Random Access

That’s right: Bojangle’s.

• Cajun Filet Biscuit
• Seasoned Fries

Zaz!

Sunday – 06 May 2007
Today has been good.

Long, but good. Last night, post-graduation party, some of us wound up in the rents’ room for a conversation that evolved/degenerated into the typical socio-economic discussions that seem to arise when members of my family and extended family get together. It lasted into the wee hours.

This morning started with two trips to the airport and a trip to Kris’ place. From there it was back up 85/40 to the homestead. I relaxed for a bit before heading out to meet , Thomas and Don for dinner at Outback. Prime rib. Cheese Fries. Beer! Don and I went to see Spider-Man 3.

It was good. And fun. It wasn’t Amazing, Sensational or Spectacular, but it was a nice way to pass a couple of hours with a friend. It will make a nice addition to the comics-to-film collection. After the movie, I took Don home and hung out with his family for a bit. While there, I was informed that “…cats are nocturnal.” By Thomas. Which caught me ever-so-slightly off-guard. I wasn’t expecting to hear that… let alone from the resident 5-year-old. But, then I considered the gene donors and things made a little more sense. A little.

Stray Toasters

• I have 12 Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
• This short, Swing, played before Spider-Man 3.  It’s by Esteban Azuela… and it’s cute.  Watch it.
• Don has a monkey.
  A Rikti monkey.
  For a pet.
  (*mutter*  You magnificent bastard!)
  He got it for being in Paragon City for three years.
• I have read the last three installments of 52. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
• – Online Communites Map
• By way of boingboing.net – Iraq: Kurdish girl stoned to death, mob films it on cameraphones
• : Aitch N I C. Mastermind. Thugs. Dark.
• By way of slashdot: Utah Anti-Kids-Spam Registry “a Flop”
• The front door may slam
  But the back door it rings…
• America’s Favorite Cites 2007, from Travel + Leisure
• Not that I needed it, but has given me another reason to love her.

Namaste.

Wrapping up Suit Week with a bang.
Black suit, the black shades, the black shoes
Black tie with the black attitude
New style black ray bans I’m stunning man
New hotness pitch black 600 hundred man

(click for full-sized image)

Show love to the black suit tux…
Cause that’s the Men in…
That’s the Men in…

Wednesday – 25 April 2007
The next time I wake up with a headache, I’d really like it to be because I’d been out drinking the night before. These random “Good morning… here’s your friendly, neighborhood headache” things aren’t something I relish. A couple of Aleve – and a cup of coffee – seemed to quash it, though. Today’s suit choice was a bit of a toss-up between my grey and one of my navy double-breasted suits. I decided on the grey, as it would give me a chance to wear my woven leather braces with it. I was buttoning them into the pants when one of the straps decided to break. (You don’t really think of leather as “breaking,” but this did.) So, not only did I opt not to wear the grey suit, I’m in search of a new pair of braces. *sigh* So, today’s outfit is:

• Navy double-breasted suit
• White cotton-blend shirt
• Navy, tan, purple and burgundy tie (with pianos!)
• Cordovan wing-tip oxfords

Then, there were the PoW road monkeys. What is it about people that makes their brains turn of when they drive in the fast lane? Unglaublich!

Stray Toasters

• I was going to meet Perry for lunch… but forgot that we’re having a meeting at noon. At least they’re feeding us.
• If you have to ask why this amuses me, you don’t know me very well…

  

• Coca-Cola lore, from Snopes.com
  (for more amusement, click the link next to the last green dot on the page…)
• This one’s for –
• I can see the message breathing still
  I can hear the voices sounding deep inside
  I can feel the hero rising up above the silence
  Your soul remembers yet
  The path that men forgotI bring the winds to free you from your hesitation
  I call the storms to remind you what you are
  My faith endures for the sake of something less and more in them
  And so I bring the winds, to echo in your heart …
• 
• WHAT would drive someone to do something like this!?
• By way of Wired.com – Lamest Technology Mascots Ever and Happy Birthday, Star Wars
• Slashdot poll: Favorite Sci-fi Ship
• emmet swimming

Namaste.

Tuesday – 23 April 2007
So far, it hasn’t been a bad morning. When the alarm went off, I was up… hit the deck… made it into the kitchen and started my coffee…

…and then went back to the bedroom and laid back down.

