Random Access

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.

Monday – 10 January 2011
A new work week begins. This one actually has some blue sky and sun associated with it. Of course, there is still a good bit of haze about the valley, but I’ll take what I can get.

Yesterday, and came over to watch the Ravens-Chiefs game. Nox brought Josh and Sabriel with him; both of the kids did a good job of entertaining themselves while we yelled at the television watched the game. After the Ravens-Chiefs game, we flipped over to the Packers-Eagles game, which was also a good contest.

After football was over, SaraRules! fixed dinner: Homemade beef barley soup, squash and dinner rolls. ‘Twas very good. After dinner, we played Trivial Pursuit and then I somehow convinced her to watch Smokey and the Bandit. It might not be the world’s best movie, but it’s one of my favorites — if I believed in “guilty pleasures,” it would be one of mine. (If memory serves me correctly, I believe that my father took me to see it in the theatre… three times.) I learned a couple of interesting things about the movie, thanks to IMDb:

• The second highest grossing movie released in 1977 next to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
• Was a Guilty Pleasure of Alfred Hitchcock according to his daughter Patricia Hitchcock

After the movie, I finished up Rough Weather and called it a night.

Instant Replay: Football
There were some good games over the weekend… even though I missed both of Saturday’s games.

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
30 – 7
The Ravens and Chiefs met at Arrowhead Stadium for the AFC Wild Card Playoff Game. The Ravens came to play some serious ball, too. After leading 10-7 at halftime, the Ravens went on to score another 20 unanswered points and seal the deal. Next stop: Heinz Field on Saturday, for a meeting with AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

Joe…?  Derrick…? You guys just scalped the Chiefs and are going to the Division game against the Steelers!  How do you feel about that?

Yeah, I’d be passing around the high-fives, too!  Congratulations!

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles
21 – 16
The Packers and Eagles faced off in Philly… …and the Pack came away with the win There was a lot of post-game talk about the two missed field goals by Eagles’ P David Akers… six points which would have secured a Philadelphia win. Should’a. Could’a. Would’a. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers move on to face the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.

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New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts
17 – 16
Last week, I was worried about the Ravens having to face the Indianapolis Professional Football Club in the playoffs. More specifically, I was worried about the teams having to meet yesterday. Fortunately, Indy lost last week’s game and the Ravens wound up taking on the Chiefs. Saturday, Mark Sanchez and the Jets eliminated Indy – and the last Manning standing – from the playoffs. I only wish that I had seen that game.

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New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks
36 – 41
Are the Seahawks this year’s Cinderella team? They upset last year’s Cinderella and have their sights on da Bears in next weekend’s matchup.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules! tested out a very good blueberry pancake recipe for breakfast yesterday.
  I have third-party independent verification of this, as young Ms. Sabriel packed away two of them, herself.
• It wasn’t a workout, per se, but I walked up five of the six flights of stairs to get into the office this morning. I’m thinking that I might challenge myself to do it at least once a day during the work week.
• Federal Charges in Giffords Shooting Cite Assassination Plan
• TV ‘Wonder Woman’ Not Going at This Time
• Taking a trip into history with the Freedom Riders
  • The Freedom Riders movie referenced on the second page of the article is the one that SaraRules! and I saw last year at the Sundance Film Festival.  If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.
• 
• Library of Congress Gets a Mile of Music
• Theme park giant’s ups, downs lead to investor showdown
• Muslim and Christian, Egyptians stand together against violence

I don’t know when it happened, but most of the haze has burned off and you can now see across the valley.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 29 December 2010
It’s midweek… which means that it’s Comics Day! It is also rather windy here. According to The Weather Channel’s website, it’s 37F outside.  I haven’t seen any snow yet, but that’s not to say that it isn’t in the area.

I went to The Apple Store yesterday to have my BlacBook’s battery checked out – it was developing a couple of ugly bulges. I learned that my AppleCare warranty had expired 50 days ago. (Well, “51,” now…) Brad, the Apple Genius with whom I spoke, said that since I’d had no warranty claims with my MacBook, he’d just go ahead and replace the battery… at no charge!  WIN!

