Random Access

Tuesday – 15 November 2011
Pretty much hit the ground running today.  The girls were up at 5:30 to eat; by the time they were done, it was just about 6:00. Rather than: A) try to get a 25-minute nap or B) sleep through the alarm until (at least) 7:00, I decided to stay up and get ready for work. I was in the office a hair before 7:00. Less than a half-hour later, I was helping to prep a half-full server rack for shipping.

Bonus: The rack had no wheels.

Added bonus: We had to move it out of our office space, into our lobby, downstairs, across sheets of masonite — which we had to leap-frog — from our building through the building lobby to the attached building.. out the door and onto the truck.

Yeah. Today was most definitely one of those “We do more before 9 AM than most people do all day” kind of mornings.

Fortunately, there was coffee involved, as well.

Tonight, SaraRules! has another Justice League meeting. Thus, I’ll be getting a helping had in putting the hatchlings to bed from my sister-in-law.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, while Monday Night Football was showing commercials, I flipped over to The Sing-Off. Interesting show. I didn’t see all of the groups compete, but I enjoyed the three groups I did see. The group Vocal Point (from BYU) were voted off the show by the judges. This prompted A LOT of response from people on Facebook, apparently. Negative response. “I’ll never watch the show again” response.

  I don’t get it.

  Just because a person/group/entity/whatever that [you] like gets voted off a television show, is that really a reason to foreswear the show? To me, it’s kind of like vowing never to watch … NCIS after they killed off Mike Franks. *shrug*

• Missiles to protect London 2012 Olympics
• What to Wear and What Not to Wear to an Interview
• Tomorrow is American Censorship Day: Fight SOPA
• By way of my friend, Christine: League of Ordinary Gentlemen: Patient BW, DOB 2/16/1971
  , you might want to take a look at that.
• 
• Anonymous vows revenge over Occupy Toronto threats
• Hispanics Reviving Faded Towns on the Plains
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: PETA targets Mario over raccoon suit
• 
• Dresdan Codak
• Batman: the Least Believable Superhero
• On the Orbiting of Species
• Designer Lipstick: A New Splurge
• 
• Foreign Office reveals weird requests to consulates
• Will Cloud Computing Make Everything (and Everyone) Work Harder?

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from a Newsarama interview with John Hodgman:

Hodgman: One of the things I love in comics is serialized storytelling, but that can be a pitfall if you rely too much on what happened last week.

I’m not trying to start feuds. I’m really just expressing feelings of existential anxiety about where all superhero comics are.

And now I really do have to go…

Nrama: Okay, any last thoughts before you go?

Hodgman: I still love everything that Paul Levitz writes. Long Live the Legion!

And that’s that.

Namaste.

Friday – 04 November 2011
It’s my “on” Friday… and I have The Leash this weekend. But, it’s still Friday. And that’s almost never a bad thing.

Last night was fairly low-key. I think that the highlight was a trip to the store for grocery. Well, that… and hanging out with the girls.

Stray Toasters

• By way of The Brothers Vox: 23 incredible new technologies you’ll see by 2021
• By way of Esquire – Remember: Sexy isn’t the same as slutty. Whatever you choose, keep it sensual and sophisticated.
  Amen.
• 
• Anonymous ready to continue with Operation Cartel
• 9 Equations True Geeks Should (at Least Pretend to) Know
• Bleak Portrait of Poverty Is Off the Mark, Experts Say
• I’ve been rather amused by some of George Takei’s Facebook posts over the past few weeks. This one was no exception:

  

• Cuba to Allow Buying and Selling of Property, With Few Restrictions
• Keeping Your Heart Healthy
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and “Monkeys!” files: Couple adopts Dachsund, days later doses it with LSD, tripping dog wanders into traffic and dies
  What the Hell is wrong with people!?  First, that couple with the horse and now this..?
• 10 great sculpture gardens across the USA

Quote of the Day
Today’s gem comes from my friend Melissa S.:

I love that everyone thinks the Buffy would have slayed Edward. Did we watch the same show? She would have dated Edward, and Spike would have killed him.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 23 August 2011
Day Two. I apparently have far too much blood in my caffeinestream. This may require a supplemental infusion of bean squeezin’s.

Yesterday was a pretty good day, even for a Monday. The zoo office wasn’t chock full of monkeydom, which makes for a good day. I made dinner last night. Despite the appeal of this…

…I cooked Spaghetti (with my sauce recipe), salad and garlic bread. We ate while we watched Monday Night Football. At halftime, we got to talk with Grace and Sophia (as well as Rana, John and my father) on Skype. And after the game, there was the season premiere of Top Gear. Win-Win-Win.

