Random Access

Tuesday – 09 June 2009
Last night, we went to dinner at Tandoor Indian Grill for ‘s birthday. It’s a nice place, with good food and decent prices. I had the Tandoori Chicken and was not disappointed. After dinner, we headed back to SaraRules’ parents’ house for dessert. (Back-to-back days with birthday cake == good.) After dessert, SaraRules, , Logan and I played a couple of games of Bocce.

When I got home, I wrestled with the smoke alarm and changed its battery. Then, all I wanted to do was sprawl on the couch… and I did. I was so tired that I started nodding off watching Jonny Quest. I made it through Letterman’s monologue, but decided that I needed sleep more than I needed entertainment; I was in bed before 2300.

I slept much better last night than Sunday night… but I had a series of odd dreams. Nothing horribly “disturbing,” but they were unusual combinations.

The Best: Crazy
Seal vs. Alanis Morrisette

For the past week or so, I’ve been trying to recall who did the cover of Seal’s Crazy that had been at the edges of my memory. I was fairly certain that it was Alanis Morrisette, but I wasn’t positive. Yesterday, I finally remembered to look it up… and it was, in fact, Ms. Morrisette. With that, I checked out the music video for her version. Not bad. Then, I checked out the Seal version. Again, not bad.

Seal:

Crazy – Seal

Alanis:

Alanis Morissette Crazy

The Verdict: This one comes down to a draw for me, with a possible edge going to Seal.  While the Alanis version is good, it might have been more interesting to hear what she might have done had she put more of her own spin on it.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules pointed out a couple of items:
  • If They Can Find Time for Date Night…
  • Barack Obama, Stop Ruining My Marriage
• SaraRules’ father is hooking me up with some HO-scale trains and equipment.
• Shooting deaths of Oklahoma girls remain a mystery a year later
• Insider Appointed Chairwoman of Lincoln Center
• With Apple’s newly-announced 13″ Macbook Pro, I suddenly find myself wanting a new laptop…
• New York City unveils new park made from elevated rail line
• Pop and Rococo Meet and Greet
• Robot Sidekicks: Sci-Fi’s Long Line of Nuts-and-Bolts BFFs
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Neeson, Cooper Join A-Team Film
  (Although, it makes me wonder who they’d consider for B.A. Baracus…)

Namaste.

Monday – 08 June 2009
Happy Birthday to …

…and to my ex-“sister-in-law,” Julie.

After the parade, I spent more time cleaning up the office. (You might not really be able to tell that by looking in there this morning, to be honest…) Some things were moved. Others were shredded. It’s slow-going, but progress is being made.

For dinner, SaraRules and I met Mary, , and at Macaroni Grill for Chris’ birthday dinner. I had the Calamari Fritti and Chicken Marsala, both of which were quite good. After dinner, we headed over to Chris and Mary’s for birthday cake. And, before we left, we set a date for the next Bad Movie Night.

Home again, home again. Logan came over and hung out for a while. While he watched Burn Notice, I continued sorting my ‘Clix into bite-sized morsels theme-relevant teams/boxes. After Burn Notice, the three of us played Trivial Pursuit. We all jockeyed around the board, trading off who had the most wedges, finally Logan and I filled our holders and headed for the middle… where we kept overshooting the center and had to trying to come up with the right dice rolls to get us back in AND get a question that we could answer. He almost took the game, but missed his last question; I made it to the middle and (finally) got one to which I knew the answer. It was fun, but we noticed that some of the questions – especially some of the Geography ones – were outdated.

At 0445 this morning, SaraRules and I were awakened by a loud noise and what sounded like a voice. We didn’t hear anything after it, but couldn’t just dismiss what we heard. After looking around and finding nothing out of order, we figured that it must have been the smoke alarm. Back to bed. Same thing happened at 0604. Thanks to the shock of the abrupt awakening at 0445, I reverted to an old sleeping pattern: Lightly sleeping and awakening at the slightest noise. And, this time, I heard what was going on: A warning chirp (“One ping only.”) and a synthesized voice saying,”Warning: Low battery.” But, why couldn’t it have waited until after my alarm had gone off?! *sigh*

Stray Toasters

• Coffee good.
• By way of comes Ecocomics: Who is the richest comic book character?
• HOW TO: Maintain a Difference Engine
• I caught part of this story during my commute this morning: Sex Without Intimacy: No Dating, No Relationships
• Readers Like the New Batman & Robin
• Which of the following would be the nominally “better” situation, in terms of survivability: Alien invasion or zombie apocalypse? Why?
• Unix Turns 40
• I can’t remember where I put the one drill bit I want/need for a project. *grblsnrkx*

He gets right on to
The friction of the day

Namaste.

