Random Access

Monday – 20 August 2007
A new work week begins.

So far, the day’s been nominally busy, but not overly so.

Football Update
The Ravens played last night. Pre-season game. I went to Fiddler’s Elbow to watch the game… and to enjoy Guinness by the pint. Draft. Mmm. The Ravens wore their “Pitch Black” uniforms, but the intimidation wasn’t quite enough to help pull off a win. But it was a decent game.

• Steve McNair looked good for the time that he was in.
• Kyle Boller looked MUCH better than he has in the past few seasons – not jittery or unstable, fairly confident in his choices.
• Drew Olson, one of the candidates for the 3rd QB spot was…. there. I didn’t really see anything that made him stand out.
• Troy Smith, however, looked good. He got sacked on his first snap – the offensive line fell apart in front of him – but the rest of his game was solid. Not bad for the 2006 Heismann Trophy winner from *ahem* “THE Ohio State University.” , what can you tell me about Mr. Smith’s college years?
• The defense looked decent, but there were a few problems. They should be able to suss out the issues and get things to gel by the time the regular season rolls around, though.
• NY suffered four (4) pretty big casualties of war during the game, including the loss of WR Mike Jennings for the rest of the season.
• NY backup QB Jared Lorenzen…. You just don’t think of someone his size as a QB. But, he has skill and moves better than you’d think he expect. AND he has an arm. Well, it’s more of a gun, but you get the idea.

Stray Toasters

• Brownies. I am craving brownies. I may just have to bake some this week.
• “Excuse me… who are you?”
• Everyone knows it’s Windy!
• Scotty doesn’t know… but Jason is figuring it out.
• US property tycoon Helmsley dies
• 
• Radioactive, by The Firm
• Dwim came by a little while ago to tell me that he was taking Acolyte Derek somewhere. In and of itself, that’s pretty mundane. But, he told it in MMORPG terms. That made it much more amusing. And geeky. And stuff.
• If Victor Von Doom Developed a SuperSoaker…
• Joker. Lurch. Riker.
• Anotherloverholeinyohead (video)

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Um… I mean.. uh…

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 August 2007
So far, today has been extraordinarily lazy. I’m not saying that it is a “good” or “bad” thing; it simply… is. The most productive things I’ve done so far are:

• Got out of bed.
• Dealt with some of the hygiene rituals.
• Installed Empire Earth, Locomotion and Railroad Tycoon II on ‘Nine.
• Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I’m still in need of food and coffee. And a shave. And did I mention coffee? I did? Okay, good.

My company’s summer party was yesterday. It was a decent affair, but there wasn’t as much… punch… to it as last year’s event. I still had a bit of fun and it was a decent way to spend a couple of hours. And I still have two bags of cotton candy to show for it!

Four-Color Coverage
I was watching one of my favorite parts of Superman: Last Son of Krypton (the three-part beginning of Superman: The Animated Series) a few days ago and realized something: All of the modern (since 1978) major introductions of the character have involved a sequence involving the saving of an airplane/space shuttle:

• Superman: the Movie (movie, 1978)- Air Force One is struck by lightning, losing an engine and part of the port wing.
• The Man of Steel (comic, 1986) – The Space Shuttle Constitution experiences a system failure and is about to crash-land in Metropolis.
• Superman: The Animated Series (television, 1996) – A commercial airliner is struck by an errant missile while Superman is attempting to apprehend four criminals who have hijacked an experimental LexCorp aircraft.
• Superman Returns (movie, 2006) – The launch of an experimental space shuttle, being piggy-backed on a Boeing 777, proves nearly disastrous after Lex Luthor conducts an experiment with Krpytonian crystal shards. The shuttle’s engines engage – while it is still docked to the jet – melting off the tail.

My theory on this is: You’re dealing with a character “…with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men,” one of which is flight. Sure, you could have him stopping a runaway bus (just think of how much shorter Speed would have been…) or stopping a train, but an airplane? It just seems… more natural. For, you know… a… flying guy.

Something that I really like about the saves from S:TAS and Returns is that Superman doesn’t always come up with the “right answer” right off the bat. In fact, in both cases, his first attempt seems to do more harm than good. Thus, he has to deduce a better method for saving the passengers and bystanders… in a hurry. And since we’re talking about Superman…

They say that Superman is one bad…
Shut yo’ mouth!
I’m just talkin’ about Superman.
We can dig it.

…you know that he’ll figure something out.

Stray Toasters

• I found a very simple recipe for Jambalaya a little while ago. I might have to try it this week.
• The Ravens have a preseason game tonight. I believe that I shall have to watch it.
• Girls at risk amid India’s prosperity
• The DCAU
• 
• Lethal blaze at Twin Towers site
• From boingboing.net (and the “Too Much Free Time” file): Alien made of vegetables
• Missile dumped at US gun amnesty
• 
• From BBC News and the “Too Strange to Make Up” file: Beijing’s penis emporium
• Sony plans to recycle electronics for free

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Namaste.

Friday – 17 August 2007
Yesterday morning’s monkeydom was punctuated nicely by more simian antics on the way home. As much as I wish that I could say that they ended at the county line… I can’t. They carried on all the way until I got to 90th South. So many monkeys, so little ammunition.

I stopped in to see Perry and the kids for a bit. And rifle through his plastic crack collection. And stuff.

