Random Access

Tuesday – 09 November 2010
Another day that started with flurries.
Welcome to mid-Autumn in Utah.
They’ve stopped… for now.

It’s also “Take a Model Train to Work” Day.  So, I brought in my LEGO train:

Today, we have a “meet and greet” with our company’s new president. I’ve seen him walking around the office a few times; I’m curious to hear what he has to say about his vision for leading the company.

Last night, , Nathan and Wes came over for Monday Night Football. Wes…. is a Steelers fan. I didn’t discover this until recently. I think I still like him, despite such a major personality flaw.

After the game, I did a little more work on my Signal Tower – it’s probably 90-95% complete, aside from some trim and accessories.

Instant Replay: Football

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
27 – 21
The Steelers traveled to Cincy to take on the Bengals in a division rivalry game.The boys from Pittsburgh looked like they came to play ball. The Bengals looked like they suited up a junior high JV team… and a poor one, at that. The first half of the game was “All Steelers, all the time.” Period. Somewhere in the third quarter, the Bengals put some actual NFL players in the jerseys and played some good football – coming within a six points of the Steelers – but the Steelers were able to hold on and keep the Bengals out of the end zone during their end-of-game drive. Sorry and … I was actually hoping that the Bengals would pull off the upset.

Stray Toasters

• It’s a suit day: Grey suit, white shirt, red/black/grey/gold deco tie.  Aw, yeah…
  



• Company Accused of Firing Over Facebook Post
• From the “Whoops!  I was…. NEVER… HERE…” file: Two Guys Use Excavator in the Wrong Place and Destroy an Entire Port
• For SaraRules!: 6 year old skateboarder Asher Bradshaw at Venice Beach Skatepark
• What Alcohol Actually Does to Your Brain and Body
• Paul pointed this out to me earlier: The tunnel people of Las Vegas: How 1,000 live in flooded labyrinth under Sin City’s shimmering strip
  • After a little surfing, I found this: Dark Days, a documentary about a subterranean community in New York City
• Scratching Under the Vinyl Era:Warner Music Digs Into Its Archives
• Parents worry about toddlers’ tiny fingers itching for iPhones
• Destroy All Movies!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film
• I can’t stop thinking big
  I can’t stop thinking big
  In a world where I feel so small
  I can’t stop thinking big
• From the “Get Your Dance On, Girl!” file: First Lady’s Dance Moves Woo Indian Crowds
• Mystery missile launches off California coast

Namaste.

Sunday – 07 November 2010
Ah, weekend.
And, it’s been a quite good one, at that.
Hopefully, everyone remembered to set your clocks back an hour for Daylight Saving Time.

Yesterday was SaraRules!’ birthday:

Last night, she threw a “Spaghetti Fiesta” party.  There was spaghetti (obviously), wine, cookies, cake, ice cream… the works.  And it was a lot of fun.

Earlier in the day, I hung out with Chris a bit and judged a ‘Clix tourney. Then, I came home and worked on my train layout a little bit.  Last week, I picked up Lionel’s Engine House – same style, but an older version and a little differently colored and it was a kit, rather than a pre-assembled unit. Yesterday, while waiting for people to arrive, I finished putting it together.  It looks good.

Today is my friend, Jeremiah’s, birthday:

This morning, SaraRules! and I were going to head up to Ruth’s Diner for breakfast. I figured that since Comcast and the local CBS affiliate couldn’t be bothered to let us know which NFL game was going to be aired at 11:00, a nice breakfast out with the missus seemed like a good thing. However, being the amazingly cool wife that she is, SaraRules! suggested that we wait until 11:00 and see who was playing. Good thing, too: It was the Dolphins-Ravens game. Win-Win.

