Monday – 29 Sep 2008
Another work week begins. I think that I’m settling in to getting up around 6:20… I just wish that I’d stop waking up at 5:20. *shrug* Oh, well. At least I’m able to get back to sleep.
Today’s another fun day in the mines, but tonight’s MNF match-up has the Ravens taking on the Steelers in Pittsburgh. One way or the other, I’m going to get (at least) two phone calls about the game.
vs.
Speaking of football, what was the deal with the Eagles-Bears game last night? I expected a decent game, but I wasn’t expecting The Turnover Bowl.
She’s chocolate in my pocket
She’s gum in my hair
She’s the kind of girl that drives you crazy
But I don’t really care
She’s a superstar on my stage
She the sunlight in my shade
She’s the sweetest scent that fills the air
You will always find her there
Kenneth Branagh… wants to direct… the movie adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Thor?! WHAT?!?!
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)
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.)
Thursday – 25 Sep 2008
How do you kick off a great NBN Thursday? How about with a text message from your father saying that you have two (2) tickets to the Raiders-Ravens game for your birthday? Boo-yah. Yeah, I’d say that qualifies.
After work last night, I went home and decided – after almost a year – to hook the 360 up to the Interwebs and download firmware updates. The main problem: The 360 is in the living room, my router is in my office – in the back of the apartment – and I didn’t have an ethernet cable that was long enough to reach. I thought about – and tried – using my old router (as a hub) to daisy-chain a couple of cables. Which I would have gotten away with, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids and your dog! the fact that I didn’t have any 10′ cables to run from the second router to the 360. *sigh* Then, on a whim, I decided to see if I could share Defiant‘s wireless connection to give the 360 access to the Interwebs. After a quick consultation with and a look at some Mac forums, I found what I was looking for. And it was pretty simple, too. And it worked.
SaraRules came over a little later. Wednesday nights have become Project Runway (and, often, The West Wing) nights at my place, as SaraRules doesn’t get Bravo at her place. I’m not a huge “reality TV” fan, generally speaking, but I like seeing some of the designs that the contestants come up with on the show. Last night’s episode had an interesting challenge: The designers had to design outfits based on specific music genres… for each other. The genres that were chosen were:
A couple of the designs (Pop and Punk) were spot on;the Rock outfit was… a little bland; the Country look was a bit too subtle. But the Hip Hip look was… just… bad. Which was sad for a two reasons:
Despite her occasional attitude, I like Kenley and most of the pieces she comes up with.
LL Cool J was the special guest judge.
Yeah. You get tagged to design a Hip Hip look… and get it all wrong… AND you have to show it off in front of LL Cool J. Triple whammy.
It was also funny hysterical to hear some of the snarky comments by the other designers about the design – including a couple of “sabotage” comments, when they were asked, “So, do you think that this looks Hip Hop,” as she would try different accessories with an outfit. And they would say, “Yes…” and turn away before they burst out with laughter. Surprisingly enough, Kenley did survive elimination this week. But the preview for next week’s episode featured a couple of shots of the remaining designers in tears as their designs were critiqued, so it should be worth a look.
After Runway, I flipped over to The Late Show with David Letterman; I wanted to see who they got to fill Senator McCain’s guest spot. I had considered flipping over to MSNBC to see if Keith Olbermann had anything to say about it. I didn’t need to – Olbermann was Letterman’s guest. And they both had opinions to share about the senator’s decision. Letterman’s comments, by way of :
And, I found this copy of Olbermann’s thoughts:
Wait… did he say that making a bi-partisan/joint announcement was originally Senator Obama’s idea? And it was copped by the McCain camp? Huh.
Tuesday – 23 Sep 2008
Guess who’s having Eggo LEGO waffles for breakfast.
Mm-hmm, that’s right.
I am.
Last night’s tourney was a wash: Only Chris and I showed. So, Keith basically rolled the dice: I “won,” Chris got Fellowship. The prizes were a Johnny Storm LE ‘Clix. With the “formalities” over, Chris, Keith, Nano and I played a four-way free-for-all. Since it was a just a fun game to kill some time, I tried a random team:
Keith brought the Fantastic Four (starter set), including the Sue Storm and Johnny Storm LE figures. I have two things to say about this team:
Watching someone play the FF as a team – and play them well – is a thing of beauty.
Getting beat down by that same someone/team is a bittersweet pill… though still fun.
I think that my dice thought that we were playing a game of “Suicide ‘Clix,” because I couldn’t hit my target numbers half the time. I wore down a couple members of the FF, but Keith wound up taking me out. Chris and Nano duked it out on the far side of the board, with Chris winning that fight. Then it came down to Chris and Keith. They danced around the playing field a bit, but Keith finally wound up taking Chris out.