Reeling by on Celluloid: Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead
Satire.

Pronunciation:

\ˈsa-ˌtī(-ə)r\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satura, satira, perhaps from (lanx) satura dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of satur well-fed; akin to Latin satis enough — more at sad

Date:

1501

1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly

synonyms see: wit

I took an elective English class on Satire in 10th Grade, from a teacher of whom I was not fond. (Some of you may have heard the “mastication” story. Yeah, that guy.) In fact, I didn’t think that he was all that great of a teacher, but what do I know…? I mean, it’s not like I have any teachers in the family or anything. </sarcasm> If he spent as much time on curriculum as he spent on trying to look or “be” cool, he could have actually been a decent educator. But, we learn different things from all experiences.

Unfortunately, I didn’t learn much about satire from him.

But, I’m not here to talk about him.

Instead, I am going to talk about a couple of movies that I watched at the behest of Tyranist: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright “get” satire. They also know where the fine line between “funny” and “absurdity” is… and they trample on it mercilessly.

Hot Fuzz tells the story of Nicholas Angel, a London police officer who was good at his job. Very good. Too good. And, as a reward for his performance, he was shipped off to a sleepy little town in the English countryside. Quaint. Quiet. Peaceful. And that’s when the real fun begins. On the surface, the movie seems little more than a funny buddy cop movie. To be honest, when I saw trailers for it, that’s exactly what I had taken for granted… and what eventually made me decide not to see it. I had decided that if I wanted a funny buddy cop movie, I would watch Beverly Hills Cop or Rush Hour. I did the movie a horrible disservice in brushing it aside in such a cavalier manner. It was funny, surprising and very well-written.

Shaun of the Dead is… well… a zombie movie. Whoops, I just said the “zed word.” Sorry. But, let’s face it: That’s what it is. And it’s funny. Beyond that, it is a buddy movie. And a movie about family – the one you’re born into and the one(s) you choose. And, it’s a movie about the sometimes too grey world in which we live – the one that we trudge through, day after day, moving forward as simple creatures of habit. And what happens when we wake up one morning to find that things have changed. Again, I was surprised to discover how sharp a movie it was. (Yeah, yeah… three years after pretty much everyone else figured it out, but I got there. Finally.)

I also made a comment to Tyranist about how Simon Pegg and Nick Frost – the male leads in both movies – in their own ways reminded me of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Not so much in their acting styles, but in the way that you can tell through the on-screen chemistry that you’re watching a couple of friends having a good time hanging out with each other… while there happens to be a camera recording the whole thing.

These movies may not necessarily be considered “family fare,” and they may not be everyone’s cup of tea (U.K. films… tea… Oh, Hell, if I have to do all the work for you, what’s the point?!) , but they are good pieces of entertainment. And, thanks to these movies, I will never listen to Queen or the phrase “By the power of Greyskull…” in the same way. Ever again.

I give both movies enthusiastic “thumbs up with an okay.”

Stray Toasters

• I’m still a bit jazzed about yesterday’s 275.
• : You need to click here.
• I still love this:
  
  … and there’s a (not small) part of me that thinks that it would be fun to actually do!
• Dungeons & Dragons 4^th Edition Announced
• Three words (well, one of them is a compound word): Black Cherry Kool-Aid.
• I’m not a fan of so-called “reality television.” That said, I watched Who Wants to Be a Superhero? while hanging out with Perry. Amusing, a little hokey, but… I have to admit it was fairly entertaining. And it had Stan Lee.
• Plain soap as effective as antibacterial but without the risk
• Tom Cruise… as Capt. Christopher Pike? *shudder*
• When I look at the first and fourth panels of this picture (possibly NSFW), I think that Pam Anderson might make an interesting Power Girl. (I dont know who Alex Ross uses as his model for P.G.)
• NASA has opted not to repair Endeavour‘s heat shield tiles. I hope this doesn’t turn into a total cock-up and come back to bite them in the ass.
• UCF physicist says Hollywood movies hurt students’ understanding of science

And off to work!

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• The car looks great. was right about this place: They do good work. I dropped it off at 9:30 and it was done around 3:00. When I went to pick it up, Brian – the guy who worked on it – came out to say that he was “done,” but asked if I could possibly wait a bit because he wanted to try and remove some residue. I told him that was fine… and ten minutes later, I was on my way.
• We went on an away mission before lunch today.
  And I found a new toy/hobby shop.
  All in one stop.
• I talked with for a few minutes this afternoon. She seems well. Busy, but well.
• Too bad dark languages rarely survive.
• Steampunk monocycle on eBay
• And out of nowhere comes a craving for sushi.
• Covet!
• I’ve got the acumen of a seasoned pro
  I’ve got the legacy of a billion souls
• Wearing your anatomy on your skin: The Anatomy Tattoo Gallery
• 
  I’ve made no bones about how much I enjoy the Evil Inc. webcomic. I’ve suggested that many of you – okay… all of you – read it, too. A year-long story arc just wrapped and Brad Guigar, the webcomic’s is about to give new readers a jump-in point. From his blog:

  In a story arc that started the day Evil Atom was forced out of the company he single-handedly created, the new CEO of Evil Inc — a superHERO — has had to grapple with making the company profitable.
  