Instant Replay: Football

Miami Dolphins at Baltimore Ravens
10 – 26
Coming off of a bye week, The Ravens hosted the Miami Dolphins… and the game was aired locally, so I got to see my two favorite AFC teams play! Miami came into this game having won all of their road games this season, while Baltimore has won all of this season’s home games. So it was going to be a good match-up. The Ravens received the opening kick-off and QB Joe Flacco drove the team down the field to score a touchdown. Not to be outdone, the ‘Fins scored on their first drive, as well. There was a lot of back-and-forth in the rest of the first quarter, but no one was able to score. Baltimore put up a couple of FGs in the second quarter, to the Dolphins’ one. Baltimore scored another TD on a WR Derrick Mason reception in the third and posted a couple more field goals in the fourth to cement the win. Notable plays in the game: FS Ed Reed‘s third interception… in two games. P Sam Koch‘s 13-yard PASS (that’s right, I said “pass”) to Cary Williams on 4th down in the third quarter. DB Josh Wilson‘s end-of-game pick of a Chad Henne pass. I am taking the win as a belated birthday gift from the Ravens, as the score was 10-26… which happens to be my birthday. But, there’s no time to sit back and enjoy this win, as the Ravens have to travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons on Thursday.

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New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
34 – 3
The Saints, coming off last week’s win over the Steelers, went to Bank of America Stadium and handed the Panthers a big-time defeat.

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New England Patriots at Cleveland Browns
14 – 34
The Pats traveled to Cleveland and got handled by the Browns. Big time.

Stray Toasters

• Listening to Rap for the First Time, with a Book Critic, courtesy of
• Best television adaptations of science fiction and fantasy novels
• BSO’s Mahler and Freud: A Q&A with Didi Balle
• will be able to appreciate this:
  



• I discovered RailModeller, a model railroad layout program… for the Mac a few days ago.  I’m liking it.
• Snow White just rocked my face off
  • Pogomix
• 5 Ways to Really Stay Warm This Fall and, Eventually, Winter
• I like this Call of Duty: Black Ops commercial
• Government D.A.R.E. Program Causes Kid to Narc on Parents & Send Them to Jail
• 33 Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out to Be True, What Every Person Should Know
• The Queen Joins Facebook

Namaste.

Friday – 05 November 2010
Today is the beginning of Diwali.

It is also Guy Fawkes Day.

It’s also my 9/80 “on” Friday.

Last night, SaraRules! and I attended the Ballet West performance of:

The performances were good. I was unfamiliar with The Four Temperaments (as a dance piece); it was interesting and a little odd. I was familiar with the music from Carmina Burana, but the performance was less of an interpretation of the the story and more of an expressionist piece of modern dance.

Stray Toasters

• Graphitti Designs is (FINALLY!) coming out with a new Legion t-shirt in January!  Covet!
• Secret Ohio Warplane Graveyard Unearthed
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: 10 Toys That Will Permanently Screw Up Your Kids
• How Fanboys, Fandroids and Crackberry Junkies See Each Other
• E.U. Says It Will Overhaul Privacy Regulations
• Comics Career Guide: What to Expect from a Career in the Arts
• 
• Cooking for Geeks
• Microsoft has a hit with Kinect Xbox 360 game controller
  • Of course… Kinect has problems following dark-skinned users
• Learning in Dorm, Because Class Is on the Web
• Qantas CEO: ‘Faulty design’ may be behind jet engine blowout

Our outgoing President/CEO bought a foosball table for the office as a parting gift. I just played foosball for the first time in… in… well, let’s just say “a very long time.” I must admit: It was fun.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 November 2010
Midweek.
Of course, that also means that its Comics and Sushi Wednesday, too!

And, it’s ‘s birthday:

Last night was D&D night with and company. It was a good game. No one died, although Alex’ character gave it the old college try. And we met a new party member, before things were all said and done.

Today’s musical interlude comes in two parts:

• Jesus Jones – Right Here, Right Now
• Van Halen – Right Now

Stray Toasters

• Stan Lee Revamps ‘Romeo & Juliet’ in the Future with Cyborgs
• The History of the Uncanny Valley
• 
• Serious Security Bugs Found in Android Kernel
• LEGO lifts off with NASA
• Cotton Clothing Price Tags to Rise
• From xkcd: “Diode”



• Bill Parisi’s Photos of Model Railroad Layouts
• S.F. Supes Pass Happy Meal Ban with Veto-Proof Majority
• The Art of Biking
• A Cultural Leap Across a Political Divide: In Cuba, American Ballet Theater and City Ballet Dance

The show must go on!