I left the store and dropped in to say a quick “Hi” to SaraRules! (Her office is close to The Gateway.) When I left there, I wasn’t ready to head home and wanted to check out a hobby shop or two. So, I headed north. I wound up in Layton and Clearfield. I checked out the Hobby Lobby in Layton; I was even more disappointed with their model railroad selection that I am with the store in Sandy. (And that’s saying something.) From there, I headed to Almosta Junction. That was (kind of) a mistake. They had A LOT of things that are going on The Covet List; foremost among them was:

These things are getting hard to find. They also had a selection of rolling stock, other accessories and a couple of books that I wouldn’t be ashamed to add to my collection.  Nevertheless, I walked out of the store empty-handed. *sigh* I considered heading up to Ogden and checking out The Wonderful World of Trains, but I think I’ll wait until Friday… assuming the weather holds up and that is interested in and available to go.

Once I got back home, I cooked dinner.  Last night’s fare was baked chicken, with seasoned collard greens and rice. SaraRules! and I watched the Vikings-Eagles game. I was expecting a “good” game, but got more than I had anticipated. Minnesota QB Joe Webb had a pretty outstanding performance… especially when you consider that he was drafted as a wide receiver! On the flip side, Philadelphia QB Michael Vick had a decent game, but his offensive line leaked like a sieve. He got sacked six times and was almost always under pressure.

After the game, SaraRules! and I went to the gym:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 165 lbs
• Squats: 2 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs (I think…)
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Seated Row: 2 sets/12 reps, 100 lbs
• Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps
• Step-ups: 2 sets/8 reps per leg, 25 lb dumbbells
• Jackknifes: 2 sets/15 reps

And, later in the evening (which really translates to: “Far too late at night/early in the morning”), I made good on my threat to tear out my railroad’s rail yard:

• Old and busted:

• New hotness:

Yeah… I’m pretty happy with it.  For now. I still want to add two more left-hand switches near the top of the yard: One for another spur, the other to complete a pass-through to the main line.

All told, I’d say that it was a pretty good day.

Now I need to figure out what I want to do with the rest of today…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 28 December 2010
It’s quiet around here again.  Things are returning to what passes for “normal” around here.

I just talked with my mother and uncle — they both made it home, although MUCH later than either of them had anticipated. Thanks to a three-hour delay getting out of SLC, my parents didn’t get home until almost 0100 AM EST. My uncle didn’t fare any better, as he made it into and out of Chicago with no problem… but couldn’t land in White Plains. At least, not the first time. His flight was re-routed to Hartford for refueling and then went back to White Plains. He got home after 0200 AM. But… everyone made it home safely.

Last night, I had dinner with my in-laws, before they took Meliko to the airport. We went for Mexican food at El Chihuahua. I had the beef enchiladas; they were good. After dinner, I met at MacCool’s for the last Monday Night Football broadcast of the season: The Saints at the Falcons. It was a very good game and pretty much came down to the last few minutes. Add to that a couple of Black and Pumpkin beers and an order of Finn’s Skins and it made for a good evening in good company.

Stray Toasters

• I’m thinking (seriously) about tearing out my rail yard and reconfiguring it. Again.
• 1980s cartoon intros in other languages
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and the “People Are People” files: Harry Potter actress in hiding after death threats
• Coded American Civil War Message in Bottle Decoded
• 
• Big Bird Behind the Beak – A Look Behind the Feathers
• Infographic: Bad Science in Movies Chart
• Despite the fact that I left my old web hosting company nearly three months ago, I still get email from them.  (No, I’m not still getting billed by them.)

I should probably start getting ready to face the day.

Namaste.

Monday – 27 December 2010
It’s quiet around here. VERY quiet. It’s amazing how “quiet” it is, in fact. I guess that’s just one of the things you notice when you go from having five people in the house to being alone at home.