  Failure would cause the demise of the Legion of Justice — which invested heavily in Evil Inc.But success would, of course, mean aiding and abetting super-criminals.

  Last week ended with a mysterious explosion and this week began with an equally mysterious memorial service. The next nine days are not to be missed.

  If you’re not a regular reader of “Evil Inc,” there’s no better time to start. Jump in here — and buckle your seat belts.

• Atomic Madhouse (t-shirts)

Namaste.

Tuesday – 14 August 2007
Last night, I had dinner with and Vikki at David’s Kitchen. Potstickers and Beef Lo Mein. Beef Lo Mein which I meant to bring to work today for lunch… but just realized that I left it in the fridge. *sigh* At least I know what I’m having for dinner.

This morning has seen an odd assortment of weird music-related items running through my head:

• I’ve had Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual randomly running through my head for a little while. Just the chorus, though.
• I was listening to 2112: Overture and Temples of Syrinx on the morning commute. I was, for some reason, reminded of how much I despised it the first time(s) that I heard it – 8th Grade carpool. First thing in the morning. VERY loud. Had I been using the term *grblsnrkx* back then, it would have been applied often. In fact, I couldn’t stand Rush from 1982 until late 1987, when a friend in my dorm actually asked me to sit down and actually listen to… of all things… 2112. *twitch* I agreed to do so. It took a few tries, but I got past my grade school loathing of the song and the band. The rest is history, as they say.
• I’ve been thinking about songs that are usually played back-to-back and just don’t sound “right” when not played together:
  • 2112: Overture and Temples of Syrinx
  • We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions
  • Eye Would Die 4 U / Baby, I’m a Star

  I’m sure that there are others, but these are the ones that keep sticking out in my mind.

• Puttin’ on the Ritz just popped into my head. The version by Taco… although when the chorus came up again, it was the one from Young Frankenstein.
• And now, something from a video game – which one I can’t seem to remember – just passed through.
• While playing CoH last night, I was on a bit of a Jim Croce kick. YouTube helped me get my fix, as I had, in a masterful stroke, left my iPod at work.

Other than that, it’s been a good day… not that I consider the aforementioned to be “bad” things.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Life is an ongoing series of checks and balances:

• Check: My coworker who was diagnosed with the tumor has undergone surgery and is in recovery. He seems to be doing well… but will have to learn to walk again.
• Balance: I got a phone call yesterday saying that there’s been a death in my extended family. It was not entirely unexpected, but still something of a shock.

The Scales of Justice
The Hand of Nefer-Tem dispensed some justice in Brickstown last night. I joined a team for a few missions against The Council. Level 36 Council. Oh, boy. The team had a good balance and did pretty well. By the time the team disbanded, I was (only) 5,000 points from Security Level 32. Oh, so close…. so close….

I was preparing to log out when I was invited to join another team. The desire to level was strong, so I did. This was a smaller team, but it was well-constructed and we managed to run through a couple of missions with a fair amount of ease.

And, by the time I left that team, I had made it to Level 32 and a new power: Resuscitate.

Stray Toasters

• I cleaned up the links page on Random Access last night. While there may not be rhyme nor reason, there is order.
• The Subtle Pleasures of Building a Dungeon
• doot doot doot
• Time in a Bottle (video)
• For those of you who’ve been to Paris, does this hold true?
  
• Miniot’s Hand-Crafted iWood Cases
• By way of… I don’t remember whom: Mind-blowing magic
• A Softer World Laundry Day (t-shirts!)
• 
• 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Karl Rove

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Monday – 13 August 2007
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

This morning’s good intention was to get up (relatively) early and get a jump on the day. I reconsidered, however, when the alarm and iPod went off. Three-and-a-half hours of sleep is usually not bad… but having capped the night off with a tall glass of Merlot (and a Sam’s Summer Ale) made an extended stay in The Dreaming a very pleasant thing, indeed. And, I was still in the office at a decent time, so I’m good with having caught a few extra ZZZs this morning.

Last night, post-movie, I stopped by to see Kate, Perry and the kids. The kids crack me up. Pure, straight-up comedy.

Scales of Justice
When I got home, I decided to take a side-trip to Paragon City. As soon as I logged in, I was invited to join a team. No waiting. No muss, no fuss. I accepted.

Then, I noticed who was on the team: The same tank who got us killed (repeatedly) on Saturday. *grblsnrkx*

And, guess what…

The team mortality rate was fairly high. Until he quit the team. After that, no problems. Go figure.

And now, The Hand of Nefer-Tem is knocking on the door of Security Level 32.

Stray Toasters

• I had a corned beef sandwich for lunch. And you didn’t.
• Mike Wieringo Passes Away
• Merv Griffin dead at 82
  • It’s pretty well-known that Mr. Griffin created Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! What’s not quite as well-known is that he wrote the theme for Jeopardy!, the music that they play when contestants are considering their answers for “Final Jeopardy.” Most people refer to the song as “The Jeopardy! Theme” or even “Think Music;” but he originally wrote that song as a lullaby for his son, Anthony, and it was originally named “Time for Tony.”
• Beheaded snake sends man to hospital
• I received a friendly, neighborhood reminder about registering my copy of Eudora a few days ago. It actually made me laugh:
  

  Please register your copy of Eudora.

  Registration will enable us to provide you better service when you contact us for technical support and it comes with these benefits.

