Random Access

Tuesday – 20 September 2011
120 minutes.  Two hours. 7,200 seconds. It both “does” and “doesn’t” seem like a lot of time. When you’re rushing to get that last-minute assignment complete, it’s too little time. When it’s a movie – that’s been done well and is entertaining – it’s just enough.

When you’re trying to compress all of the things on your “to do” list into 120 minute increments, it seems far too fleet.

But, it’s totally worth it.

The girls are now just shy of two-weeks-old. “Schedule” is still not part of their vocabulary. And that’s fine. We’ve started trying to get them used to the concepts of day (bright and somewhat noisy) and night (darker/low-light and much more quiet), in the hopes that we get them adjusted to the idea that being awake during the day is good and sleeping at night – and letting Mom and Dad sleep a little, too – is a “good” thing.  We’ll see how this goes.

They are still very cute – awake and/or asleep:

Last week, when my mother was in town

Last week, with SaraRules!’ Parents…

Modeling their Wonder Woman and Flash onesies that SaraRules! made…

It’s been a challenging couple of weeks in some respects, but it’s also been fun getting to know the newest members of the family.

Stray Toasters

• Fatherhood, Not Testosterone, Makes the Man
• This LEGO Robot Helped Beta Test a New iOS App
• 
• Rick Perry’s made-up ‘facts’ about climate change
• What we SHOULD have been taught our senior year of high school
• 10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
• Scott Beatty on “Six Stories That Changed How I Read (and Write) Comics”

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 September 2011
Today’s the day: SaraRules! is getting induced this evening. Sometime within the next… let’s say 24-36 hours, for the sake of argument… we’ll be parents. To twins. Wow. I’ve been getting lots of “Are you nervous” inquiries from family, friends and coworkers. The simple answer has been “Not yet,” with the expectation that I most likely will be nervous/anxious when we get to the hospital.

This past weekend was good. Nothing like a solid four-day weekend to help you get ready for – or at least (somewhat) relaxed before – having kids. As much as anything can get you “ready” for having kids. But…

• …bags have been packed
• …bassinets have been moved
• …car seats have been installed

…among other details. So, we’re about as ready as we’re going to get.

Stray Toasters

• 7 Scientific Ways Coffee Gives You Super Powers
• Troubled Schools Try Mimicking the Charters
• Badass of the Week: Paddy Mayne
• Fear the helmet: Maryland’s new uniforms draw attention
  I’m actually okay with the jersey. The helmet isn’t too bad… but the cleats!?
• 
• No pointing fingers: Defense in the cloud is everyone’s responsibility
• Google Doodle: Happy 65th, Freddie Mercury
  If, for some reason, you haven’t seen this already, it’s yet another cool ‘Doodle. Check it out.
• Postal Service Is Nearing Default as Losses Mount
• Postal Service may default on a $5.5 billion trust fund payment
• ‘We the Animals’ Delivers a Fiery Ode to Boyhood
• 
• 5 tactics for dumping digital trash
• A Debate Arises on Job Creation and Environment
• I should turn the last panel of this strip into an icon…
• Family Guy = The Office
• What’s in Store: 3 Tales of a Terrifying Future

Namaste.

Thursday – 01 September 2011
A new month kicks off on a No Bad News Technical Friday. Not only that, but it’s a four-day weekend. (Of course, it could turn into a up to a 17-day weekend, if SaraRules! goes into labor today or tonight…)

Last night, SaraRules! and I were visited by Utah Opera Resident Artist John Buffett, whom we haven’t seen since last season. He told us about his summer season and some of the things that he’s looking forward to for the upcoming season.

Then, I got to go back to work for an after-hours network change. YAY! We’d figured on a roughly hour-long job. It took just over two. But, the bottom line is: We got it done.

I got back home and treated myself to an ice cream sandwich. John and I were going to play HALO: Reach with UO’s Artistic Director, Christopher McBeth, but there were… technical difficulties… that prevented us from doing so. Instead, we – along with SaraRules! – hung out and watched last week’s Burn Notice.  All-in-all, not a bad way to wind up an evening.

