Random Access

Tuesday – 15 September 2009
We’re halfway through the month already. Wow. Where does the time go…?

Last night, I headed over to help and her ‘rents do some painting at her new place. I took my portable SoundDock, so that we’d have something to listen to. What I didn’t take was the remote control. I was under the mistaken impression that I needed the remote to change the volume on it as, unlike my primary SoundDock, the volume controls are not on the face of the unit.

Operative word: “Mistaken.”

I noticed, after I had gotten back home later in the evening, that the portable ‘Dock does have sound controls on it – they’re on the side of the unit. D’oh!

Football
Last night, there was a double-header on Monday Night Football:

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
24 – 25

I missed a good portion of this game, as I was helping paint. But, I caught a little of the first quarter and the last five or ten minutes of the fourth quarter. And, I was surprised and impressed with the last couple of drives: The Patriots’ two-minute drill to get the go-ahead score and the Bills’ hook-and-ladder play to try and answer it.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders
24 – 20

This was a solid game, top to bottom. I was especially impressed with the way the Raiders played – on both sides of the ball. The defense looked reminiscent of the Raiders of the 70s and 80s; the offense was… well… GOOD! They moved the ball, they didn’t make a lot of stupid errors. They played solid football, but in the end, Sandy Eggo took the “Win.”

Stray Toasters

• In honor of the title of this post, I give you Mr. Miyagi
  Once again, Julie (our IT admin… sorry, “Distinguished IT Admin,” as we refer to her) and I dressed alike. Today, we’re both in navy tops and khaki pants. And, once again, we did not plan this.
• It’s official: NECA Acquires WizKids; HeroClix to Continue
  (Hopefully, the legendary – and highly-elusive – “Smoky-Foot” Captain America ‘Clix will see the light of day…)

  

• The greatest papercraft model you’ll ever see
• Groomsmens’ gifts: Check.
• What happened to civility?
• Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option
• I don’t remember how I stumbled across Geek Orthodox, but I found some amusing stuff there:
  • Darth Bat
  • Gamer Shirts
  • 10 Reasons Why Roleplaying Games Are a Positive Force for Kids and Adults Alike
• 
• Wells Fargo fires exec over Malibu house scandal
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: When Getting Beaten by Your Husband Is a Pre-existing Condition

Namaste.

Monday – 14 September 2009
Nothing like having The Leash start going off at 0800… just as you’re getting ready to head to the office. It was alerting me to a problem with an off-site server. Yay. We contacted the appropriate people – who seemed to be having issues of their own – and they handled it. Eventually. Welcome to Monday.

Yesterday was a good day. It was also chock full o’ stuff. Mark and Alex – a member of the SUU Ballroom Dance Team who came up to assist in the dance lessons – came up about 2:30. First, they worked with SaraRules and Steve for the Father/Daughter dance, then it they spent time with SaraRules and me for our first dance. It was more fun and less fearsome than I had expected. (And, we fortunately we have three weeks to practice…)

After that, SaraRules, Alex, Mark and I headed over to the in-laws-to-be for dinner: Bratwurst and football. Excellent combination. More on football in a minute. After dinner, Steve transferred the video of our dance practice to DVD for us – we need to have some kind of reference for practice, after all.

Football Update
Yesterday was the Ravens’ season opener at home.

Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 38

They tried to give me heart failure in the second and third quarters… and I wasn’t even watching the game, per se. In this market, CBS broadcast the Minnesota-Cleveland game, so I had to “watch” the GameCenter on NFL.com.  Granted, it was nice to see the Vikings hand the Browns a beatdown, but I would have rather seen the Ravens play. Because, let’s face it: Who wouldn’t want to see Ray Lewis break a little something off like this in real time…

…or watch as QB Joe Flacco goes and dials in 303 yards passing and 4 yards rushing, as the Ravens put up a total of 501 yards of total offense!? Crazy. How does that make you feel, Ray?

Yeah, I thought so.

Elsewhere around the league:

Miami Dolphins at Atlanta Falcons
7 – 19
Oh, well.. at least there are 16 more games in the season.

.

Philadelphia Eagles at Carolina Panthers
38 – 10
Ditto.

