Random Access

Thursday – 16 December 2009
Day 3 of the work week and it’s NBN Thursday, to boot.  That’s a nice combination, no matter how you slice it.

Last night, SaraRules and I had one of her former MFA classmates, Sara… hm… I guess I’ll just have to refer to her as “Sara2″… over for dinner. SaraRules made chicken and dumplings for the entree. The ladies chatted about their experiences in the MFA program, including their trip to NYC a couple of years ago. I’d heard about this trip – part of the trip, anyway – from SaraRules; last night, I got some more behind-the-scenes info and insight, which was both sad and rather funny. All-in-all, dinner and the company were quite fun.

This morning, I woke up when the alarm went off… but I really don’t remember turning the alarm off. I do remember looking at the clock, a couple of minutes after the alarm sounded and wondering why it was not going off and why I was awake.  Yep, it was one of “those” mornings. But, I have my trusty cup of coffee at my side, so things can only look up from here.

Stray Toasters

• December 17, 1903: Bicycle Brothers Make Aeroplane Work Wright
• The new trailer for Iron Man 2 is online; take a look here to check it out.
  • Semi-related: People Magazine Loves The Super Hero Squad Show
• Steampunk Menorah
• Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry dies after fall from truck
• Bank of America names new CEO to replace Ken Lewis
• 
• The Year in Media Errors and Corrections, courtesy of
• Extrasolar ‘Super Earth’ is first to have atmosphere
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Brazil boy found with 40 needles in ‘black magic rite’

Time to make the donuts…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 December 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I went out for dinner and then did a little errand-running. After we got home, I found my way to the couch… and The Dreaming. That’s right: I took a nap. SaraRules woke me up and suggested that I call it an early night. I did… but slept poorly. That wasn’t a great thing considering that I had the privilege of…

…coming to work early this morning. I was here a few minutes after 0700. We had a building-wide power outage (thanks to our friends at Rocky Mountain Power needing to do some line work), which meant that we had to take things offline last night and bring them back online this morning. In a perfect world, that would have been a piece of cake. In a perfect world. But, as Huey Lewis put it so eloquently: “Ain’t no livin’ in a perfect world…” Thus, we’ve been working at bringing recalcitrant systems back online and coordinating with other teams to find out what they need us to bring online versus what can remain powered down.

Stray Toasters

• Hopsice Santa volunteers face grief, kids’ hard questions
• After decades of snowy whites, black ‘Princess’ a true dream
• From NPR Music:
  • Jingle Jams: A Holiday Mix from NPR Music
  • Have Yourself a Funky Little Christmas
• 10 Fugs Ho, Ho, Holiday Sweaters
• Intel sued for using size to keep out rivals
• 
• 100-word fiction contest: Vote for the winner
• Make a Pilgrimage to Robot Mecha

Namaste.

Tuesday – 15 December 2009
Back into the working grind.  Not too much to plow through… aside from about 40 emails. Those are easy enough to deal with.

Last night, for the first time in at least two years, I made “Chocolate Jolt” coffee bean-infused chocolates. This time, I tried something a little different – I added mint, kind of like Andes Chocolates. I haven’t taste-tested them yet, but they seemed to turn out alright.

Last night’s excursion to Barnes & Noble proved unfruitful… at least as far as I was concerned. SaraRules, however, had a big score and was able to find [SPOILER DELETED], which [SPOILER DELETED] should think is pretty awesome.

On the other hand, after a couple of calls to local Graywhale CD Exchange stores, I have finally found a copy of Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration! It took the clerk I spoke with a few minutes to locate it – for some reason, it was put in the “World Music” section. *shrug* “Ours is not to reason why…” He’s holding it behind the counter for me; I will have to see about getting it at lunch or after work.

Stray Toasters

• At ‘s suggestion, I’m wearing a suit today; he and other professors decided to wear them to the final exam that they were proctoring “…just to entertain the students.” I wear mine around here, from time to time, “just because.” That… and the fact that it tends to make people nervous. (That’s really a nice fringe benefit.)
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Haagen-Dazs opens no-Indians-allowed store in Delhi
• sent me a couple of amusing links:
  • From Not Always Right: “The Fourth Is Not Strong in This One…”
  • Zombie ‘Star Wars’ Posters Are Beautifully Disturbing
• From the “Who Wants to Live Forever?” file: Turritopsis nutricula: The world’s only ‘immortal’ creature
• By way of come today’s “Humans of the Day” award winners: Mystery Couple Starts “Magical” Chain Reaction
• Unplugged: The Web’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy of 2008
• CoH is doing free character server transfers, through the end of January!

