Random Access

Friday – 19 Sep 2008
I woke up with this song running through my head:

It stayed there for a while, too. Good thing I like the song.

I slept poorly again last night; I kept waking up. Oddly, it made getting out of bed this morning much easier – I think that by the time the alarm went I was annoyed at having been awake so much during the night and just decided to get on with the day.

Stray Toasters

• Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day and, with that in mind: Free Pirate Fic.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Wank your way to nasal clarity
• Barack Obama bumper stickers… for every state
  
  • … for the Free State
  • …for the Beehive State
• New York’s top restaurants plagued by tip trouble
• Wall Street havoc deals blow to mobile phone makers
  
• 
• Guitar Hero lines up new acts

Zoom.

Thursday – 18 Sep 2008
Three down.
One in the chamber.
One to go.

Yesterday, after work, I went home and enjoyed a tasty dinner prepared by Ms. SaraRules – baked chicken with rice and a salad. Yes, I said “salad.” As in “food that food eats.” Move along. After dinner I stretched out on the couch… which lead to intermittent bouts of non-consciousness. I did the only appropriate thing to do in that situation: I took a nap. An apparently much-needed nap.

After the recharge, I played a City of Heroes, for the first time in a couple of weeks. I was invited to a group shortly after logging in – we had a nice balance of damage-dealers and a good healer, not to mention a non-tank Warshade who did a good job of tanking. I was a couple of bubbles from 29 when I started; by the time I finished, I was almost halfway to 30. Not bad for less than two hours’ worth of play time.

The alarm went off early again this morning. I opted to stay in bed for a little while longer, but I still managed to get here a few minutes after 7:00.

Stray Toasters

• I got to chat with for a while this morning. It was a fun way to kick off the morning.
• Giant Rocketeer Mosaic by Dave Ware (done in LEGO bricks, natch!)
  Check this site to get a better sense of the scale.
• The Omega Concern
• Pickens says Wal-Mart to study switch from diesel
• By way of come the following…
  • Goon City
  • Paging Leonidas to the Front Desk
    
• 
• : I don’t know if you’ve checked out HeroClix, but you might want to take a gander at this.
• How SEC rule exemptions led to Wall Street Collapse
• 
• Hitchhikers’ Guide series to ride again
• The mysterious Racer D…

He gets right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 16 Sep 2008
I just had the old NBC tagline: “Tuesday is Blues day” run through my head. For those of you not old enough to remember, that was how NBC used to promote its series Hill Street Blues.

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I watched the Philly-Dallas shootout. The first half of that game was just a romp. I’m not a big Dallas or Philadelphia fan, so I didn’t really care who won, but some of the plays – or lack thereof – were just… sad. The second half looked more like an NFL game.

Stray Toasters

• Reginald Hudlin leaves BET Networks
• “I’ll be all the props!”

• posted a link to The Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator. I had to give it a whirl. Here’s what it came up with:
  Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Slaughterhouse 5 and Invader Zim. The story should use getting sucked into the “real world” as a plot device!

  Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

• Just Past the Horizon: Wonders Never Cease
  • What’s What with… Lynda Carter
• By way of Wired: New Aluminum MacBook Shipping Already?
• A Girl’s Guide to Dating a Geek
• By way of :
  • 
  • 

Quote of the Day
From World of Warcraft to Prince… gotta love IRC:

(08:46:40) Ahpuc_: You know the worst part about having so many damned alts? Having to read the class-specific patch notes for EVERY CLASS.
(08:47:21) : heh
(08:47:28) : Gotta play ’em all!
(08:47:31) : Gotta play ’em all!
(08:49:04) Ahpuc_: Well…basically, yeah. 🙂
(08:49:08) Xeen entered the room.
(08:49:31) : PokeWoW
(08:50:05) Ahpuc_: I may be fooling myself, but I think I play my rogue better because I also have tanks and healers, and I understand what they are focused on better as a result.
(08:50:12) : “Level 58 Troll Shadowknight, I choose you!” *throws ball*
(08:50:36) Ahpuc_: Deathknight, you mean? Not til the next expansion is out. 🙁
(08:50:42) : Death.
(08:50:45) : Shadow.
(08:50:47) : *shrug*
(08:50:48) : 🙂
(08:51:12) Ahpuc_: If you don’t know the difference between death and shadows, I don’t want to be near you on a sunny day. 🙂
(08:51:30) Ahpuc_: Like the old joke about the difference between a man and a shower. 🙂
(08:51:42) : There are shadows in the rain, according to Sting, too…
(08:51:55) Ahpuc_: And death in the rain.
(08:52:14) : Death of a Salesman… in the Rain.
(08:52:18) : Wait.
(08:52:20) Ahpuc_: Hmmm…But doesn’t Death cast no shadow?
(08:52:55) : Death of a Salesman in the Purple Rain, a new heart-touching movie… coming soon from Oxygen
(08:52:59) Ahpuc_: And shadows never die, they just move, or expand to envelop the entire hemisphere at night.
(08:53:15) Ahpuc_: Don’t touch my heart!
(08:53:19) Ahpuc_: BAD TOUCH! DO NOT WANT!
(08:53:31) ***Ahpuc_ goes into cardiac arrest.