.

Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
12 – 7
Sorry, and .

.

Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns
34 – 20
Congrats, … and Congrats Commiserations, .

Stray Toasters

• I’m going to help sling some paint tonight before the Sandy Eggo – Oakland game.
• 10 sure-fire ways to derail your career in IT
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot..?!” file: Philadelphia Free Library System is shutting down
• Get results by social networking with airlines
• Top 50 User-Created Soul Calibur 4 Characters
• Scientists Find Master Gene to Switch on Immune Cells
• Want your own dinosaur? Place your bids

Namaste.

Sunday – 13 September 2009
I was up later than I had planned to be last night/this morning; I was preparing and posting my auctions on eBay. They’ll kick off this evening and hopefully, by the end of the week, I’ll be a few ‘Clix lighter. (One can hope, can’t they…?)

This morning, we’re up and getting ready to meet our…. BUM BUM BUMMMM… dance instructor for our wedding dances. Mark Baker, SaraRules’ former classmate at SUU and the Director of Ballroom Dance at SUU, is choreographing our first dance and the father-daughter dance as our wedding present. (It’s nice to be able to “open” presents before the event!)

And then, there’s football! The Raven’s take on the Chiefs today. I doubt that the game will be broadcast here and we don’t have DirecTV and Sunday Ticket, but I can track the stats on NFL.com, if nothing else.

Stray Toasters

• Norman Borlaug, scientist who ‘saved 245m lives,’ dies aged 95
• From the “Huh… Who knew!?” file: Parallel Processing for Cardiac Simulations Using an Xbox 360
• Short People Got No Reason Not To Be America’s Next Top Models
• 
• How does her U.S. Open implosion affect Serena’s legacy?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Super Mario fingernails
• 18 Foot Multitouch Wall and New Multitouch Tech Hit the Streets

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

I am watching football… *genuflect* …and halfway through the fourth quarter, NBC aired this commercial:

Despite having seen this commercial many times, tonight was the first time I noticed something: The televisions are all showing scenes of Viking longboats.

For those of you who don’t follow football or who don’t understand why this is so amusing: This commercial began airing during preseason, when Favre was waffling over whether to retire from football or make a go of another season in the NFL… as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Well played, Brett and Sears. Well played indeed.

Thursday – 10 September 2009
Another NBN Thursday is cruising right along.

This morning, I didn’t really want to get out of bed. It wasn’t that I was tired, just lazy. When I did get out of bed, I made my way into the living room… where I plopped down on the sofa. It took another ten or so minutes to get myself motivated to really start the day.

The work day hasn’t been too bad. There have been meetings… and I have The Leash for the next week. WOO!

On the “plus” side, today was also “Comics Thursday.” Not only did I pick up my four-color shwag, but I also picked up a book that SaraRules has been awaiting. My coworker Drew went with me on my lunch/comics run – actually, he drove – and we had lunch at Pasabocas, a Columbian restaurant that’s across the street from Dr. Volt’s. We both had the Carne Asada and we both thought it was quite good. I’ll have to go back and try some of their other fare.

Stray Toasters

• Something that came in after I had posted yesterday: Paul Levitz No Longer Publisher & President of DC Comics
  • Industry Reacts to Levitz, DC Entertainment
  • Legion Blogpost: The Third Coming of Paul Levitz
• By way of Perry: Lex Luthor Bailout
  “Lex Luthor Bailout” with Jon Hamm from Jon Hamm
• The 2009 NFL Season kicks off tonight with Tennessee at Pittsburgh.
• sent me a link to this related note: The Chargers are hungry and Larry English is buying
• If distance education was Zork
• I had a good early morning discussion with Paul and Drew, which stretched into a post-meeting/lunchtime conversation with Drew.
• Craig Ferguson on the Mike Duvall scandal:

  
  …and, Part 2…
  

• What did that sign say? UDoT looking for sign vandal
• From the “Idiotstick” file: Orioles fans take Ripken No. 8 statue for a Baltimore joy ride
• Beautiful glass sculptures of deadly viruses and bacteria

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 September 09
That’s right, it’s 09/09/09.
Today is also Sushi and Comics Wednesday, but due to the holiday, comic book shipments will not be in until tomorrow.