Stray Toasters

• Facebook has already paid $40,000 for bug finds
• Blues From the Desert, Recorded On-Site
• Apple loses another unreleased iPhone
• 
• Duchess Catherine, Michelle Obama wield style power for good
• My train left Illinois around 0500 yesterday morning. It will be here tomorrow, which means that I will have to come to the office to pick it up… on my day off.
• Fond of Fonts? Check Out ‘Just My Type’
• 
• Solutions sought for growing space junk problem
• Make China our new partner in space
• U.S. Moves to Block Merger Between AT&T and T-Mobile
• Football season starts in one week.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 31 August 2011
Back in the north office again. Yesterday’s excursion to the south office wasn’t too bad. Yes, there were a couple of “Things that make you go ‘Hmm,'” but on the whole, it was fairly painless.

Last night was Guys’ Night Out. And, it will most likely be the last one I get to attend for a while. That’s okay, because the company and the food and the beer were good.

This morning started slowly, by choice. I woke up and decided that I wasn’t going to necessarily rush to get into the office. It made for a nice, leisurely start to the morning. On the flip side, this morning’s cup of coffee wasn’t  enough to stave off my attempts at conducting an inner eyelid study. So, I was on Coffee: Round 2 a little early.

And today was also New Comics & Sushi Wednesday! Sushi was good; the comics haul was VERY light: Two books. I wound up with three books, as I bought two copies of one title.

Stray Toasters

• T-minus six…
• This was emailed to me by my friend, Lianna:

  

  I’m pretty sure that this sums up SaraRules!’ feelings, as well.

• America’s Muslims, fact vs. fiction
• Arguing liquor laws: A failure to communicate
  I listened to part of this on the way to work this morning. It was… something to behold.
• Eight Miami players suspended by NCAA for improper benefits
• Hurricane Cost Seen as Ranking Among Top Ten
• Federal Austerity Changes Disaster Relief
• The Art of the Title
• TopGear + HALO = Amusingly Awesome
• The New Resentment of the Poor
• Parenthood Got You Down? You’re Not Alone, courtesy of
• In Latest Breach, Hackers Impersonate Google to Snoop on Users in Iran
• there there: City Pride T-shirts

Namaste.

Thursday – 25 August 2011
It’s another fine NBN Thursday in the valley.

It’s been busy… in a good way. Hectic, but good. Meetings. Stuff. Things. And whatnot.

For those who may have missed it elsewhere: We have a date for the arrival of the twins: Assuming that she doesn’t deliver before, SaraRules! will be induced on the 06 September. Which means that in twelve (possibly thirteen) days, we’ll be parents. Holy cow.

Stray Toasters

• I just got a message from my mother: The new piano has been delivered.
• …and I just ordered this. It ships tomorrow.
• Former Orioles pitcher Flanagan dead in apparent suicide
• Former Oriole Flanagan Found Dead
• 
• In case you’ve been under a rock for the past 24 hours: Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple
• Jobs Steps Down at Apple, Saying He Can’t Meet Duties
• Steve Wozniak Comments on Jobs Resignation Announcement
• While You Were Out: Apple’s Years With and Without Steve Jobs
• Tim Cook emails Apple employees: “Apple is not going to change”
• Alternate Histories Does the Monster Mash-Up
• 
• Baby’s Got Bass
• Atheist Billboard Goes Up in Salt Lake City, Utah!
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers give each player an iPad as a playbook

And tonight: The Ravens take on the Redskins on Thursday Night Football.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 24 August 2011
Two down, one in the chamber and two to go.  Must be Wednesday. I’m not sure if I’ll partake in “Sushi Wednesday,” but I do have a doctor’s appointment – check up for SaraRules! and the kids – and new comics to look forward to.

Today is the birthday of Utah Symphony‘s Principal Pops Conductor, Jerry Steichen.

Last night, after far too long, I mowed and edged the lawn. I’m not saying that it was a jungle, but I’m pretty sure that I saw a guy in a loincloth riding an elephant through the middle section of the yard. I had considered hitting the gym afterwards, but it was a good enough workout for the day.