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Have you seen the new Microsoft Windows commercials with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld?

, for example, has seen the first one and finds it amusing.
I, on the other hand, am not overly enthused or amused by them.
(Maybe it has something to do with my apathy towards Jerry Seinfeld – I just don’t find him funny.)

In fairness, I’m something of a Mac convert (or is that really “re-vert,” as I used Macs MANY moons past…), but I still find some merits in pre-Vista Windows, including (and mostly limited to) the fact that it runs all of my favorite games.

If you have seen either or both commercial(s), what do you think of them?

Monday – 15 Sep 2008
Another day at the grindstone. It’s been fairly painless for a Monday… so far.

Stray Toasters

• It seems as though the NFL, in its infinite wisdom, has given Baltimore and Texas a “bye” this week, rather than have them play the game that was Ike-delayed from yesterday until today. The game has been rescheduled for 09 Nov 08.
• United Airlines doubles second-bag fee to $50
• 
• By way of BBC News: Haven’t we seen this election before?
• Russian prosecutors in bid to ban South Park
• sent me links to a couple of shirts on Threadless that we both find amusing:
  • Amazon Addiction
  • A city built on rock and roll would be…
• Star Trek‘s Takei marries partner
• Bank of America is set to take over Merrill Lynch. Wow.
• Microsoft says IE8 phoning home is “pretty innocuous”

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 September 2008
Two down.
One in the chamber.
Two to go.

So far, it’s been a quiet morning. I’m not complaining about that. I have a few tasks on my “to do” list that should keep me occupied – if not “busy” – for the better part of the morning.

Last night, I headed to Far West for a HeroClix tourney… but the judge didn’t show. So.. um.. yeah. Chris, Ma’afu, Nano and I just decided on a two-on-two game. 1000 points per team. We played on the Castle Doom map that came with the Fantastic Four Starter Set. I am not a fan of that map. In fact, I’d say that it’s in my top three least-favorites. Ma’afu and Nano brought some bruisers to the dance; Chris and I brought Perplex and Outwit users. Chris lost a couple of figures in the fight, but we wound up winning.

After the game, I headed up to visit SaraRules for a bit before heading home. And, in the course of talking about quilting, I think that I’ve been drafted to help her with at least one upcoming project. That should prove interesting.

Stray Toasters

• Diversity Milk. That still cracks me up.
• Thanks to , I have a new icon:



• How to Dress Like a Rich Man in a Recession
• From NPR Music:
  • Make Peace, Make Jazz
  • Radiohead: Live in Concert (downloadable podcast)
• Mommy, Why Is There a Server in the House?
• 
  …and…
  
• From BBC News: The white priestess of ‘black magic’
• To Odin, Thanks For Everything! – Loki

Namaste.

I don’t often read Penny Arcade, but with nuggets of joy like this one, I might have to add it to the daily queue:

Tuesday – 09 September 2008
After work yesterday, I played ‘Clix with Chris. We played 400-point teams; I went with:

• Lex Luthor (with Outsmart)
• Merlyn (with Point Blank)
• Psycho-Pirate and
• Invisible Woman

Chris lined up with:

• Batman (Knightfall)
• Bishop
• Dr. Polaris
• Wolverine

The game started off with a bang: I was able to use Psycho-Pirate’s Perplex to dial Bishop’s defense value down by -2, Lex’ Outwit to get rid of that pesky Energy Deflection and Merlyn’s Ranged Combat Expert to do four clicks of damage right out of the gate. It was a beautiful thing to behold. My dice ran hot-and-cold throughout the game, and I wound up losing at the end (Merlyn vs. Dr. Polaris and Bishop, who had been hiding behind Batman), but I think that this was the closest that I have come to beating Chris in a one-on-one game. I was rather happy with it.

