Random Access

Saturday – 21 May 2011
It’s the weekend. Amen. The sun has finally decided to put in an appearance, which is a nice change of pace.

Today is supposedly also “Rapture Day.”

Last night, we had coffee and dinner with the usual suspects… plus one. The “plus one” is a friend of mine from my second hometown. We haven’t seen each other in what we figure to be at least ten years. It was a good evening.

I was up early this morning. 7:30 early. Why? Because was kind enough to lend his time – and his Jeep – to our endeavor of getting a new bathtub. So, we were off to the local Home Depot by 8:00. A few minutes and more than “a few” dollars later, SaraRules! and I were the owners of a new bathtub.

Later today, I’m judging another HeroClix tournament for Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. NECA/WizKids has updated some of their rules, eliminating four (4) sets of ‘Clix from “Modern Age” play. Among the casualties are a few fan-favorite pieces; I’m curious to see what choices players make for teams today.

Stray Toasters

• Ride Out the End of the World in These Bomb Shelter Homes
• Replacing Your Laptop With an iPad
• Yeah… there’s another GL trailer.

  This one can be seen before the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

• I stumbled upon this blog a little while ago. I find her writing style amusing and entertaining.
• The Federal Government Wants to Help You Name Your Kid
  • Utah Baby Namer
• NASA sting nets woman offering moon rock for $1.7M

Okay… time to get ready to face the rest of the day.

Namsaste.

Tuesday – 17 May 2011
It’s much later than I’d planned for making a post, so this will be a bit (somewhat) abbreviated.

Last night, following dinner, SaraRules! and I watched The Fighter. Very good movie. And, Christian Bale certainly earned his Oscar nod (and win) for his role. Also, it was another look at Amy Adams – who has shown a good deal of versatility in her characters – making it that much easier to picture her as Lois Lane in Zach Snyder’s upcoming Superman movie.

Today finds me in the Utah County office, once again. It’s been a little more busy than I’d expected. This is not a “bad” thing, mind you. And, I got to go to State Street Grill for lunch with some of the old crew. Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s subject line comes from a play on “better late than never” and an old – and rather cheesy – joke. This is one variation of it.
• My 360 has exhibited the dreaded “Red Ring of Death.” *sigh*
• Orchestras on Tour: Names Hit a False Note
• End of an era: Las Vegas Strip’s Sahara Hotel to close today
• Ever wonder what it is that superheros do when they aren’t… superheroing? Ms. Marvel’s Day Off
• Why Aquaman is the best damn superhero in comic history
• You Must Read These Gleefully Deranged Stories
• I discovered this morning that one of my coworker’s ancestors were apparently the founders of the town in which my mother and uncle grew up. Small world.
• Another X-Men: First Class snippet.
• U.S. Calls for Global Cybersecurity Strategy
• Appeals court backs NFL as lockout remains in place

Namaste.

Monday – 16 May 2011
A new week begins.  My week, however, will begin a little later than some others’, as I started the day with a trip to the doctor’s office. It was another appointment to make sure that Babies A & B are progressing as they should. (They are.)

This weekend was a good one:  Saturday, I stopped in at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection to say “Hi” to Valerie Finnigan. She was there for a book signing and to promote her horror book, which is due this fall. After that, I traipsed up to Clearfield. (Hey… I had air and opportunity.) I picked up a few track pieces. I also stopped at The Train Shoppe when I got back to SLC, but left empty-handed.

Back home to clean up and get presentable for Utah Opera’s opening of Falstaff (1, 2), adapted from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The cast and crew of the production put on a delightful show. Although it’s a comedic opera, it didn’t suffer from being “too” over-the-top; director Christopher Mattaliano did an excellent job of balancing the opera’s humor with just the right amounts of (semi-)seriousness. It was quite a fun way to spend the evening.

Sunday, SaraRules!, Angy, and I went up to Millcreek Eggworks and Cafe for brunch. Mmm, coffee cake…  After a very satisfying meal, came back and helped me get the sprinklers online. (No busted sprinkler heads! Hoo-AH!) Later in the afternoon, SaraRules! and I made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. We didn’t buy anything, but we did come out with a couple of ideas. In the evening, we headed up to John’s (one of UO’s resident artists) for a birthday cookout. That was a LOT of fun. And we capped the evening with a visit to the in-laws… for yet more dessert!