Namaste.

Monday – 14 December 2009
I’m enjoying another extended weekend Monday off. I got up when SaraRules did, to see her off to work, and then proceeded to veg on the sofa. There’s been the typical morning TV (meh) and CSI: is on now. I should get a bite to eat. And then, consider getting around to some errand-running.

Instant Replay: Football
Yesterday was a pretty good day for football action:

Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens
3 –48
We didn’t get to see this game, but a game with a “W” for the Ravens always makes me smile. I would have liked to have seen this game, as it appears as though Lions QB Dante Culpepper tried to put up a fight… but both Joe Flacco and Troy Smith did some decent work on the Ravens’ side of the game. Additionally, this win helps to keep the Ravens in the hunt for a Wild Card spot in the AFC playoffs.

.

Washington Redskins at Oakland Raiders
34 – 13
The Raiders took one on the chin from the ‘Skins.Early in the game, it looked as though the Raiders were making a game of it, until QB Bruce Gradkowski left the game in the third quarter, after injuring both knees. Sorry, SaraRules and .

.

Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars
13 – 23
This is another game I would have liked to have seen, but at least the Dolphins came away with a win.

.

Cincinnati Bengals at Minnesota Vikings
10 – 30
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally. Congratulations, . Commisserations, and .

.

Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots
10 – 20
The Cats dropped this one to the Pats.  *sigh*

Boilermaker Watch

• • Drew Brees and the Saints fought off the Falcons – led by former Ravens QB Chris Redman, who played one heck of a solid game – to remain undefeated. Too bad Redman was too far down the depth chart to get much playing time when he was in Baltimore; he looked solidly in control yesterday.
  • Denver QB Kyle Orton and the Broncos dropped this one to the undefeated Colts.

Stray Toasters

• Stan Lee Explains Hannukah for Digital Holiday Special
• The Facts About Bottled Water
• The Orient Express Takes Its Final Trip
• posted a link to Zoho International Artforms. Yep, Covet List.
• 
• How electricity became a right, and it that means for broadband
• I need want a new brown hat.
• Southwest thrives on policy of free checked bags
  • Trivia: Southwest trades on the NYSE under the keyword “LUV”
• The Problem With Best-of Lists

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Friday – 11 December 2009
Hello, 9/80 Friday. Today’s been a good day… and it’s barely halfway over. So far, I’ve been able to sleep in (Thanks, SaraRules!); enjoyed a leisurely morning; run a couple of errands; gone shopping – with [SPOILER DELETED] at [SPOILER DELETED]; gotten to finally catch up on a few episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men… and now, it’s time for lunch.

While watching TV earlier, I decided to check out The Super Hero Squad Show (1, 2, 3) – the cartoon based on the Hasbro line of toys based on Marvel Comics characters.

I had seen part of an episode a few weeks ago. It was… entertaining. It’s definitely written with young children (5 – 10, I’d say) in mind, but there are definite nods to other aspects of the Marvel Universe in the writing, as well. Case in point: In this morning’s episode, Iron Man, Thor and the Silver Surfer were fighting Klaw, Screaming Mimi and Toad in the sewers under Superhero City. At one point, Thor hurled a barrage of lightning bolts at Toad. In a reference to X-Men (the first movie), Silver Surfer observed:

Silver Surfer: So that is what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning. What a let down.

I believe that I actually laughed out loud at that.  I may have to add it to my list of ‘toons to watch.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules and I are heading to see The Princess and the Frog tomorrow…
• …in a related note: Still Waiting for Disney’s First Black Prince
• GAP “Cheer Factory” commercials:
  • Kids commercial == cute (Adorable, actually…)
  • Twenty-somethings commercial ==  annoying.  “Hella annoying,” even.

• Artificial Intelligence reborn at MIT
• By way of my friend, Jeff:

  

• Rebuilding an Instrument by Leonardo’s Design
• Wolverine and the X-Men versus… the Age of Apocalypse?  Interesting.
• 10 Video Games to Cross Off Your Child’s Gift List
• In today’s holiday style watch: Hollywood Shop Sells Haute Couture for Santas

Time to figure out what to do with the rest of my afternoon…

Namaste.