Sunday – 07 June 2009
Today is my mother’s birthday.

I woke up early enough – and just long enough – to wish her a happy birthday before she headed out for the day.

Then, I promptly turned over and went back to sleep.

When the alarm went off this morning, I wasn’t exactly ready for it. (Something about staying up far too late last night/this morning…) But, I got out of bed, ate, did the morning hygiene rituals and got ready for the day. SaraRules and I went downtown to the parade for the Utah Pride Festival. The forecast called for rain, which we got in intermittent spurts that ranged from drizzle to moderate. Oh, well. That’s why we took an umbrella!  met us there and Mr. and Mrs. strolled past a few minutes after that and joined us. The parade was good and the wet weather didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s festive mood. Near the end of the parade, my superpower kicked in, too: I ran into Paul, a former coworker from the USPS.

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday, SaraRules wanted to go to a park and walk, so that we could get in a little exercise. I upped the ante a bit and suggested getting a Frisbee^® and tossing it around. She agreed. The next step was to get one. A trip to Wal-Mart proved (semi-)fruitless: They had them, but wanted $9.00 for it. O,o ?!? It’s just a piece of molded plastic…  (And, to be honest, I really wanted an Aerobie^®.) So, while taking care of another errand, we stopped at Sports Authority where – lo and behold – they had Aerobies. I got an Aerobie Pro for the same price as the Frisbee^®. Win-Win. On to the park! As we were only a few blocks from his house, I called Land to see if he wanted to join us; he did. We spent the next hour or so tossing the disc and chatting. And, it was a pretty good workout, to boot.

Back home for badly-needed showers and downtime. We also started to tackle another project: Cleaning up the office. I finally unpacked the shredder we got a few months ago. It works like gangbusters. I also decided to resort some of my HeroClix that currently have no real rhyme or reason to the way they were tossed into some boxes. While I was doing that, SaraRules decided to see what was on TV. She found Independence Day on A&E. She wasn’t aware that we own the movie, so I asked if she wanted to watch the DVD and not have to deal with commercials. She did… and I stopped sorting ‘Clix to watch The Fresh Prince and The Fly save the world. Again.

> Play >
Not a lot happening now, but we’re heading out to have birthday dinner with Chris (of Chris and Mary) a little later. Beyond that… who knows?

Four-Color Coverage
I picked up Incognegro as part of last week’s comics haul.

I’ve wanted to read it, since hearing about it roughly a year-and-a-half ago, but hadn’t gotten around to it. The story tells the tale of Zane Pinchback, a reporter in 1930s New York whose articles give first-hand accounts of lynchings in the South.

The twist: Mr. Pinchback is a Negro.

He gets away with covering the stories and writing his articles for two reasons:

1. He is passing – his complexion is fair enough to let him appear white.
2. He writes his stories under the nom de plume “Incognegro.”

The story takes an odd turn when Zane is given an assignment go to Tupelo, Mississippi. It appears that Zane’s twin – and darkly-complected – brother is about to be lynched for the death of a white woman.

Incognegro, written by Mat Johnson (1, 2, 3) – a light-skinned Black man, himself – is adeptly written.  Its characters aren’t just stereotypical caricatures; they have depth. The settings aren’t just backdrops, they add to the flavor of the scenes. The story also contains a few interesting plot twists, as well.

All-in-all, this was a solid read, and it’s one that I recommend.

Stray Toasters

• I have come to the conclusion that I want to get (back into) model railroading. Not immediately, but possibly in the next year or so. I think that I want to do O Scale, probably a mixture of Lionel and MTH. (What can I say?  It’s roughly ‘Clix-scale. Win-Win.) I started looking at some of the pieces I want and their prices. This could be a pricey hobby.
• A Giant Awakes in Nantes
• Flashmobs + gold pants = ?!?

  Thanks to for forwarding this to me.

• 8 Things Modern Vampires Could Learn from ‘The Lost Boys’
• On a sadder note: Parents rammed cars into burning day care
• Naturally 7: Where Voices Become Instruments of Soul
• , this might be of help to you: How to Choose Headphones
• The Mother of All Potato Cannons

Namaste.