Namaste.

Monday – 01 November 2010
Today is All Saints Day.

Yesterday was a relaxed and lazy day. I slept in a bit and then headed to the living room to watch a few things that have been on the DVR for far too long. Later, and I headed down to Lehi to check out a hobby shop… that was open on Sunday!  (You’d possibly have to live here to understand how bizarre it is to find a small town hobby store open on a Sunday afternoon.) When we got there, it was closed — the sign on the door said “Summer Hours: Closed Sundays.” This brought two things to mind:

1. Wasn’t “summer” over an month and a half ago?
2. Couldn’t they have listed something about being closed on their website?

On the way back, we experienced “Adventures in Road Rage” with some yutz in an SUV. Fun times.

After I got back home, I put in a little time playing LEGO Universe. From there, SaraRules and I headed to Home Depot, stopped off to help a friend with a computer problem and then went to the in-laws’ for dinner and football.

Post-game, we headed home and watched The Walking Dead. I liked it. There were a couple of parts that were reminiscent of 28 Days Later, where Cillian Murphy first awakens to discover the world (or at least England) has gone to Hell around him. I’m curious to see how the show progresses… and I should read the graphic novels, as we have them, to see how close the adaptation is.

Instant Replay: Football
The Ravens had their bye week. I hope they got in a good bit of rest because next week is a VERY short week for them: Sunday, they play the Dolphins at home and Thursday they travel to the Georgia Dome to take on the Falcons.

Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals
22 – 14
The Dolphins headed up to Cincy to face the Bengals… …and swam away with a win. Sorry, janietrain and carefreespirit.

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Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders
3 – 33
The Raiders are on a roll, with their second big win in two weeks. Congratulations, SaraRules! and 1silver_seraph.

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Carolina Panthers at St. Louis Rams
10 – 20
The Panthers lost this one on the road… to the Rams. *sigh*

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Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints
10 – 20
The Steelers rolled into the Big Easy to face the Saints. I wasn’t sure how this one would turn out, but Drew Brees and company stood up to the challenge and came away with the win. This is a double-plus for me as the Steelers’ loss puts the Ravens back atop the AFC North.

Stray Toasters

• We only had six (6) Trick-or-Treaters this year. And they all came in one group.
  On the other hand, we were able to watch horror movies without interruptions.
• A New Search Engine, Where Less Is More
• For SaraRules!: ‘Frank — The Voice’
• Mechanical Mustache Project
• Click the image…



• From the “Is There Life on Mars?” file: Would you go to Mars and never come back?
• Nonprofits Rush to Solicit Donations via Text, but the System Is Flawed
• Finding Common Ground
• Too soon or too funny?
• Street Art Way Below the Street

Things and stuff to do…

Namaste.

Saturday – 30 October 2010
It’s Hallowe’en weekend.

There’s been a lot of debate going around as to whether or not kids should be out Trick or Treating tonight or tomorrow night. *shrug* I’m not sure that I care either way. I know that we’re giving out candy tonight and, assuming that we’re home tomorrow night, we’ll probably give some out then as well.

Yesterday, and I headed up to Ogden to pay a long overdue visit to The Wonderful World of Trains. We both found things that we liked, but I was the only one who wound up walking out with a few things:

• Atlas O Signal Tower
• Lionel K-Line B&O Double Door Boxcar
• Lionel K-Line “Happy Birthday” Boxcar (minus the “Tavis 2nd” part)

After we got back to SLC, I stopped in at The Train Shoppe and picked up some more track; I needed it to try out a layout I had in mind…

After SaraRules! got home from work, we headed to The Blue Iguana to have dinner with Bill Byrnes, one of her former professors. I’d been to The Red Iguana before, but never to The Blue Iguana. I had the beef enchiladas and they were quite tasty. Post-dinner, we met up with a few of the usual suspects for coffee and dinner… or, rather just drinks and a snack for us.