Stray Toasters

• Yesterday’s Earthquake Caused More Twitter Traffic Than Bin Laden’s Death
  I called family on both sides of the epicenter; everyone – and everything – is fine.
• After many years of “longing from afar,” my mother is taking something off her Covet List and putting into the living room: A white baby grand piano.

• I think that these are going on The Covet List.
• Above All Else, Eastern Quake Rattles Nerves
• 
• The Geek Zodiac
• NYPD Intelligence Unit Seen Pushing Rights Limits
• 15 Dangerous Cities for Driving
• By way of my friend, Josh: The History of ‘Mahna Mahna’: From a Swedish Sex Film Soundtrack to the Muppets and Beyond
• 
• Skeleton aprons
• Rocket failure dooms space station cargo freighter launch
• By now, many/most people know that there’s a remake of Footloose in the offing. What I didn’t realize, until today, is that it’s being directed by Craig Brewer, the same man who directed Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan.

UPDATE: Just got back from SaraRules!’ appointment a little while ago. Looks as though two weeks from today, we will have kids.

Two weeks.  Wow.

Namaste.

Thursday – 18 August 2011
It’s another NBN Technical Friday here in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.

Last night, SaraRules! and I went to the “non-rehearsal” dinner for Logan and Sanaz. As there wasn’t a pre-wedding rehearsal involved, it was more of a “get both sides of the family-to-be together” dinner. Either way, it was still good. I got to chat with Marie and Stan – SaraRules!’ aunt and uncle from California – whom I haven’t seen since our wedding (aside from a brief video chat at Easter). We also got to meet Sanaz’ grandmother, who’s in from London. Good company, good food, and good conversation made for a rather pleasant way to pass the evening.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
This was an interesting and thought-provoking article, by way of my friend, Crystal: How to Talk to Little Girls

Stray Toasters

• Stolen Rembrandt sketch found in church
• Pope reaches out to youths in Spain
• 
• Piers Morgan: Christine O’Donnell Walkout Was ‘Extraordinary’
• It turns out that she had also “walked out” on the hosts of a local (SLC) radio show earlier in the day.
• How to Use an Apostrophe
• Kilian Martin: A Skate Illustration, courtesy of
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: German ‘unfairly’ sacked for marrying Chinese woman
• Offering Funds, U.S. Agency Dreams of Sending Humans to the Stars
• AT&T sues two over scheme to steal customer data

Back to it…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 17 August 2011
Midweek and all’s pretty well…

…unless you’re this guy:

I’m talking about the car in the middle of the picture. It appears to have broken down in the median. It’s also been there for a few minutes. I watched as (at least) two patrol cars drove past it — in the left lane — without stopping. *shrug*

After about 40 minutes, another car pulled up behind it. People got out. They stood near the first car. A couple of minutes later, they both pulled off. I’m not sure, but it may have just been a case of running out of gas.  But, I’m still a little… concerned/bothered… that the two police officers just drove past it like nothing was wrong.

Yesterday, I was in the south office. One of my tasks for the day was to join peoples’ computers to the corporate network. In and of itself, not a terribly difficult assignment. Or so you’d think. After all, the computers spoke the same language – Windows – albeit different dialects (XP/Vista/7).

Theoretical Concept: Easy.
Practical Application: *grblsnrkx*

Let’s say that there was a lot of “hurry up and wait” along with the obligatory questions from the engineers of: “Which login do I use?” and “Should I try this?” and “Huh…?!” But, I got a few of the guys taken care of… without bloodshed.

Last night was game night with and crew. It was a good time. Especially as none of us died in the course of adventuring.

Groove. Boogie. Sway.
A couple of songs that helped to get this morning started were:

• Rush – YYZ
• Clivilles and Cole – Pride (in the Name of Love)

There were others, but these two were the prime movers of the day.  Oh, yeah, and this one:

It has gotten back into the public eye ear(?) as the background music for the Blackberry PlayBook commercial.