Stray Toasters

• Space Shuttle Endeavour Is Readied, Once Again, for Its Final Launching
  • Farewell, my space shuttle
• An Explorer of Black History’s Uncharted Terrain
  • Entry from January 2010 I wrote about seeing Freedom Riders
• 14 Ways to Make Yourself Better Right Now
• 
• Rhode Island’s Medicaid Experiment Becomes a Talking Point for Budget Cutters
  • The real reasons why our health care costs are so high
  • Nursing Homes Seek Exemptions From Health Law
• I finally remembered to get some pictures and video of the new train layout.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car up for auction
• Renaissance at Salt Lake Art Center
• The 43 best obnoxious responses to misspellings on Facebook
• Welcome back, Sony Online Entertainment and Playstation Network.
  • 
• I discovered something while reading a blog entry from . I didn’t realize that William Marshall (1, 2) the actor who played Dr. Richard Daystrom on the Star Trek: TOS episode “The Ultimate Computer,” also played Blacula in two movies AND was the King of Cartoons on Pee-wee’s Playhouse.  For some reason, I just never connected the dots.
• Foods With Benefits, or So They Say
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Australian dies after ‘planking’ on balcony, police say
• War Machines (with Gymnasts)

Namaste.

Saturday – 14 May 2011
I apparently am not as good as I’d like to be at the whole “sleeping in” thing. Yesterday, I was up at 7:15. Today, I was up at 8:15. Oh, well. It gives me time to do things. Exactly “what” those things are, I’m not sure yet.

Yesterday, SaraRules!, her mother and I went up to Park City. The weather was perfect — 70F and sunny, with light breezes. Perfect shopping weather.

Veni. Sumi. Vroomi.
We came. We shopped. We left.

After we got back to town, and dropped of the MIL, SaraRules! and I headed to Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks to get lunch. Cheesesteaks. Birch beer. Tastykakes. I’d definitely call that a lunchtime “win.” Back home for a bit and then off to coffee and dinner.

Today, I’m going to head up to Dr. Volt’s and see Valerie Finnigan at her book signing.  There’s a barbecue at Pin-up Girl Espresso, as they are temporarily closing their Cottonwood Heights location while IHC builds a medical center on the 6200 block of Highland… so we’re definitely stopping there. And, I’m also trying to decide whether or not a trip to Almosta Junction is in my plans.

And, tonight: Falstaff.

Stray Toasters

• Testimony of Mike Rowe
• Life-sized HALO Master Chief costume made out of LEGO
• Confessions of a Hollywood Stuntman
  And, of course, that reminded me of this:

• Just a thought: Since a couple of studios are trying to shop superhero-/comic book-related properties, why not change their target stations?  Instead of going for NBC/ABC/CBS, why not see about stations who might have a better demographic/target audience?  To me, it seems as though USA Networks (“Characters welcome”) and/or SyFy (I still think that was about the most inane “name change” possible…) or even Warner Brothers’ own CW would have been ideal choices for some of the new programming.  But that’s just my 2¢ worth.
  • 
• Sizzle at Cannes Film Festival
• Dropbox Lied to Users About Data Security, FCC Complaint Alleges
• Cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt’s useful advice for living

  

• How to Stock Your Home Toolkit
• Zero Charisma – An indie comedy about the greatest Dungeon Master ever.
  This trailer was pretty funny.
• Building the Empire Strikes Bike
• Access Denied! 18 Places Google Maps Won’t Let You See

Namaste.

Friday – 13 May 2011
It’s Friday, the 13th.
It’s also my 9/80 day off.
That can’t be a bad thing… can it?!

I just thought of something:

• Friday the 13th has a negative connotation, thanks to superstitious beliefs.
• Olivia Wilde’s character on House is nicknamed “Thirteen.”

Why not just take the “best of both worlds” and just start referring to Friday the 13th as “Olivia Wilde Day?”