Back at home, I headed to the basement to work on my model railroad. The layout worked pretty much the way I had hoped: I did a single L-shaped dogbone loop…

Dog-bone arrangement of a continuous loop; the sides of an oval are squeezed together so it looks like a double-track section with a loop at each end where the trains turn around.

…with a couple of spurs off the inside line.

Today started lazily. (That’s far from a “bad” thing.) After breakfast, we got to the business of painting the guest bedroom. We used a different brand of paint than we used in the other rooms; it was thicker and took a little more effort to apply, but I think that we may only need one coat of it. As to the rest of the day, we’ll do a little errand-running this afternoon, but I think that this evening will mostly involve watching horror movies and handing out candy to the intrepid ghosts, ghouls and other assorted creatures who wander the streets tonight.

Stray Toasters

• The Magic of Harry Houdini’s Staying Power
• Black Republican Set to Make History in S.C.
• The Minivan Video Your Kids Shouldn’t See. Ever.
• 
• A Science Joke for Your Saturday Morning
• For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance
• Lost Animaniacs Clip – “Dear Mister Gingrich”
• A Giant LEGO Map of Europe

And with that, I think we’re off to seek out what the day has to offer.

Namaste.

Thursday – 28 October 2010
Another NBN Technical Friday is upon us.
Amen.

Last night was D&D game night with Melody, Jack and company. My character nearly died. Twice. Not good. Fortunately, though, he didn’t and lives to adventure another day.

After the game, I headed home to read yesterday’s four-color haul. There were some good reads… and a few mediocre ones.  And, I’m still not a fan of John Romita, Jr.’s artwork. (That’s right, I said it. Again.) After a few books, I decided to combine a couple of relaxation methods: Reading comics while soaking in a hot bath. It was a good mix.

Stray Toasters

• From the “SkyNet is now online…” file: Meet Suzette, the chat program that convinced an expert she was human
• For SaraRules! and others: George A. Romero Explains “Zombies” (video)
• Apple Tried to Buy HALO’s Creators
• Musical Interlude: Ray Charles – Sticks and Stones
• DiyOrNot Calculates the Cost of DIY Projects
• China Wrests Supercomputer Title from U.S.
• 
• Firefox zero day being exploited in the wild
• Hurray for fire drills!
• How to Spot Your Evil Twin
• Musical Interlude #2: Nelly (ft. St. Lunatics) – Batter Up
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: 3M claims ownership over purple
  • 3M Owns the Color Purple (But Not How You Might Think)
• In Spain, Homes Are Taken but Debt Stays
• James Bond’s Astin Martin sells for 2.6M pounds at auction

And with that…

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 27 October 2010
First day back in the office.
First day of snow in the valley.
Yay.

But, it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday… so that helps to make it considerably better.

Yesterday was an amazing day. That’s really the only way to sum it up. Although I’ve known for a few weeks that I had a “birthday surprise” on tap from SaraRules!, I had no idea what it was until 0830 yesterday morning:

Yep… she got me the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School Mustang Experience package at the Miller Motorsports Park. And it was fantastic!

Granted, first thing in the morning, I wasn’t quite as gung-ho about it. In fact, I would describe it more as “ho-hum.” But, when I got out there and discovered exactly what I was in for, my attitude changed. A lot. Over the course of the day we:

• …took a tour of The Larry H. Miller Total Performance Auto Museum, which houses part of the LHM auto collection,
• …got 30 minutes of class instruction on high performance driving,
• …went out on the track and got to drive race-tuned Mustang GTs for ten (10) laps, in a lead-follow behind a professional driver,
• …rode for two (2) laps with a pro driver — we got to see how the course is supposed to be run,
• …toured the entire MMP facility, and
• …got to ride on the go-kart track.

After the whole thing was over, I went back to the museum and took pictures of the car collection. A lot of pictures. Jason, who did our earlier tour of the museum and grounds, was around to talk about each car and the stories behind them; he was very informative. I was expecting to be gone for two (maybe three) hours; all told, it was there for nearly five-and-a-half hours! And it was chock full of awesome!