I had a fantastic Christmas. It was made even better by the fact that I was able to have (most of) my family here — we’re looking at ways to get Kris out here later in the season or this Spring/Summer.  We started some new traditions this year (Christmas Eve spaghetti dinner and Christmas morning mimosas) and incorporated some of our favorites as well. The man in the red suit did me a good turn this year; he brought me:

• A couple of really nice sweaters
• A pair of boots (…which I need to send back because they were both for the right foot)
• An overcoat and scarf
• A new pair of lounge pants… with the Ravens’ logo on ’em!
• A couple of passenger platforms for my railroad
• A LEGO Creator set
• Buckyballs
• A “gift certificate” to Dr. Volt’s or The Train Shoppe (Woo!)
• A Sawz-All
• A new train set

SaraRules! and I got a couple of very nice gifts as a couple, too.  So, I can honestly say that I had a very good Christmas this year.

Saturday, before heading to SaraRules!’ parents’ place for dinner, I took the family up to Brighton — I figured that since they had come all this way to visit, the least that I could do was take them for a drive up one of the canyons and let them see the mountains. I think that they were taken aback a bit at how truly “big” the mountains are here. They were also a bit surprised when I told them the elevation.

After the drive, we met up with SaraRules’ side of the family for dinner. We had a magnificent feast with all kinds of foods: brisket, ham, borscht, mixed vegetables, roasted root vegetables, breads, potatoes and more! All of it was wonderfully prepared.

Sunday, we got up and took my folks to Music and the Spoken Word. My mother has mentioned many times that she wanted to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but hadn’t been able to get out her to do so. But, with retirement comes time… and, fortunately, we were able to make it in to see this week’s recording.

After the broadcast, we went up to Park City for brunch at Cisero’s. It started to snow shortly after we arrived, but was coming down a little more heavily as we left Park City and headed down Parley’s Canyon. After we got in, we settled in for a relatively quiet afternoon at home. Later in the afternoon, we took my uncle down to the Cathedral of the Madeleine and picked up dinner.

This morning, SaraRules got up for work and I got up to take my family to the airport. It was really nice to have them here for the long weekend; I’m glad that they were able to come out.  (Now, I just have to get Kris out here…) We got everyone to their respective flights on time, although I got a call from my mother a little while ago saying that her plane was grounded because of a “mechanical problem.” I’m waiting to see if/when they get boarded on another plane and how that will affect their connection home.  My uncle, on the other hand, might not get out of Chicago – or at least not to his home airport – thanks to the snowstorm that hit the northeast over the weekend. We’ll see how everything shakes out.

Stray Toasters

• How was your Christmas?
• The Ravens beat the Browns and secured a spot in the playoffs!
• Five Best Resources for Free Games
• Teena Marie dies at 54; R&B singer-songwriter
  • Lovergirl
    
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man Faces Five Years in Jail — for Reading Wife’s Emails
• I need to replace the battery on my MacBook. This one has developed a “bulge.”  You know, the “This battery has reached the end of its useful life cycle…” kind.
• Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

It seems as though my parents made it out of here… nearly three hours late.  But, they’re in the air.

Now, it’s time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

Thursday – 23 December 2010
How did my NBN vacation Thursday kick off?
By picking up my parents at the airport!
Let the Christmas revels begin!

Yesterday, SaraRules! and I headed over to her parents’ house to make Christmas sugar cookies. Last night, we went back over to decorate those cookies with her parents, Sanaz and Logan. As part of the fun, I made a Green Lantern gingerbread man:

“In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No cookie shall escape my sight!”

His lantern symbol might not be awesome-looking, but it’s the best I could do with a toothpick.  I’m pretty proud of him.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Yesterday, I had an item in my blog post that mentioned the outrage some groups are having about Idris Elba playing Heimdall in the upcoming Thor movie.  What I neglected to mention was that these same groups haven’t said ANYTHING about the fact that Tadanobu Asano was selected to portray Hogun the Grim (another Norse god)… despite the fact that Asano’s involvement was known – and fairly public – well before Elba’s.  So, let me get this straight:

1. Some people are getting bent because a black actor is portraying a Norse god in a movie based on a comic book…?!
2. The same people have nothing to say about an Asian actor also portraying a Norse god in the same movie based on a comic book…?

Isn’t that kind of saying,”Hey, we’re racists… sorry… “racial purist” bastards, but see, we’re only nitpicky when it comes to some people!” or am I wrong?