Stray Toasters

• I have chatted with my mother today. Twice. Online.
• Apple unleashes first OS X Lion update
• Tobacco giants suing FDA over warning labels mandate
• 
• By way of comes Danny MacAskill Industrial Revolutions
• A Proud Moment in a Discredited Era
• 
• One More Reason (Some) Americans Don’t Care About Kate Bush
• Hello Kitty + Ninja Gaiden = ???
• What Bandwidth Caps Would Mean for Internet Gluttons
• 
• A Village Person Test the Copyright Law
• Razorantium has returned to Lush!  Hallelujah!

Quote of the Day
It’s been a while since I’ve had a good story about my nieces. Fortunately, my brother-in-law posted one yesterday:

Lady, looking at Sophia, dressed in pink with a pink headband: “Oh how cute, is it a little girl?”
Me: No lady, “it” is a duck.
Lady: Well you’re rude.
Me: Well you’re not very bright.
Sophia: QUACK, Daddy! QUACK!

Sophia is just shy of her second birthday.

Namaste.

Monday – 15 August 2011
A new week greets us with sun and scattered clouds. This comes after a night of thunder, lightning and rain — I’m not really sure “who” did “what” to Thor, but he was really on one last night.

The weekend was good. And, as is often the case with weekends “too short.” This isn’t to say that we didn’t get a lot accomplished – we did – but I wouldn’t have argued with a little more downtime. Highlights of the weekend include:

• Hearing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture – complete with cannon – at the Deer Valley Music Festival
• Judging a ‘Clix tournament for Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection
• Seeing Cowboys and Aliens with SaraRules! and
• Setting up/putting away more baby items
• Putting together a gallery of invitations from our baby showers
• FINALLY cleaning out the detritus left under our deck by our home’s previous owners!
• Dinner with the in-laws, including my first Charlie Chan movie

Cowboys and Aliens was fun. It was a decent western. It was also a decent alien movie. And, even better: It combined the two fairly well. Daniel Craig is almost always a pleasure to watch act. It was also fun to see Harrison Ford in a role as a… less-than-savory character again. (It’s been a long time since Han Solo was a true scoundrel…) And, the movie also had Thirteen Quorra Olivia Wilde, which is a “Win” in my book. Well done, Mr. Favreau.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich, from Warren Buffett (Yes… “THAT Warren Buffett“).

Stray Toasters

• Google to but Motorola Mobility for $12.8 billion
• The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
• The Alpha Male
• The 16 longest gaps between Interstate exits
• 
• Astronaut Photographs Perseid Meteor… From Space
• Chinese space lab set to soar
• London Police Use Flickr to Identify Looters
• State Challenges Seen as Whittling Away Federal Education Law
• I’m hoping not to be – or turn into – this guy…

  

  …or this…

  

• Flight failure won’t stop ‘mad scientists’
• Resist
• As Networks Speed Up, Data Hits a Wall
• Star Wars icons join Queen Elizabeth on Pacific Island coin

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Thursday – 11 August 2011
Day Four.  Fantastic.

Another NBN Thursday in the valley. The morning has started somewhat inauspiciously: I woke up with a headache at 0500. Two ibuprofen and a glass of water later, I was back in bed. But, by then, it seems the tone for the day had been set…

• First alarm went off.  I turned it off and rolled over to spend more time in The Dreaming.
• Second alarm went off. It took a few moments to realize what it was and why it was making noise. Feh.
• I got to work… only to realize that I had left my ID badge and phone at home.
• Susan beat me – for the second week in a row – to our ritual Thursday morning NBN greeting.

Oh, well.