On the way back home, I stopped at SaraRules! office to thank her (profusely) for such a fun birthday present. From there, I went to The Train Shoppe — I needed some rails to make a couple of siding spurs. Then… home.

We went out for dinner to Rodizio Grill.  Can you say “Meat o’clock,” boys and girls?  I knew you could! Yeah, it was totally “game on” with meats on a stick. And grilled pineapple. And caiphirinas. And their Chocolate Cake Sundae. Want to talk about a couple of VERY full people…?  We were stuffed to the proverbial gills.

We ended the evening with Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension.  Somehow, I had never seen this movie before, although it was apparently a staple of SaraRules! and her sibs’ childhood. It was silly. And campy. And terribly fun.

All-in-all, it was a wonderful day to turn 40.

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules!: Graffiti of New York’s Past, Revived and Remade
• Take a Model Train to Work Day
  I think that I’ll have to do this.  I believe that I’ll bring in my LEGO train…
• Glaxo to Pay $750 Million for Sale of Bad Products
• 
• By way of former coworker Kristi comes: 2006 Tony Awards – Excerpt from Threepenny Opera, featuring Cyndi Lauper and Alan Cumming
• Electromagnetic burst impact far and wide
• Schomburg Center in Harlem Acquires Maya Angelou Archive

Yeah, that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Monday – 25 October 2010
Okay, I’m not really a pirate, but thanks (and apologies) to Jimmy Buffett for the title of today’s post. (You can listen to the song here.)

I turn 40 tomorrow.

I don’t look at it with trepidation or lots of introspection or trying to figure out what I want/need to get past a mid-life crisis. To be honest, I’m looking forward to it. (Besides, given the fact that I have been known act somewhere in the 8-14 year-old range, I’d say that I have a good ten to fifteen years before I start looking for a fast car or plastic surgery or fake hair.) And the biggest “plus” of all: Another birthday means that I will have successfully avoided the embrace of the Dark Lady for another year. And I have a lot of things that I still want to do. So, bring on forty… and beyond!

Saturday was an eventful day. I started off the day, having breakfast with Chris. From there, we headed up to Dr. Volt’s, where I judged another HeroClix tournament. There were fourteen (14) players in the event – the largest turnout we’ve had in a while. As this was the closest event to Hallowe’en, I decided to make the tournament’s theme “Monster Mash,” in which each team had to have at least one figure with the “Monster” keyword. It went pretty well. After that, six of us played a three-on-three match. That was fun, as I haven’t played in a while. I also established the theme for the next tournament, on 06 November.  I’m calling it “Rock the Vote” and all figures on players’ teams must have either the “Politician,” “Ruler,” or “Reporter” keywords.  That should make for some interesting teams.

After the tourney, SaraRules!, her mother and I went to a birthday celebration fora friend of the family. SaraRules! and I wound up the evening with a couple of movies: Let the Right One In and Eight-Legged Freaks. It’s near Hallowe’en — thus horror movies were in order. We wanted to catch Right One, before seeing its new American remake. It was good… and rather different than I expected. I looked up trivia about the movie and discovered what the movie left out. It also made me interested in reading the book on which it was based. And, Eight-Legged Freaks was just just turn-your-brain-off fun.

Yesterday was a good day. I slept in. I worked at getting my comics collection reorganized.  I moved my train equipment and assembled the second table. I ran errands. I watched football.  And, SaraRules! even watched a couple of movies: The Karate Kid (2009) and Repo Men. We enjoyed both movies.

Instant Replay: Football
Yesterday had a lot of good – and surprising – games:

Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens
34 – 37
The Ravens hosted the 0-5 Bills… …and nearly gave them their first win.  Fortunately, the timely return of Ed Reed – along with an overtime interception by Ray Lewis – helped propel the Ravens over the Bills.

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Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
59 – 14
The Raiders went to Invesco Field and wrecked shop. Seriously. It was a “Take no prisoners” kind of game. How bad was it? Well, let’s just say that the score was 24-0 at the end of the first quarter. Quarter, not half.  Yeah. It was like that. Congratulations, SaraRules! and .

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San Francisco 49ers at Carolina Panthers
20 – 23
The ‘Cats hosted the Niners… and came away with a win.