We’re roughly two weeks (plus or minus) from the advent of The Next Generation. Is it a bad sign that I can envision something like this conversation taking place:

Stray Toasters

• Visitors moved by first look at MLK Jr. memorial
• The 80th Anniversary of Babar
• Engagement Proposal as an Elaborate Portal 2 Level
• Motown songwriter Nick Ashford dies
• 
• Raiders pick Terrelle Pryor in supplemental draft
• Weighing Race and Hate in a Mississippi Killing
• 15 days exploring Muslim America
• 
• We have Columbus to thank for lager beer
• A 15-Year-Old Girl’s Bionic Hand Lets Her Live a Normal Life
• For those who haven’t seen it yet: OK Go performing The Muppet Show Theme

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
• In Peoples’ Minds, Being a Zombie Is Better Than Being a Vegetable
• A Chinese version of Batman’s origins
• Tron Guy and Duct Tape Go Perfectly Together

Quote of the Day
Near the end of our video chat with Grace and Sophia, Leila (the newborn) started crying, to which John said:

“Sound of angels, Rob… Sound of angels. Just remember: Lucifer was an angel, too.”

The best part was the total deadpan delivery. It made SaraRules! and me laugh.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 17 August 2011
Midweek and all’s pretty well…

…unless you’re this guy:

I’m talking about the car in the middle of the picture. It appears to have broken down in the median. It’s also been there for a few minutes. I watched as (at least) two patrol cars drove past it — in the left lane — without stopping. *shrug*

After about 40 minutes, another car pulled up behind it. People got out. They stood near the first car. A couple of minutes later, they both pulled off. I’m not sure, but it may have just been a case of running out of gas.  But, I’m still a little… concerned/bothered… that the two police officers just drove past it like nothing was wrong.

Yesterday, I was in the south office. One of my tasks for the day was to join peoples’ computers to the corporate network. In and of itself, not a terribly difficult assignment. Or so you’d think. After all, the computers spoke the same language – Windows – albeit different dialects (XP/Vista/7).

Theoretical Concept: Easy.
Practical Application: *grblsnrkx*

Let’s say that there was a lot of “hurry up and wait” along with the obligatory questions from the engineers of: “Which login do I use?” and “Should I try this?” and “Huh…?!” But, I got a few of the guys taken care of… without bloodshed.

Last night was game night with and crew. It was a good time. Especially as none of us died in the course of adventuring.

Groove. Boogie. Sway.
A couple of songs that helped to get this morning started were:

• Rush – YYZ
• Clivilles and Cole – Pride (in the Name of Love)

There were others, but these two were the prime movers of the day.  Oh, yeah, and this one:

It has gotten back into the public eye ear(?) as the background music for the Blackberry PlayBook commercial.

Stray Toasters

• I have chatted with my mother today. Twice. Online.
• Apple unleashes first OS X Lion update
• Tobacco giants suing FDA over warning labels mandate
• 
• By way of comes Danny MacAskill Industrial Revolutions
• A Proud Moment in a Discredited Era
• 
• One More Reason (Some) Americans Don’t Care About Kate Bush
• Hello Kitty + Ninja Gaiden = ???
• What Bandwidth Caps Would Mean for Internet Gluttons
• 
• A Village Person Test the Copyright Law
• Razorantium has returned to Lush!  Hallelujah!

Quote of the Day
It’s been a while since I’ve had a good story about my nieces. Fortunately, my brother-in-law posted one yesterday:

Lady, looking at Sophia, dressed in pink with a pink headband: “Oh how cute, is it a little girl?”
Me: No lady, “it” is a duck.
Lady: Well you’re rude.
Me: Well you’re not very bright.
Sophia: QUACK, Daddy! QUACK!

Sophia is just shy of her second birthday.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 August 2011
It’s another midweek. Not only is it new comics day, but it’s also Sushi Wednesday… now I just have to decide whether or not I want to take the time out of the middle of my day to go. This decision is also weighted by the fact that I took the casual approach to coming in to the office this morning — I didn’t get here until nearly 0815. So, we’ll see how I play the lunch card.

