Monday – 15 December 2008
Yep… it’s definitely “a Monday.” While nothing has exactly blown up, there have been a few issues to deal with around the office this morning. YAY! I’ve already had to make an executive decision on one thing (so far, so good), and deferred a couple of others; hopefully things will calm down a bit around lunch time. If not, it may be Monday Night Drinking – rather than Monday Night Football – tonight.
Football Update
Last night, the Ravens hosted the Steelers in a game with big implications for a playoff berth.
As is the case with every Steelers-Ravens game, there was no love lost on the field between these teams. When it was gametime, it was 60 minutes of no holds barred football.
This was a decidedly defensive battle, with neither side’s offense able to get a good foothold. Matt Stover scored all nine of the Ravens’ points – it was eerily reminiscent of many Ravens games of the past…
Pittsburgh scored the game’s only “touchdown” late in the Fourth Quarter, on a controversial call: Santonio Holmes made a goal line catch that was ruled “not a touchdown” on the field. Since it was inside of two minutes, the review was sent to the official’s booth upstairs. They overturned the call and ruled it a touchdown. Even SaraRules’ mom – who was rooting for the Steelers – and her brother agreed that they flubbed the call by overturning the decision on the field… as did most of the post-game commentary that we heard.
Oh, well… the Ravens are still in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. We’ll have to see how the last couple of games shake out.
Stray Toasters
Maybe I’ll get some posted this afternoon.
Sunday – 14 December 2008
Quiet, lazy morning following a quiet, lazy evening. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.
After running a few Christmas shopping errands in the snow yesterday, SaraRules and I came back to my place, put our feet up and vegged in front of the TV. We watched an episode of NCIS from a couple of weeks back; it was good… and it ended a little differently than I was expecting. That was followed by the middle third of The Year Without a Santa Claus – I switched over just as they were starting the Snow Miser song. WIN! After that, we flipped back and forth between Superman: The Animated Series (The Last Son of Krypton, Pt 3, A Little Piece of Home and Feeding Time) and Justice League Unlimited (The Balance). I am very lucky that SaraRules doesn’t mind me being a big kid sometimes often.
We also decided to skip heading back out for breakfast last night. (Something about being in… and warm… and comfortable vs. heading back out in the cold – kind of a no-brainer there.)
This morning, we’ve watched the CBS and Fox pre-game shows. And the early games have just started. But, what I’m waiting for is the middle game: Pittsburgh at Baltimore.
Stray Toasters
Yesterday afternoon, a couple pieces of plastic crack arrived on my doorstep in my mailbox:
Monday – 08 December 2008
Belated Happy Birthday to and :
Football Update
Last night, the Ravens hosted the Redskins for “The Battle of the Beltway,” as it was called. It was the first time the Redskins have played in Baltimore in close to 30 years (if I heard the stat correctly).
Last night, the Ravens hosted the Redskins for “The Battle of the Beltway,” as it was called. It was the first time the Redskins have played in Baltimore in close to 30 years (if I heard the stat correctly).Joe Flacco had a very slow start… that lasted the entire first half – he was 2/7 for passing in the half. That’s okay, because Ed Reed was on the other side of the ball. He had an amazing shoestring interception catch, less than a minute into the game that the offense was able to turn into a touchdown. Baltimore blanked Washington 14 – 0, going into halftime, thanks to an Ed Reed fumble recovery less than three minutes after his interception.
The second half was a mostly defensive battle, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage. A couple of trick plays helpd the Redskins drive deep into Ravens’ territory, but the best that they could come up with was a field goal, early in the fourth quarter. They added another touchdown, after Willis McGahee fumbled the ball a couple minutes later. Joe Flacco and Derrick Mason put the final nail in the coffin, with a Ravens’ touchdown at 3:44. Washington put up a fight and was starting to march down the field… when Ed Reed intercepted another Jason Campbell pass, just after the fourth quarter two-minute warning.