It could work…

Last night, SaraRules! and I had dinner at Dask’s. Mmm, tasty greek food. From there, we headed up to visit the in-laws. While there, I discovered that I might have inadvertently caused a… misunderstanding… with my sister-in-law-to-be: Apparently, when she read Tuesday’s post (about going over to the in-laws’ for banana rum cake), she thought that there was some dinner that I and had been invited to… and to which she and Logan hadn’t been. Nope.  He just happened to show up on the same night that my MIL and FIL were having me over, in an effort to keep me from being home alone while SaraRules! was in Beantown.

No conspiracy.

No big secret.

But, hilariously funny in the retelling by my father-in-law.

Sorry, Swiz.

After we got home, I headed down into the train room and finished work on the new layout, based on Michael Fritschie’s 8×12 layout. It doesn’t have the sidings or the wye reversing loop – and I changed the far right curve to O48 – but it looks and runs well.  And… it allows for two trains to run at the same time!  Win.  I still have a bit of clean-up to do, but I really like the way it turned out. Now, all I need to do is wait for my passenger cars to show up, so I can run both a freight and a passenger line at the same time.

I tried sleeping in this morning. It worked… sort of.  I slept until 7:15. At that point, I just got up and decided to watch a bit of TV. It was mostly DVR fare, but it kept me out of trouble.

I’m not sure what’s on tap for today. I think that we are heading up to Park City to do some shopping. I wouldn’t mind making a run to Clearfield, but I may put that off until tomorrow.

Stray Toasters

• If you’re in the area of 33rd South and 20th East tomorrow, drop into Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. Valerie Finnigan, one of the authors of Untold Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan, will be doing a book signing from 12 to 3.
• Despite White House Report Advocating Arts Education, Budgets Face Cuts
• NBC Passes on Wonder Woman
  • NBC Turns Down David E. Kelley’s ‘Wonder Woman’ TV Pilot
• 
• White House Wants Tougher Penalties for Computer Breaches
• Smallville ends its ten-year run tonight. My friend, Jake Black, worked on the show for a while.
  • 5 Smallville Spinoffs We Would Actually Watch
    A ‘Legion: Lost’ show?  I’d be there.  And, I’d watch good Booster Gold show, too.  Just saying.
• Disaster Plan Problems Found at U.S. Nuclear Plants
• Classical Music Never Goes Out of Style

Up. Out.

Namaste.

Thursday – 12 May 2011
It’s NBN Technical Friday again. Amen.

Today is also marks two years since my friend, Jessica Porter, passed away from pulmonary hypertension. In some regards, it seems like it’s been shorter than that; other days, it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve talked. I miss her being around. She was a fantastic friend and an all-around great person.

Last night, SaraRules! came home from Boston. Hallelujah! She said that it was a good – though busy – trip. As a souvenir, she brought me a new pint glass from the Samuel Adams Brewery… where she took the tour yesterday morning. (Yeah, I was a little jealous of that.)

Today has been busy. Busier than expected. An employee from another division come in – for the second time in two days – to deal with a problem on his laptop. We got his problem sorted out. Then there was a meeting… that I had spaced off… on top of my usual Thursday meeting, plus the meeting that I had to schedule. Did I mention that I’m glad I’m off tomorrow?

Stray Toasters

• I’m blaming/crediting Will Smith for my fashion choice this morning. As I was preparing to get into the shower, this song started running through my head:

  As a result, today’s attire is:

  Black suit, the black shades, the black shoes
  Black tie with the black attitude

  Yeah, I know that’s from Nod Ya Head (Black Suits Comin’), but it still applies.

• At 100, Still a Teacher, and Quite a Character
• ‘Better Book Titles’: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Existing Cover
• Esquire Style Presents: The American Revolution
• Squeezed Cities Ask Nonprofits for More Money
• Marvel Unveils ‘I Am Captain America’ Variant Covers

  
  Click link above to see other covers.

• The New Hip-Hop Royalty
• Utah Opera’s production of Falstaff opens on Saturday. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend – or through next week – consider seeing it.
• Fan-made Fables poster art
• Cars So Stunning, They’re in a Museum
• 
• Revised Spider-Man Musical More Heroic, Less Nightmarish
• In a Green Town, Activists See Red Over Lockheed Martin
• Software piracy hits record high of $59 billion

Namaste.