Stray Toasters

• I know what one thing that Santa’s bringing for is. How do I know? Mom delivered it for Santa…and I had to unbox it for her. WIN!
• 16 Holiday Movie Spoofs from ‘Rejecting Sobriety’
• Sorry, Kids. Fire Stations Are Ditching Fire Poles
• Thanks to for pointing this out: Remembering a jolly duet: When Bing met Bowie
• Photographer Bill Durgin’s unusual figure studies
• Jayson Weidel Colors His X-Men One at a Time
• 
• Miminalist effect in the maximalist market
• A Very Zombie Holiday (Zombie apocalypse advice for the holiday season)
• This has to be wrong on some level: I just saw something about the old Chuck Norris TV series, Walker: Texas Ranger… and in my head immediately reparsed it as Walker: Texas Power Ranger.

Yeah… that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Monday – 20 December 2010
The song says, “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”  Today is Monday. It is also… snowy, although there may be some rain falling somewhere in the valley. However, this combination is far from getting me down. Why?

1. I’m on vacation.
2. It’s only three more sleeps till my parents get here!
3. It’s only four more sleeps till my uncle gets here!
4. It’s only five more sleeps until Christmas!
5. Did I mention that whole “vacation” thing? I did?  Okay, good. Just making sure.

Yesterday, SaraRules! and I knocked out a little more eleventh-hour Christmas shopping. That was good. After that, we came home for a bit. During the down time, I fired up the 360. I was planning on playing a little bit of LEGO Batman, but Fate had other plans in store: messaged me and invited me to play HALO: Reach online with him and . As I hadn’t played Reach online (heresy, I know…) and as I was going to be able to play with a couple of friends, I pulled Batman out, put Reach in and played for a bit.

A short while later, SaraRules! and I headed over to Sanaz and Logan’s. On the docket: Dinner and making/decorating a gingerbread Christmas tree:

All-in-all, it turned out well.  Steve brought the video camera, to record the event, so I’m Ivory Soap sure that there will be a trailer – if not a full-on movie – showing our exploits. Dinner was very good; we had turkey legs, homemade mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus and cranberry sauce.

After we returned home, SaraRules! watched The Godfather, which I recently realized that I had never seen in its entirety. It was good. Very good. My only complaint was the pacing — there were places in the film where you couldn’t get a firm grasp on just how much time had elapsed. Other than that, I can easily see why it’s on so many people’s favorite movie list.

Instant Replay: Football

New Orleans Saints at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 30
Drew Brees and the Saints came marchin’ into M&T Bank Stadium… …and the Ravens sent ’em marchin’ back home with a loss. Joe Cool and the boys started out strongly, but let the lead slip away in the second half. The game ended with another Ravens interception, this time delivered by DE Cory Redding. With this win, the Ravens go to 10-4 and are still very much in the hunt for the AFC Playoffs Wild Card, as the #5 seed.

Coach Harbaugh! Hey, Coach!  Hey… your team just beat last year’s Super Bowl champions and are currently the #5 seed in the AFC Playoff picture!  How does that make you feel?

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Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
23 – 39
The Raiders busted the Broncs in this division win. Congrats, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

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Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers
12 – 19
The Panthers hosted the Cards… …and found a way to come up with a win. Sorry, Marr.

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Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
17 – 19
The Bengals came away with the win in this “Battle of Ohio” Congrats, carefreespirit and janietrain!

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Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
17 – 14
The ‘Fins dropped this one to the Bills, making them 0-3 against division rivals this season.

Stray Toasters

• Your Apps Are Watching You
  • Full database of apps/information shared, as tested
• Lewis Delivered Passionate Speech
  Ray Lewis..!? Passionate about football..!?  This is a surprise to whom, really?
• Many High Schools Offering “Computer Science” Really Aren’t
• Hailee Steinfield: For a Young Actress, a Gritty Debut
• 
• Pentagon Plan Won’t Cover Brain-Damage Therapy
• Save the Wedding Date: Any Time Before Krypton Explodes
  • In a semi-related note: Stuart Immonen’s take on the origins of some of Superman’s 1990s’ Rogues Gallery
• The underwater sculpture of Jason de Caires Taylor
• Best Buy Puts an End to Tyrannical Restocking Fees

Namaste.

Friday – 17 December 2010
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday.
It’s also my last day of work for the year.

