Random Access

As I mentioned before, today was Sushi and Comics Wednesday.

We went to Oh Sushi (as usual). As we were wrapping up lunch, the discussion turned to TV shows. Firefly became a favored topic.  (Yes, shockpuppet, you still need to watch Firefly… especially as you own the DVDs.  Just sayin’.) From the guys at the table went to Kaylee… and Inara… even River… then – and I really wish that I could remember how we got there – Angela Bassett came up. The conversation took the following turn…

Jeff (looking at me): Hey… didn’t you say that Angela Bassett was your aunt?
Me: *blank stare*
Rest of the Table: *blank stare*
Jeff: Maybe it was… somebody… else…
Me: *blank stare* followed by *raised eyebrow*
Jeff: No!  Really! I was hanging out with this guy and we were [LOST TO BACKGROUND NOISE] and I said, “Angela Bassett” and he said,”Dude… that’s my aunt!” And then he pulls out his wallet and had pictures of her and him in there!”

The whole backpedal was a lovely thing to behold.

Tuesday – 09 June 2009
Last night, we went to dinner at Tandoor Indian Grill for ‘s birthday. It’s a nice place, with good food and decent prices. I had the Tandoori Chicken and was not disappointed. After dinner, we headed back to SaraRules’ parents’ house for dessert. (Back-to-back days with birthday cake == good.) After dessert, SaraRules, , Logan and I played a couple of games of Bocce.

When I got home, I wrestled with the smoke alarm and changed its battery. Then, all I wanted to do was sprawl on the couch… and I did. I was so tired that I started nodding off watching Jonny Quest. I made it through Letterman’s monologue, but decided that I needed sleep more than I needed entertainment; I was in bed before 2300.

I slept much better last night than Sunday night… but I had a series of odd dreams. Nothing horribly “disturbing,” but they were unusual combinations.

The Best: Crazy
Seal vs. Alanis Morrisette

For the past week or so, I’ve been trying to recall who did the cover of Seal’s Crazy that had been at the edges of my memory. I was fairly certain that it was Alanis Morrisette, but I wasn’t positive. Yesterday, I finally remembered to look it up… and it was, in fact, Ms. Morrisette. With that, I checked out the music video for her version. Not bad. Then, I checked out the Seal version. Again, not bad.

Seal:

Crazy – Seal

Alanis:

Alanis Morissette Crazy

The Verdict: This one comes down to a draw for me, with a possible edge going to Seal.  While the Alanis version is good, it might have been more interesting to hear what she might have done had she put more of her own spin on it.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules pointed out a couple of items:
  • If They Can Find Time for Date Night…
  • Barack Obama, Stop Ruining My Marriage
• SaraRules’ father is hooking me up with some HO-scale trains and equipment.
• Shooting deaths of Oklahoma girls remain a mystery a year later
• Insider Appointed Chairwoman of Lincoln Center
• With Apple’s newly-announced 13″ Macbook Pro, I suddenly find myself wanting a new laptop…
• New York City unveils new park made from elevated rail line
• Pop and Rococo Meet and Greet
• Robot Sidekicks: Sci-Fi’s Long Line of Nuts-and-Bolts BFFs
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Neeson, Cooper Join A-Team Film
  (Although, it makes me wonder who they’d consider for B.A. Baracus…)

Namaste.

Monday – 08 June 2009
Happy Birthday to …

…and to my ex-“sister-in-law,” Julie.

After the parade, I spent more time cleaning up the office. (You might not really be able to tell that by looking in there this morning, to be honest…) Some things were moved. Others were shredded. It’s slow-going, but progress is being made.

For dinner, SaraRules and I met Mary, , and at Macaroni Grill for Chris’ birthday dinner. I had the Calamari Fritti and Chicken Marsala, both of which were quite good. After dinner, we headed over to Chris and Mary’s for birthday cake. And, before we left, we set a date for the next Bad Movie Night.