After ‘Clix, I headed up to visit SaraRules and her family to watch the Broncos-Raiders game. Talk about a good, old-fashioned ass-whoopin’… Damn, Gina! Denver was ON last night. And, like I mentioned in the previous post, I think that I have a new favorite (for now) videogame commercial.

After that game, I went home, plopped on the couch and vegged out to classic Jonny Quest. And I defy anyone to tell me that the show’s theme song isn’t one of the best cartoon themes – if not possibly TV themes – of all time.

Stray Toasters

• Damn and a half… this Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, is bad-ass. He’s the “Buy It By the Brick” figure for the upcoming Arkham Asylum set.
• John Hodgman: More Information Than You Require
• 
• Best and Worst Cities for Salary Growth
• By way of :



• World’s Finest has a list of the guest stars on the upcoming The Brave and The Bold series.
• And, speaking of The Dark Knight Detective: Caine fuels up Batman casting rumors.
• Leviton gives the gift of extra outlets

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Thursday – 04 September 2008
Wow. The day is better than half over and I’m just getting to this. It’s been a busy day, but that’s good because it has also been productive.

Last night, SaraRules and I had a date night. There are, indeed, definite perks to living in the same city. We had dinner (spaghetti, homemade sauce, garlic bread and a bottle of Pinot Noir) and decided to watch TV rather than a movie. We watched… three (I think) episodes of Project Runway, with an episode of The West Wing and an episode of Cold Case thrown in for me. It was a nice way to spend the evening.

Today, aside from being busy, was also sushi and comics (and a couple boxes of ‘Clix) day. Tonight, there will be packing for tomorrow’s camping trip… and maybe, just maybe, a little CoH before bed.

Stray Toasters

• For the third day in a row, I’ve been able to see SaraRules as she drives past the office on her way to work. This morning was a bit of a fluke, though: I got to the office and happened to be looking out the window and she drove by; I was fairly certain that I would have missed her by a few minutes and wasn’t expecting to catch her today. When I talked with her a little later, she asked me if this was becoming a new tradition; I told her that I didn’t know… but that if it did, it was one that I was beginning to like. What can I say? It makes for a fun – if odd – start to the day.
• Tonight is the beginning of the 2008 NFL season!
• As I’ve mentioned before, I have an… unusual… desktop wallpaper image. One that gets noticed. This week, it got attention from our COO, in fact. The image is a Photoshop-manipulated version of the cover from Incognegro, which is discussed in this article from BoingBoing.
• By way of ThinkGeek: The Encyclopedia Shatnerica
• Abandoned Space Technology
• had an interesting item in a recent post: Apples to Apples – a look at the current presidential/vice presidential tickets compared to tickets of the past 30 or so years.
  
• Star Wars + LEGO + Olympics = Imperial Sportstroopers Invade Beijing Olympics
• Elderly Superheroes Never Looked So Good!
• 
• Linux Motivational Posters
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” files:
  • Elephant cured of drug addiction
  • Girls warned playing didgeridoo could cause infertility
• Dad builds dream tree house
• Evolution of the AT-AT

Bonus Points to anyone who knows – without looking it up – the relevance of today’s title AND what it’s from.

Namaste.

Friday – 29 August 2008
I made a good call in deciding to take the day off. Sleeping in this morning, though peppered with a few odd dreams, was a good thing. Today, I have a few errands to run, but after that, in the words of the DJs from Power 97: “It’s the weekeeeeeend, baby!”

It turned out that I could have gone to sushi yesterday – my 2:00 meeting got pushed back. Oh, well.

After work, I met SaraRules at her parents’ place. She accompanied me to Dr. Volt’s, where I fed my four-color crack addiction; I picked up one box each of Avengers and Mutations & Monsters, ‘Clix as well. We headed back for dinner and to hang out with her family. We watched the Jags take on the Redskins as we ate dinner.

After the game, we flipped over to coverage of the DNC. More on this later. After the fanfare and fireworks were over, SaraRules and I headed back to my place. We were going to make a batch of brownies, but the couch and television – along with general laziness – won out. The cable box decided to cooperate last night, so SaraRules was (finally) able to catch an episode of Project: Runway. Last night’s episode, Fashion That Drives You, contained an interesting challenge: The designers had to come up with outfits constructed out of materials used in the making of Saturns – seat covers, seatbelts, dashboard accessories, floor mats, et al. There were a lot of inspired designs… and a few duds.