Yesterday, during my lunch excursion, I stopped at The Train Shoppe. I am/was in the market for two things:

1. MTH 50-1033: DCS Remote Commander Set
2. MTH 30-4205-1: SD70ACe Diesel R-T-R Deluxe Freight Train Set (Norfolk-Southern)

They had Item 1, and would have to order Item 2… if they could find it. The RTR set was originally released last year (as 30-4205-1) and has been discontinued. That’s a pity as it’s hard to find eastern railroad names when you live in the west. “Hard,” but not “impossible.” It usually boils down to having to order what you’re looking for. There was an item in the most recent issue of Classic Toy Trains that noted the (re-)release of the set as 30-4205-1E. While there, I asked if they could order it.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Brad, from The Train Shoppe. It appears as though the item in CTT was a misprint. They are not putting out a new NS set, after all.  So, back to the drawing board…

Stray Toasters

• NFL Preseason kicks off tonight!

  

• The 2011 Perseid Meteor Shower begins tomorrow night.
• Gizmodo Cleared in Prototype iPhone Police Probe
• Tech blogger won’t be charged in Apple iPhone case
• I posted a link to K’s Choice Not An Addict on someone’s Facebook page earlier. They had no idea the song was about drug use.
• Five Myths About Mormonism
• Why do I get the feeling that this is something that I should expect…?

  

• This little nugget of joy comes by way of and Clients From Hell.
• The Action Movie Blog Post
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Artist Injects Herself With Horse Blood, Wears Hooves

  

• Foreclosures of expensive homes take longer
• For the Plugged-In, Too Many Choices

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 August 2011
Two down, one in the chamber and two to go. It’s midweek and all’s well. It’s not a game night – and most likely, a non-sushi day – but there will be new things to read at Dr. Volt’s; that’s good enough for me.

This morning, I woke up with Europe’s The Final Countdown playing in my head. Why? No idea.

Last night was a fairly quiet and low-key night around the homestead. Highlights included a phone call with my mother, a very tasty dinner (chicken, couscous and corn — The ‘C’ Trifecta of Dinner!) that SaraRules! fixed, and SportsCenter. Speaking of SportsCenter, I heard this… odd… item on there. Although, it’s not so odd when you consider the source, actually:

Patriots receiver Chad Ochocinco is still settling into his new surroundings in New England, and he’s taking an unusual approach to his living situation.
“I’m going to do something different, I’m actually going to stay with a fan for the first two, three weeks of the season,” he said Tuesday. “That should be fun, until I get myself acclimated and learn my way around.”

Ochocinco hasn’t yet picked the fan.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to work, but they have to have internet and have to have Xbox,” he said. “That’s about it.”

Asked if he was serious, Ochocinco said, “Have I ever lied to you before?”

Told there were some “crazy” fans, Ochocinco said, “I rode a bull.”

Yeah. The man is the walking, talking embodiment of the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file.

Stray Toasters

• Londoners strike back with ‘Operation Riot Clean-up’
• Test Can Tell Fetal Sex at 7 Weeks, Study Says
• ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ vs. the Internet: How has a culture of leaks changed the moviegoing experience?
• QR Codes on Athletes’ Butts Is a Stupid, Sexist Idea
• 
• Heavy Trucks to be Subject to New Rules for Mileage
• Soldering Is Easy
• Ty Templeton simplifies comic fandom’s problem with the new Ultimate Spider-Man:

  

• Sillof’s Workshop: Serial Wars — Star Wars reimagined as a 1940’s serial
• Hacker to Demonstrate ‘Weak’ Mobile Internet Security
• 
• And in a somewhat related note: Oops! A Phone Number on a Toy Truck Turned Out to Be a Sex Line
• Giant water nymph causes a stir in Hamburg

Namaste.

Tuesday – 09 August 2011
If you’re old enough to remember that tagline, then… I don’t know. Fill in your own witticism here. For those of you for whom it does not ring a bell, it was from when NBC had a show on the air called Hill Street Blues. It was… dun dun DUNNNNN… a police procedural. As did many shows of the day, its theme song composed by Mike Post.