Wednesday – 11 May 2011
Midweek.
New comics day.
D&D Game night.
The day that SaraRules comes home from Boston.

Not only has she been in Boston, but this was her status message this morning:

SaraK
Nothing like a beer tour at ten in the morning. — at The Samuel Adams Boston Brewery.

Yeah, I’m (a little) jealous. But, I’m apparently getting a new pint glass out of the deal… so it ain’t all bad.

Last night, Chris and Alex came over so that I could change out the hard drive in Alex’ PS3. Things went well… until we realized that Alex didn’t bring a cord for the controller. For some reason, the PS3 firmware won’t recognize wireless controllers during that process. *shrug* Thus, we couldn’t complete the operation. Instead, we sat around and geeked about gaming.

Stray Toasters

• Sam Adams. Patriot. Brewer. Homeboy.
• Sturges and Power Girl Display “Girl Power”
  This was an interesting article; I’m curious to see how the issues actually read.
• The Composer’s Other Voice
• General Motors to invest $2B in plants, create 4,000 jobs
• ‘You Can’t Defeat Hate With Hate’
• 
• Federal Retreat on Bigger Loans Rattles Housing
  • Is It Better to Buy or Rent?
• I would say “What the fuck…?!” here but, well… that would be redundant: Best college sex ed class ever canceled after sex toy demonstration with naked lady
• The Galactic Empire Times
• From the “Hallelujah… Thank you, Jesus” file:
  

  If Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco gets released or traded, what do you think the chances of Baltimore taking him are?
  James Walker: “I don’t see that. Baltimore has a good mix of veteran receivers and young draft picks to develop. It’s not a good fit.”

• Google’s Digital Music Service Falls Short of Ambition
• 
  • Secret Origins: Rot Lop Fan
• Summer’s Superhero Movies Get Blocky With Awesome Lego Minifig Posters
• Fox has axed Human Target, along with a few other shows. While the second season departed from the character’s original premise, I still enjoyed it… and it was leaps and bounds better than the version that ABC aired in the 90s.
• ‘HALO’ and creators move on after divorce

Namaste.

Monday – 09 May 2011
It’s a rainy night in Georgia day here in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. (But, at least it isn’t snowing, like it is in the southern part of the state.)

Yesterday was a long day. Not because I had so many things to do. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I had so much free time that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.

I started by sleeping in. That was followed by mowing the lawn (before it started raining). After a quick shower, I was hit with the first bout of indecision over what to do. I passed the time by surfing the Internet. When I finally got it in mind to get something to eat, it was early afternoon. I decided to head up to MacCool’s Public House. I had Finn’s Skins, along with the Buffalo Shepherd’s Pie… and a pint o’ Guinness. After lunch, I stopped in to wish

Back home for Round 2 of “What Do I Do Now?” (That, again, translated into some more surfing.) I also started looking at a couple of books that contained some ideas that I want to incorporate into my train layout. Yes, I believe that the layout – or at least half of it – might get a bit of an overhaul in the next few days. Around 6:15, I decided to have some more limited human interaction by heading over to the local Barnes & Noble and doing some drawing. Fortunately, I decided to look up the store’s hours before driving there: The store closed at 7:00. Feh. More surfing. I remembered that I still needed to do some grocery shopping, so I did that.

After I returned home, I put away the goods, ran a load of dishes and treated myself to a snack and some TV time. I caught up on a little more Human Target – and cleared a bit more space on the DVR – before calling it a night.

Stray Toasters

• Comic Books as Education
• I picked up three new cars for my railroad. Passenger cars. If I go with the layout scheme that I’m thinking of, I’ll be able to run two trains – one freight, one passenger – concurrently.
• 
• Obama Has a Bridge He Wants to Sell You
• The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is presenting: The Smithson Effect
• 8 False Tea Party-Republican Memes to Talk About Before You Go to the Polls
• Blogger announces own death after battle with cancer
• 
• Video: Bionic legs helping people walk
• Sci-Fi Ikea Manuals
• “Thor Loser”
• Hillary Clinton Photoshopped Out of Situation Room Photo

And now… Lunch from the Chow Truck!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 03 May 2011
After the spectacular day we had yesterday, Tuesday greets us with dull, grey clouds. The forecast says nothing about rain, but we’ll have to see what Mother Nature has planned.