Home again, home again. Logan came over and hung out for a while. While he watched Burn Notice, I continued sorting my ‘Clix into bite-sized morsels theme-relevant teams/boxes. After Burn Notice, the three of us played Trivial Pursuit. We all jockeyed around the board, trading off who had the most wedges, finally Logan and I filled our holders and headed for the middle… where we kept overshooting the center and had to trying to come up with the right dice rolls to get us back in AND get a question that we could answer. He almost took the game, but missed his last question; I made it to the middle and (finally) got one to which I knew the answer. It was fun, but we noticed that some of the questions – especially some of the Geography ones – were outdated.

At 0445 this morning, SaraRules and I were awakened by a loud noise and what sounded like a voice. We didn’t hear anything after it, but couldn’t just dismiss what we heard. After looking around and finding nothing out of order, we figured that it must have been the smoke alarm. Back to bed. Same thing happened at 0604. Thanks to the shock of the abrupt awakening at 0445, I reverted to an old sleeping pattern: Lightly sleeping and awakening at the slightest noise. And, this time, I heard what was going on: A warning chirp (“One ping only.”) and a synthesized voice saying,”Warning: Low battery.” But, why couldn’t it have waited until after my alarm had gone off?! *sigh*

Stray Toasters

• Coffee good.
• By way of comes Ecocomics: Who is the richest comic book character?
• HOW TO: Maintain a Difference Engine
• I caught part of this story during my commute this morning: Sex Without Intimacy: No Dating, No Relationships
• Readers Like the New Batman & Robin
• Which of the following would be the nominally “better” situation, in terms of survivability: Alien invasion or zombie apocalypse? Why?
• Unix Turns 40
• I can’t remember where I put the one drill bit I want/need for a project. *grblsnrkx*

He gets right on to
The friction of the day

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda
I didn’t feel 100% when I got to work this morning, but I decided to see how I felt as the day went on. It didn’t really get any better. My next thought was that I’d go to the gym this afternoon and try to sweat my way through it… unfortunately, Wes had a meeting. So, I gathered my things and headed home around 1300. Next stop: Sofa. I slept for about the next four hours. After dinner (soup) and a little time watching TV, I decided to go to the exercise room and get in a nominal workout. Tonight: Bike – something to get my heart rate up and to (finally) break a sweat. I was successful in both:

• Bike (recumbent): Twenty minutes (95-102 RPM), “Random” setting

Post-workout weight: 183.0 lbs.

I followed up the workout with a hot soak. I read Fables (Vol. 4): March of the Wooden Soldiers while in the tub. For some reason, I read the first story in the book a few months ago – I believe while on the California trip – and never got back to it. That’s a shame. On the other hand, it means that I still have five more TPBs in the bookcase to look forward to.

It’s a little past midnight, and I’m feeling closer to baseline. That’s not a bad thing.

Stray Toasters

• By way of Meliko and Cake Wrecks: Sunday Sweets – LEGO cakes
• …and because of that, I found Bakerella, as well.
• For the first time in a long while, I actually had a conversation with
• I came across ToyChop, a blog about HeroClix, this afternoon. The article “Property Damage” came up in a forum of which I am a member. It discusses the author’s 3D terrain, including some ideas that I would like to incorporate into my maps.
• I’ve been quoted on the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera blog on their “Reactions to Bernstein’s MASS” page.
• Microsoft’s Project Natal

Namaste.

Monday – 01 June 2009
Not only a new work week, but a new month kicks off, as well.

Yesterday was relaxing and fun. SaraRules and I kicked off the morning with breakfast… and Planet of the Apes (the one with Charlton Heston, not Marky Mark and the Monkey Bunch). I hadn’t seen it in a very long time. When the movie was done, we got about the business of the day.