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Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons
32 – 39
The Bengals dropped this one to Matt Ryan and the Falcons. Sorry, and .

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Cleveland Browns at New Orleans Saints
30 – 17
The Browns went marching into the Superdome beat up Super Bowl champion Saints, who seem to have lost their mojo.

Stray Toasters

• There is more snow on the mountains today. And it’s lower down the mountains, to boot.
• Decoder Ring: Boston Typewriter Orchestra Applies the Wite-Out
• Why Do People Confess to Crimes They Didn’t Commit?
• 
• App Makers Take Interest in Android
• Thanks to for pointing this out: Featherbed Railroad Bed and Breakfast Resort
• Celia Cruz: The Voice from Havana
• Foreclosures Had Errors, Bank Finds

It’s Day 3 of my four-day weekend.  Time to find some trouble to get into!

Namaste.

Saturday – 23 October 2010
In the words of Bjork: “It’s oh so quiet.”
The only sounds, aside from my typing, are from birds chirping outside the window.

Last night, I had a great time: SaraRules! organized a birthday dinner for me at MacCool’s; my birthday isn’t until Tuesday, but she correctly figured that it might be “a little difficult” to get people together on a school night. There was good food (Prime Rib!), good beer (Black and Pumpkin, made with Guinness) and the delightful company of family and friends. We followed dinner with cake and ice cream back at home. It was a great evening and truly an excellent way to wind up the week.

Today, I’m judging another ‘Clix tournament this afternoon at Dr. Volt’s. As there’s no tourney next week, this is our Hallowe’en-themed event, which I’ve been referring to as “Monster Mash.” For this match, all teams have to have at least one figure with the “Monster” keyword.  I’m looking forward to some interesting combinations.

Stray Toasters

• New misspelling: “Stray Toaters.”  I was surprised to learn that “toat” is actually a word.
• I talked the paternal parental unit this morning. He sent me a book, Trains of the World, for my birthday.  In it, he noted a train that used to run through his hometown when he was younger.
• Wonder Woman Day Unleashes Awesome Art for a Good Cause This Sunday
  • And, if you’re in the Flemington, NJ area, check out Comic Fusion’s Wonder Woman Day event, which kicks off today.
• Why Is Clint Eastwood Still the Man?
• Sweet gourd-mangling Cthulhu… I have found Ravens pumpkin carving stencils! I may actually have to carve a pumpkin this year…
• 
• Words & Unwords
• 10 geek sins that will get your geek card revoked
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Celebrity Invention: Penn Jillette’s Bathtub for the Ladies
• Repaneled

I should probably get ready to hit the road.

Namaste.

Friday – 22 October 2010
Bonus points to those of you who get the subject line without having to look it up.

It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday.
It started off somewhat quietly… but it picked up a little, around 9:45. No big deal. Nothing insurmountable.

Last night, after a couple of rounds of “Let’s Clean the House,” I managed to sneak off to Nova Praetoria for a while. I hadn’t played City for a week or two, so it was a nice change of pace. I ran a few missions. I leveled up once. I remembered how slow running through a city can be… although it’s still faster than Hover.

I also got in a bit more reading in Starship Troopers.

Stray Toasters

• Tweaking Tradition, Even in Its Temple
• Moon Crater Contains Usable Water, NASA Says
  • Shawn Colvin & Ernie: I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon
    
• Recently Rediscovered Letter Shows Wonder Woman’s Earliest Costume
• Middle Classes in Africa
• Haunted Mansion ghost hearse made from LEGO
• A Son Grows Thankful for His Father’s Tough Love
• Gays, Mormons and Boy Scouts’ discrimination
• 
• Credit Cards Soon to Get a Makeover
• T-shirt turns into a zombie
  • Sears reaches out to the neglected Zombie-American demographic
• No Net for the Man in Charge

Namaste.

Thursday – 21 October 2010
Another NBN begins here in the valley.
And it’s a slightly chilly one.  (At least it is to me.)