Next up: Burn Notice. I had seen part of this episode, False Flag, before… but not from the beginning. There was a twist that occurred just before I started watching it (the first time) that had me a bit confused. Seeing the whole thing play out cleared up the confusion, though.

When Ms. SaraRules went home, I toyed with the idea of playing City of Heroes or hopping on PokerStars.
I just called it a night, instead.

Food for Thought: Chew on This
As I mentioned above: We watched coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night.

Once again, I have to say: “Wow.”
Not at the staging, though impressive.
Not at the turnout, which at 80,000+ people was amazing.

I say “wow” to the fact that, once again, Senator Obama delivered an amazing speech.

I liked the fact that the speech played to peoples’ hopes and dreams and not their fears. I also appreciated that Senator Obama didn’t just make it a “sunshine and rainbows everywhere” kind of speech, but that he acknowledged that it was going to take work – and time – to get the country back on track. I agree with ‘s assessment that Senator McCain may pick up a few new speechwriters after last night’s oratory.

I’m also sure that it was no small coincidence that the speech occurred on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. Senator Obama referenced that speech and, it seemed to me, fell into the cadence of a preacher for a few minutes while delivering that portion of his speech.

Over the next eight weeks, it will be interesting to watch as the Obama/Biden campaign takes to the trail to deliver their message and to see how the masses – Democrat, Republican and Independent – respond to them.

It is also of interest to note that Senator McCain has chosen a running mate: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She is in her first term and is little-known outside of Alaska. If people were concerned about Senator Obama’s lack of age and experience, I would like to know what their reaction to the even-younger and seemingly less-experienced Governer Palin is/will be. Could her selection be “See, we’re kind’a progressive, too!” spin? I would hope not and I’ll reserve judgment on this until I hear more from and about her.

Stray Toasters

• Comcast to make monthly Internet use cap official
• Mythbusters + 1,100-barrel paint gun = Mona Lisa? Yep. Check it out here.
• Jesus Tries to Save Your Soul, but Windows Stops Him
• 
• By way of The BBC: Jackson turns 50: Highs and Lows
• 10 WordPress Hacks to Make Your Life Easy
• For an as-yet-unknown reason, I had the theme from the 60’s Spider-Man cartoon running through my head a few minutes ago.
• Air Canada shaves fuel costs by eliminating life-jackets

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

I just got back from lunch with SaraRules; we went to Dask’s.

Just before leaving for lunch, I noticed that my last four or five Random Access posts did not get crossposted to LJ. Curious. I’m fairly certain that it was due to some changes in the Live+Press plugin; at least, that’s what I’m attributing it to.

The errant posts have been crossposted.
All seems right with the world again.

Selah.

Tuesday – 26 August 2008
One down, four to go.

After work last night, I headed up to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner (and mojitos!) and general hanging out… which included football: The Chargers vs. the Seahawks. Yes, it was (only) pre-season action, but it’s still rock and roll NFL to me. We tuned in a little late and watched the first half of the game.

At halftime, SaraRules and I headed back to my place for movie date night. We watched The Kingdom. Neither of us had seen it before, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. I wouldn’t recommened this movie as a “happy, fun-time” fare, but it was a good film. I give it a couple of solid thumbs-up with a nod and a smile.

After that, it was time for The Middleman. The episode was… entertaining, but lacked a little of its usual punch. Not the episode I would have picked for the first one that we got to watch together, but what’re ya gonna do?

SaraRules headed home and I sat on the couch, trying to decide if I wanted to play CoH… or log into PokerStars… or something. I watched DS9 while I pondered my conundrum. That turned into DS9 watching me. At that point, I decided that it was time to call it a night. And I did.

Today, I’m going to be elbow-up in enterprise KVM research.
Tonight, I’m going to be elbow-up in a ‘Clix tourney… one for which I’m still not completely sure which figures I’m using.