Last night was supposed to be 3.5 game night at ‘ place. Only and I showed up, so it turned into a gab session… which was just fine. It also meant that I was able to head home a little early and hang out with SaraRules!, who hosted her book club meeting last night. In addition to their discussion book, the other ladies all brought presents — books for us to read to the kids.  It was a very kind and generous gesture.

Stray Toasters

• For some reason, I had the chorus from I Am a Rock playing in my head this morning.
• Interpreting, Observing Ramadan
• This item, by way of Cult of Mac, makes an interesting prediction: Apple Will Murder OS X and Replace It With iOS on All Macs Starting in 2012
• City Opera to Lose Music Director
• 
• The Best Super Power (Is Not What You Think)
• N.J. Dunkin Donuts worker caught in ‘extra sugar’ sex sting
  This puts an entirely different spin on the whole “Time to make the donuts…” tagline.
• One Ordinary Day in One Extraordinary Life
• Stalemate in Senate Leaves 4,000 Out of Work at F.A.A.
• Esquire Style Presents: The American Revolution
• 
• Teenager’s Path and a Killing Put Spotlight on Mental Care
• It’s been around for a while, but Brilliantly Sarcastic Responses to Completely Well-Meaning Signs still makes me smile.

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from the “The Best Super Power” item:

Flying is a power you can only use to rub in other peoples’ faces…

I guess that’s somewhat true.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 26 July 2011
Day two of the work week finds me down in the south 40 again. Unfortunately, I am braving it alone, as Minion #2 is on vacation this week. I shall persevere.

Last night, SaraRules! and I made a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden. All was well. We also decided to grab dinner at the local In-N-Out Burger. And, after we returned home, I set about migrating my MacBook from Snow Leopard to Lion. So far, it seems pretty decent. I’ll need to poke around under the hood a bit and see just how similar or different it is.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Both of today’s items come by way of my friend, Janie. She’s found a couple of items in the news that are somewhat thought-provoking and pretty much straight out of the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:

• Arkansas High School Appoints Co-Valedictorian Because Top Student Was African-American
• Black Student Not Allowed to Be Valedictorian
• Beck: Norway camp smacks of ‘Hitler Youth’

Stray Toasters

• Put This On: A Web Series About Dressing Like a Grownup
• For SaraRules!: Little Lambs, Not the Sheep, Get Early Lessons in the Rodeo Life
• Study Shows Racial Wealth Gap Grows Wider
• Wealth gap widens for whites over blacks, Hispanics
• 
• NFL, players announce new 10-year labor agreement
• Ravens to Release Key Players
• The trailer for Legend of Korra has made its debut:

• Zurich seeking immunity from covering Sony over breach
• My boss just asked me “How’s AF?” (asking how things are in this office today)
  I responded: “It’s AFU.”
  He laughed.  I’m glad that he understands.
• 
• I just heard this prayer – given before a NASCAR race this past weekend – on the commute to work. It’s hilarious.

Quote of the Day
Today’s nugget of wisdom comes from Top Gear‘s own Jeremy Clarkson:

“Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that’s what gets you.”

Namaste.

Wednesday – 08 June 2011
Today is my brother-in-law, ‘s birthday.

..and I neglected to mention that yesterday was my friend, Josh’s, birthday, also. D’oh!

Last night, we celebrated ‘s birthday with the in-laws. Dinner. Presents. Cake. It was a good evening. On the way home, SaraRules! and I stopped at the local Best Buy; I needed wanted to pick up Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.  SaraRules! picked up a Guitar Hero game and, somehow, I wound up also getting the brand-spankin’ new Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters for my 360.

Once we got settled in at home, we fired up Emerald Knights. It was well-done. Hell, if the live-action movie is half… okay, three-quarters… as good as this was, I’ll be pleased. Emerald Knights is an anthology piece, with six stories that are woven together throughout the film… which appears to fall somewhere in the middle of the events of Green Lantern: First Flight. The writers did a good job of creating a “new” overarching story, while adeptly intertwining some newly-animated classic GL lore into the tale. There were some familiar names/voices attached to this project, including:

• Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) as Hal Jordan
• Jason Isaacs (“Harry Potter” films) as Sinestro
• Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) as Arisia
• Henry Rollins (yes, “that” Henry Rollins) as Kilowog

For me, it was a good way to wind down the day.