With those two things, you’d think that the day would almost qualify as an “NBN Friday.”

Too bad that I spilled my coffee as soon as I got to my desk. *sigh* I made it out of the house, out of the garage, all the way to work, up the elevator and into the office with no problem. But, go to turn the corner at my desk…?

::: SPLASH :::

And I’d only gotten a small sip of the coffee in the elevator. “Some days…,” I tell ya. Hopefully, this will not prove to be a bellwether of the rest of the day. I got the office wet/dry vac and did the best I could to clean Ground Zero. (Fortunately, the carpets are scheduled to be cleaned this weekend.)

Last night, SaraRules! and I had dinner at MacCool’s. As usual, the fare was quite good. We split an order of Finn Skins as an appetizer; she had their Ahi Tuna Sandwich, while I had the Meat Loaf (with a spiced barbecue sauce). And there was Guinness. It was a good dinner and a nice change of pace.

After dinner, I stopped at Dr. Volt’s to pick up my second brick of ‘Clix, the tournament prize pack – gotta have goodies to hand out at tourneys, of course – as well as this week’s four-color paper crack. From there, it was on to Hastur Hobbies for 4th ed. D&D night. Josh, a former coworker, joined the group. We finished out the encounter (and that chapter of the story) without any deaths in our party.

After the game, I headed home to meet SaraRules! and we then headed to the gym:

• Leg Raises (Roman Chair): 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 155 lbs
• Squats: 2 sets/10 reps, ~75 lbs
• Row: 2 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps
• Step-ups: 2 sets/10 reps per leg, with 20 lb dumbbells
• Jackknifes: 2 sets/10 reps

And, to finish up the evening we finally finished up this year’s Christmas card.

Stray Toasters

• MarknTyme just called me a “pusher.”
  All because he:
  1. Is considering getting back into model railroading after we’d talked about it a few times, and
  2. Just made his first purchase from WorldWorksGames.

  I told him that I prefer to think of myself as a “facilitator.”

• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Flirty Models Were Hired in Bid to Find Bone Marrow
• Zombie attack hoodie
• From the “We’ve Taken Care of Everything…” file: Man boards plane at IAH with loaded gun in carry-on
• Help, My Half-Elf Is Pregnant! The 11 Strangest Questions from the D&D ‘Sage Advice’ Column

  

• Blake Edwards, Prolific Comedy Director, Dies at 88
• Badass LEGO Guns
• The Implants Loophole
• When the Apocalypse Happens, You’ll Find Me in My Armored Home

Namaste.

Monday – 13 December 2010
Today kicks off my last week of work before Christmas vacation. Or, I guess another way of looking at it is: My last week of work for the year. I like the sound of that a little better.

Yesterday was a good and somewhat busy day. SaraRules! and I had breakfast with her parents and at Paradise Bakery… where they ran out of eggs. Let’s allow that to settle in: A bakery with no eggs. Genius! After that, and I went gallivanting about the valley:

• IKEA
• Ski ‘n’ See
• West Valley Hobbies

I made a quick stop at Best Buy, before heading home. At home, I decided tear out  the reversing loop on one side of may model railroad and to try and figure out a way to change the rail yard a little.

After that, we headed up to SaraRules!’s parents’ place for dinner. Sanaz’ parents and sister, as well as were also there. We had lamb, imam bayildi, rice pilaf, sliced vegetables, pita and homemade hummus. It was quite a feast. We rounded out the meal with baklava for dessert.

All-in-all, it was a good day.

Stray Toasters

• I don’t know who set Utah’s thermostat to “warm,” but 60F and sunny – in the middle of December – ain’t so bad, in my book.  I actually rode around with the sunroof open for a bit yesterday.
  • And, speaking of roofs: Gizmodo (and everyone else) has footage of the Metrodome roof collapse
• Los Angeles Hopes to Lose Its Rank for Homelessness
  • The Almost Forgotten: Los Angeles’ Homeless
• By way of MarknTyme: “Weird Al” Yankovic – Ode to a Superhero
• Cake Wrecks
• Corvette ZR1, Mustang Boss 302 come with driving school
  • The course that Ford sends drivers to sounds like the performance driving package that SaraRules! got for my birthday present this year.
• Now playing in a sky near you: Winter meteor shower
• It’s All About Me: But Is Narcissism a Disorder?
• 
• After failing TSA screening, flier in wheelchair (and her underwear) leaves Oklahoma
• Sincerest Form of Flattery: Some Joke!
• From the “Overkill” file: It Costs $82,000 to Light the One Million Christmas Lights at This House

Namaste.