  — list of benefits —

  We’ll also erect a giant statue in your image on the front lawn of our corporate headquarters.* How cool is that? C’mon, register! It’s easy and it’ll stop this stupid box from popping up!

  *Giant statue offer void to Eudora users living on the planet.

• From the “Holy crap! Who’d’ve thought it was possible” file: Girl overdoses on espresso
• 
• There are a couple of articles floating around the Interweb that basically say “NASA considering repairs to gouge in shuttle heat shield.” *blink blink* Let’s look at the basic math and physics behind this:
  • The shuttle orbits Earth at a little over 17,000 mph (nearly 28,000 kph)
  • It re-enters the atmosphere at roughly Mach 25 (~ 5.3 miles per second or almost 9 kilometers per second).
  • The heat shield endures temperatures over 2700° F (1500° C).
  • The gouge in the heat shield is 3½” long and goes ALL THE WAY THROUGH the thermal shielding.

  “Considering?” Hi. I’m sorry… I’m thinking that Mr. Goodwrench better be well past the “considering” stage and on his way – tools in hand – to get the job done.

• I read this Real Life Comics strip… and immediately was reminded of this movie clip.
• Steampunk cloque

Namaste.

*EDIT:  Went back to correct the math on the re-entry speed.  It’s MUCH faster than I had originally posted.

Saturday – 11 August 2007
So far, it’s been a good day. Blue skies. High clouds. Temps in the upper 90s.

The day started with me hanging out with Perry and Max. Coffee. Cinnamon rolls. Dolls. Mini-figures. We hung out and chatted/geeked out for a couple hours; as Max started getting a bit restless, I remembered that I had my GameBoy in my backpack and further cemented my role as “best adopted uncle ever.”

After they headed home, I put in a few hours with pencil and paper. I finished off She Talks to Angels. I’m happy with the way it turned out. I also decided on a couple of changes to Ed’s Song. And, I’m now toying with the idea of redoing 8:45 as a drawing; I would probably use the same basic “content” that I did in the Poser/Bryce one, more or less. Or maybe not. We’ll see…

Stray Toasters

• I’m still craving chocolate milk like a fiend.
• Report: Gamers largely clueless about next-gen console media capabilities.
• Slowly, but surely, I’m making my way towards the end of Deathly Hallows.
• WizKids is starting to release images and info for the upcoming Justice League set.
  • Is it just me or does this figure scream, “Hey, look! I have a crotch! Wanna see it?!
  • , you will want to see this figure.
• This is Ethan van Sciver, probably best know as the artist behind Green Lantern: Rebirth and Green Lantern Corps: Recharge and Sinestro Corps Special #1. This image, taken at Wizard World Chicago (a great-huge comic convention), amuses me greatly on many levels:
  • Ethan is LDS (That’s “Mormon,” for those of you outside the Zion Curtain).
  • His t-shirt says: “I’ve tried polygamy!” (That in itself is amusing enough.)
  • The shirt – and slogan – are for Wasatch Brewery’s Polygamy Porter.

Whether or not Ethan has actually sampled the beverage (which is unlikely, given his religious beliefs…) I don’t know, but I admire and applaud his sense of humor.

• 
• For Acolyte Derek: Stephen Colbert portrait in 768 mini Rubik’s Cubes
• U.S. Gov’t plans changes in air passenger screening
• LIEFELD!
• Coworker Tommy shall henceforth be referred to as “Code Monkey Build Bitch” or “Code Monkey BB.” Thus it is written, thus shall it be!
  Code Monkey BB sent me the following message yesterday, it amused the geek/gamer in me:

  [16:11] Tommy: graffiti seen (among many others) on the granite walls of a pit-fall
  [16:11] Tommy: In Dwarven: “Durembar Ironshanks was here and killed more orcs than he could count.”
  [16:11] Tommy: In Elven (below the preceding): “That means eleven.”

• Tyranist: At least it’s not a “space maggot.”
  
• The Great Data Migration proceeds apace.
• So… is this guy the new Phoenix?
  If so, does Jean know? Cause we all know that Scotty Doesn’t Know.
• Damn you, Tyranist. *shakes fist*
• Wow… they’re recruiting ’em young these days.

Time to go save the world. Or something.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 07 August 2007
First off: The Rush concert was fun. My one gripe would lie in the hands of their sound engineer: He couldn’t seem to find the right balance of treble and bass… and wound up cranking the treble WAY up. Vapor Trails up. But, other than that, I had a blast! I was surprised at the range of ages present, but they were (more or less) all into it. The set list featured a nice mix of the old and the new, including a few surprises. They were surprises to me, as I had avoided seeing/hearing about the set list. I was also surprised to discover that the Maytag dryers were no longer part of the stage equipment. But, what they were replaced with made me laugh, especially when I finally sussed out exactly what they were. AND, they were a recurring gag throughout the show. But, one of the best surprises of the night was this. All-in-all, it was a great way to kick off the week.

Today has been… not bad. The workout was decent, but I had problems on the flat bench – I couldn’t get my 3rd set at 205 pounds. So, I did six reps of 205 and five reps of 185. But, after the rest of the workout was done, I went back and banged out three more reps at 205… and a slightly less-impressive fourth rep. But, I got all ten reps in. And that made me feel better.