Stray Toasters

• I felt more baby-wiggling last night. They were – or at least one of them was – pretty active.
• “Six.”
• From the “This Is an Awesome Reaction” file: Movie theater shames F-word texter
  • Added bonus: Here’s the PSA they did…

• Secret Origins: John Stewart
• Inbox Influence: Your new favorite email tool since the spam filter
• 
• Steven Spielberg and Quint have an epic chat all about JAWS as it approaches its 36th Anniversary!
• RSA Faces Angry Users After Breach
• By way of :

  

• Cycle and Style: A Sweet Ride
• Would you buy a digital comics subscription?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • Smurfs accused of antisemitism and racism
  • Two Women Ticketed for Eating Doughnuts in Brooklyn Playground
  • You Can Now Get Your Ph.D in Manga
• 
• DC Comics has dropped new information about The Next Generation of Justice in the post-updated DCU.
• 2 gamblers take Tropicana casino for more than $11M
  • Four ‘worst mistakes you can make in Las Vegas’

Quote of the Day
As I noted yesterday, Folsom Prison Blues is one of my niece’s favorite songs, which is made more amusing by the fact that she’s only three… unless you’re my sister, who finds it appalling.

That being said, my brother-in-law sent me the following last night:

coda to yesterday’s lecture:
your niece tonight was singing her song
then she asks me to sing
so i start singing
I HEAR THE TRAIN A COMIN’
gracie: “no no no no no daddy, that’s wrong!”
me…wha?  no it’s not
“yes daddy it is wrong”
ok sweetheart, how does it start?
“like this, daddy. ‘hello, i’m johnny cash.'”
i stand corrected, child.  proceed.

Ladies and gentlemen… my family.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 25 May 2011
It’s not just midweek. Nor is it just new comics day or D&D 4.0 game night…

Today is also Towel Day. (1, 2)

For those who don’t grok why a towel should have it’s own day, perhaps this will help explain it:

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)¹

That pretty much sums it up.

Last night, SaraRules! and I ran a few errands – including setting up a baby registry at the local Babies ‘R’ Us – and then capped the evening with cups of ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. We also (finally) got around to watching last season’s finale of NCIS… which, not so oddly, explained a few things about this past season. Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• Given that the sun was out for about seven hours before I got home, I mowed the lawn yesterday. I may have cut it a little shorter than I had originally planned… but it’s cut. And it looks much better. Now, I just need to find some time to do the edging.
• What Will Come After
• The Facts (and Fiction) of Tornadoes
• A New Approach to Railroad Switching
• USA comes up a bit short in global Better Life Index
• 
• Oh, the Stuff Those Lions Guard
• Secret Origins: Firestorm
• Google Expected to Introduce a Wireless Payment System
• This is what happens when we don’t vaccinate
• 
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• Chrysler Pays Back Rescue Loan

Quote of the Day
“Rebar is not forgiving…”

So long and thanks for all the fish.

¹ — Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Thursday – 14 April 2011
It’s another glorious NBN Technical Friday. This morning started with clouds and a little snow… but it looks as though the sun is trying to put in an appearance. We’ll see how that goes.

Last night was D&D 4.0 night with and company. We adventured. We got loot. We walked right into the middle of a war between factions in a city… and had to choose sides. Hopefully, we chose well.

After the game, I headed home and occupied a nice and comfy spot on the couch, as my stomach decided that it wanted to try out a new acrobatics routine. I am attributing it to “The Revenge of Lunch!” Fortunately, by the time I got ready to call it a night, it was better. I attribute that to milk and Tums.

Stray Toasters

• Training monkeys to assist people with severe disabilities
  Didn’t any of these people learn anything Monkey Shines?  (I didn’t know that this was a George Romero film. Huh.)
• How to dig jive talk
• Seeking Execution Drug, States Cut Legal Corners
• TSA under fire for enhanced patdown of 6-year-old girl
• 
• Barry Bonds found guilty of obstruction of justice
• “Goony-goo-goo!”
• Esquire Style Presents: The American Revolution
• 
• Microsoft distributes 17 patches for 64 flaws
• The Management Myth
• 
• Study Finds Drop in Deadly V.A. Hospital Infections
• New Chevrolet Camaro will outpower Ford Mustang
  But, I’d personally still prefer the Mustang over the Camaro.
• UMaine Researchers Use Lobster Shells to Create Biodegradable Golf Ball

Namaste.

Wednesday – 23 March 2011
New comics day + D&D (4.0) game night = A good combination.