After the game, I headed over to SaraRules’ to hang out with her and her family and watch Monday Night Football. (Four shots at a two-point conversion – FOUR – and you THROW it?! ALL FOUR TIMES?!?) Her parents just returned from a ten-day Oregon excursion and it sounded like they had a lot of fun. And, as an unexpected bonus, they brought back some smoked Brie.
Back home. Chilled on the couch… started nodding off on the couch… called it a night. However, before I hit the rack, I watched a little of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. One of his guests was Marianne Jean-Baptiste, from Without a Trace. I don’t think that I’d ever heard her speak out of character, so I was “a little” surprised to hear a British accent.
This morning, I saw SaraRules drive by as she headed to work.
In a rare occurrence, she apparently saw me – and Jeff, a coworker with whom I was talkin – as well.
Stray Toasters
Bit is speaking!
Her first word: “Dada”
Bot is not so amused.
From last night’s conversation with :
11:00 hahaha bot is ragingly annoyed
11:00 and thusly i am ragingly amused
11:00 bit’s first word today
11:00 or in the words of rana
11:00 I SPEND ALL DAY WITH THIS CHILD
11:00 I CHANGE HER DIAPERS
11:00 I FEED HER
11:00 EVERY
11:00 DAY
11:00 EVERY NIGHT
11:01 AND WHAT’S HER FIRST WORD?!!?
11:01 DADA!!!
11:01 lol life is good
There was a lot of good football yesterday, but I don’t think that anything amused/pleased me as much as seeing “Big Ben” Roethlisberger and the Steelers drop a game to the Eagles. Of course, ANY Steelers loss makes me smile, but the Steelers never found the end zone and were held to two field goals. We’ll see if they’re still playing this “well” next week, when the Ravens make a trip to Steeltown and face them.
SaraRules and I finished The Orphanage last night. Good movie, but not quite what we were expecting. Given the Guillermo Del Toro name, I think that we were expecting a little more “horror.” There were definite horror elements, but I wouldn’t call it a “horror movie.” I’m sure that Tyranist would disagree with me, though.
I’ve read some complaints about the “I’m a PC” commercials that MicroSquish is now running. Personally, I find them amusing… and far more palatable than the Bill & Jerry commercials. What I would really love to see would be a new wave of Apple “Mac vs. PC” commercials where they start off:
PC: I’m a PC. Mac: I’m a PC, too… but I’m running Mac OS X. PC:*sputter* What?! Mac: Yeah, I’m a PC. I just happen to run a different OS. But, when you really look at it, our hardware isn’t really that different. PC: But, that’s just going to confuse people. Just say you’re a Mac and be done with it. People don’t want to have to think. Mac:*stares at PC* Are you saying to just keep the sheep quiet and happy…? PC:*deer in headlights look* No… no! I’m not saying that. I’m saying that you’re just going to… confuse them. Mac: So… they’re too slow to understand the difference between hardware and software? PC: I…. You…. oh, forget it! *throws hands up in the air* There’s just no talking to you! Mac: Actually, there are lots of ways! Wireless networking. Wired. Even good, old-fashioned SneakerNet. PC:*rolls eyes and walks off-camera*
Tuesday – 16 Sep 2008
I just had the old NBC tagline: “Tuesday is Blues day” run through my head. For those of you not old enough to remember, that was how NBC used to promote its series Hill Street Blues.
Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I watched the Philly-Dallas shootout. The first half of that game was just a romp. I’m not a big Dallas or Philadelphia fan, so I didn’t really care who won, but some of the plays – or lack thereof – were just… sad. The second half looked more like an NFL game.
Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Slaughterhouse 5 and Invader Zim. The story should use getting sucked into the “real world” as a plot device!
Quote of the Day
From World of Warcraft to Prince… gotta love IRC:
(08:46:40) Ahpuc_: You know the worst part about having so many damned alts? Having to read the class-specific patch notes for EVERY CLASS.
(08:47:21) : heh
(08:47:28) : Gotta play ’em all!
(08:47:31) : Gotta play ’em all!
(08:49:04) Ahpuc_: Well…basically, yeah. 🙂
(08:49:08) Xeen entered the room.
(08:49:31) : PokeWoW
(08:50:05) Ahpuc_: I may be fooling myself, but I think I play my rogue better because I also have tanks and healers, and I understand what they are focused on better as a result.
(08:50:12) : “Level 58 Troll Shadowknight, I choose you!” *throws ball*
(08:50:36) Ahpuc_: Deathknight, you mean? Not til the next expansion is out. 🙁
(08:50:42) : Death.
(08:50:45) : Shadow.
(08:50:47) : *shrug*
(08:50:48) : 🙂
(08:51:12) Ahpuc_: If you don’t know the difference between death and shadows, I don’t want to be near you on a sunny day. 🙂
(08:51:30) Ahpuc_: Like the old joke about the difference between a man and a shower. 🙂
(08:51:42) : There are shadows in the rain, according to Sting, too…
(08:51:55) Ahpuc_: And death in the rain.