We started off with a trip to Toys ‘R’ Us. I’m in search of 1:43 and/or 1:48 scale cars and trucks – they are much easier to buy than to try and cut out of papercraft models. Perry had mentioned that TRU had some, so I went to check them out. He was right. Exerting Green Lantern-like levels of willpower, I refrained from buying any. (Personal Win!) From there, we headed down to visit Perry, Kate and the kids. They’re doing well.

We headed homeward, with a stop at the store for dinner – we were having SaraRules’ mother and brother over for Sunday dinner. Logan came over a little early and introduced me to Gears of War 2. The overall learning curve for the game isn’t very steep, but getting the finesse points will take me a bit. Bonne showed up a little later and shortly after that, it was time to eat. Last night’s fare: Jambalaya with salad and cornbread. (Dinner Win!) And, for dessert: Chocolate chip cookies. After dinner, SaraRules, Logan and I watched Hostage; neither Logan nor I had seen it before. It wasn’t bad. Bruce Willis starred as a former L.A. police negotiator who transitions to a small town police chief after a negotiation goes… bad. Unfortunately, things in his sleepy burgh didn’t stay quiet for long. All-in-all, not a bad flick.

After the movie, I went to work on a small HeroClix board for Perry’s oldest son.

Small beginner's/teaching board for 'Clix

Perry wants to teach him the game – and wants me to help teach/coach him – so I figured that a small board would be a good way to teach him the basics and then let him move up from there. I’m thinking that I’ll start him off with a “no powers,” just by the numbers game. I figure a basic “police vs. thugs/henchmen” would be a good way to go. To help me test out the theory (and to try out the new board), I stepped SaraRules through the basics of the rules and then we tried a couple of rounds. It seemed to go well and she said that the way I explained the rules was both simple and straightforward. So, it looks like we have a “Go” for this setup.

Stray Toasters

• I looked up the information on Hostage after watching the movie. One of the young actors in the movie was Ben Foster. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it… so, I looked him up on IMDb. He was in X-Men: The Last Stand, 30 Days of Night, and 3:10 to Yuma, among others. He’s a versatile young man.
• Ten Applications That Changed Computing
• How to Play Pinball Like a Pro
• Morbid Anatomy: A blog dedicated to Victorian anatomical curiosities
• Guess what’s (kind of, sort of) back…



• In Pictures: General Motors and GM enters bankruptcy protection
• While I like the shirt that I’m wearing today, I had apparently forgotten something important about it: No matter how much starch I use when ironing it, it wrinkles if you look at it crosswise.  *sigh*
• The Real British X-Files

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.

I need to take a break.
That said, I shall take one… now.

So far, the day’s been rather good – that’s a pleasant change from yesterday’s tension. As an added bonus, I’ve been able to get some reading done. That, in turn, has given me a few ideas to adopt that should help improve some of our processes.

Today was also Sushi and Comics Wednesday. Today’s fare was good – I chose a Seattle Roll and a Spicy Tuna Roll. No comics today, as the holiday pushed shipping dates back one day. So, I’ll probably wind up hitting Dr. Volt’s on Friday.

Stray Toasters

• iTunes has been providing me with a good workday music selection.
• Same Stuff, Different Day – an interesting look at how/why comics get rebooted/retconned
  After reading this article, I had an apostrophe epiphany: The whole “Who’s a better GL: Hal or Kyle (or John Stewart or Guy Gardner)” argument – and associated viewpoints – is the same as the “Who’s a better James Bond” question.
• What do you get when you cross zombies and LEGO? Zombie Apocafest 2009
• What do you get when you cross Dance Dance Revolution with Bach’s Toccatta and Fugue in D?

• I say, nothin’ comes from dreamers but dreams
  I say, sittin’ idle in our boat
  While everyone else is down the stream
  Nothin’ comes from talkers but sound
  We can talk all we want to
  But the world still goes around and round
• Comic Book Resources had a trailer for Surrogates, an upcoming Bruce Willis movie. It looks interesting…
• Buffy minus Joss?