Tonight is D&D night. I will finally get a chance to play after… a month away, I think. Holidays and other things and whatnot. We’re still at a bit of a crossroads as to what to do. And I think that at least one of us may/will die. But, as the song says:

Why are we here?
Because we’re here.
Roll the bones.

And that’s just what we’re gonna do.

Stray Toasters

• Turtle cheesecake. I had some. It was tasty.
• Isn’t she just terminally cute? I must have her.
• Civil War mail art: envelope illustrations from mid-1800s
• It’s been 10 years since Lady Lara Croft first graced videogame screens. Gametap is celebrating this with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – Gametap Collection. Check out the Re\Visioned animated shorts. The first three episode arc, “Keys to the Kingdom,” by Peter Chung, is good. The fourth episode, “Revenge of the Aztec Mummy,” by Brian Pulido, is weak – both in writing and animation. The fifth and sixth episodes, “Angel Spit (Parts I & II)” were written by Warren Ellis… and are good. The seventh episode, “Legacy,” also written by Brian Pulido had a pulp feel… and was not only MUCH better than “Revenge,” but might have even made up for it.
• How to make Windows XP work for the next seven years.
• reminded me of this comic from VG Cats. It makes us laugh.
• I’m still chugging along through Deathly Hallows.
• Penny Arcade + Empire Earth II = this.
• I know it’s not quite time for them, but I am craving pomegranates.
• Pencil removed from woman’s head 55 years after accident

This post was brought to you by the letter “E,” the number “4” and the Omega Concern.
(c) 2007 – National Midnight Star

Namaste.

Sunday – 05 August 2007
Another weekend comes to a close and this one has been something of a mixed bag:

The Good

• Rita Coolidge concert
• Kimball Arts Festival

The Bad

• The sunroof in the car imploding… while I was driving on 215. I don’t know what caused it, so I’m not going to speculate about “what if…?” scenarios. I’m blessed/fortunate that I didn’t get hurt in the process and that no one else on the road was affected.

The Ugly

• Nothing yet, although I’m not looking forward to getting estimates on replacing the sunroof.

Last night’s concert was a nice distraction from the angst induced by the sunroof issue. Not only did Kate do me a good turn by getting me a ticket… but that ticket was seventh row, center. I was, maybe, thirty feet from the stage… if that far. Ms. Coolidge performed with a four-piece band (keyboard, guitar, bass and percussion) and they sounded good. Very good. “We don’t have to do a lot of overdubbing and tweaking in the studio” good. The band members were all very capable, if not downright talented. I realized part of the way through the show that I was comparing her band either to people I know or to other instrumentalists. Not exactly “fair” comparisons, but what’re ya gonna do? Near the end of her show, Ms. Coolidge gave a brief history lesson about the Trail of Tears and how there was a song, written by a Scotsman, that was/is the most often sung in both White and Native American churches in the south and the Bible Belt: Amazing Grace. She performed it in Cherokee. It was a very nice – and moving – rendition.

Since I was already out, I headed directly to Cheers. I was early, so I took my sketchbook inside and did some more work on She Talks to Angels at the table. I got a couple of nice compliments from passers-by.

Today was the annual Park City Arts Festival excursion. There were seventeen of us, I believe, in all. Unfortunately, Cisero’s was not doing their brunch, so we ate from the lunch menu. And they had coffee. Sweet, sweet nectar of the gods. The exhibits were, as usual, good. And, for the first time in… three years, I think… I didn’t run into anyone that I knew. We ate, strolled around the artists’ booths… and then stopped in Zona Rosa for a late lunch/early dinner and drinks.

Then, home again, home again. Jiggety-jig.

Stray Toasters

• I should do some cleaning around here. I’ll probably wind up on the Xbox. Or in Paragon City. Or reading more of Deathly Hallows. Or some such thing
• , you might enjoy clicking here. And here.
• blickum blickum blickum
• this was supposed to be the future
• Oracle vs. The Calculator: “Nerds of Prey.” Coming soon to a comics purveyor near you.
• …and, speaking of (the former) Batgirl and of Catwoman: and should click here.
• …and, should click here.
• Tyranist: Infinite Identity Crisis on Multiple Earths part Three… or is it Four?
• A Gentlemen’s Duel – steampunk animated entertainment
• My host’s SMTP server is being a right piece. This does not make me happy.

Off to storm a castle or something…

Namaste.

Saturday – 04 August 2007
Despite oversleeping this morning, it’s been a good – and nominally productive day. I don’t know what it was, but after Clitorati, I came home and was ready to hit the rack within an hour. Which put quite a damper on any thoughts I may have had about visiting Paragon City. I was up shortly before 7:00, but saw the error of my ways and returned to The Dreaming.

Once I got up and dealt with the necessary hygiene rituals, I met Perry and the boys for coffee. When they left, I did some more work on She Talks to Angels. I’m rather pleased with the way the angel has turned out, but a little less enthusiastic about the figure that’s supposed to look like my grandmother. Which means that I need to do more portrait work. My other big concern with this piece is/was: Fabric. It folds and twists and billows. Depicting that isn’t exactly my strong suit, but I am happy with the way it looks.

dropped by for a bit, to say “Hello,” so I chatted with her for a while until I got a message from Chris (we’re going to have to start numbering Chrises now, too) asking if I was still interested in going to the gym. I was. We did. I got there before him, so I spent 10 minutes on the recumbent bike. I haven’t done that in a long time; it was good. Chris showed up and it was game time. I wasn’t paying attention when I set up the weights for my bench press and wound up doing 225 pounds on my first set. Brilliant, I am. Not easy, but I did it. I dropped it back down to 205 pounds for the second and third sets, although I had to do the last 5 reps of the third set at 185. Today also saw a lot more presses than I have done (in one workout) in a long time: Flat bench, incline and decline.