Last night, Chris came over for another round of our GLC/SC Heroclix battle. (Pictures here) As usual, it was a good fight. In a manner that pretty much mirrored the comics, the first big fight was between Superbrat-Prime Superboy-Prime (sorry… “SuperMAN-Prime”) and Sodam Yat (Ion). Just like that battle, Prime hit Ion and cleaned his clock – six (6) clicks of damage, right off the bat — in the comic, Prime shoved a lead rod into Sodam’s torso.

Fortunately, Yat is a Daxamite and could take the hit, but it took him way off his game. We danced around the table for a while – both our sets of dice ran hot and cold – but, in the end, Chris went home with a “Win.” I believe that the Sinestro Corps is now 3-0 in our match-ups.

While Chris and I were playing, SaraRules went off to see a movie, Julie and Julia, I think… When she came home, she brought me flowers. (Coolest. Fiancee. Ever.) It was very sweet of her.

Stray Toasters

• This morning started off with a fun chat with sister-in-law-t0-be Meliko.
• 10 NFL questions: Do the Steelers have the stuff for a repeat title?
• …and in a related item, Don’t Throw It to Ed Reed:

• Courtesy of The Masters of the Obvious Slashdot: Geeks Prefer Competence to Niceness
• From and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot..?!” file: Bizarre Tongue-Eating Parasite Discovered off the Jersey Coast
  (Of course, it would be New Jersey…)
• Superman vs. Green Lantern: The Debate Continues
• For decades (mostly in the 50s and 60s), Lois Lane tried to prove that Clark Kent was really Superman. Preposterous, I know. After all, with all that power, why masquerade as “a mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper?” Super. Man. Not “Wheat-growing Farmboy from Kansas Man.”But, I digress…Superman would go to great lengths to conceal his identity. “How far,” you ask? Far enough to get his friend Batman in on the job. There’s been super-dickery. Now here’s proof of… um… super-bat-dickery, too.
• The Beatles Remastered, Not Just for Audiophiles
• Microsoft arranges spontaneous house parties for Windows 7 launch
• Liposuction Leftovers Make Easy Stem Cells

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

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.

Friday – 04 September 2009
It’s my 9/80 Friday off. Can you say “four-day weekend,” boys and girls?

I knew you could!

I fell asleep on the couch last night… watching football. That’s a sentence that I never thought I’d write. SaraRules was kind enough to wake me up and suggest that I call it a night. I did. And I slept in this morning. That was nice, considering that I won’t be sleeping in tomorning: We’re doing an early breakfast at Ruth’s Diner and then making a trip to the zoo. (I just realized that tomorrow’s trip will be almost two years to the day that we made our first trip to the zoo together.)

Today, I have a couple of errands to run, but other than that, it’s a wide open day.

Football Update
Last night, the Ravens played the Hawks, in Atlanta.  And won. Meaning they went 4-0 in preseason.

Baltimore Ravens at Altanta Hawks
20 – 3

The Raiders also took on the Seahawks in Seattle. They didn’t fare as well. Their preseason record: 1 – 3.

Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks
21 – 31

Stray Toasters

• I was watching a rerun of The West Wing earlier. The episode featured Vice-President John Hoynes, portrayed by Tim Matheson. I still find it amusing that the original (voice of) Jonny Quest wound up as VP of the United States.
• The next installment of Four-Color Coverage is going to be a little different: I’m going to be splitting duties with MarknTyme.
• 6 Tech-History Zombies We’d Throw Down a Black Hole
• Umm… Pears grown in the shape of the Buddha
• 
• Here are a couple of interesting articles about the role of museums in the DC and Marvel Universes, including the purpose of the Batcave:
  • On the role of museums in superhero fiction…
  • Heroic Hype: The Batcave
• I’ve been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender… and enjoying it. It tells a very good story.
• Why the Mt. Wilson Observatory was worth saving
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Speed-trap-happy cops shoot complaing fire chief in court

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 September 2009
First day of the month; the year is just moving right along. And, to top it all off, this heads up a short week, too. I’m trying to decide whether it’s going to be a four- or five-day weekend. I’m sorely tempted to take next Tuesday off, as well. We shall see.