So far, it’s been a decent work day. Earlier, as I was working with one of our QA testers, there was some busy/”Why isn’t this working!?” time while trying to get a couple of his systems switched between a couple of networks. Part of the problem laid in the gap between “This is what we need to do for compliance” and “This is how he wanted it to work for convenience.” We came to terms. (And I didn’t even have to break out the orange hammer…)

Stray Toasters

• Stocks Suffer Sharpest Drop Since 2008
• Britain Burns: Riots Spread Through U.K. Cities
• London paralyzed by fear, shock as businesses smolder
• Black Hat: Insulin pumps can be hacked
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
• Michele Bachmann Supports View That Slavery Wasn’t So Bad After All
• Police urge use of holster after man shoots his own penis
• 
• The Apple Store at Fashion Place has an official opening date.
• Jazz’s Present Gets Its Chance at Newport
• 10 great places to eat like a local

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Friday – 05 August 2011
It’s my day off. So far, I’ve celebrated that by sleeping in, watching the Juno mission launch on NASA TV and then going to the gym. All things considered, I’d have to say that’s a good way to start the day. I’m trying to figure out how to spend the next few hours. “Housework” just does not hold an appeal, so I believe that I’ll go gallivanting around town.

Today is also my friend, Christine’s, birthday:

Last night, SaraRules! and I had dinner at the local Outback Steakhouse. And it was even her idea. Win-Win! Cheese Fries. Prime Rib. Delicious. After that, it was a lazy do-nothing kind of night, complete with Burn Notice and Suits and – for the first time in a long while – a whole episode of Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson in Paris.

Workout
As I mentioned, I actually dragged myself to the gym today:

• Elliptical: 15 min, 1.45 mi
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps — 2 sets @ 165 lbs, 1 set @ 175 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/15 reps
• Flys (dumbbell, bench): 3 sets/10 reps, 20 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Shoulder Press (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs

It wasn’t the world’s longest workout, but it was more than enough to get the blood pumping.

Stray Toasters

• Guardians of Internet Security Are Targets
• Office equipment open to hacker attacks
• How Can You Dress Well at Every Age?
• Let’s Be Friends Again often pokes fun at the comics industry, but I particularly appreciated the commentary that accompanied this comic:
  
• Are Dolphins flirting with Brett Favre?
  I hope not…
• Atlas rockets could carry astronauts to space again
• Ford Is Purging CD Players From Their Cars
• From the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Japanese company makes creepy dolls that look like their owners

Time to get “right on the to friction of the day…”

Namaste.

Thursday – 04 August 2011
It’s an early No Bad News Technical Friday for me. And, considering how I slept and that I have a project coming to a head today, I could really use that whole “No Bad News” factor.

I don’t often have dreams that continue after I’ve awakened and gone back to sleep, but I had one last night. And it was bizarre. It was (mostly) bizarre in its content – a zombie dream – but because of some of people in it, as well: Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa and Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed.

* blink blink*

I’m sure that there were others, but they were the two I immediately recognized and still remember.

The zombies moved faster than the shambling creatures from George A. Romero movies, but weren’t running at a flat-out sprint like the “rage-infested humans” from 28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later. They were somewhere in the middle — fast enough to be a concern, slow enough to be outrun. Of course, there’s always the prevailing thought that “You don’t have to be faster than the zombies, you just have to be faster than the slowest person in your group.”

The dream wasn’t your standard “Here come the dead” fare, either. It started off that way, and then turned into “behind the scenes in government response:” Lawyers and armed guards. Political leaders being ousted due to their lack of response. Black helicopters flying to “undisclosed destinations.”

Yeah.  It was that weird.

There was a point where it cut over to Rocky – working in some kind of storefront office – and Apollo Creed, training for an event. One of the other characters (Paulie, I believe) from the movies was there, as well. He was suffering from a form of amnesia or Alzheimer’s; Rocky and his guys were preparing to send him away – to Italy, I think – for some R&R. At that point, I was asked to go upstairs (to a living area) and keep watch on someone else. I could see people cautiously wandering the streets, trying to avoid encounters with the undead. I remember feeling a sense of dread, almost expecting this person to turn into a zombie, as he appeared near-death to begin with. I think that he was starting to die/turn as I woke up.

Let’s just say that it wasn’t exactly the most restful night’s sleep.