Back home for a much-needed and very refreshing shower and a late lunch. And to kill some time. Tonight, I’m going to the Rita Coolidge concert at the Sandy Amphitheatre, thanks to Kate. I asked her to find out about tickets and a couple of days later, she presented me with one. I should send her a fruit basket. (Bonus points for knowing where that came from.) I think that I would really like to take a nap, but I have a few things that I should take care of before heading to the concert. *sigh* No rest for the wicked, I guess.

…and I still need to make (another) trip to the Garden of Sweden, which I most definitely will not get around to tonight.

Stray Toasters

• I have been craving chocolate milk like a madman, lately.
• From Real Tech News: MP3-Eating Worm on the Loose
• Blood, Sweat and Cheers! – Five little-known facts about 300.
• “Are you Lutheran vegansexual?”
  
• And I must have missed a memo about last week being “Bag on Vegans Week,” because I just saw this in Crtl+Alt+Del:
  
• The Best Super-Pregnancies (No, I didn’t make that title up.)
• WizKids will be adding a “Heroes” line – based on the television series – to HeroClix.
• When Amber met Amber
• – Play Infocom Hitchhiker’s text adventure by IM
• The Weird Things People Eat Around the World
• , I saw these and thought of you when I got to the pair in the lower-left corner.

I should finish getting ready and get out of here…

Namaste.

Thursday – 02 August 2007
The back half of yesterday was good. Jason and I went to lunch at La Puente; Perry met us there. After lunch, we paid a visit to the good Doctor’s, where I fed my four-color fever. Then it was back to the workday grind for a few more hours.

I started to watch Dark City last night. For the first time. Interesting movie. Unfortunately, I started it far too late in the evening and wound up nodding off about 30 minutes into it. I will finish it tonight or tomorrow.

This morning, I slept in. A bit unintentional, but it was nice, all the same. And, once I finally got in gear, I was able to have a brief conversation with , which is never a bad way to start the day.

Unfortunately, one of the code monkeys didn’t get the memo about today being NBN Thursday. I walked into the office to find that this person decided to do something stupid. Actually, it was a couple of things, but we can lump them all together into one homogeneous item for this case. (A coworker pointed out that the issue in question happened on Wednesday, so it’s not really a Thursday problem and I can still enjoy the rest of NBN Thursday.) And, apparently, the person-in-question had asked other people about the same issue before deciding to take matters into his own hands. And, I just found out that the person was told where to look to resolve the problem… which means that he either ignored the person who told him that and/or is a complete idiotstick. After talking with a few others about this person, I’m going with Option 2.

Today’s workout went well: Three sets of 205 pounds on the bench press (10 reps/set) followed by 2½ reps of 250 pounds. Apparently, Tuesday’s warm-up set – and the extra weight on the first set – just took any extra UMPH I may have had… and let it dribble out of my ears.