Last night was my night to cook dinner. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do when I left work; by the time I got home, I had not only an idea… I had a plan, as well. I fired up the grill and set about putting my insidious plot in motion. I thawed a couple of chicken breasts, made a dry rub for them, applied said seasoning and then slapped ’em on the grill. Next up, a can of cream of mushroom soup went on the stove. When the soup was ready, I added two cups of rice and let it sit. Back to the bird. While waiting for the chicken to cook through, I watched Monday Night Football through the screen door. When the chicken was done, I brought it inside, pulled a green leaf salad out of the fridge and it was dinner time.  I was pleased with how well the chicken turned out – nicely spiced on the outside, tender and juicy inside.

After the game, SaraRules quilted for a bit while I surfed and geeked.

Football Update
The Vikings traveled to The Lone Star State to take on the Texans in Reliant Stadium.

Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans
17 – 10

This game had a few notable features:

1. Minnesota QB Brett Favre, under center, for the first half three quarters of the game.
2. RB Adrian Peterson (yes, that one).  ‘Nuff said.
3. RB Chester Taylor put up a number of good runs for the Vikings offense.
4. Texans’ QB Matt Shaub looked decent… but a little fragile, at times.

This was  good (preseason) Monday night game. Both teams showed up to play. Favre, only scheduled to play the first half, stayed in the game through most of the third quarter. He looked good on the field – solid passes, set up good runs and even threw a couple of blocks.

One more week of preseason and then the real deal kicks off.  Amen.

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
• Sit-ups (with twist): 3 sets/20 reps
• T-Bar Pull (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 85 lbs
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps each, 225 lbs/205 lbs/185 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Chest Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 95 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Fly: 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 100 lbs, 1 set @ 120 lbs

Weight (morning): 183.0 lbs

Stray Toasters

• There’s a new look to The Late Late Show – it’s in HD now – and comes complete with an updated opening and theme song.
• I have the new WWG Himmelveil: Streets and Himmelveil: Sewers sets!
  (Next on the list: Building a 3D version of the WizKids’ Arkham Asylum map…)
• Digital Dharma
• The latest version of Game Center on NFL.com is taking some getting used to, but I’m liking it.
• Both Newsarama and Comic Book Resources have had good coverage of the Disney acquisition of Marvel.
  • The Misney Universe – Our Favorite Disney/Marvel Mashups
• Twisted Princess
• 
• Sales Decline Accelerates at Borders
• I’m having ramen for lunch. It’s “Oriental Flavor,” which happens to be my favorite… but I started wondering something just before I started eating:
  1. What exactly is “oriental flavor?”
  2. Who determined that this is what the Orient tastes like?
  3. HOW did he determine that this is what the Orient tastes like?
• Fall Bacontern
• The Olsens Don Bunny Ears: Who Looks The Most Ridiculous in Their Animal Ears?

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.

Friday – 28 August 2009
Welcome to the weekend… well, almost the weekend. It’s my “On” Friday, but I’m off next Friday… which will kick off a four-day weekend, thanks to Labor Day. And, as the first one in the bullpen today, I kicked off the morning with Tank! and 2112. That’s not such a bad way to start the morning.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to dinner at Cafe Zupas; it was a nice change of pace. I had the Honey Bacon Club panini and the Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo; SaraRules had the Thai Peanut Chicken Salad and the Yucatan Chicken Tortilla Soup.

After dinner, we met SaraRules’ coworker – and former schoolmate – Melissa at the gym for a workout:

• Calf Raises – 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Curls – 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Extensions – 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions – 3 sets/10 reps
• Bench Press – 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline) – 3 sets/10 reps
• Curls (dumbbell) – 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope) – 3 sets/15 reps, 50 lbs
• Core (plank) – 3 sets, 45 seconds

Stray Toasters

• and I are heading out to get Snow Leopard in a little bit.
• I’m  torn about what I want to get from WWG before TerrainLinx hits on Tuesday.
• ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ cupcakes
• Homeland Security Changes Laptop Search Policy
• The Dolphins – my #2 AFC team – beat the Bucs last night, 10 – 6.  This makes me happy.
• Annotated ‘Walking Dead’ Google Map
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot..?!” file: Policeman busted for feeding Pop Tarts to gorillas
• Microsoft Officially Lowers the Price of Xbox 360 Systems

Yeah, that’ll do for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 25 August 2009
Last night was the first of the three times that the Ravens will appear on Monday Night Football this (pre-)season. They hosted the New York Jets at M&T Bank Stadium.