The alarm on the iPod – set to music – went off a few minutes later. I listened to it as I faded in and out of sleep for the next forty-five minutes. I got up, observed the hygiene rituals, ironed my shirt, took out the trash, grabbed my gear and headed out.

I had to take some equipment to the north office before making my way to A.F. While there, I talked with , who suggested that I check out two of the stop signs near the parking deck before I left. He said that it would be worth my time. When I got there, this is what I found: 1, 2. Definitely worth it. Then I was on the road.

Along the way, I discovered a new form of road monkey: The PoW monkey. “PoW” being short for “Piece of Work.” I was fortunate enough to see two of them this morning! Both within… a half-mile to a mile of each other. I was coming up the north face of Traverse Mountain when I encountered the first one – a lady in the fast lane… on her cell phone… not looking out the windshied… going about 59 MPH. Did I mention that she was in the fast lane? I did? Okay. She was completely oblivious to the line of cars stacked up behind her. That must have been one HELL of a conversation. A number of us passed her, on the right – we couldn’t get around her fast enough. The second PoW monkey was driving some large, boat-sized car. Also in the fast lane. Also oblivious. This monkey was an older gentleman, so I was willing to cut him a little more slack. Just a little, though.

It’s Day Two of Suit Week. Today’s choice:

• Olive double-breasted suit
• Cream and white cotton/poly blend shirt, long-point collar
• Olive, brown and gold abstract tie
• Tan woven leather tassel loafers.

Brett’s looking rather dapper in a rather nice black-and-white Glen Plaid single-breasted suit, with a black shirt. Once again, there were more comments from coworkers. Although, there have been fewer “Where’s your interview” comments and more “You guys look nice” or “You guys are making us look bad” ones.

Stray Toasters

• Derek has erected a Code Monkey shrine at his desk. It amuses me.
• YouTube has deleted the Code Monkey/Stargate: Atlantis video from its servers. Last night, I discovered that I had… creatively acquired… a copy of it a few weeks ago.
• I found a new way to look at Marvel’s Civil War: It was really a thinly-veiled version of Pokemon. Think about it.
  • Tony Stark (Iron Man) would be Ash (NOT to be confused with Ash from Evil Dead)
  • In Pokemon, the motto is “Gotta catch ’em all” and they capture the creatures in little balls. In Civil War, that’s what Tony and company were trying to do – catch all of the non-registered metahumans… and put them in little cells in the Negative Zone.
  • Pokemon has Team Rocket, the “bad” guys… with that annoying cat. Civil War had the New Avengers, portrayed as the bad guys… with the often-annoying Spider-Man.
  • I’m sure that there are others, but that is a good enough starting and stopping point.
• GamerZ. What in the Nine Hells..?
• This week’s Homestar Runner ‘toon even comes with an NPR reference. (Don’t forget the Easter egg at the end…)

Namaste.

Monday – 22 April 2007
So far, the day hasn’t been bad.

Today is the first day of Suit Week. Brett and I, for no other reason than “because we can,” are wearing suits. My weapon of choice:

• Black and white houndstooth single-breasted suit
• White cotton shirt, spread collar
• Black, red and white tie
• Black cap-toe lace-up oxfords

Of course this has led to a number of “why are you wearing a suit” questions. Although, I did one exchange was rather amusing:

Dave: Are you trying to upgrade the quality of fashion around here?
Me: I’ve been trying to do that for the past two years.
Ty: After all that time, without any success, he’s still trying.
Me: No. I just got to the point where I don’t care about the rest of you. You can all go float rocks for all I care.

The morning commute wasn’t bad either. The monkeys were fairly well-behaved. I had a large cup of triple-shot laden frozen mocha goodness. And, Nomad found a good selection of songs… and apparently was on a bit of a Will Smith/Men in Black kick, too:

• Duran Duran – Notorious
• Harry Connick, Jr. – Funky Dunky
• Will Smith – Nod Ya Head (remix)
• Will Smith – Men in Black

Back-to-back, although in reverse order, MiB themes. I think that the only thing that could have made it more amusing would have been if the theme from the animated series had made it into the rotation.