Perhaps I typed too soon. Looking across the valley, I see sunlight on the tops of the Oquirrh Mountains.

Last night, SaraRules! fixed a magnificent pan-fried steak – along with a broccoli/potato/cheese dish and salad – for dinner. After dinner, we decided to do some walking. We took a stroll through the local Babies ‘R’ Us. I hadn’t been to a BRU in years; and the last time was to pick up a gift for friends who either were having or just had a new kid. The experience is “a little” different when you’re shopping for own household. It’s literally amazing how many things there are for your baby (to toddler) there.

Back at home, I surfed the Interwebs for a bit. I stopped for a while when I hit Marvel.com’s coverage of the U.S. premiere of Thor, hosted by Isaiah Mustafa. It. Was. HILARIOUS. It was him and a cameraman interviewing the cast and Kenneth Branagh as they walked down the red carpet. While I’ve seen the What The–?! with Mr. Mustafa as Luke Cage…

…I didn’t know just how much of a comic book fan he was. (Apparently, he’s quite the fan.) It was fun to watch/listen to him geek out on different comics-related items between – and during – the interviews. It’s two hours long, but it’s worth it for his interview with Jaimie Alexander (Sif) alone. (That’s roughly 1:45:00 into the stream.) The part where Josh Dallas (Fandral) riffs on Mustafa’s Old Spice Guy is also worth a watch.

After that, we watched a bit of Top Gear before calling it a night. It was a rerun of the episode in which James May drove up the side of a volcano.

Stray Toasters

• I apparently neglected to note that this week is Teacher Appreciation Week.
• Superman made his first appearance on May 3, 1938.

• Moss, Black Hat founder, named CSO of ICANN
• Army Corps Blows Up Missouri Levee
• By way of Nyx: Vintage bombers in air and on display in Salt Lake City
• Other upcoming events include:
  • Free Comic Book Day – 07 May 2011
  • National Train Day – 07 May 2011
    • There will be an event for this at Ogden Union Station, from 10 – 5
• 20 Insanely Creative Bookshelves
• 
• Is the Southwest-Air Tran merger a good deal for fliers?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Mummified body of former Playboy playmate Yvette Vickers found in her Benedict Canyon home
• Bam! Healing war wounds through comic books
  • At this point, I’ll take a moment to mention Untold Stories from Iraq & Afghanistan, once again.
• Free Speech Zone Runs Afoul of SLC Sign Ordinance
• Also from Nyx: Mouse Study Suggests Why Addictions Are Hard to Forget
• Tradition vs. Progress: The Art of the American Fire Helmet

Namaste.

Wednesday – 27 April 2011
Midweek.
New comics day.
D&D game night. Father-in-law’s birthday dinner.

And, it’s a bright, sunshiny day.

I’d call that an all-around good day.

Now that (most of) the shock of the whole “You’re having twins” surprise has worn off, we’re looking at the things we’re going to need two of. (I’m also trying NOT to think of things like “two cars… two college funds… two of everything…”) This is going to be something of an adventure.  And, of course, this twins-related story showed up on Big Shiny Robot yesterday.  (Although, it does make me wonder whether the twins will have superpowers and what powers they might wind up with…)

Last night, I had to go to the local Home Depot and Lowe’s. (Yeah, I know… rough life…) A couple of sections of our back fence blew over on Monday night, so they need to get replaced. I don’t know if this fence was the handiwork of the house’s previous owners or the ones before them, but the back fence has always looked kind of sad and we had talked about replacing it. This just advances the time table a bit. It turns out that the replacement fencing we’re looking at doesn’t all that expensive. (Fortunately.)

Other than that, it was a rather uneventful night, as I called it an early evening on account of being completely tuckered out.

Stray Toasters

• I have a monkey!  made it for me!
  