That’s good for now.

Back to the grindstone.

Tuesday – 26 May 2009
Back in the saddle again…
Another work week kicks off, but fortunately… it’s an abbreviated week. Three-day work weeks should be standard. This morning, I wasn’t prepared for the alarm to go off. I was in the middle of a dream and, once my brain wrapped itself around the concept of “alarm going off,” I bolted awake and scrambled for the clock’s off button. *GAH*

Yesterday, SaraRules and I rearranged the bedroom, assembled the bookcases and moved them into the bedroom. The new arrangement looks nice, but will take a bit of getting used to. After that, we headed out for a while. As we slept in and worked through lunch, we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at Pawit’s. Unfortunately, they were closed when we got there. Instead, we went to Jasmine. I had the House Lo Mein (beef, chicken and shrimp), along with Wonton Soup and an Alaskan Roll (sushi). The food was good, as usual. Then came meandering about town.

Chris called and asked if I was available for and interested in playing HeroClix. That was unexpected, as we are supposed to be playing tonight (which we’re still doing). I told him that I was and invited him over. We decided to go with a 600 point, themed game. We settled on Teen Titans vs. X-Men (pictures here); I hadn’t used them before and thought that they sounded like a fun team to test out. We traded bad dice rolls – Chris’ came early in the game, mine around the middle of the game.  I managed to take out Wolverine and Nightcrawler before the Titans got wiped out. I can’t blame dice rolls for all the problems – I made a few tactical errors a few moves into the game that wound up getting me into a bind later. But, I find that I liked the Titans – I’ll have to play them again and see how they fare.

After Chris left, SaraRules and I watched The Terminator. Some of the special effects don’t hold up – and the cheesy 80’s synth music was cringe-worthy – but it was fun. And it continued the “Robots Blowing Stuff Up” weekend. I discovered a few interesting bits of trivia, after the movie, but among the most noteworthy/laughable:

O.J. Simpson was considered for the role of the Terminator, but the producers feared he was “too nice” to be taken seriously as a cold-blooded killer.

Stray Toasters

• I think I have tonight’s ‘Clix team figured out.
• Giving a voice
• Mouse Guard: kid-friendly RPG where you get to play a mouse with a sword!
• Obama chooses Supreme Court judge
• Why it’s hard not to stare at facial deformities
• 
• Is Crohn’s Disease on the rise because we’ve eliminated hookworm infections?
• DoD Sharing Threat Data with Critical Industries
• U.S. journalists got Watergate tip, but missed scoop of the century
• Nevada wacky race with $500 cars

Zoom.

Namaste.

Monday – 25 May 2009
Today is Memorial Day. Thank you to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives – or portions thereof – to ensure our safety and security.

After we got back from IKEA, I went to hang out with Perry for a bit. I came back home and hung out while SaraRules started dinner: Barbecue chicken, green beans and cornbread. Logan came over for dinner and we watched Transformers, as kind of a refresher before the new movie comes out. After Logan left, SaraRules and I watched a few epsidoes of Justice League before she called it a night.

Human of the Day
Today’s HotD citation goes out to the servicemen and women – past and present – of the Armed Forces, with a special nod to friends and family.

Four-Color Coverage
I finished reading Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, a hardcover graphic novel I picked up a couple of weeks ago, on Saturday. It’s a horror/suspense story about the Locke family, who moves to Lovecraft, Massachussetts, following the death of the father and move into the house where he grew up. A house full of secrets – some fun and good, but others dark and almost palpably evil. The story primarily follows the Locke children and their attempts to not only reconcile their father’s death, but to also cope with the new changes in their lives.

This volume collected the first six issues of Locke and Key and was a solid read. I didn’t find the story wholly predictable and enjoyed the twists that the author, Joe Hill, threw at the reader. If you’re looking for a comic that’s not your usual “cape-and-tights slugfest,” I recommend giving this book a once-over.