Last night, Chris came over and – after a lot of shooting the bull – we played dolls. We did a Teen Titans (Chris) vs. the X-Men game. And he cleaned my clock. Six ways from Sunday. It started off as a good game, but my dice decided to play jokes early on. That wasn’t insurmountable. The problems began when Chris moved a couple of his pieces into positions I wasn’t expecting and then made like LL Cool J and knocked a couple of my key pieces out… and then picked apart the rest of my team. One bright spot in the game: Having my Wolverine eviscerate Robin. All-in-all, it was a good game. But, I need to plan some revenge for the game where I run the Titans.

Stray Toasters

• Elizabeth Taylor dead at 79
  • Hollywood Icon Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79

  

• Japanese Vegetables and Milk Banned from Import to US
• NFL moves kickoff line from 30-yard line to 35; no change on touchbacks
• A Queens Guy Toughs It Out in Hollywood
• Android: Sued by Microsoft, Not Linux
• 
• Are We There Yet?: new art installation at SF Contemporary Jewish Museum
  It turns out that a high school classmate of mine is the Deputy Director of Development at the museum.
• Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Being Adapted to Crime-of-the-Week Mystery TV Series
• 
• Weimar Rail-Zeppelin: streamlined white-elephant
• ‘Spider-Man’ Broadway musical shaken by another injury
• Detroit Census Confirms a Desertion Like No Other
  • Motor City population declines 25%
• 
• DCU Online Gets Lucky with Two-Face, Mxyzptlk in March
• Race Issues Rise for Miami Police
• But I be done seen ’bout ev’rything
  When I see an elephant fly Wonder Woman, Amazon Baby Sitter!
• For Consumers, Little to Cheer in AT&T Deal

Quote of the Day
Something that I enjoy (and look forward to) is the occasional instant message from my brother-in-law, recounting something – usually highly entertaining – that either my niece or my sister has said or done. This morning, I found this gem, which he sent last night:

your niece.
today two verbal gaffes that made Rana inform me i’m doing harm to my children
playing Mario Kart
she [Bit] first asks to play the character “honky kong”
then when we unlock a new character, “funky kong”
of course…now she’s informing Rana she wants to play “fucky kong”
i give up.

That made me laugh. A lot.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 February 2011
It’s Midweek. Which also means that it’s new comics day and D&D 4.0 night. Win-Win-Win.

Last night was D&D 3.5 night, but it was also “The Game Night That Almost Didn’t Happen.” Of the six (6) players in our campaign, only and I made it. Fortunately, had a small side adventure ready to go. We ran through it, picked up some “free” XP and have something new for our characters that the others don’t/didn’t get. (Neener neener neeeeeeeener!)

After the game, I went home and watched the first half of Prince of Persia with SaraRules!.  It’s not the greatest movie ever made, but it has been entertaining. We will most likely finish it tonight.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
Today’s item is the Plessy v. Ferguson court case.

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of “separate but equal”.

After the American Civil War (1861–1865), during the period known as Reconstruction, the government was able to provide some protection for the civil rights of the newly freed slaves. But when Reconstruction ended with the Compromise of 1877 and federal troops were withdrawn from the south, southern state governments began passing Jim Crow laws that prohibited blacks from using the same public accommodations as whites.

The Thirteenth Amendment (1, 2)served to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime. Under the meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment, the term “slavery” implies involuntary servitude or bondage and the ownership by human beings of other human beings as property. According to the Slaughterhouse Cases, the Thirteenth Amendment was intended primarily to abolish slavery as it had been known in the United States, and that it equally forbade involuntary servitude.

In 1890, the State of Louisiana passed Act 111 that required separate accommodations for African Americans and Whites on railroads, including separate railway cars, though it specified that the accommodations must be kept “equal”. Concerned, several African Americans (including Louisiana’s former governor P.B.S. Pinchback) and Whites in New Orleans formed an association, the Citizens’ Committee to Test the Separate Car Act, dedicated to the repeal of that law. They raised $1412.70 ($33716.44 in 2008 USD) which they offered to the then-famous author and Radical Republican jurist, Albion W. Tourgée, to serve as lead counsel for their test case. Tourgée agreed to do it for free. Later, they enlisted Homer Plessy, who was one-eighth black (an octoroon in the now-antiquated parlance), to take part in an act of planned civil disobedience. The plan was for Plessy to be thrown off the railway car and arrested not for vagrancy, which would not have led to a challenge that could reach the Supreme Court, but for violating the Separate Car Act, which could and did lead to a challenge with the high court.