• The First Zombie-Proof House
• Senator: Lack of details on Playstation Network outage ‘troubling’
  • Sony Says Playstation Hacker Got Personal Data
• …and, in a related note: Borders investigates whether customers’ personal information was revealed on website
• WWII airplane factory camouflaged as a residential neighborhood
• 
• Atheists Seek Chaplain Role in the Military
• ‘Disturbing’ revelations in probe of possible gas price manipulation
• Alex Lifeson Interview: His Complete Gear Setup for “Time Machine Tour 2011” (video)
  • Just in case you’re interested in purchasing one of Alex’ guitars, click here.
• Fans of Mad Men and Portal/Portal 2 should appreciate this:

• A State Manager Takes Over and Cuts What a City Can’t
• Viktor Hertz: Pictogram Movie Posters
• ThinkGeek just referred to Mother’s Day as “…your most favorite spawn point.”  It made me laugh.
• 
• Thanks to for pointing this out to me. I may just need it…
• Traditional incandescent bulbs on their way out starting Jan. 1

Namaste.

Tuesday – 26 April 2011
Day Two of the work week finds me in the south office again. In the words of Lita Ford, “It ain’t no big thing.” So far, it’s been fairly quiet, which has been something of a boon.

Yesterday, I left work early for a doctor’s appointment. More specifically, I left for an appointment that SaraRules! had. For those who don’t know: She’s expecting. (Which I guess really could be said: “We’re expecting.”) A couple of weeks ago, she had a check-up, which included taking blood for a few tests. She got a call from her doctor, this past Thursday, saying that one of tests came back with “abnormal” results and that they wanted her to come in for an ultrasound.

NOTE: The test that came back abnormal was a test that checks the protein levels in the womb. This protein – when registered in elevated levels – is an indicator of a neural tube defect, which can be a sign of spina bifida (1, 2) or other spinal cord diseases/defects. SaraRules!’ protein levels were high enough to merit further study. The ultrasound was needed to check the spine’s development and see if there was, in fact, a problem.

As you can imagine, our weekend had “a few” moments of preoccupation.

Yesterday, we went to the hospital to get the ultrasound. We were met by the ultrasound tech and a genetics specialist. They gave us a brief overview of what they would be looking for and went to work. A few moments later, the genetics doctor looked at the screen and then looked at us and said that her work was done…

…and that the baby was fine:

HUGE RELIEF!!!

.

.

.

.

.

…and so was the OTHER baby.

Wait…
What…?!

Twins.

That’s right: We’re having twins.

Oh, boy…

The elevated protein levels that were noted in the blood test were due to the fact that the test was looking for a certain range/level – the amount which one baby would produce. Since there are two babies in there, the test was thrown off, because they are both producing the protein. And, when that’s factored in, both babies – and SaraRules! – are fine.

So, I guess this means that I should get ALL the sleep I can in the next four-and-a-half months, because after that, I doubt that I’m going to get a full night’s sleep for a L-O-N-G time… if ever again.

Stray Toasters

• NFL lockout ends, for now
  • Judge sides with players, tells NFL to end lockout
  • To players, Judge Susan Nelson is now the NFL’s offseason MVP
  • NFL in Limbo as Owners Try to Preserve Lockout
• 
• Multitaskers Better at Spotting ‘Invisible Gorilla’
• 500-year-old book surfaces in Utah
• Rivet Manufacturing Flaw Suspected in Jet’s Roof
• 
• Security education: We’re doing it wrong
• Bill Nye Boo’d in Texas for Saying the Moon Reflects the Sun
  Really…?  Really?!  Are people seriously this dense?
• The Rise of the Corporate Superhero

Yeah… twins.  Wow.

Namaste.

Friday – 22 April 2011
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday. S’okay… it’s the quiet, low-number-of-employees day. That’s a good thing.

Today is also Good Friday…

…and it’s Earth Day, too.

But, it’s still a Friday, and that means that the weekend is mere hours away…

Last night, after I got home from work, I went to the basement and ran my train around the layout for a bit. To those who don’t get “how” people can derive enjoyment from “…just watching a train go in a (modified) circle,” I don’t think that I can sufficiently explain it. But I do. And it was good. And fun.