Four-Color Coverage

• Action Comics #853 – Countdown tie-in issue. This issue was another Jimmy Olsen issue, showing him – as Mister Action – going up against The Kryptonite Man. And, Superman does put in an appearance or two in this issue.
• Astro City: The Dark Age – Book 2 #3 – This issue continues the story of Charlie and Royal Williams, two men whose parents were killed during a superhero/villain battle. Charlie became a police officer; Royal a criminal. The series looks at Astro City through their eyes… and their estranged relationship.
• Avengers: The Initiative #4 – “World War Hulk” tie-in issue. Justice and Cloud 9 go on a field trip. Hardball is… moonlighting? And, what happens when you throw heroes-in-training up against Ol’ Jade-jaws and his extraplanetary band of rebels? Um… hello?! You did catch the “World War HULK,” up there, right? Do the math. I also have to give Marvel credit for something: They have brought back a few teen characters that had fallen off the map in recent years. In fact, one of the characters, Ultragirl (1, 2), had her own mini-series about… ten years ago… only to completely disappear until Civil Bore War.
• Countdown: 39 – Karate Kid and Una (the former Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel) want an audience with Oracle. Oracle is a bit busy and doesn’t want visitors. The Legionnaires don’t think that “Come back later” is an acceptable response. Throw in a few pages of the new Suicide Squad, Batwoman and The (new) Question and you have a full issue.
• Justice Society of America #8 – “Bells & Whistles” This issue fleshes out the backstory of Jesse Chambers,the new Liberty Belle. Most of the issue is done in flashbacks, showing her as a young girl and a fledgling heroine. But that’s not where the issue shines. It shines when we see a modern ‘Belle acting as negotiator to Damage, who has Hutner Zolomon – better known as Zoom, the Reverse Flash – hostage… and is looking for a little payback.
• The New Avengers: Illuminati #3 and #4 – The behind-the-scenes powers-that-be shaping the Marvel Universe for a better tomorrow. First, they go up against The Beyonder – think Star Trek: TNG‘s Q, but without the impish qualities – who is apparently undergoing a retcon. *sigh* And then, they take on Kree hothead, Noh-Varr, would-be world conqueror… and Namor whoops his ass a time or three… and, then they make Noh-Varr a proposition.
• Supergirl #20 – We have finally moved past “Finding My Way” Kara and on to “Taking a Stand” Kara in this “Amazons Attack” tie-in issue. And we get to see “Getting My Butt Kicked” Kara, as an added bonus! While I enjoyed the writing – and it’s notably darker-than-usual tone – I wasn’t terribly enamored with Renato Guedes’ interior artwork when I first read through this… but I went back and looked at it again, later. Some of it may seem… simplistic… but there is a lot that is conveyed in the body language. And, some of the close-up shots convey emotion very well: Anger. Pain – physical and emotional. Anguish. Determination. All-in-all, a very solid issue.
• Uncanny X-Men #489 – What happens when the news gets out that a band of mutants is attacking and disfiguring people in the general populace? Oh, and while they may live in the tunnels and sewers beneath New York, they aren’t technophobes – they harness the power of the Internet and “We2UBE” to spread their message of hatred. Yep, the flames of mistrust and hatred just got fanned. And, let me just say that Salvador Larroca can draw Storm any day of the week – and twice on Sunday – as far as I’m concerned.
• World War III #1 – #4 – I finally got around to reading “Black Adam vs. the DCU.” After reading it, I’m not sure that I really needed to spend the money on it, but the deed’s done.
• X-Men: First Class #8 of 8 (limited) – The X-kids go on safari! Their quarry: Professor X. Their guide: Ken Hale, Gorilla Man. Hilarity ensues. (No, really… it does, at times.)
• X-Men: First Class #2 (ongoing) – The X-Kids go up against the rather carnivorous flora and fauna of… Island X.
• X-Men: First Class Special #1 – This book contained three short stories, featuring the fledgling X-Men. The best of the stories was “A Girl and Her Dragon,” a story told by Scott Summers to Kitty Pryde and Lockheed. It started with Kitty chasing Lockheed through the mansion and running into Scott. He then tells her that she is not “the first mutant girl with dragon” and recounts a story about Jean Grey and (the retconned history of) Dragon Man.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, I not only enjoyed a Samuel Adams Summer Ale (Thanks, !), but I drank it from my Samuel Adams pint glass that I acquired from J. Butler’s many moons past.
• pointed me in the direction of this site. Cool stuff.
• “trans-orbital trailer home”
• Brain-injured man speaks after 6 years
• Ass-hats and ignoramuses.
• Wow… Firefox didn’t try to correct my spelling on any of the above words.
• 
• For the Whovians – not to be confused with Whoville-ians – Doctor Who Action Figure with R/C K9
• Are people more polite in virtual worlds?
• Dwim: In light of your “Magneto goes where he will!” post, I offer up this: “Magneto goes when he will!”
• Pope Stumpy
• Apple iPhone getting pwn3d in Wired’s Greatest Gadget Tourney
• “You’re naked all of the time. Aren’t you?”
  
• Need something new and different for your walls? Try Tonky Wall Stickers.

/lunch

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 August 2007
Two down, three to go and a new month begins.

I don’t know what the deal is/was, but last night’s sleep was phenomenally craptacular. I think that I was awakened – for no apparent reason – at least three times between 2:00AM and 5:00AM. And, I woke up again at 5:56… 29 minutes before the alarm was scheduled to go off. *grblsnrkx*

Last night was a game night: All Flesh Must Be Eaten. We didn’t die, but a Plague Marine did its damnedest to try and change that. We aren’t out of the scenario – or the proverbial woods – yet. But, we did manage to show the Marine who had superiority through numbers/firepower. Barely.

The Best: Come Together
The Beatles vs. Aerosmith: I like the Aerosmith cover, quite a bit… but, for me, the boys from Liverpool’s version has the edge.

Stray Toasters

• I am now the owner of a pair of fencing foils. Just because.
• By way of ThinkGeek: The Government Manual for New Pirates and Pirates for Hire hat
• I received the same email (body, not headers) from my mother and a coworker today. asked if I have ever seen them both in the same place at the same time. I haven’t. He suggested that I drive a stake through the coworker’s heart… just to be sure.
• Transform and roll out eat up!
• I (still) think that this is a great video: All I Want Is You, by U2
• Vincent: Want some bacon?
  Jules: No man, I don’t eat pork.
  Vincent: Are you Jewish?
  Jules: Nah, I ain’t Jewish, I just don’t dig on swine, that’s all.
  Vincent: Why not?
  Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don’t eat filthy animals.
  Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
  Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’d never know ’cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy motherfucker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That’s a filthy animal. I ain’t eat nothin’ that ain’t got enough sense enough to disregard its own faeces.
  Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
  Jules: I don’t eat dog either.
  Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
  Jules: I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
  Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
  Jules: Well we’d have to be talkin’ about one charmin’ motherfuckin’ pig. I mean he’d have to be ten times more charmin’ than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I’m sayin’?
• Apparently, ordering diagnostic equipment is very similar to using a Wish spell in D&D: You have to be VERY specific in what you ask for, or else you get… what you ask for as opposed to what you wanted.
• The photography of Kat Bret
• Because sometimes you just need yet another geeky tech site: Gizmos for Geeks
• Sometimes Salvation, by the Black Crowes – a song I haven’t listened to in a while… and a video I haven’t seen in an even longer time.