Thursday – 10 December 2009
Hello, NBN 9/80 Thursday.  I’m looking forward to the weekend. Why? Because it’s the weekend. Duh. And it’s another extended, four-day weekend… although, I’m trying to decide if I want to flip Monday for next Friday and just extend my Christmas vacation. *shrug* We’ll see.

Last night, SaraRules had her Book Club Holiday Dinner Party; she was this year’s hostess. I’m assuming that things went well – while the ladies enjoyed dinner and chat, I holed up in the office and played City of Heroes… for the first time in nearly two months. I joined a team and ran a few missions. It was fun. I need to do that more often.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, SaraRules told me of a new blog that she’s been following: Style Rookie. In the words of the blog’s author:
  

  Tiny 13 year old dork that sits inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats. Scatters black petals on Rei Kawakubo’s doorsteps and serenades her in rap. I have no where near 4 million readers. Rather cynical and cute as a drained rat. In a sewer. Farting. And spitting out guts.

  It really is quite cute.

• By way of – the English version of Hispabrick Magazine
• Diamond announces Free Comic Book Day titles
• It’s common knowledge that I am FAR from a Cleveland Browns fan.
  By the same token, I’m not a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, either.
  I am torn as to whom I should back in tonight’s game:

1. After the Ravens’ loss on Monday, they have the same record as the Steelers; a Steelers’ loss would put us a half-game up on them.
2. The Browns are… well… the Browns.

Yeah, not an easy call to make.

• The Art of Ryan Abegglen

  

• From the “Holy cow” file: Calf with a cross on its head
• A 19th Century Mathematician Finally Proves Himself
• Top Ten Archaeology Finds: Most Viewed of 2009

And now it’s time for yet another meeting.  WOOHOO!!!!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 December 2009
It’s a cold (but sunny!) Comics and Sushi Wednesday in the valley. It was 9°F – that’s right… NINE degrees – when I got in the car this morning. It’s not a good sign when it is seventy degrees warmer inside your car than outside. That just ain’t right. No way. No how.

We got our wedding photos last night! Twila did an amazing job; she took over 700 pictures… and SaraRules and I think that all of them turned out really well. I posted some of the pictures on Facebook. I was thinking of making a gallery in iWeb, but it’s easier to just post a link to the album, at least for now.

A week or two ago, Paul loaned me Charlie Wilson’s War; SaraRules and I watched it last night. Neither of us really knew what to expect, but we were very entertained. The movie followed Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson and his role in the 1980s war in Afghanistan.  After the movie ended and the credits started, I saw a very familiar name – Aaron Sorkin – and the reason why the movie felt so… familiar… clicked into place: Mr. Sorkin was the creative force behind the first six seasons of The West Wing, one of my favorite shows of the past decade.

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I came to work and hung 30′ of gold Christmas garland over my desk. It amuses me and it’s gotten some favorable comments, too. Minion #1 even said that it “…looked like a little shrine to [me].” I can live with that.
• A couple of items about the upcoming Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog:
  • Do Disney Princesses Make Young Girls Obsessed with Thinness?
  • Talking Race: Disney’s Princess Tiana
• Computing for Dummies: Five Ways that N00bs Annoy Geeks
• School lunch meet doesn’t hold up to fast-food standards
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: U.S. Helps Frequent Fliers Make a Mint
• All Songs Considered Listeners Pick the Best Music of 2009
• 
• Why You Love This Decade’s Movie Villains
• From NPR Music: Lady Gaga: Most Fascinating of the Year?
• Grant Morrison on return of original Batman

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 December 2009
It snowed last night. You can tell not only by the new blanket of white across the valley and the mountains, but also by how slowly – and, to some degree, courteously – people are driving. For me, this morning’s commute took a few minutes longer than normal, but for other people I know, their commutes doubled, tripled… or worse. In fact, it took on of the guys on my team just shy of two hours to get to the office – a trip that’s roughly twenty minutes for him under normal conditions.