After a failed trip to the Village Christmas Shoppe at Gardner Village (it’s closed… as in permanently) SaraRules! and I picked up dinner from the Papas – John and Murphy – and went home to watch The Godfather: Part III, which I’d never seen before. It was good. (Man, it was LONG, too…) I enjoyed seeing continuation and conclusion of Michael Corleone’s rise to power and how he wielded it.

Stray Toasters

• I’m playing phone-tag with two different service companies, while avoiding… umm, “delaying”… calling two others. Yay.
• Well, $#!* Swearing is good for you, sort of
  Really?! It took them 2 years to figure this out? I could have told them that in about 2 seconds.
• SLC church distributes free copies of the Quran
• 
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How 50 Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture
• Georgia nuclear reactor shuts down; investigation under way
  • Speaking of Georgia and nuclear power, I need to correct something that I posted (at least once) before: It turns out that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was not a nuclear engineer, as I had previously been told. He did work in the field of nuclear energy, but wasn’t a physicist or nuclear engineer. (Source)
  • Fukushima Plant Is (Officially) Dead Forever
• There’s a new Green Lantern trailer…
• At Ebenezer Baptist Church, a Glorious Rebirth
• 
• Zombie comic tutorial for using the college library
• Inquiries Grow Over Apple’s Data Collection Practices

Namaste.

Thursday – 21 April 2011
It’s another NBN Thursday in the valley. It’s partly sunny, but at least it’s not raining. For the time being, anyway…

Last night was Game Night 2, with and the gang. Actually, it was an abbreviated gang, as a couple of our group weren’t able to make it. But, we persevered and adventured on without them. And we lived to tell the tale.

Back at home, I joined SaraRules! in watching Real Salt Lake take on Monterrey in the Concacaf Champions League Final match. RSL looked a bit tired by the time I started watching (second half), but they held their own against… and the refs. I – along with a couple of the announcers – thought that the refs yellow carded a couple of plays that shouldn’t have drawn penalties AND they completely missed/ignored a red card offense against Monterrey. *shrug* RSL came out of the game with a 2-2 tie and the second leg of the match will be held at Rio Tinto Stadium next Wednesday.

Stray Toasters

• In a follow-up to yesterday’s post: Weird Al posts Lady Gaga parody song (incl. link to song)
  It turns out that her manager never forwarded the song/request to Lady Gaga in the first place.
• Mail Rail: London’s long lost underground postal railroad
• 
• For SaraRules!: Behold: The world’s most complicated Rube Goldberg machine
• In Online Games, a Path to Young Consumers
• 2011 World’s Ugliest Couch Contest
• 
• I wonder of SaraRules! would let me build one of these…
• Despite threats, security not enough of priority at utilities
• FDA warns Delta over rodent droppings ‘too numerous to count’
• Burning Question: Is Wi-Fi Squatting Illegal?
• 
• The Man’s Guide to Marriage: A Timeline
• Stumbling Into Bad Behavior
• Utah attorney general says he will file antitrust lawsuit against BCS
• Engineering a real-life ‘Star Wars’ AT-AT

Namaste.

Wednesday – 20 April 2011
It’s the middle of the week, once more. That means new comics and Game Night 2.

Last night, SaraRules! and I had dinner – at one of the local Mimi’s Cafes – with my friends Peggy and Adrian. I haven’t seen Peggy in nearly ten years, I don’t think; Adrian and I last got together about a year or so ago. It was good to see and catch up with them. And, both the food and the company were good.

After dinner, I headed over to ‘ place for a bit of Tuesday night gaming. Our group had to figure out a couple of goings-on in the city… while not getting killed by a bunch of cultists… AND figure out to whom we could talk about said cultists without getting ourselves killed. Precarious. We seemed to find an interested – and quite possibly helpful – group. We’ll see if it comes back to bite us in our collective recta.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Tina Fey’s Prayer for a Daughter, excerpted from her book, Bossypants

Stray Toasters

• Is it possible to rickroll yourself?  If so, I think I did while shaving this morning.
  • What Defines a Meme?
• Dangerous Arts
• Grete Waitz, Marathon Champion, Dies at 57
• Interview: Melissa Bianco, City of Heroes Lead Designer
• The Ravens have released their schedule for next season, assuming that there’s a 2011-2012 season…
• 
• iPhone keeps records of everywhere you go
• Sound Matrix
• From the “Um…No, you idiotstick.” file: Man tried to rob store with game remote
• Cuba Lays Foundation for a New Leader
• A Rabbi Armed With a Blowtorch Keeps Things Kosher
• In the digital era, free is easy, so how do you persuade people to pay?
• U.S. Orders Airlines to State Fees More Clearly

Namaste.