Last night was D&D (4.0) night, with m3l and Jack. We had a good encounter (read: “No one in our group died.”) I also managed to more-or-less finish my repaint of the latest Wolverine HeroClix. I did him up in his current, non-X-Force costume… but haven’t decided if I’m going to do the striping on the side. We’ll see. And maybe I’ll try to get some pictures of it, as well.

After gaming, SaraRules! and I hit the gym. Last night was a cardio night. Rather than get on the elliptical, I got on the treadmill. We walked for a half-hour; I covered 1.70 miles. Hopefully, my schedule will allow me to get back in there with some regularity in the next week or so.

Stray Toasters

• It appears as though the migration is complete. The only thing left is for the new DNS settings to propagate through the Intertubes. All things considered, it was pretty painless and quick.
• Today’s musical interlude: Aerosmith – Pink
• Green Lantern Fan Constructs His Own High-Tech LEGO Power Battery
• Speaking of LEGO, I am having fun with LEGO Universe.
• OMNI Magazine’s Publisher Bob Guccione Has Died…
  …although I’ll probably remember/love/hate him almost as much for Caligula.  (Helen Mirren was in that?! Wow.)
• This makes more than “a little” sense:
  



• What’s so wrong with Comic Sans?
• found a couple of bits of awesomeness on Gizmodo:
  • The Difference Between Facebook and Twitter
  • Student Hides Rick Astley’s Song in College Paper
• If this picture makes you laugh (for more than just “funny animal picture” reas0ns) or sparks nostalgia…

  

  …then you should check out the rest of Timothy Lim’s artwork and his Spider-Man/Calvin and Hobbes mashup.

• NPR Ends Juan Williams’ Contract After Muslim Remarks
• Toyota Makes Another Car Recall
• Superhero Horders: The 7 Biggest Pack Rats in Comics

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Saturday – 16 October 2010
Yesterday, and I headed up to Clearfield to check out a new (to us) train shop: Almosta Junction.  They have the largest O-scale selection that I’ve encountered in Utah. And, they had an amazing layout, including one train that had at least 40 cars on it. pointed out that it “…isn’t just a toy train set, that is definitely a model.” We didn’t get to see the trains in action, but just seeing the layout was great. The shop was pretty cool and I am Ivory Soap sure that I’ll be heading back there again in the not-too-distant future.

After the model railroad outing, I came home and hung out until it was time for Clitorati. Last night’s gathering was small, but nevertheless good. And, I had recovered enough of my appetite to have a little something to eat when dinnertime rolled around.

This morning, we got up and took SaraRules!’ car to the shop to have tire and brake work done. After that, we made a quick stop at the store to pick up breakfast-typed food stuffs. While there, we ran into my former coworker, Brooke, whom we haven’t seen in a few months. Then it was back home for breakfast (French Toast and eggs).

Stray Toasters

• Prince announces tour to start in December
• The Swiss Have the World’s Longest Tunnel and They’re Proud of It
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Passenger: Airline said I’m ‘too disabled’ to fly alone
• Fox channels go dark amid financial dispute
• 
• HOW TO: Make a Zombie Barbie Garden
• 12 Awesome Airplane Paint Jobs

Now: Yard and garden work (ostensibly the last of the season)
Next: Red
Later: La Boheme

Namaste.

Wednesday – 13 October 2010
Technically, I wrote this last night, before going to bed. But, thanks to the miracle of WordPress’ scheduler, I can have it post after the sun is up.  (Or, at least after it’s up on the east coast.)

It’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday. Amen. After a couple of days of getting into the office between 0600 and 0615, I shall gladly take some time in the middle of the day to retrieve my four-color crack and indulge to in a bit of raw fish goodness.

To recap the past couple of days…

I went to work for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon.  Some progress was made, but there were still a couple of issues to be dealt with on Monday.  After that, I went with the lovely SaraRules! (I keep forgetting to add the exclamation point on that) to enjoy a lovely German-themed dinner with the in-laws. It was quite good.  After we got home, I was a bit brain-dead and all I wanted to do was flop down on the couch and watch some TV. The ever-understanding SaraRules! was kind enough to keep me company until it was time to hit the rack.