With that in mind, the Council for Better Driving: Utah would like to remind motorists to drive carefully and to please take your time while commuting… or you could end up like this:

Instant Replay: Football

Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers
14 – 24
The Ravens traveled to Green Bay to face the Packers.To call the Ravens’ first half performance “lackluster” would be a gross overstatement. They couldn’t get anything going: The run was contained. Passing lanes were locked down. The offensive line broke down often, causing QB Joe Flacco to hurry passes. On the other side of the ball, the defense had a fair showing, but couldn’t prevent the Packers from going up 17-0, going into halftime. The game turned around, somewhat, in the third quarter. The Ravens capitalized on the field position – GB 26 – after a great kickoff return by rookie CB Lardarius Webb.  Less than a minute later, LB Jarrett Johnson intercepted a pass, setting up the Ravens’ second TD… but after that, it was “All Packers, all the time.” Packers QB Aaron Rodgers led an excellent game on the offense. Rookie OLB Clay Matthews showed some pretty amazing talent – he was a constant presence in the backfield, he was solid in man-to-man coverage and his closing speed was impressive. With this loss, the Ravens drop to 6-6, along with half of the y AFC, making the race for the Wild Card an interesting – and much more muddled – one.

Coach Harbaugh, your boys just got schooled by the Packers. Big time. How does that make you feel?

Yeah, I’m kind of hurt and heart-broken, too.

Stray Toasters

• We’re meeting with our wedding photographer and getting our pictures back – or at least the CD/DVDs of them – tonight!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: $10 an hour with 2 kids? IRS pounces
• From NPR News in Washington: A Carl Kasell Tribute
• Secret Service report details 91 breaches
• Amanda Conner’s ‘POWER GIRL’ Girl Power
• For those who haven’t heard: Threadless is having a $9 Holiday Sale
• New Execution Method Is Used in Ohio
• From the “Whoops… my bad” file:
  • TSA can’t redact documents properly, releases s00per s33kr1t operations manual
  • TSA Leaks Sensitive Airport Screening Manual
• This decade ‘warmest on record’
• Boo’s Door

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 December 2009
Thirteen.

That’s the answer to “How many degrees (Fahrenheit) was it when I left home this morning?” Low relative humidity or not, that’s just cold.

Last night, SaraRules and I went out to do a little Christmas shopping and errand-running.  Our first stop was at Gardner Village; we picked out our 2009 Christmas ornament. From there, we headed to The Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks for dinner – SaraRules had the Philly Bleu, I had the Mushroom Pepper. Next stop: Hobby Lobby. And after that, a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden.

After we returned home, we watched Shade, a movie that SaraRules got from Netflix; excerpted from their synopsis:

A trio of grifters (Thandie Newton, Gabriel Byrne and Stuart Townsend) plots the con of a lifetime when they scheme to hustle a notorious card shark known as “The Dean.”  Jamie Foxx and Melanie Griffith co-star in this twisting tale of deception, danger and double cross.

It was a good movie, better than we expected actually. It made for a good evening’s movie watching and I’d definitely recommend it.

Workout
Wes and I made it to the gym today. The fact that I’m still sore from Tuesday’s workout didn’t help… at all:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets – 10/20/10*
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs/195 lbs/185 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Side Bends (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps per side, 25 lbs
• Lateral Raises (w/ fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps

Post-workout weight: 190.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

• The Council for Better Driving: Utah suggests reading this article: ‘Road Rage’ Case Highlights Cyclist vs. Driver Tension
• Malware Alert: Zeus faked as H1N1 alert
• 365DayGirl posted a link to Tabloach Productions – Barbie (et al.) doll customizations
• Steampunk assemblage glasses
• Monkeys! >.<
  
• Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults
• 
• : Sorry to hear about this, no one should have to go out like this – Lewis’ career likely over after he suffers post-concussion symptoms
• NBC Universal + Comcast = NBC CEO Jeff Zucker’s Statement to Staff
• Vladamir Put ‘to think about’ presidential bid
• My Hilarious Warner Bros. Royalty Statement
• The PlayStation Turns 15: What did it mean for you?

Back to the grind…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 02 December 2009
One down, one in the chamber and two to go. Yesterday was a decent enough day, workwise. There wasn’t really any monkeydom to deal with – that always makes the day good.

Today is Sushi and No Comics Wednesday – shipments were delayed due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Maybe I’ll buy a box or two of ‘Clix to compensate for the delay.