Stray Toasters

• I got home last night to find a package waiting for me… from . Inside, I found a couple of comic-related magnets (Supergirl and Hawkgirl) and a Test for Echo tour baseball cap. Unexpected win-win!
• Happy 30th Birthday to the LEGO minifig
• Our HR/Accounting guy and I were just talking when he noticed some of the ‘Clix I keep on my desk. He saw the Batman figure and noted that his daughter would like it, as she is a Bat-fan. I asked if she had read Batman: The Killing Joke; he said that he wasn’t sure, but would mention it to her. I’m hoping that this doesn’t become a “career-limiting move.”
• Online Beauty Pageant… for Nuns
• This Gizmodo-modified picture of the AT&T Death Star amuses me…



• Han Solo in carbonite cake
• I’m curious about Samuel L. Jackson’s upcoming movie, Lakeview Terrace
• Treadmills used to play WoW
• 

Up, up and away! (Either reference will work here.)

Monday – 25 August 2008
Every Monday should != start like this:

• Walk in the door
• Put bag down
• Unpack/connect laptop
• Log into The Matrix company network
• As systems come online, have Coworker #1 come to you and say,”I have a problem…”
• Go to look at said problem only to determine that “something” in his computer is borked.
• Take computer back to my desk to lobotomize it.
• Have Coworker #2 come to you and say,”I have a problem…”
• Determine the Coworker #2’s issue is potentially BIG and that it supersedes Coworker #1’s issue.
• Tell Coworker #1 that he just got put on hold, until further notice.
• Start in on C2’s problem.
• Determine that it requires another IT guy’s skill set.
• Get IT Guy #2 to take a look at the problem.
• Have Coworker #3 come to you and say,”I have a problem…”
• Determine that C3’s problem, while not as OMGWTF! as C2’s problem needs immediate attention.
• Try to track down the hardware to solve C3’s problem.
• Find two viable solutions and go with “Option A,” which is functional and fairly painless.
• Resolve C3’s problem.
• Check back with C2 and ITG2 to determine the status of that problem: Resolved.
• Back to C1’s issue… and determine that it could be ANY of a number of problems.
  • Look for replacement hardware.
  • Replace Item #1
  • Not the problem.
  • Replace Item #2
  • Still not the problem.
  • Begin ancient Martian meditiation technique known as “Screaming”

    

  • Replace Item #3
  • Still “No go, Flight…”
  • Replace Item #4
  • BINGO!
• Return C1’s computer to him.
• Sit down and breathe. Finally.

That was the quick, Cliff’s Notes version of my first three hours today. Fortunately, Julie (the admin who sits near my desk) reminded me that we’re off next Monday, for Labor Day. At this rate, I’m thinking that I’m taking this Friday off, too.

Stray Toasters

• By way of : Death and Taxes 2009
• From Not Always Right: Holy F***, Indeed
• 

Back to the fun…

Wednesday – 20 August 2008
After work, I picked up Chris and we headed to Far West for this week’s HeroClix tourney. We played a new (for us) format: “300-Point, Floor: 50% Restricted.” This means that we had to build 300-point teams, with at least half of our force built from the latest release: Secret Invasion. Aside from Chris, we had a couple of other people show up, too: Ma’afu and Chris2, both of whom are fairly new to the game, but were pretty eager to dive in with both feet. I wasn’t sure if we would have to draft (buy a booster pack) our first 150 points; we didn’t. We were able to pick from our existing figures. This was good for me, as I had been wanting to test out a couple of figures, especially the Susan Richards figure… so I did. My team consisted of:

• Batman
• Nick Fury
• Susan Richards

I played Chris2 in the first round. He brought a four-figure team:

• Nick Fury
• Ringmaster
• She-Thing
• Spider-Girl

Matt and Nano helped coach him, since it was his first real game, I think. Spider-Girl and She-Thing got up front and personal, fairly quickly. I learned that Susan Richards’ Barrier power is a great thing… especially when you want to make someone go through Hell and half of Georgia to get at you, rather than make a bee-line for your and whomp on you. And, having three characters with Outwit didn’t hurt, either. I took out Spider Girl, She-Thing and… either Nick Fury or Ringmaster (I forget which), before time ran out. Win.

Next up: Chris. *sigh* At least it wasn’t a first-round game. His team consisted of:

• Batman
• Doctor Strange and
• Gamora

And he went to work. Having played a game with Chris where he used Gamora, I assessed her as the first/biggest threat. I wasn’t necessarily wrong in considering her a threat, but Doctor Strange is no slouch, either: He can see through Stealth(!) and, thanks to his team ability, is able to copy others’ team abilities. In last night’s case, he took on the Batman team ability. Gamora stepped up and wailed on Nick Fury… but, being the master spy that he is, I used his LMD ability, reducing his damage and got him out of Dodge. That still left Batman and Sue as targets, but I managed to take Gamora out before Chris’ Batman and the good Doctor took me completely out of the game. Loss.