Monday was… “a day.” I was in the office early — I expected it to be a “less than pleasant” day of work and I wanted to just get it over with.  And, I was right: It wasn’t pleasant.  As I noted in a brief foray to Facebook, I felt like the mythical Sisyphus. (Unfortunately, no matter how many times Carve Away the Stone ran through my head, it did nothing to alleviate my mood.) The day got better after I left work… despite dropping a full cup of frozen mocha goodness on the garage steps – and myself – while getting ready for Monday Night Football. *sigh*

Tuesday was a remarkably better day. While it wasn’t a necessarily “perfect” day, things fell into their proper places and my urge to punch people in the throat was notably absent. After work, I strolled up to Pin-up Girl Espresso for a white tea with peach. I chatted with Jim and Natalie (and Deja, from the neighboring floral/garden center) for a bit before walking back home. After dinner, SaraRules! went gallivanting, while I waited for Chris to come over.  On tonight’s agenda: Halo: Reach.  There was a wonderful bit of (much needed) catharsis in wantonly shooting things. It was a good way to spend the evening.

Stray Toasters

• By way of MarknTyme: Homeless Man – Under Pressure
  (NOTE: Be sure to watch the CNN interview with the performer.)
• Dan Savage’s Message to Gay Youth: ‘It Gets Better’
• Worf: Worst Klingon Ever
• 
• IRS servers go down during crucial week
• X-Men Arcade Coming to Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade
• WWII Star Wars action figure mods
• This both amuses and frightens me…



• …however, the cosplay photography of Jay Tablante reaffirms my faith.
• 10 Things You Didn’t Know about The Empire Strikes Back
• Monkeys…
• Improv Everywhere’s 8 Geekiest Stunts

I should get to bed: It’s early and I have to get up later.

Namaste.

Friday – 08 October 2010
It’s almost the weekend.
It is my 9/80 “on” Friday… and there’s some work that needs to get done before it’s Miller time.

Speaking of work: I’ve been part of a project that has been in various stages of development and progress for a year or so. A couple of months ago, a large part of it wound up falling into my lap. To be honest, a good portion of what needed to be done fell “a little” outside of my personal experience/knowledge base. But it was mine, so there no use crying over “But, I can’t…” or “I don’t…”  (Not that there haven’t been times that I’ve wanted to say those things and walk away.)

On more than one occasion, I’ve been reminded of a song, Discipline, by Bobby McFerrin:

for those who have been trained by it,
no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful.

The lyrics are actually taken from Hebrews 12: 11 (NIV):

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Very apt.
More to the point, I haven’t walked (or run) away from the project.
And, despite the learning curve – and some frustration/irritation from learning a good number of things on the fly – it’s been a great learning opportunity.

Stray Toasters

• LEGO Universe is live, as of this morning.
  Of course, I won’t get to play it until this evening or later tonight. *shakes fist*
• Flawed Foreclosure Documents Thwart Home Sales
• Tom Bancroft’s DCU Elementary
• 
• Rediscovering an Earthy Master
• Pirate Johnny Depp makes surprise school visit
• For : Batman: The Killing Joke Relived Via LEGO
• Spammers Using Soft Hyphen to Hide Malicious URLs
• There is a new anime-styled ‘Iron Man’ animated series coming to G4 this Spring. Not too surprisingly, someone’s found the opening title sequence and posted it on YouTube:
• Fringe Star Anna Torv Explores a New Reality
• If the future’s looking dark
  We’re the ones who have to shine
  If there’s no one in control
  We’re the ones who draw the line
  Though we live in trying times
  We’re the ones who have to try
  Though we know that time has wings
  We’re the ones who have to fly…
• Duke Winces as a Private Joke Slips Out of Control
• The Art of Steve Thomas
• From the “Everything’s Heavy Underground” files:
  • Underground: graphic novel thriller set in a cave
  • Luxury underground community: bomb-shelter meets gate-guarded community
• Ancient Roman helmet sells for ten times estimated amount
• Newspaper Publishers Still Hope Tablets Will Save Them

Back to the grind…

Namaste.