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 31 July 2007
Last night, I made a pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden. I exited empty-handed – I realized that I needed to take a few measurements of a banner that I want to hang before buying the hardware to hang it. Somehow, that just made an odd kind of sense. Go figure. I saw plenty of other things that made me go,”Hm… that would look nice in (fill-in-the-room).” But, willpower won out, once again.

The pre-work morning moved along rather nicely except for two things:

1. One of my contact lenses tried to make a jailbreak shortly before I woke up. I put it in solitary confinement in a saline bath. It has seen the error of its ways and has been successfully rehabilitated.
2. PoW monkeys. Two of them. Driving slowly. In the “left general purpose lane” on the way up Traverse Mountain.

The Scales of Justice
I decided to patrol the mean streets of Paragon City for a while. Most of the members of my SG who were online were in the middle of a task force – a long series of missions – so they weren’t available for teaming. I hooked up with a Blaster and we headed to Founders Falls to take on The Council. And, just before we got to the mission entrance, Founders came under attack by a Rikti invastion force. Yay. Thanks to the fact that there were not many available Controllers or Defenders, we got our clocks cleaned – repeatedly – on the mission. So, we switched to a Council of Thorns mish. We picked up a meat shield Tanker to pull aggro and take the heavy hits while we beat on things. That went much better. After that, I joined a Rikti invasion team in Talos Island, to repulse an invasion force there. That went pretty well too.

Stray Toasters

• Carmen’s home, safe and sound… and jet-lagged to Hell and back, I’m sure.
• Multitask
• posted a link to Chore Wars last night…
• …I will counter with this lovely post, from Craigslist.
• Discard regret, that in this debt a better world is made
  That children of a newer day might remember, and avoid our fate.
• Luminent Designs – Brassy Lamps
• Cocoa butter, hot sauce and… souvlaki? Two words: “grey” and “confused.”
• 10 Alternative Gadgets for Your Home
• 
• Exiern
• I’m up to Chapter 13 of Deathly Hallows and was just reintroduced to a character whom I thought met with… an unfortunate circumstance a book or two back. I need to go ahead and finish it so that I can get back to Pattern Recognition.

Monday – 30 July 2007
Return to the work-a-day grind.

Yesterday was good. I didn’t make it to the Garden of Sweden, but I did manage to pull off a few other tricks, including lunch with , a brief stint in Paragon City and seeing , whom I haven’t seen in what has to be at least a year-and-a-half.

The Best
I may have to consider something of a “variation on a theme” (I’m not sure if the pun is intentional or not) to handle instances where an artist/a band has redone one of their previous works. In some cases, the artist/band just reworks the piece; in others, they are working with another artist or group.

Stray Toasters

• I’m craving a Tastykake Coffee Cake.
• The Bourne Ultimatum opens Friday. I feel another off-site training in the offing. Now, I just need to convince to talk the powers-that-be into endorsing it…
• I’m a 2×6 Lego Piece!

  Long and versatile, you’re a 2×6 Lego piece!

  What Lego piece are you?

  Take Other Caffeine Nebula Quizzes

• Gammarauders
• “Curly”
• The 50 Best Movie Robots
• But… I thought that the Internet was a series of tubes. Now, I’m confused.
• What happens when you turn the AC off in the server room?
• 
• Kate Bush
• “belligerent cockfags” *cracks up*
• Aarakocra
• The WETA Rayguns were featured in G4’s coverage of Sandy Eggo Comic Con.
• Origami Cthulhu

Blue skies and gentle landings.

Friday – 27 July 2007
Four down, one in the chamber.

I don’t know what happened, but I must have been phenomenally tired last night. I slept like a proverbial rock. I even slept in a little this morning.

The Best
Many moons past, I was given the Schoolhouse Rock! Box Set. All of the Schoolhouse Rock! songs that many of us grew up singing along with… in glorious CD form. Some of ’em in stereo, even!

Fast-forward a couple of years: I discovered Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks, covers of fourteen Schoolhouse Rock! songs.

Fast-forward again, to the near past: Given my new hobby in determining “The Best” versions of songs, I wondered who would win in an SR! vs SR!R battle. So, I listened to the originals and covers. Below is my take on the songs¹:

And there you have it.

Coming soon: The Best – Classic Cartoon Themes vs. Saturday Morning Cartoons’ Greatest Hits

Stray Toasters

• I have off-site training this afternoon.
• 
  (click the image)
• …and in honor of SysAdminDay: The System Administrator Song
• My inner 6-year-old thinks that these are pretty neat.
• 

Notes (The Best):

1. Results may vary, by user
2. Blind Melon did a nice job of trying to keep some of the sound and feel, but the original hits all the marks.
3. C’mon… it’s Conjunction Junction. Do I really need to spell this one out for you? Jazz.
4. As much as I like the late Mr. Sanders’ work, Goodness makes this song their own.
5. Ween did a great homage to Bob Dorough’s version… but came up a little short.
6. The was very close: You’d almost swear that Biz Markie was channeling Jack Sheldon.
7. This is a photo-finish. Both versions have merit for their respective sounds.

Up out.

Namaste.