn’t all alone in a sea of Ravens fans. The game was good. And it was a lot of fun. It was also SaraRules’ first live football game. Ever.

• High school?  Nope.
• College? Nuh-uh.
• NFL?  Not until today.

The Ravens came out of the gate with their game faces on. And they went to work… although, they did manage to have a little fun, as evidenced by this play. Both teams played well, but the Oakland offense didn’t really come alive until the second half of the game.

Final score: Oakland 10 – Baltimore 29

I took pictures at the game. (Big surprise there…)

After the game, we stepped into Geppi’s Entertainment Museum for a quick walkthrough. It was neat – there were manners of pop-culture memorabilia, past and present. In retrospect, I could/should have taken more pictures… but the ones I took can be seen here.

Next, we went to Harborplace. We ate dinner at Phillip’s Restaurant. (I know… who could have guessed?!) I had broiled crab cakes and calamari; SaraRules had a seafood combination dinner that included shrimp, a crab cake, mahi mahi and a couple of other items. Before leaving Harborplace, we picked up a chocolate mousse cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.

Back home. Tammy (my Godsister) and her youngest daughter, Kayla, came by to visit for a bit. That was nice, as I haven’t seen Tammy in… I’d say a year to a year-and-a-half. I tried catching up with Bret, but our schedules just didn’t synch up. Oh, well… maybe next time. After Tammy left, SaraRules and I hung out with my ‘rents. We showed them some of our travel pictures while we all had cheesecake.

Thanks to all of the good tidings and well-wishes for my birthday. I am very fortunate and blessed in my collection of friends.

Tomorrow: The Return to the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.

Namaste.

Saturday – 25 October 2008
We made it to the Right Coast.

The alarm went off early. Very early. We got up and got ready to go. SaraRules’ parents picked us up and carried us to the airport this morning.

SLC to DEN to DCA

The SLC-DEN leg of the trip wasn’t bad. The weather from DEN-DCA wasn’t too bad… until we got a little outside of Washington, D.C. Then it got choppy. We circled west of D.C. for abotu a half-hour. Then, we headed south. Then, and this was classic: The pilot said, “We’re going to take a shot at the approach.”

Wait.
What?!
“Take a shot?!”

No.  Do or do not, there is no “Take a shot.”

And he did.
And we landed.

It took a long time – at least twenty minutes – for our luggage to get unloaded and sent to baggage claim. I started wondering if we had a zombie in our cargo hold that had attacked a baggage handler… who infected the rest of the crew… and so on and so on.

No such luck. They were just slow.

My dad picked us up and brought us home.

And that’s pretty much that.

Namaste.

Friday: Coda
I after work I met SaraRules at her place. I hung out with her and her folks for a bit…

…then I ran to Dr. Volt’s – I had neglected to get a couple of receipts for the Arkham Asylum “Buy It by the Brick” figure on Wednesday. And I picked up another brick. *shrug* It’s my birthday weekend; I’m allowed.

Back to SaraRules’ to pick her up and run a couple of errands before heading back to my place to do some cleaning.

At 7:30 we and a few friends, headed to the Outback Steakhouse for my birthday dinner. It was a good-sized group,  18 people in all. (A hearty and heart-felt “Thank you” to those of you who came out to help me celebrate!)  After dinner, most of us came back to my place for cake – yellow cake with chocolate frosting with chocolate chips, made by Ms. SaraRules – and ice cream. It was a great way to spend the evening. SaraRules surprised me with an awesome present:

Mm-hmm, that’s right: A Ravens reversible jacket. As she put it: She “…wanted [me] to have something fun and cool to wear to the game.” I have a very cool girlfriend… even if she is a Raiders fan. Can I get an “Amen,” from the Amen Corner?

After company left, we finished packing for tomorrow’s trip to Charm City. This time tomorrow, we’ll be on the Right Coast… and, most likely, very much asleep.

I should probably wrap it up here. 6:30’s going to come around awfully early, I suspect.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 22 October 2008
Midweek is upon us.
This means that I can (finally) sate my desire for plastic crack… and four-color crack, as well.
(WizKids, as of when I posted this, still hasn’t released the full list of figures.  KHAAAAAAAAAAAN!)

Hopefully, the workday will be a little more smooth than yesterday.

Stray Toasters

• I occasionally check the stats for my site, to get a feel for what people look at and how they happened to stumble across it. Last night, I was “a little” shocked to see that there was a link from hipflask.com, as it’s tied to the Image Comics’ Elephantmen series. So, I clicked to see what the connection could be. It turns out that they took an excerpt (1, 2) – albeit a tiny one -  from my review of Elephantmen #7 and used it on their site. Who knew!?
• Apple Stops Mac Mini Shipments to Retailers, Says to Expect No More
• Project Runway Season 5 winner Leanne “Judy Noodles” Marshall was on The Late Late Show last night. I found her to be rather… mousy… on Project Runway, but she was an interesting interviewee last night. Not only that, but she made the dress she wore in her hotel before the show.
  • Project Rungay interview with Leanne
  • Leanne’s Fall/Winter 2008 Collection
• Bot vs. IKEA
• Let’s go ahead and add this statue to The Covet List.  Right now.
  Here’s the cover from which it was taken.
• , and , check these out: Batman Cosbaby Mini-Figures
• Sprint to join rivals in cutting termination fees
• Op-Ed from The New York Times: Moved by a Crescent
• By way of – Battlestar Galactica new season intro… sort of

• From the “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned…” file: Priest Infects Church Network by Surfing the Web for Porn
• …in his defense, didn’t Avenue Q (and World of Warcraft) teache us that The Internet Is for Porn?