(08:52:14) : Death of a Salesman… in the Rain.
(08:52:18) : Wait.
(08:52:20) Ahpuc_: Hmmm…But doesn’t Death cast no shadow?
(08:52:55) : Death of a Salesman in the Purple Rain, a new heart-touching movie… coming soon from Oxygen
(08:52:59) Ahpuc_: And shadows never die, they just move, or expand to envelop the entire hemisphere at night.
(08:53:15) Ahpuc_: Don’t touch my heart!
(08:53:19) Ahpuc_: BAD TOUCH! DO NOT WANT!
(08:53:31) ***Ahpuc_ goes into cardiac arrest.
Monday – 15 Sep 2008
Another day at the grindstone. It’s been fairly painless for a Monday… so far.
Stray Toasters
It seems as though the NFL, in its infinite wisdom, has given Baltimore and Texas a “bye” this week, rather than have them play the game that was Ike-delayed from yesterday until today. The game has been rescheduled for 09 Nov 08.
Sunday – 14 Sep 2008
I had a ‘Clix tourney yesterday afternoon. I tied (2-1) with another player, but he KO’ed more figures – higher total points – so he won the day. I took the Fellowship prize, so I got a Sue Storm Limited Edition figure. Not bad.
After the game, I had dinner with SaraRules before heading off to Chris’ for the first Dark Heresy game I’ve been to in… probably a month to a month-and-a-half. Back home… to find that SaraRules wasn’t feeling well. We decided not to go to breakfast and called it an early night.
This morning, we got up and watched football. SaraRules fixed breakfast while we flipped back and forth between the early games. After the first group of games, we headed to the Garden of Sweden – she wanted something for her office and I wanted to look at some new desk and bookcase options. After that (and lunch), we went to the Utah State Fair – Attractions. Exhibits. Food. Livestock. People on parade. Rides. The usual. And cotton candy. Sweet, sweet cotton candy.
Back home for the late game and then over to SaraRules’ parents’ for a bit.
All-in-all, it’s been a good weekend. Can’t really ask for more than that.
Stray Toasters
I saw this shortly after waking up this morning; I think that this is my new favorite Sinfest cartoon.
We watched The Running Man tonight. I haven’t seen that in many, many rains. And it’s so ripe for being MST3K’ed, too. And we did.
I showed Logan, SaraRules’ younger brother, a picture of the Burger King mascot from when I was a kid. I do believe that he found it just about as creepy as the current mascot, if not more so.
Friday – 12 Sep 2008
Last night, SaraRules came over and fixed dinner (fajitas!) and we watched The West Wing and 21. Nice, quiet evening in. After SaraRules left, I hopped on the nerd and surfed for a while. Then – in a stroke of genius – I decided to stretch out on the couch “for a few minutes.”
That turned into 3 hours.
I woke up and dragged myself to bed. That’s when the odd, 21-inspired dreams set in. Thugs, money and lots of running. Whoop-de-damn-doo.
So far, the work day hasn’t been too bad.
And, it’s Friday. A short Friday, to boot.
Win-Win.
Stray Toasters
As 2008 Multicultural Week draws to a close, I am reminded of this post that sent me back in July.
Folks were talking about WoW‘s Harvest Festival in a chat forum this morning; that reminded me that it’s almost time for the 2008 CoH Hallowe’en Event.
Sunday’s Ravens game has been moved to Monday night, thanks to Hurricane Ike. I’m not sure if there will be coverage outside the Baltimore and Texas areas.
Your Mama Don’t Dance and Your Daddy Don’t Rock and Roll
The game started off with a bang: I was able to use Psycho-Pirate’s Perplex to dial Bishop’s defense value down by -2, Lex’ Outwit to get rid of that pesky Energy Deflection and Merlyn’s Ranged Combat Expert to do four clicks of damage right out of the gate. It was a beautiful thing to behold. My dice ran hot-and-cold throughout the game, and I wound up losing at the end (Merlyn vs. Dr. Polaris and Bishop, who had been hiding behind Batman), but I think that this was the closest that I have come to beating Chris in a one-on-one game. I was rather happy with it.
After ‘Clix, I headed up to visit SaraRules and her family to watch the Broncos-Raiders game. Talk about a good, old-fashioned ass-whoopin’… Damn, Gina! Denver was ON last night. And, like I mentioned in the previous post, I think that I have a new favorite (for now) videogame commercial.
After that game, I went home, plopped on the couch and vegged out to classic Jonny Quest. And I defy anyone to tell me that the show’s theme song isn’t one of the best cartoon themes – if not possibly TV themes – of all time.
Stray Toasters
Damn and a half… this Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, is bad-ass. He’s the “Buy It By the Brick” figure for the upcoming Arkham Asylum set.