With this win, the Ravens go to 9-4, one game behind the Steelers… who they face, in Baltimore, next week. And, they are very much in the race for a wild card spot in the AFC.
After the game – and after hanging out with SaraRules – I finally got around to checking out last week’s comic haul. There were a number of mediocre reads, but among the standouts were:
Justice Society of America #21 – This issue marked the next-to-last chapter of the Gog storyline. What happens when a seemingly omnipotent being – who claims to be here to help – decides that he will only continue to help if people start to worship him… and they refuse? Well, we get a pretty good look at the answer in this issue.
X-Men: Noir #1 – This was a/ yet another take on the X-Men. No powers, but in a noir setting. And there is an interesting bit of role-reversal, too. I have heard that they are looking at adding a couple of other titles to this line – and I’m not sure that I’ll read any of the others – but this one was a refreshing change of pace.
It’s snowing; it has been for the past few hours.
(click images for larger sizes)
Today has been fairly busy, as we’re doing some remodeling around the office and we had a new person start in IT.
Stray Toasters
I am wearing my new kofia that SaraRules got for me.
For lunch, we went to Orchid, a Thai restaurant in the Union Park shopping center. The food was good and the lunch prices were rather reasonable.
Sunday – 07 December 2008
Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day:
This morning, SaraRules and I met Logan and the three of us went up to Park City for brunch at Cisero’s. The weather in Park City wasn’t as cold as I had expected; that was a nice surprise. The food, as always, it was very good. We didn’t stay in Park City very long, as Logan had a study group this afternoon.
Football Update
The Raiders lost to the Chargers on Thursday night.
The Colts trampled the Bengals, 35 – 3.
The Titans are beating up the Browns, 28 – 9.
The Dolphins will play Buffalo in about thirty minutes.
The Ravens take on the Redskins tonight.
The Panthers take on Tampa Bay tomorrow night.
Stray Toasters
Yesterday, after the ‘Clix tournament, I traded figures with a couple of guys. I got a Black Manta (that’s right, the shark has frickin’ lasers on its head!) and a Despero, both of which are Super-Rare figures. When I left, I was one figure – Batgirl – from completing my set of Arkham Asylum ‘Clix.
Last night, I found a Batgirl figure on eBay for a really good price. I bought it.
Sunday – 30 November 2008
Today is the last day of November. It’s odd to think that we’re almost in December already.
It’s been a lazy day. It started off with sleeping in – which is a pretty good way to kick off a Sunday, I must say. Next up was football and breakfast. And coffee. Tasty, hot coffee.
After the first games, SaraRules and I headed to her parents’ place… for more football and hanging out. We also worked on this year’s Christmas card. *nod* Later this evening, we might watch Hancock. We’ll see.
Football
What do and NY Giants’ WR Plaxico Burress have in common?
The Bengals took on the Ravens in Baltimore today. The game wasn’t televised here, but I followed the game on NFL Game Center.Joe Flacco threw for 280 yards, 2 TDs and 0 interceptions. Mark Clayton even got in on it, with a 32 yard TD pass to Derrick Mason. Clayton also had a touchdown, as did Todd Heap.On the other side of the ball, Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn’t seem to pull his offense together into a fully-cohesive unit. He did put together a good drive near the end of second half… but he couldn’t turn it into six points.
The Panthers took on the Packers at Lambeau Field. Jake Delhomme passed for 177 yards, with 0 INT. He also ran for one touchdown and DeAngelo Williams ran for four more. The game came down to a Jon Beason interception of an Aaron Rodgers pass, with 1:09 left in the 4th Quarter.
The fish took on Marc Bulger and the Rams in St. Louis. After a 1-15 run last season, the Dolphins had pieced together a 6-5 season coming into this game. It wasn’t a powerhouse game. Chad Pennington threw for 166 yards, 0 INT. RB Ronnie Brown ran for Miami’s only touchdown. The game came down to the last forty-two seconds (00:41), when Andre Goodman picked off a Marc Bulger pass.