Sunday – 16 April 2011
Today is Palm Sunday (1, 2).

And every time I think of that, my mind wanders off to Palm Sunday Downpour, by the band a friend of mine used to be in…

…which, apparently, one of his former bandmates has covered/released on his own. Huh. Go, Power of the Interwebs!

Yesterday was a good day. It was, to be certain, a long day, but it was a good one, all around:

The morning started with SaraRules! and me heading over to say “Goodbye” to Kate, Perry and the kids. They moved out of town this morning. I’ve known Kate for… close to ten years and I’ve known Perry for 8 or 9-ish; they’ve been very good friends. They’re going to be missed.

Next, we headed to Thanksgiving Point to check out:

“Eye-Candy Overload” was a wee bit of an exaggeration… but I think that was only because of how much the weather has flip-flopped from warm-to-cold-to-warmish over the past couple of weeks. Yes, there were tulips in bloom. But, upon our arrival, there weren’t as many as we would have expected. As the morning wore on – and as we neared the end of our excursion – more opened. This isn’t to say that we had a bad time, though. Far from it. We had a good walk and I got a lot of pictures around the gardens.

On the way home, we stopped at In-N-Out Burger for lunch and at the local Kohl’s, so that I could look for a couple of pairs of slacks. Lunch was successful; the clothes shopping, not as successful.

I decided to venture northward. I stopped in at Almosta Junction in Clearfield, where – for the first time in all of my trips there – their layout was in operation! That, of course, meant that I was compelled to shoot video (15 MB, m4v file) of it. I left with a couple of books and an O-Scale BMW 6 Series car. Next, I headed up to The Wonderful World of Trains. There were plenty of things there that could easily wind up on The Covet List, but I managed to leave with just the first FasTrack book that Lionel put out.

Back home. It was almost time to start getting ready for the evening’s outing. Black suit (Nod Ya Head), white shirt, black tie (with grey squares and white dots), black shoes. I had the good fortune to accompany both SaraRules! and to dinner and the symphony. We ate at Settebello; I had the Margherita pizza (with sausage) and a couple of cappucinos. After dinner, we walked to Abravanel Hall to hear Utah Symphony perform

(click image to see the program for the evening)

We missed most of the Mozart – we were a bit late, due to how crowded Settebello was – but the rest of the concert was quite good. Despite having heard Also Sprach Zarasthustra and On the Beautiful Blue Danube numerous times before, it was quite another thing to hear them performed live; I should think that Maestro Fischer would be proud of how the symphony performed under Mr. Schwarz’ direction.

Before heading home, we stopped at Capo for gelato. It was a good way to end the evening.

Stray Toasters

• Inability to Detect Sarcasm, Lies May Be Early Sign of Dementia, UCSF Study Shows
• From Jill Pantozzi’s “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” blog: New York Times insults female readers, they write back
  • How to Pick a Local Comic Book Store
  • Block Quote: The Case for Comic Books
• Trebuchette – the snap-together, desktop trebuchet
  These guys are only a few dollars – and a few days – from having their project fully funded. Why not pitch in and help them meet their goal? (Besides… who wouldn’t love to have their own trebuchet?)
• Keep Your Thumbs Still When I’m Talking to You
• Appalachian History Boxed Up in Shuttered Museum
• Ouch. Talk about “poor product placement.”

  

• FBI shuts down poker sites in online gambling crackdown
• You vs. the TSA: How to Survive an Invasive Pat-down
• She keeps her ex’s pistol
  On the table beside her bed
  To scare the ghosts that come
  As the bourbon slips to the back of her head
• Eight Is Too Much for ‘Short Sleepers’
• ‘Sweet Valley’ Twins Are Back, and, Like Readers, Fully Adult

Time to start getting ready for Mass and the rest of the day…

Namaste.