Friday – 10 December 2010
It’s my day off. I’m trying to decide what to do with the day. has suggested a possible trip to Hobby Stop, which seems like a good suggestion. Other than that, “…the future is wide open,” as Tom Petty said.

Last night, SaraRules! and I decided to go out for an impromptu date night. We saw Harry Potter and Six Months in the Woods the Deathly Hallows (Part I). I realized that it’s apparently been “a while” since I’ve read the book, as there were a few things that didn’t quite seem to fit what I recall from the novel. *shrug* Not a big deal. All-in-all, the movie was entertaining.

Stray Toasters

• I just got back from coffee with , Perry and the kids. It was a far better way to kick off the weekend than just sitting around the house, waiting for the garage door opener installer to show up… which I’m now doing.
• New SUPERMAN Writer Fills JMS’ Shoes But Walks Own Path
  • Must There Be a Superman? – The story that Roberson referenced in the interview
• SantaCon is coming to town…
• Neil Armstrong personally responds to an NPR correspondent’s rhetorical moon-landing questions
  Hmm… based on that second grey section, maybe Michael Bay’s take on the moon landing (as seen in the Transformers 3 trailer) wasn’t so far off.
• 
• Modern Treasure Hunts for the Whole Family
• The Doc and Rooch Show – lots of interesting O-Scale railroading videos
• I’m not typically a huge Conan O’Brien fan. (There, I said it.) This morning, there was an item on DC Comics’ Facebook page titled “Conan Gets Animated,” with the following description:
  

  Since the WB lot is home DC Comics, Conan realizes his dream of becoming a superhero!

  Well, then. With a lead-in like that, I was curious. Conan and a camera crew headed over to the WB animation studios and talked with Peter Girardi and then had a character drawn… by Bruce Timm:

• Renee Fleming to be Consultant at Lyric Opera of Chicago
• Wine Library TV
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Goat heads left on Hyde Park doorsteps
• Sports Stars Seek Profit in Catchphrases
• I just got pocket-dialed by a friend from back home. Naturally, I called him back and we chatted for about 10 minutes. It was a nice surprise.

Okay… off to wait some more.

Namaste.

Monday – 06 December 2010
This morning was grey and rainy. That, naturally, brought Rainy Days and Mondays to mind. In this case, however, I was glad to see the rain: It cleared out a lot of the dirt, grit and grime (and just general “uck”) that’s been in the air, thanks to the inversion.

Yesterday was a good day. SaraRules! and I started the day with breakfast with shockpuppet and . They fixed a very nice fare, including a broiled grapefruit dish.  I’m not usually a fan of cooked fruit – the grilled pineapple found at Brazilian steakhouses being a notable (and possibly sole) exception – but the grapefruit was actually very good. All-in-all, we had a nice time.

After breakfast, I headed over to West Valley Hobbies to see if there was anything that I couldn’t live without. There were a few things that I found tempting – including an N&W six-car hopper set from MTH, but nothing that couldn’t wait a while.  SaraRules! and I  also made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. *genuflect* Later in the evening, we headed up to the in-laws’ for dinner and football. After the game, we headed home and watched the season finale of The Walking Dead.

Instant Replay: Football

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
13 – 10
The Ravens hosted the Steelers in what Sunday Night Football was calling “Grudge Match.” It was a low-scoring game and it looked as though Baltimore might actually pull off a win over the Boys from Steeltown… but it wasn’t to be. I don’t know who blew the coverage, but S Troy Polamalu strip-sacked Ravens QB Joe Flacco and the fumble was recovered by a Steelers lineman (whose name eludes me) and run back to the 10-yard line. The Steelers took the lead on the ensuing drive. Flacco and company drove the ball down the field, but on the last 4-2 play (with 38 seconds on the clock), Flacco underthrew WR Anquan Boldin and turned the ball over on downs.