Stray Toasters
I talked to Adam for a bit, earlier. Chelsea and Caden are home, both are doing well. He hasn’t sent or posted any pictures yet, but there should be some forthcoming.
Thursday – 27 November 2008
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Last night, I watched Tropic Thunder with SaraRules and her family. I was originally ambivalent (at best) about seeing this movie. After seeing it, I have to say that I not only enjoyed it… I laughed my ass off at parts of it. (Not a bad thing, given that today is Thanksgiving and will be a “pile on the pounds and calories” fest.) It was silly, mindless, turn-off-your-brain fare, but it was well-done. And, Robert Downey, Jr. playing an Aussie playing a Black guy was very funny, as well. If you’re looking for a light – and funny – way to pass an hour and a half, this isn’t a bad way to go.
Today, I slept in. Way in. Double-digits in. And it was good. SaraRules stopped by and picked me up for Thanksgiving dinner. And football, which I’m watching now. The Titans vs. the Lions – the best team in the NFL vs. the worst team in the NFL. I’m not sure that I’d call 35-10 “a game,” as much as a “blowout.” But, it’s football. And that’s enough. Soon there will be food. Lots of food. And sweet potato pie. Selah.
Stray Toasters
MightyGodKing takes a look at the last year of Spider-Man in Brand New Year.
I just saw the new/latest/whatever trailer for The Spirit. I like.
I just spoke with , who is on his way to visit his family for the holiday – he said that it’s (nearly) time for the holiday season “stop driving like an idiot” posts from the Council for Better Driving.
Monday – 24 November 2008
It’s definitely a Monday.
I don’t mean to say that it’s been “bad,” per se, but it’s been proven itself to be “a Monday” already:
The day started off well…
The alarm went off and I got up…
I went into the living room and plopped down on the couch for a few…
I talked to SaraRules for a couple of minutes…
Got under way and got ready (including getting lunch and breakfast ready)…
Hit the door…
Got in the car…
…to find that my battery had decided to call in sick.
I got a jump-start from one of the maintenance guys and headed on in to the office. Looks like I’ll be hitting up AutoZone or Pep Boys on the way home.
Other than that, the day is going pretty well. Even for a Monday. And it’s a short week, to boot.
Stray Toasters
The machinations for Christmas Card 2.0 are under way. Beware.
Pocket cowboys.
This is my new “Favorite Userpic of the Day” (so far):
Tuesday – 11 Nov 2008
Yet another in the work-a-day grind.
But, I hit the ground running and got a couple of items off of my task list, right after I got in.
Last night, I watched the 49ers – Cardinals game with SaraRules and her folks. I wasn’t expecting a lot out of the game, to be honest. I was pleasantly surprised that an actual football game broke out. Kurt Warner still looks fairly impressive – it was almost like he couldn’t throw a bad pass if he tried. The receivers and running backs did good jobs. And on the other side of the ball, Shaun Hill (SF’s 3rd string QB) did a good job of leading the team, including an impressive end-of-game drive that very nearly won the game for SF.
If you kids (or are just a big kid), you may be familiar with Marvel’s Super Hero Squad toys. Marvel Comics is now showing the (mis)adventures of the heroes and villains in daily strips (1, 2, 3) on their website:
Monday – 10 Nov 2008
It was… an interesting weekend, to say the least.
Saturday was a sleeping-in, lazy day… to a degree. SaraRules, her mother, her brother and I went to the Garden of Sweden to pick up a few things. Okay, okay… I (ostensibly) went as an observer, but wound up finding a few things that I couldn’t live without. Next on the docket was a couples massage at The Spa Club, that SaraRules had signed us up for. It was nice. Very nice, indeed.
The relaxation of the massage, however, was somewhat undone by some extended family drama. *grblsnrkx*
I spent a few pre-breakfast hours Saturday evening trying to be productive: I took pictures of and prepared some auctions for some of my extra HeroClix. I should be posting a few auctions this evening, God willing and the creek don’t rise.