After work (and dinner), Chris came over and we played HeroClix. Since we’re running a tournament this weekend, we decided to try a few of the new pieces in a 300-point game. After setting up the “Fountain of Asgard” map, we noted that it is not for tournament play; we went with the “Arkham Asylum” map. Chris’ team consisted of:

• Captain America
• Daredevil and
• Moondragon

I asked SaraRules to pick ten figures at random, so that I could simulate pulling a couple of sealed boosters. Of the pieces she chose, I went with:

• Moonstone
• Penance
• Star-Lord and
• Valkyrie (#012, not #055)

We maneuvered our pieces into position and started throwing punches.  There were a lot of “swings and misses” before Chris changed his dice (oddly enough, his new dice “worked”); I think that my dice got scared and decided to get on the job when they saw that. I took out Daredevil with Valkyrie… and Moondragon scored a critical hit on Penance, not only doing four points of damage to him, but also slamming him backwards – into a wall – to finish him off. After that, we traded bad dice rolls until I was finally able to pick off Cap and Moondragon. So, for the first time in months… I beat Chris.

It was good to see the new figures in action. I’ve become a big fan of the Star-Lord ‘Clix and Chris pointed out something about both the new Captain America and Daredevil figures that would make them truly painful to face in unrestricted play.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym yesterday at lunch.  We were joined by Eric, who was up in the north office for a while:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Tricep “Kickbacks”: 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps
• Core (plank): 2 sets, 30 seconds

Post-workout weight: 188.1 lbs

It’s amazing – but not entirely unexpected – how painful working out can be… after a nearly three-week absence from the gym.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules bought a couple of boxes of Honeycomb for me a couple of months ago… right around the time I started eating Honey Nut Cheerios fairly regularly. I had something of an epiphany last night: I could take one of the boxes to work – where I keep a spoon and bowl, anyway – pick up some organic milk (which stays good for up to a month), and just have breakfast at work. I put that plan into motion this morning. So far, so good.
• Utah Symphony-Utah Opera is having a Holiday Sale.  Check it out!
• By way of Rachel: LEGO Movie Posters
• Reboot This! 10 Sci-Fi Shows Ready for Upgrade
• 
• A short while ago, I was talking with Minion #2 about the mistranslation of the “number of The Beast.” We have long been taught that the number is “666.” That’s not correct; the number is supposed to be “616.” (Sources: 1, 2, 3)

  Amusing side note: The Area Code for Grand Rapids Michigan is 616.

  Another amusing side note: Marvel Comics’ main universe is “Universe 616.”

• Madagascar unveils ‘cartoon constitution’
• sent along a picture of these shoes: Armani velvet pinstripes. I don’t think that I could swing ’em, but I’m sure that someone out there could hook them up nicely.
• From NPR: The Best Five Books to Share with Your Friends

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 December 2009
Today is World Aids Day.

Otherwise, it’s just another “back in the grind, workin’ for The Man” kind of day. So far, it’s been a surprisingly quiet morning around here, which is far from a bad thing.

Last night was my night to make dinner. After running some errands, I finally decided on one thing I wanted to try: Homemade macaroni and cheese, based on a recipe my father used. I called him up, got the info on what I needed and headed to Whole Foods to get the fixin’s. While there, I also picked up a couple of Chicken Cordon Bleu breasts from the meat department and some salad greens. I got home, started clanging pots and pans around and a short while later, dinner was ready. The macaroni turned out well; I was glad of that, especially since I made a slight modification to the recipe. Not only that, but I think that I stumbled upon something else that I want to try the next time I make it.

Instant Replay: Football

New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints
17 – 38
The Patriots headed to the Big Easy to take on the undeafeated Saints…… and got whooped. Seriously. It was a straight up beatdown. The Saints took complete control of the game on offense and defense. Saints QB Drew Brees went 18/23, 371 yards, 5 TDs… and 0 interceptions. At one point, SaraRules asked what happened to the Saints to turn them into such a powerhouse team; I told her that I had no idea, but it made for very interesting and entertaining football-watching. On the flip side of the game, it just looked like the Patriots couldn’t get it together. The offense couldn’t pull together solid drives, after their opening run to the end zone – the Saints’ defense had their number. Solid and decisive win for the Saints and a great viewing experience for the fans… unless, of course, you were a Pats fan.

Coach Belichick, why not go over and congratulate Coach Payton and his team for their well-played game?

Come on, man… I know you wanted to take down a giant, but it just didn’t happen. You could at least try to muster a decent “Good job” face. Fake it if you have to. To quote Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook: “Bad form, Peter. Bad form.”

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to Juggling is good for you in lots of ways
• By way of comes The great iPhone death watch
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Reality show wannabes deny crashing White House dinner
• Microsoft investigates Windows 7 ‘screen of death’
• Washington State to Microsoft: Why aren’t you paying your taxes?
• By way of : ‘Predator’ Helmer Goes Retro

It’s just about time to go pick up and put down heavy things, so I’ll wrap this up.