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Cleveland Browns at Miami Dolphins
13 – 10
The Dolphins lost to the Browns. Somewhere, lj user=”zeeke” is smiling…

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Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers
28 – 13
I don’t know what has gotten into the Raiders, but it looks like this is their rebuilding season… and they’ve been paving the way with some pretty notable wins. Congrats, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

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Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks
33 – 17
The Panthers lost on the road.

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New Orleans Saints at Cincinnati Bengals
34 – 30
The Saints beat the Bengals in this one.Sorry, carefreespirit and janietrain.

Stray Toasters

• Stray Toasters will return tomorrow… if you’re good.

Namaste.

Thursday – 02 December 2010
Three down.
One in the chamber.
One to go.

And that’s how another No Bad News Thursday kicks off.

Last night was D&D Encounters night with Melody, Jack, and company. We were a couple of party members short, so it was a bit of a grind. Seriously. Melody didn’t pull any punches and I think that the characters in the encounter all had brushes with near-death. But, it was still fun.

After I got home, SaraRules! and I watched Sunshine Cleaning. I’d heard about it last year and it has blipped on and off my radar since then. It was a good movie. No big special effects. A simple story. Good acting. All-in-all, a very solid presentation. The movie stars Amy Adams as Rose, a single mother trying to make ends meet. When her situation goes from “bearable, but not great” to “something’s got to give,” Rose decides to change her career path in a somewhat unexpected manner: She opens a crime scene clean-up company. It would be far from the truth to say “Hilarity ensues.” It would be more apt to say “Life goes on… for some.” SaraRules! and I agreed that this was a refreshing change of pace from the quick cut scene, always moving at fast forward, mega-blockbuster movies that are so prevalent today.

Stray Toasters

• It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Jonathan Coulton’s music. As a home owner, I’ve found new affinity and appreciation for his song, Shop Vac. Apparently, Jarrett Heather is a fan of the song, too… as evidenced by the following kinetic type video:
• Squiggly, Tangly and Angular
• A Mission to Transform Baltimore’s Beaten Schools
• You Only Dream of Driving Like This
• For some reason, this reminds me of the fight scene between Sistah Girl and White She-Devil in Undercover Brother:
  
• The Sweet Beet: 14 Food Shockers
• kidscomics.com – for the young reader in your family or circle of friends
• Amanda Vissell’s Posters for Girls
• F.T.C. Backs Plan to Honor Privacy of Online Users
• LEGO Death Star Christmas tree ornament
• 
• Retro Movie Posters Reimagined, courtesy of
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man Killed Girlfriend Because She Answered Her Phone During Sex
• sfds

Wednesday – 01 December 2010
It’s mid-week… however, it is not Comics and Sushi Wednesday: This week’s shipment is delayed, due to last week’s holiday and I won’t be able to make it to sushi this afternoon.

On the other hand, Hanukkah starts today.  (Okay, technically, it starts at sundown, but why quibble?)

Last night, SaraRules! and I attended The 2010 Festival of Trees. It was opening night, which included the auctions for trees.  We put in a bid on a tree that we both liked… and won:

We’ll pick it up this weekend. Click here to see pics of other trees and interesting items from the show. The people-watching was pretty good, too. After the Festival, we headed to the local Olive Garden for a late dinner. On the whole, it made for a rather nice date night.

Stray Toasters

• For Every Holiday Party, the Right Drink
• John D’Agostino, drawer of Archie and G.I. Joe, dies
• 
• From Has Boobs, Reads Comics: Top 10 Gifts for the Geek in Your Life
• Lionel Brings You Trains and Jobs for Christmas
• 
• The Albums We Missed in 2010
• Union of Superlative Heroes Card Set
• Is 8 too young to be an entrepreneur?

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Monday – 29 November 2010
It’s Monday.

For some reason, it’s hard to work up excitement about being back at work after five days off. Go figure. Fortunately, there’s only three (maybe only two-and-a-half) weeks of work before I go on vacation for Christmas.