Saturday – 06 June 2009
Last night, I slept poorly. Phenomenally so. (do0-DOO-do0-d00-d00!) After nodding off on the couch, I decided to call it a night. But, once I got into bed, I couldn’t fall asleep. I tossed and turned for… an interminable amount of time — I tend not to watch the clock when I have a problem falling asleep, as it just tends to irritate and annoy me further. When I finally did fall asleep, I kept having dreams with a common theme: Zombies. The dreams weren’t really “connected” aside from the fact that I think they all had zombies in them. After waking from the last one, I decided to get up and start the day.

This afternoon, SaraRules and I are heading to a park for a walk… and maybe a little frisbee-tossing. Other than that, the day’s fairly wide open.

Stray Toasters

• Apparently, Firestorm is set to appear on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I wonder which Firestorm (1, 2) it will be…
• 
• Apple to Face Challenge at WWDC
• Ever thought about owning your own railroad car? This site has some valuable information about it.
• US intelligence nominee withdraws
• Tom and Lorenzo, the guys behind Project Rungay, have an interview with comics writer/artist Phil Jiminez: Getting Our Nerd On
• Japan: Man Beaten into False Confession of Child Murder Set Free After 17 Years in Prison

Time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

Friday – 05 June 2009
Another quiet skeleton crew Friday in the office. After starting the day with 2112, I spent about 30 minutes talking with our CTO about some of his experiences with international travel. That was followed up by a conversation with our CFO about our meeting yesterday and the direction that we (IT dept) need to go to make sure that things we discussed yesterday continue to move along.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Ball of Fire, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck – a screwball comedy. In it, Cooper plays Bertram Potts, a professor who is part of an 8-man team working on a new encyclopedia. Professor Potts is working on a section on “slang,” but realizes that despite his masterful knowledge of the English language, he knows next to nothing about modern slang; he sets out to find people who know and use it. One of those people is Katherine “Sugarpuss” O’Shea, a nightclub performer… and gangster’s moll. And from there, hijinks ensue. It was a fun movie and, though despite showing its age in a few places , a good way to spend an evening.

Stray Toasters

• Bruce Campbell was interviewed on Talk of the Nation yesterday.
• Apple Above, the Pack Below
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Bacon gumballs
• Festival for New York, That Muslim City
• The Shrinking Majority – Rise & Fall: Mormon Majority Is Slipping Away, by way of
• Database of all the toxins in your cosmetics and personal care products
• 
• The Green Fairy
• The Civic Value of a Bold Statement
• By way of :

  

• D&D-style map of C++
• Ending a 60-Year Gig at the NY Philharmonic

Namaste.

Thursday – 04 June 2009
Last night, I had a couple of new ideas about HeroClix masterboards. While I’ve liked the foam insulation-backed boards, they are thick and, especially in the case of the first one, difficult to transport. (I didn’t cut the first board so that it could fold.) After looking at the multi-level (and multi-layer) board on ToyChop, I started rethinking my ideas about baseboards.  A quick jaunt over to Office Depot gave me what I think is a good idea: Using a project board as the base. The first – and, in my opinion, most advantageous – benefit that it offers is that it is thin. Next, it is light. Third, After I cut off one of the sides, it will fold down to 12″x36″x½”. Win-Win-Win. (Granted, that will still leave 1½” of overhang for the corners, but that’s pretty easy to deal with.)

This morning, I had a meeting that was scheduled to be 3½ hours long. Fortunately, we were done in under two hours. Hallelujah.

Wes and I made it to the gym this afternoon:

• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/20 reps, 140 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (dumbbell, overhead): 3 sets/12 reps, 40 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Post-workout weight: 188.1 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• Armstrong’s ‘poetic’ slip on the moon
• OAS revokes 47-year-old suspension of Cuba
• Obama in Egypt reaches out to Muslim world
• SaraRules, and tipped me to some sad news: Actor David Carradine found dead and Police rule out foul play for now. I remember watching Mr. Carradine in reruns of Kung Fu when I was growing up.
• Another tip of the hat to Nyx for pointing out: Comics Grammar and Tradition
• The opening to last night’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson featured They Might Be Giants’ Istanbul

• How to Sustain Motivation When You’re Struggling
• It’s apparently “Wear Some of My Old Ties” and “Wear a Themed Tie” week for me. Yesterday, I wore a World Wildlife Fund dolphin tie and today I’m wearing a Save the Children puppet show tie.
• Tetris Turns 25, and It’s Still an Addictive Pleasure
• The new season of Burn Notice kicks off tonight.