• From BBC News: Financial Crisis – World Round-up: Living in the ‘Hotel Honda’
• Zombie Apocalypse Wall Decal

Namaste.

Monday – 06 Oct 2008
Today is my father’s birthday.

His cards have been mailed and I have already called to wish him well today.

Last night, SaraRules and I went over to Chris and Mary’s for (Bad) Horror Movie Night. In SaraRules’ words: The goal isn’t to watch good horror movies, it’s to watch all horror movies. We watched Flight of the Living Dead (Think Day/Dawn/Night/Any-part-of-the-day of the Living Dead meets Snakes on a Plane and you get the idea) and The Shadow Walkers, a “We tried to create genetically engineered warriors and something got out of control… oops” movie. Flight wasn’t horrid; Shadow Walkers was – it was almost like watching Deep Blue Sea, where you started rooting for the shark about halfway through the movie.

Stray Toasters

• This weekend was grey and rainy (until yesterday afternoon, at least).
• This weekend was also LDS General Conference weekend.
• This weekend was also, on a more personally important note, marked my 10th year behind the Zion Curtain.
• By way of SaraRules: Back to black: Phoenix Dance resurrects the race issue
• From NPR: For Pioneering Black Theater, a Season-long Salute
• Sinfest: Damn It Feels Good to Be a Banksta
• By way of NPR Music: Songs for Ill-Advised Office Romances
• Chick Lit that Features Heroines, Not High Heels
  
• Barney Miller
• eBay to Drop 10% of Its Workforce
• Facebook vs. MySpace: Discuss.

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Monday: Coda
After work, I came home to change clothes and then it was off to SaraRules’ to watch Monday Night Football.

There are two (2) teams – which means four games – that I love/hate to see the Ravens play each season:

1. The Pittsburgh Steelers
2. The Cleveland Browns

It’s a love/hate relationship because of family and friends – Bret and my uncle are BIG Steelers fans; is a Browns 2.0 fan. Then there’s the fact that both teams are in the AFC North, as well… so, they are Division games, to boot.

Tonight, the Ravens traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers in Heinz Field.

I expected it to be a close game. And it was… at first. Then, the Ravens jumped out to a 13-3 lead. It was great. Then the Steelers put another 7 on the board. They kicked off to the Ravens… and then it happened: Joe Flacco fumbled the ball deep in Ravens’ territory. The Steelers recovered and ran it back for a touchdown. Fourteen (unanswered) points in fifteen seconds. Talk about painful.

The fourth quarter was a defense brawl. No one scored and so, the game went into overtime. At that point, I knew that the game was pretty much over. The Ravens won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. But, thanks to penalties, wound up deep in their own territory. They kicked off to the Steelers… who engineered a drive down the field and scored the game-winning field goal.

After the game, I messaged Bret; I figured that I head that one off at the pass. I congratulated him on the win; he said he’d take it, because his team looked bad (in his opinion). He said that he was worried about this game, too. And, he also acknowledged that the refs – and the Ravens’ coordinators in the booth – muffed a call that cost the Ravens a touchdown early in the first quarter.

There’s another game in December. We’ll see how that one goes.

This was also the first game where I really got to watch Joe Flacco in action. He looked good, especially for a starting QB who’s in his rookie year in the NFL. He pulled off a few plays that I didn’t expect him to and looked, for the most part, comfortable on the field. After his fumble, it took him a couple of series to get settled down and get his head back in the game, but he did. I know that there were a lot of questions about him and his readiness for the big time, but based on what I saw tonight, I think he’s good to go.

Sunday – 28 Sep 2008
This morning started out with SaraRules and me picking up her brother and heading up to Park City. We went to Cisero’s for brunch. Mmm, brunch… As usual, the food was quite good. After eating, we headed down to the Tanger Outlet to do a little shopping – Logan was looking for some inexpensive additions to his wardrobe for work. We were successful in that endeavor; SaraRules picked up a “fabulous, new purple coat.”

We headed back down Parley’s Canyon and made a side trip to the local Stein Mart. I showed Logan a few items that would also make good additions. He came out of there with a new shirt and tie. He seemed to like the store – and the prices; I think that he’ll be heading back there relatively soon.

Next, we went back to SaraRules’ parents’ for football. We’re also fixing jambalaya for dinner. (“We” meaning “I peeled the shrimp.”) Then, there will be more football, a little later.

Stray Toasters

• Eventually, I’ll stop going on about last week’s Project Runway. But today’s not that day. I mentioned how bad Kenley’s “Hip Hop”-themed outfit was. Now, you can check it out for yourself. And, as an added bonus: Check out Tim Gunn and Craig Ferguson talking about the episode, during Tim’s appearance on The Late Late Show. (Thanks, to SaraRules for the link to Project Rungay)
• By way of : IKEAhacker
• Brickarms Zombie Defense Weapons Pack Features Glowing Minifig Zombie Head
• 
• First Look and Full Details on the XM25, the Most Lethal Army Weapon Ever
• What the Hell happened!? WHO let the Browns win!?!
  (I just realized that I could have gone with “Who let the Dogs/Dog Pound out…”, but I’m glad that I didn’t.)
• The IKEA naming system

Namaste.