Yesterday was snowy. Big surprise. On the “plus” side, Chris came over and hung out for a bit. As he hadn’t seen it, I showed him the Young Justice premiere. He liked it. (I was fairly sure that he would.) After that, we played HALO: Reach and then watched the second half of the Dolphins-Raiders game. Later in the evening, we headed over to SaraRules!’ parents’ place for dinner and football. We left at halftime, at Mother Nature’s insistence. Back at home, we shoveled more snow. Yay. We wound up the evening with the new episode of The Walking Dead.

Instant Replay: Football

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Baltimore Ravens
10 – 17
The Ravens hosted the Bucs… and came away with a win.Sorry, Minion #2.

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Miami Dolphins at Oakland Raiders
33 – 17
The Dolphins headed west to take on the Raiders in Oakland. I missed the first half of the game, but it looked as though the Raiders decided to sleep through the second half. Sorry, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

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Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets
10 – 26
The Bengals dropped this one to the Jets. Sorry, carefreespirit and janietrain.

Stray Toasters

• My friend, MarknTyme, is the band director for a Rockingham County High School in NC.  The band had a write-up in the local paper: RCHS marching band eager to prove itself
• A business that recently moved in below us is having a sign mounted on the building… outside my window. The installation is “intermittently noisy.”
• Leslie Nielsen and Irvin Kershner passed away this weekend.
• These look like something that could use…
• 
• Tron‘s Jeff Bridges Ponders Retirement Thanks to Facial-Mapping Technology
• Beer With Kick Is Caught in F.D.A.’s Net
• Shape-shifting robot can grip differently-shaped items
• School retracts ban on pencils

It would be a nice change of pace to have temperatures above freezing.

Namaste.

Thursday – 25 November 2010
It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the States.

Yesterday wound up being relatively low-key. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the afternoon, I made stops at Dr. Volt’s and The Train Shoppe. On the trip between the two stores, I saw an accident happen, about 25 yards ahead of me: I was heading north along 7th East when a southbound car decided to turn left… in front of the car that I was behind. I don’t know exactly “how” it happened, but the result was that the south-to-eastbound car t-boned the northbound car. The northbound car spun 180 degrees and wound up sitting at the northeast corner; the south-to-eastbound car just kind of… stopped in the middle of the intersection. (Thirty minutes later, as I was heading home, both cars and drivers were still sitting at the intersection, waiting on the police, though the offender had moved her car to the southeast corner.)

After I got home, SaraRules! and I headed to The Garden of Sweden. We needed some additional chairs, as we’re having the SaraRules!’ family over for dinner today. We opted to have dinner out, stopping at Outback Steakhouse. Hello, Prime Rib… When we returned to the house, I started making a sweet potato pie for (one of) tonight’s desserts.

I woke up early this morning and discovered something that no home owner ever wants to find: Our pipes had frozen. It’s been about… 20 years… since I’ve dealt with that – and the last time, the pipes just burst – so my first reaction was more “inaction,” while trying to suss out what to do. (Hey, it was 6:15 AM. My brain was still on “Standby.”)  Fortunately, I married someone who not only has a high INT, but a pretty high WIS, too. She called the water department, to make sure that there wasn’t a problem with the main. (There wasn’t.) Next step: Heating the pipes. Carefully. SaraRules! started with a hair dryer at the main. A little while later, I remembered that we have a pipe in the ceiling of the family room that could have been part of the problem. Sure enough, that seemed like it might have been the culprit (or at least a co-conspirator).  After a little heat application, we had running water again. Amen. This gave us yet another thing for we could not only be thankful, but also it also offers us a great “Remember that first Thanksgiving in the house…?” story.)

Stray Toasters

• Yesterday’s excursion to The Train Shoppe yielded more track for my layout; I now have a couple of sidings in the rail yard.
• These Gaming Deals Are Insane!
• Hello Kitty Character Mash-Ups Look Silent But Violent
• Palin’s reckless views on obesity
• 
• Top Gun was on AMC yesterday; it had been a long time since I’d watched it.
• Forged Disney art on eBay
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Old Lady Trapped in Bathroom for 3 Weeks Irritated Neighbors by Banging on Pipes

And with that… it’s about time to start on the Cornish Hens.

Namaste.