Allez-oop!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 June 2009
Today is Sushi and Comics Wednesday, as there were no holidays to disrupt the comics shipping schedule. It’s apparently also National Tailors Day.

I’m still feeling pretty well this morning. I’m not sure what yesterday’s mystery malady was, but I’m glad that it’s gone. (Or some reasonable facsimile thereof.)

Stray Toasters

• I had a few odd dreams last night. It happens. But, in one of them, my subconscious apparently came up with a very cool two-part, a capella version of If You Believe, from The Wiz.
• T-shirts that amuse me:
  • Care and Feeding of Your Zombie
  • There is no Pac-Man. There is only Zuul.
• Crucial Air France crash data may be lost at sea
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and “Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow” files: iBoobs
  (Seriously, who comes up with things like this?!)
• 
• How To… Tip Around the World, courtesy of
• Also from Nyx: What happened to me and the new girl (or “The Girl Who Cried Webmaster”)
• Why Apple can afford to phone it in on the next iPhone

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Monday – 01 June 2009
Not only a new work week, but a new month kicks off, as well.

Yesterday was relaxing and fun. SaraRules and I kicked off the morning with breakfast… and Planet of the Apes (the one with Charlton Heston, not Marky Mark and the Monkey Bunch). I hadn’t seen it in a very long time. When the movie was done, we got about the business of the day.

We started off with a trip to Toys ‘R’ Us. I’m in search of 1:43 and/or 1:48 scale cars and trucks – they are much easier to buy than to try and cut out of papercraft models. Perry had mentioned that TRU had some, so I went to check them out. He was right. Exerting Green Lantern-like levels of willpower, I refrained from buying any. (Personal Win!) From there, we headed down to visit Perry, Kate and the kids. They’re doing well.

We headed homeward, with a stop at the store for dinner – we were having SaraRules’ mother and brother over for Sunday dinner. Logan came over a little early and introduced me to Gears of War 2. The overall learning curve for the game isn’t very steep, but getting the finesse points will take me a bit. Bonne showed up a little later and shortly after that, it was time to eat. Last night’s fare: Jambalaya with salad and cornbread. (Dinner Win!) And, for dessert: Chocolate chip cookies. After dinner, SaraRules, Logan and I watched Hostage; neither Logan nor I had seen it before. It wasn’t bad. Bruce Willis starred as a former L.A. police negotiator who transitions to a small town police chief after a negotiation goes… bad. Unfortunately, things in his sleepy burgh didn’t stay quiet for long. All-in-all, not a bad flick.

After the movie, I went to work on a small HeroClix board for Perry’s oldest son.

Small beginner's/teaching board for 'Clix

Perry wants to teach him the game – and wants me to help teach/coach him – so I figured that a small board would be a good way to teach him the basics and then let him move up from there. I’m thinking that I’ll start him off with a “no powers,” just by the numbers game. I figure a basic “police vs. thugs/henchmen” would be a good way to go. To help me test out the theory (and to try out the new board), I stepped SaraRules through the basics of the rules and then we tried a couple of rounds. It seemed to go well and she said that the way I explained the rules was both simple and straightforward. So, it looks like we have a “Go” for this setup.

Stray Toasters

• I looked up the information on Hostage after watching the movie. One of the young actors in the movie was Ben Foster. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it… so, I looked him up on IMDb. He was in X-Men: The Last Stand, 30 Days of Night, and 3:10 to Yuma, among others. He’s a versatile young man.
• Ten Applications That Changed Computing
• How to Play Pinball Like a Pro
• Morbid Anatomy: A blog dedicated to Victorian anatomical curiosities
• Guess what’s (kind of, sort of) back…



• In Pictures: General Motors and GM enters bankruptcy protection
• While I like the shirt that I’m wearing today, I had apparently forgotten something important about it: No matter how much starch I use when ironing it, it wrinkles if you look at it crosswise.  *sigh*
• The Real British X-Files

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Sunday – 31 May 2009
Yesterday, SaraRules and I decided to visit the International Peace Gardens. We were concerned about the weather, it looked as though it might pour down rain before – or while – we were there. Fortunately, it didn’t. We were there for about an hour (give or take); I came away with over 200 pictures, but narrowed it down to roughly 160. Pictures of our excursion can be seen here.