The Committee hired a detective to ensure that Plessy was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act, which the Citizen’s Committee wanted to challenge with the goal of having it overturned. They chose Plessy because, with his light skin color, he could buy a first class train ticket and, at the same time, be arrested when he announced, while sitting on board the train, that he had an African-American ancestor. For the Committee, this was a deliberate attempt to exploit the lack of clear racial definition in either science or law so as to argue that segregation by race was an “unreasonable” use of state power.

The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1 with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan. “Separate but equal” remained standard doctrine in U.S. law until its repudiation in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education.

Stray Toasters

• Why is it that most people elide the first “r” in “February?”
• It’s Fashion Week 2011
• Borders files for bankruptcy, plans to close 192 stores
  • According to this article, from The Wall Street Journal, our favorite Clitorati spot is officially on the chopping block.
• By way of my friend, Anne: A Missing Piece in the Economic Stimulus: Hobbling Arts Hobbles Innovation
• 
• Role for Teachers Is Seen in Solving Schools’ Crises
• United Grounds Its Boeing 757 Fleet
• For MarknTyme and :
  • For those of you to whom that sounded “somewhat familiar,” see if this version helps to jog your memories.
• Prisoners stole millions from the IRS in 2009
• 3D Comes to Met Opera, but Without Those Undignified Glasses
• Apparently, tonight’s D&D game is being postponed. Oh, well… at least there are still new comics to which I can look forward.

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from Sib-4’s Foursquare status update:

Melissa just became the mayor of Eighth Circle Of Hell!

It was one of the first things that I read this morning, post-email, and (as a fan of Dante’s Inferno) it made me laugh.

And, that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 February 2011
Midweek. Which makes it not only new comics day, but also D&D (4.0) night. Now, to just make it through the work day…

Last night, SaraRules! and I helped her father (and both brothers) move an organ out of her grandfather’s apartment. I’m going to let that sink in for a moment…

::: pause :::

Got it? Okay. Moving on. It was cold last night. Sub-freezing, with a not-so-lovely wind adding to the “fun.” The move took a little longer than it could/should have. But, in the end, the organ was loaded into a U-Haul trailer. Amen. Mid-move I jokingly asked SaraRules! where she was taking me for dinner. Without missing a beat, she asked,”Where do you want to go…? Outback?” Mmm, Outback…

And, so it was, later, as the miller told his tale, that her face – at first just ghostly – turned a whiter shade of pale that we wound up at the local Outback Steakhouse.  Aussie Cheese Fries. Prime Rib. Good. On the way home from dinner, we drove past A Perfect Dress, to see what new fashion (or horrors) they had in the windows. Turns out that SaraRules! and I agreed that most of the items weren’t too bad; there were only a couple of dresses that we questioned. The rest of the evening was spent, on the couch, watching TV. And I wrapped up the night playing CoD: Black Ops with a few coworkers before calling it a night.

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month
I had a hard time coming up with something that began with the letter “I” for today’s entry. Eventually, an idea came to mind… and it’s one that I find apropos, as today is also the day that new comic books release:

Today’s item is Incognegro, a graphic novel by Mat Johnson.

(c) DC Comics

For a synopsis of the book’s plot, I’ll refer to an interview that Mat Johnson did with Newsarama in 2007:

NEWSARAMA: Mat, let’s start with the big picture. What’s the gist of Incognegro?

Mat Johnson: It’s the story of a mixed person of African-American descent who passed for white in the 1930s to investigate lynchings in the South. He goes down to Mississippi on a specific mission that ends up getting tangled really quickly, and it turns into a noir thriller.

NRAMA: What can you tell us about the protagonist Zane Pinchback and where he is when the book opens?

MJ: He’s a reporter in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, and he’s kind of a minor celebrity, but he’s only famous on paper. Nobody can know what he looks like because of what he does. So he’s somewhat frustrated by that, being famous but not being famous. He’s dealing with his past, and part of what happens in the story is he’s pulled back into his personal past, his own story.
NRAMA: In addition to dealing with his own issues, he also has to go “incognegro” and go to the South to save his brother. So there’s a whole external drive going for him, in addition to his own internal awakening, right?

MJ: He has a twin brother who looks much like himself but is dark-skinned. His brother has had none of the breaks that Zane had, largely because of his difference in appearance, even though they’re of the same mother and father. When he goes back, Zane has to confront this other life that he was able to escape, but that his brother instead had to dive deeper into. And that’s really the emotional heart of the book, the two of them and their lives, the convergence of them coming together.