Sunday was good: Another sleep-in morning, followed by football. SaraRules and I watched the Titans-Bears game, while I watched the “coverage” of the Ravens-Texans game on NFL.com. The Ravens wound up with another game in the “W” column, which makes me happy – and it means that they’ve already done better than last season’s record.
I headed over to Far West Comics to play dolls ‘Clix with Chris, Nano and Eric. We went with 800 points per player. We broke up into two-player teams: Eric and Nano vs. Chris and me. The teams broke down like this:
Chris
Batman
Doctor Destiny
Dr. Strange
Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Superman Prime
My team (themed: Sinestro Corps)
Arkillo
Batman (Sinestro Corps)
Parallax
Sinestro
Eric
Benjamin J. Grimm
Gamora
Hulk (Zombie, dual Hero-/HorrorClix figure)
Rampaging Hulk
Superman (Justice Legion A)
Nano
Emperor Joker
Green Arrow (Connor Hawke)
The Flash (Justice Legion A)
Living Lightning
Time Trapper
Trigon
Warskrull
And then, it was “Game on.” Chris came out of the gate like gangbusters. Eric had flown his Superman and Gamora to the mid-map area. Chris took Superman Prime, picked up an object and swatted her for 7 clicks of damage, right off the bat… insta-kill. I was really looking forward to using Arkillo, after hearing Chris talk up the figure last week. Unfortunately, Eric and Nano had other ideas: They put Rampaging Hulk, Ben Grimm and Trigon in close combat. And then, just for an added measure, had Eric’s Superman ping him from long range. *sigh* Oh, well… I guess I’ll have to use him another time.
Chris had good success in using Doctor Destiny to Mind Control Trigon and use his special power, Doppelganger, against the other team. So, we played a game of attrition: We got rid of Eric’s part of the force and the front half of Nano’s team. The we settled in to take on Green Arrow, Flash and… Trigon. Our team consisted of Batman (Sinestro Corps), Parallax, Doctor Destiny, Prime and Dr. Strange. The problem with Trigon – aside from Psychic Blast and Ranged Combat Expert – is his Mystics team ability:
When this character takes damage from an attack, it deals 1 damage to the attacker. This damage may not be evaded or reduced.
We beat up Green Arrow, Chris used Mind Control and Doppelganger to get rid of the Flash… and then it was just the big guy to deal with. Fortunately, Nano dealt Trigon a few clicks of damage by pushing him and we had a couple of figures who did 3, 4 or 5 clicks of damage when attacking him. So, taking a click here or there was worth it.
In the end, with the remnants of our teams, Chris and I came away with a win.
After the game, I headed over to SaraRules’ parents for dinner and football. Not a bad way to wind up the evening, I must say.
Stray Toasters
Whoa… I just found this on the WizKids site:
The Topps Company announced today that WizKids will immediately cease operations and discontinue its product lines. Scott Silverstein, CEO of Topps, said “This was an extremely difficult decision. While the company will still actively pursue gaming initiatives, we feel it is necessary to align our efforts more closely with Topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are being developed within our New York office.â€Upon notifying our partners, Topps will immediately pursue strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without noticeable disruption. To that end, WizKids will continue supporting Buy it By the Brick redemptions for Arkham Asylum, and the December Organized Play events for HeroClix.
For consumer announcements, please refer to www.wizkidsgames.com over the coming days for further information.
Last night, I continued a project that I started Saturday evening: Collecting my extra Arkham Asylum ‘Clix into eBay-able groups/lots. Hopefully, they’ll do well.
Video Games Linked to Child Aggression
Hm… next thing you know, they’ll be saying that cartoons and kids shows are linked to child aggression. (And if that’s the case, maybe they’ll finally take the last of the Power Rangers shows off the air…) But, more importantly, when are they going to say something about parents/guardians/mentors teaching kids about positive outlets or foci for their energy/aggression? Or is that just asking too much?