New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
23 – 24
The first quarter of the game most decidedly belonged to the Ravens’ defense.  Haloti Ngata picked off a Mark Sanchez pass and returned it for a touchdown; on the next series, Ray Lewis nearly picked off another Sanchez pass. RB Ray Rice ran in a three-yard touchdown, to give the Ravens a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.The second and third quarters were a little more favorable to New York, seeing them put 17 points on the board, while Baltimore was only able to capitalize on a Jameel McClain interception. In the fourth, the Jets pulled within one point of tying the Ravens, and opted to run a two-point conversion for the go-ahead win, with roughly 30 seconds left in the quarter. The attempt failed and Baltimore walked away with the win.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym for a lunchtime workout:

• 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 – 1 set each: 225 lbs, 205 lbs, 185 lbs
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Pectoral Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs – with 10 second hold on 10th rep
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps

Weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• There seems to be far too much blood in my caffeinestream today.
• Free cake!
  (Now, if we only had some ice cream to go with it…)
• 
• This isn’t quite “steampunk,” but I’m sure that it could be easily adapted.
• Don’t get me wrong
  If I split, like light refracted…
• While its name is built a good pun, I have also found that Dawn of the Lead is an interesting  and well put-together site (mostly) about zombie miniatures and gaming.
• 1000 surveillance cameras = 1 solved crime in the UK
• 
• Street Magic Wedding Proposal
• Behind the 4GB Memory Limit in 32-Bit Windows

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.

Sunday – 23 August 2009
It’s been a rainy morning in the valley… but the sun has put in an appearance.

SaraRules and I watched Bridge on the River Kwai (1, 2), a movie I got from Netflix a couple of weeks ago. I had heard about this movie over the years, but never gotten around to watching it… until last night.

The movie told the story of two military colonels – Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), the commander of a Japanese P.O.W. camp and Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), commander of British forces being held in that camp. Saito has orders to build a bridge over the Kwai River; he plans to use P.O.W.s  – enlisted men and officers – to accomplish the task. Nicholson, according to The Geneva Conventions, informs Saito that his officers will not submit to manual labor. Thus, the men engage in a battle of wills.

The movie also included William Holden, as Cmdr. Shears, an American naval officer who escaped the prison camp… only to be enlisted in the effort to return to the camp and destroy the bridge.

The first third (or so) of the movie established the relationship of the two colonels and their attitudes to their respective situations. Shears features, in a more minor role, as a man who’s biding his time while trying to find a way out of the camp. It’s in the second third of the movie where things pick up, when the colonels come to something of an accord… but both realize that they have to give up something to achieve their goals. In a bit of a twist, it’s also in the second third of the movie where Shears, now a free man, finds himself in the midst of a situation that has him just as trapped as he was in the prison camp.

On the whole, I thought that it was a good movie and worthy of being called a classic.

Stray Toasters

• Forget Teens: Gamers are 35, Overweight — and Sad
  

  The average gamer, far from being a teen, is actually a 35-year-old man who is overweight, aggressive, introverted — and often depressed, according to a report  from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (download PDF). The study also shows that when children and teenagers become game players, a trend toward physical inactivity and corresponding health problems extends — and is exacerbated — into adulthood.

• Commentary: About that Saturday mail…
• A History of the Shrinking Game Console
• Bollywood starts celebrating Ganesha festival
• 
• PC Pro’s top 10 hard disk destruction methods
• IBM, Other Multinationals “Detaching” from the U.S.
• Mind the Gap: A Compendium of Disturbing British Public Information Films

Today… stuff and things.
Tomorrow: Ravens vs. Jets on Monday Night Football.

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.