Johnson also notes that the story was partially inspired by Walter Francis White, a light-skinned African-American who used his skin color (or lack thereof) to investigate lynchings and race riots in the American south in the early 20th Century:

MJ: Yeah. Well, Walter White is the primary idea for the piece, when he was investigating these lynchings, but there’ve been other points in history – I’m African-American, but I look fairly white or European, so I’ve always been very fascinated by these points in history, when people like myself interacted, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. I was fascinated with the idea of taking something that is part of my life and part of past lives, and seeing if I could make that into not just a curiosity, but into something that actually could mean the difference in lives.

As I wrote in 2008, when I first read the book:

Incognegro, written by Mat Johnson (1, 2, 3) – a light-skinned Black man, himself – is adeptly written. Its characters aren’t just stereotypical caricatures; they have depth. The settings aren’t just backdrops, they add to the flavor of the scenes. The story also contains a few interesting plot twists, as well.

See also: The New York Times review of the book.

Stray Toasters

• Employee surveys. Normally, I’d be all *twirls finger in air* about it, but it seems as though our robot overlords protectors are actually invested in seeing what employees think and feel about the company and their jobs and what – within reason – can be done to make our working lives better.  We’ll see how this shakes out.
• Speaking in Defense of Science
• Ravens’ Michael Oher tells his side in memoir
• Lymph Node Study Shakes Pillar of Breast Cancer Care
• 
• Packers celebrate Super Bowl win with 56,000 fans at Lambeau Field
• Women “computers” of World War II
• Worker Trapped in Plane’s Cargo Hold Avoids Becoming Passenger
• Homeowners face “new normal” in housing bust
  • Chart: Owing more than home is worth
• 
• Iconoscope No. 1: Star Wars Episode IV
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Sofa made from a coffin

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from last night’s moving extravaganza. While standing outside, watching the comedy of trying to figure out how to arrange the organ in the trailer, SaraRules! thanked me for “…helping my crazy family” with the move. We joked about it for a moment before she noted:

SaraRules!: “Oh, your family’s crazy, too.”
Me: “Yeah, but at least my family has the good sense to be crazy indoors, where it’s warm!”

We both got a good laugh out of that.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 12 January 2011
It’s midweek, which means that it’s Comics Wednesday.
As for returning the “sushi” to Wednesdays, well that’s something that we’ll have to see how it develops… but last night, the missus and I had dinner at Tsunami, so the sushi craving has been abated for the time being.

SaraRules! and I, along with Melissa and her friend, Kate, went to see The King’s Speech after dinner.

We had heard a number of glowing reviews from friends who had seen it, so it seemed like a fairly safe bet. At least in my case, friends’ comments didn’t do it justice. It was a fantastic film. Colin Firth did an excellent job as Albert, Duke of York (and later, King George VI). Geoffrey Rush was equally good in his role as Lionel Logue.  And, this was the first movie in some time in which I’ve seen Helena Bonham Carter act and didn’t just want to shake my head and go, “Really…?!  This again?!” She was… charming… in her role as Queen Elizabeth. This was a wonderful bit of cinema, proving that you don’t need to spend exorbitant amounts of money on special effects in order to tell a compelling story.

Stray Toasters

• I pre-ordered DC Universe Online: Collector’s Edition two months ago, because I wanted perks that came with it.
  The game went live yesterday.
  I received an email from Best Buy – at 11:09 PM last night – saying that it was “backordered.”
  I am not happy.
• 
• A Pink Lambo? Well, It’s Personal
• Face-Lift for Met’s Costume Institute
• The Onion‘s take on an extended football season:

  Onion SportsDome

• Credit scores get easier to track down and less secretive
• Battle Is Set as Verizon Adds iPhone
• 
  (And for those who don’t get the ‘Poser’ double entendre, click here.)
• This American Life: The Invention of Money
• Ten Awesome Things Most People Don’t Know About PHP
• James Bond Returns! And Not a Moment Too Soon!

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from Derek Hunter, a local writer and illustrator:

Nitpick about your looks all you like, but let’s face it ladies, you’re all pretty gorgeous.

Know what?  He’s right.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 22 December 2010
It’s midweek.
Comics (and probably not-Sushi) Wednesday.
Sugar cookie-making with the in-laws day.
And, the day before my parents get to town.

Whew.
I’m already tired.

Tuesday saw a bit of errand-running. I went to the office to drop off Christmas presents to my team and then it was off to lunch with a few other coworkers. We went to Market Street Grill; the service was uncharacteristically slow, but the food was still good (for seafood in a landlocked state, that is!). Next, it was on to the Post Office to drop some Christmas cheer in the mail. After that, I did a little wandering before making it back home.