Next up: Ma’afu. He actually said that he had been waiting to play me. I was a little surprised by the compliment – I don’t think that I’ve had someone who wanted to take me on (Take on me! I’ll… be… gone…. If you don’t taaaaaaaake….) like that. Comments like that are usually reserved for people waiting to test their mettle against Chris and his team du jour. His team consisted of:

• Gee
• Human Torch and
• Ms. Marvel (Human)

Ma’afu also got a little sideline assistance from Matt. My first assessment: Take out Ms. Marvel. I neglected to Outwit her Hypersonic Speed in the first round, but I didn’t make that mistake again. After she punched Nick Fury (and I LMD’ed him to a far corner) I made sure that Batman and Sue didn’t let her pull a stunt like that again. Nick took out his frustrations on Gee. I should have probably felt guilty about having a WWII vet gun down a little kid, but this was war (sort of), so he was fair game. Nick’s next target: the Human Torch. It took a few rounds, but I managed to snuff him out. And that just left Ms. Marvel. I beat on her a bit, but didn’t manage to take her out before time ran out. Win.

All-in-all, coming in second to Chris wasn’t bad. And above all, it was fun.

After the game, I dropped Chris off and headed home. I had no time to tarry: SaraRules got back into town about 8:00. And, aside from needing to go to Cedar City tomorrow to do her Capstone defense, she’s back for good. (That pretty much comes under “Win,” too.) I got home a few minutes before she got there. We hung out and talked about her last few weeks in Aspen, the overall experience and bidding farewell to her former coworkers. Then she had to get a few things ready for meetings she had today.

I was completely tapped from the lack of sleep Monday night, so when the alarm went off, I turned if off and rolled over. The second alarm, was not ignored, though. We got up, observed the necessary hygiene rituals, made coffee(!) and got ready for the day.

I had planned on doing Round 3 of server inventories today. I still plan on doing that. However, the first part of my morning was spent moving Julie from her old desk to one behind mine. No rest for the wicked.

Stray Toasters

• should be in around dinnertime. Now, to figure out where to take him for dinner…
• Did The Banana Splits inspire Bob Marley?
  (Regular readers may remember that I’ve asked this before.)
• Wild monkey loose in Japanese subway eludes police
• Apple tries to debug iPhone

…right on to the friction of the day

Tuesday – 19 August 2008
I was up far too late last night.
FAR too late.

Coworker Eric came to SLC last night to pick up my old desk: I wanted something different, he wanted a desk. Win-Win. I discovered that it is much easier to make a mess when clearing out furniture than it is to return the same space to a nominal sense of order and coherence. Hence the reason that I was up late last night/this morning. Let’s just say that caffeine and I are on a first-name basis this morning.

I watched some of the Olympic Summer Games last night. I watched Men’s and Women’s 400M hurdles. For those who didn’t see the USA Men’s team take gold, silver AND bronze, it was a pretty amazing race.

The women’s races were equally stunning – especially the event in which Jamaica’s Melaine Walker ran. I also watched some of the gymnastics events… and, after seeing He Kexin, I can now understand why some people question whether or not some of the Chinese gymnasts are of official competing age.

Stray Toasters

• should be here tomorrow evening… assuming that he doesn’t get distracted by bright, shiny objects between Kansas City and here.
• 10 Great Webcomics You Should Not Share With Your Kids
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Cake Wrecks
• The art of Andrea Gianchiglia
• From the “I have an opinion and I’m not going to keep it to myself” file: Robert Downey, Jr: ‘Fuck DC Comics.’
• Shocka-locka-BOOM!
  What was that?
  Aftershock.
• By way of : Top Secret Drum Corps from Basel, Switzerland:

  
  Top Secret Drum Corps Basel Tattoo – A funny movie is a click away

• There’s a new Lara Croft in town.
  • Photo shoot pictures
  • Interview
• MarknTyme introduced me to BabySmash last night; he said that his youngest son loves it.
• I know that some people really their cars, but this takes it to a new level:

• Virtualization eSeminar. *nod*

Namaste.