Stray Toasters

• Obama pays tribute to all vets – Rebels and slaves, included
• Powell: In GOP, says party must be more inclusive
• Today is also Towel Day.

  

• Superb fan-made Green Lantern movie trailer
• Royal chauffeur suspended after alleged palace security breach
• I have at least four theme ideas that I need to pare down to one idea for a ‘Clix team to use tomorrow.
• In Civil War, Woman Fought for Freedom Like a Man
• , this one’s for you: Alaska Hosts Battle of the Beards

That’s a good stopping point.

Namaste.

Sunday – 24 May 2009
For reasons that I have yet to fathom, I slept semi-poorly last night. It took me a while to nod off, despite feeling tired when I decided to call it a night. *shrug* By my best count, I woke up at least four (4) times between 0100 and 0900.

After the alarm went off, SaraRules and I got up, started coffee and set about preparing for a morning outing to the Garden of Sweden with . It seems as though they have changed their Sunday opening time… again – the last time we went for an early Sunday trip, we thought they opened at 1000. Nope. They didn’t open until 1100, with the restaurant opening at 1030. Today, we discovered that they opened at 1000. *grblsnrkx* We were there in search of two 2×4-cube EXPEDIT bookcases. We found them… all lined up, with a few already on large carts. We paid for them and then headed up to the restaurant for breakfast. Unfortunately, they stopped serving breakfast at 1100 and it was 1120 when we got around to eating. BAH. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my plate of meatballs. brought us home and helped me unload the bookcases from his Jeep. I then headed over to his place to return the favor.

Now, we’re just enjoying a lazy and rainy Sunday afternoon. I’m headed out to meet Perry for coffee in a bit, but the rest of the day/evening looks pretty wide open.

All-in-all, not a bad Sunday.

Namaste.

Friday – 22 May 2009
It’s almost the weekend, and it’s a long weekend, at that. Win-Win. I’m Ivory Soap sure that there will be even fewer people than usual in the office today. I should have brought in my Xbox…

Last night, SaraRules and I had over for dinner. Ms. ‘Rules fixed spaghetti, with homemade sauce and garlic bread… and chocolate chip cookies! We also had a rather good Chardonnay from Sebeka Wines. We watched Planet Earth: Fresh Water and Food Network Challenge: Bartenders Battle as we ate. After each episode of Planet Earth, there is a feature called “Planet Earth Diaries,” in which they detail some of the methods used in filming that particular episode. In “Fresh Water,” there was a segment about The Amazon, in which they filmed pirahna during a feeding frenzy. The cameraman was in the water, just a few feet away from the frenzy… “shooing” away pirahna that roamed away from the underwater buffet with his bare hands. I made a comment to the effect of “I hope that they paid their camera crews really well for this.”

Stray Toasters

• Early Morning Dance Break (extended remix)
  • Mai Yamane & Seatbelts – Tank!
  • Blackstreet (ft. Mya and Ma$e) – Take Me There
  • Was (Not Was) – Walk the Dinosaur
  • Robbie Williams – Feel
  • The Cruxshadows – Carnival
  • Indigo Swing – Regular Joe
• Get The Hint’ mini sticky notes
• pointed out a couple of interesting items:
  • 100 Layer Cake and
  • Web site sparks creative ideas for city’s vacant lots
• Sherlock Holmes trailer released
• The title of this article says it all: Tim Gunn, Agent of Marvel… what?
• 15 Wonderful Uses for Witch Hazel
• Fliptop Twister
• Dan Aykroyd says ‘Ghostbusters 3’ may start filming in winter
• Celebrity Vampires
• 
• ‘Star Trek’ director J.J. Abrams on tribbles and the ‘Galaxy Quest’ problem
• Whites become minority in Kansas county
• Gadgets Gone Wild – Top 10 AIs Run Amok

And so it goes…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 19 May 2009
Yesterday was a lazy day. And, after the past few days, a day to just… relax and hang out… was just what the doctor ordered. The highlights of the day included: a visit to see , a trip to Far West Comics, a trip to Lollicup (SaraRules wanted boba tea) and going to look at bad dresses at a local store. Oddly enough, we actually liked most of the dresses in their window displays; I don’t think that’s happened before. We came home and watched a couple of episodes of NCIS as well as another episode of Planet Earth, “Mountains.” By the way, if you haven’t watched Planet Earth, I heartily recommend it.