Namaste.

Monday – 30 November 2009
“Thirty days has September, April, June and November…”

…and November’s thirty days are hours away from being up. The long weekend has been a good one… and is also hours away from being over. I didn’t really “need” to take today off, but the idea of back-to-back four-day work weeks was appealing, especially as I needed to burn some PTO. Win-Win.

Yesterday, we made it up to Park City for brunch at Cisero’s. As usual, the food was very good… as was the company. After we got back to the valley, SaraRules and I went to visit Kate, Perry and the kids – they were celebrating their second-youngest’s birthday. After that, we headed back over to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner and football.

Instant Replay: Football

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
17 – 20
The Ravens hosted the Steelers in their first match-up of the season. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as both QB Ben Roethlisberger and SS Troy Polamalu were out for Pitt. On one hand, I was hopeful that the Ravens could capitalize on their absence, but on the other hand, I would have liked to have seen the Steelers play at full-strength. The Steelers started third-string QB Dennis Dixon… who, prior to this game, had only thrown one pass in an NFL game. Everyone expected him to be cowed at starting in a big rivalry game. He wasn’t. He went out there and showed an amazing amount of poise and ability. The threw a TD and ran for one himself. (Did I mention that this was his second NFL game… ever?!) I’m far from a Steelers fan, but I really enjoyed watching Dixon play. The Steelers would be insane to let this kid get away. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers were as tenacious as ever. The defense played smart and solid football, not giving the Ravens a lot of opportunities to make big plays. In fact, the game went into overtime when Ravens’ K Billy Cundiff missed a 56 yard field goal that would have put the game away. (The kick was on the mark, but fell about three yards short.) The game turned when Ravens rookie LB Paul Kruger intercepted a pass and ran it back 26 yards, setting up the game-winning field goal. All-in-all, it was an excellent game, despite some sloppy play on the Ravens’ part.

Coach Harbaugh, you just beat the Steelers at home! Does that make you happy?

Um, Coach… the saying is “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” not “…look like a total spaz.” That’s okay, I think we all know what you meant.  (But you might want to work on that clapping thing, for future reference.)

Stray Toasters

• Open Letter to Hollywood: Stop Ruining Our Childhood Memories
• I recently discovered the show Build It Bigger. I like it.
• From the “Would…You…Like…To…Play…A…Game?” file: Department of Defense orders 2200 PS3s
• Thor and Avengers News Leaked?
• Interesting read: Zambia’s celebrity couple reveal wife-beating past
• Evolution of Storage
• Surprised Kitten Is Surprised

• Rusting space-marine robot toys
• everything has a season
  and only time will last
  feel the leaves falling fast behind us
  men expend their little lives so fast
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: BBC photographer prevented from shooting St. Paul’s because he might be “Al-Qaeda operative”
• Amazon.com is an evil, evil place…
• Steampunk Tales

Namaste.

Sunday – 29 November 2009

Friday afternoon, SaraRules and I went shopping. As I mentioned, I had expected most of the early-birds to be back in their respective aeries. That wasn’t the case as of the early afternoon, when we headed over to JoAnn Fabrics. I was amazed at the number of people in line to get fabric cut! If I remember correctly, there were literally about EIGHTY (80) people ahead of us! Unglaublich! Fortunately, SaraRules had the presence of mind to take a number before she started looking for fabric; I’d hate to think how much longer we would have waited had she not done that. And, we also picked up a wreath while we were there. The rest of the day and evening were rather low-key. We went to coffee and – aside from Carilyn (former coworker of mine) – were the only ones there.

SaraRules, Logan and I went to see The Blind Side yesterday. It was good. Very good, in fact. And… I have something of a confession: I’ve never really been a huge Sandra Bullock fan. I don’t mean that I dislike her – I’ve enjoyed her in other films – it’s just that she’s never really done anything that’s made me go, “Wow!” Until this movie. I actually thought,”Whoa… she can pull of depth and range beyond ‘comic actress.'” I enjoyed her portrayal of Leanne Tuohy. And, while I’m not a modern country fan, I have to give Tim McGraw props for both cleaning up nicely and doing a fine job in front of the camera, too. It was definitely “an inspirational sports movie,” but it was quite good in the way it told its story… and the fact that Michael Oher is the Ravens’ Left Tackle didn’t hurt, either.