Last night, we went to Arbavanel Hall to hear Bernstein’s MASS (1, 2, 3), which also served as Keith Lockhart’s final performance as Music Director and conductor of Utah Symphony. It was an amazing performance. There were roughly 200 performers on-stage – musicians, singers, dancers. It was an epic production; Mr. Lockhart chose well for his final work. The piece followed a Catholic Mass, over the course of which both the congregation and the celebrant come to question their faith. There are some themes that might prove disturbing to some, but as a whole, it is a great work of art.

Stray Toasters

• I used to get Hess toy trucks when I was younger. I didn’t realize that they would become collector’s items.
• NFL announces 2009 AFL ‘Legacy Games’
• 
• Cuba, U.S. to resume talks on migration
• Planet of the Apes (1968) is on Retroplex. Monkeys!
• Undercover at Liberty University
• Canadian cinema fined $10,000 for privacy invasion over bag-search
• 
• Obama meets pre-election pledge: taking Michelle to Broadway
• Homeless people and the Internet
• Dwayne McDuffie fired from Justice League
• Scientists can grow stem cells in a petri dish

Namaste.

Friday – 29 May 2009
Thank God and whomever came up with the 9/80 schedule. Last night, I was tired — so tired that I was in bed before midnight. I slept in this morning… until after 1000. Yep, I was that tired. And it was really nice to be able sleep in. SaraRules fixed pancakes and eggs for breakfast; we ate it while watching Dogfights – “The Flying Tigers” on The History Channel:

FLYING TIGERS
Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, a courageous, rag-tag band of American mercenaries dare to challenge the overwhelming might of the Japanese Air Force. The legendary “Flying Tigers” slash through the skies of China, and help vanquish the unstoppable Japanese. Follow leading Tiger aces Tex Hill and John Alison as their P-40 Tomahawks fight to the death against the agile Japanese I-97 Nate.

It was rather neat. They had historians, as well as a few of the Tigers, describing some of the missions. They also included some animated recreations of dogfights.

Last night, we went to the Main Library to hear a lecture by Jamie Bernstein, daughter of the late composer Leonard Bernstein. She was talking about Mass (1, 2), the piece being performed by Utah Symphony tomorrow night as Keith Lockhart’s final performance as Utah Symphony’s Music Director and conductor. The lecture and most of the questions were quite good. It was nice to hear Ms. Bernstein talk about the piece from a personal perspective. Mass should be something to see ; according to a rep from the symphony, a limited number of tickets are still available.

Stray Toasters

• By way of : EFF chairman makes a ‘Downfall’ remix

• Why our ‘amazing’ science fiction future fizzled
• KISS + LEGO = THIS
• For : Pee-Wee voices BatMite
• McDuffie fired from JLA
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: To the army, Sweat = Threat
• Also from the “WTF” file: Anti-Smoking Pressure Group Takes Aim at Wolverine
• ‘Kidnapped son’ found on Facebook
• Boingboing.net is soliciting questions for an upcoming Michael Moorcock interview.
• 
• Man who drove into City Hall gets 10-year sentence
• More countries should have this problem: Netherlands runs out of criminals, has to shut prisons

Time to go out and find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 26 May 2009
Back in the saddle again…
Another work week kicks off, but fortunately… it’s an abbreviated week. Three-day work weeks should be standard. This morning, I wasn’t prepared for the alarm to go off. I was in the middle of a dream and, once my brain wrapped itself around the concept of “alarm going off,” I bolted awake and scrambled for the clock’s off button. *GAH*

Yesterday, SaraRules and I rearranged the bedroom, assembled the bookcases and moved them into the bedroom. The new arrangement looks nice, but will take a bit of getting used to. After that, we headed out for a while. As we slept in and worked through lunch, we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at Pawit’s. Unfortunately, they were closed when we got there. Instead, we went to Jasmine. I had the House Lo Mein (beef, chicken and shrimp), along with Wonton Soup and an Alaskan Roll (sushi). The food was good, as usual. Then came meandering about town.