Later this morning, SaraRules and I are heading down to Camp Williams for Jess’ interment. She’s being buried with full military honors.

This afternoon, the IT team is going to lunch at Tucano’s. This is our reward for finishing the server room upgrade before the end of the month… and making sure that it all works the way it’s supposed to.

Tonight, Chris is coming over to play ‘Clix. I should probably finalize the team that I want to use. Details, details…

Stray Toasters

• It is National Backyard Games Week.
• sent me a link to Lawyers: To Save Newspapers, Let’s Pretty Much Destroy Everythings Else Good
• Also by way of Nyx: Meet the Incredible Hulk of Hounds
• Drew pointed me in the direction of LEGO USB Hubs
• …and, since we’re on the subject of LEGO:
  • Space Marine Light Assault Vehicle (that’s right, it’s a Warthog… made of LEGO!)
  • Mini UNSC Pelican dropship and Warthog
  • New LEGO Architecture Sets
  • For – Danger Mouse, the greatest secret agent in the world!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Camera Misses the Mark on Racial Sensitivity
• Do You Trust Elevators? Maybe You Shouldn’t
• I saw this commercial and it made me laugh: Intel Star

• What’s Inside WD-40? Superlube’s Secret Sauce
• Atomic Disruptor Raygun: steampunk gun made from radios and cameras
• 
• Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Are Total BS
• Obama Speeds Up Fuel Economy Standards, Sets First Carbon Limit

As it’s my first day back since Thursday, I should probably take a look around and see what’s what.

Namaste.

Sunday – 17 May 2009
Yesterday evening, SaraRules and I went to Capitol Theatre and saw Don Pasquale… but this version had a twist: It was reimagined as a western. It not only worked, but it worked well. The adaptation was fun and quite good.

After the opera, we met and for a late-night bite to eat at V.I. None of us had been there in a long while — so long, in fact, that we didn’t even recognize the new manager. Then home and sleep. And I slept pretty well, which was rather nice.

This morning, the four of us met at the newly reopened Ruth’s Diner for breakfast, before had to get on the road back to Idaho. The new color scheme is nice; the food is as good as ever. In an interesting sidenote: Our waiter, Trevor, had an interesting tattoo on one leg: Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, standing on a Gotham City rooftop, with the Bat Signal behind/over them — approved wholeheartedly. As we got ready to leave, a parade (cavalcade, horde, whatever-you-wish-to-call-it) of bikers (motorcyclists) rode past the restaurant – there had to be at least 300 of them. Just when we thought it was safe to pull out of the parking lot, another group would ride past.

Next on the docket was a trip to SaraRules’ parents’ place. Our mission: Helping her father cut down the top of a tree in the front yard. A tree that is was at least 35′ high. We took pictures, but I don’t have the camera with me, so those will have to wait. We used a manual pole saw, some rope, a block and tackle and a rock… and we got the job done. Any need I might have felt about going to the gym was quite easily satisfied with this task. Win-Win.

After adventures in tree-felling, SaraRules and I headed downtown to the Living Traditions Festival.

We weren’t there very long, but we saw a lot of neat crafts, artwork and exhibits. And, my primary superpower kicked in, too: We ran into Dave from Dr. Volt’s while we were there.

Next stop: Home. It was (long past) time to have our daily meeting with soap and water. (I don’t think I’ve been so happy to take a shower since last summer’s camping trip.) After getting clean and presentable, we headed returned to SaraRules’ parents for dinner. There are rumors that we’ll watch a movie in a bit.  We shall see…

Namaste.