Stray Toasters

• Not that any/many of them will see it, but I’d like to extend a very heartfelt “Thank you” to SaraRules!’ coworkers for the baby gifts they gave us/the kids at an at-work baby shower yesterday. I’m nominating them, collectively, as yesterday’s “People of the Day.”
• Tuskegee Airmen Gather to Mark 70th Anniversary, and See an Old Friend
• For SaraRules! (and other film buffs): Lost Hitchcock feature recovered in New Zealand
• For Meliko: Showcasing the Viola in Updated Mozart
• Bubba Smith, former Colts star and actor, found dead in L.A. home
• Former NFL star, actor Bubba Smith dead at 66
• 
• Juno Spacecraft to Carry Three Figurines to Jupiter Orbit
  What that title fails to mention is that they are LEGO figurines.  Boldly going where no LEGO has gone before!
• Even Marked Up, Luxury Good Fly Off Shelves
• Yesterday, Warner Brothers announced Laurence Fishburne would portray Perry White in Zach Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel film.
  Today, they released a picture of Henry Cavill as Superman.

  
  (click for larger image)

  Not bad. I’m looking forward to seeing how well he pulls off the Clark Kent look.

• Battlestar Galactica fans will understand why I find this so amusing:
  

  From The New York Times:  “Industry executives as well as regulators have said that fracking has never contaminated underground drinking water. But there is at least one documented case.”

• Matt Damon defends teachers, disses journalists
• Last night, I saw the video of this for the first time:

• Report: NSA to recruit from DEFCON attendee pool
• I was totally unaware that Daniel Stern played the JAFO in the theatrical verison of Blue Thunder until I was looking up information about Bubba Smith.
• The Horribly Dressed Men of Tech

The project I mentioned at the beginning of the post wrapped up this morning… and it went more smoothly than I had hoped. Selah.

Namaste.

Friday – 29 July 2011
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday…

…and I am beat. Yesterday was a long day – work, doctor’s appointment and childbirth class – that stretched into the later early hours of this morning, because SaraRules! (and the kids) and I had an unexpected trip to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning. Both SaraRules! and the kids are fine.

I repeat: “SaraRules! and the kids are fine.”

It turned out that she had a few sporadic contractions after a particularly long and busy day. Rather than ignore them or “hope they’d settle down on their own,” we called her doctor, who suggested that we go in to make sure that everything was alright. Our nurse, Karren, was great; she was attentive, responsive and explained all of the things that she was checking for.  She also made sure that we were as comfortable and at ease as could be. It’s just that the process – monitoring and observation – took four hours…

*headdesk*

After getting the “All clear,” we headed home. Sleep was not hard to find. And understanding that “the annoying bell-sounding-thing” was actually this morning’s alarm was, at first, a “slightly” difficult concept to grasp. But, I grabbed a frozen mocha on the way into the office, so that I could be at least nominally awake and coherent. Fortunately, the day hasn’t been to bad/busy/hectic.  And, I even got to have lunch with Tyranist and Cade.

There is most definitely a nap in my post-work future. (Or at least some time in the train room…)

Stray Toasters

• Today is System Administrator Day.

  
  
  

• 10 Reasons to Be (Really) Excited About Football
• Your complete guide to Google+
• Training Modules. Yay.
• Carmakers Back Strict New Rules for Gas Mileage
• A Father Who Creatively Captures His Kids
• 
• I’ve been browsing some of the pictures of the costumers and cosplayers from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. I have also had an epiphany: The so-called “sexy” costumes – or, rather, the “sexy” variants of other characters’ costumes –  that have become so popular/prevalent…? Yeah, they do absolutely nothing for me. Yes, some of the women wearing them are good-looking, but the costumes don’t so much say “sexy” to me as “slutty.”  *shrug* Tyranist – who agreed with me – and I discussed this for a bit before lunch.
• House Committee passes bill requiring your ISP to spy on every click and keystroke you make online and retain for 12 months
• A Young Clown Follows in a Father’s Giant Footsteps
• Hubble Telescope’s successor could face budget ax

Namaste.