Stray Toasters

• I’m tempted to email this article around the office: Esquire’s Guide to Shirts and Ties
• Vindication is a wonderful thing.
• will be on the Treasure Valley Rollergirls team that will be here in June.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 April 2007
Yesterday, I left work a little later than I had planned.  It happens.  I had to come home because, in all of my brilliance, I neglected to consider the benefits of taking a pair of jeans to work with me.  Home.  Changed.  Off on [my] way, hit the open road… and made my way to the driving range.  , onlyaly and Chris were already there.  I didn’t do so well with the 2-iron.  The 5-iron was… okay, as was the 7-iron.  My trusty 5-wood was, once again, my best friend.

And, I finally got to test drive my 1-wood/driver.  Sweet monkey-squeezin’ Jesus…!  When I managed to pull off a good swing and make a solid connection, the ball moved.  Nicely.  I still need to get a bit of practice in with it – this was the first range I’ve been on that allowed the use of a driver.  But, I can see that I’m going to enjoy using that club.

After the range, onlyaly, and I headed to Fiddler’s Elbow for dinner.  I don’t think that I’ve been there since I lived in – or shortly after I moved out of – Sugar House.  Nice place.  I’ll have to keep it on the “Places to Remember for Lunch/Dinner” List.  Good dinner and conversation.

After dinner, I met my friend, Emily – whom I haven’t seen in a proverbial month of Sundays – for coffee.  And then home again, home again.  Jiggety-jig.

Stray Toasters

• I spoke with Dad.  All’s well in the Northern Reaches.
• Tracy sent me a link to this video: Shift Happens.  Very interesting information… although I’m not sure about the number they quote on the number of laptops sold last year.
• Sherpa, ah llama llama
  You are my mountain guide
  And you help me climb K2…
• 
  
• Gamegrene.com – For the Gamer Who’s Sick of the Typical
• Matt:  Funnybooks needs an update!  (…although this still makes me laugh.)
• “It’s amazing what you can do with a hacksaw…”
• Spring-loaded Steampunk Specs
• This one is for , given his affinity for timepieces: Mechanical Watch with Miniature Slot Machine
• Frank Castle.  The Punisher.
  • Look One: Old and busted
  • Look Two: New hotness (inspired by the Civil Bore War death of a certain star-spangled Avenger)

Out-of-Context Quote of the Day

“…throwing a strap over my head and going to town.”

Namaste.

Saturday (coda)
Today was a very good day.  After being far too lazy with my morning and early afternoon, I made it out to get a frozen mocha.  Then I thought about the fact that I hadn’t eaten anything, either.  So, I stopped at Barbacoa.  I came home and devoured the burrito and slaked my thirst with mocha.

and onlyaly had talked about getting sushi last night at Clitorati.  Having only tried it once before, I asked if I could join the outing.  So, the three of us – and – went to Tsunami (“Nucular Toonami!”).  We ordered a few different types… and I also ordered a squid nigiri.  And it was good.  All of it.  Well, all of it that I tried – there was one that had roe on it, of which I am not a fan, so I skipped that.  Since we were next to the movie theatre, we decided to see if anything struck our fancy.  We opted for Marky Mark and the Gun-toting Bunch…. I mean Shooter.  It was pretty good.  In fact, it was a little better than I was expecting.  But, for some reason, I kept thinking about The Big Hit, which I need to buy. We headed back to onlyaly and ‘s for a bit before breakfast.  And then… breakfast.  There was some decent people-watching tonight.  And I acquired a couple “new” chairs.

Stray Toasters

• 
• I played “Video Tag” with Tracy this afternoon.  Among some of the gems that were tossed around were:
• Michael Jackson at the Motown 25th Anniversary Celebration performing Billie Jean, featuring the first time that he did the moonwalk onstage
• Rockwell (ft. Michael Jackson) – Somebody’s Watching Me
• Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus
• Oran ‘Juice’ Jones – The Rain
• Duran Duran – Save a Prayer
• Eddie Murphy (ft. Rick James) – Party All the Time
• Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight (from the Miami Vice pilot)
• Don Henley – Dirty Laundry (live)
• Santana (ft. Rob Thomas) – Smooth
• Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F
• I found a dial generator for custom HeroClix figures.
• found these user icons.
  …and…
  They amuse me.
• The Astro City Rocket
• By way of : South Park and Life
• Inkscape

Namaste.