Chris called and asked if I was available for and interested in playing HeroClix. That was unexpected, as we are supposed to be playing tonight (which we’re still doing). I told him that I was and invited him over. We decided to go with a 600 point, themed game. We settled on Teen Titans vs. X-Men (pictures here); I hadn’t used them before and thought that they sounded like a fun team to test out. We traded bad dice rolls – Chris’ came early in the game, mine around the middle of the game.  I managed to take out Wolverine and Nightcrawler before the Titans got wiped out. I can’t blame dice rolls for all the problems – I made a few tactical errors a few moves into the game that wound up getting me into a bind later. But, I find that I liked the Titans – I’ll have to play them again and see how they fare.

After Chris left, SaraRules and I watched The Terminator. Some of the special effects don’t hold up – and the cheesy 80’s synth music was cringe-worthy – but it was fun. And it continued the “Robots Blowing Stuff Up” weekend. I discovered a few interesting bits of trivia, after the movie, but among the most noteworthy/laughable:

O.J. Simpson was considered for the role of the Terminator, but the producers feared he was “too nice” to be taken seriously as a cold-blooded killer.

Stray Toasters

• I think I have tonight’s ‘Clix team figured out.
• Giving a voice
• Mouse Guard: kid-friendly RPG where you get to play a mouse with a sword!
• Obama chooses Supreme Court judge
• Why it’s hard not to stare at facial deformities
• 
• Is Crohn’s Disease on the rise because we’ve eliminated hookworm infections?
• DoD Sharing Threat Data with Critical Industries
• U.S. journalists got Watergate tip, but missed scoop of the century
• Nevada wacky race with $500 cars

Zoom.

Namaste.

Thursday – 21 May 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I went with her father and brother on an expedition to Utah County.  They were heading to Cabela’s and we tagged along. That’s right, another journey to Outdoorsmen ‘R’ Us — Logan wanted to pick up a new fly fishing rod; Steve needed some ammo. So, off we went. There was a Black couple that walked into the store just ahead of us; my first thought: “What are they thinking?!  They’re going in there without a protective shield of White people! They must be lost…” It made me laugh. The rest of the evening was less eventful, but relaxing.

Stray Toasters

• Steampunk D&D Beholder Sculpture
• Rachel sent me a link to You Are What You Eat
• had a few things to say about the outcome of last night’s American Idol finale.
• The Gear of War
• Today is apparently National Waitstaff Day…
• …and, as a friendly reminder: Monday, 25 May 2009, is not only Memorial Day, it’s Towel Day, as well.

  

• : You might consider getting this for either (or both) of the kids.
• While talking with Nathan about Star Wars and Star Trek, I came across an IMDb listing for something called Star Trek vs. Batman, a fanfilm. I actually watched some of the first part. Fascinating… in a geeky/dorky kind of way.
• A&E has a sweepstakes in which you can win a trip to Las Vegas to see Hammer in concert. (You know… in case you missed his tour with Vanilla Ice a few months ago.)
• LEGO: Building Block of Post-War Hope
• From the “Take the Money and Run” file: NZ hunts accidental millionaires
• V teaser – The Aliens Are Our Friends

Moving right along…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 20 May 2009
Last night, Chris came over to play HeroClix. We decided to just play a 1000-point free-for-all brawl. (Pictures here.)  Chris brought a five-man team, with a bunch of heavy-hitters; I fielded a ten-figure team, with a decent assortment of abilities. My entire game plan (can’t really call it a “strategy,” as it was based on accomplishing one goal) was based on something I’ve been wanting to try for a few weeks: Using two figures to telekinetically move a third figure into position to beat someone down. Badly. That’s exactly what I did:

• Turn 1: Green Lantern TK’ed Marvel Girl ahead of the main group.
  A few other figures advanced across the map.
• Turn 2: Green Lantern TK’ed KC Superman next to Marvel Girl.
  Superman picked up a heavy object.
  Marvel Girl TK’ed Superman further across the board.
  Superman picked up a second object and charged Proteus.
  Superman used Flurry (make 2 attacks) – missed the first one, hit the second one.

The look on Chris’ face when he realized what I was about to do was priceless… and, it was pretty much exactly the reaction I expected. I went on to have a few more really good dice rolls – while Chris’ dice were cold – before the tables turned. I wound up losing on points (by about 300 points), but percentage-wise, we did about the same damage to each others’ teams. We’ll be playing again on next Tuesday; I should start considering team options.