We came back from the movie and I finished a project that I started Friday afternoon: Cleaning the office. It had been “far too long” since I had any verification that there was actually a floor in there. I set about proving that there was… and I was right! It looks about 300% better in there now.

For my final amazing feat of the day, I decided to do HeroClix mod. Like many people I wasn’t thrilled with the sculpt of the Spider-Man figure that came out in WizKids’ Secret Invasion set: The figure’s proportions weren’t right and it just looked… well… cheap. I had been toying around with some ideas and put them to work:

• Old and busted:

  

• New hotness:

While this wasn’t as much of a mod as either Winter Soldier/Captain America or Sodam Yat, it was as much fun to do as either of the others, including doing a complete repainting of the wall (including a covered-over zombie poster on the back). For a better look at what I did to make a better-looking Wall-Crawler out of Spidey, you can take a look at the before and after shots. I’m rather happy with how he turned out.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to Super Emo Super Friends.
  (Consider the whole set as having been added to The Covet List.)
• Okay. I lied. Only one ‘Toaster, so far.  Maybe I’ll post more later.

And now, brunch at Cisero’s with SaraRules and the family!

Namaste.

Friday – 27 November 2009
I hope that everyone’s holiday was safe and pleasant. Ours was good and relatively quiet – we had dinner with the in-laws and watched a lot of football. As far as low-key holidays go, it was just about perfect.

After we got home, we decided to watch a movie. I had gotten TRON from Netflix, as I hadn’t seen it before.

I used to play the arcade game that was based on the movie, but that’s about as far as I had gotten. And, since TRON: Legacy is hitting theatres next year, I figured that it was about time I saw the original. It was definitely dated and a bit on the geeky side, but it wasn’t bad; at least, it wasn’t as bad as I feared that it might be. I found the ending a little anti-climactic, but it was an enjoyable movie.

Instant Replay: Football

Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys
7 – 24
The Raiders headed into Texas looking to plunder and pillage the Cowboys in their new home……but the Cowboys weren’t having any of that. At all. Sorry, SaraRules.

Stray Toasters

• Did anyone get up to go Black Friday shopping at O’dark-thirty this morning? We didn’t. It’s just not our proverbial cup of tea.
• Game-themed Tetris cake
  (Isn’t that a little redundant…?)
• Food banks nationwide report more first-timers
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Woman accused of making bomb threat to delay boss’ flight
• State dinner crashers could face criminal charges

Time to find some trouble to get into… or at least find some cool things I can’t live without, now that the masses should have died down a little.

Namaste.

Thursday – 26 November 2009
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

To all of you – even those of you who don’t have a “Thanksgiving Day” – I hope that the day is safe, fun and full of the joy of friends and family. What am I thankful for? I’ve been blessed with more wonderful things than I could count, but among the things I am most thankful for are:

• A wonderful wife who loves – and puts up with – me
  
• A great family
• My friends
  
• My health
• Having a job when so many others are struggling to either find work or to make ends meet
  
• Having a safe place to live
• Having the means to acquire the things I need, as well as some of the things I just “want”

I’m sure that I could make a list that goes on and on, but suffice it to say: I have many things for which I am thankful today.

Last night, SaraRules and I made a chocolate cream pie for this afternoon’s dessert; this morning, we’re getting ready to make a sweet potato pie. (CORRECTION: SaraRules already did most of the “heavy lifting,” but I got to help with the last few bits.)  In the not-too-distant future, we’ll head over to her parents’ for dinner and football and general “hanging out with the family.” Somewhere in there, we might even watch a movie or two.

Stray Toasters

• It’s Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown!

  

• U.S. couple from Georgia experiences Hajj pilgrimage
• By way of comes: 5 Star Wars Status Updates
• Nightwing officially joins DCU Online
• Wooden orrery
• From both the “Monkeys!” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files: Couple slips through security to crash state dinner
• Industrial Thanksgiving: Science Takes Mom’s Recipes to the Factory
• Snake fire-escape graffiti
• I’m still trying to find a set of Green Lantern-Star Sapphire Minimates for under $25 USD. So far, no luck.  On the other hand, I did get my new Blackest Night Series 2 John Stewart figure yesterday. It looks good on the GL shelf in my display case.
• What’s Thanksgiving without a little MST3K?

…and to all a good night!
(Or… um… something along those lines.)

Namaste.