Thursday – 14 May 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I stopped by to see Jess’ (‘s)  parents for a while. It was nice to be able to visit with them. Jess’ obituary can be read here. Jenny and Julie, Jess’ sisters, have put together a memorial blog for her at: Jessie’s Memories. The family has asked that, in lieu of sending flowers, people make a donation to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association.

After we got back home, came over. She had dinner (chicken and dumplings) with us and we watched The Darjeeling Limited. It was… an odd movie. I don’t think that I’ve seen a Wes Anderson film before, but I’ve heard that The Royal Tennenbaums is possibly his best work, so I’ll give that one a try at some point.

Stray Toasters

• Star Trek-related geekery
  • Is the new Star Trek movie scientifically sound?
  • Can Young Kirk Really Survive the Car Jump in the new Star Trek?
  • Star Trek conventions in the 1970s (Thanks to )
• Pope preaches against prejudice
• Ben Franklin Death Ray
• Lunar Junk
• 
• What grown men do with their G.I. Joe action figures
• “Something” just went wrong around here. No answers as to “what” or “why” yet.
• Steampunk preschool TV show from Weta
• For those of you in the SLC metro area: Ruth’s Diner reopens on Friday, 15 May 2009
• Real Life Spy Gadgets

Back to it.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 13 May 2009
Thank you to everyone who extended thoughts, prayers and well-wishes. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and concern and I am grateful for your friendship.

Last night, SaraRules and I met , and Mr. and Mrs. for dinner/dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. It was nice to hang out with them. As I have said many times before: I have been blessed with many very good friends. I don’t think that it’s a bad thing to remember/rediscover that fact. (I also rediscovered the inherent problems of having cups of coffee shortly before going to bed, too… but that’s another story altogether. *sigh*)

Stray Toasters

• Exotic Star Trek Locales Are All Over the California Map (contains a few possible spoilers)
• EU slaps record fine on Intel
• From NPR Music:
  • Lady Sovereign: The ‘Biggest Midget’ Returns
  • Mozart’s Turbulent Final Symphonies
  • John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ Live, with Strings
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Jesse Ventura: I could make Chickenhawk Cheney confess to the Sharon Tate murders with a waterboard
• Lite Brite Cubed
• Slain Lawyer’s YouTube Video Plunges Guatemala into Crisis, Protests Form on Facebook
• Greece Halts Google’s Street View
• City of Heroes Is Going Rogue
• 220MPH Solar-Powered Bullet Train on Arizona Horizon

…and back to it.

Namaste.

Sunday – 10 May 2009
Happy Mother’s Day

Seeing Star Trek a second time was every bit as enjoyable as seeing it the first time.  (And I still want to see it in IMAX…) And, this time, I caught the reference to Captain Admiral Archer and Porthos. And, thanks to for posting a link to this, which I would have otherwise missed:

After the excursion, SaraRules and I had lunch/dinner at Porcupine Pub and Grill. As usual, the food (Cajun Chicken Alfredo) was quite good, as was the chocolate stout I had to wash it down.

Back at home, we lounged the early evening away, then decided to go for a walk around the complex. That wound up getting expanded to include a trip to Red Mango for dessert. We got back and I felt the yen to watch a few episodes of Justice League… and we did:

• Hereafter (Parts I & II)
• The Terror Beyond (Parts I & II) and
• Comfort & Joy

It was fun to see the original – and longer – episodes. SaraRules commented that she wasn’t aware that Hawkgirl was such a bad-ass.

This morning has been lazy. So far we’ve had breakfast, watched the tail end of the History Channel’s coverage of a Star Trek auction held by Christie’s Auction House and Thursday’s episode of CSI:.

Next on the docket: A trip to The Garden of SwEden.  Selah.

Namaste.