This morning, like most mornings, I shaved. The difference being that today was the first time that I’d shaved since Friday morning. I think that was the longest I have gone without shaving my head since I started shaving it… over ten years ago. Madness.
SaraRules waved to me on her way to work this morning; it made her easy to pick out of the rush hour crowd.
Stray Toasters
Kris, Sib-2, messaged me yesterday to let me know that the Ravens won. I caught some of the highlights on SportsCenter last night. Joe Flacco looked good in the QB slot; he also has legs, too – he ran for his first NFL TD to help seal the deal. And…and… all of the scoring didn’t come courtesy of Matt Stover’s leg. Unglaublich! Could it be that we might actually have an offense this season?! It’s only Week 1, so it’s a little hard to call, but I’d say that this is a good start. I also noted that the NFL said “ixnay” to Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco changing the name on the back of his jersey. Sorry to and for the Bengals’ loss.
Wednesday – 27 August 2008
Last night, after work, I picked up Chris and we headed to Far West Comics for this week’s HeroClix tournament. Restricted 300-point teams. After “a bit” of deliberation, I decided to go with:
First up, I played Mike, a new player. As such, he was very cautious and… deliberate… in making moves. He fielded three of the Fantastic Four figures from the new starter set:
We basically danced around the field, neither of us taking out the other’s figures. Time was called, so it came down to a simple roll of the dice, which went Mike’s way. Loss.
With the the Vendetta feat on Ronin (targeting Susan Richards) and Hawkman playing taxi, Ronin became my primary target. He was the first to fall. Next I started working on Hawkman. He took more punishment than I would have originally given him credit for, but I wound up taking him down. That left Skrull-jacket. Fortunately, he didn’t get sixes on his Skrull team ability nor on his Shape Change rolls, so I was able to attack him. It took my dice a while to warm up to the idea of actually doing something in my favor… but I got ‘im. Win.
Both Mike and Ma’afu had to leave, so we called the tournament at two rounds. This means that I didn’t have to face Chris. *genuflect* We both wound up at 1-1 for the night.
Keith (the judge) and Nano wanted to get a game in, so the two of them took on Chris and me. I decided to try a theme team: Illuminati. I fielded
And it was game on. To make a long story short, the game ran for about an hour-and-a-half. Chris and I lost a couple of our heavy-hitters early (not taken out of the game at that point, but they took damage that clicked them past their “good” abilities). Then it was a battle of the dice. Both sides had hot and cold dice. Chris and I finally wound up conceding the game around 10:30 PM.
I headed home and wound down, which included a tour of Paragon City. I got onto a team with a couple of people I teamed with a few days ago. I put on at least a level and a half in the hour I played.
And then… sleep.
I’m not sure what I did to deserve it, but I woke up with a headache this morning. Yay.
Today is another research day. We’ve also been talking with a few of the front office guys who have had various questions dealing with a couple of remodeling issues around the office. On the plus side, Julie (Property Manager/Admin/Jill of All Trades) brought in cinnamon rolls for the IT staff. And, I have a frozen mocha. So things ain’t all bad.
After work last night, I headed up to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner (and mojitos!) and general hanging out… which included football: The Chargers vs. the Seahawks. Yes, it was (only) pre-season action, but it’s still rock and roll NFL to me. We tuned in a little late and watched the first half of the game.
At halftime, SaraRules and I headed back to my place for movie date night. We watched The Kingdom. Neither of us had seen it before, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. I wouldn’t recommened this movie as a “happy, fun-time” fare, but it was a good film. I give it a couple of solid thumbs-up with a nod and a smile.
After that, it was time for The Middleman. The episode was… entertaining, but lacked a little of its usual punch. Not the episode I would have picked for the first one that we got to watch together, but what’re ya gonna do?
SaraRules headed home and I sat on the couch, trying to decide if I wanted to play CoH… or log into PokerStars… or something. I watched DS9 while I pondered my conundrum. That turned into DS9 watching me. At that point, I decided that it was time to call it a night. And I did.
Today, I’m going to be elbow-up in enterprise KVM research.
Tonight, I’m going to be elbow-up in a ‘Clix tourney… one for which I’m still not completely sure which figures I’m using.
Stray Toasters
I got home last night to find a package waiting for me… from . Inside, I found a couple of comic-related magnets (Supergirl and Hawkgirl) and a Test for Echo tour baseball cap. Unexpected win-win!
Our HR/Accounting guy and I were just talking when he noticed some of the ‘Clix I keep on my desk. He saw the Batman figure and noted that his daughter would like it, as she is a Bat-fan. I asked if she had read Batman: The Killing Joke; he said that he wasn’t sure, but would mention it to her. I’m hoping that this doesn’t become a “career-limiting move.”
vs. 