After dinner, SaraRules! and I went to an advance screening of The Green Hornet.  (Thanks to Melissa S. for the passes. I have been… leery… of the movie, especially when it was announced that Seth Rogen would be starring. My main concern was that it would be more along the lines of “The Green Hornet meets The Hangover.” While there was some camp and a few places where belief had to be suspended, it was a fun movie. I don’t see it as an Oscar contender, but it was definitely entertaining. As I told SaraRules!, “I was trying to put it on a scale between The Spirit (bad) and Superman (good), in terms of superhero movies.  It’s definitely more Superman than Spirit.”

(7) … possibly even (8)

Stray Toasters

• By now, I’m Ivory Soap sure that most people have seen the DeSean Jackson punt return that gave the Eagles the win over the Giants on Sunday… but have you seen it redone in Tecmo Bowl? Check it out:
• Pa. boy to be tried for murder as adult; historic sentence looms
• FCC Is Set to Regulate Internet Access
• ‘Flash mob’ results in California mall evacuation
• From another TED talk: Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders
• 
• This entry, from DC Comics’ The Source blog, may just contain three of the funniest Batman related pages that I have ever read. And, they are only made funnier given the fact that Aquaman is delivering the lines. Yes… that Aquaman.
• I saw this a few days ago, but let it ride.  Then I started thinking about it and decided to add it to this morning’s ‘Toasters: Racists Totally Freak Out Over Idris Elba Playing Norse God in ‘Thor’
  • In a Quote of the Day-worthy note, my brother-in-law,, had this to say:
    

    “Let me get this straight: Douchebags are upset because a black dude is playing a completely fictional character from Norse mythology.  Is that correct?  Glad to know our country’s capacity for getting upset over totally inane bullshit hasn’t waned any…”

  • Related note: if you have a chance, watch the Penny Arcade TV “Racist Clock” video, mentioned in this article, as well. It’s doesn’t really take off until about 2 minutes in, but it’s worth it.
  • Additional related note: All I have to say is “Wow…” about the Council of Conservative Citizens. While I don’t agree with their ideology, I support their right to think and believe what they will…. with the notable exception of Item #2 in their Statement of Principles. Chalking this one up to the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file.
• From the “Yes, these were parts of our history…” files:
  • Discussing Civil Rights Era, a Governor Is Criticized
  • Charleston’s ‘secession ball’ a contentious start to Civil War’s 150th anniversary
• Cartoon Network’s ‘Young Justice’ to Begin Regular Rotation on January 7

I’m sure that there are a lot of other things I could add to this post, but I’ll just wrap up here.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 07 December 2010
Today is the 69th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day.

We have a visitor in our office today. I’m hoping that the fact that…

Oh, my lucky stars! A Negro!¹

…was the first thing that popped into my head after seeing him is an indicator that it’s going to be a good day.

Yesterday, I was visited by the UPS and USPS Fairies. The UPS Fairy brought the first wave of parts for my new computer arrived; now I need to figure out what I want to get next.  The USPS Fairy brought the other new arrival: my Department 56 Lionel Electric Train Shop.

and Ryan came over to watch last night’s highly-hyped Jets-Patriots game (1, 2) Too bad the game didn’t live up to the hype. The Pats steamrolled the Jets. Badly. They broke ’em down like fractions.

Stray Toasters

• Tyranist and I had a discussion yesterday about which is more terrifying: slow, shambling zombies or fast-moving zombies/”rage-infected” humans and why.
• State Department Daily Is Window on Jittery Planet
• TSA workers, experts worry about radiation exposure
• 
• Cthulhu Playing Cards
• A couple of items from NPR Music:
  • Israel Kamakawiwo’ole: The Voice of Hawaii
  • 5 Best Cover Songs of 2010
• In the Wild, a Big Threat to Rangers: Humans
• 
• pointed me in the direction of this: Awesome fan-poster for Green Lantern movie
• WikiLeaks Founder Warns About More Dispatches
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Denver bomb squad defeats 8″ toy robot after hours-long standoff
• For Steve Harvey, all this attention is rewarding, scary

Julie just referred to someone as “…[her] new monkey.”  I think that my day is now complete.

Namaste.

1 – That quote comes from Brendan Fraser’s character, Adam, in Blast From the Past.