Stray Toasters

• For no reason that I can find, I’ve had Erasure’s A Little Respect running through my head at random moments. Again, I blame .
• posted a link to: 12 illegal immigrants found hiding in chemical tanker
• A century of most popular baby names
• Superhero cakes and more superhero cakes, although I don’t really consider Tom & Jerry “superheroes,” but there is a pretty cool-looking old school Legion cake in the group:

  

• …which leads into The Revenge of Young Darkseid very nicely, as well as these other Silver Age Elseworlds stories
• Microsoft downplays IIS Bug Threat
• Beyond the Fringe: From Purdey to the Rachel – 50 years of iconic hairstyles
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Country doctor uses household drill on patient’s skull
• Star Trek: What it teaches film makers about special effects
• By way of Dwim: President Obama Vetoes the Mutant Registration Act

Namaste.

Tuesday – 19 May 2009
Yesterday was a lazy day. And, after the past few days, a day to just… relax and hang out… was just what the doctor ordered. The highlights of the day included: a visit to see , a trip to Far West Comics, a trip to Lollicup (SaraRules wanted boba tea) and going to look at bad dresses at a local store. Oddly enough, we actually liked most of the dresses in their window displays; I don’t think that’s happened before. We came home and watched a couple of episodes of NCIS as well as another episode of Planet Earth, “Mountains.” By the way, if you haven’t watched Planet Earth, I heartily recommend it.

Later this morning, SaraRules and I are heading down to Camp Williams for Jess’ interment. She’s being buried with full military honors.

This afternoon, the IT team is going to lunch at Tucano’s. This is our reward for finishing the server room upgrade before the end of the month… and making sure that it all works the way it’s supposed to.

Tonight, Chris is coming over to play ‘Clix. I should probably finalize the team that I want to use. Details, details…

Stray Toasters

• It is National Backyard Games Week.
• sent me a link to Lawyers: To Save Newspapers, Let’s Pretty Much Destroy Everythings Else Good
• Also by way of Nyx: Meet the Incredible Hulk of Hounds
• Drew pointed me in the direction of LEGO USB Hubs
• …and, since we’re on the subject of LEGO:
  • Space Marine Light Assault Vehicle (that’s right, it’s a Warthog… made of LEGO!)
  • Mini UNSC Pelican dropship and Warthog
  • New LEGO Architecture Sets
  • For – Danger Mouse, the greatest secret agent in the world!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Camera Misses the Mark on Racial Sensitivity
• Do You Trust Elevators? Maybe You Shouldn’t
• I saw this commercial and it made me laugh: Intel Star

• What’s Inside WD-40? Superlube’s Secret Sauce
• Atomic Disruptor Raygun: steampunk gun made from radios and cameras
• 
• Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Are Total BS
• Obama Speeds Up Fuel Economy Standards, Sets First Carbon Limit

As it’s my first day back since Thursday, I should probably take a look around and see what’s what.

Namaste.

Friday – 15 May 2009
Another 9/80 Friday off begins. I seem to have slept well last night – that’s always a “good” thing.

After work, SaraRules and I went to Chris and Mary’s to celebrate Mary’s birthday. and , and and their kids were their, as well as Chris’ brother, Ryan, whom we hadn’t met before. It was a nice get-together… and, before all was said and done, we hammered out some rough details for another bad horror movie night. And… AND… Chris and I are playing dolls ‘Clix on Tuesday. Win-Win!

Stray Toasters

• My copy of Battlefield 2142 (for Mac) showed up yesterday. I’m REALLY rusty at that game.
• ‘Exiled for life’ in Somali camp
• Lauren Montgomery talks Green Lantern: First Flight and Victor Garber talks Green Lantern: First Flight
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Scouts training to fight immigrants and terrorists
• Texts From Last Night, by way of
• Personal Freedom, by State
• 
• …along the same lines, SaraRules has taken to watching Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?
• Adding Incompetence to Insult
• Was 1971 the best year to be born a geek? (I think they’re off by a year, personally)
• Texas Is Under Seige From Zombies!
• The Metropolitan Museum brings out American art again
• The All-Time Top 10 List of Best – and Worst – Mothers in Comics
• Ten Beautiful Computers

So far on the afternoon’s agenda: A trip to the gym and we’re going to see Disney’s Earth.

Namaste.