During last week’s excursion to Dr. Volt’s, SaraRules picked up a Green Lantern t-shirt for me. Not just any GL shirt… but one with John Stewart’s symbol (as opposed to the ones that Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner used). I’d show you a picture, but Graphitti Designs hasn’t uploaded one yet.
I watched Goldfinger on Spike last night. During a couple of the commercial breaks, the following ad aired… it’s definitely one for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
Sunday – 02 Nov 2008
Today was the second Ravens-Browns game of the season.
vs
The Ravens made a trip to the Dog Pound to take on Romeo Crennell’s Browns… which includes former Ravens Jamal Lewis (RB) and Dave Zastadil (K). For today’s game, SaraRules, and I headed over to ‘s place. And, as always: It was a penalty shot game.
The Ravens wound up winning the game 37-27. Fortunately, most of the scoring drives were spaced out enough so that no one got completely hammered.
And, it was fun to hang out with .
Other than that, it’s been a relatively low-key day. And I’m good with that.
We had great seats: lower level, 15th row, in one of the corners. It was on the visitor’s side, but there were PLENTY of purple (and black and white… and even a few red) jerseys in the stadium our area. On my right, was a couple (a man and his wife) of Raiders fans, so SaraRules wasn’t all alone in a sea of Ravens fans. The game was good. And it was a lot of fun. It was also SaraRules’ first live football game. Ever.
High school? Nope.
College? Nuh-uh.
NFL? Not until today.
The Ravens came out of the gate with their game faces on. And they went to work… although, they did manage to have a little fun, as evidenced by this play. Both teams played well, but the Oakland offense didn’t really come alive until the second half of the game.
After the game, we stepped into Geppi’s Entertainment Museum for a quick walkthrough. It was neat – there were manners of pop-culture memorabilia, past and present. In retrospect, I could/should have taken more pictures… but the ones I took can be seen here.
Next, we went to Harborplace. We ate dinner at Phillip’s Restaurant. (I know… who could have guessed?!) I had broiled crab cakes and calamari; SaraRules had a seafood combination dinner that included shrimp, a crab cake, mahi mahi and a couple of other items. Before leaving Harborplace, we picked up a chocolate mousse cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.
Back home. Tammy (my Godsister) and her youngest daughter, Kayla, came by to visit for a bit. That was nice, as I haven’t seen Tammy in… I’d say a year to a year-and-a-half. I tried catching up with Bret, but our schedules just didn’t synch up. Oh, well… maybe next time. After Tammy left, SaraRules and I hung out with my ‘rents. We showed them some of our travel pictures while we all had cheesecake.
Thanks to all of the good tidings and well-wishes for my birthday. I am very fortunate and blessed in my collection of friends.
Tomorrow: The Return to the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.
Friday: Coda
I after work I met SaraRules at her place. I hung out with her and her folks for a bit…
…then I ran to Dr. Volt’s – I had neglected to get a couple of receipts for the Arkham Asylum “Buy It by the Brick” figure on Wednesday. And I picked up another brick. *shrug* It’s my birthday weekend; I’m allowed.
Back to SaraRules’ to pick her up and run a couple of errands before heading back to my place to do some cleaning.
At 7:30 we and a few friends, headed to the Outback Steakhouse for my birthday dinner. It was a good-sized group, 18 people in all. (A hearty and heart-felt “Thank you” to those of you who came out to help me celebrate!) After dinner, most of us came back to my place for cake – yellow cake with chocolate frosting with chocolate chips, made by Ms. SaraRules – and ice cream. It was a great way to spend the evening. SaraRules surprised me with an awesome present:
Mm-hmm, that’s right: A Ravens reversible jacket. As she put it: She “…wanted [me] to have something fun and cool to wear to the game.” I have a very cool girlfriend… even if she is a Raiders fan. Can I get an “Amen,” from the Amen Corner?
After company left, we finished packing for tomorrow’s trip to Charm City. This time tomorrow, we’ll be on the Right Coast… and, most likely, very much asleep.
I should probably wrap it up here. 6:30’s going to come around awfully early, I suspect.
at 
